Call it the mystery poll.

Somebody is using the telephone trying to learn the political inclinations of Lawrence voters heading into the April 5 elections. And many Lawrence residents want to know who has been asking.

“I don’t know anything about it except most of the people in my chair are asking me about it,” said former Mayor Mike Amyx, a City Commission candidate and owner of a downtown barber shop.

Amyx is one of nine Lawrence City Commission candidates. Friday, all of the nine told the Journal-World they were not behind the poll, nor did they know who was doing it.

The pollster asks people whether they agree with the direction the current City Commission is leading the community, how likely they are to vote for a particular commission candidate, how likely they are to vote for either of the two school bond issues, and how likely they are to vote for the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. All are questions to be decided by voters April 5.

“It makes me very curious about who has the type of money to do something like that,” said City Commission candidate Jim Carpenter.

City Commission candidate Doug Holiday said: “If somebody thinks we ought to be doing that, I can tell you that they probably don’t belong on the City Commission because that is what I’m against: wasting money.”

Representatives with the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and the Progressive Lawrence Campaign, two groups that have been politically active in the past, said they weren’t connected to the poll.

Randy Weseman, superintendent of public schools, said neither the school district nor DLR, a construction management company that would be involved in district projects if the bond issue questions are approved, were behind the poll.

“We don’t spend money on polling,” Weseman said.

Representatives of the citizen’s advocacy group Vote Yes for Lawrence Kids said they were not involved. Sources with the statewide organizations of the Republican and Democratic parties said they were unaware of the poll.

Charles Benjamin, a Lawrence resident and attorney, was among those who received a call asking his opinions. He said he was told by the questioner that the polling company was Datar & Associates. The questioner, though, did not know who hired the company.

Advance voting for primary slow (02-12-05) Commission candidates tout leadership skills (02-08-05) Gay marriage ban in public’s hands (02-03-05) Four filings at deadline trigger city primary (01-26-05) Ballots fill up for area elections (01-26-05) More in Election 2005

“I asked because I’m wondering who is paying for it,” Benjamin said. “I don’t think they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart.”

No one queried by the Journal-World, including the political professionals, were familiar with a Datar & Associates that does polling in Kansas. Nor did the firm turn up in various directories of political and polling consultants.