[Bosco55David]

Well it's official. Hal Daub and Jim Suttle advance to the general election.

Personally I couldn't be happier. As a (hopeful) future Omaha PD officer, I was extremely turned off by Vokal's hostility towards the police department, so him being out of the race means I won't have to deal with that hurdle in my quest to join OPD and return to Omaha.

I really want Daub to be elected again. He is very pro-police and was a major reason that OPD was able to get the Able 1 helicopters. I also like that he is pro-development and wants to focus on the downtown area.

Just my 2 cents.

[Victor 13]

I will add 4 cents to yours Bosco55David!

[Dave1215]

Curious... is Vokal anti-Police, or he just has a keen focus on solving the Pension crisis? I'm thinking its more of a pension and union thing for him as opposed to an officer and public safety thing - but I am not close to the situation.

[Omaha Rocks]

Though I am very pro-police, I do think that the current pension program is absurd. There's no reason that somebody who is still in his 40s should be able to retire with an $85,000 per year pension for the rest of his life. What that effectively does is handcuffs the city, and keeps them from being able to hire more police.

[thatguy1]

^^^Very True. If pro-police means a continuance of current pension policies, then that, to me, is anti-public safety.

Those pensions are going to gouge holes in the city budget and force cutbacks. 85K pension for a police officer? Get ****ing real...

[ehenningsen]

I know what Bosco is talking about..

Vokal was a candidate that seemed to speak with words that are poorly chosen.

He seemed to give off a whole lot of grand promises, but yet I don't think he even revealed in any way shape or form how he was going to do it.

He also seemed to place the police officers in the red light as if all of this was their fault, yet they are just doing what we all would have done. Everybody is guilty of taking advantage of life and trying to life to the fullest, and yes at other people's expense. Businesses are the exact same way, they take more than they give and yet we praise them..

The police are exercising their right to the pursuit of happiness and they are not to blame.. We are forgetting where the fault is, and that is to those who did not do a proper risk analysis to begin with..

This is why I think Vokal doomed himself, he was such a finger pointer and yet never had any substance when he spoke..

Personally, I think Suttle is a bit of a duey, but at least he paints the picture a little more clearly than Vokal. And by doing that Suttle becomes a better candidate because we all know he has a plan with substance..

That said, I am all for Daub!

[Bosco55David]

Originally Posted by ehenningsen

I know what Bosco is talking about..

Vokal was a candidate that seemed to speak with words that are poorly chosen.

He seemed to give off a whole lot of grand promises, but yet I don't think he even revealed in any way shape or form how he was going to do it.

He also seemed to place the police officers in the red light as if all of this was their fault, yet they are just doing what we all would have done. Everybody is guilty of taking advantage of life and trying to life to the fullest, and yes at other people's expense. Businesses are the exact same way, they take more than they give and yet we praise them..

The police are exercising their right to the pursuit of happiness and they are not to blame.. We are forgetting where the fault is, and that is to those who did not do a proper risk analysis to begin with..

This is why I think Vokal doomed himself, he was such a finger pointer and yet never had any substance when he spoke..

Personally, I think Suttle is a bit of a duey, but at least he paints the picture a little more clearly than Vokal. And by doing that Suttle becomes a better candidate because we all know he has a plan with substance..

That said, I am all for Daub!

Great point!

Pretty much everyone (including Daub and the police union) agree that the current pension contract is over the top so it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that it will be fixed, yet Vokal pretty much based his entire campaign on attacking the police and fire departments. Having a mayor who is hostile to your emergency services is never a good thing.

[thatguy1]

^^Great point. I think Vokal struggled to create an identity in Omaha and that was sort of his gimmick. He should have hired an experienced campaign strategist!

[Bosco55David]

Originally Posted by burgerflipper

^^Great point. I think Vokal struggled to create an identity in Omaha and that was sort of his gimmick. He should have hired an experienced campaign strategist!

Yeah, he really seemed to fall flat on his face when he was forced to discuss anything other than the pension contract. He really didn't seem to have any leadership skills.

[kdbrich]

Not a shocker...vokal is a young guy....doesn't give people the warm fuzzies for experience.

Daub has been there before and did a good job. Suttle is the top democrat running. Personally, party politics don't mean much to me in a mayoral race, but I do know people that take it into consideration.