Herald election poll results

Duane Nollen

Nov. 2, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- OSKALOOSA -- The Herald staff asked Oskaloosa voters who they support for the At-Large seats on the city council and their thoughts on challenges facing the city on an online poll at the Herald's Web site, www.oskaloosa.com.

The poll was conducted Monday through Wednesday at The Herald's Web site -- www.oskaloosa.com. The survey was limited to the first 100 respondents. Replies were limited to one per computer, as per the rules of the survey's host Web site. The survey was not scientific -- it is not a random sample of voters, rather it was a poll where people chose whether or not to answer it.

The poll was composed of five questions. It showed that Oskaloosa residents are interested in the city council election.

The first question was: "Do you plan to vote in the city election?" Of the 95 respondents who answered the question, 77 -- 81.1 percent -- answered "Yes" while 18 said "No."

Six people are running for two At-Large seats on the city council and 91 respondents gave their choices for who will occupy those seats. Scottie Moore received the most votes with 57 -- 62.60 percent. Tom Walling came in second with 44 votes -- 48.4 percent. Incumbent Jimmy Carter was third with 28 votes -- 30.8 percent -- followed by incumbent Janet VanderBeek with 24 votes -- 26.4 percent. Joe Caligiuri received 12 votes -- 13.2 percent -- and Benjamin Siebert received 7 votes -- 7.7 percent.

Respondents also gave their thoughts on some issues facing the city.

The survey asked "How long should City Council members serve?" Of the 98 people who answered the question, 57 -- 58.2 percent -- said two terms (eight years). Seventeen -- 17.3 percent answered three terms (12 years) and 24 -- 24.5 percent -- said No term limits.

When asked if there needs to be better city/county cooperation to further economic development, almost all said "Yes." Of the 97 people who answered the question, 92 -- 94.8 percent -- answered "Yes" while 5 -- 5.2 percent -- said "no."

When asked about four challenges facing the city, a majority said "Growing the tax base" was the biggest challenge. Of the 98 people who answered the question, 36 -- 36.7 percent -- answered "Growing the tax base" while 28 -- 28.6 percent -- responded "repairing streets." Two challenges -- "City budget" and "Dealing with state budget cuts" each received 17 votes -- 17.3 percent.

Herald Editor Duane Nollen can be reached by email at oskynews@oskyherald.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0489-39376973