Way paved for vote on Fahey St.

A proposal to rename a stretch of Webster Street after former Mayor Mike Fahey continued to be met with controversy at Tuesday's Omaha City Council meeting.

During a public hearing on the renaming proposal, former Fahey Chief of Staff Joe Gudenrath spoke in favor of the idea. However, Pat McPherson, a longtime supporter of former Mayor Hal Daub, spoke against it.

“Renaming a street or any other government property after a mayor ... is simply a bad idea with a rational process,” McPherson said. He said it was too soon to “evaluate Mike Fahey's contributions to the City of Omaha.”

But Gudenrath, now the director of the Downtown Improvement District, said most downtown property owners would support naming Webster Street after Fahey.

Supporters of Fahey, who left office in June, are mobilizing to rename seven blocks of the street near the new baseball stadium. The idea is to honor Fahey's work in securing the downtown ballpark and in securing a 25-year contract to keep the College World Series in Omaha.

That street-naming proposal prompted Daub supporters to ask that a street be named for their favored former mayor as well. They noted that Daub, as mayor in the late 1990s, was a key figure in getting the Qwest Center Omaha built.

In a statement issued by his law firm last month, Daub said it would not be “appropriate'' to name a street for him.

The council is set to vote on whether to name Webster Street after Fahey next week, despite an attempt by Councilwoman Jean Stothert to delay a vote on the measure by nearly two months.

Stothert's request to delay the decision failed Tuesday on a 3-3 vote. Stothert had wanted the council to wait 10 weeks to vote on the ordinance, saying the city needs to develop new guidelines for naming streets after former elected officials.

She suggested that 10 years should pass after an official leaves office before a street could be named for the person.

Councilmen Ben Gray, Pete Festersen and Chris Jerram voted to move ahead with the decision next week. The council agreed that Fahey has done good things for the city.

Still, City Planning Director Rick Cunningham questioned whether renaming the street was a good idea, fearing it could create safety problems for police, firefighters and tourists.

The street is named after a former public official — John Lee Webster — who served as a state representative, headed the 1875 constitutional convention, was Omaha city attorney in 1887 and led the Nebraska delegation to the 1892 and 1896 Republican national conventions.

The council voted to postpone a decision on whether to include in the city's 2010 legislative agenda a proposal by Mayor Jim Suttle to raise the city sales tax rate.

They will make that decision next week.

Contact the writer:

444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com