Omaha sends its stimulus wish list ($304 million)

[Omaha Steve]

The budget for the city this year is $278 million. This is some request.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10556883

Published Friday February 6, 2009
Omaha sends its stimulus wish list

BY MAGGIE O'BRIEN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The City of Omaha is hoping to score nearly $304 million in federal stimulus money that officials say would create or preserve as many as 3,000 jobs.

The Omaha wish list includes $87 million for street and road repairs, $30 million to renovate Central Police Headquarters, $20 million for sewer separation projects and $16 million for new Metro Area Transit buses.

City officials from across the country turned in their project lists to the U.S. Conference of Mayors late last year. It was shortly after then-President-elect Barack Obama began talking about putting together a stimulus package that would help ease the economic burden on cities and states.

Some of Omaha's requests involve projects that have been on the back burner for years because of a lack of money.

"We're getting all of our ducks in a row now so that if this money is available, we can use it to the best of our ability," said Joe Gudenrath, a spokesman for Mayor Mike Fahey.

The stimulus bill now in Con- gress has been under attack by some as being ladled with pork-barrel spending that will do little to help the economy.

FULL story at link.

[Liberal In Texas]

1. What did you guys do? Spend all of your money on an new stadium that'll be used once a year?

(Just kidding.)

:toast:

[BR_Parkway]

2. I automatically read Omaha as Obama and wondered why the White

House was just now chiming in.

Shouldn't they be calling Hagle and Nelson to tell them to shut up already if they want this money?

[Omaha Steve]

3. Hagel is no longer a US Senator

He is on his way to Georgetown University. You are right about Ben Nelson. He has been in the middle of the strip 500 billion out of the package group.

[elleng]

4. Hagel?

Johanns

[cap]

5. omaha should make up its mind what it wants

either it should publicly scold its Republican Senators for holding up the stimulus package, or it should take a page from Sarah Palin and say, "Keep the Change" and do without.