Some critics call Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato's community survey biased
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato is calling on all residents to fill out a community survey to help her set the direction of the new administration.
But as KDKA political editor Jon Delano reports, one county council member calls the survey biased with a left-wing agenda.
It's a 10-page community survey on nine key topics, from housing for all to equitable economic development to environmental justice, with questions drafted by each of the nine transition teams put together by Innamorato.
"These survey results will not sit on a shelf. The results of this survey will inform action and policy," says Lauren Connelly, who co-chaired the transition team that assembled the questions.
She encourages everyone to take the survey.
"County Executive Innamorato really wanted to make sure she was hearing directly from residents, what their priorities were for her administration. This survey is really a critical step," says Connelly.
But not everyone likes the survey.
County Councilman Sam DeMarco says it's a good idea, but he said this survey has a left-wing bias drafted by liberal Innamorato supporters.
"It reflects the point of view of the people who assembled this, and I don't believe that that is representative of the county at large," says DeMarco.
DeMarco says the multiple-choice answers leave out some obvious ones.
"When she asks some questions in the survey about public safety, what would you like to see to make your community safer, there's no option there for add more police officers," says DeMarco.
Instead, says the councilman, Innamorato's choices often require spending on liberal ideas.
"All the options here on this survey are going to lead to spending additional monies," says DeMarco. "These are all progressive ideas that have not worked anywhere where they've been tried."
Connelly defends the survey created by a diverse team, saying there's a blank line option to write in your answer. And she acknowledges not all issues were addressed.
Delano: "There's no topic on taxes, on reassessments. Why were those left out of this survey?"
Connelly: "As you already indicated, it's a long survey. I don't know how much longer we could have made it and still received some of the incredible response that we're seeing now. But that's not to say that's not a priority. This is a first step."
Connelly says over 5,000 people have already responded, and DeMarco encourages everyone to participate, too, using the blank lines to critique the questions. You can find the survey here