Omaha City Councilman Jim Suttle has announced his desire to add another City Council district to the City of Omaha.
Extra seat on council depends on the ‘ifs’ - Omaha World-Herald
Suttle said it is important that Elkhorn be placed entirely into an eighth district so Elkhorn knows Omaha is serious about bringing it “into the family.”
Personally, I support the proposal. Having more representation on the City Council is a good thing. As the city grows, each Councilman has to represent more and more people. Adding another Councilman will give the voters more of a voice down at City Hall.
Five council members - Frank Brown, Chuck Sigerson, Franklin Thompson, Jim Vokal and President Dan Welch - said they don’t like the notion of an even-numbered council. That could lead to many ties, they said.
I have no problem with someone that opposes another City Council district, but please don’t use the “even-numbered” excuse as a reason to oppose it. Here’s why…
I’ve watched more City Council meetings than I’d care to admit. Most (and I mean most) City Council meetings are uneventful. Having a 4-3 vote on an issue is very rare.
Let me illustrate my point by showing you the votes for the October 18, 2005 City Council meeting (I will admit that I didn’t triple-check these numbers so they may be off by one or two).
47 - (7-0 votes)
2 - (6-1 votes)
There were no 5-2 or 4-3 votes. At most meetings, dissenting votes generally occur on liquor license recommendations. Overall, if you took out the liquor license votes, the number of 7-0 votes would increase dramatically.
Also, having a seven member council doesn’t prevent ties. You can ask Jim Vokal about ties. Back in 2002, he abstained from a vote about closing a stretch of Woolworth Avenue. That resolution failed after ending up in a 3-3 tie. Also, at the August 30th City Council meeting, a resolution ended up in a tie after City Councilman Franklin Thompson passed on voting. Also, City Councilman frequently miss meetings. That means only six people are voting on resolutions, but I don’t hear them complaining about ties when that happens.
So, how many ties is too many? I’m going to speculate that with an even-numbered council, less than 1% of the votes would end up in a tie (in reality, it’s probably closer to 0.25%). Is that too many for Brown, Sigerson, Thompson, Vokal, and Welch?
In conclusion, when someone gets on the news and opposes adding an additional district to the city because it would make the City Council an “even-number,” you will know all the holes in that argument.
Excellent post. Congratulations to Jim for offering an idea outside the box, and to Garry for being open to the concept of change. Frankly, there is something less than genuine in the comments from some early critics. The addition of a seat would ensure the same focus on neighborhoods and representation which were at the heart of district elections in the first place. It is in line with the “Neighborhood Mayor” campaign that returned Mike Fahey to City Hall. And, it is one more chance to bring new thought and energy, not to mention perhaps a woman, to the City Council. It may not be the final outcome, but let’s allow the people and not the politicians to make this decision.
Thank you for your interest in this issue. You have placed this matter in a better perspective with your input.
It seems to me that it’s the logical thing to do. If our city is going to grow with the addition of Elkorn, they should be represented just as any other citizen of Omaha. The fewer each council member has to represent, the better job they will do adequatly representing their views in City Hall. Good work Mr. Suttle!
I don’t see why all 4 Republicans don’t want an Elkhorn seat…. That’s the furthest right leaning area in Douglas County
I can see why the Repubs are against this, they are scared of Suttle. They probably should be. He’s the only one doing anything on the council. But, I don’t understand why Brown is against this idea. It makes NO sense for him. When the city completes the Elkhorn annexation, we’ll add about 12,000 people to Omaha. Along with the other areas we’re annexing, we’ll be to about 20,000 within the next 12 months. With that kind of increase, the city will HAVE TO change the city council boundaries. When that happens, Brown’s district will change from mostly African American to more white people. As a side note, I am African American and I would hate to see out city without someone of color on the council…and no, Franklin Thompson isn’t a person of color, he’s white for those of you who don’t know.
Anyway, I find it very troubling that Frank Brown has once again opened his big mouth and took the wrong position again.
The 8th councilperson is a great idea and will guarantee that we’ll always have a black person representing our people at city hall.
yeah tim, you’d think they’d love to add more of their own to their district and get rid of us nasty crats from thier districts
rock on suttle-master!!!
Nice… Any black person who disagrees with you isn’t black. Franklin, Condi, etc….
How is it not racist to say represent “our” people? If I said we needed Jim Vokal to represent “our” people I’d be a racist.
Just keepin it real with the double standards…….
lets not turn this into a racial thread, which seems like the road many of our blog posts go down….keep to the topic
If they’re really worried about having even-numbers….why not just add 2 seats to the council? For all Omaha’a growth, it would be entirely reasonable to do so in the name of maintaining responsiveness to the citizens. One representative for every 50,000 people seems far from excessive.
I would like to first commend councilman Suttle for thinking outside the box. However I think this is the wrong way to go. By creating an Elkhorn based 8th city council district you are giving the Republican Party a guarantee of 4 seats on the city council. This will lead to if not ties then certainly failure on the issues that would be described as democratic issues that come before the city council. Issues such as the independent police auditor and a living wage for all people who work for the city or city contractors. A tie is no small thing when it is something that matters. I am disappointed in the glib view of governance shown by “Chief” and everyone else who has posted so far in what is usually a very thoughtful and interesting blog.
I agree that if you add 1 you may as well as 2. All adding two instead of one does is give much better representation to people. There might be 999 9-0 votes, but if that 100th is a 4-4 tie, the rest don’t really matter. When you get to the issues that are really controversial and important, they are generally closer, more likely to be a tie, and less desirable for a tie.
Kevin-
As Democrats, we can’t fear elections….especially in what are supposedly non-partisan races. The success of Mayor Fahey is proof that Democrats with the right message can play well and win anywhere in Omaha. By making a more representative city council, we wouldn’t be conceding the Republicans a damn thing. We’d be putting more power in the hands of individual voters…where it belongs. Besides, smaller districts require less expensive campaigns and allow for more face-to-face retail politics, both of which play to Democrats’ favor. Of course, there are limits to the expanse of representative government, but those limits should be born of reason - not fear.
What’s “glib” about discussion of reform? I think Councilman Suttle is making a bold and principled stand - he’s actually supporting a move that dilutes his decision-making power because he thinks it’s the right thing to do, particularly to bring some degree of much-needed reconciliation with Elkhorn. Dare we even hope that the rest of the council might show the same courage…..especially without drawing themselves their very own tailor-made districts? Would that it were so.
I hope a real debate emerges from this idea. It’s overdue and would serve the entire city well.
I have to agree with Kyle on this. As a geography major I have studied many different types of restricting, including its problems with gerrymandering and trying to find a balance between where to put different districts. Do you try to find an equal balance between both the parties, try to break them down into different ethnic areas to make sure the minorities are fairly represented, or make a mixture of both? THe problem is no matter what you do, there is ALWAYS going to be problems because there are multiple theories on how it should be done.
I agree with the non-partisan statement and that is how these local elections should be taken as such. It leads to the issues being important, not partisan b.s. that plague elections. Democrats like Kerry, Nelson, Fahey, even Hoagland were able to appeal to a Republican state, who’s to say a charismatic democrat couldn’t win Elkhorn?
Suttle is doing nothing more than his usual pandering to a bloc of voters he hopes to sway for 2009. He’s been running for Mayor since his first day on the council.
Oh Kel, it has been a while. How have you been? It’s good to see you back here.
Kel, I know you’re well aware that Jim Vokal is running for mayor in ‘09. So, Mr. Vokal has been pandering to that same bloc since his first day this year.
If your analysis about Mr. Suttle is true, I will be absolutely thrilled to death. If Suttle runs for Mayor, I will personally go out and volunteer for him.
Mr. Suttle is merely doing the job he was elected to do. His hard work and fresh ideas are putting the rest of the council to shame. If fulfilling his obligation to his constituents is pandering, then he is the best damn panderer on the City Council. I think you’re just mad that Suttle is doing a much better job than your guy (Mr. Vokal).
A Suttle/Vokal matchup will get me more excited than I was when Fahey ran against Daub.
Is the Kel person serious??? Does he not remember when Jim “I’m Not Gay ‘Cuz I’m Married with 2 Kids” Vokal stated ON CAMERA on ELECTION NIGHT that he intends to run for mayor in four years?
The only reason “Kel” has his panties in a bunch is because Suttle is far more talented and WAY more intelligent than Vokal could ever be.
The Pubs could only WISH they had a candidate in ‘06, ‘08 AND ‘09 that was half as sharp as Councilman Suttle.
OH, and another thing. The Omaha media completely F*CKED up what Councilman Suttle has proposed.
He’s the official proposal: He would like to start a conversation about adding an 8th councilperson. NOT a special councilperson to represent ElkhO!rn, blacks, or anyone but a group of citizens which deserve a voice.
If you saw Kaleidoscope on Sunday, you realized just how STUPID Lee Terry, Jr.’s dad really is. He thought Suttle wanted to add a councilperson to solely represent ElkhO!rn.
LEE TERRY SENIOR…YOU MUST BE STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.
so let me get this straight…coming up with new ideas constitutes one as “pandering” for votes? That is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. Suttle cares for Omaha, and is the only councilman who is working for a better Omaha, rather than just showing up to the job and voting on what they are presented with.
If we are suppose to me represented sensibly there should be districts divided to help represent the population. There appears to be two schools of thought. One, the representatives should represent the people they represent. Two, the representative should represent what is good for the people even if the people do not necessarily agree. I suppose it may depend on the issue. Personally, I agree with the first option the majority of the time. Not because it may ensure a representative’s reelection but because they are suppose to be the voice of the people. Is not this government suppose to be for the people, by the people? We need to assure each sector of your city is represented. So stop the Gerrymandering Omaha! You know what I am talking about.