Firm president, Adam Probolsky joined the Local Government Insights podcast, episode 27, to talk about how government uses public opinion research in the process of making public policy.
Listen here:
Originally published in PublicCEO – written by Adam Probolsky
If your kid came home with a D+ on her report card, you would start asking questions. How did things get this bad? Why didn’t we catch the problem sooner? And what’s the name of a good tutor?
Americans are in a similar predicament with our failing infrastructure. According to the latest report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the country’s infrastructure gets a D+. That’s a marginally passing grade for our bridges, dams, highways and water systems.
For decades, civil engineers have lamented the lack of public support for a real infrastructure fix. There’s no question that Americans want to drive on safe roads, access reliable water sources and keep the lights on. We want our country to thrive, and understand that it costs money to rebuild necessary systems. Why, then, has rebuilding America’s infrastructure languished?
To understand current attitudes toward infrastructure, you can to go back to the country’s last great big investment: President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. While today we think of highways as a necessity for trade and commerce, it wasn’t the only selling point. Part of the pitch for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways was to ready the nation “in case of atomic attack on our key cities, the road net [would] permit quick evacuation of target areas.”
Highway advocates understood that framing transportation infrastructure in the context of the Cold War would increase the public’s intensity for the issue. It delivered a compelling narrative with a well-understood sense of urgency because it related to something on everyone’s mind.
In a similar fashion, there is a relatable message for supporting today’s infrastructure that should be tapped into, another layer of infrastructure we should all be concerned with but rarely talk about: software. A recent Bloomberg Businessweek article highlights the shocking age of software that many cities and regional government agencies rely upon for major systems like billing, emergency communications and transit. Some of us have a nostalgia for 1980s software like the DOS prompt or Commodore 64 commands. But no one would be comfortable with either as the backbone for police and fire radios or water treatment plants in 2019. That is essentially though the reality for far too governments in the U.S. today.
In a recent Probolsky Research survey, more than half (54%) of Americans say they support upgrading decades-old software that is running critical infrastructure, “even if it costs millions.” How could it be that the same Americans who are wholly weary of most government spending, would open public coffers to upgrade software that is still working? It’s worth noting that 31% of Americans said just that, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Perhaps support for spending on software updates is rooted in the fact that they upgrade the software on their smart phones on what seems like a monthly basis. And when you turn on an iPhone from just a few years ago, you can see the dramatic difference in look and feel of the operating system, but more importantly, the difference in speed. Americans know that software powers our world. And innovations happen every day.
Policymakers should not be afraid to support spending money on infrastructure. And they should know that it will be easy to make the case for upgrading and maintaining the underlying software that runs critical government systems.
Thank you to the California Special Districts Association for inviting Adam Probolsky to present new statewide polling data at their Leadership Summit in Squaw Creek last week. Adam recorded a brief overview of the presentation for those who missed the event or for those who attended and want to share what they learned during the discussion. We welcome inquiries on the data or for help with research for specific agencies or regions.
Here you can see just the slides:
There is no formula that is set in stone for how to conduct research on any subject matter. But when a local government is looking to pursue new voter-approved revenues, we have identified a process we follow to help the city, county or other agency understand their constituency and do the necessary outreach to communicate the need and purpose.
We welcome the chance to share this process and review the needs of any community and explain how we can help.
Here is a brief video of Adam Probolsky speaking to the Dixon, CA City Council about a poll our firm conducted on a possible special sales tax measure to fund transportation and infrastructure needs:
We conducted a poll for CALAFCO which represents all 58 California Local Agency Formation Commissions. And presented the findings at their October 25, 2017 in San Diego. The presentation and Q&A took over an hour, but I wanted to give people the chance to watch in less than 10 minutes. Click to watch and listen to the run-through below.
Contact our San Francisco office at 415-870-8150 if you would like more detailed results or a personalized briefing.
Click here for the the presentation posted at the CALAFCO.
