Poll: Less than half of city voters support expensive Bayview Center

Yesterday, Inweekly/Political Matrix surveyed 450 likely voters of the City of Pensacola and found the city is divided on whether to spend $9.6 million on the construction of the new Bayview Park Community Center.

Only 48.22 percent supported the  project. The persons opposed were 36.66 percent, and 15.11 percent were undecided.

Unfortunately for Mayor Ashton Hayward, the council members for the only two districts that had majorities in favor of the expensive community center and boathouse will not attend tonight’s meeting. P.C. Wu’s District 1 had 51.35 percent say yes to the spending. Brian Spencer’s District had 62.68 percent in favor. Both are out of town.

The two city districts with the highest percentages of African-American voters were the least in favor of spending $9.8 million in Bayview Park. Gerald Wingate’s District 5 had only 25.53 percent support it, while Jewel Cannada-Wynn’s District 7 had 37.25 percent in favor.

When we looked at District 4, which is where the project is located, we found support to be at 48.83 percent.

This study was conducted via Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology. The numbers used were supplied by the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office. Only households who voted in last four elections were called in this survey. The number were randomized upon implementation of the study and 450 completed studies were collected. The study consisted of five questions asked of the respondents. The margin of error of this +/- 3.5%.

Do you support the city spending $9.6 million dollars to construct the new Bayview Park Community Center at this time?