Suttle's verbal shot misses

Oops!

Mayor Jim Suttle lashed out Wednesday at Gov. Dave Heineman, claiming the governor was lobbying Omaha City Council members on a controversial proposal for a sales tax hike.

Suttle said Heineman needed to keep his “hands off my City Council.”

The only problem is that Heineman never reached out to lobby council members against the sales tax idea. He simply returned a telephone call from one council member, who wanted to know his views on the topic.

“He's totally off base,” said Heineman.

Suttle acknowledged his mistake later in the day, calling it a “misunderstanding.”

He said the confusion came after he had heard from a “source'' that Heineman had called Councilwoman Jean Stothert.

Instead, he learned that it was Heineman who was returning a call from Stothert, said Ron Gerard, the mayor's spokesman.

“It was a simple misunderstanding,” said Gerard, who added that the mayor wishes Stothert had called him to talk about the sales tax proposal.

At issue is Suttle's call for a sales tax increase to help Omaha offset its budget woes.

The Democratic mayor wants to put a sales tax proposal on the spring election ballot. However, the city needs approval from the Legislature.

Heineman, a Republican, has said he would oppose any attempt to increase the sales tax rate in Omaha, and he informed Suttle of his opposition earlier this year.

The issue arose again Wednesday morning when Suttle said in an interview with The World-Herald that he had heard Heineman was lobbying council members against the sales tax proposal.

He said Heineman should stay out of the city's business, saying the governor is “a resident of Lincoln, not Omaha.”

Heineman said he talked to Stothert only after she had called him to ask his opinion on the proposal's chances in the Legislature.

Stothert, a Republican, said that there was nothing “inappropriate” about the telephone call and that she had every right to try to determine the feasibility of getting a sales tax bill through the Legislature.

“He's the governor. To ask his opinion, or ask any other senator his opinion, is more than appropriate,” Stothert said.

She also took exception to Suttle's implied ownership of the City Council.

“I don't believe we're his City Council,” she said.

Contact the writer:

444-1309, robynn.tysver@owh.com