County officials issued a warning this week about a supposed Sturgeon County survey that’s really a political poll in disguise.
County communications manager Calli Stromner reports that county staffers have received numerous complaints this week from residents about a telephone survey.
“The caller basically identifies themselves as attached to Sturgeon County or working for Sturgeon County,” Stromner said, and asks the call recipient numerous general questions such as where they live, what they think of local roads and the amount of municipal tax they pay.
“Towards the end of the questions, there’s one that asks for a preference of mayoral candidates,” she said, followed by a question asking which provincial political party the resident supports.
It’s those two questions that set off alarm bells for the complainants, Stromner said.
“Obviously, those are two things we would never ask in any of our surveys,” she said.
Nor would the county ask about a resident’s tax bill, as they already have that information.
County officials did not commission or authorize this survey, Stromner said, and are not involved with it.
“I can say beyond a doubt that the county has not undertaken any type of telephone survey work at the present time, and we would never do so during an election period.”
While the county does do a residential satisfaction survey, that survey is not set to start until November, Stromner said.
County officials are still compiling complaints, but the calls appear to be directed to residents throughout the county, Stromner said. They also started coming in on Oct. 7.
The county isn’t sure who’s behind the survey, or if it’s in any way illegal.
“It is election season,” Stromner said, so the poll could be politically motivated.
Stromner asks all county residents to use caution when called by pollsters, and to ask for whom they work and how their responses will be used. Any candidates doing polls at this time should clearly identify themselves and not claim to be county officials, she said.
Anyone who receives a call from these pollsters or has information on them should call Stromner at 780-939-8329.
