Brian Sharp

@SharpRoc

An overwhelming majority of Monroe County residents oppose using taxpayer money to help build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, a Voice of the Voter poll shows — mirroring opinions nationally that seem less about the team involved than the economics and the embattled NFL.

The poll found 71 percent of all respondents were opposed, 21 percent in favor and 5 percent undecided. That likely comes as little surprise, given the challenges facing western New York, and a national economy emerging from recession with a disgruntled electorate.

"When we're having the problems that we're having, that (a new football stadium) is kind of ridiculous," said poll respondent Carol Saj, 74, of Penfield. "We just put a ton of money into the one that's up there."

The $130 million renovation project was undertaken this year — for which Erie County kicked in $41 million and the state, $54 million. With just four games played in the renovated stadium, Bills President Russ Brandon has preached patience, saying "the greatest gift that we have is time" when it comes to considering the matter of a new stadium and weighing options. And there is that $1.4 billion price tag new owners Terry and Kim Pegula paid for the franchise.

"Really, this is a bailout issue in the public eye," said pollster Larry Harris, whose Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. conducted the Voice of the Voter poll. "Why are we giving money to billionaires?"

And it's not so much about the Bills, Harris said. The NFL has been beset by scandal, from its handling of player concussions to player misconduct, notably domestic violence. That also has placed renewed attention on the fact the NFL is a $10 billion-a-year monopoly with tax-exempt status. And there now is considerable research and evidence that new stadiums are not the economic development engines they were once promoted to be.

"Monroe County voters are right in line with the majority of Americans, in that about 7 in 10 oppose subsidies for building stadiums — even the tax credits not related to the stadiums," Harris said. "There is a narrative here, (and) it is not in isolation about the Bills in particular."

Still, not all are opposed. And stadiums are still being built — usually with some form of public support.

"I know our fans are very passionate," said poll respondent Dustin Gillis, 30 of Penfield. "I do think it will be a good investment, one that I'd be willing to contribute to making that possible for them."

During last week's gubernatorial debate, candidates were asked what type of financial assistance the state should provide for a new Bills stadium.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he didn't want to talk about more money for Buffalo, echoing Brandon in saying the matter is for another day. His Republican opponent, Rob Astorino, echoed Saj, saying, "Ralph Wilson Stadium got enough upgrades with county and state money ... and I don't think tax money should go for a billionaire."

Libertarian candidate Michael McDermott favored private enterprise stepping up, and said the people should decide. Meanwhile, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins offered an alternative.

"If the state goes in, we ought to have an ownership share," he said. "In other words, like any other owner, we ought to get our share of the profits and be able to look at the books. ... That might be a better way to make sure the Bills stay here permanently."

But New York has plenty of other demands for the money, poll respondents said, listing education, homelessness and elder care among them.

"If it's only the people that like football and baseball paying for it, that's fine," said respondent Mary Jouppi, 81, of Irondequoit. "Why should the rest of us build them a stadium?"

Rick Scipione, 60, of Greece, considers himself a big football fan, used to go to Bills games in the 1980s, and thinks a domed stadium would be great.

"(But) as much as I like football, I don't think public funding should be used for that," he said. "It's bad enough that families have to pay a fortune just to go to games. ... It's more important to use that money for infrastructure."

In the state Senate race, Democrat Ted O'Brien and Republican Rich Funke both urged state support but had reservations about committing more money. In the congressional race, U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, was on the fence, saying voters should decide about public financing, while her Republican opponent, Gates Town Supervisor Mark Assini, was somewhat opposed.

"The Bills are an important part of upstate," he said in a written response when asked the same poll question as voters. "But should we really be using limited public resources for this purpose when our public infrastructure — including roads and bridges — is crumbling around us?"

Whether voter opinion is swaying against stadiums for professional sports teams or against government subsidies of big business in general is a question that John Kaehny, executive director of the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany, ponders. He hopes it is the latter but suspects stadiums are an outlier, or maybe a first step.

"Actually, the Bills stadium is easier to understand than a lot of other government subsidies," he said.

Poll respondent John Romansky, 66 of Greece, has been a Bills fan since the 1970s.

"Would I go to a new stadium? Yes," he said. "It benefits a few, but what do the others get out of it?"

BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/SharpRoc

Includes reporting by staff writers Sal Maiorana and Sarah Taddeo.

Coming up

In the coming week, staff writers will tackle some of the single-issue questions that were asked in the poll:

Tuesday: Support for and opposition to the SAFE Act is split right down the middle.

Wednesday: 78 percent don't consider $9 an hour to be a "living wage."

Thursday: 58 percent support abolishing parole for criminals that commit serious violent crimes like rape and murder.

Friday: 52 percent of poll respondents oppose a Native American casino being built and operated in Monroe County.

Saturday: 69 percent rate race relations between blacks and whites in Monroe County as "only fair" or "poor."

About Voice of the Voter

Voice of the Voter is a partnership of the Democrat and Chronicle, 13WHAM-TV, WXXI and WDKX 103.9 FM that seeks to inform citizens and give them a voice in the election process. The effort is funded by a grant from the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

About the poll

The Voice of the Voter survey is a telephone poll conducted Oct. 13-16 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C. The poll, which contacted both landlines and cell phones, surveyed 500 Monroe County registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percent.

Demographic breakdown: The respondents were 40 percent Democrats, 30 percent Republicans; 73 percent live in the suburbs and 27 percent in the city; 37 percent are college graduates, 22 percent have a high school education or less; 28 percent were between the ages of 35 and 49; 78 percent were white, 13 percent black and 5 percent Hispanic or Latino; 49 percent were male and 51 percent female.