Controversial Poll for Measure C Campaign Released

Supporters of Mt. Diablo Unified School District's Measure C bond measure, Citizens United for Excellent Schools, have made the full poll they commissioned for the campaign available to the public. You can see it here in this PDF attachment. 

The poll, by EMC Research, has been controversial, with the Contra Costa Times raising questions about the negative response it received from the school district and from some board members to its request to make the full survey available to the public before the June 8 election. 

School board members said the the poll influenced their support for the $348 million bond measure. The survey was also said to influence the district's decision on the tax rate that would be imposed with the passage of the measure. Measure C won in the June election with 61 percent of the vote. 

The Times described receiving mixed, inconsistent or uncooperative responses from the district, but the district's lawyer and members of Citizens United said the poll was privately commissioned by their campaign, it was of strategic importance, and they were under no legal obligation to release it prior to the election. 

In a statement, members of Citizens United said: 

For the past several weeks, there has been wide speculation and much misinformation regarding the handling of the opinion poll we commissioned prior to the Measure C election.  This matter has become a needless distraction and is inhibiting the progress that the voters demanded with their overwhelming approval of Measure C.  

... The election is over and the voters have spoken.  We urge the Times and the district leadership to get beyond this trivial matter and focus their attention and energy on the key issue:  how can we best use our resources to improve our children's education?

The success of Measure C is proof that the community remains steadfast in support of our kids.  The CUES committee will continue its work to build on that success and construct stronger, more productive channels of communication between the District and the community at large.

The poll involved interviews with 403 residents of Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and other cities that fall within the boundaries of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District.

The poll, conducted between February 28 and March 1, shows that 61 percent of respondents would "probably" or "definitely" approve a bond measure that would allow the district to upgrade classroom technology, repair roofs, maximize energy efficiency by installing solar panels, and, in various ways, fix up the district's mostly half-century-old campuses. 

Respondents were also reminded of the $250 million bond measure that voters approved in 2002 at an annual tax rate of $59 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The survey said the new bond measure would continue that tax rate, then asked respondents if they would approve continuing that tax rate. Sixty-two percent said "probably" or "definitely" yes. 

The poll did not raise the possibility, often mentioned by the Times (in this editorial this past Sunday) and opponents, that the repayments of principal and interest on the $348 million bond could cost taxpayers, by one district estimate, $1.87 billion.

Up to 90 percent or more of respondents said they did not have children currently in school, but half said they had in the past. Eighty-six percent of respondents said they were  homeowners.