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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

PRESS RELEASE: The 15th Ward Democrats conducted a citywide poll of registered voters in the City of St. Louis regarding public funding of a new stadium.


*** PRESS RELEASE ***

15th Ward Democrats
Media Contact:  Richard Buthod · 314-651-3566 · richardbuthod@aol.com
www.15thward.org · 3700 S Utah Pl · St. Louis, MO · 63116



Advisory: Grassroots Democratic Activists Release Poll Showing Overwhelming Opposition To Public Funding Of The Proposed New Riverfront Stadium

St. Louis, MO (11/10/2015) – At a meeting last month, the 15th Ward Democrats discussed public funding for the construction of the proposed new riverfront stadium and concluded that since the city’s ability to hold a vote was taken away, St. Louisans had no current, citywide data indicating public sentiment on the issue. After speaking with friends, neighbors, and other city taxpayers, the ward committee decided to poll city voters, in the hope of understanding the level of support or opposition for the public financing proposal. The 15th Ward Democrats voted to fund a citywide telephone poll of registered voters.

After verifying that they were city voters, respondents were asked a simple question: “Should city taxpayer dollars be used to pay for a new NFL stadium?” Over 700 city voters answered the polling questions, and the results show that opposition to public stadium financing outweighs support 79% to 21%. “While we suspected that opposition to the stadium was broad, we were surprised by the staggering amount of voter opposition to the stadium deal. There isn’t a single city ward where support outpaced opposition and in most wards public financing had less than 20% support,” said 15th Ward Democrats President Richard Buthod. “The fact that the Stadium Task Force hadn’t released any polling showing support for the stadium led us to believe that opposition was high. But the fact that opposition has risen above the 72% that Remington Research Group found to be opposed shows that voters have looked at the recently released funding details and are rejecting this irresponsible proposal.”

Opposition to public financing of sports stadiums is nearly universal among financial experts, a viewpoint shared by most Americans including President Obama. In 2002, St. Louis voters sent a clear message at the ballot box that future stadium funding should require voter approval.  Those same citizens now want to vote on public funding for the proposed stadium.  “We are calling on our city leaders to join Ald. Green, Spencer, Ingrassia, Cohn, Moore, and Carter in supporting Board Bill 207 and to pass this legislation that would allow city voters to decide whether public funds should be used to support a new stadium -- before the Board of Aldermen votes on funding it.  The citizens deserve the opportunity to vote on this decades-long financial commitment.  This polling shows that St. Louis’ taxpayers have a simple message for our elected officials: Turn the funding proposal down or send it to the ballot. The people deserve a vote, plain and simple,” concluded Buthod.

The 15th Ward Democrats will be holding a press conference outside of St. Louis City Hall at 10am on Tuesday, November 10th, when the polling results will be released to the public. The organization is also conducting additional polling to further understand the levels of opposition, ward-to-ward, and those data will be released soon.

            What: Press Conference to release new citywide stadium funding polling data.
            Why: City taxpayers continue demanding a vote on public financing for a stadium.
            Where: The front steps of St. Louis City Hall (1200 Market).
            When: Tuesday, November 10th at 10am(CST).

The poll was conducted on the evening of 11/3/15 between the hours of 6pm and 8pm. There were a total of 710 respondents. Of the 710 respondents, 563 answered that they were opposed to public financing, while 147 showed support. The poll has a margin of error(MoE) of 4%.

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Paid for by the 15th Ward Democrats - Diane Bounds, Treasurer.


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