Austin Urban Rail Polling HORRIFICALLY

[Author's Note: Unfortunately, the original Statesman article is stuck behind the paywall; quotes below are transcribed by hand.]

The next great Austin swindle hit a major snag last week.  Friday's Austin American-Statesman had a front page story with the results of a leaked poll from a pro-rail organization.  Austin Business Journal runs through the horrific details:

A poll shows a slim majority of Central Texas voters would reject urban rail proposals for Austin if it means that they would have to pay about $180 per year more in property taxes, reports The Austin American-Statesman.

The poll, commissioned by the pro-urban rail Downtown Austin Alliance, asked about 600 registered voters in Central Texas a number of questions about Austin-area transit and its future.

About 51 percent of respondents said that they would not support an urban rail system if it meant shelling out the extra money, according to the report, while 43 percent said they would.

According to the original article:

The poll result, said longtime Austin political consultant Peck Young, "is a damned disaster."

"They're losing to begin with, which for anyone running a bond campaign by definition means your tail is fried," Young said. "You have to go into a bond campaign at least 10 percent up, or you're toast. Anyone with any money can create at least five percentage points of confusion even if you're trying to finance the Second Coming. And Capital Metro isn't the Second Coming."

OUCH!!!