If I were King of the Forest

By J.D. Sloane

     What would you do if you were Mayor or on the City Council in Omaha? Would you build a new stadium? How about a footbridge to Council Bluffs? Or perhaps you would create a law that is beneficial to just some business owners and not others? Eliminating fire/rescue and police protection just to save money instead of lives?

     These proposals and taxes will burden the residents of this city. It is hard enough on bars and restaurants when the City Council and the Mayor put forth the partial smoking ban. You could smoke in some bars and restaurants if they purchased Big Red Keno to help support the state and city, or you were a stand-alone bar. Horse tracks could also smoke. So there we have the logic of no gambling in Omaha. You have probably heard of the group Nebraskans for the Good Life. They are the ones that are against gambling. Surely, Keno and betting horses are gambling. I guess as long as we do not have casinos west of the Missouri River in this state we can live with Keno and betting the ponies.

     Let’s face the facts, if people want to gamble in Council Bluffs, it’s only five minutes away. So let’s put our hard-earned taxed income east of the Missouri River. In addition, let’s make it even easier for those who don’t have a car to get to Council Bluffs. Surely, you’ve heard we’re going to build a footbridge to the Bluffs.

     Omaha, do we really need a new stadium or a footbridge, or laws that put businesses out of business? Did we have a discussion or town hall meeting or a vote on any of these things? In addition, this bridge and stadium, why do they have to go in the NODO part of Omaha (North Downtown)? Both North and South Omaha could use a footbridge, why not there. South Omaha already has a perfectly good stadium.

Hey people, we are all a part of Omaha, lets make some other areas look new again. South and North Omaha pay taxes just like everyone else in this city. Yet we treat them as if there step children. Doesn’t the elected officials work for all of us? If all registered voters in South Omaha, North Omaha, Midtown, Benson, Florence and the surrounding neighborhoods came out to vote on Election Day, they may think twice on re-electing the city government we have in place today.

     Here are just a few things our city officials should do; make our streets safer, help clean up neighborhoods, and level abandoned buildings. Make sure the young and the old have affordable healthcare. Maybe instead of a 100 million dollar stadium or a 42 million dollar footbridge, why can’t we set up neighborhood health clinics for the children and seniors? A few after school and evening activities and clubs for the children and a few senior citizens for the adults. A few cameras in those high crime areas and more lighting on the streets would surely make the city a safer place to dwell. Invest city money in neighborhood shops and eateries. We hear “Take Back Our Streets”, we need to be taking back this town; we don’t need more Wal-Marts or Walgreens. We need to own our city so we have more pride in Omaha

     The slogan “O!” to most of us it’s not a slogan, it’s a vowel. How much did that cost us Vanna? If it was more than dime, then we the people were taken again.