SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Nearly half the number of Saratoga Springs residents interviewed in a Skidmore College poll released this week said things in the city were headed in the wrong direction.

That revelation is one of many in a new analysis of the city's electorate, gleaned from a phone survey of 233 randomly selected residents following the Nov. 6 city elections. The survey was conducted by Skidmore government professor Robert Turner's first-year seminar, "Who Governs Saratoga Springs?"

Residents who were contacted were posed 32 questions. Half received a subset of questions relating to the mayoral race and half received a subset of questions relating to the public works race.

The poll also looked at the most important issues to the electorate.

Civility in government was named the most important issue, followed closely by taxes; finding a new drinking source and the pace of development were also top issues.

The poll also shows 70 percent of voters who supported defeated Democratic Mayor Valerie Keehn also supported Anthony "Skip" Scirocco. Scirocco, a Republican who will take over the city's Department of Public Works, handily defeated Keehn's nemesis Thomas McTygue, also a Democrat.

Conversely, 67 percent of McTygue supporters favored incoming Republican Mayor-elect Scott Johnson, who captured 50 percent of the vote and enjoyed the largest margin of victory of the past three mayoral elections.

A major theme of Johnson's $60,000-plus campaign was -- as his mailings read -- "restoring civility and leadership" to city government. His supporters gave him high marks in that category, according to the poll.

Keehn's campaign focus was reigning in development and continuing the work her administration had started.

In the closely watched Public Works race, voters rejected the cornerstone of McTygue's platform: experience. McTygue has served as commissioner of the department for more than 30 years.

The poll shows more than 70 percent of respondents felt Scirocco would work well with others, while less than 10 percent felt similarly of McTygue, who lost the support of the civil service union representing employees in public works.

Scirocco also was also considered the more honest and ethical candidate, the poll shows.

Forty-one percent of registered voters in the city are Republicans and 31 percent are Democrats; 21 percent say they have no party affiliation.