Thread by @asanderford

#Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and former State Sen. Suzanne Geist are participating today in a noon forum at the @LincolnChamber. Will try to keep you posted on how things go. About 200 eating right now. Be about a half hour.

Each candidate will have 2.5 mins for opening, 90 seconds for each Q&A answer. Candidates making their way to the podiums.

First up after a coin flip, Geist is leading off. Thanks Gaylor Baird for her service.

Geist: Came here to study broadcast journalism. Met my husband. Was subpoenaed on a grand jury. My career was derailed somewhat. Ended up getting involved in sales and communications and stayed home with my children. Reason for running is my love for the city. I'm a transplant.

Geist: "I've done my job and populated part of the state of Nebraska." My leadership style is hands-on, a servant leader. Listens. Has an open-door policy. Inclusive. I like bringing all voices to the table, even those I disagree with. Make tough calls.

Next up is Gaylor Baird, says this is home. Says she has put a focus on the city and its needs.

Gaylor Baird: We've made record-setting investments in public safety and roads. Omaha's property tax rate is 50% higher. You get a lot of bang for your buck in Lincoln. I'll work to grow our local economy with partners and businesses. Working on trails and parks and amenities.

Q: Chamber takes pride in vigorously promoting Lincoln, how do you view your role promoting Lincoln?

Geist: Standing out front with business, law enforcement and first responders to put best foot forward. Whether with development. Whether that's showing a face with collaboration, with developers, with business owners, so Lincoln is known as a place that's easy to do biz, safe.

Geist: Want to make sure this community is more affordable.

Gaylor Baird: Link is the middle of everywhere. Part of how we tell that story is by building amenities and attractions that help bring people to our community and invest in transportation that brings people to our community and work to be welcoming to different people.

Gaylor Baird: Local government invested half in ballfields to bring people to our community for youth sports. New air travel options. 10 destinations now. Investment in infrastructure in streets, sidewalks, water and wastewater so we can accomodate new people here.

Q: How do you view your role in buiding a city budget and what priorities you would set?

Gaylor Baird: Each biennium we build a two-year budget. My priorities reflect our community's shared priorities. 50% goes into public safety, personnel, resources and training. Another big part is infrastructure, $211m in streets. Work w/council to do more than voters approved.

Gaylor Baird: We promote parks, trails, schools and quality of life.

Geist: I believe the role of the mayor is to be a good partner with the City Council. Meeting regularly with members of the council to hear what they see in their areas of the city so I can hear what their priorities are and they can hear mine.

Geist: Whether we are a REpublican, Democrat or Independent, city business can be just that, city business. Aligning our priorities that are city business, public safety, roads, good jobs, working with business. Determining what are the things we all agree on.

Geist: Want public to be able to read our budget and understand it and track that.

Q: Property tax relief, do you believe as the Chamber does that you shouldn't increase above inflation and you shouldn't take more windfalls when valuations go up sharply?

Geist: This is what I believe. The larger valuations we saw, we have some tough decisions to me. Taking the windfall profits aren't in the best interests of our citizens. When we are going into potentially difficult financial times, gov't must respond the way like citizens.

Gaylor Baird: Each year that I've been mayor and when I've been on council as well, I've worked to cut property tax rate when we've had significant increases in property valuations. We've used technology to increase services while reducing the property tax rates.

Gaylor Baird: We get 16% of property tax rate you pay. 60% goes to our good public schools. When I said we are lean, I mean we are really lean. The number of city employees per 1,000 people has declined from 9 to 7.8 per 1,000. We've grown by a Grand Island in that time.

Q: Study found serious need for collaboration among public and private partners on infrastructure investments. What would you do?

Gaylor Baird: We have done this in Lincoln with public-private partnerships. We work with partners, building the arena, the Telegraph district, a record-shattering residential construction pattern. We set construction records in 2021 and 2022 and we're not slowing down.

Gaylor Baird: A key to making housing more affordable is to facilitate housing being built at all price points. My team is working very hard to facilitate that. Part is investment in streets, our wastewater (sewer and water treatment) capacity.

(Question also focused on streamlining development processes.)

Geist: Collaboration of course is crucial to growth. I believe partnering with developers. Think we need to begin thinking outside the box of things we've always done. What are best ways we can grow and develop? Are they dif than what we've always done?

Geist: We need to be careful as government that we don't over-regulate that arena so that we cannot achieve affordable housing. I think that's a past problem that we've had. We need to enter with caution.

Geist: The median for new housing is 400k. That is not affordable to most young families.

Q: Our quarter-cent sales tax for street improvements, do you support extending it when it lapses in two years?

Geist: I believe it's made a great difference in our road system. On roads, we tend to have less emphasis on consistent funding of roads, whether at state level or federal or local. Emphasizing that as a priority, possibly doing more.

Geist: I don't mean making it higher. I mean re-prioritizing roads, so that we're funding a bit more into that area than we are now.

Gaylor Baird: Thank you for being a private sector partner to help Lincoln on the Move to win at the ballot box. A game changer for our city. Expires in 2025, and it's going to be very important to have another robust public engagement process.

Gaylor Baird: I support leading that conversation and being a partner to private sector moving forward. We are working on oversight with group that reviews how the money is spent. I absolutely continue to support that investment and more.

Q: Pinnacle Bank Arena has been a catalyst investment. Now discussing a convention center down there as a catalyst. Tell us your plans for such projects.

Gaylor Baird: Pinnacle is a great example of catalyst projects. With convention center, working with state and chamber to put together a package with state to jump-start some of these projects. State Sen. Anna Wishart has a proposal for about $60m for half of that project.

Gaylor Baird: If we are successful, the city will have a key role with public engagement to build this important piece of new infrastructure to bring people to our city, its restaurants and hotels.

Geist: My thoughts on the project are I'm so excited. I believe it's something that has been missing from our community. Excited to be a part of it. Partnered with Sen. Wishart. I love her bill. You don't always hear that we partner down there. I'm supportive of the vision.

Geist: We need to leverage all opportunities for partnership to make that happen, city, state, philanthropic. Huge opportunity for growth and exposure to promote us in our region. Often what happens is people come visit, love it here and end up moving and staying here.

Q from young professionals group: As Link tries to attract a young and diverse workforce, how does Link work to attract and retain that talent?

Geist: Lincoln has so many resources, college, community college, university, public and private schools, everything avails us of young people. Attracting young people with opportunities, and affordability. Need a convention cetner, Pinnacle Bank arena, an entertainment district.

Geist: We need to present it all and be a good partner for all.

Gaylor Baird: Our young professionals add so much vitality to our community. They helped us get a new flag. They're part of that branding as we try to grow Lincoln. From the city side, we continue to make this a safe community.

Gaylor Baird: Need to keep investing in infrastructure that make this a great place to live, work and grow a family. Devoted $12m in pandemic recovery funds to workforce development, community colleges and more for opportunities to make your life and livelihood in Link.

Gaylor Baird: We need to make sure we are welcoming to our LGBTQ residents, our women.

Q: How do you make the economy more inclusive?

Gaylor Baird: We have to streamline our development processes. We have to grow from the inside out. If we want to grow student enrollment and our workforce, we have to make it clear that we value our LGBTQ neighbors, that we value women.

Gaylor Baird: We don't want them to graduate and move to places where they are more free. Discussions at the state Legislature are perilous for our future.

Geist: I believe a welcoming economy welcomes everyone, gives everyone opportunity and is open to everyone. I stand by my core values and will as your mayor. My core values will come with me to the mayor's office. My focus is going to be on city business.

Geist: I'll seek equal opportunity for refugee families and large businesses. It's also important that we be responsive as a government, when to get out of the way and let business grow and thrive. That's what my mayorship will be about, setting free the entrepreneurial spirit.

Q: What will you do to help entrepreneurship?

Geist: One of most inspiring things I see at university and innovation campus is young people starting new businesses. Maybe one will be the next large thing to come out of Lincoln and be part of how we are known.

Geist: We need to make sure everything city government is doing is an aid to those entrepreneurs and not an obstacle or a hindrance.

Gaylor Baird: Proud to partner with chamber. Some of key work we do is support for our entrepreneurial community. Seed grants for startups. Helping them leverage that for additional angel investment capital that's growing jobs and innovation right here in Lincoln.

Gaylor Baird: Also partnered in the past and done new things like build fiber to the home. Broadband in Lincoln is fantastic. A gigabyte city. That helps support our entrepreneurs and businesses. Simple infrastructure. Roads.

Last Q: Retaining and attracting talent, high-end destination facilities, prioritizing targeted economic growth and providing land and capital are priorities for Vitality Lincoln, do you commit to the priorities?

Gaylor Baird: We are very proud to embrace these goals. We are already pursuing these goals. We are working on the convention center. Developing mixed-use opportunities and entertainment districts. Workforce investments. Rebranding city. And support expansion of I-80 corridor.

Gaylor Baird: We need to work with Omaha to compete together as a region. We welcome the partnership and leadership to join us in supercharging these efforts.

Geist: I could just say yes. As I came in earlier, before lunch began, I was talking about how exciting it was to sit down and read. Had gone over the slideshow, but hadn't been able to sit down and read all the information until a few days ago.

Geist: It highlighted some of the things I've already been talking about. Renews my excitement over the potential we have to be the shining city in this state, to be the example, to thrive. Highlighted south and east beltways.

Closing statements

Geist: I believe we can grow. We can know when government needs to get out of the way. Need an administration that responds to what's happening economically. When citizens are tightening their belts, the city needs to tighten its belt. Need to better understand economics.

Geist: Need to be more transparent to community, more affordable. As your next mayor, I will commit to giving 100% every day to this office.

Gaylor Baird: Contrast between me and my opponent is stark. I'm committed to investing in public safety and infrastructure. Her record shows she has not valued local control, handing it to the state. She has helped legislate against women and our LGBTQ neighbors.

Gaylor Baird: "We have weathered extraordinary times together ... and Lincoln continues to shine." This is not the time to roll the dice on someone who has no experience in city government.

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