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O'Neill announces candidacy for mayor

By Patrick O'Neill          Send a link to a friend

[From press conference last week]

[SEPT. 29, 2004]  I'm calling this conference today [Sept. 24] to announce my decision to run for the office of mayor. I came to this decision after talking to many people for advice and exploring all the possibilities. The feedback from surveys being done show me that there is a door of opportunity now opened up. It's up to me to walk through that door before it closes.

My decision to run was not an easy one, simply for the fact it put me up against two people I really respect and consider them as friends of mine, in Beth Davis and Dale Voyles, both of whom believe in me enough to give me the responsibilities of being on the committee on youth, disabilities, senior citizens and chairmanship of the animal control committee, along with basically a free hand in doing everything that I felt needed to be done, always having their 100 percent backing and support.

For that reason this will not be a campaign of character-bashing or performance-evaluating on my part. I will not lower myself to that type and know overall voters, too, are getting tired of this type of campaign. From this point on I'll only dwell on issues at hand and our future.

I truly believe I can make an immediate impact on Lincoln and Logan County. As I can attest to from my two years' experience on the county board, which I feel it is an honor and pleasure to be on and to represent all the people of Logan County.

I'm not looking to leave my county board seat, nor will I leave unless I'm lucky enough to be elected mayor -- an opportunity I cannot pass up
-- but in reality it will basically be doing the same job, striving for the same things. After all, what affects Lincoln affects Logan County and vice versa.

If anyone wants to know what type of mayor I would be, I can only promise that I will attack the city problems and issues and deal with them the way I dealt with the problems out at the animal shelter. So if you're happy about that, then maybe I'm your mayor.

Platform

I have a very large platform of 38 or more issues of importance. Among those is an economic development package that is different from others being done now, but I believe my ideas have solid merits and can be achieved in the near future.

I believe that with the increasing age of our population and the ever-growing number of students attending our four colleges, along with continued retail growth out west, we need to re-explore the possibility of public transportation.

 

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Senior citizens issues are among the top of my list. As the baby boomers reach retirement age, the lack of housing, nursing homes, etc. are forcing many seniors to look elsewhere for residence. We need to address this.

Our young people are our future. To keep them here, jobs are a priority, but let's face it, good-paying jobs and industries are becoming less and less abundant and least likely to happen. Therefore, with the ever-changing job market out there, most employers dropping health care and developing two-tier pay scales, education of our young people is now the major priority. We need to really invest in our education system. Encourage and work with our local colleges to expand and invest in our community.

I also have what I call a youth task force plan that will address the needs of our young people. Many ideas are new, but with 100 percent confidence and cooperation from elected officials, I believe we can turn things around for our youth and school system.

Tourism and Main Street are also major players on my platform.

Affordable housing is a must for middle-income families wanting to buy homes. With the economy the way it is, many families cannot afford $125,000 to $150,000 homes of average in surrounding communities, so with smaller cities running out of room, many are turning their sights on Lincoln. Are we ready? No. I will strongly work on city codes, ordinances and enforcement of these codes and address the hands-off landlords who choose to leave town and their houses sit empty or boarded up.

I will close by saying I really believe I can make a tremendous impact for this community. To stop the dwelling on our misfortunes of the past and focus that energy on the future. I also believe I'm of strong enough character to pull all forces of government to come together and work as a team. The more together we are, the more powerful. And to get done what needs to get done, we all need to be on the same page.

[Patrick L. O'Neill]

Life Sentence, No Parole

If we tried to invent the cruelest punishment for dogs, we probably couldn't come up with anything worse than "solitary confinement" on a chain or in a kennel.

Dogs are pack animals who crave the companionship of others.  Scratches behind the ears, games of fetch, or even just walks around the block mean the world to them.  Curling up at your feet while you watch TV is their idea of heaven.

Many dogs left to fend for themselves at the end of a chain fall prey to attacks by other animals or cruel people, and many others are injured or hanged or choke as a result of getting entangled or caught in their tether.

If you have a backyard dog, please, bring him or her inside.  They don't want much--just you.

A public service announcement from Lincoln Daily News and helpinganimals.com

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