This year promises to be the most-polled ever in advance of a civic election, as various polling companies pile on to what promises to be a hard-fought battle for Vancouver city council in 2011.

The latest out, another Justason Market Intelligence poll, showing that some noticeable fraction of people are moving from undecided to disapproving of the mayor and that there's an increasing number of  people cranky about the ongoing Olympic village mess.

Barb Justason also tested out a couple of names in the poll as potential mayoral candidates for the Non-Partisan Association, to whether having a name attached to the party improved its standing.

According to her poll, naming current councillor Suzanne Anton as a mayoral candidate brought the numbers separating the party together, from a 15-point difference to a three-point difference. She also tried Tung Chan, the former councillor and executive director of SUCCESS. That didn't close the gap as much.

When I talked to Vision Vancouver ED Ian Baillie, he said the poll reflected some general trends Vision is seeing, although said their numbers indicate very solid support for the mayor and the Vision team’s approach on many issues.

But the truth of any of these polls doesn't matter as much as the more important message that's going out to potential NPA candidates, which is that they have a fighting chance to beat Vision Vancouver. That's what the party is looking to prove, desperately these days, as good candidates start to consider whether to run. (I know they're out there. I'm starting to get calls from or have others tell me about good, credible potentials are who pondering whether to go for it.)

If the polls appear to tell them that Vision is unbeatable, they'll stay home and run their businesses. If it looks as though the gap is narrower than they thought, that there's a couple of issues Vision is vulnerable on, that there's a reasonable chance of winning, they'll start collecting money to run.

Frances Bula is a journalist specializing in urban issues and city politics in the Vancouver region. This piece first appeared on her blog, www.francesbula.com.