Janelle Irwin Taylor
A third poll has confirmed what two others have already shown: Residents overwhelmingly favor the Destination St. Pete Pier design over all others.
In a new survey commissioned by Florida Politics, St. Pete Polls asked residents which of the three remaining pier designs they favored: Pier Park, Destination St. Pete Pier or the Alma. More than 45 percent chose Destination as their preferred design.
What’s more telling in the latest survey, though, is how few chose the Alma. Fewer than 9 percent chose that as their top pick despite the city’s Pier Selection Committee having clearly set it as its No. 1. Another 23 percent chose Pier Park as their favorite.
The survey, conducted Sunday evening, comes just days after a marathon meeting where the selection committee nearly ranked Destination St. Pete, the top vote-getter in the city’s public survey and an independent one conducted through St. Pete Polls, at No. 3. That would have essentially eliminated the St. Pete Design Group’s vision for a new pier.
Instead they leaned toward the Alma. It was the city’s No. 4 vote-getter in the public survey and last on the St. Pete Polls survey. Dozens of supporters of Destination St. Pete and some who were there to support a process heavy with public input, but not necessarily a particular design, blasted the committee for ignoring the will of the public.
However, the survey was nonbinding and, by law, cannot be used as a sole basis for selecting a final team.
City council will ultimately have an up or down vote on the No.1 design. The second seeded design will only be considered if negotiations between the city and the first design team fail.
That begs the question: If the selection committee continues to ignore the public’s favorite, should the board vote down its selection? According to the latest poll, the answer is yes.
Nearly 55 percent indicated city council should reject the selection committee’s choice if it is not the most popular among the public. Just 32.5 percent said they should move forward, with 12.7 percent being unsure.
That seems to rule out the notion the public has “pier fatigue” and just wants something built. It will likely weigh on council members as they decide whether or not to risk another ballot initiative forced by petition as happened in 2013 with the Lens.
The survey was conducted on Sunday among 843 registered St. Petersburg voters who indicated they familiar with the Pier design competition process. There’s a 3.4 percent margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.
One comment
max cady
March 27, 2015 at 2:16 pm
et your calculator. 32% of 4% of the population. I still can’t see “clear favorite”. Am I missing a formula on my calculator?
Destination needs to drum up this fiction of being “the people’s choice” because the project ranks so low an all the important criteria the City required. The committee was always going to give the survey of such a low segment of the city no more weight than ranking fishing, observation, the ballroom, kayak rentals, etc. Destination
didn’t rank highest in all of the criteria, but the committee moved them into top
3 and then later from 3rd to 2nd for getting the most votes on a limited
the survey. btw 70% liked other schemes. That still leaves most of the city
complaining about that scheme.
1-Look at the criteria for each category.
2-Study the plans.
3-Rank the teams
.
Scientific, but independent?
StPetePolls.org a division of Fextel Inc. filed as a Domestic for Profit Corporation in the State of Florida.
From what I can tell they are a call center designed to make money.
Nothing is independent when money is involved. No one does anything for free. Follow the money.
Correct me if I’m wrong please.
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