1 Public Opinion and Issues in Anne Arundel County: Leadership Anne Arundel Presentation – NLA Feb. 28, 2009 Dan Nataf, PhD Director, Center for the Study of Local Issues Anne Arundel Community College 101 College Parkway Arnold, MD (410) (410) fax

2 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 The Center for the Study of Local Issues: Overview CSLI – Part of Sarbanes Center for Public and Community Service – 30 th Anniversary Mission: Provide students opportunities for engaged learning, community outreach Main activity: Public interest and client surveys/research each semester

3 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 The Center for the Study of Local Issues: Overview Surveys: Respondents randomly chosen from universe of listed telephone numbers combined with computer generated numbers Typical sample size: respondents; students used as interviewers Topics: Each survey includes demographic and attitude/behavior questions, including such themes as: –Economic conditions –Growth/Development –Transportation –Economic conditions –Education –Tax and spending preferences –Policy preferences Visit CSLI’s web site for previous surveys (

4 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Main Issues for Today –County - Right/Wrong direction –Economic conditions –Confidence in government –Housing –Growth –Crime –Education –Immigration –Tax and spending preferences

5 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 County – Right/Wrong Direction

6 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns – Most Important Problem

7 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns: Perceptions of the Local and National Economies National County “ Thinking about our county's economy, how would you rate economic conditions in Anne Arundel County today -- excellent, good, only fair, or poor?” (Total percentage saying excellent and good)

8 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns: Perceptions of the Local Economy Fall 2008 by Income Groups “ Thinking about our county's economy, how would you rate economic conditions in Anne Arundel County today -- excellent, good, only fair, or poor?”

9 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns: Applicability of Specific Conditions Spring/Fall 2008

10 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns: Applicability of Specific Conditions Fall 2008 by Income Groupings and Gap (Poor-Rich) ConditionOverall0-$50,000$50-100,000Over $100,000 Significant losses in stocks or retirement accounts Hard to afford cost of utilities such as electricity or gas Wages or salaries are not rising as fast as the cost of living Hard to afford cost of taxes Hard to afford cost of transportation Health care insurance is unavailable, too expensive or inadequate Unable to find affordable housing Facing the possibility of unemployment Facing the possibility of house foreclosure or loss41132

LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns: Applicability of Specific Conditions Fall 2008 by Age Group

12 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns: Applicability of Specific Conditions Fall 2008 by Race and Gender

13 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economic Concerns: What will the Future bring looking to 2010 and 2008 looking at 2018

14 Preparedness/ Confidence Econ crisis/ Feds Fall 2008 Econ.Environ.TerrorDisaster Very58711 Somewhat Not very No answer27634

15 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 How Prepared are Local Authorities in Event of Terrorist Strike – Katrina

16 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Housing - What is “Affordable Housing?” (asked Fall 2002) Attribute cited% Purchase price Median: $ ,000 39% A type that is lacking in AA County20% Housing type – apartments, townhouses, section 819% User type – low income, poor9% Other12% Total100% Is the lack of affordable housing in Anne Arundel County a problem? Yes 54% No 34% Don’t know 12%

17 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Main Economic Challenge for the Next Decade (Fall 2005) Transition to Managing Growth Challenge% Citing Managing growth/development31 Providing affordable housing19 Providing proper skills/education for workers 19 Infrastructure, roads10 Providing enough jobs9 Govt. budget problems/services3 Gas prices2 Taxes2 Other5

18 How effective have County policies been regarding growth and planning? LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economy and Growth: Effectiveness of County Growth Policies (Fall 2004 )

19 LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Economy and Growth: County Growth Choices – New Roads or Mass Transit (Spring 2001 ) To solve the transportation congestion issues that affect you the most, is it more important to fund new mass transit projects or build new roads and improve existing ones?

Approach to growth and transportationYesNo Build or upgrade highly congested roads and intersections in the county 7713 Create a local jitney bus service7121 Increase bus availability to major cities (Balt/DC)6922 Make it easier to get o MARC trains6720 Make it easier to find other people with whom to carpool6326 Severely limit new residential development – higher impact fees5433 Put moratorium on new residential development in your area5335 Reduce fares on public transportation5228 Allow more intense development of areas well served by public transportation LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 Approaches for Managing Growth/Transportation (Fall 1998)

Issue Gotten better Stayed about the same Gotten worse Better- Worse Improving the local economy Improving the overall quality of life in our County Controlling crime Improving the environment Reducing poverty and homelessness Improving ethics in government Improving the efficiency of local government Keeping taxes low Improving the academic performance of our children Planning growth and development Reducing traffic congestion I am going to read you a list of problems facing the County. Please tell me how well you think the County has dealt with these problems over the last year. Has the problem gotten better, stayed about the same, or gotten worse? LAA Presentation – Feb. 28, 2009 How well has County Performed? (Fall 1999) Transition to Crime

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26 One Thing to Most Improve Safety

ServiceMore % Same % Less % Don’t% know Public schools Police Fire Community college Seniors’ services Roads Average percentage Environmental programs Social services Health department Libraries Parks and recreation Planning and zoning LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Education – Perceived Value to Taxpayers? Spend More, Same or Less on Public Services? (Spring 2004)

HelpHurtNo effect HelpHurtNo effect Add Teaching Aides in Classrooms 9117 Increase Local Community Control over Schools Reduce Class Size8929 Provide More Elective Courses in Higher Grades Give Teachers More Power when Dealing with Disruptive Students 8687 Allow more variety in the curriculum Emphasize a "Return to Basics" Approach to Education 8659Change the School Board selection process Provide More Assistance to Special Education 85410Provide More Financial Assistance to Schools doing Poorly on Standardized Tests Encourage Flexibility in Teaching Methods 8398Add some Specialized Programs Increase Teacher Salaries82315Introduce School Prayers Start some Countywide "Magnet" Schools 79714Place Some Schools on a Year Round Schedule Create a Special High School for Disruptive Students Redistrict schools more frequently LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Would Proposals Help, Hurt or have no Effect on the Quality of Public Schools (Spring 1996)

29 LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Immigration Questions – Various (Spring 2008)

30 LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Legal and Illegal Immigrants (Spring 2008)

31 Do you think that you personally have benefited from the services of illegal immigrants for example in landscaping, construction, restaurants or janitorial services? LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Personally Benefitting from Illegal Immigrants(Spring 2008)

32 LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Personally Benefitting from Illegal Immigrants(Spring 2008) By Political Party

33 SupportOpposeUnsure No answer Total Environmental measures meant to restrict development in critical areas? Efforts by police to identify illegal immigrants and refer them to federal immigration services? Increasing impact fees on new construction in our county? Creating or increasing fees to sports leagues that use public parks to cover the maintenance of those parks? Increasing the tax on hotel stays from 7 percent to 10 percent Decreasing the drinking age to A $500 ambulance fee to help pay for county services?

ProposalSpring 2003Fall 2003Spring 2007 Cut programs Increase taxes Other--188 (Combo – cut spending/ raise taxes)-- 54 Don’t know24147 Total LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Funding Government – cut programs or cut spending? (Spring 2003, Fall 2003, Spring 2007)

35 LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Funding Government – Various Approaches (Fall 2003)

36 LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Funding Government – % Favoring Raising Income Tax? (Fall 2003)

37 LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Funding Government – % Favoring Sales Tax? (Fall 2003)

Approach (N=85)FavorCases Reduce government salaries1513 Reduce politicians salaries1210 Reduce government perks76 Cut waste, administration119 Cut back on specific programs3933 Other miscellaneous1614 Total LAA Presentation: Feb. 28, 2009 Expenditure reduction – Identify ways to cut govt. spending (open-ended) (Spring 2003)