Tel Opinon Survey in Lake Worth

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I guess everyone by now has received the call from Tel Opinion asking what you thought about the most important issue in Lake Worth and who you like at this moment in time as far as where your vote would go on election day.

The most pressing and important issues were posed and you got to choose only one out of several--Spending, Casino, Crime, Utility rates, Gulfstream Hotel, Taxes, Condos being built on the waterfront and Heights. Those are the ones that I recall. Condos on the waterfront never entered my mind until the question was asked. Is that something we now must be worried about if this Trio is re-elected?

One question regarding local candidates was. "Would you vote for an eco-terrorist?" Of course, just hearing the word "terrorist" everyone would answer that in the negative. I'm not sure how a question such as this is helpful to Scott Maxwell other than just to instill fear in the minds of those being asked. When I was asked I said, "Oh you mean an environmentalist." The trio is now using/coining that phrase, eco-terrorist.

Tel Opinion is out of New York so said the gentleman on the phone but their nearest contact address is Palm Harbor, Florida. The man on the other end of the line would not or could not tell me who hired this firm to conduct the survey but you could just about tell by the questions--it was not Ryan Hartman, Frank McAlonan, Diane Jacques or Gary Antieau. In fact, the surveyor could not even pronounce the names of McAlonan and Jacques. As there were a few other questions thrown into the mix like your favorable or unfavorable rating of Shelley Vana and Ric Bradshaw as examples, in order to make the survey seem more broad when in reality it concentrated on Lake Worth. I got the impression that it was mainly a Republican Research firm.

Tel Opinion says that it "has a wealth of experience in helping understand perceptions of public policy and applying strategy to help mold it where appropriate. From work with American Airlines to the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association to the Florida Chamber of Commerce to education needs in Texas to the Commonwealth Foundation in Pennsylvania, Tel Opinion has dealt with a host of situations to the benefit of the client.

For instance, in the case of the Florida Retail Federation, a conflict arose between business owner's rights and the legal rights of gun owners. As a consequence of timely and effective research, the Federation and its allies were able to prevent legislation that would have materially altered property owner's rights and successfully preserve a safe business environment.

In a number of instances, a clear understanding of the public climate has led to the ability to create changes in public policy desired by the clients." Click here for sampling of their client list. And then Click here to see the owner's bio.

You have to wonder why anyone in a job that pays $14 to 15 thousand a year in a little city such as Lake Worth is so resolute in having the answers to this survey and on spending this money for it. Perhaps it was a developer/investor who paid for it, perhaps a major political Party, but we probably will never learn as they don't post all their clients on their web site. Another "transparency" issue for this Trio.