Tom Beckius was 3 or 4 years old when he had his first brush with politics.
The budding entrepreneur, who lived in a house near 15th and B streets with his mom and three older siblings, spent his mornings on the front porch hawking M&Ms from a homemade stand to a jogger who regularly ran by his house.
The jogger, as it happens, was Bob Kerrey, the governor of Nebraska who lived roughly six blocks away and made enough headlines with actress Debra Winger that even a preschooler knew a movie star was hanging out at the governor’s mansion.
It would be more than three decades before Beckius dipped his toes in politics again, this time as an at-large City Council candidate, but those early years stuck with him.
It wasn’t the lure of politics so much as the beginnings of his affection for the city where he’s lived for all but six months of his 41 years. He attended the daycare just across the alley in Trinity United Methodist Church — a mainstay of Lincoln’s early childhood education that is still there, along with at least one of Beckius’ teachers.
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His family moved when he was 6 years old to a house near 56th and Sumner streets, and he played in Roberts Park and walked to Holmes Elementary. Later the family moved again, to a home near 70th Street and Old Cheney Road, and he graduated from Southeast.
He and his sister used to explore downtown, and after their mom finished work they’d grab dinner at P.O. Pears.
“So this is my home,†he said. “This is my place.â€
He didn’t immediately appreciate that.
He enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln — following the expectation set by his mom for him and all five siblings — but after his freshman year he decided school wasn’t for him. He left for New York City, landed a job manning the front desk of a publishing company and quickly realized $34,000 a year didn't go very far in the Big Apple.
He came home six months later with a new appreciation for his hometown — for the open spaces, its affordability, the ease of being able to drive to the grocery store and buy more than you can carry home.
“That experience of living in New York City actually really helped me appreciate the things about living in Lincoln, Nebraska, that I didn’t appreciate before: The quality of life that we have here.â€
He went back to UNL, finished his English degree and met his future husband.
They’ve been together since 2001 and married once gay marriage became legal in Nebraska — something a gay kid growing up in the 80s never expected would happen.
In 2012, he was disappointed to see that 10,000 Lincoln residents signed a petition to recall the Fairness Ordinance, which would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodation, leaving it in legal limbo.
But he still loves his city, and he got involved in nonprofits, with Lincoln's Young Professionals Group, the city's Commission on Human Rights, among other things, and in 2017 then-Mayor Chris Beutler appointed him to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission.
By that time, Beckius had also gotten his real estate license — after four years at Nelnet — and had established himself in commercial real estate. In 2017, he opened his own commercial real estate brokerage, working primarily in restaurants and retail. He’s also gotten involved in land development.
The world of real estate is a natural fit: His mom left her job as paralegal in 1981 and launched a career in the new title insurance industry, starting a title company with Beutler, one of the lawyers at the firm where she worked.
She bought and sold other businesses, eventually opening Charter Title and Escrow, where Beckius now has his office.
“Title insurance is a main storyline in my family,†he said.
His experience on the planning commission convinced him to run for City Council.
“I was seeing opportunities on planning commission to make Lincoln better,†he said. “I was not seeing the current City Council picking up the balls and running with them, revising and changing ordinances, making improvements to zoning, codes and regulations.â€
He sees potential to make it easier to grow businesses and build homes, he said, and encouraging home ownership among young professionals creates a good incentive for them to stay.
“Each of us, or most of us, have the ability to give back to our community in some way. This is my way of doing that.â€
Watch Now: Voter's Guide for the Lincoln city general election on May 4
51¶ÌÊÓƵ posed questions for candidates on the May 4 general election ballot. Read the responses and watch the videos from Lincoln City Council, Lincoln Board of Education and Lincoln Airport Authority candidates.
Learn about the six at-large Lincoln City Council candidates' positions on the issues before voting in the May 4 general election.
Learn about the candidates' positions on the issues before voting in the May 4 general election.Â
Learn about the candidates' positions on the issues before voting. Two will be elected in the May 4 general election.