Clatsop Community College
1653 Jerome, Astoria OR 97103
For immediate release
Contact: Nadine Faith (503) 338-2306
CCC Surveys Voters for Future Campus
Options
After Clatsop County voters turned down its bond measure
for a new campus, Clatsop Community College hired ActiDyne, a Scappoose
based
market research
firm, to conduct a survey to help the College Board analyze election
results and future options.
“We believe there is genuine community support for the College as well
as an understanding that our current facilities are inadequate
to serve the educational needs of the County. After the election, we heard lots
of different opinions about why the voters rejected the bond measure
and about what we should do next,” says Greg Hamann, CCC
President. “With
this in mind, we asked the survey firm to help us specifically
identify why the voters turned down the bond and what project,
if any, voters
might support.”
The results of the study indicate that the main reason the bond
measure failed had to do with location, even more than cost. According
to
ActiDyne, “more
than 45 percent of the 460 county voters interviewed volunteer[ed] that
the “location” issue was the main reason for failure.”
In particular, respondents seemed opposed to constructing a new
campus on the John Warren Field. When asked if they would support
another
$24 Million measure, 47% said yes, but that number sharply declined
if the
measure specifically identified that the new campus would be located
at the John Warren Field, in which case 69 percent said they would
be opposed.
On the other hand, when offered the option of voting for or against
a $24 Million bond that specified building the new campus in Warrenton
on land donated for that purpose, 67 percent said they would support
this option.
Respondents were less supportive of a smaller, $10 Million bond
measure that would help to refurbish the existing Jerome Avenue
campus, with
53% saying they would support such a measure.
ActiDyne also asked respondents about whether the College should
place another measure on the ballot in May 2007. According to ActiDyne’s
report to the College Board, “[T]his study information shows enough
consensus to unite a majority of the county to support a $24 million
CCC Warrenton location bond.” The Board will consider this opinion
as well as other factors, in its discussions about what it needs to do
next to provide facilities that meet the current and future needs of
the County’s community college users.
Four hundred and sixty telephone surveys were completed during
the month of December 2006, which provides a statistical accuracy
rate
of 95%.
The sample was constructed from a randomized set of registered
voters within Clatsop County, representative of voting precincts.
Ninety-three
percent of those who participated in the survey indicated they
had voted in the November election that included the Community
College
Bond Measure.
ActiDyne’s summary of the survey can be seen at www.clatsopcc.edu. [Download here, .pdf file]