• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

New Senior Center supporters could outnumber opponents

Posted at 5:30 am April 17, 2012
By John Huotari 6 Comments

Oak Ridge City Council

At Monday's City Council meeting, Linda Daugherty, right, of the University of Tennessee, presents survey results that suggest supporters of a new Oak Ridge Senior Center could outnumber opponents. Also pictured are Council members Charlie Hensley, left, and David Mosby.

Building a new Oak Ridge senior center has been hotly debated for more than a decade, and opinions about replacing the current center on Emory Valley Road remain divided.

Still, a recent survey by the University of Tennessee suggested supporters of a new center could outnumber opponents.

Almost half of those who responded to the survey, or 49 percent of respondents, said they either somewhat strongly or strongly support building a new center. That’s more than double the 21.2 percent who said they are somewhat or strongly opposed.

Meanwhile, a high percentage or respondents, or roughly 30 percent, said they were unsure or neutral about building the new center.

Respondents under 40 were the least likely to voice strong opposition. Conversely, the strongest opposition came from those who voted in the last election, said Linda M. Daugherty, assistant director of the UT Center for Applied Research and Evaluation.

Daugherty presented the survey findings in a needs assessment report at an Oak Ridge City Council meeting on Monday.

Her report said those who support a new senior center recognize there are many seniors in Oak Ridge, and they believe the current center is not adequate. Overall, about 1 in 3 respondents said seniors deserve a new center.

However, those who oppose a new center cited fiscal concerns and their belief that the current facility is adequate. Some said the money should be spent elsewhere, including on youth and education.

Regardless of their support, survey participants were asked which site they would prefer if a new senior center is built. “Overall, the location of the current center on Emory Valley Road is the most popular site, but a separate facility next to the Civic Center is a very close second,” Daugherty’s report said.

The telephone survey of 600 Oak Ridge residents in November 2011 had a margin of error of about 4 percent.

Filed Under: Government Tagged With: Oak Ridge Senior Center, University of Tennessee survey

Comments

  1. Devrin Kuipers says

    April 17, 2012 at 5:09 pm

    600 residents were surveyed, approximately 2.6% of the Oak Ridge 22,877 voting age population (2010 census). While 600 were surveyed, no number was given for how many actually responded. Of those that responded, almost half support building a new senior center. In essence, all we know is that the survey can predict ~1% of the voting age population actually support a senior center. My favorite part in the article “Conversely, the strongest opposition came from those who voted in the last election.” Now that is a statement. The voters do not support it. Surveys are so scientific……

    Reply
    • John Huotari says

      April 17, 2012 at 5:39 pm

      Devrin,

      Here’s what the needs assessment report says about the response rate: “The cooperation rate for this survey was 74.1% and the response rate was 38.9% utilizing the Response Rate 4 calculations provided by the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).” I think Linda Daugherty explained the difference between the cooperation rate and response rate during last night’s City Council meeting, but I was taking pictures at the time and missed it. Sorry.

      Regarding voters, as I wrote in the story, the survey said those under 40 were the least likely to voice strong opposition to building a new senior center, and those who expressed the strongest opposition were those who voted in the last election. Here’s more information from Daugherty’s report: “This distinction between those who vote and those who do not vote is also a function of age. Those respondents who are 40 and over are considerably more likely to vote than those under 40.”

      Thank you,

      John

      Reply
  2. John Huotari says

    April 17, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    I added a link to the survey in the second paragraph of the story.

    Reply
  3. Devrin Kuipers says

    April 17, 2012 at 6:59 pm

    Thanks John! Check out Page 46 (http://www.aapor.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Standard_Definitions2&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=3156). What I garner from the response rate is that they didn’t have enough real responses to want to report Response Rate 1, which is an actual division of those that completed the survey divided by the target. They used an estimate of the unknown eligible as eligible and then also included partial but incomplete contacts. Using the 38.9% number means that only 233.4 individuals were contacted. The .4 is attributable to the estimate and RR4. It’s not a great response rate.

    The response rate is probably fairly close to our voter turnout rate for a city election, perhaps higher. This is indeed sad. Even with their estimated numbers, it looks like only 167 supported a new senior center, which is 0.73% of the eligible voters.

    Reply
    • John Huotari says

      April 18, 2012 at 1:07 am

      I think the turnout for a city election has actually been considerably lower than 40 percent, possibly closer to 20 percent. This survey did make me wonder what the majority of voters would say if construction of a new senior center were ever put to a vote.

      Reply
  4. Peggy Tiner says

    April 17, 2012 at 11:04 pm

    It seems to be that Oak Ridge City Council is much more likely to speak publicly about projects that they are not really interested in than about the ones they plan to get done. If they speak publicly there will always be conflicting opinions so it can be postponed indefinitely. If Council really wants something done they will go ahead with it until someone gets enough support to force a referendum.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Government News

Election is Thursday

The Anderson County general election and state and federal primary elections are Thursday. Competitive races include the Democratic and Republican primaries for U.S. Senate, Republican primary for Tennessee House of … [Read More...]

Kairos Power begins construction on demonstration reactor​

Kairos Power has started construction on a test nuclear reactor in west Oak Ridge. The Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor is the first of its type to be approved for construction by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory … [Read More...]

County law director dies at 65

Anderson County Law Director Nicholas “Jay” Yeager, of Clinton, died Friday. He was 65. Yeager was assistant attorney in Anderson County from 2001 to 2006, and he has been law director since then. "Mr. Yeager was … [Read More...]

Outdoor Pool to close for season Aug. 12

Indoor Pool to re-open Monday The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool will closed for the season on Monday, August 12, and the Indoor Pool will re-open Monday, July 29, after being closed for a few months for renovations. The … [Read More...]

Tennis court dances recreate wartime event

Monthly dances by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park recreate the open-air tennis court dances that entertained 75,000 workers and their families in the Secret City during World War II. "Put on your … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival Announces 2025 Storytellers
  • Laser-Engraved Bricks Will Line Walkway of New Chamber Headquarters
  • Democratic Women’s Club to Discuss Climate Change, Energy and Policy
  • Estate Jewelry Show at Karen’s Jewelers Features Celebrity Jewelry
  • Keri Cagle named new ORAU senior vice president and ORISE director
  • ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal+ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal More than $1 million raised in past 10 years benefits United Way and Community Shares Oak Ridge, Tenn. —ORAU exceeded its goal of raising $100,000 in donations as part of its internal annual giving campaign that benefits the United Way and Community Shares nonprofit organizations. ORAU has raised more than $1 million over the past 10 years through this campaign. A total of $126,839 was pledged during the 2024 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign. Employees donate via payroll deduction and could earmark their donation for United Way, Community Shares or both. “ORAU has remained a strong pillar in the community for more than 75 years, and we encourage our employees to consider participating in our annual giving campaign each year to help our less fortunate neighbors in need,” said ORAU President and CEO Andy Page. “Each one of our employees has the power to positively impact the lives of those who need help in the communities where we do business across the country and demonstrate the ORAU way – taking care of each other.” ORAU, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, provides science, health and workforce solutions that address national priorities and serve the public interest. Through our specialized teams of experts and access to a consortium of more than 150 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal, state, local and commercial customers to provide innovative scientific and technical solutions and help advance their missions. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakRidgeAssociatedUniversities Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/orau Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orau ###
  • Children’s Museum Gala Celebrates the Rainforest
  • Jim Sears joins ORAU as senior vice president
  • Oak Ridge Housing Authority Receives Funding Assistance of up to $51.8 Million For Renovating Public Housing and Building New Workforce Housing
  • Two fires reported early Friday

Search Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2025 Oak Ridge Today