Mayor Jim Suttle's roundtable budget discussion with citizens in south Omaha on Thursday was a mixture of pointed questions, supportive comments and polite skepticism.
Then the mayor ran into Rodney Rea.
Given a chance to comment, Rea stood and questioned some of Suttle's hiring decisions during his first few months on the job. He told him that he deserved a failing grade for leadership.
“I did not create this mess,” Suttle responded.
“You're not helping things,” Rea shot back.
Suttle told Rea that he was working hard to head off “a collapse of our city.” But Rea, a southwest Omaha resident who later said he hadn't voted for Suttle, wasn't buying it.
“Jim, you're not doing a good job,” Rea said. “I hope you get recalled.”
It was the evening's most jarring note, and Rea was immediately followed by someone who thanked Suttle for his public service. About 150 people attended the 90-minute session, held on the south Omaha campus of Metropolitan Community College.
Two similar meetings were held earlier this week in the Elkhorn area and at Benson High School, drawing an additional 350 people.
Although Suttle seemed tense during his exchange with Rea, the mayor later deemed the budget sessions a success.
“I believe in people,” he said. “I learned a long time ago, people need an opportunity to vent, to express their ideas and to learn.”
People did all three during the public budget discussions, Suttle said. Participants sat in groups of 20 to 25, while Suttle and city department heads moved from group to group to answer their questions about the budget and other matters.
“I think we learned a great deal,” Suttle said, adding that he and his staff will review what they heard. But, he also said, none of the public comments or suggestions have caused him to rethink any aspects of his budget proposal.
“I didn't see anything that would cause me to change my mind,” he said. “We're going to stay on plan.”
Some people were concerned about Suttle's proposed increase in the city's property tax rate, which would be used to repay debt on the Qwest Center Omaha and would add $24 a year to the property taxes of the owner of a house valued at $100,000. A few told him that they agreed with his proposed 2 percent tax on entertainment, while others lamented that the city wasn't trying to tax people who work in the city and live elsewhere.
Several questioned the wisdom and cost of the new downtown baseball stadium. Suttle told them that the stadium has its own funding sources and isn't contributing to the city's financial challenges.
Suttle said Omaha needs to address a number of major issues, including a shortfall in the police and fire pension fund. But, he said, the immediate priority is to find a way to balance the 2010 budget by increasing taxes and holding the line on spending. Suttle said he is still negotiating a two-year wage freeze with the city's employee unions, which could save $5 million in both 2009 and 2010.
The mayor called on the City Council to embrace his proposals. And if council members do not help him balance the budget, Suttle warned, he will be forced to make deep cuts in the areas where he has the most flexibility to reduce the budget: libraries and community centers.
At all three sessions, people repeatedly asked Suttle to explain his decision to pay a new finance director nearly $80,000 more than her predecessor. Former Werner Enterprises executive Pam Spaccarotella will be paid $180,000 a year. Outgoing Finance Director Carol Ebdon, who is leaving today to teach at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, had been paid $100,780.
At one point during his sessions, Suttle commented that Ebdon had been “grossly underpaid.”
Suttle said he needed to pay competitive salaries to attract top talent and said he would be expecting a lot from his new “chief financial officer.”
“We have a lot of surgery to do in our departments,” he said.
Linda Bors, one of the people who questioned Suttle about the finance director's hiring, nodded approvingly as he described the type of work he wants Spaccarotella to do.
Bors, who said she has a background in math and finance, described herself as “very skeptical” when she arrived on Thursday. After hearing Suttle, the northwest Omaha resident said, she changed her mind.
“I felt good about it,” she said. “I felt he gave a very good explanation.”
World-Herald staff writer Andrew J. Nelson contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
444-1114, paul.goodsell@owh.com
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