 Busby is currently recovering from a long period of health
issues and tires easily. He felt the council would be better served
if someone else filled the position while his recovery continues.
The motion was made and passed with a vote of 8-0-1. Stacy Bacon was
absent for the evening and Anderson abstained from the vote.
Upon taking her position at the head of the table, Anderson said
the first order of business was in the public participation category
and that a Mr. Owen was there to address the council.
Owen came to the podium, telling the council he was Jack Owen
of 1600 Pulaski St. in Lincoln and that he wished to speak about
trailer parking in the city of Lincoln.
He told the council he was a nurse by profession. As such, the
first thing he is trained to ask a patient is, "What's the problem?"
He said he wanted to pose the same question to the council
regarding trailer parking on the streets of the city. "What's the
problem?" he said. Then added, "And, who cares?"
He said some would say it is not safe to have a trailer parked on
the street, but he questioned how many accidents involving parked
trailers there had been recently.
Owen continued his argument by saying that some thought the
trailers were too big to be on a city street. He said he'd found out
in politics, "We're all entitled to our own opinions, but not our
own facts." He said he had measured the width of his trailer and
that it was actually 2 inches narrower than a 1-ton Chevrolet
dual-wheel pickup.
He concluded, "Maybe we should ban them."
Owen told the council his trailer was licensed, insured and he
paid taxes on it, and he questioned what was wrong with him having
it parked in front of his own home, or better yet, in his own
driveway.
He told the council to be careful what they ask for. He recalled
a discussion with Jonie Tibbs in the past about noise levels. He
said the city was considering an ordinance on noise, and it was
something he welcomed. He explained that he has race cars and works
on them at his home. He said, had the city imposed a noise ordinance
restriction of 75 decibels, it would have meant that he could run
the engines in his cars at 74 decibels "all day long, and there
wouldn't have been anything you could do about it."
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He said he understood some didn't like it, but he didn't like
tattoo parlors on the town square and people with bad teeth, "but
we're not going to start a law against them, are we?"
He continued: "I remember many years ago a legislator said, 'You
can't legislate morality.' Well, you can't legislate good taste
either," he said.
Again, he told the council to be careful what they ask for. He
then relayed that he has a property outside of town where he could
take his trailer, adding that right now the property houses a 1939
fire engine. He said the engine is a complete piece of junk and
looks terrible, but it is licensed, insured and operable.
"Folks, if you don't like my trailer, I'll park my fire truck in
front of my house, and there is not a darn thing you can do about
it," he said.
When Owen was done speaking, none of the aldermen engaged him in
conversation on the topic, and Anderson moved the meeting on to the
next items of business.
[By NILA SMITH]
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