* Global Strategy Group has a new poll out about the parking meter deal. I’ve seen all of the questions before these questions and it doesn’t set up the issue one way or another. The poll of 501 registered voters was taken May 9-12 and had a margin of error of +/-4.4 percent. It was conducted for the Illinois Restaurant Association, which has ties to Mayor Rahm Emanuel…

* “As you may know, in 2009, the city leased control of Chicago’s parking meters to a private company for a one-time payment of one-point-two billion dollars. Do you support or oppose this parking meter deal?”…

90 percent opposed. That’s what you call a radioactive issue.

* “Recently, Mayor Rahm Emanuel renegotiated some pieces of the parking meter lease agreement and the plan is now waiting for approval by the Chicago City Council. Have you heard anything about this deal between the city and the company leasing the city’s parking meters? [IF YES] Have you heard a lot about this plan, some, or only a little?”…

* “And based on what you know, do you support or oppose the city’s deal to renegotiate the terms of the parking meter lease agreement?”…

So the “uninformed” total isn’t bad. Now onto the “informed vote.”

* “Now I’m going to read you a bit more about the city’s deal to renegotiate the terms of the parking meter lease agreement and afterwards, I’d like to ask you about what you’ve just heard…. As you may know, the city of Chicago and the private firm holding the parking meter lease were in a legal battle over compensation for lost parking meter revenue due to street closures and other issues. Mayor Emanuel recently settled that lawsuit and now the city will be paying 20 million dollars a year less than the company had demanded, amounting to more than a billion dollars over the life of the deal. As part of the settlement, there will be free parking on Sundays in the city’s residential neighborhoods, but metered parking hours will be extended by at least one hour - from 9 pm to 10 pm - the other six days of the week. There will also be a new pay-by-cell option so that drivers can pay with their cell phone rather than going to the meter. Based on this new information, do you support or oppose the city’s deal to renegotiate the terms of the parking meter lease agreement?”…

But…

* “As part of this new deal, some changes would be made to the city’s parking meters… Under the new plan, parking would be free on Sunday in Chicago’s neighborhoods outside of downtown and River North. In exchange for free Sundays, the new plan would extend parking meter hours by one hour to 10 pm the other six days of the week. Residential parking in neighborhoods that ends at 6pm will continue to end at the same time. Within downtown and River North, parking would not be free on Sundays and parking hours would be extended by three hours until midnight the other six days. . Which system do you prefer? Do you prefer the new plan with free parking on Sundays in most neighborhoods or do you prefer the existing system with shorter hours on the other six days?”…

While a majority supports the new plan, it’s not exactly overwhelming.

* From the press release…

Opposition to the plan is limited to the 42nd Ward (52% prefer the existing system). However, even though residents in the 42nd Ward will not receive free Sundays and will have extended hours of operation, nearly a third of respondents in the 42nd prefer the new plan (30%).

* In other polling news, this is pretty much what I believe…

Chicago voters in a Tribune/WGN poll have a message for Cubs executives and Wrigleyville rooftop owners locked in a feud over the team’s proposed ballpark overhaul: A plague on both your houses.

Nearly half said they side with neither the Cubs nor the rooftop owners in the ongoing debate to renovate Wrigley Field, the poll showed. The team’s efforts were backed by 28 percent of voters while the rooftop owners were backed by 21 percent.

* Graphic…

More…

The wealthiest voters were more likely to side with the Rickettses. Among those making more than $100,000 a year, 40 percent sided with the North Side team owners while only 24 percent backed the rooftops. The remaining 36 percent didn’t take sides.

Younger voters ages 18-35 were almost equally split — 30 percent for the Cubs and 29 percent for the rooftop owners.

Geographically, voters in North Side wards sided with the Cubs, 43 percent, to 19 percent for the rooftop owners, while 37 percent sided with neither.

* Meanwhile, if the latest Chicago Tribune poll is correct, Chicagoans have been all over the map on a city casino for the past few years…

The latest poll found that 49 percent of Chicago voters surveyed support a casino while 43 percent oppose it. Those numbers are nearly flipped from an October survey that had 49 percent of city voters opposed to a statewide gambling expansion that included a Chicago casino, compared with 40 percent who supported it.

Historically, Chicagoans appear to have hedged their bets on the gambling proposition. In February 2012, 54 percent of city voters backed gambling expansion. In a December 2010 poll, 47 percent supported a city-owned casino.

So, support is up nine points since October, but down five since a year ago February, but about the same as December 2010.

* Young voters and whites appear to be the most in favor…

The new poll indicated that younger voters by far were the most supportive of a Chicago-based casino. Fully 56 percent of voters ages 18-35 backed bringing gambling to the city, compared with 40 percent who disagreed.

The latest survey also found a racial gap in the support of expanded gambling. Among white voters surveyed, 54 percent supported a casino with just 38 percent opposed. African-American voters were evenly split at 46 percent, and Latino voters narrowly backed a casino, 49 percent to 46 percent.