Good, bad, so-so? People polled on Sask. mayors’ leadership

Roughly one year after the civic election, an online poll has asked people living in Regina and Saskatoon how their respective mayors are doing.

The poll from Insightrix was carried out from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7 and had 405 respondents in each city.

One-third found that Regina Mayor Michael Fougere was doing either a good or excellent job. Another 32 per cent said he’s doing a fair job.

A total of 17 per cent believe Fougere has done a poor job, while 18 per cent were unsure.

Looking at it from the prospective of respondents who thought he was doing either a good or fair job, Fougere said he’s pleased. But he noted he also realizes it’s just a small portion of the population at one given time.

“Polls are only a snapshot for the moment and it changes. So, for today, it says that and it could say something different next time. If I look at 65 per cent in the middle of a term, I think that’s quite good,” he said.

Fougere was asked whether the he thought the results reflected his leadership.

“Our team on council and administration is focused on the right priorities for council and for the city. In that measure, I think we’re meeting the priorities of people generally speaking.”

In Saskatoon, 44 per cent thought Mayor Charlie Clark was doing a good or excellent job.

Thirty-two per cent said he was doing a fair job, nine per cent said he performed poorly while another 15 per cent were unsure.

The poll also asked respondents what they thought each mayor had done well over the last year.

The top response for Clark was his community involvement, including attending the pride parade, followed by being professional and a good leader.

Being a good leader was the top response for Fougere, while dealing with a difficult budget was close behind.

Since the poll was done online, margins of error were not applicable.