Suttle for Mayor...of Council Bluffs

Jim Suttle came out with his Economic Development Plan for Council Bluffs yesterday.

In it, he proposes Omaha build a bridge to Eppley Airport so that the people of Iowa can get there faster, and build an industrial park in Counciltucky. (We kid Bluffs! We kid!)

You can read the complete press release from Suttle by clicking here.

Hmm. Where to go with this...

Well, we don't want to totally bash on Suttle's concept. His theory is that if the whole area succeeds, Omaha succeeds. And if this bridge (just two miles down the street from the Mormon Bridge, by the way) is built, then the people from Omaha -- specifically North Omaha -- can go to work in Iowa and everyone wins.

Interesting plan. Except this plan is just only slightly thought out more than the Papal Toboggan (you knew we had to mention it).

See, in Suttle's initial press release, the plan was to use President Obama's Federal Stimulus money "to fast track construction of the new Gateway Bridge..." (that would be the Obama Gateway Bridge, to you).

But then someone pointed out to Councilman Suttle that the Stimulus money had to be spent only on projects that were ready to go within the next 90 days. So Mr. Suttle, sped around to say,

"If you look at the stimulus package right now, it's going to take projects off the shelf and they're going to be completed. This will free up other projects to move up."

Oh, we see. So what you wrote in your press release a few hours earlier is no accurate at all. Well then.

And tell us again how this "Bi-state compact on taxing authority and profit sharing for the greater good" works again? No details? Huh.

Jim Vokal slammed Suttle's plan pointing out that no one exactly has $45M sitting around to build a bridge.

Hal Daub was a little more subtle to Suttle, stating that his (Daub's) economic plan "focused on realistic and achievable programs to grow the economy". (Emphasis ours.)

And then you know how we feel about bridges to no where....

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Note Daub's left-handed compliment to Suttle, praising Suttle for re-suggesting Daub's Economic Development Director, and the note on "realistic" (i.e., non Iowa and Pope-centric proposals).

We would note that on that point, Vokal stated that he thinks the EconDev Dir. position is unneeded. I guess we were surprised that this position doesn't exist in the Fahey administration anymore. This seems like exactly the kind of position one would want in Omaha.

We would even go so far as to say that the public will be waiting for Vokal's Economic Development plan. So far he has proposals to pare down the city budget and fix the pension funds. But the next step will be to propose how to grow the city.

Maybe this is best left for the final month of the primary campaign when people really begin to focus. But it is an essential element, no doubt. Omahans like economic development proposals. Comparing and contrasting these could be an essential part of these next five weeks.

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Our best wishes to Senator Mike Johanns who had a NON-cancerous lobe removed from his lung today. We -- and the Senator and his family we're sure -- are breathing easier.

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We were forwarded a new report from The Platte Institute for Economic Research, written by John Heieck, addressing the need for changes to the Commission of Industrial Relations -- the state administrative agency responsible for resolving all city employee salary disputes in Nebraska.

You can access The Platte Institute's page, and the report, by clicking here.

If you've never visited their page, or been to any of their presentations, they are an interesting think tank focusing on Nebraska. You could do worse with your time.

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Our look at the City Council races and a new view of the Mayor's race, later in the week.