A new poll from The Pew Charitable Trusts holds some bad news for Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. It found that only 39% of residents said they approved of the mayor’s job performance. His disapproval rating reached 52%.
It represents a dramatic change from twenty months ago when Mayor Nutter’s approval rating was an extremely healthy 60%. At the time of that poll in January 2012, his disapproval rating was only 30%. According to Pew, this drop was evident throughout all economic, demographic, and geographic groups.
The City Council, however, fared even worse in this new poll. Although only 30% approve of the job they’re doing, that is a drop of just 5 points from 2012.
The Mayor’s drop in approval ratings may be connected somewhat to his lame-duck status as his second term is set to expire in 2015.
The fall in the Mayor’s numbers correlate with overall pessimism about the city. 45% of respondents said Philadelphia is on the wrong track compared to 37% who think it’s headed in the right direction. In addition, 37% of city residents say it has become a worse place to live over the last five years with only 25% saying it has gotten better.
Despite all this, though, three-fifths of respondents still think Philly is a good or excellent place to live, which is roughly the same number as in previous years.
The Pew survey was conducted by telephone between July 23 and Aug. 13, 2013, among a city wide random sample of 1,605 city residents age 18 and older. Interviews were conducted with 530 landline users and 1,075 cellphone users. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.5%.
One Response
This is what happens when you side with Tom. I hope other politicians are watching.