Our household got polled this weekend in a long telephone survey with a woman with a heavy Indian accent.
It seemed like a survey sponsored by Sands Corporation.
There was a follow up text with a link that did not work, perhaps because we had already taken the survey.
Clear Insights is the firm that Sands Corporation likely hired to help inform their political operation in 2025 in Irving, according to reports. A retrospective on what happened in 2025, the “No Casino!” election, is here.
If true, it is interesting coming on the heals of statements by Mayor Al Zapanta and a recent interview he did with CBS News.
In that interview, Mayor Zapanta said his top priority is developing the old Texas Stadium site. He mentioned the land owned by the Sands Corp., but said he isn’t interested in gambling “because it is illegal” (right before there was a hard cut away in the interview). He said he’d love the Mavericks on that site. The Sands Corp., however, said during the 2025 fight in Irving that they have no interest in a stadium for the Mavs without the option to build a casino, as Mayor Zapanta knows full well. They are currently planning on former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas for a new arena; however it came out last month that this is only “purely exploratory.”
In addition, the old Texas Stadium site on the verge of being designated an “Opportunity Zone,” which gives investors potentially valuable federal capital-gains tax benefits for putting their money into qualifying projects in the designated area, which makes it easier to get investors.
Right now, there are six votes against a casino on council. However, Mayor Zapanta’s stated goal is to target two councilmen in next year’s election: Luis Canosa and Fahad Ahmed. That could potentially swing the majority the other way.
Now to the survey.
The call came after a 30-minute household discussion about Irving politics — it almost seemed like our phone was spying on us when the polling call came through right afterwards.
The poll had lots of questions about positive or negative impression of certain statements.
First, came demographic questions. The year you were born, if you’re Latino or any other ethnicity. Then political affiliation: do you typically vote Republican, do you typically vote Democrat. Then it was how do you feel about Irving‘s direction? Positive or negative? Do you feel strongly about positive, or just somewhat positive? Then, what’s the most important issue for you? They were a number of options, growth of business, housing costs, growth of jobs, safety, homelessness.
Then there were lots of questions were then asked about what to do with the Texas Stadium land. Are you in favor of developing it? Respondents were also given a chance to say in their own words what they think should be done with that land to develop it. A casino was not mentioned at all. There were questions about other plots of land, including the Heritage District. The survey asked whether you in favor of developing these plots of land, what kind of developments: Upscale housing and restaurants? Entertainment district? A data center?
There were at least 10 to 15 questions asking for one’s impression of the statements about the Irving Chamber of Commerce. For example: “The Irving Chamber of Commerce supports small businesses” — do you have a positive impression of the statement or negative impression of that statement? Strongly or only somewhat? “The Irving Chamber of Commerce supports young, diverse businesses” (or something to that effect), do you have a negative impression of this statement or a positive impression of this statement? Strongly or only somewhat?
There was a question about whether or not you are in favor of tax relief for new businesses, to try to attract businesses to the area.
Other questions: Are you in favor of the fastest growth possible, or are you in favor of slow growth? Are you in favor of creating new jobs? Or are you in favor of having a cleaner environment? Where do you get your news from? The Dallas Morning News? Social Media? What type: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube? The Irving Rambler? How satisfied are you with how quickly road repairs are getting done? How satisfied are you with the Irving ISD? There were no questions about Parks and Recreation, or the Public Library.
More sensitive demographic questions were left to the end: household income, own or rent, and highest level of education.
At the end the lady said “thanks” three times and said God bless you.
Surveys like this cost around $40,000-$50,000 or more.
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