Friday, November 19, 2010

They’re IN

The signatures are in.
Or at least they might as well be.

The OWH is reporting that “they have learned” that the Mayor Suttle Recall Committee will be turning in 37,000 some signatures.

We were informed on Wednesday that they had somewhere in the neighborhood of 32K sigs -- so if you had the “Under” (Noelle Obermeyer, we are looking in your direction ), you lose.

Speaking of Ms. Obermeyer (because if you have the opportunity to have a student be your campaign spokesperson, you always say yes, right?), she is posturing that the anti-Recallers will,
“...use any and all efforts that we have to ensure that the recall effort doesn't go through.”
Geez Noelle. Jeremy Aspen and the gang might want to think about an armored escort into the Courthouse.

What she really means though is “Lawyer Up!”

They’re still gearing to knock off more than 10,000 of those signatures, and are apparently hoping to depose at least that many. Though Election Commissioner Dave Phipps is already hinting that this will be tough to do, based on past counting procedures.

We are guessing that the Antis would be better off spending their money on the upcoming campaign -- but when you have unlimited resources (cough...Dick Holland...cough) maybe you don’t care.

You can come back later to see what the official unofficial turn-in numbers are.
Or not.

Or just, Go Huskers!

64 comments:

Pol Observor said...

Sweeper don't you mean Law Student UP!!!!

Signer #36,999 said...

I realize some number of signatures will be thrown out, but 37,000 is almost as many (he got a little more than 38,000) as the number of people that voted Suttle in to office just 17 months ago.

James said...

Nice accompanying picture. Any guesses as to whether Suttle keeps that campaign promise? I vote "no".

Anonymous said...

If the counts are true, it's time for the mayor to move forward and spare the city an expensive, divisive and reckless election.

Anonymous said...

37,219

Not David Letterman said...

Top 10 Things on Jim Suttle's Christmas List:

1) A big eraser (and on that erases ink).

2) A fire at the Eletion Commissioner's Office.

3) Sandy Berger volunteering to be in charge of overseeing the secuirty of the petitions.

4) Deb shaking him saying, "Jim! Jim! wake up you're having a bad dream!"

5) The date be changed from November 19th to April 1st.

6) That Noelle Obermeyer somehow actually knows what she's talking about.

7) Huge sales tax receipts for the holiday season and a retoactive repeal of the restaurant/entertainment tax.

8) A hug from Dick Holland (or maybe a big check to some how stave off being recalled).

9) Applause and cheers not boos and jeers.

10) Ron Gerard to come back!

Copy Cat said...

Rumor has it that Steve Oltmans was seen at FedEx Kinko's this afternon updating his resume.

Chett (two t's) said...

man, this recall group was not suttle about collecting signatures.

get it...

ha ha ha ha ha!

buh bye, mayor sliderule

I Support Jim said...

Just awful, how embarrassing Omaha. I am disgusted.

Anonymous said...

Notes to next Mayor:

(1) When you go on a listening tour, actually listen to the citizens.

(2) When the city council unanimously rejects a union contract, advocate zealously on behalf of the citizens you represent to make the changes they suggested.

(3) When you are faced with a number of fully-developed neighborhoods that are outside city limits that are ripe to be annexed and you can decrease their property taxes by 3-13% and increase revenue to the city by $1 million annually, annex them and don't charge them a wheel fee without giving them a vote -- even if they are not in your party.

(4) When you hear reports about poor record keeping at the Fire Department, initiate your own investigation and don't dismiss the reports as rumors and innuendo and save the City the embarrassment of having to have the State Auditor come in.

Chris said...

@ I Support Jim,

Why be disgusted? Recall is a valid legal procedure under state statute. He doesn't have to commit a crime to be recalled...

Anonymous said...

Hey... "I Support Jim...." If you are so disgusted, then move.

Anonymous said...

4:55PM: Get a grip and put down the nog.

Anonymous said...

Pat McPherson is laughing his ass off. Gary and Ace got beat by Pat and Jim....lol

Anonymous said...

A note to None 2 SUTTLE. The people have spoken Jim, give us all a break & just leave like a good sport! You can cry in your booze that you were a victim of the TIMES!!!

Earl said...

Here comes Ashford......\

I wonder how long Suttle's political "Friends" stick by his side?

Dayton Headlee said...

Suttle got 38,620 votes when he ran for mayor and the recall group got 37,129 signatures...

Anonymous said...

The Douglas County Board recently raised taxes -- not a peep from the public

The Douglas County Sheriff's Dept officers spiked their pensions --- no recall of Tim Dunning

Lee Terry broke his terms limits promise --- no recall of Lee Terry

Hal Daub, Mike Fahey gave away the store to the police and fire unions ---- no recall of Daub/Fahey

Why does everyone hate Jim Suttle, especially Tom Becka?

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 12:33

There was a recall with Fahey. It did not get enough signatures.

Tom Becka said...

I do not hate Jim Suttle. I saw him at the Dell last week and he looked like a beaten man. I felt sorry for him.
I do however hate some of the things he's done. I'm not gloating or enjoying this at all. If Suttle had made some cuts, some effort to reign in the spending, i.e. furloughs, closings,etc. and was honest with the voters this wouldn't have happened. If Suttle made some changes after the audit of the fire department , or actually did something when it was brought to his attention last January, they wouldn't have gotten so many signatures.
If people think this is all about higher taxes they are mistaken. It's much more than that.

James said...

Well, Suttle can start any remedy that is possible by getting a new fire chief. Any person in any private sector job with that kind of sloppy record keeping would not still have their job.

Anonymous said...

Why do people hate this guy? Because he's a Democrat in the year of the Teabagger. That's why.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I don't live in Omaha. All this crap is just a complete embarassment and an act of whiny, angry people who didn't get their way during the last Mayoral election. Period. The same ones who cried "recall" from about two days after the election in the first place. And to the idiot that keeps posting that Suttle should just step down to save money, I call bull****. If you really wanted to save taxpayer money you would have put your money and time and efforts into fielding a candidate and defeating Suttle in the next election. That's how democracy works. It's the best way to "recall" any politician.

Seriously, you're all a bunch of whiny little children on BOTH sides of the argument, and I have yet to hear one single idea from the recall people. There is no person who they will put forward named, and not a single plan on how to deal with the issues Omaha faces. It's easy to be the opposition and just say no.

Yep, glad I don't live in Omaha. It's an embarassment to the state.

Anonymous said...

Hey, 11:08, you angry, whiny, child... the rest of us are also happy you don't live in Omaha.

Anonymous said...

If we allow donkeys to use smarmy sexual terms like "teabagging", then we need to allow elephants to clarify how that term is being wrongly used.

Whereas "Tea Party" refers to fighting one's own goverment's tyranny, "Tea Bagging" is what Democrats do ala Barney Frankfurter and friends.

It is the homophelic donkeys who keep mentioning "teabagging". Sure, a few pink elephants might be doing a bit of that in private, but it is donkeys who publically obsess about same sex genilitia.

If you donkeys want to "bag" an elephant, do it by winning votes.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, Tom Becka doesn't hate Jim Suttle, right just like there are lots of people in Nebraska that don't follow the Huskers play football....

How many "Becka Show" episodes were dedicated to OPS raising taxes or the County Board raising taxes, or Do Co Departments not willing to make cuts, or the perks given to UNL top administrators, Congressional reps, etc...Becka was totally out to get Suttle from day one...

Of course Suttle looks beaten, you're carrying the baseball bat Mr. Becka!

Of all the whining and crying about how evil Suttle is, look at the facts, Omaha's financial house is in much better shape since he got in, he's not blasting his opponents (like certain KFAB personalities do on a daily basis), we've gotten our triple A bond rating back, UFL championship next week, etc....

Anonymous said...

Becka is a joke.

Anonymous said...

to 11-20 12:33AM: You forgot the presidential version of recall...why weren't these impeached for broken promises?

"Ready my lips. No new taxes." Daddy aka George H. Bush

Then there was the apple that didn't fall far from the tree in the 2000 debate with Al Gore who promised no nation building.

"If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road, and I'm going to prevent that."
George W. Bush

Say what? What was it called again in Iraq? Oh yeh. We brought democracy.

So when you climb on board to bag on Suttle, you might want to check your partisan card to see if it doesn't have two faces.

There was definitely local media influence fueling this recall effort. Those people got what they wanted, but don't want to accept responsibility for their
free speech for the time they generously gave Aspen and company to exercise his via the airwaves.

Of course Mayor Suttle looks like a beaten man. Why wouldn't he?

Anonymous said...

I meant to quote: "Read my lips. No new taxes." Freudian.

Ed Cator said...

Anonymous 11:58,

Sarah might refudiate your use of the term homophelic. Unless, of course, you were referring to bleeding heart liberal donkeys. Otherwise you should use homophobic or hemophelic. Which did you mean?

As for what the Tea Party members - those self-styled "patriots" - do, it is an aberration of what a group of Bostonians did back in 1773. The originals were protesting against their government's support of a corporate monopoly.

You are yet another obvious example of America's failing education system. And, as for obsessing about genitalia, I'd suggest you find another blog to satisfy your onanistic tendencies.

Anonymous said...

I'm done. We are now officially a Republican dictatorship. Making an honest attempt to solve a bad situation means nothing. Our freedom means nothing if we do not move in lockstep with the prevailing economic view. Collective bargaining is evil. Corporations have more power than citizens. The state religion is Christianity. The next civil war will be here within a generation.

Fortune 500 Company said...

We were trying to decide where to open new manufacturing facilities and call centers and creating thousands of jobs, we were looking at the Dominican Republic, Croatia, Equador, Zimbabwe, and Omaha, NE. Right away we had to rule out Omaha because their city government was in a constant state of turbulent, destructive politics and they didn't offer the sort of stability congruent to business operations. This is the 4th mayor there has been a coup attempt tried on, and with the new Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited political funding with little disclosure we can easily predict every Democrat and Republican Mayor in the indefinate future will face a neverending threat of constant takeover, preventing them from doing the right thing because they'll be in a constant fear of retribution from any special interest organized and funded well enough.

Street Sweeper said...

Uh, we'll handle the comedy around here.

(And no Haiti? Come on!)

-Ed.

Anonymous said...

The Huskers lost -- Blame it on Jim Suttle !!!!!!!

RWP said...

Gosh, the angry Democrat whackjobs are out in force today. Complete with a spelling policeman who doesn't know how to use 'aberration'.

Probably in the Teachers' Union.

RWP said...

The Huskers lost -- Blame it on Jim Suttle !!!!!!!

Was he one of the officials?

Anonymous said...

One would think a college professor would know better than to attempt to correct one that is more than proficient in the English language. Give that he is of foreign origin, we will excuse his display of imbecility.

UNL Cheerleader said...

I am not ashamed that the Huskers lost, I am ashamed that Gerard "SweetT!+5" Harbison is a Professor here.

GBR!

Dan Beebe Blows said...

Amen Anon 11:08! I wish you lived in our City!

Anonymous said...

Recall at the Federal level is called impeachment. It is a legal term and requires that there be a criminal wrongdoing-THAT'S WHY THERE IS A TRIAL!

Inside the State of Nebraska, there is a little procedure that only about half the public knows about to deal with Federally Elected Officials that make promises to their constituents and then break those promises for one reason or another

Can you guess what ti is called? Come on, it isn't that hard...IT'S CALLED VOTING!!!

It seems to me, and at least half of this Congressional District, that the verdict is in on Lee Terry and term limits-NO ONE WANTS TERM LIMITS IN NEBRASKA.

Now, back to the current debate. recall is the device set in place by local law for the voters to indicate their patience with local elected officials. In a world where "all politics is local", the growing impatience of toward government at the National level has OBVIOUSLY arrived in Omaha. Zero tolerance for screwing around with other people's cash.

Deal with it. (And yes, I agree that Fahey is the one that screwed this City up the most in the last 15 years and we named a street after him-what does that say about our City Council?!)

proud to not BEG said...

What a bunch of cry babies. Suttle has done a horrible job and the people are using a mechanism to remove him. Don't like the process then change it.

By the way the American People are getting tired of the Liberal BS so you will see changes all across the country. If you are one of those who want to give away others hard earned dollars then you are in for a rough ride. IF you are one of those who gets a "Free" ride well just get used to walking.

If you are down and out you can get a hand up, maybe not to the front of the bus with Obama but a hand up none the less. If you looking for a $30K hand out, sorry you won't get it. You need to go get a job flippin burgers and deal with it. Just like so many others had too.

Anonymous said...

What is really scary is that you Tea Baggers actually believe your own hype. I guess that is what several generations being raised on television programming has done to to our society. People have lost touch with reality.

Anonymous said...

This is not a productive discourse.

Oliver Douglas said...

OK. Let us presume we can now be rid of Mayor Suttle via a recall election. Does anyone have a viable candidate to replace him? Does anyone have any ideas on how better to handle the governance of our city? Or is Omaha merely to slide into an interminable round of coup d'etats?

Omaha cannot afford to continue this idiotic rehashing of every single election. So, some Daub lovers got their feelings hurt. Too bad! So, some citizens feel that a politician didn't keep his campaign promises. Too bad, nothing new there!

It really is a shame. Omaha could be a great city, one that others look to for clues on how to play the game and win. Unfortunately they will look at us and laugh at the bunch of hayseed rubes we are so intent on proving to the entire world that we really are. I propose we change the name of our city to Hooterville. Green Acres indeed!

Anonymous said...

Despite being hated and attacked on a daily basis, Jim Suttle has gotten Omaha in much better financial shape;

- returned Omaha to Triple A bond rating

- has not resorted to name-calling like this blog and others have done

- all city departments are under budget (except police)

- ended pension spiking (Tim Dunning can't say that)

- UFL Championship in town

- new snow removal and pot hole plan

- in favor of city/county mergers

- hiring of well-respected people from the private sector

Sure, he's made some big mistakes, but give the guy a break. He's not as evil as you protray him.

Anonymous said...

to 8:15AM today: I said it was the presidential version of recall, but thanks for the education that the federal term is impeachment.

Anonymous said...

well said

Anonymous said...

@ Anon 3:12

I'm still waiting for the pot holes to be fixed that Suttle promised would all be done last March. What's the plan for those? Wait until next March?

What about the fire budget? Oh, that's right, they have such sloppy record keeping that it cannot be determined if they are under or over budget.

Munchie Suttle said...

LEGALIZE POTholes!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe all the BS posts that Gary and Ace are trying to post here. Face it you two the public isn't buying your twisted story. Don't you have some Student Democrats to train or something?

Anonymous said...

I cannot wait to start the recall on whoever the next mayor is

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Earl said...

Suttle is not evile, just deaf and somewhat beholden to Unions.

Call that what you want, but it is the truth either way.

Anonymous said...

Suttle only ended pension-spiking for new hires. There are a ton of police & fire officers that intend to spike their pensions at the end. Pay attention folks.

el guapo loco said...

cant wait to see the recall election campaign commercials....will jim try to pull the wool over our eyes again by hamming signs into yards and saying that he'll lower property taxes?

its gonna be sweet! SWEET!

Anonymous said...

Everybody is all up in arms about Bo Pelini because for one day for a good reason he acted like Gerard Harbison acts everyday on this blog. Gerard only does it because he's lonely and is a social introvert.

Cry Baby Taylor Martinez said...

Leave my Prof out of this. Gerard has been my mentor while I have been here at the U.

Take my lead Mayor Suttle, when things get tough, the best way is to just quit.

But unlike Omaha, the Huskers have some other options at qb. For me, I am taking a right and heading home to Cali.

Good Luck Omaha...and you are welcome I will be taking the heat on the national scene, not this recall joke.

Earl said...

That last post had to be one of the dimmest ever.

Anonymous said...

The mayor has not ended spiking. He has improved it on the police side and done nothing on the fire side. The budget may be better this quarter but wait till 4th quarter stats are out after the recall election.

And what's with the OWH saying "it's a big if" that they will have enough valid signatures? I guess it's possible that they have more than 10,000 invalid signatures but that's a really big if.

Anonymous said...

Say what you want about his politics, but RWP is a damn good teacher and researcher. His final from nearly a decade ago still gives me nightmares.

Anonymous said...

The only way Suttle can save his rear end now is to publicly state that he did his own internal audit of the fire dept and he has asked McDonnell to resign because of faulty management. The whole fire department fiasco is what brought the signatures in!

Anonymous said...

Why hasn't anyone talked about the private shredding company that was at the Fire Departments head quarters this year? Maybe those records accidently were shredded or Sandy Berger stopped by the office.

Sandy Berger said...

I was never at the Fire Dept headquarters, but i would like to work part-time as a Douglas County petition verifier.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:07

YOU ARE A COWARD!!

No wait, you're just RWP.