Washington Post District of Columbia Poll, January 2008

This special topic poll, fielded January 3-8, 2008, is a part of continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on various political and social issues. The District of Columbia was the focus of this poll. Residents were asked for their feelings about the future of the District of Columbia, whether they thought the District was moving in the right direction, and the biggest problems facing the District at that time. Respondents were asked for their opinions of Mayor Adrian Fenty and whether they approved of the way he was handling his job and other issues such as improving city services, reducing crime, creating more jobs for District residents, the number of African Americans serving in city government, as well as their opinions of Mayor Fenty's relations with the District Council. Opinions were also solicited on the District of Columbia Council, respondents' own ward council members, the District police, Ward Eight Representative Marion Barry, head coach of the Washington Redskins Joe Gibbs, Police Chief Cathy Lanier, District Council Chairman Vincent Gray, Chancellor of the District of Columbia public schools Michelle Rhee, and District of Columbia Chief Financial Officer Natwar Ghandi. Several questions asked about issues in the respondents' own neighborhood, including safety from crime, how the process of redevelopment would affect the rich and poor, the neighborhood, and the city overall, whether respondents thought they would be forced from their homes due to the redevelopment, and whether respondents thought they could find a home they could afford within the District if they had to move that day. A series of questions focused on District public schools, including the school system's budget, violence and crime in the schools, lack of parental involvement, what was the biggest problem facing District public schools, and whether the transfer of control of District public schools to the mayor had made a difference. Additional topics included the theft of millions of dollars from the city by employees in the District's Tax and Revenue Department, respondents' financial situation, the Washington Nationals major league baseball team and new publicly funded baseball stadium, opinions on financing a soccer stadium for the team D.C. United, terrorist attacks in the Washington area, and gun control. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, whether anyone in the household worked for the federal or city government, frequency of religious attendance, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents rented or owned their home, voter registration status and participation history, political party affiliation, political philosophy, the presence of children under 18 in the household, and whether respondents had children in the District of Columbia public school system.