Last week we shared the latest installment of The Index, the Chamber’s public opinion research project.
We do this kind of voter research because quality of life underlies attracting and retaining employees – to move here or to stay here. It also impacts the decisions of business owners to stay or locate here.
Every time we release an installment of The Index, and this is our sixth installment, we see changes in voter mood and where Seattle voters want to see progress.
And looking at this data set, I’m calling voter mood: incremental optimism.
When I say incremental optimism, what I mean is that across the board, data points are up a little bit. Pretty much every measure has moved in the right direction, even if just by a couple of percentage points.
The Index itself is up a point, the city is headed in the right direction is up 2 points, I’m optimistic about the future of the region is up 2 points, and quality of life better than it was 4 years ago is up 3 points.
I was excited to see 5% fewer people are worried about the future of downtown Seattle. Five percent more people think growth and development has been a positive for their area and 5% more people are proud to call themselves a Seattleite.
And in what may be the most meaningful shift in this survey, when asked: “I trust the Seattle City Council to reform the Seattle Police Department without endangering public safety,” 10% more people agree that this new Council can get the job done, compared to last fall.
But we want more than just incremental optimism, and this data shows a clear path forward, which is for leaders to get back to basics.
And you can see that in the questions around taxes:
- 7 in 10 voters don’t trust the city to spend their tax dollars responsibly
- 6 in 10 voters think taxes are too high for the level of service the city provides
We asked voters: Do you agree the city has enough money to address important priorities, leaders just need to spend it more effectively? In August of 2021, 73% of voters agreed with that statement, compared to March of 2024, now 80% agree. That is a near-universal number.
And we gave voters a choice of two statements about how the city should offset its budget deficit:
- Prioritize basics, support our most vulnerable residents, and reduce non-critical spending, or
- Maintain spending and program levels and raise taxes to cover the deficit
Seventy-six percent of voters agree on focusing on the basics versus raising taxes.
This desire to focus on the fundamentals is also visible in the data around transportation. Ninety percent of voters think focusing on funding the basics like filling potholes, maintaining parks, and addressing public safety would improve quality of life. Nearly 7 in 10 voters believe when it comes to transportation the city should focus on basics like maintaining infrastructure like bridges and paving streets.
So, I encourage you to take this data set to your community and elected leaders and encourage them to get back to basics.
The Chamber will continue to collect this research going forward. And we will continue to use it in our relentless pursuit of progress on key issues impacting quality of life in our region.
With optimism, Rachel
Rachel Smith
President and CEO