Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn confirms that he and city council Position 8 candidate Mike O’Brien are jointly paying for a computerized phone poll that tests, among other things, voters’ reactions to the proposed $4.2 billion waterfront tunnel.
According to someone who received one of the “robo-calls” last night, the poll asks respondents who they’re supporting for mayor; informs them that Mayor Greg Nickels plans to spend $930 million in city funds for the tunnel (including $65 million in car-tab taxes, $200 million in additional parking taxes, $252 million in utility rate increases, and $300 million in new property taxes); asks if they support or oppose the tunnel plan; says that both O’Brien and McGinn oppose the tunnel; and asks respondents, knowing this, who they’d vote for.
McGinn says that sharing the costs of such a poll, which he calls “message testing,” is “very common when [the questions] will benefit both” candidates who are paying for the poll. “We’re trying to test [the tunnel] message and figure out where we stand with the public,” he says.
McGinn’s most recent campaign finance reports, from the end of May, show that he spent $750 on polling. Nickels, in contrast, spent $25,000 on polling in the same campaign cycle.
Although McGinn says he heard Nickels was doing a similar “message testing poll” targeted at his opponents Joe Mallahan and Jan Drago, Nickels’ spokesman Sandeep Kaushik says the campaign is not doing any such poll, “nor have we in the past.”
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why is this news. Can we stop pretending like we dont live in a political world. This an election and this politics. Polls happen all the time. I want to know who agreed to do a poll for only $750.00?
Sandeep is on your masthead and is an owner of Publicola.
It would seem you should mention that every time you quote him.
“Concur president and chief operating officer Rajeev Singh has taken a minority stake in PubliCola, the Seattle news Web site founded by Josh Feit and Sandeep Kaushik. The involvement of Singh — the 41-year-old co-founder of Redmond-based Concur — follows an investment in the startup by Seattle developer Greg Smith.”
Could you provide the client list of Sandeep past and present as an easy link to his name on the masthead?
“McGinn’s most recent campaign finance reports, from the end of May, show that he spent $750 on polling.”
I would say that no one agreed to do this polling, in July, for $750.
Nickels campaign spent $25,000 on polling… but you aren’t polling?
And who did that poll that was pro-nickels and asked about city attorney? It came from 206-829-6490
I don’t think it’s a good idea for candidates to link up like that. They each need to stand alone, especially candidates with similar sounding names!
That number is an unlisted number in 98101. Here’s more on those Nickels robocalls.
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-206-829-6490
Erica, why the breathless posts about McGinns polling and no digging into the mayor’s robocalls? Everyone I know is getting them!
@5: I agree. Just makes me think that McGinn really belongs in the City Council race. I wish he’d worry less about proving that people don’t want the tunnel (that crowd may be loud, but I don’t think they’re in the majority, actually) and more about offering an alternative vision. The last thing Seattle needs is another mayor who “won’t cooperate”.
If Sandeep is not lying about the Nickels campaign doing a poll – someone is conducting a large-scale independent expenditure campaign on the mayor’s behalf.
Everybody I know got the phone call. Who sponsored it?
Weird, the Nickels poll is the first poll that I didn’t recieve (I’ve been called 6 times already for other polls), wonder what I did wrong?
(that crowd may be loud, but I don’t think they’re in the majority, actually)
That’s why they run polls, to find out what people think not what is one opinion on what people think.
The last time people had a chance to vote the tunnel received a positive 30% of the vote.
People may be so tired out about the issue that they just want to do something.
Let’s get a fixed price contract and see what the people say then.
Question: does the Mayor release (without being prompted by public records requests) polls that City departments do on various issues?
@6 – er…what kind of proof is this that’s it’s a mayoral poll? I feel like i lost seconds of my life for clicking on that link and i resent you for it.
Is a buddy doing this O’brian poll, because that seems super cheap.
And further, why is this news?
McGinn just needs to pay people to call around and mention his name” “Mike McGinn for Mayor.” No one knows his name let alone his positions. Most voters are passive. You have to get to them; they won’t come to you. People who attend forums are a small minority. What good is an expensive message if you don’t have any money to disseminate it? Nickels will win because he’s running against well-meaning amateurs. I’ve criticized this guy many times, but Conlin should have run. He knows what he’s doing and we would have a real race.
Ha, ha. Joint Poll. I hope they call Ballards.
Funny, just this morning in the Times McGinn is quoted as saying the city doesn’t have a plan to finance it’s portion of the viaduct tunnel replacement – but according to his poll it sure sounds like the city has a plan – or at least options. And, by the way, it isn’t $300 million from property taxes citywide, it is $300 M from a Local Improvement District, which makes adjacent private property owners who gain the most from taking down the viaduct pay a portion of the project cost.
Also, the city is not proposing (third-rail) car tab taxes – it would be a flat $20 fee on your registration.
Check out the facts for yourself here: http://seattle.gov/mayor/issues/viaduct/docs/090225Final_BoredTunnel_folio.pdf
Finally, the tunnel only costs $2.8 billion anyway!
@11 That vote was pretty flawed. No option got a majority of the vote, and this particular tunnel option was not on the ballot.
The thing is that even if a majority oppose the tunnel that does to translate into a vote for McGinn. For one they might not care that much, or there may be other things that they care about more.
McGinns problem is that he is basing his whole campaign on the tunnel, which really only resonates amongst a rather small number of anti-roads types.
@16: All good rational points, but good luck making any headway with most of this crowd.
It’s also a little hard to believe that the tunnel vote from a few years ago is still being trotted out with regard to the current plan. Different Tunnel, different financing, different construction impacts.
@12 You have to request them formally and then they are filtered through city hall (Mayor’s office). It’s a tar pit for requests. You should just retain an attorney because you’llprobably need one eventually.
I must have missed where Sandeep explainst the Nickels robo-call and his public assetion that it isn’t actually happening.
Plus, why does the Nickels robo call tag the last question for the City Attorney?
This is what is wrong with Seattle! Our City Attorney is ass-deep with the mayor, not the law.
Really, why should the sitting mayor CARE who the voters prefer for CAtty?
This is worse – it means that people that have small, fuel effecient, cheap cars (maybe because they don’t drive much, and instead take the bus) will pay the same $20 as people who have expensive, new cars. It’s regressive. And it’s still a “car tab tax” – you’d pay it to the DOL each year when you renew your tabs.
It _should_ be an excise tax based on value, same type as for Sound Transit.