A recent poll commissioned by Sachs Media Group shows overwhelming support among Leon County voters for creating a Children’s Services Council.
The proposed new Council, which is on the ballot, has the stated goal of improving early education readiness, childrens’ health, and providing nutritional assistance. A vote in favor of the council is a vote in favor of a new tax to fund it and its services.
Barney Bishop, with the group Citizens for Responsible Spending, isn’t buying the Sachs poll. For one, Bishop calls it an “old poll,” as it was conducted about two weeks ago.
“They hadn’t even started to hear the pros and the cons yet. Number two, it says that it’s talking about Leon voters. Well, that means registered voters, that doesn’t mean likely voters. Likely voters would tell you what’s going to happen at the polling place,” Bishop said at a press conference outside City Hall Wednesday.
The Sachs poll’s major finding was 70 percent of Leon Voters planned to vote for the new tax and creation of a Council. About a quarter of voters responded that they were unsure, the PR firm reported, and 22 percent opposed the measure.
Bishop claims the numbers don’t add up – and he wants to see the questions as presented to those who were polled.
“This idea that 70 percent of the people support a Children’s Services tax is hogwash, and the poll is as well,” Bishop told media. “Because, it doesn’t give us what the question is, and it doesn’t give us any of the crosstabs.”
A news release from Sachs Media outlining the poll's results said "support for the measure is particularly strong among Black and Hispanic voters, with more than three-quarters of those who have made up their minds in both groups saying they will vote to create the CSC."
If approved by voters, the Children’s Services Council will be made up of unelected members – half of them appointees from Governor Ron DeSantis. They’ll decide how the tax money is used, and what services those dollars fund.
Groups of local elected officials and citizens have been formed in support – and opposition – of creating a council.
