Nearly 7 in 10 San Diegans say the city is on the wrong track
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MEA poll. Graphic: Courtesy of Public Dynamics
The share of San Diegans who think the city is on the wrong track has spiked since last year, according to a new poll.
The big picture: The poll, paid for by the city's white collar union and obtained by Axios, puts some hard data behind just how unhappy people are with the city.
Zoom in: The San Diego Municipal Employees Association poll found 69% of respondents said the city is on the wrong track, up from 49% last September.
- Just 19% said the city was going in the right direction, the lowest number since the union started polling on that question in 2020.
The fine print: They polled 410 people in a statistically balanced sample group, Ryan Clumpner, a political consultant who conducted the poll through his company Public Dynamics, told Axios.
- The margin of error was 4.3%, he said.
Almost a quarter of respondents said housing costs were the biggest issue facing the city, followed by the city budget, cost of living and homelessness, according to the poll.
What they're saying: Respondents' emphasis on high costs "provides the best data about why the public so strongly believes the city is on the wrong track," Clumpner said.
- "The tightening of both household budgets and the public budget are adding to the sense that we as a community are in trouble," he said.
The other side: Mayor Todd Gloria hasn't seen the poll and so can't comment directly, spokesperson Joya Patel told Axios.
- But the mayor agrees housing and cost of living are real challenges for San Diegans, Patel said.
- "Many of these are broader economic and policy issues that originate beyond City Hall but are felt most directly by people in their neighborhoods and communities," she said.
- She pointed out signs of progress, including a decline in homelessness and increase in housing permits.
The intrigue: Another question showed half of respondents say they would rather pay more in taxes and fees to get more affordable housing and improvements to neighborhood parks and libraries.
- And more than half said the city should raise taxes on the wealthiest residents and companies to fund better public services.
"It is an expression of hope that voters are wanting to increase funding for local government services, despite their lack of faith in city leadership," Clumpner said.
- He added that perspective increasingly crosses party and ideological boundaries, and that 25% of self-identified Republicans expressed that view in the poll.
The poll's sample of 410 representative voters was collected from May 6–8. Sampling methodology was 50% cell, 31% text and 19% landline. The sample was balanced for partisanship, gender, age, geography, ethnicity and other demographic factors, according to Clumpner.