Simonian Little League Survey

The Anchorage Assembly Poll March 2002

This survey was part of a larger survey the Anchorage Assembly commissioned with the ballfield question tagged on at no additional expense. The Survey was done March 25 and 26 by Ivan Moore Research. It was a survey of 267 Anchorage "supervoters" (people who vote regularly based on city voter rolls) and has a margin of error of +/- 6% .

1) There has been some discussion lately about where to locate Simonian Little League ballfields. Which of the following two statements comes closest to your view:

A. The Simonian ballfields should go into Bicentennial Park regardless of whether other options exist elsewhere on vacant Municipal land.

B. If other options exist on vacant land, those should be considered before putting the ballfields in Bicentennial Park.

Well that seems like a reasonable question and strong vote in support of preserving Bicentennial Park!

The Dittman Research Poll January 2002

This poll offered the subjects a hot dog and many said "sure." Too bad, the poll didn't mention that there was also steak on the grill!

Dittman Research conducted a poll in January 2002 and released the following press release:

So what does this tell us? Well, probably what we've been hearing from all corners: there is a lot of support for Little League in Anchorage.

But does it tell us where to put the fields? Not really. What would the answers be if the question added the line "A city report identified other locations as more desirable for the community as a whole" or "there are other locations that would cost the city less." What if instead of suggesting the Bicentennial Park location, the poll offered the site owned by Art Simonian or the site next to Springhill Elementary? Both locations would provide fields for the Little League and would cost less!

The Simonian Little Leage and Bicentennial Park are a fit for some, but it is clearly not the best fit for all of Anchorage.

The Hellenthal Survey December 2001

The Simonian Little League contracted with Hellenthal & Associates, Inc to conduct a poll of Anchorage adult residents to ferret out public sentiment on putting ballfields in the Park. Between December 4th and 9th, 390 Anchorage adults were interviewed by telephone on a random digit basis.

In a nutshell, the report on the survey concluded that 72.1% favor putting the fields in the Park, 18.6% Oppose and 9.3% don't know.

That's really odd. The way the question was posed, the Little League should have gotten lots MORE support! Here's the text of the question. Imagine having this read to you and that you had very little knowledge of the situation, which is true of most Anchorage residents:

Far North Bicentennial Park is a 3,500 acre Park owned by the Muncipality of Anchorage that is bounded by Abbott Loop Road, Tudor Road and Chugach State Park. The Bicentennial Park Master Plan designates a 30-acre area about a mile north of the intersection of Abbott Loop Road and Abbott Road and adjacent to Zodiac Manor Subdivision as a Community Park site, which means the area could be developed for uses such as a play meadow, picnic sites, and trail access. A number of youth sports organizations, as well as members of the general community, have requested that 4 baseball/softball fields and a soccer field be included in the Plan for the already designated Abbott Loop Community Park. The sports fields would be used by, among others, the Simonian Little League to replace fields the Little League is losing. The Planning and Zoning Commission approved amending the Park's Master Plan to allow development of sports fields, in addition to other park facilities, at this site. Do you favor or oppose the Park plan being amended to allow for sports fields in the Southwest corner of Far North Bicentennial Park?

It is clear from the information in the question that the questioner is in support of ballfields in the Park. That will encourage an answer of "favor." The wording also implies that it is this location or nothing for the Little League. We have seen lots of support at every hearing for Little League in general. That is likely the key bit of information most people are familiar with.

Imagine how different the response would be if critical information were added like: "The city commissioned a study that identified other locations that are "most desirable for the community as a whole." Or how about "The current Park Master Plan specifically rejects ballfields in this location."

We would get more useful information if the line of questioning had compared public sentiment on a handful of sites. That is difficult in a quick phone interview which is better suited for issues that the person being polled has in depth knowledge of. The public process that was part of the Municipality's study by Land Design North provides more useful guidance on public sentiment. People at those meetings got more of the information that is needed to evaluate sites for ballfields. The end result of that study was the identification of sites that are "more desirable for the community as a whole."

Policy makers choosing the location for ballfields should also look to the Anchorage 2020 Comprehensive Plan. That plan drew on years of sophisticated public input of all varieties. It is written to guide policy makers in choices like this. The conclusions of that document point to putting Community Parks near the Town Centers identified in the Comprehensive Plan.

Properly done, surveys are one useful tool for evaluating public policy. The Simonian Little League's survey presents a complex issue in a slanted way and uses a survey technique that is inappropriate for such a complex issue.

For the actual survey results, click on the links below. These are large .jpg files so they may take a while to download.

"Situation Summary" prepared by the Simonian Little League
"Introduction and Methodology" by Hellenthal & Associates, Inc.
Page 1 of Questions and Results
Page 2 of Questions and Results

Will Friends of Bicentennial Park conduct a similar poll? That's not likely. We'll continue to focus on workable solutions that provide fields for the Little League and protect Bicentennial Park.  We don't want to be distracted by dueling polls.

Stay informed! Get on the FOBP maillist. email Sandra Talt.

Back to Top
Back to home

Copyright Friends of Bicentennial Park 2002
Paid for by Friends of Bicentennial Park, 11701 Hillside Drive, Anchorage, AK 99516; Tom Meacham, chair
Last revised: December 13, 2001.