The Morning Report
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A report funded by ex-mayoral candidate Steve Francis’ nonprofit organization the San Diego Institute shows that the public’s approval for Mayor Jerry Sanders has slipped 4 percent since May.
Major caveat: Francis hasn’t ruled out running against Sanders in the 2008 election, as he did in 2005.
The poll, which was carried out by Competitive Edge Research and Communication, shows that Sanders’ approval rating fell from 64 percent in May to 60 percent in July. Among registered voters, approval dropped from 70 percent to 60 percent. In May, 17 percent disapproved of the mayor’s job performance, that’s up to 21 percent in the latest poll.
SDI also notes that Mike Aguirre, who’s led the charge on Sunroad, has not seen a significant rise in his approval ratings. Aguirre’s approval rating is at 45 percent. His disapproval rate is at 29 percent.
Aguirre’s comments at the height of the Sunroad saga — when he called the mayor corrupt for taking political contributions from Sunroad — seem to have rubbed the public the wrong way, however.
Here’s a chunk from the SDI press release:
Overall, just 12 percent find Aguirre’s statements to be very credible, while 19 percent find the Mayor’s defense very credible. Thirty-four percent say Sanders’ rebuttal has no credibility at all or are unsure about it, but 41 percent say the same thing about Aguirre’s attack. Conservatives, especially, are off-put by Aguirre’s assertions. 35 percent of those on the right side of the ideological spectrum say his statements are not credible at all, while only 5 percent say they are very credible. His credibility among liberals is better, but still, only 16 percent on the left rate his attack on the Mayor as very credible.
“The City Attorney generally gets credit for working to resolve the issue but the charges of corruption he made in late June were not well received,” said W. Erik Bruvold, President and CEO of the San Diego Institute for Policy Research. “Almost a 1/4 of San Diegans didn’t think the charges were credible.”