Westminster council directs staff to poll voters on combined fire-streets ballot measure and to test funding options

Westminster City Council members directed staff in a June 9 pre-meeting study session to proceed with public polling on a potential November 2025 ballot measure that would fund new fire stations and local street repairs.

The study-session direction came after a presentation by Chris Lindsay, assistant city manager, who introduced David Flaherty of Magellan Strategies, the consultant that conducted last year’s voter survey on fire funding. Lindsay said staff would return to council next week with draft survey questions and asked if anyone objected to moving ahead. Council members voiced no formal opposition and the meeting record shows councilors and staff agreed to proceed rapidly.

The council’s action was a forward step to gauge public support and to refine the funding approach. “A larger sample size allows us to drill down by a voter population subgroup and really understand,” David Flaherty said, noting the last survey interviewed 1,500 voters and residents. He told councilors that the political and economic environment has changed since last year and that poll results can differ from measured support without a robust education and campaign effort.

Why it matters: Councilors said accurate polling and earlier, broader outreach are key to avoiding a repeat of last year’s unsuccessful ballot effort. Council members emphasized that a clear, well-funded education campaign and stakeholder buy-in would be essential if the city pursues a ballot measure.

What council asked staff and the consultant to test

- Funding vehicles: Council requested the poll test sales and use tax options, property tax (mill levy) scenarios, and bond-funded alternatives that would include sunset provisions. Flaherty advised that property taxes are generally a harder sell and recommended testing sales tax first, but said staff could include property tax questions if council wished.

- Ballot language and amounts: Council asked that the poll use as-close-as-possible ballot language, including specific cost examples (for example, estimated cost per $500,000 home or per $100 purchase) and multiple revenue levels to see how support varies by ask.

- Message testing and informed vs. uninformed responses: Flaherty described a two-stage approach — measuring initial (uninformed) responses, then presenting respondents with factual material about road and fire needs and re-measuring support.

- Education and stakeholder outreach: Councilors repeatedly said polling alone was insufficient; they asked staff to immediately begin stakeholder engagement with groups such as the citizen academy, fire union representatives, civic organizations and neighborhood leaders so that any eventual campaign would have an education component running in parallel with polling.

Councilor perspectives

- Councilor DeMott said last year’s favorable polling didn’t translate into votes and urged testing questions that would explain why that occurred; he also pressed staff to double down on stakeholder engagement.

- Councilor Camilla said she favored polling as a milestone to decide whether to pause or proceed; she urged staff to incorporate education into the poll materials and to begin outreach immediately.

- Councilor Ireland warned about the local economic strain on residents and emphasized sensitivity to households on fixed incomes, noting county sales-tax levels that raise overall costs.

Staff direction and timeline

Chris Lindsay said staff and Magellan Strategies would work rapidly: prepare a draft questionnaire in the next seven days and return to council at the June 16 study session with a proposed survey and an engagement strategy. Lindsay also said staff would model bond scenarios and identify which capital items would be bond-funded (with sunset language) versus supported by ongoing revenue.

What the poll will cover (as described by Magellan Strategies)

- The consultant will test multiple funding mechanisms and amounts, present the closest attainable ballot language, show maps/images of roadway needs and proposed station locations, and ask open-ended reasons for yes/no answers.

- The survey will include both an uninformed and informed test so council can see how factual context changes support.

What the council did not decide

Council did not adopt an ordinance, finalize ballot language, or set a formal ballot placement. The council’s action at the study session was to authorize staff and the consultant to prepare and test survey questions and to return with a draft survey and engagement plan.

Ending note

Staff said they would return next week with draft survey questions and an engagement strategy for council review. If the council later decides to place a measure on the ballot it would need to finalize language and formally authorize placement through the city’s established ordinance and ballot certification processes.