Saturday, December 04, 2010

Counted

Just a quick post to say the signatures to Recall Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle have been officially counted.

They (semi) officially got 28,720 signatures, 2,077 more than the needed 26,643.

But the kicker in that sentence is "semi".

The semi is Judge Pete Bataillon's hearing on December 20th.

At that point we will hear if more than that 2,000 plus will be thrown out, or all of them, or nothing. And then that could be appealed.

And then it is not clear at what point the January 25th election could or would be pushed back, if they are cleared.

Note that the Anti's are also saying that they have deposed testimony that a circulator was paid by the sig. The Recallers say that claim is unfounded, mainly because no one was collecting the alleged 10 signatures per hour.  It's not clear how that could or would affect any count.

So gird your loins for some hot court action the next few weeks.

***

Oh, and Go Huskers!

63 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boy, I'm confused. Didn't the mayor say he wasn't going to contest it a few days ago? And Gary DiSylvester was speaking for Forward Omaha this morning, but I know he works for the mayor. I thought that was independent of the mayor's office? Who all is doing what?

Anonymous said...

Based upon what we've seen so far from those seeking to derail the recall, the vote will go forward. No judge is going to interfere with the right of thousands of voters to have a recall election based upon the very slender evidence of alleged fraud or election law violations produced to date. A smart strategy by those opposing a recall would be to move on to the campaign to defeat the recall at the ballot box-- not in the courthouse. However, Vince Powers will tilt at windmills for as long as he's allowed, and if the people who he's representing were terribly savvy, there wouldn't have been a successful recall drive in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Seem like judge Bataillon should recuse himself...wasn't he a ne dem chair or worked for Peter Hoagland in the past?

Street Sweeper said...

District Court Judge Pete Bataillon's brother, Federal Court Judge Joe Bataillon, was the Dem state chair a while back.

Most would call Pete a Republican, though I don't know his party registration, if any. Most of the lawyers I know consider both Pete and Joe to be fair and non-partisan on the bench.

SS

Anonymous said...

Sweeper - what's your prediction? Will the recall take place?

Regardless, both sides need to act as if the election is on. 45 days is not a lot of time to organize.

BkDodge42 said...

A written statement issued by the mayor's office said, "If the judge says 15 days is sufficient, then the mayor will simply run on his record. There will be no further legal action." The judge said that 15 days was sufficient. Dave Phipps said that there is enough valid signatures to order a recall election. Since Mayor Suttle is a man of his word, then there should not be any further legal action, he'll run on his record.

Anonymous said...

Gary DiSylvestro? Why would you keep the person on board so politically dense as a consultant he got you in the mess to begin with and now is trying to (cough, cough) save your poltical hide?

Hello? If your boat is sinkin don't you usually dump the dead weight. No offense Gary, but you're no Rovarian Einstein and if Suttle keeps ya, what does that say about Jim?

Another one in the 3rd said...

Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

An honest voter said...

I think perhaps when I signed the petition to recall the mayor, I might have signed 3,000 extra petitions by mistake.

So can we call this off and go home now?

Anonymous said...

HOLD EVERYTHING Street Creeper & Leavenworth Utter Blah---

If the Forward Omaha group could get a little more time and there is evidence of fraud or misleading info or illegal activities on the part of the Recallers...all it takes is only 2,000 to get the number under the reguirement.

Stop picking on Gary. The reason you hate him so much is that he has been a big torn in your ass for many years and has defeated many of your beloved Republicans!
You hate him because he is so good. You just can't stand the idea of Daub or one of your boys in the mayor's office so you are going to these lengths to overturn the process.

Anonymous said...

Omaha 2010/2011 will be the Florida of 2004.

Thank you Jeremy Ass-pen.

Anonymous said...

Don't trust Dave Fibs for a second!
Him, Tim Dunning and all the other County Republicans are a joke!

Of course, the recall was successful Dave Phipps ate all the evidence!

Anonymous said...

anyone know why disilvestro doesn't work at the county assessors office anymore? You can't !@#$%^& delete this comment.

Anonymous said...

Nebraska just lost, I suppose you recallers will blame that on Suttle too!!!

Anonymous said...

Who cares about Gary DiSylter? Why is it an issue, its not. Get a life.

Anonymous said...

Why is McPherson, Daub or Jacobs and issue...you get a life!

Anonymous said...

Daub wants to be Mayor again and has been working behind the scene to make it possible

Pat McPherson (Red Robin) has been a leader of the recall effort and was one of Daub's top assistants

Who is Jacobs?

YOU get a life.

Anonymous said...

Isn't DiSilvestro the guy that beat Brinker Harding and Jordan McGrain?

Anonymous said...

Separated at birth...
Dave Phipps and Peter Griffin from Family Guy

Anonymous said...

You all sound like a bunch of spoiled members of a pre-teen girls' clique. Do you realize there are a lot of us in this state that could give a rat's ass about your minor political celebrities in Omaha?

Could we PLEASE discuss something that is "the talk of NEBRASKA politics?" Otherwise, I may just have to go back to reading NNN.

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 10:48

I blame NU's loss on NU sucking at football.

Anonymous said...

Anon 7:26,

You are a fair weather Husker fan ... and ... YOU suck!

Nebraska came close - a lot closer than you will ever come to anything that could be described as successful.

Arnold said...

Anon 12:22 - Go back to reading NNN. The rest of us are enjoying this.

Anon 9:30 - It's a mark of assholedom to target the messenger.

Anon 9:16 - You're saying "If we could change the law just for us so we could have extra time to beat an insurmountable number and if not to at least make a big mess to clean up." No. You lost under the law and you lost big. Deal with it.

Your friend Gary might have got him elected, but if he gave Suttle advice after that, he probably got him kicked out of office, too, because Suttle did a lot of stupid things and it's hard to believe he thought them up on his own. There's a big difference between running a campaign and running the office and your friend Gary can't do both.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 11:34

"Jacobs" is Paul Jacob, leader of the Recaller's paid petition effort.

He was indicted for petition fraud back in 2007, and spent 6 months in prison. According to Nebraska Watchdog, it looks like he's up to his old tricks in Omaha.

GeosUser said...

There's one and only one question that needs to be asked continually of Mayor Suttle and his paid minions, Forward Omaha. Why are you so afraid of Omaha voters?

Anonymous said...

When will the Recall Tim Dunning effort start?

Tim Dunning's department engaged in pension spiking.

Tim Dunning refused the request by the Douglas County Board to accept a cut in his department's spending.

Tim Dunning took a shot at the Feds and said they were on a "witch hunt" and that Koefed would be found guilty. In fact, David Koefed was found guilty of mishandling evidence and is headed to prison.

Broken promises, broken trust.

Anonymous said...

I say Recall Dunning and Suttle!

And NU's offensive coordinator.

Political Novice said...

I enjoy reading this forum for it's entertainment and informative value and am content just to sit along the sidelines as a spectator but I do have a question I wish to pose. Who is this Gary DiSylvestor/DiSylvestro/Disilvestro everyone makes reference to? From what I gather he seems to be with the Forward Omaha organization but I never see that name referred to in the paper or on the news when that group is mentioned. Granted - I'm not politically savvy but I am curious. I take it he is a political consultant? What is his background?

I realize this may be boring to those who live outside of the Omaha area but to me it's high drama and fascinating. I for one is glad this forum covers it.

Anonymous said...

anon 11:34, thats why disilvestro is an issue. you all want scorched earth...you got it. disilvestro and samp have disgraceful backgrounds and its high time we all talk about it

Anonymous said...

Leave Gary DiSilvestro alone. He has helped elected a lot of Democrats and helped mentor many students to become politically active.

Anonymous said...

Hey 9:16PM yesterday: I can't stand Gary not because he defeats "Republicans," but because it makes no sense to have the same lump of flesh who got paid money to cover your back and obviously didn't do it with any amount of success (can you say Durango to start?) to actually be in charge of rolling the snowball's chance in hell up the hill now that it's reached rock bottom. You fire him.

Nice to know Gary's family blogs in their support for the guy. We all need to feel the love. Right Matt?

Anonymous said...

What happened to the Assessor's office with Gary?

Anonymous said...

LEAVE BRITANY SPEARS AND GARY DISILVESTRO ALONE!!!

Galikanokus said...

Please don't sully Spears' good name

Anonymous said...

Gary is an active Democrat and has helped defeat many Republicans. This is why they are attacking him. Without Gary, Suttle and many other Democrats would not be as strong as they are. A dream come true for hard core Republicans.

Daub is still mad that he didn't pay HIS taxes on time and he wants his power back in the Mayor's office.

Anonymous said...

why keep wasting our time?

Who is this Gary figure and why does it matter? If you don't explain that, then please stop talking about him.

Galikanokus said...

Gary is the man behind Suttle, politically speaking.

proud of Jim said...

I think many people are homophobic on this site. I applaud Jim Suttle for his VALUES!

Anonymous said...

DeSilvestro is a Mike Boyle & Tom Cavanaugh cronie, enough said?

Political Novice said...

Thanks for the info on this Gary - sounds like he is pretty active in local democratic circles. Just never heard of him before but then again I'm not that knowledgeable of the behind the scenes stuff.

To proud of Jim:

Why do you think many people are homophobic on this site and what does this have to do with Jim Suttle??? What am I missing here?

Galikanokus said...

anon, don't sully gays and lesbians

Anonymous said...

Dear Lord. Omaha mayoral politics is about as scintillating as watching paint dry. I have to give Sweeper credit for throwing in some other stuff in between the Suttle drama. Keep it lively, please because I can't take two more solid months of Suttle and his minions whining.

Anonymous said...

I'm an outsider following this over the last several weeks on here. Don't have a dog in this fight but I do have an observation or two.

Back when the recall process first got started, there were a lot of folks who obviously were Suttle supporters who came on here and attacked the recall effort by claiming that recalls should only be used when the person in office has committed a crime. Nevermind that the letter of the law didn't limit recalls like that, the pro-suttle folks thought it should just be understood -- no recall unless the guy committed a crime while in office.

Fast-forward to the signature gathering part of the process and now the anti-recall folks are "letter of the law" folks. They want to wipe out the entire recall because some signatures were obtained without following procedures to the letter. No taking shortcuts; you have to follow the law exactly.

I just find it interesting that the anti=recall folks seem to be singing a different tune now about how closely you have to follow the law the way it's written. Would they now concede that it's OK to recall a mayor for something other than crimes?

Anonymous said...

Libs are some of the most flexible people ever, that is as long as you are agreeing with them or it helps their position.

Anonymous said...

I think if we not only need to look into the recall organizers but into the Anti-Recall organizers as well. Mayor Suttle has had some questionable people surrounding him.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Coward at 10:30 a.m. is also Anonymous Liar.

Jacob was indicted, sure. Then the law was struck down by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals as an unconstitutional abridgment of the First Amendment. Nebraska's law is currently under challenge on the same and other grounds, and will in all probability be struck down.

Anonymous said...

Jim Suttle and Gary DiSilvestro do not want the voters to be heard. They want to continue paying their buddies off with inflated salaries and generous pensions. Who do you think funds all these people?

Anonymous said...

SS:

Yawn!

Street Sweeper said...

meh

Anonymous said...

When the professor starts calling people out as anonymous cowards, it should be SS's cue to start a new blog topic. Geesh RWP, we get it...

Anonymous said...

Google Gerard Harbison for a good laugh.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Google Gerard Harbison for a good laugh.

1:25 PM, December 06, 2010


Why in the world would I want to do that? I'm not obsessed with him like you are.

Anonymous said...

Quite the contrary, we all want him to go away.

Anonymous said...

To Novice: Some people may think Jim Suttle is homophobic because he fired his chief of staff as soon as he found out that he was having an affair with a teenage boy. This was in the World-Herald.

Anonymous said...

Gerard "RWP Harbison ... ha ... ha ...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Ooooooooooo. That felt good!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Quite the contrary, we all want him to go away.

7:32 PM, December 06, 2010


Really? Why? Because you can't match wits with him and so you'd rather chase him off the message board? Pretty cowardly of you.

Grundle King said...

Anon 1:25, 7:32, and 11:24 are great examples of the truly unhinged left. Here is mere civilian...not an elected politician and not even a political party leader...who dares to speak their mind on a variety of subjects, and is subjected to repeated personal attacks. Why? Because he has an opinion.

An even better example of the unhinged left comes in the form of people actually filing complaints with the FCC over Bristol Palin's success on Dancing with the Stars. Digest that for a moment...another mere citizen who holds no political office or appointment...attacked for being the daughter of someone they despise, all based on the premise of some sort of right-wing conspiracy to help her win. The funniest part is that the left LOVES to claim that they are open-minded and accepting, and are warriors for the folks like, for example, single moms. Yet, here's a single mom. If she had a mother with a different political persuasion, they'd be propping her up as some sort of liberal success story...yet because of her last name, they practically flip their gourds trying to destroy her. They even criticize her for being a single mom!

It's no freakin' wonder people can't figure out what's going through the minds of some of these crazies...they can't even figure it out for themselves!

Anonymous said...

Grundle King,

I'll have you know I am a very conservative Independent. Unlike you, and several of your Republican colleagues, I have retained my sense of humor. I do find the Google search results on Gerard Harbison to, at times, produce a hearty ha-ha-ha.

Lighten up before you suffer a heart attack.

Anonymous at 11:24

Anonymous said...

Those Google search results only exist because left-wing zealots can't tolerate an opposing viewpoint. And the more articulate and capable you are of expressing a dissenting view, the more of a threat they'll perceive you to be and the more they'll try to destroy you.

If you differ from their dogma, they'll denounce you and diminish you because they despise people who disagree.

Anonymous said...

There are none so hated as those outside of the fold. If a woman (Sarah Palin), a black (Clarence Thomas) or a university prof (RWF) isn't with them, good golly the left hates them!

Anonymous said...

Strange that you would include Sarah Palin in your list of victims of the left. She's made a career out of proclaiming that half the population shouldn't be considered "real" Americans. You insult RWP and Judge Thomas by throwing them in with a nut case like Palin. Half the Republican party is going into panic mode right now trying to figure out how to rid themselves of the bat-shit crazy woman from Alaska.

Anonymous said...

I rest my case, leftie!

Rocket J. Squirrel said...

You are all nuts. Left nuts. Right nuts. All I see here is nuts.