Omaha City Council

The City Council of Omaha, Nebraska is elected every four years on a nonpartisan basis. The next election will occur in 2009. Omaha has a strong mayor form of government. Members are elected by district. Currently seven city council districts are represented across the City of Omaha.^[1]

Additional seats

In 2006 the Nebraska State Legislature began deliberations on adding additional seats to the Omaha City Council.^[2] Due to the annexation of Elkhorn by Omaha, the City Council has proposed new boundaries for the districts that would split Elkhorn between two districts. Legislative Bill 405, introduced by Elkhorn State Senator Dwite Pedersen, would increase the size of the Omaha City Council to 9 members and realign districts. However, this bill was tabled in March 2007 until the next legislative session.^[3]

2009 Omaha City Council members

In 2009 city council members represented seven districts throughout the city of Omaha.^[4]

The City Council is officially nonpartisan; party affiliations are for informational purposes only.

District	Councilman	Party
1	Pete Festerson	D
2	Ben Gray	D
3	Chris Jerram	D
4	Garry Gernandt	D
5	Jean Stothert	R
6	Franklin Thompson	R
7	Thomas Mulligan	R

First Omaha City Council

The first Omaha City Council was convened in 1857. It was composed of A. D. Jones, who resigned March 23, 1857; T. G. Goodwill, who died May 18, 1857; G. C. Bovey, H. H. Visscher, Thomas Davis, William N. Byers, William W. Wyman, Thomas O'Connor, C. H. Downs, J. H. Kellom, for whom Kellom School was later named; and John Creighton, whom Creighton University was later named for.^[5]

The City Council has long taken stances on issues. In 1859 a local newspaper reported that a, "...bill introduced in [the Omaha City] Council, for the abolition of slavery in this Territory, was called up yesterday, and its further consideration postponed for two weeks. A strong effort will be made among the Republicans to secure its passage; we think, however, it will fail. The farce certainly cannot be enacted if the Democrats do their duty.^[6]

References

1. ^ Sloan, K. (2007) "Omaha council redraws borders," Omaha World-Herald. 2007-02-26. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
2. ^ Stoddard, M. (2007) "Bill to add two Omaha council districts advances", Omaha World-Herald. 2007-02-21. Retrieved 9/17/07.
3. ^ "Briefs," Grand Island Independent. Retrieved 9/17/07.
4. ^ City of Omaha. "City Council." Retrieved 9/17/07.
5. ^ (n.d.) Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska Douglas County Produced by Liz Lee for NEGenWeb.
6. ^ A Daily Nebraskian newspaper editorial from 1859, as quoted in Bristow, D. (2002) A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tale of 19th Century Omaha. Caxton Press.

See also

• Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
• Government of Omaha