Councilwoman Cyndi Lamm has delayed consideration of her resolution seeking to cap the amount of money that the mayor can spend to educate potential voters regarding a ballot issue because of enforcement concerns.
Lamm has proposed capping city spending on ballot issue educational campaigns at $20,000 in a resolution that was scheduled for a public hearing and potential City Council vote Monday.
Mayor Chris Beutler's administration spent about $190,000 in tax dollars on an educational campaign related to the sales tax proposal that is on the Tuesday primary ballot. The city had contracts with two companies to help with that campaign, which provided information on the proposal to increase the city's sales tax by a quarter-cent to pay for street construction and repairs.
Monday, Lamm delayed that resolution for at least two weeks, indicating she has been told there might be enforcement concerns with her proposal.
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The idea could come back as an ordinance rather than a resolution, which carries less legal weight, she said.Ìý
Late Monday afternoon, Acting City Attorney Chris Connolly said he could not talk about the potential problems with the resolution as written without Lamm’s permission because the information was covered by attorney-client privilege.
Several years ago, the city law office advised the council that the mayor had a great deal of authority over contracts under Lincoln’s charter, which created a strong mayor form of government.
A proposed charter change giving the council more authority over contracts was vetoed by Beutler.Ìý
Lamm is among five candidates seeking to replace Beutler, who will leave office next month after serving three terms.
Councilman Carl Eskridge has offered an alternative to Lamm's resolution that would require the mayor to disclose information about spending on educational campaigns for election issues earlier in the process.
His proposal requires the mayor’s office to bring the educational campaign cost information to the council at the same time the council is to vote on putting an issue on the ballot.
The proposal puts no cap on city spending.
Jane Kinsey, with Watchdogs of Lincoln Government, called the city spending on voter education "a travesty."Â
The $265,000 city educational campaign was also backed financially by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
A private group, the Fix Lincoln Streets Now coalition, has raised more than $200,000 to separately support the ballot issue.Ìý
In the past, the city has used staff time to provide some educational information on ballot issues and private groups have raised money for more obvious campaigns supporting a ballot proposal.Ìý