Poll Results and Polls

A couple of online polls recently featured in The Hamiltonian, have now closed. The results suggest the following:

There seems to be mixed reaction around whether we should continue our lawsuit against the Federal government with respect to the Redhill.

Opinion was almost split down the middle 47% saying we should continue and the balance saying we should drop it. I suspect that those opposed with proceeding are likely considering the potential ballooning costs to taxpayers and the length of time it may take to get this resolved, without any assurance of success.

The question of whether Councillors should interact with citizens via blogs, such as this one, was not as divided. Over 80% of those who took the poll said that blogs are legitimate vehicles for Councillors to engage with citizens.

A word or two about polls featured in The Hamiltonian

1. Poll voting is available to anyone who frequents this site. The results are not scientific and cannot be proclaimed as a representative sample of any sort, and I have never made that claim anywhere.

At the same time, the polls represent the views of  Hamiltonians and I believe that every Hamiltonian’s opinion is worthy of consideration. It is interesting to collate the degree of resonance in different ways. These ways may include: feedback from talk radio, sentiments expressed by citizens in print media, other blogs, television, other internet sources etc. Those correlations do not amount to statistical reliability, but can be helpful indicators, if not, interesting. Here is a new example, as heard on 820 Talk click here to listen  (kudos to the good people at 820 Talk and CHML for their interest)

2. To those members of council who have challenged me by way of emails, with respect to the assessment of The Mayor and Council , and the corresponding results, I offer the following:

a) to those who suggested the results are not reliable, see #1 above

b) To those who have inferred that I somehow “hid” the amount of votes tallied, please know that each poll on this blog reports, in real time, the results and number of votes tallied, along with how much time remains in the poll (right down to the minute and second), all the while, displaying the tally of votes.  The information was readily available in real time over the entire duration of the poll being up and until such time afterwards, that  I removed it to make room for other polls or text. Respectfully, your allegation is a function of you or your staff not paying attention to the poll.

Sincerely,

Cal