BY VOICE STAFF
Last week the Voice asked readers to assess the performance of Pelham's new Town Council and Mayor. In the newspaper's most detailed survey to date, readers were presented with 10 questions covering current issues of concern, the perceived effectiveness of councillors and the Mayor, and an 11th question on perceptions of the Voice's accuracy in reporting on Pelham Town Hall. 109 qualified responses were tabulated.
Top-of-mind issues
One issue stood out markedly from the rest, earning twice as much concern as the next issue, namely the size of Pelham's debt and the Town's financial stability. 25% of 
respondents chose this as one of their three top concerns. Cannabis grow-operations and council/staff transparency were nearly tied for second and third concerns. Selling the old Pelham arena also ranked relatively high. Surprisingly low were concerns over property taxes, fiscal management of the community centre, and Airbnb restrictions.
Council and Mayor performance
The survey sought to measure the perceived effectivness of Mayor Junkin, and whether councillors were seen to be working together to reach concensus for the common good. Nearly 7 in 10 respondents said that Mayor Junkin was working to fulfill his campaign promises, while a little over 50% said the same of Town Council. The most effective member was seen to be Councillor Ron Kore, followed by Councillors Haun and Hildebrandt. The least effective member was John Wink, followed closely by Marianne Stewart and Mike Ciolfi.
Quality of life
While most respondents said that as a place to live Pelham was either improving or staying about the same, nearly 4 in 10 said that the quality of life in town was declining.
Voice fairness
Over 8 in 10 respondents perceived Voice coverage of Town Hall to be fair or mostly fair. Some 6% found the paper's reporting unfair or mostly unfair.
ADVISORY: While safeguards are in place to eliminate multiple votes, this is a self-selected poll, meaning it has no scientific validity compared to a formal random survey undertaken by a professional polling firm.
