Posted: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 7:00 pm
During an interview last week, City Council candidate Ken Svoboda made it clear he will consider running for mayor in two years.
After garnering 12,357 votes to be the top vote-getter in the April 5 primary election, Svoboda is up for re-election in Tuesday's general election. The council seat is a four-year term, but when asked whether he would consider running for mayor in two years, Svoboda said: "One election at a time."
Svoboda said many people have asked if he would make a run at the office, and he has discussed the possibility with his family.
"A number of other people know that if called, I will certainly look at that race," he said.
But he also said he has "no clue" what the future holds, and would be happy to continue to serve on the council, if he's returned to office.
"To me, I don't have a political career. I don't have political aspirations. I didn't get into this with a desire to be in Washington some day. But I will never say never."
The operation of his family-owned business, Ray's Lawn & Home Care, would certainly factor into his decision.
"There will always be a part of me that will be beholden to the business," he said.
When he was asked what he thinks of the job Mayor Coleen Seng is doing, Svoboda said, "I have a great deal of respect for the position she's in."
He said he enjoyed working with Seng when she was on the City Council, but added, "Short of that, I don't want to say she's in over her head, but nobody is in a perfect position of having all the experience they need to be a mayor." He said there's a learning curve, and Seng didn't have an administrative background.
"Having served on the council for 16 years is entirely different from being a mayor. You are the boss, very much unlike when you are a council member. You are just one of seven."
He then went on to expound on how former Mayor Don Wesely was a community leader who "didn't waffle" and "ran the office like any CEO would run an office."
"I see that mayoral position as being one of very strong leadership," he said. "Coleen is being more of a team-builder."
In response, Seng said, there are various types of leaders _ including those that are dictatorial and those that empower others.
"I probably fall in the line of believing in empowerment," she said. "I do not believe that one person makes decisions that are good for a community. I believe that a community makes those decisions. I will always support decisions being made by a community process. That's what I was elected on."
The answer to the question of whether Svoboda will run for the office may have come out later in the interview, when he said, "I'm drawn to leadership roles and I don't know why that is."
Seng defeated Republican Councilman Glenn Friendt to become mayor in 2003. She will be up for election in 2007. She declined to comment on whether she plans to run for another term, saying it's rude to ask her that question when she's only two years into her term.
"Who knows what the next day will bring?" she said.
Oops! Wrong race
During a candidate forum last week, City Council candidate Dan Marvin mistakenly said at one point, "Since I announced my candidacy for School Board… " and realized his error after the audience reminded him he's running for the council.
"I think that's a race I might be able to win," he joked, referring to the School Board.
He was apparently tripped up by the unusual forum, which featured candidates for both the School Board and City Council simultaneously, with the long table of candidates alternating answering questions from the audience.
Republicans go after Marvin again
Speaking of Marvin — he was targeted again in another mailing that landed in Lincoln mailboxes Tuesday.
The mailing, paid for by the Nebraska Republican Party, accuses Marvin of being out of touch with Lincoln seniors and families because he "tried to increase property taxes" through his position as co-chairman of the mayor's Streets, Roads and Trails Committee that proposed a $75 million bond issue to voters last September.
Voters soundly rejected the bond issue, 62 to 38 percent, and the Republican Party apparently thinks they'll similarly reject Marvin based on his association with the street improvement proposal. However, Marvin finished fourth out of a field of 20 in the April primary and on the day he announced his council candidacy, he proposed a scaled-down roads program that wouldn't increase taxes or require a bond issue.
Marvin said the Republicans' attack on him for serving as a volunteer on a committee _ along with Republicans _ charged with finding solutions to Lincoln's infrastructure problems will likely dissuade others from volunteering on such boards.
"They're just making it harder to sell all kinds of things the community needs," he said. "I've moved on after the bond; all these other people just want to keep wallowing in the darn thing."
He said it's ironic that Republicans are attacking his association with a bond issue that was endorsed by Lincoln developers and traditionally Republican-leaning groups, such as the Lincoln Independent Business Association. The bond issue was also supported by all three Republicans on the Lincoln City Council.
On the night before the Sept. 14 election, Republican Councilman Glenn Friendt proposed a resolution in support of the bond issue, and the three Republicans council members voted yes, including Marvin's Republican opponent for a council seat, Ken Svoboda. Only Democrats Terry Werner and Patte Newman voted against the resolution.
"Now they're just scattering like cockroaches with the light turned on," Marvin said of GOP supporters of the bond issue.
Mayor says hiring close
Mayor Seng said she's close to announcing the hiring of a public works director to replace Allan Abbott, who retired Jan. 26.
Her aide, Ann Harrell, has been acting director since Jan. 27. The search for a director expanded from a local search to a regional search after the mayor was unable to fill the position. In January, the mayor's office said it would advertise until Feb. 11 and then move quickly to fill the vacancy.
The salary range for the position is $52,000 to $123,200.
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.