Lincolnite

I realize I don't drive nearly as much as many of you do. But in my travels around town I haven't noticed very many gaping potholes so far this spring. There have been a few, sure; there always will be. Yet all of the most substantial holes on all the routes I frequent have been patched pretty quickly. Have your tires been eaten by any potholes this spring? Have you noticed any persistent problem spots the City has missed?

The City's budget priorities survey is now online. The survey gives Lincolnites a chance to rate the relative importance of various aspects of the budget, and to provide written feedback on a number of topics. I haven't completed the survey yet, but so far it's pretty much what I expected it to look like. I do worry that some populations will have a hard time with the survey. I'm not sure that a lot of "computer inexperienced" people will be able to figure out the drag-and-drop interface, for example. It looks pretty, but it isn't necessarily intuitive to those who aren't used to it. I am also concerned that the form isn't "accessible". That is, according to my testing the form is unusable by visually impaired users, and it is very difficult to use for those with certain mobility impairments. Phrased more bluntly: a lot of handicapped people are going to have troubles with it. Fortunately, a paper version of the survey is available at all city libraries. That fact isn't stated on the online survey website, but the Mayor's press release confirms it. That should be a viable option for most people that the online version misses. If you use the survey, let us know your thoughts, both about the survey instrument and about the topics it covered. Is it useful? Were you surprised by anything?

Well thank goodness Lincoln's Village Inns aren't closing. No seriously. There just aren't that many breakfast options in Lincoln, and I love breakfast. Hmm, I wonder who has the best breakfast in Lincoln? I think a lot of folks would push for Stauffer's and Green Gateau. You've got your classic "healthy" (hah!) options at Hi-Way Diner and Shoemaker's. There are the Hy-Vee restaurants. And then of course there are the various Sunday brunches around town. Where do you go out for the best breakfast in Lincoln?

Two finalists have been selected for hotel and convention center projects that will accompany the new Haymarket arena -- if voters decide we want the arena. The finalists are: John Q. Hammons Industries, of Embassy Suites and aborted hotels on Q Street and 17th Street fame; and Robert and Will Scott of WRK LLC, who have been very actively lately in a number of projects around Lincoln. There are no details on either of the proposals. We do know a little bit about the proposals that didn't make the cut. One proposed a 7,000 seat arena -- a far cry from the 15,000 - 16,000 figure often thrown around by the folks with the loftiest goals. Another developer is dubious about the amount of private financing the two finalists might be proposing, implying that taxpayers are in for more of a hit than we're being told. If true -- and remember, this is coming from somebody who lost the bid, so take it with a grain of salt -- it would not be surprising. It's almost a truism that the public gets sacked with a much larger bill than they were promised in these things. I want to take a quick moment and critique the Journal Star's headline on this news: "2 finalists selected for arena project". There is a lot of confusion among the public about the distinction between the arena, and the hotel and convention center projects; who is in control of each part; who will pay for each part; and how much say the public has at each step of the way. To me, the use of the phrase "for arena project" in the headline is very misleading. Sure, the project is related to the arena, but in fact the developers are working more on the stuff that sits next door to the arena, not the arena itself. To be fair, it's all sort of one big jumbled mess at this point -- especially since voters could still shut down the entire project -- but it would be nice to see the Journal Star try a little more actively to help clear up the public's confusion.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure wouldn't complain if Comcast were to bring a little 50 mb/second action to Lincoln. Suddenly Windstream's 6 mb/sec and Road Runner's 10 mb/sec just feel ... pokey.

As I mentioned the other day, there will be four meetings in the coming weeks at which the public can talk about the City budget process. Three of the dates and locations had been announced; now the fourth location -- Lincoln North Star -- has been added. Here are the four:

• April 22: Lincoln Southwest High School
• April 24: LPS District Offices
• April 29: Lincoln North Star High School
• May 6: Lincoln High School

For more details, see the press release.

I see that Scooters and Brown Baggers are now open side-by-side at 84th and Van Dorn, in the same strip as Dino's Eastside Grill. Note that the 84th Street Brown Baggers is not the same as the Brown Baggers on 70th and Van Dorn. I think the 84th Street BB is related to the Haymarket Brown Baggers, which also sits next to a Scooters. I once asked what the deal was with the two different BB's in town. The only answer I got was effectively "we don't like them, and they don't like us". Suddenly buying a sandwich was like taking sides in a bitter rivalry. It's all so very confusing.

It's good to see Councilman John Spatz working on alternative conflict of interest legislation in the wake of the City Council's decision to keep voters from deciding if city employees should be forbidden from holding contracts with the city. Unfortunately, any conversation related to the issue at this point is likely to involve little more than partisan bickering. You can largely thank the Republican City Council members and Democrat Vic Covalt for that. Ethics shouldn't be a partisan issue. But how can you have any sort of intellectual debate about a contentious topic like this when the sides only define each other (and themselves) by party? The two sides are being petty and childish around a serious issue:

Asked whether he had talked to Covalt about his alternative, Spatz said he can’t think of another person in the city he’d be less likely to discuss the issue with, noting that Covalt is running for chairman of the state Democratic Party. ... In response to Spatz’s implication that Covalt is just playing politics, Covalt said Spatz is doing the same: “He’s as much a Republican as I’m a Democrat.”

Ugh. What does party affiliation have to do with ethics and conflicts of interest? Nothing. Grow up, gents, and draw the dividing lines -- which, I suspect, aren't nearly as insurmountable as the two sides think -- based on principle, not party.

While reading about door-to-door peddlers getting arrested, I realized I've never even thought about asking door-to-door salesmen if they have a permit. I don't see a lot of them, and I've never had a problem with one, but I can see how they might cause trouble for some people. I get especially concerned for people like my great aunt. She is so trusting... Another thing I didn't realize is that selling items door-to-door without a permit can get you arrested. Yikes. I assumed a pushy peddler would just get a ticket. Have you ever had a problem with a door-to-door salesperson? Are you a door-slammer, a patient listener, or a gullible buyer?

Half of the items still haven't been solved in "An Exhausting Puzzler". Can you figure them out? I will post hints in the comments periodically...

If you've ever wanted to tell the City how they should spend your money, you'll have a few chances in the near future. On Sunday, an online survey will go live. It will be unscientific -- that is, just because 90% of survey respondents give a particular answer doesn't mean that 90% of Lincolnites would give that answer -- but it will give Lincolnites a chance to rate budget priorities and offer written comments. Then there will be four town hall meetings:

• April 22: Lincoln Southwest High School
• April 24: LPS District Offices
• May 6: Lincoln High School
• TBD

My bet is the fourth meeting will be held at Lincoln North Star or Lincoln Northeast. I get the feeling there is a lot of distrust over this process. Rather than applauding the City for asking for public input on the budget -- something Lincolnites have asked for many times over the years -- there's a good deal of dismissal going on. I don't know if Mayor Beutler and the City Council will take the input seriously or not. I hope they do, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until they demonstrate otherwise. One of the first tests will be the release of the phone poll data. It is due in mid-April. Hopefully they release all the data and let the public come to our own conclusions. If all they release are soundbites and summaries ... well, I'll be concerned. Do you have faith in the City's public input process? How would you have done it differently?

It has been interesting following the debate over whether or not the State Fair should move from its current digs to make way for UNL's proposed Innovation Park. In the beginning, there was a lot of distrust of UNL, and the notion that the Fair should move was unfathomable to most. Or at least, to most of the people who commented on the Journal Star's online stories. Now that the Fair is all but certainly headed to Grand Island, the tide has turned. Today's comments are mostly supportive of the move, and the proportion of folks welcoming the tech park with open arms seems higher than even just a few weeks ago. On the plus side, Lincoln will probably get its tech park. There's every reason to suspect that will be good for the community in many ways. I can't wait to see how it looks 15 years from now. On the flip side, I'm worried about what the State Fair will look like in 15 years. I'm not as fatalistic about it as many people are. But I'm wary.

Did any of you make it to the grand opening of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum this weekend? My family has a long history with quilting, so I know I'll be making the trip to 33rd and Holdrege in the near future. Good work, folks; the facility looks great.

The JournalStar has mentioned Lincolnite Dan Brown's award-winning How to solve a Rubik's Cube (Part One) about 36 times over the past couple weeks. If you haven't already seen it, here it is: Good work, Dan!

Lately I've been thinking about scrapping all of the (woefully unused) "extras" on Lincolnite and turning lincolnite.com into "just" a blog. All the extra stuff I've had planned just isn't going to happen right now, just as it hasn't been happening for months (and months and months). I think I've let the overall "Lincolnite" concept languish because I've been unable to reach all of my goals with the site. (My big dream, by the way, is [was?] a comprehensive community resource.) The site currently generates $0 for me. I can't spruce things up without it paying for itself, and it'll never pay for itself if I don't spruce it up. Chicken, meet egg. I'm starting to think that I need to focus my sights on an attainable goal. That goal? Making Lincolnite a "damn good blog". I can see that happening. It's sort of like paying off a big pile of debts. If you focus on how far you are in the hole, you feel overwhelmed. But if you nibble away at the little debts first, you feel successful and empowered. If I do make some changes, I think I will also begin placing advertisements on the site. I've had a few people contact me about advertising on Lincolnite. Up until now I've said "I'm not quite ready for that". I think it's time. But don't fret, there won't be any obnoxious seizure-inducing animations or v1@6ra sales pitches. Lincolnite is my baby, and I'm not going to let just anybody slap a tattoo on her forehead. Besides, I know you folks'll let me have it if I go too far. I would love to hear your thoughts on these and related topics.