Omaha Forums

DTO Luv wrote:Jim Suttle is a f*cking retard.

-Alright, the sabbatical is over.  I am damn close to spearheading a recall petition myself at the minimum 6 month mark.  This guy is beyond f*cking retarded.  And the REAL scary thing is that intelligent people of BOTH political ideologies here knew and expected this (actually, I did not even expect it to be this bad).  What does that say about the ****ing retards voting in our elections?

Suttle sure is not subtle about Omaha's salaries.  What ever happened to pay for performance?

Even I am not going to defend Suttle on the salary for his finance director.  That is ridiculous.  Lure people from the private sector my a$$.

Did a little search this morning on some high profile gov't finance jobs and I found out something pretty interesting... the Chairman of the Federal Reserve makes $191,000 and the Vice Chairman makes $172,000... anyone think that the Omaha's city finances are as complicated as the job of the Federal Reserve Chairman (or Vice Chairman for that matter)?

RegisResident wrote:Did a little search this morning on some high profile gov't finance jobs and I found out something pretty interesting... the Chairman of the Federal Reserve makes $191,000 and the Vice Chairman makes $172,000... anyone think that the Omaha's city finances are as complicated as the job of the Federal Reserve Chairman (or Vice Chairman for that matter)?

Thats Awesome!  and by awesome I mean completely ridiculous on Omaha's part!

Hope it works, what exactly happens in a re-call? Is there another election or is the runner up installed as mayor?

Hope it works, what exactly happens in a re-call? Is there another election or is the runner up installed as mayor?

Last time (Mike Boyle), the President of the City Council became interim mayor, until the City Council appointed someone to serve out the remainder of the ousted mayor's term.


To those complaining about Suttle:
Did you choose not to vote in the mayor election?
Did you vote for Suttle only because you can't stand Hal Daub?
If you answered Yes to either of those questions, then shut up.

Did you vote for Suttle only because you can't stand Hal Daub?

Oh c'mon.  Picking the lesser of two evils is the status quo in politics.  

Dark Eyes wrote:

Hope it works, what exactly happens in a re-call? Is there another election or is the runner up installed as mayor?

Last time (Mike Boyle), the President of the City Council became interim mayor, until the City Council appointed someone to serve out the remainder of the ousted mayor's term.


To those complaining about Suttle:
Did you choose not to vote in the mayor election?
Did you vote for Suttle only because you can't stand Hal Daub?
If you answered Yes to either of those questions, then shut up.

I'm pretty sure the majority of this board voted for Daub.

Suttle reveals his plan for the $11M shortfall today at 2. I guessing he will use those years of engineering experience and come up with some tax hike. Get the pitchforks and torches ready.

the1wags wrote:Suttle reveals his plan for the $11M shortfall today at 2. I guessing he will use those years of engineering experience and come up with some tax hike. Get the pitchforks and torches ready.

Um, lets make that plural.

joeglow wrote:

the1wags wrote:Suttle reveals his plan for the $11M shortfall today at 2. I guessing he will use those years of engineering experience and come up with some tax hike. Get the pitchforks and torches ready.

Um, lets make that plural.

Since we're not letting bids, let's make that an apostophe as well.  :;):

And let's go ahead and add the "r" in apostrophe. Thanks.

Suttle budget live on http://www.ketv.com

A property tax increase and a 2% entertainment tax. Fantastic.

Look I get that revenues are down and either taxes are going up, services are going down, or both. It's just his hiring salaries for his cabinet in light of all of this is what ticks me off.

Another thing I thought of...

...how terrible of a negotiator is Suttle? If he caved to one of hires wanting much more than they are worth, than did the other people all up their asking price too?

the1wags wrote:It's just his hiring salaries for his cabinet in light of all of this is what ticks me off.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in making those hires, didn't he get rid of some part-time help that these new people will be taking on as part of their full-time duties such that there was no net increase in salary?

I'm sure someone here can answer this quickly.  Didn't Daub say that taxes would not be used to pay off the Qwest Center when he was selling the idea of building the Qwest?   I know Scuttle can do what ever he wants,  but it's the principal of one elected official dismissing what another said.

DTO Luv wrote:Another thing I thought of...

...how terrible of a negotiator is Suttle? If he caved to one of hires wanting much more than they are worth, than did the other people all up their asking price too?

That isn't negotiation, that's cronyism.

icejammer wrote:

the1wags wrote:It's just his hiring salaries for his cabinet in light of all of this is what ticks me off.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in making those hires, didn't he get rid of some part-time help that these new people will be taking on as part of their full-time duties such that there was no net increase in salary?

So then why not just save the money from the PT shifts? There's no reason that the dept heads should have gotten the raises they got when they haven't even shown themselves to be affective.

the1wags wrote:A property tax increase and a 2% entertainment tax. Fantastic.

Look I get that revenues are down and either taxes are going up, services are going down, or both. It's just his hiring salaries for his cabinet in light of all of this is what ticks me off.

And the new budget is dependent on the proposed wage freezes as well.  

I got a chuckle out this:

The city also would eliminate seven civilian positions. As part of that, the city will reduce the number of housing inspector positions by four.

He's an engineer who wants to reduce oversight at construction sites.

Keno funds are being redirected to libraries.  Aren't these the same funds to be used for the new stadium.  

Yeah, the taxpayers won't be paying for it, though.  :roll:

bradley414 wrote:

the1wags wrote:A property tax increase and a 2% entertainment tax. Fantastic.

Look I get that revenues are down and either taxes are going up, services are going down, or both. It's just his hiring salaries for his cabinet in light of all of this is what ticks me off.

And the new budget is dependent on the proposed wage freezes as well.  

I got a chuckle out this:

The city also would eliminate seven civilian positions. As part of that, the city will reduce the number of housing inspector positions by four.

He's an engineer who wants to reduce oversight at construction sites.

Housing Inspectors have little to do with construction sites, those are building inspectors.  Also, I don't know if any of those positions were even filled yet, so a paper reduction really.

bbinks wrote:I'm sure someone here can answer this quickly.  Didn't Daub say that taxes would not be used to pay off the Qwest Center when he was selling the idea of building the Qwest?   I know Scuttle can do what ever he wants,  but it's the principal of one elected official dismissing what another said.

Yeah, Hal said that propert taxes would not have to be raised to pay off the debt, but that was based on some rosy projections that haven't panned out.  Doesn't matter who the mayor is, something was going to have to be done about that debt; as you may recall Fahey did some refinancing on the Qwest several years back that neglected paying down the principal.

Of course, Hal walks on water in these forums.....    

And an interesting read on the subject: Fahey to Blame

Suttle just doesn't get it... asking everyone to sacrifice except for him and his staff. I love how he justified the higher salaries by saying he wouldn't need to hire additional staff yet some of the new positions are for the finance department where he has his $180,000 rock star finance director...

I never really thought someone could be such a clueless leader, but his arrogance has really surprised me.

Uffda wrote:Well suttle is finding money to pay for the salaries.  He is closing all swimming pools one week earlier than planned and shutting down a summer program called Sun Dogs --- savings $75,000.Guess that pays for a couple of those new staff member raises.  :roll:

Isn't there some irony in the fact that Omaha is shutting pools early this year and the powers to be have mentioned that if the cuts they propose are not followed then the pools may not open at all next summer.  All the while, they are busy building a new pool / water park near Lake Zorinsky .  I understand that this comes out of two different "pockets" but it do find it kind of ironic.

What does it cost to get in to a City of Omaha pool?  I don't think I have ever been in a City of Omaha in my life?
I took swimming lessons when I was a kid at an OPS Jr High, but not an outdoor city pool.

icejammer wrote:

bbinks wrote:I'm sure someone here can answer this quickly.  Didn't Daub say that taxes would not be used to pay off the Qwest Center when he was selling the idea of building the Qwest?   I know Scuttle can do what ever he wants,  but it's the principal of one elected official dismissing what another said.

Yeah, Hal said that propert taxes would not have to be raised to pay off the debt, but that was based on some rosy projections that haven't panned out.  ]

The problem is that Hal cut taxes 6 times.  One of those times was immediately after Qwest when finance told him that the surplus would eventually go to pay the Qwest debt.  He said, no, we can do that later, I'm cutting taxes instead.

City Officials See Protestors, Invite Them Up

http://www.ketv.com/news/20158923/detail.html

www.ketv.com wrote:OMAHA, Neb. -- More than 50 young people and their parents' protests got them a direct shot into City Hall Thursday for a private meeting with Omaha's mayor.

KETV Photo:

www.ketv.com wrote:

www.ketv.com wrote:"We were looking out our windows, obviously, and saw them down here," said Communications Director Ron Gerard. "One of our first instincts was, 'Why don't we invite them up so we can discuss this,'" Gerard said.

The impromptu private meeting took place, with the swimmers noting their summertime sacrifice amid the salaries of Suttle's staff, which are higher than any previous administration's salaries.

"We wouldn't mind having to sacrifice if everyone had to tighten their belts and sacrifice," said one swimmer. "But the fact that we have to sacrifice and they get a pay raise, it's not really fair."

DTO Luv wrote:Does everyone have their pitchforks and torches ready?

You may get your chance...

Suttle To Host Public Discussions On Budget


http://www.ketv.com/news/20160300/detail.html

I know people have stated that even though these people received big pay increases over previous people in the same position the mayor's office personnel budget has remained more or less the same.

But here was a chance for Suttle to hire people at the same pay and then show everyone that he was making major cuts in his own office's operating budget ....he didnt so now he has to face the criticism for shutting down pools to save a mere 75,000

Suttle rejects MECA cash advance

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090728/NEWS01/707289942

Maggie O'Brien WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:The board that governs the Qwest Center Omaha hates Mayor Jim Suttle's proposed entertainment tax so much that its leaders offered the city a $5.6 million cash advance to drop the idea.

Suttle rejected the proposal.

Had the mayor accepted the offer, the amount would have covered about half of the projected $11 million city budget shortfall that Suttle is trying to make up, at least in part, with his proposed 2 percent tax on restaurant meals, drinks, concert tickets and other entertainment. The 2 percent entertainment tax would affect anyone who saw a show or went out to dinner in Omaha, whether they lived in the city or not.

In a statement released to The World-Herald on Monday, the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, which runs the city-owned Qwest Center, essentially offered a city with cash flow problems an immediate infusion.

Westwood's in the rough

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090728/NEWS01/707289952

Paul Goodsell and Tom Shaw WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERs wrote:Ellen Jacobsen would be willing to pay an extra $2 for each round of golf if it would save the Westwood Heights Golf Course.

The nine-hole course is compact and easy to get around, making it ideal for an older golfer such as Jacobsen.

“I can walk this par-3 course,” Jacobsen said. “That's important to me.”

Two Omaha City Council members offered a plan Monday to boost fees at Westwood, near 132nd Street and West Center Road, as an alternative to Mayor Jim Suttle's proposal to close the course.

Paul Goodsell and Tom Shaw WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERs wrote:But the Suttle administration estimates that the course's losses will climb this year and next. By 2010, a $2-a-round fee increase might bring in only a third as much money as the mayor hopes to save by closing the course.

Donations may keep pool open

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090728/N ... 89962/1009

Maggie O'Brien WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:The Burlington Road Neighborhood Association says it's getting closer to keeping its neighborhood pool open an extra week.

The group has raised about $2,500 of the $4,500 needed to pay staff wages and operating expenses for the week for Hitchcock Pool, 5005 S. 45th St., said Virgil Patlan, president of the neighborhood group.

It also received a $900 match, he said. If the group raises $900 more, it will receive that match.

That $1,800 would bring the total to $4,300, only $200 short.

I would love to go to one of those meetings this week but I don't really have the time and I'm sure there will be plenty of other people there hammering him. He's also a cop out for not answering any questions and leaving it to his underlings. When Fahey had those baseball meetings he stayed and got grilled and didn't leave it to other people. Suttle is a kitty kat donkey female dog. (P.S. that's code for something)

Is anyone planning on going to the meeting tonight?

DTO Luv wrote:Is anyone planning on going to the meeting tonight?

I was going to but got tied up at work.  Now its too late.

My wife and I almost bought a summer pass for the pools, but decided not to with the new baby.  Is Suttle giving everyone who did buy one a pro-rated refund and is he telling them to eat it?

I have stayed off of this thread since the election.  I will come on here now to offer the following observations.

1.  Every city in America is undergoing a budget crisis.  Most cities have huge pension deficit issues, and from watching CNBC today a guy on there said it is mostly not caused by the stock market crash of the last year, but by cities over promising and over extending themselves.  Now they are stuck with these contracts.  Look at Caleefornia.  Everywhere there are massive budget deficits.  So you cannot blame Fahey or Suttle for them, at least not Suttle.  He inherited the mess.  Now he and the council MUST balance the budget.  Doing so by mixing cuts in services that are not unduly drastic or a threat to our quality of life (health, safety and otherwise) and the least bad of bad options for revenue enhancements is the only way to do it.  The mayor will propose and the city council dispose of these plans.

2.  Suttle is tone deaf.

3.  If I had to do it over again I would still vote for Suttle because he is not Hal Daub, who is close to the Anti-Christ in my book.

nativeomahan wrote:3.  If I had to do it over again I would still vote for Suttle because he is not Hal Daub, who is close to the Anti-Christ in my book.

-THIS is what scares me.  Too many people vote with anything BUT their brain.

I was listening to KFAB and apparently a 9 year old asked Suttle about his SUV last night.  He said he needs it for safety reasons after 9/11 & Oklahoma City.  


Oh....I had not thought of that.  Well, I guess that excuses the anal raping we are getting on this.

joeglow wrote:I was listening to KFAB and apparently a 9 year old asked Suttle about his SUV last night.  He said he needs it for safety reasons after 9/11 & Oklahoma City.  


Oh....I had not thought of that.  Well, I guess that excuses the anal raping we are getting on this.

What the f**k? Hopefully Suttle's head caves in soon and he dies so we can get a new mayor. What a retard. BTW nice way to we can still say anal raping on here.