Republican county council candidate Bill Corrigan is questioning a recent poll conducted by Mr. Dooley to gage the support for a casino in north county.

Corrigan release:

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley commissioned a political poll through the St. Louis County Economic Council and used $11,600 of taxpayer dollars to pay for it.

“Charlie Dooley should immediately reimburse the citizens of St. Louis County for this political poll,” said Bill Corrigan, candidate for St. Louis County Executive. “Real leadership is about making difficult decisions, even when an issue isn’t popular. Mr. Dooley was clearly concerned about making an ‘unpopular’ decision, so he relied on a poll to back himself up in case the public disapproved of his decision. This isn’t leadership.”

There are several issues with this poll, which make it political rather than a public opinion poll:The County Executive should be interested in the opinions of all citizens, not simply those who vote.

The Dooley administration qualified the voters in political parties.

The poll inquired about what voters think regarding economic conditions in North St. Louis county, which again polls voters on how they think Dooley is handing economic development.

Messages in addition to opinions and facts were polled. If this were merely a public opinion poll, the administration would have no need to determine “which messages” polled best

This was conducted just a few months before an election, which makes it election material. All election material should be paid for by the Dooley campaign and not taxpayers.

It is ironic that the day before Mr. Corrigan’s release, Mr. Dooley’s website had this St. Louis Globe Democrat article announcing that the county police department was eligible for a $146,352 grant to purchase laptop computers for police cars. At $5,000 a piece, that grant would purchase 28 laptops. Many county residents are questioning today why Mr. Dooley is purchasing political polls with taxpayer money, instead of providing laptops for our police officers?Crime is getting out of control when police officers in St. Louis County are being robbed at gunpoint — while still in their uniform!

Related:

KMOX.com:

Dooley defends casino poll — denies it was “campaign tool”

County Executive ignores questioning on casino poll

Councilman alleges campaign checks influence contracts

Political Fix: Corrigan wants Dooley’s campaign to pay for county casino poll

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