Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has a 55 percent approval rating among city residents, a survey released on Friday by the Taipei Research, Development and Evaluation Commission showed.
The poll also showed that 33 percent of residents were unsatisfied with Ko’s administrative performance, and 12 percent said they had no opinion.
Ko’s approval rating was the same as a poll conducted in December last year, and his disapproval rating was 2 perentage points lower.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
In 12 categories evaluated in the poll, Ko’s administration received the highest satisfaction rate for “service attitude” (83 percent), “environmental protection” (82 percent), “living quality” (81 percent) and “public safety” (81 percent).
However, the satisfaction rates for “cultural events” and “elementary and high-school education” were 49 and 40 percent respectively.
The commission’s poll is conducted once every six months, and the latest survey was conducted by telephone from June 15 to 18. It collected valid responses from 1,083 city residents, while 1,075 people refused to take the survey.
Separately yesterday, when visiting Yilan County, Ko tried to clarify a previous comment he made that watching baseball was boring, which drew criticism from baseball players and fans.
Ko, at a news conference to promote digital learning on Thursday, said the novel The Old Man and the Sea is boring, and could be skipped over to the ending, just as it is a waste of time to watch an entire game of baseball.
Ko yesterday said he meant that he has always been busy and does not have time to watch an entire baseball game, but his wife and children attend games and tell him the results.
Ko also addressed the traffic congestion that often occurs on weekends and holidays on the freeway connecting Taipei and Yilan.
He said if he had to choose between the proposed plan of “building a straight railway line” or “extending the high-speed rail line” between Taipei and Yilan, he would choose the latter.
Both options would require a tunnel, the construction of which could affect the water quality at the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫), the main source of water for Taipei and New Taipei City, he said.
Additional Reporting by CNA
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