ALLEGHENY COUNTY PULSE POLL

Columnist : Lisa Boscola

 1.)    Allegheny County will have a new Executive/Council form of government come January 1, 2000.  Do you think this new form of government will meet the needs of Allegheny County better than the old three commissioner system?

44%     YES
16%     NO
39%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

 2.)     Should government be allowed to force one private business to sell property under a process known as Eminent Domain to benefit another private business, if that sale will result in the possible creation of new jobs?

20%     YES
63%     NO
17%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

3.)     Do you think the Kane Hospitals (county nursing homes) should be managed by Allegheny County or by a private non-profit company?

30%     MANAGED BY THE COUNTY
48%     MANAGED BY A PRIVATE NON-PROFIT
23%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

4.)     Do you think Allegheny County’s airports should be run by a department of county government, or should a separate authority be created?

31%     COUNTY GOVERNMENT
51%     SEPARATE AUTHORITY
18%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

5.)      Do you think county ‘row offices’ such as the Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, Register of Wills, etc., should be combined into one office or should they remain separate?

42%     COMBINED
41%     REMAIN SEPARATE
18%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

6.)     Generally speaking, do you feel safer in your neighborhood than you did a year ago?

32%     YES, MORE SAFE
44%     ABOUT THE SAME
24%     NO,  LESS SAFE
0%      DON=T KNOW/REFUSED

7.)     In your opinion, are drugs a problem in your neighborhood?

20%     YES
72%     NO
8%       DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

8.)     Do you favor or oppose replacing property taxes with a local earned income tax?

50%     FAVOR
27%     OPPOSE
23%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

9.)     Would you favor or oppose replacing property taxes with a sales tax?

40%     FAVOR
46%     OPPOSE
14%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

10.)      If property taxes HAD to be replaced by another tax, which would you favor, a local earned income tax or a local sales tax?

37%     LOCAL EARNED INCOME
45%     SALES
2%      COMBINATION
6%      NEITHER
9%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

11.)     Do you think the current Regional Assets District tax, which adds 1% to the sales tax charged in Allegheny County, should be retained or abolished?

33%     RETAINED
59%     ABOLISHED
8%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

12.)     Do you favor allowing private businesses to provide services that are currently provided by county or local governments if private businesses can provide such services at a lower cost?

74%     YES
19%     NO
6%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

13.)     Do you think the City of Pittsburgh should require that at least 35% of the jobs created by any city-financed building project go to residents of the city?

61%     YES
30%     NO
9%      DON’T KNOW

14.)     Do you think contracts for labor and materials to build PNC Park and the new Steeler’s stadium should go to the lowest responsible bidder in an open competitive bidding process, or should government negotiate with select companies in an effort to negotiate the lowest price?

65%     LOWEST BIDDER
24%     NEGOTIATE
12%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

15.)     Should unions be forbidden from deducting money from union workers= pay without their permission, then using that money for political purposes?

74%     YES
24%     NO
2%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

16.)     Do you favor or oppose enactment of a Right to Work Law, where a worker cannot be fired for either joining or not joining a labor union.

77%     FAVOR
17%     OPPOSE
6%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

17.)     The electric utility industry in Pennsylvania has been deregulated.  Are your personal electric bills generally higher or lower than they were one year ago?

24%     HIGHER
44%     ABOUT THE SAME
17%     LOWER
16%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

18.)     Would you like to have more choices when it comes to selecting your LOCAL telephone service provider?

38%     YES
58%     NO
4%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

19.)     Would you prefer to buy all your telecommunication services (Internet, local, long distance, and cable) from one provider, or from multiple providers?

34%     ONE PROVIDER
48%     MULTIPLE PROVIDERS
18%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

 IF FROM ONE PROVIDER:

20.)     Which one provider would you be more likely to use?

63%     LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPANY
20%     LONG DISTANCE COMPANY
10%     CABLE COMPANY
1%      OTHER
6%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

21.)     If you subscribe to cable television in your home, do you feel that the rates you pay for service are a good value, a fair value, or excessive?

 5%      GOOD VALUE
19%     FAIR VALUE
67%     EXCESSIVE
3%      DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

22.)     Generally speaking, do you have a positive or negative opinion of Dr. Cyril Wecht?

56%     POSITIVE
27%     NEGATIVE
16%     NO OPINION/REFUSED

23.)     Generally speaking, do you have a positive or negative opinion of James Roddey?

47%     POSITIVE
15%     NEGATIVE
38%     NO OPINION/REFUSED

24.)      If the election for Allegheny County Executive were held today, would you vote for Democrat Cyril Wecht or Republican James Roddey?  (ROTATE NAMES).

42%     WECHT
41%     RODDY
15%     UNDECIDED
1%      REFUSED

ASK DEMOCRATS:

25.)     If the Primary Election for President of the United States were held today would you vote for Al Gore or Bill Bradley?  (ROTATE NAMES)

43%     GORE
27%     BRADLEY
3%     NEITHER/OTHER
17%     DON’T KNOW/REFUSED 

ASK REPUBLICANS:

26.)     If the Primary Election for President of the United States were held today would yo vote for George W. Bush, Steve Forbes, Elizabeth Dole, Gary Bauer, Pat Buchanan, Dan Quayle, John McCain, Alan Keyes, or
Orrin Hatch?

 49%   BUSH
1%  QUAYLE
10%    FORBES
4%    MCCAIN
14%    DOLE
2%     KEYES
2%     BAUER
-%     HATCH
3%     BUCHANAN
3%     NONE/OTHER
12%    DON’T KNOW
1%     REFUSED

The Lincoln Institute Pulse Poll of Voters in Allegheny County was conducted on September 8, 1999 by Precision Marketing, Inc. of Easton, Pennsylvania.  A total of 328 likely registered voters were polled.  The poll’s margin of error is +/-5% at a 95% confidence level.