Philadelphians grade Mayor Nutter

A public opinion poll reveals that Philadelphians think the city is heading in the right direction compared to two years ago. The change reflects the city’s new leadership under Mayor Michael Nutter, who took office in January 2008. Nutter comes off the poll with a 71% approval rating. In terms of his performance, 46% of the 1600 residents polled gave the Mayor a letter grade of “A” or “B,” while 21% gave him a “D” or “F.”

The newly created Philadelphia Research Initiative conducted the poll last month from January 2nd to January 19th, right around the time the Mayor announced the city was now facing a second billion dollar budget deficit. The poll revealed that Philadelphians disapprove of how the Mayor is dealing with the city’s budget problems. The majority, 65%, said they were against the city’s service cuts affecting swimming pools, fire companies and libraries; while 27% supported the Mayor in this arena. But the Mayor’s decision to delay reducing wage and business taxes, through Fiscal Year 2014, has Philadelphians split: 44% polled said they were opposed and 43% were in favor. 

To read more about the poll results, here’s the report. It’s broken into three parts: a summary of the results, breakdown of the data, and list of questions asked. 

When you read the report, you will notice how the data differs by race, economic class, and education. For example, the more affluent and educated give higher marks to Nutter. The polls shows that 60% of college graduates gave him a “B,” compared to only 40% with a high school education. Based on that, Nutter might get higher marks from his constituents in the future if he actually accomplishes one of his major education goals, which is to increase the number of city residents with a college education.

Some other highlights from the poll results include:

63% say Philadelphia is an excellent or a good place to live

46% say Philadelphia is heading in the right direction, 37% say the city is on the wrong track. Compare that to 2007, when 61% said the city under John Street was on the wrong track.

Take a look at the poll results and let us know what you think. Do you hold similar views as shown in the poll, or not? How would you grade Mayor Nutter and where do you stand on the budget cutbacks? Are you in favor of more government services and higher taxes, or less services and lower taxes?

In a teleconference this afternoon, organizers behind the poll say the results show Philadelphians favor the mayor and feel good about the direction of the city. At the same time, the poll’s organizers say the data indicates Philadelphians trust Nutter to do the right thing in resolving the city’s budget crisis, but are upset about the cuts he’s already implemented and proposed. 

The poll’s director Larry Eichel, a former reporter for the Inquirer, says the poll illustrates Philadelphians are paying attention to the budget crisis. For that reason, he says the Mayor will face challenges building consensus in selling his Fiscal Year 2010 budget.

By the end of the month, Eichel says his team at the Philadelphia Research Initiative will release more data collected from the in-depth telephone survey and put out a report called the The State of the City. Eichel says that report will look more closely at how Philadelphians specifically feel about city services, schools, public safety, transportation and other quality of life matters.