2nd District Poll Results (with actual wording of questions)

[NOTE: Answers rounded to the nearest decimal point]

Humboldt County is currently updating its general plan, and the Board of Supervisors is considering three different ideas for future development. I will briefly describe each version, and ask which one you support.

Plan A allows the least amount of commercial development in new areas. It focuses growth in existing cities, and has the strongest protection for agriculture and forest land (also known as “open spaces”).

Plan B allows more growth and expansion of retail and has a less protection for agriculture and forest land, but not as much as Plan C. It has been described as a “middle-of-the-road” approach.

Plan C allows the most commercial development and actively promotes Big-Box Retail. It allows the most development of additional residential subdivisions into existing agriculture and forest land.

Which plan do you support?
49% - Plan A
35% - Plan B
12% - Plan C
3% - Don’t know

Currently water is diverted from the Eel River in Humboldt County to the Russian River in Sonoma County. What should the Board of Supervisors’ position be on this diversion:
18% - Seek financial compensation for Humboldt County
67% - Actively work to stop the diversion
4% - Allow the current diversion to continue with no change
12% - Don’t know/other

Would you support Humboldt County Supervisors playing a leadership role in developing sustainable energy policies and practices?
70% - Support
18% - Oppose
12% - Don’t know

Would you support Humboldt County Supervisors spending public money to prepare for the possible impacts of global climate change?
50% - Support
38% - Oppose
12% - Don’t know

There is a trend across the US to create community-based working forests. These forests are managed with input from local residents and are designed to ensure a sustainable and viable future for the local timber industry. Would you support such a program here in Humboldt County?
71% - Support
18% - Oppose
12% - No opinion

How important is it that Fortuna maintain its small town feel?
71% - Important
22% - Unimportant
6% - Don’t know/no opinion

Do you support investing public money to rebuild the railroad between Humboldt County and the Bay Area?
47% - Support
48% - Opposed
5% - No opinion

If the railroad could not carry passengers, but was only used to haul freight, would you support investing public money to rebuild the railroad between Humboldt County and the Bay Area?
38% - Support
57% - Opposed
5% - No opinion

How confident were you in the timber industry's ability to provide jobs 20 years ago?
41% - Very confident
23% - Somewhat confident
13% - Somewhat doubtful
12% - Very doubtful
12% neutral/no opinion

How confident are you in the timber industry’s ability to provide jobs today?
1% - Very confident
6% - Somewhat confident
17% - Somewhat doubtful
72% - Very doubtful
3% - Neutral/no opinion

Are you concerned that large corporations have too much influence in politics in Humboldt County?
44% - Very concerned
25% - Somewhat concerned
21% - Not concerned at all
9% - Don’t know/no opinion

Do you consider yourself:
7% - Very conservative
22% - Conservative
39% - Moderate
21% - Liberal
11% - Very liberal

Methodology Used

We consulted professors of scientific research from Humboldt State University and College of the Redwoods in order to determine how many completed surveys we needed in order to have confidence that the results accurately reflected the sentiments of 2nd District voters overall.

Based on these conversations, we determined we needed at least 300 completed surveys from a random sample of registered voters in the 2nd District. We used a pure random sampling technique, which is the most accurate form of probability sampling. This means that each member of the population has an equal and known chance of being selected.

There are 15,700 voters in the Second District, Local Solutions provided us a randomly generated list of 2,100 voters from this pool for us to call in order for us to reach our completed survey goal of 300.

Our final number of completed surveys was 312 registered voters, which represents approximately 2% of the registered voters in the Second District.