Boston 2024 CEO Richard Davey says he’d like to see support for the city’s bid to host the Olympic Games at around 60 percent, which means the private non-profit group has a lot of work ahead of it.

According to a recent WBUR survey of 504 registered Boston voters, only 36 percent are in favor of the Olympic bid. The telephone survey was conducted between March 16-18.

In an interview on Boston Herald Radio Thursday, Davey acknowledged the group has a lot of ground to make up.

“I’d love to see a six in front of the number,” Davey said. “I think that’s a comfortable margin for us.”

Support for Boston 2024 has declined in each of the last three months. A WBUR poll in January showed that 51 percent of Boston residents were in favor it, and the figure dropped to 44 percent in February. Davey says those numbers will have to increase for the International Olympic Committee to seriously consider Boston’s bid.

“The IOC will want to see at least a majority of citizens in Massachusetts and/or the city to be favorable, because at the end of the day, they want a city that wants to welcome athletes,” Davey said.

It’s been a trying couple of months for Boston 2024. Record-setting snowfall this winter wreaked havoc on the MBTA, and caused many to question the public transit system’s ability to handle the mass amount of athletes and spectators who would flock to the city during the Olympic Games.

Last week, it was reported that former governor Deval Patrick would make $7,500 per day as a global ambassador for Boston 2024. Patrick decided to forfeit his pay Thursday after Mayor Marty Walsh questioned his salary on Herald Radio that morning.

“I think that governors should be ambassadors for Massachusetts,” Walsh said about Patrick’s and Mitt Romney’s role in the bid process. “I don’t think they should be getting paid at all.”

Though Boston 2024’s support has declined, Davey says he’s still hopeful that the city’s residents will be on board with the bid once they learn more about it. The group has held numerous community meetings since the end of January.

“If we could poll everybody on Marathon Monday – all 750,000 people who line the route – I have no doubt that people if they thought that the Olympics could be like that day, that we would have tremendous support,” Davey said. “We just got to continue to educate folks in that regard.”

The deadline for Boston to declare as an Applicant City is Sept. 15. Though that date is roughly six months away, the New York Times writes, “This is among the most anemic levels of support ever registered by a potential host city at this stage in the process and could doom the bid unless it is reversed.”

Boston 2024’s next public meeting is scheduled for March 31 at the Harvard Business School.

WBUR's latest poll shows that only 36 percent of Boston-area residents favor the bid.
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