We are not divided as it seems. According to a new poll released by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, most residents agree on the issues facing the city.
Voters believe city government is generally headed in the right direction. The scientific survey was conducted Sept. 14-22 by the independent polling firm of Sacramento-based Smith Johnson Research. The random sample of 385 registered voters, reached via phone, online and text, has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
“Passionate conversation is part of our community,” said Molly Kern, Governmental Affairs Director. “People engage on the issues and it can seem like there is a lot of disagreement, but through this poll, we found tremendous agreement.”
Water, affordable housing, and San Luis Obispo’s unique character are top issues in the town. Transportation, traffic, business growth, and climate change also made the list.
“We commissioned the survey in order to gauge community sentiment on a range of policy issues that have long been priorities for the Chamber,” said Board Chair Geri LaChance. “It’s clear that the same issues that concern the Chamber – especially housing, water and environmental stewardship – are also top of mind for residents.”
“Something we were really pleased to see was that issues that are important to the business community like water, affordable housing, transportation and infrastructure really came out on top as really important for the SLO City voters as well,” Kern said.
More than 43 percent agreed with the statement the city government is generally headed in the right direction, 28 percent disagreed, and 28.5 percent said they were undecided.
“We think there is a lot of opportunity to educate people, to make it easy for people to understand issues that are going to shape our community moving forward,” Kern said.
The chamber is working hard before Nov. 6 to make sure people know who and what they are voting for.
“It’s incredibly important everyone in our community has their voice heard and it’s a great opportunity for us this fall.”
By more than a two-to-one margin, respondents agreed with the statement that “local government must work harder to allow the construction of more types of housing.”
