Lincolnite

Hot off the presses from Mayor Chris Beutler:

I have said many times during my administration that I want Lincoln to be a world-class City. I want us to compete on the national and world stages and dare to dream big. We clearly have the people, the talent, and the potential to make our community an even better place to live. The vision for the West Haymarket Arena is a critical piece of Lincoln's future. We cannot be all we dream of being without it. It's impact on the economy, jobs, and keeping young professionals in our community is a cornerstone of the Lincoln we want to become. But like all communities in this national economic crisis, our vision of the future is necessarily tempered by the realities of the present. Lincoln's working families and its businesses are concerned about what the future holds, and how long a national recession might last. While Lincoln has fared better than most, we are not immune to challenges of the national economy. That's why today the City's partners in the Arena project and I have announced our intention to delay the public vote on the West Haymarket arena. It is the prudent move in the current economic situation. The economy is impacting the proposed election in two ways: First, the hard-working people of our community are facing some tough realities each and everyday. According to the Washington Post, the average employee lost 18% of their retirement funds in the last two months. It is difficult to focus on providing a solid future for the next generation when you are anxious and confused about the present. And we can expect a difficult City government budget next year as we struggle with slowing revenues. Many will be concerned about spending new money, even as we struggle to maintain funding for important city services. Second, the delay will, in all probability, allow us to obtain an even better financing deal for Lincoln taxpayers. As you know, the sports marketing company ISG is interested in building the arena. Their participation could mean as much as half of the project's total costs will be assumed by the private sector. It is simply too good a deal to pass up. But ISG's plans for development in the US have been slowed by the national economy. While they are pursuing programs in other parts of the world, the lack of liquidity in US capital markets is preventing immediate progress. As the new administration takes office and clarifies the US recovery plan, we all expect this situation to improve. In the meantime, ISG remains strongly interested in Lincoln. Without resolution of the ISG issue, we will not be able to provide Lincoln voters with the most complete picture by May of this year. We have made tremendous progress in building this proposal and finding the answers to the tough questions. We do not want to jeopardize the faith of Lincoln residents by putting forward a package that doesn't adequately answer the question of Arena financing. A delay allows us to more clearly answer this question and gives the public more time for greater input and discussion. Delaying the election allows for recovery in the national economy, and gives us time to sort through our priorities. Capital markets will hopefully loosen and allow ISG to partner with City taxpayers. In short, the delay may give our community an even stronger foundation from which to consider the West Haymarket project. Delay does not mean abandonment. As Mayor of this community, it is my responsibility to prepare us for the future. Lincoln is in jeopardy of losing our high school sports championships, which generate millions of dollars of economic impact. Events continue to pass by Lincoln due to the inadequacy of Pershing Auditorium, building other communities with dollars that could have been spent here. And of course, the additional jobs created by the Arena's construction and operation are important to Lincoln's working families. The Arena must happen, even if it means some sacrifice. The communities that will best weather the national economic storm are the ones who will see the future and embrace it. While we catch our breath and sort out what these economic changes mean, we must keep our eye firmly fixed on the future. We must remember the example of our forefathers, who during the Great Depression, had the foresight to build our beautiful State Capitol. They continued to build it despite the difficult economic times because of the jobs the Capitol's construction would create. But I think they understood an even deeper truth: great societies don't put off the future, they embrace it. Until that time, we will continue our public input discussions with the community about the Arena. We will continue to work on the financing, and on the already unique and visionary site plans so that Lincoln voters will have the most accurate picture possible on which to base their decision. When the financial picture becomes certain, we will announce an election date. Great opportunity lies ahead. We potentially have a major private sector financial partner that will greatly reduce the need for public money. Our local partners are still strongly committed to a new Arena. Excitement is growing each day in anticipation of what a new Arena can do for Lincoln. Delaying the public vote will allow us to present an even stronger vision of the West Haymarket Arena to the community and is the right course. It will be worth the wait.

I'll be back later with my thoughts. Hat tip: beerorkid

Better late than never, right?

SpillZone is thinking ahead:

I was wondering if people could share restaurants they find enjoyable for Valentine’s Day or an anniversary dinner. We’ve been to Fireworks and Misty’s, but might there be other hidden gems around town?

What say you, Lincolnites? Share your recommendations -- but only after you've been sure to make your own reservation.

PG-13 language ahead. Here's the scenario: The intersection is 14th and O. The 14th Street light is green and the pedestrian walk signal is active. Five pedestrians -- three adults, two children under the age of 3 -- are preparing to cross O Street from south to north. One vehicle is on 14th Street preparing to turn east (right) onto O Street. The question: Who has the right of way? The correct answer is "The vehicle, dummy! Pedestrians are scum and must always stay out of the way of cars. If a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle, it is the pedestrian's fault." Well, I think that's the answer. That's what a driver communicated to me on Saturday. You see, The Missus, Robbie, and I were leaving Sesame Street Live at Pershing Center. So were the mother and young son also waiting with us at the intersection. When the walk signal illuminated I did what came natural: I began to cross the street. But having worked Downtown for years I also did what pedestrians unfortunately have to do: I checked my peripheral vision for idiot drivers. I spotted the small SUV to my left immediately. He showed no signs of stopping. I hate idiot drivers, so I knew what I had to do. I kept walking, though at a pace that would only get me near the vehicle, not underneath it. As the vehicle (illegally) passed in front of me, I made very loud and forceful contact with the side of the door. Don't worry, I wasn't hurt and neither was the vehicle. The driver, however, was startled. He stopped his car in the middle of O Street and got out. "Watch where you're going, asshole!", he yelled. See that? I was an asshole for being a law-abiding pedestrian in a pedestrian-heavy urban environment. I didn't give the man the pleasure of a confrontation. I never broke stride and I didn't look back as I continued across the street. For all I know he could still be standing there. I know I was no saint in this situation, but I did achieve the one thing I set out to achieve: I caused the driver to stop (literally, in this case) and realize that something had happened. If nothing had happened as a result of his illegal, unsafe, and immoral actions -- if he had never heard a loud WHUMP!, stopped the car, and gotten out to yell at the evil pedestrian -- the odds of him changing his behavior were near zero. Instead, I increased the odds to slightly better than zero. He may hate silly pedestrians like me, but at least now he thinks about pedestrians. It's a start. Had one of the two young boys at 14th and O on Saturday gotten too eager at the sight of the "walk" signal, he would be dead or injured today. Please don't be an idiot driver. And if you happen to know an idiot driver, correct him before his idiocy gets somebody hurt.

Before we adopted Robbie, stories like this elicited little more from me than a quick "That's really unfortunate". These days when I read about adoptions gone wrong I literally feel sick to my stomach. It's not just the adoption angle, either. Much of it derives from my empathetic response as a dad. Ugh.

Not everybody ended 2008 with negative news. The Lancaster Events Center showed healthy income and profits for the year, and they begin 2009 with at least one event booked every weekend through the year. Not surprisingly, then, development in that area of 84th Street is continuing. The Ag Society chose Hampton Enterprises to develop a hotel and related businesses at 84th and Havelock. I wonder, does that good news make a 2009 vote on the proposed Haymarket arena more or less likely, or does it not affect the vote at all?

I'm a big fan of Paul's BBQ (48th and Pioneers), so it always makes me happy when somebody else discovers College View's quiet little gem. This time the discoverer is Buffmeat, a man who likes his barbecue. Congratulations on the discovery, Buffmeat! If any of the rest of you happen to stop by, I recommend a small pulled pork sandwich with a side of beans. Add two ribs and/or a slice of cornbread if you're feeling hungry. That should serve as a good introduction for you.

There's a Nebraska Furniture Mart insert in today's Lincoln Journal Star. One of the computer packages caught my eye. You get a computer, monitor, and printer. But the big feature? The computer showcases a whopping 4,096 GB RAM. Funny, I would have thought 4 Terabytes of RAM would cost a lot more than $500.

If you are a property owner in Lancaster County, within the next week you should receive in the mail a preliminary property valuation. Emphasis on the word "preliminary". Final valuations will go out in June. I checked my information online to see where my property stands. Apparently my home's value has increased about 10% since I purchased it in March 2004. I'll have to check the real estate section of the newspaper to see how accurate that is. It doesn't sound unreasonable. It does seem weird that the value of the land my house sits on increased 14% between 2008 and 2009. Again, I'll have to do some research to determine if the new value is fair. What do you expect will happen with your property's value this year? What should happen?

It doesn't really seem like it has been almost ten years since the last census, but here we are quickly approaching 2010. Pretty soon we're going to have to figure out what we will call this current decade. About 100 people will be hired in the Lincoln area to help with the census. That sounds like an interesting job. I'll bet you get to meet a crazy cast of characters. And the pay isn't bad: $11.50 per hour. I wonder with how much respect door-to-door census personnel are treated. Do folks tend to treat them like telemarketers, or do they actually get a little respect? In 2000 my roommate and I were visited by a census employee, a friendly older gentleman who seemed to take his job in stride. The questions he asked were quick and simple. I felt guilty that we hadn't turned in our forms on time. I found them several months later in a "to-do" pile. Oops. Have any of you worked for the census before? How was it?

[Editor's Note: This entry is behaving very strangely. It should be posted in DMB Sports Report, and the author should be listed as DMB. For some reason when it is set up that way, commenting becomes disabled. Weird. -bcw] Nebraska got a great win the the Gator Bowl on New Years Day over Clemson 26-21. Nebraska was down 14-3 at the half 21-10 in the 3rd quarter but battled back to win their first new years day (or later) bowl game since 2000. Nebraska will be losing some key people on the team, namely Joe Ganz. Nebraska will also take a hit at WR after Nate Swift and Todd Peterson have used up their eligibility. The one underclassman NU has to worry about leaving is Suh. Suh is projected right now as a late 1st round pick. Before those predictions came out, and during bowl practices, Suh has said he’s 99.9% sure he is coming back for his senior year. Now after having time to think about it and then his Gator Bowl performance, will the money be too much of a draw to come back? We will soon know, as deadline to apply for the draft is soon approaching. If Suh comes back he will anchor a Dline that will be cut in half by graduation (Potter & Steinkuhler). Murillo is a big loss in the secondary but there is depth behind him. The biggest replacement though will be Joe Ganz. Who will come out of the three-headed race between Patrick Witt, Zach Lee or QB recruit Cody Green. Unless Cody comes in and blows out the competition, I foresee a redshirt season for him. So its either Patrick Witt or Zach Lee, my money is on Witt at this point but it will be one of the more fascinating things to watch this upcoming off season.

Unlike Neal Obermeyer, I generally support Sen. Mike Friend's proposal to shorten the Unicameral session. Currently, sessions are 90 days in odd-numbered years, and 60 days in even years. Friend would knock that down to 60/40. I don't know if 100 days over two years is the right number, but I like the basic idea. The less time the Unicameral is in session, the fewer opportunities they have to get themselves in trouble. But that idea is subject to diminishing returns as sessions get shorter. At some point the sessions get "too short". I don't know where that point lies. One of my primary concerns with regard to session length is preserving opportunities for public input and reaction. If the sessions are cut too short, we risk creating an atmosphere that encourages rushing, and when rushing occurs lots of problems develop: laws are less carefully crafted; the public has less opportunity to track the legislative process; lawmakers vote on legislation they aren't familiar with; and so on. Neal's cartoon mocks the notion that State Senators might have a life outside the legislature. Intentionally or not, his cartoon makes an argument for the professionalization of the Unicameral. Nebraskans, however, have long supported "citizen legislators". Indeed, anti-professionalism sentiment is largely what drove the push for term limits in the Unicameral. The same sentiment has kept Nebraska's legislative pay low for so many years. There are many benefits to professionalization, not least of which is the build-up of institutional knowledge and expertise within the legislative body. There are also many pitfalls: look to Congress for myriad examples of how professionalization can breed corruption. The ideal body would be professionalized and corruption-free. Good luck finding one of those. I wonder what proportion of Nebraskans applaud Neal's cartoon. It is logically inconsistent to demand our legislators be citizen legislators while simultaneously applauding a cartoon that mocks their desire to do just that. How many Nebraskans realize that by laughing with Neal they are laughing at themselves? Again, that's not to say that Sen. Friend's 60/40 proposal is great. I'm just saying that it wouldn't make sense for a state in which the "citizen legislator" is king to mock a proposal on the grounds that it will make it easier for legislators to also be citizens. On the other hand, the mockery may make perfect sense for a guy like Neal; I don't know him personally, but I doubt he would put himself forth as an example of the prototypical Nebraskan on this or pert near any other issue.

While reading about Mayor Beutler's legislative priorities for this session, I got to thinking about his desire to allow "cities the size of Lincoln" to create a transit authority. Why should that ability be restricted based on the size of a city? What's the argument there?

Lincoln will soon get a new roundabout on North 14th Street near Cornhusker Highway. The roundabout will be Lincoln's largest -- large enough to handle 18-wheeler traffic. I'm not very familiar with traffic patterns in that area, but apparently there is a disproportionate number of accidents right there. I'm generally a fan of roundabouts and other "non-standard" traffic management approaches, so I am happy to see this proposal take the next step. If cost weren't a factor I would like to see many more of this sort of project around the city. Where would your next project be?