The current political issues in Omaha center around various proposals by the city council. Late last year, the mayor and the city council were at odds over the city's budget. Mayor Mike Fahey wanted to accept the firefighter's union contract and impose wage freezes on the firefighters and police unions to prevent laying off 200 city employees and closing down community services. Unions were in favor of these negotiations because they promised wage increases in the following years. However, the council was opposed to the contract's because they felt it would hurt the city in the future, and they proposed changing trash collection, cutting the budget for snow and ice removal, and selling valuable coins that are now housed in the Durham Western Heritage Museum (Morton, 2003). The city council and the mayor did not reach their deadline to agree on the budget, and the council initially rejected the firefighter's contract (Morton2, 2003). However, the council did pass the mayor's budget, and weeks after the deadline, they finally accepted the firefighter's contract in order to make up the $10 million dollar deficit (Morton3, 2003).

As a result of the strained budget negotiations, city councilman Dan Welch proposed a ban on city union campaign contributions to mayoral and city council candidates. The proposal would make illegal all campaign contributions from unions representing city workers. This would hurt Mayor Fahey's re-election fund, as the firefighter's union is his second biggest campaign contributor (Kotok, 2003). Another issue that arose from the budget negotiations was an ordinance proposed by the city council to force the mayor to report to them the progress of labor negotiations. The city charter clearly delegates the power of negotiating contracts to the mayor, and Fahey argues that he should not have to share this power in any way with the city council members (Morton7, 2004).

Another current issue that is being looked at in Omaha's city council is downtown property taxes. The council wants to approve a tax increase for downtown businesses in order to pay for new security, cleanliness measures, and amenities. Smaller businesses are opposed to this increase, saying that the boundaries include low-rent residences, a $161,000 budget for an executive director, and an unfair tax system that would charge more for commercial property (Kotok3, 2004). Also, the city council wants to eliminate funding for the public safety auditor position, while mayor Fahey is committed to keeping the job open. Fahey has had to find grant money to pay the salaries of the two-person position, yet is still trying to get council approval for funds for this office (Morton4, 2004.)

The mayor and the city council are often in disagreement, however the mayoral system in Omaha is that of a strong mayor. The mayor thus has the ability to veto city council initiatives, but he still needs to negotiate with them over major issues. Earlier this month, Fahey was quoted as saying that the city council's proposal that he discuss labor negotiations with them was an "attempt to usurp the power of the mayor." Fahey was outraged that his power was being taken away, but in the end decided to negotiate with the city council on this matter (Morton5, 2004). As was seen in the budget negotiations, and in the proposed ban on city union contributions, the discussions between the mayor and the city council are often heated. Although elections are non-partisan, Mayor Fahey is an active democrat and five of the city council members participate in GOP fundraising events (Kotok2, 2004). These differing interests sometimes contribute to disunity between the mayor and the city council.

Campaign contributions are the highest they have ever been in Omaha, and council members and the mayor are already building up their war chests for the 2005 citywide elections. (Morton6, 2004). Mayor Fahey's largest contributor was Charles Durham, who donated $25,000 to his re-election, but who usually supports republican interests. Since mayoral elections are non-partisan, large contributors are more likely to support the incumbent than to worry about party lines. Therefore, many of Fahey's re-election funds are coming from interests that donated to former republican mayor Daub Other major contributors to Fahey's campaign include David Sokol, Mid-American Energy, John Diesing Jr., insurance and college world series inc., William A. Fitzgerald, Commercial Federal, John W. Weekly, Mutual of Omaha, Charles Sederstrom Jr., First National Bank, Jefferson Pilot Financial, Qwest, Tenaska, and Union Pacific Railroad. (Kotok3, 2004).

A major contributor to both the mayoral and city council elections is the firefighters union. In 2001, they donated $107,000 to mayor and council candidates. However, due to the budget dispute and the unwillingness of the city council to accept the firefighter's union contract, the firefighters are unsure whether they will be using their funds to support city council incumbents' next election (Morton6, 2004). Developers and their attorneys are more likely to support incumbent candidates over party affiliation, and were among the major contributors to the incumbents of the last election. Since city elections are non-partisan, there are not direct party contributions to candidates, although many of the major contributors do have their own party affiliations (Kotok3, 2004).

Works Cited

Kotok, C. David. Nov 29, 2003. "Ban on city union donations proposed." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

_____________2. Jan 5, 2004. "Mayor, council at peace, for now. A political scientist predicts that their truce over the budget could be short lived." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

_____________3. Jan 26, 2004. "Opponents slow down downtown tax plan. Critics question the boundaries, costs and leadership of the special district." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

_____________4. Jan 30, 2004. "Fahey tells state board he raised $250,000." Omaha World-Herald Metro Edition, 1a.

Morton, Joseph. Sept 8, 2003. "Fahey: I'd use veto on budget by council. Five council members plan to vote down the mayor's fire contract." Omaha World-Herald Metro Edition, 1a.

____________2. Sept 12, 2003. "Mayor, council fail to agree on budget." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

____________3. Sept 22, 2003. "Fahey urges new look at fire contract. The mayor has warned of job and service cuts and e-mails, which the council president says is political propaganda." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

____________4. Jan 9, 2004. "Police auditor job renewed public, private money to fund position in 2004." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

____________5. Feb 4, 2004. "Mayor challenges council's bid for role in labor talks. After accusing members of trying to 'usurp the power of the mayor,' Fahey says he might be willing to compromise. Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

____________6. Feb 9, 2004. "Some Omaha members filling campaign chests early. Omaha city council campaign money." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 1b.

____________7. Feb 19, 2004. "Fahey tries to fend off ordinance on labor talks. The mayor offers to give the council more timely information on negotiations." Omaha World-Herald Sunrise Edition, 2b.