Oakland Tribune Outtakes

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the struggling effort to recall Mayor Jean Quan, and a recent poll commissioned by political consultant Larry Tramutola, that found that two thirds of likely Oakland voters would oppose a recall.  Tramutola, who ran Don Perata’s losing 2010 mayoral campaign, concluded that a recall vote was doomed to fail.

The poll, conducted in mid-April by EMC Research has a 4.9 percent margin of error. Tramutola didn’t release all of the data, but did send us a memo with the following information:

Tramutola Poll

Oakland voters are pessimistic about the city’s direction, and very concerned about crime and safety. 55% of Oakland voters say the City is “off on the wrong track” and only 23% say Oakland is headed in the right direction. A 51% majority of voters say they feel less safe than they did a year or two ago; 34% say they feel about the same and only 13% say they feel more safe. Crime, violence and gangs are the top worry of voters in Oakland, rating even higher than jobs and economic concerns.

Voters give Mayor Jean Quan a very weak job approval rating. 21% say Jean Quan is doing an excellent or good job, and 76% say she is doing a poor or only fair job. Only 17% approve of Quan’s handling of Occupy Oakland, and 73% disapprove.

Despite Quan’s weak rating, only one third support a recall. Despite their dissatisfaction with Quan, only 34% say they would vote to recall Quan; 56% say they would vote against a recall.

Voters are also very dissatisfied with the City Council. Only 13% say the City Council is doing an excellent or good job, and 78% say the Council is doing a poor or only fair job.

A majority of voters support term limits for City Council and City Attorney. The survey also asked voters about a three term, twelve year term limit for City Council members and the City Attorney. A solid 62% majority of voters support term limits for the City Council, and 54% support term limits for the City Attorney.

A majority of voters would support June elections with a November runoff. A majority (52%) of voters said they would support a proposal to hold “city elections in June, with a runoff in November between the top two vote getters.” 35% said they would oppose the change, and 13% were undecided.