Democratic Club at Celebrate Bonita

Your Democratic Club at Celebrate Bonita!

On April 3, 2005, the City of Bonita Springs held the 5th Annual Celebrate Bonita event in the newly refurbished Riverside Park. The Democratic Club had tables under the banyan tree. The booth was set up and manned by Martha Simons, Bill Simons, Susan Healy, Darren Rumbold, Len Coleman, Wally Hutton, Larry Jackson, Hartley Peakes, Joyce Beach, Jean Prokopow, and Jim Watson.

A key portion of the event was our opinion poll. Each participant was asked to tell us how they would emphasize various Local, National, and International issues/problems on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 indicated the most emphasis.

We had 224 participants. The table below shows the results for each issue in the order of average response. It includes only those who actually took a position on the issue. Because of the nature of the response the median evaluation is also included. (Median = half greater than and half less than.) There was an 'Other' category in each group. Only a few issues received more than one input in 'Other.' Remember, 10 is most important emphasis; 0 is least important emphasis.

Local Issues	Respondents	Median Answer	Average Response
Road and Highway Construction	208	10	8.83
Management of Growth & Development	197	9	8.20
Health Care & Emergency Care	189	8	7.82
Schools	185	8	7.32
Affordable Housing	192	8	7.04
Tax Rates	183	7	6.36
Annexation	174	5	4.45

National Issues
The Deficit & National Debt	196	10	8.29
Social Security & Medicare	204	10	8.17
Education	195	9	8.01
Healthcare & Prescription Drugs	199	9	7.97
Jobs & The Economy	192	9	7.64
Environment Protection	195	8	7.89
Homeland Security	200	8	7.61
National Defense & Veterans Issues	192	8	7.19
Taxes	196	8	7.12
Moral Values	186	8	6.89

International Issues
Support of Democracy	193	10	8.55
Terrorism	202	10	8.10
Relations with other countries	201	9	8.09
Availability of oil	199	9	7.97
Trade	194	8	7.58
Iraq	191	7	6.3

This is not a scientific poll in which the respondents are a statistically accurate sample of the residents of Bonita Springs; however, it is a pretty good sample of the visitors to the Celebrate Bonita event.

Here are some notes on the "Other" inputs we received.

The Energy and Environment drew the most nominations for attention. Eleven inputs suggested such items as "Search for alternative fuels" to "Gas Cheaper" and "Global Warming."

There were three items next in line with seven related inputs each. The Iraq war got six requests to extricate ourselves and one "Support our Troops." Government involvement in Moral Values got a split vote with five asking for an end to government involvement while two suggested that the issue deserved more than 10 points. Seven people thought healthcare and its cost continues to be in need of attention all the way from home healthcare to Medicare to special needs of people transitioning to dependence.

Finally, fiscal responsibility issues drew five responses. Comments ran from "Balance the Budget" to "National Taxes should fit reality."

The remaining write-ins had no more than two related comments. Four comments were particularly aimed at the City of Bonita Springs: "No Pier." " Council not voting like voters want." "Need more Parks." "Need more citizen input."

We easily handed out 150 copies of our Social Security facts and solutions sheet. We also handed out nearly 100 Democratic Party Values sheets. We also sold Democratic paraphernalia to help the treasury.

PS: The Bonita Banner reported on our poll on Saturday, April 14.