The Suttle administration is making a big push for an Omaha streetcar system.
Mayor Jim Suttle hired a public relations firm last month to promote such a system. That cost $19,900 just below the threshold requiring City Council approval.
The hiring comes on the heels of Suttle’s decision to retain a Washington, D.C., lobbyist to try to secure federal transportation funding for a streetcar line. The lobbyist will be paid $100 an hour, up to $19,500.
Some council members raised concerns Monday about the moves, saying Suttle is intentionally trying to avoid going before the council, even when he’s required to do so. Under the city charter, expenses of $20,000 or more need the council’s OK.
Councilwoman Jean Stothert called the mayor’s move “unethical,” and said it’s clear that Suttle is trying to circumvent the intent of the council and the city charter.
“The amount of dollars spent for a P.R. firm to promote the streetcar is no coincidence it is less than $20,000, barely,” she said.
Suttle spokesman Ron Gerard acknowledged that the mayor has structured his streetcar moves to avoid council involvement. It’s a perfectly ethical spending practice that past mayors used, he said.
The mayor is simply trying to keep the streetcar plan moving, and probably would have faced stiff opposition if he had brought the plan before the council, Gerard said.
“If you want to get things done, sometimes you have to take control yourself and just do it,” he said. “We’re talking about millions of dollars in possible economic benefit to the city.”
The Omaha public relations firm, J. Greg Smith Inc., will work to build community support for a streetcar line, Gerard said.
Greg M. Smith, executive vice president of the firm, said the public relations campaign will show Omahans “what the modern streetcar is and what the benefit can be for folks wherever they are in the city.”
The Mayor’s Office has said Omaha stands a better chance now of landing federal transportation dollars under changes in federal rules that give more consideration to potential economic development.
The route would connect downtown to midtown, near Midtown Crossing and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Suttle has said bringing streetcars to Omaha probably would cost between $200 million and $250 million but could mean $1 billion in development.
Council President Garry Gernandt said that he has heard from several council members about the hiring of the public relations firm and that some of them plan to meet with the mayor to discuss their concerns.
However, he pointed out that Suttle isn’t breaking any laws.
Nonetheless, Gernandt said he asked the mayor Monday to “hold off on the visionary stuff and get back to the basics.”
Councilman Ben Gray said he doesn’t agree with how the public relations firm’s hiring was handled but understands the mayor’s motivation.
“I think that he feels that he doesn’t have a council that is going to support moving forward,” Gray said. “I don’t care for it, but I understand why he does it.”
Earlier this year, Suttle also hired a Statehouse lobbyist to push his position in Lincoln that sales taxes should continue to apply to utility fees, which are expected to grow as Omaha undertakes a massive sewer improvement project.
Stothert has said she would like to see the council adopt a resolution calling on Suttle to follow the city charter’s intent. But Gernandt said Monday that no council members were seeking to do that yet.
Contact the writer:
444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com
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