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Credits:
- Two years county board member
- Two years Logan County Animal
Control chairman
- 28 years Kroger employee
- Present employer: Eaton
Corporation
- Co-chair Alcohol Tobacco and
Other Drug (ATOD) Task Force
- Member of Youth, Disability,
Senior Citizens, Minority Committee for the city of Lincoln
- Union steward for Local 550 for
five years
- Member of union negotiation
committee team for Local 550 of United Food, Commercial Workers
Union
- Past or present member of Lincoln
Jaycees and K of C
- Past Lincoln Bowling Association
officer for two years
- League secretary for 20 years,
Elite Kickapoo League
- Past instructor for Young Bowlers
Alliance (YABA) for two years
- Past member of UFCW and present
member of Teamsters and Machinist union
Responses to questions:
1. My main focus as mayor is to
revitalize the community. I believe we are suited for a
bedroom community, with a strong educational foundation, grade
schools through colleges.
As mayor, will work strongly with
our four colleges on any expansion plans, increasing courses to
choose from, etc., to attract more students. Having 4,000-plus young
people for eight-plus months a year is a very appealing market for
retail service-type jobs coming to Lincoln.
Second: Affordable housing. Will
strongly enforce city codes to upgrade properties that are boarded
up and unlivable. To which there are 30-plus such houses that can be
available for people to live.
Third: Tourism. This is a booming
market for us. We need to really be ready to capitalize on this.
With the new Lincoln Library opening up soon [Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield] there will be an
overwhelming number of people traveling through or by Lincoln. I
will work with tourism to help promote, market or advertise Lincoln
in any way possible.
With these three issues I firmly
believe will bring much-needed growth to Lincoln.
2. Other areas that I will
develop or maintain: First off I will strive to
reinstate the laid off city workers, firefighters and police to full
capacity, ending citizens' concerns for safety issues. I will seek
to eliminate one city workshop and city council meeting a
month. This could save up to $18,000 a year of taxpayers' money
while still getting done what needs to be done.
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column in this article] |
I will work to re-establish the
Neighborhood Watch program, holding town block meetings throughout
Lincoln, appointing a chairman for each area to organize volunteers
to assist police in fighting crime.
3. My strengths to lead this
community: I believe to be my personality and character. Anyone who
wants to know what type of mayor I would be, just look at my two
years as Animal Control chairman. The proof that I can take a bad
situation and turn it around in a matter of a few months as
evidenced with the success we now have at the shelter. I can do this
for the city of Lincoln.
4. We're only as strong as we can be
if we work together. So, it is important that the mayor and
Lincoln/Logan County Development Partnership and the county board
put all egos aside and work together for the betterment of Lincoln.
5. Lines of communication: This I
believe is my strong point. I'm a great motivator and can get people
to jump on board with my beliefs. Open-door policy is very important
for one thing, and to develop a strong pattern of being someone that
you can work with, which in turn will create a good relationship for
all parties involved.
6. Besides the first part of my
platform, I'm also prepared to offer a property tax incentive break
for property owners choosing to upgrade or add onto their property,
providing they provide proof that they will invest $10,000 or more
and that 75 percent of material and labor comes from Lincoln, Logan
County. Then I propose waiving their property taxes for three years,
the fourth year paying what they paid before the upgrading, with the
fifth year paying the new assessed tax increase.
This I strongly feel will greatly
increase our tax bases, sales wise, as well. As property taxes are
added to the increased value of property, it will also give many
people a chance to clean up and make badly needed improvements. This
should also greatly clean up the community, increase overall market
value of all property and attract interested parties to come to
Lincoln to buy. I strongly believe this to bring in something
between $200,000 to $500,000 a year much-needed revenue.
7. I would like to be remembered as
a man of action and also a man of my word, as well as a cherished
role model for our youth.
8. I'm a very positive person and do
not like to dwell on negative situations. I totally believe in
myself, the community, our young people, and it shows.
I'm a very happy person who really
appreciates who I am and where I come from and really love sharing
my optimism with everyone involved. I really believe a strong
outlook on things will achieve more than negativism. I will set that
example each and every day of my term in office.
[From Lincoln mayoral
candidate Pat O'Neill]
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