Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Hal Daub Pays the Price for Ballpark Obstruction

In an election that was much tighter than I thought it was a couple of weeks ago, Hal Daub's bid to reclaim the Mayor's office fell short tonight. I thought for sure that Hal Daub would try to salvage his political career by reversing ground over the Omaha Royals, but instead he chose to tilt other windmills. Perhaps he realized the damage was done, as he and MECA nearly scuttled the downtown stadium and pushed the Royals away, perhaps permanently.

Or is it? It's interesting to note that tomorrow, the Legislature's Revenue Committee will take the first vote on LB 615, which would provide the funding for Sarpy County's stadium. According the World-Herald, the bill has been amended, but doesn't say how. In the committee hearing in March, the bill sounded DOA, so perhaps Sarpy County has started to come to an internal agreement with Sarpy's cities. If it passes, the bill goes on to the full legislature. If it fails, Sarpy County will need to finally reveal "Plan B".

I go back to what I've said all along. In this budgetary environment and with the past history of these plans, I don't see how the Legislature bails out Sarpy County. But I also didn't think this would go this far either.

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