YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Springfield Business Journal has published reader polls since the reincarnation of our Web site, sbj.net, in August 2005. It’s been a fun ride, starting out slowly in terms of recorded votes and now averaging about 100 votes per poll. The polls are posted at sbj.net for two weeks at a time. Most often, they relate to a story we are covering.
We’ve hit a few home runs.
The Oct. 6–20 poll question of “Who should redevelop the Heer’s building in downtown Springfield?” cracked 200 votes for the first time. It ended with 231 votes, 134 of them for current Heer’s owner Vaughn Prost in a last-minute surge. About 60 of those votes came in the last days of the poll, perhaps after Prost got wind of the question. Makes us wonder. And it sounds strangely familiar to Prost’s 11th-hour effort to lure Heer’s tenants with six months of free rent. (See SBJ Nov. 6 story).
But credit goes to the victor.
The minimum wage issue drew another spike in votes as 183 readers stated their opinion on the pay hike. A strong majority of readers was in favor of it in September, and Missouri voters Nov. 7 backed up SBJ’s poll findings, passing the increase by 75.9 percent.
SBJ polls are not scientific, and we don’t claim them to be. They are simply sampling our readers’ opinions – to gauge public perception of issues, to use in framing future editorial coverage and to give our readers an outlet.
Yeah, we sometimes suffer poll burnout as you might have experienced coming off this election season. It seems poll numbers were discussed each time Claire McCaskill or Jim Talent got a fresh cup of coffee.
But they make for good discussion.
SBJ’s fourth-most active poll certainly raised a few brows. When we asked whether Springfield police should look deeper into the downtown shooting of Scott Tillman – a year after it happened and no charges filed – we found what we expected: that people want justice to be served.
Our intention with that poll was to gauge how important our readers – the business community – viewed the case. It was not to second-guess the Springfield Police Department or to throw dirt on anyone involved in the shooting or the investigation – as some have suggested.
The fact of the matter is that public pressure moves people. It has since ancient Rome. Who put Jesus Christ onto his cross? The people, after Pontius Pilate solicited their input.
As any media outlet should be, SBJ is somewhat moved by public pressure. We will try to produce what our buying public wants to see. News tips come in from these people. It’s a form of checks and balances – if we’re not meeting their needs, they’ll hopefully tell us or they’ll cancel their subscription. We don’t want the latter to happen.
I hope you voted Nov. 7, and I hope you take a look at our Reader Poll at sbj.net/poll.
SBJ’s Top-rated Reader Polls
1. Who should redevelop the Heer’s building in downtown Springfield?
Total votes: 231 From 10/6/2006 to 10/20/2006.
Magers Management Co. LLC, Springfield: More than 250 commercial jobs with partner Morelock-Ross Builders – 25% (57 votes)
McGowan & Walsh, St. Louis: $800 million in historic restoration work – 16% (37 votes)
Restoration St. Louis, St. Louis: $200 million in historic restoration work – 1% (3 votes)
Prost Builders Inc., Jefferson City: Invested two years and $6 million already in Heer’s project – 58% (134 votes)
2. Are you in favor of increasing Missouri’s minimum wage to $6.50 an hour?
Total votes: 183 From 9/8/2006 to 9/22/2006.
Yes – 63% (116 votes)
No – 37% (67 votes)
3. Are you in favor of a second coal-fired power plant in Springfield?
Total votes: 132 From 5/19/2006 to 6/1/2006.
Yes – 61% (80 votes)
No – 39% (52 votes)
4. Developer Scott Tillman was shot more than a year ago in his downtown Springfield office, but there have been no arrests made or charges filed. Should the Springfield Police Department make a renewed effort to solve the case?
Total votes: 103 From 7/28/2006 to 8/12/2006.
Yes – 69% (71 votes)
No – 31% (32 votes)
Take a look at results from all of SBJ's past poll questions.
Eric Olson is Springfield Business Journal editor. He can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.[[In-content Ad]]
Springfield event venue Belamour LLC gained new ownership; The Wok on West Bypass opened; and Hawk Barber & Shop closed on a business purchase that expanded its footprint to Ozark.