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CIVIC
AND POLITICAL LIFE:
TRUST IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Ratings of county government have held onto the gains seen last year,
but continue to leave room for improvement. Four in 10 now think the county
does an excellent or good job in solving county problems, 62% think county
government leaders pay a lot or some attention to what the people think
in setting county policies, and 35% believe the county wastes a lot of
taxpayers' money. These numbers are all unchanged from a year ago, but
demonstrate an improvement from the post-bankruptcy years of 1996 and
1997. There are no differences in ratings of county government by age,
gender, income, ethnicity or region.
Still, residents have more confidence in their city
leaders than their county government. Fifty percent say their city government
does an excellent or good job at solving city problems, which is 10
points higher than the number giving such ratings to county government.
People are more positive about their city government in the South County
(59%) than in the North (46%). Non-Hispanic whites (55%) give more favorable
ratings than do Latinos (40%).
LOCAL GOVERNMENT RATINGS OVER TIME |
| County Government: |
96 |
97 |
98 |
99 |
| Excellent/good
at solving county problems |
24% |
26% |
38% |
40% |
| Pays a
lot/some attention to what the people think |
59 |
56 |
63 |
62 |
| Wastes
a lot of our tax money |
39 |
40 |
36 |
35 |
| City Government: |
96 |
97 |
98 |
99 |
| Excellent/good
at solving city problems |
42% |
NA |
50% |
50% |
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