This Poll was Rigged!

The opinions expressed on the Rants and Raves of Mac McIntyre are solely those of its author and are shared for the purpose of encouraging dialogue about life and issues in DeKalb County, Illinois.

Monday September 11, 2006

Fish 'n Chips at Lake Shabbona?

Politics, Poison 'n Posturing

Our Generation's World War

Election Reflections

Rooftops n Taxes

Otta be an Impact Fee on Babies

4.4 Forty and a Fake ID

We've Been Barbed!!!

Election Reflections

Hello to you, too, Dr. Paul Beilfuss!

Tax and Spend per Usual

Be CAREful what you ask for!

No Moore in DeKalb

Bush's Mistake

This poll was rigged!

I have a confession to make. I am pro-growth. I am for market driven growth limited to and by a community's comprehensive plan. I also believe that DeKalb County is the most planned and prepared county in Illinois for growth and, according to the Chicago Tribune, "The Illinois chapter of the American Planning Association has named DeKalb's [county] 2003 comprehensive plan the best in the state," others agree with me.

My critics will quickly point out that I work for the builders and developers -- and they ain't lying. I do have several builders and developers as clients of eWorldLinx, Inc., of which I am head window washer. I also have several governmental units as clients in my portfolio. If truth be known my propensity to publicly offer my opinion probably universally makes my clients nervous. None have dropped-kicked me for voicing my opinion but that is their option.

I hate impact fees. They promote irresponsible government spending and I offer the fact that governmental units that spend the impact fees now claim that residents of new construction homes in the county, who currently pay an average of more than $5,400 per year in property taxes cost more than they are paying, as proof. The silly but costly formulas used to exact impact fees artificially inflate property values for the purpose of raising the EAV which results in higher property taxes for new and existing residents and I offer your tax bill as proof. Impact fees are the single largest contributor to the scarcity of workforce affordable housing and I offer the skyrocketing median price of new and existing homes as proof. But what I hate most about impact fees is that they promote lying by our government leaders, many of them anyway, who spin such lies as "builders and developers pay impact fees." Get real. At least get honest. What business or user-fee based non-profit organization does not pass its costs on to their customer or service-user?

It makes me want to vomit every time I hear someone address the city councils and local newspapers with, "The only ones who benefit from growth are the builders and developers and besides... I moved here from the suburbs to get away from all that growth!" Thanks for coming and adding to our tax deficit.

These people are either clueless, selfish, or both. There's more than 4,000 DeKalb County residents making some or all of their living from new construction. I just hope they (the anti-growth suburban move ins) bought a new construction home and paid a boatload of impact fees when they moved in. I'll guarantee you one thing -- their builder didn't pay their impact fees.

I believe that a person's occupation does influence their opinion. Growth butters my bread as it does any business owner. Consider the source.

When I published the Growth Quiz Poll, I deliberately mimicked Eben Fodor, the "evangelist" of the anti-growth crowd, author of the book, Better not Bigger. For a sample of how he proposes doing a growth survey, click here, and hold your nose if biased polling offends you.

Sometimes, I even amaze myself, and considering my ego that is saying something. The results of my poll overwhelmingly supports my opinion. But hey! At least I did not ask taxpayers to pay for a Made-As-Instructed survey so I could justify another increase.

The results (shown to the right) were taken from 88 unique IP addresses that indicated a local zip code as their location. An IP address is the numerical address of an internet user's service provider. I eliminated all duplicate IP addresses.

There were two questions that almost received unanimous response. The 7.1% who responded that homes in DeKalb County should be priced for commuters and that if growth is inevitable it should increase our taxes all had IP addresses that began with 131.156'something. That IP address belongs to the IP-bank owned by NIU.

Before I get crossed off the Christmas card list of every NIU employee I'll point out that among all 131.156s most answered with the majority on all of my Growth Poll Quiz questions.

But for the seven who voted for commuter priced homes and increased taxes? Consider your source of income. It truly does influence your opinion.

I am truly proud of my DeKalb County Online readers. You are smarter than some give you credit for being. I strongly suspect that among my more frequent readers, fan or critic, this confession comes as no surprise at all.

Growth Quiz Poll Results...

Hhich is increasing at a higher rate in DeKalb County?
The number of rooftops	25.9%
Government Spending	71.4%

In the future residents of DeKalb County will...
thank the current community leaders who believe growth is an opportunity for economic development needed to create jobs and reduce the tax burden.	85.7%
thank the current community leaders who believe growth is adding to the tax burden and does not produce satisfactory economic development.	14.3%

Homes in DeKalb County should be priced for...
the people who work in the suburbs with higher paying jobs who are willing to commute	7.1%
the people who work and live in DeKalb County.	92.9%

When I am shopping or looking for entertainment, I want to...
make it a day trip	14.3%
drive across town	85.7%

My overall taxes, including real estate, income, sales and user taxes, all inclusive are...
Too Low	10.7%
Too High	89.3%

Impact fees are paid by...
the builders and developers	25.0%
the people who buy new homes	75.0%

If growth is inevitable then we should make sure that it...
increases our taxes	7.1%
decreases our taxes	92.9%

What do you think?

I welcome your comments, public or private, and I will post comments according to your wishes. Please send me your comment using the form below:

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If this box is checked your comments will be posted below this form on the page your topic indicates. Your name will be published ONLY if you indicate so in the Comment field below as part of your comment. If, in my opinion, your comment appears to be a personal attack on someone named in your comment then your name must be provided and published. Those who want to anonymously attack a person should call the Daily Chronicle's Ear-to-Ear column.	If this box is checked then your comments will not be posted. I will reply to your comment, if you request it, subject to time limitations.

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Email address: Zip Code:

Your email address will not be posted nor shared with anyone. I may need to be able to communicate with you for clarification of your comments and that is the intent of asking for your email address. I ask for your zip code so that I have some idea of where you are from.

Comments: 4

*****************************************************
Public:          ON
topic:           IP Addresses
zipcode:         60178
Date:            Tuesday October 11, 2005
Time:            06:41 PM -0400

Comment:

Your polls are 100% meaningless.  It's a cute idea to use the IP addresses to make it look legit but it can be easily manipulated.  All a person would have to do is vote, disconnect their internet connection, then reconnect it 5 mins later and they have a new IP address.  This takes all of 10 seconds with a dial up connection.  The poll is a nice way to manipulate people who are not computer savvy.

On 10/11/05, Mac McIntyre wrote:

Thanks for visiting my website.

The reason I record the IP address is for security purposes. From the IP address I am able to track down who the ISP is and when abuse occurs they are able to pinpoint which subscriber is in question.

Your IP address of [omitted] is static (does not change) as are most broadband or cable connections. Random IP addresses are usually dial-up connections unless masked.

Thanks again for visiting DeKalb County Online.

Mac McIntyre, Publisher

From: PJ
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 7:44 PM
To: Mac McIntyre
Subject: Re: IP Addresses

I really hate to burst your bubble but my IP address is not static, it is dynamic. I do have the same IP address all the time because I have a wireless router that automatically renews the number every couple days, but if I unplug the modem, I will get a new IP address. My IP used to be [omitted], bottom line is the polls are misleading.

From: Mac McIntyre
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 10:23 PM
To: 'PJ'
Subject: RE: IP Addresses

Hello PJ…

You are correct regarding dynamic versus static. I was not. You are of course entitled to your opinion and if you would be so kind to tell me which polls you are referring to I will publish your comments.

Mac

From: PJ
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 11:26 PM
To: Mac McIntyre
Subject: Re: IP Addresses

Mac,

I am talking about the article "This Poll was Rigged" and the polls "Growth Quiz Poll Results" besides the IP address issue. Also, their were only 88 people in the poll, their are over 14,000 people in Sycamore alone and the poll is supposed to represent the county. And I am not sure where the polls were posted for people to vote but if it was on a persons personal website or any kind of bias site of course your going to get lopsided results. I just find the backbone of the article to be these polls and the polls aren't worth the text it took to type them.

From: PJ
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 12:26 AM
To: Mac McIntyre
Subject: Comments on website

Mr. Intyre, we have e-mailed back and forth a few times and a week or so ago you had told me you would post my comments regarding your article on "This Poll was Rigged!." I recently checked your website and have not seen my comments posted nor my comments on 2 or 3 other articles of yours and was wondering if their was a particular reason for this. Incase you forgot or no longer have our e-mails, I have decided to e-mail you my comments regarding "This Poll was Rigged!" again. {emails posted above)

editor's note:

PJ...

I would suggest to you that the title of this 'rant', "This Poll was Rigged," is indicative that my poll was, well, errr... rigged. The poll was posted on this website and I do have a bias... I am pro-growth. I deliberately designed the poll to get exactly the answers I wanted. Just like Eban Fodor. That's the whole point I was trying to make, but, I obviously didn't get the job done.

I posted your comments regarding the "No Moore in DeKalb" and the St. John's Park rants on the respective pages. Thanks again for visiting the site and sending in your comments.

Mac McIntyre, Publisher

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