Charlotte residents are "sharply divided" over whether
the city should help the Hornets pay for a new arena, and an
"overwhelming majority" say they would like to put the issue
to vote in a referendum, according to Phuong Ly of the
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The Observer commissioned a poll by KPC
Research, owned by Knight Publishing, the Observer's
publisher. The poll surveyed 400 people on March 18-19 and
found that 48% of Charlotte residents favor the city's plan
to contribute "about one-sixth" of the cost of a $161M arena
"as long as taxes don't go up;" 45% oppose contributing any
public money. Ly notes that "one message from the poll was
clear," as 81% said voters "should be allowed to go to the
polls and cast their ballots" on the arena plan. Other
findings: 43% of residents said the Hornets were a "major
asset" to the community, compared to 57% saying that of the
Panthers; 45% thought the Panthers' Ericsson Stadium was a
"major asset" to the community, while 24% "thought the same
of a new indoor sports arena" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/23).
