Poll cites nuclear waste as top concern

Erin Neff

Friday, Feb. 22, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

Clark County voters cite nuclear waste as the most critical issue facing them, according to a new poll tied to the launch of a subscription news service.

The poll of 550 registered voters was conducted by Downey Research for political strategist Terry Murphy's new endeavor, The Insighter.

The Insighter is a twice-a-month newsletter and website aimed at the business community.

When asked to rank the top issue, 26.8 percent selected nuclear waste. The economy was picked by 16 percent, growth by 14 percent and education by 10 percent.

A sizable 63 percent felt Nevada Power's requested rate hike was unjustified, with 23 percent saying the utility should be turned over to the government.

Murphy said neither of those results surprised her, but she did find interesting responses to an education question.

The question reads: "According to Education Week, Nevada spends an average of $5,911 per pupil, which is about $1,000 below the national average."

Respondents were then asked what Nevada should do, with 43 percent selecting "increase to meet" and 32 percent saying "increase to exceed."

Then, when asked if increasing education funding would mean either a reduction of services or a tax increase, 58 percent opted for the tax. When asked if they would support a $50-a-year property tax increase, 88 percent said yes. If the tax were increased to $100 a year, 61 percent said they would approve.

"What was surprising to me is people are willing to pay," Murphy said. "Because we only surveyed voters, the average age is 52 years and 31 percent of the sample is retired."

The results of the poll were released Thursday to help drum up interest in the new service. Subscriptions to the newsletter run $500 a year and the newsletter and access to the website runs $1200 a year.

Murphy and a staff of six cover local government meetings to report on decisions and policy discussions of interest to the business community.

"It may sound like a lot of money for the subscription, but it's saving them enormous time," Murphy said. "They know they won't have to sit through a lengthy meeting to get the information they need."

Murphy said she did not know how many subscribers her service has. She said she has added about four or five a day since launching the information service about a month ago.