[Raphael07]

Ok,

Hal Daub(R): He was a former Mayor who lost to current Mayor Mike Fahey in 2001, he help re-make Omaha's downtown and Riverfront to what they are today. Under his reign, The Qwest Center, our convention center and One First National Center, our tallest tower, were built. Also, he Removed several abandoned Industrial yards by the river to Start the Riverfront Movement. He basically helped make Omaha the Thriving city it is today. As Mayor he wants to lower crime and probably create more developments throughout the city.

Jim Vokal(R): He is a city Council Man who has been serving since 2001. He is part of the destination Midtown board of directors, which I think handles proposals for developments in Midtown. As Mayor, he really wants to concentrate on lowering crime.

Jim Suttle(D): All I know is he is a city council member since 2005 and used to be the vice president of HDR.

Their Websites:

http://www.jimsuttle.com/index.html
http://www.haldaub.com/
http://www.jimvokal.com/

[Raphael07]

Originally Posted by GMinSWO

On the Elkhorn issue,

It was in Omaha's best interest to do what it did and the law(whether you agree with it or disagree) was on Omaha's side. The precedent was set with the Millard Annexation and lawsuit in the '70's.
A mayor who did not annex Elkhorn and Elkhorn became too big to annex (over 10,000 people) would be considered to be Negligent to the needs of Omaha.
Of course the people of Elkhorn were not happy, who would be happy to have a part of their life forcibly changed without their input or vote.
If Elkhorn had thought ahead (at least 10 years ago or more) they could have tried to change the law, probably would not have worked, but it could have.

Plus, if Omaha had its 1971 borders, there would be only 215,000 people in the city limits today.

[2Adam29]

for the record Go_Ne your bias shows a bit in that review. If you're going to summarize the candidates, give equal amounts of information.

sorry, I'm being a real jack*** tonight... When I think about loosing Omaha's indepenance in the Electoral College I get all hot under the collar... Dau represents that to me, whether he deserves it or not.

[Raphael07]

I tried to but, like I said, I have seen nothing of Suttles position, no commercials, and his website says NOTHING on his platform. I went off what I knew about Daub and Vokal and then referenced wikipedia for some history, which is why I did so little because I didn't know whats wrong and whats right on that.

And as said before, just because Daub is republican doesn't mean he'll take away the Split vote, He wouldn't even have more of a say then the mayor of Bellevue, Papillion, La Vista, Bennington, Wahoo, or Valley, the other cities in the district.

[DTO Luv]

Daub actually did say he would like to do away with Nebraska splitting electoral votes. I don't see what influence he has on it a citizen and as a mayor it would be pretty minimal if at all.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

Ok,

Hal Daub(R): He was a former Mayor who lost to current Mayor Mike Fahey in 2001, he help re-make Omaha's downtown and Riverfront to what they are today. Under his reign, The Qwest Center, our convention center and One First National Center, our tallest tower, were built. Also, he Removed several abandoned Industrial yards by the river to Start the Riverfront Movement. He basically helped make Omaha the Thriving city it is today. As Mayor he wants to lower crime and probably create more developments throughout the city.

Jim Vokal(R): He is a city Council Man who has been serving since 2001. He is part of the destination Midtown board of directors, which I think handles proposals for developments in Midtown. As Mayor, he really wants to concentrate on lowering crime.

Jim Suttle(D): All I know is he is a city council member since 2005 and used to be the vice president of HDR.

Their Websites:

Jim Suttle for Mayor | Home
Hal Daub for Mayor - Home
Jim Vokal : Top Level : Home

Thanks. It's more than what I know about Nebraska politics. All I knew was that Nebraska is a conservative state, and about Ernie Chambers, and that's about it.

[McBain II]

DTO, I know you mentioned on the other forum how you didn't like Daub's doomsday attitude toward the city's finances. When I called up to his campaign office one of his workers mentioned how the city could be going bankrupt in the next few years. Obviously that is pretty extreme and I doubt it would ever get that bad.

You seem to be clued into that stuff though, so what's your take on Omaha's financial situation?

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by Bosco55David

DTO, I know you mentioned on the other forum how you didn't like Daub's doomsday attitude toward the city's finances. When I called up to his campaign office one of his workers mentioned how the city could be going bankrupt in the next few years. Obviously that is pretty extreme and I doubt it would ever get that bad.

You seem to be clued into that stuff though, so what's your take on Omaha's financial situation?

Great question and look forward to his perspective... my gut feel is they are primarily looking at one of two things... first, is the cost to bring the public safety pension fund 100% flush (assuming no contract changes)... that could do it with a worst case picture of everyone continuing the spiking that occurs.... if that doesn't totally cause it, then they could be including the cost of the sewer seperation project that the Feds mandated...

The above is just my guess, but if you resolved both in the next few years without any new revenue or spending changes then Omaha might be bankrupt...

[DTO Luv]

Originally Posted by Bosco55David

DTO, I know you mentioned on the other forum how you didn't like Daub's doomsday attitude toward the city's finances. When I called up to his campaign office one of his workers mentioned how the city could be going bankrupt in the next few years. Obviously that is pretty extreme and I doubt it would ever get that bad.

You seem to be clued into that stuff though, so what's your take on Omaha's financial situation?

First off is the city wide sewer separation project is going to cost us $3 billion. Everyone is going to see their MUD bills go up regardless of who is the mayor.

Second is the loss of tax revenue faced by the city. The suburbs have been siphoning money away from Omaha with new shopping centers, subdivisions, and office parks that were once more exclusive to Omaha. The retail offerings in the eastern half of the city in particular are poor and people have to venture to other parts of the city or Council Bluffs. Just look at the disproportionate amount of retail CB is building now? A large part of those stores business is attributed to people in the under served areas of Omaha. The city has been bleeding money out this way for years and it's one of the main sources of revenue for the city.

The police pensions that people are talking about will be a strain but I don't think it will be as big a deal as it's made out to be. It's more hype and politics, but still overblown.

[McBain II]

Originally Posted by DTO Luv

First off is the city wide sewer separation project is going to cost us $3 billion. Everyone is going to see their MUD bills go up regardless of who is the mayor.

The guy I spoke to at Daub's office said that Hal had tried to get this work done about 10 years ago when it would have been cheaper but no one would get on board.

Second is the loss of tax revenue faced by the city. The suburbs have been siphoning money away from Omaha with new shopping centers, subdivisions, and office parks that were once more exclusive to Omaha. The retail offerings in the eastern half of the city in particular are poor and people have to venture to other parts of the city or Council Bluffs. Just look at the disproportionate amount of retail CB is building now? A large part of those stores business is attributed to people in the under served areas of Omaha. The city has been bleeding money out this way for years and it's one of the main sources of revenue for the city.

Well Hal sounds like the man to combat that.

police pensions that people are talking about will be a strain but I don't think it will be as big a deal as it's made out to be. It's more hype and politics, but still overblown.

So as I understand it, you agree that the city has financial troubles but they aren't nearly as dire as Hal is saying?