This isn't going to make the LJS commenters happy.
Former City Council member Dan Marvin is expected to accept a new gig as coordinator of the City's efforts to build a new arena in the Haymarket. The job, under the Urban Development Department, will pay approximately $70,000.
What will get many Lincolnites in a huff? Two things. First, the job apparently wasn't open to the public. Regardless of Marvin's qualifications, that can certainly give the impression that local politicians are in the habit of keeping each other employed through gigs like this. Second, at a time when the budget is awfully tight, Mayor Beutler is willing to spend some $100,000 -- I'm including a very rough estimate of benefits -- toward a project that is far from a certainty.
What say you, Lincolnites? Is this job (and job offer) a crock that we citizens should be fired up about? Or is any uproar much ado about nothing?
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See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.
Is this a contractual relationship or is he an employee? The article says that Marvin has “accepted a job,” but there are a lot of references to a contract. Is that the way the city normally works?
Just bummed he is not my Senator. That was one really close race. He even dropped by my house and we talked for a few minutes. Senator Coash is a decent fella, but I do not always agreeing with his votes.
I have no prob with Marvin getting a job on a project that might not even happen. But Brashear getting the head spot on the bullet train between Omaha and Lincoln really chapps my behind 😉
If someone isn’t running point, it will never get built.
Perhaps. But the arena has not yet been approved by voters. It may never get built even with a point man.
Obviously voters need a certain amount of information about the proposal in order to make an educated vote. It’s not clear if a full-time position is needed to fill in the remaining gaps. Remember, we were originally supposed to have voted this past spring. That implies that sufficient information for a vote has already been gathered. Thus, it is certainly fair to ask if Marvin’s role in “coordinat[ing] the remaining groundwork to be done in preparation for a likely spring 2010 vote” is worth $100k in light of our very tight budget situation. Likewise, it is legitimate to wonder why “the remaining groundwork” can’t be laid by existing City employees.
Remember, the arena is little more than a proposal at this point. We’re already having a heck of a time paying for existing services and projects. Within that context, is Marvin’s (proposed) position a “must-have” or a “nice-to-have”?
I think before this ever comes to a vote, all the planning and all the funding will be lined up and ready to go, 100k isn’t that much for the potential benefits.
If Dan Marvin is the man to get the thing built, then I’m all for it.
Sweet ... cronyism at its finest.
I’d like Mayor Beutler to describe where he’s getting the funds for this position. If he’s sacrificing a couple of those digital traffic signs or slowing the addition of traffic lights on 84th Street, then I’m cool with it. Then again, that would prove that we need neither the traffic signs nor the lights, but that’s a debate for another day.
LOL!
“bullet train”? Please. I have a Daisy BB gun that outperforms anything Brashear’s group will produce.
I’ve got a video of their prototype, and while it show evolutionary tendencies, it’s no solution for public transportation. Stimulus for their buddies in the construction companies (most of ‘em from out-of-state no doubt) at best.
Uh, the voters didn’t approve the Antelope Valley Plan either.
I totally pulled that out of my behind and chose a Republican to make a point. I work in the legislature and got to know his ways well.
I like your guysez replies though. Does seem a bit fishy and wasteful.
When are we going to get a coordinator of “Tearing Down Buildings and Paving Parking Lots”? That’s what I want to know.
I want that job. Pick me, Mayor Beutler, pick me!!!
How does 70,000 become 100,000?
As I read the story, it is one year contract which usually would come without benefits.
Share your thoughts with the community.
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