Poll: County residents see economy as biggest issue

County residents support slots, higher impact fees and tougher restrictions on building near the Chesapeake Bay, according to a poll released yesterday by the Center for Local Issues at Anne Arundel Community College.

Residents were split on whether to support Barack Obama or John McCain in Tuesday's presidential contest.

While the scientific, bi-annual survey of nearly 600 residents collected opinions on several local issues, anxiety over the economy dramatically overshadowed other concerns about the county.

One-third of people considered the economy "the most important problem facing the residents of Anne Arundel County at this time." Nearly half considered Anne Arundel's economic conditions to be "poor" or "fair."

"These results show an unparalleled level of economic pessimism about the economy," said Dan Nataf, a political science professor and director of the center. "Economic optimism has dropped 20 points in just a year and lies 15 points below the historic average."

Since the survey began in 1995, residents normally cite growth/transportation, education, crime or taxes as their top concerns. A year ago, only 8 percent of the respondents put the economy as their top worry. In the recent survey, conducted over three days last week, 38 percent cited the economy.

Residents also reported increased concern over if they can afford to pay their tax bills this year. Nearly three-quarters said they had "significant losses" from the recent plunge of the stock market. More than half said they were "not very confident" the steps taken by the federal government would fix the problem.

"People who expressed the least confidence were consistently more likely to say that various economic conditions such as unemployment, inflation, and stock losses had affected them," Dr. Nataf said, later adding the widespread impact of the market meltdown took him by surprise.

"I just didn't realize how vested the public was in these equities and the sense of vulnerability they had in their retirement," Dr. Nataf said.

County Executive John R. Leopold, who reviewed the survey results, said yesterday that he believed Anne Arundel would be insulated from economic forces that could wreck havoc elsewhere.

"We're better protected than some other counties," Mr. Leopold said, discussing the high concentration of defense contractors in the county and the local government's history of conservative spending.

"This administration has taken a number of steps to reduce spending to run a tight fiscal ship in order to weather these economic winds," Mr. Leopold said.

He reaffirmed his promise not to raise local income or property taxes.

Amid the grim feelings on the local economy, residents surveyed reported optimism about the state of Anne Arundel, with 52 percent saying the county is headed in the right direction, up 2 percentage points from when the question was asked last spring.

Two-thirds supported increasing impact fees. And while 52 percent supported legalizing slot machines in Maryland, support in Anne Arundel has diminished since last spring when 63 percent backed the idea.

An overwhelming majority of 84 percent supported restricting development near the Chesapeake Bay in order to protect the environment.

The complete survey can be found at www2.aacc.edu/csli