OQIIU
monday, april 30, 1973
lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 107
Amendment's effects
confuse Radial issue
Two weeks ago the City Council
impounded for the rest of the fiscal
year all funds ($500,000)
designated for the Northeast Radial
highway and trained its political guns
on City Charter Amendment 2,
commonly called the "Stop the
Radial" amendment. Its goal was to
defeat the amendment.
(Amendment 2 is one of three City
Charter amendments that will be
decided on in Tuesday's city general
election.)
The Council's action, in effect,
redirected election year controversy
from the highway to the amendment.
If passed, the amendment basically
would do this:
-It requires either a unanimous
City Council vote or a favorable
majority vote of the electorate to
proceed with any street construction
costing more than $15 million (the
radial would cost about $30 million).
-It redefines criteria for city street
planning, making them similar to
current federal criteria.
The Council's unanimous decision
to impound radial funds and its
unanimous stand against Amendment
2 has elicited many verbal tussles
between Mayor Sam Schwartzkopf
and leaders of the Coalition Against
the Raidal (CAR). Most of the
disagreement concerns the effect
Amendment 2 would have on current
and future street construction in
Lincoln, excluding the Radial's.
The mayor contends that:
The amendment has been
represented as a "Stop the Radial"
amendment even though it makes no
mention of the Radial per se.
The amendment delineates
planning requirements for all
expressways, freeways, parkways,
controlled access facilities and
highways and therefore would affect
most of Lincoln's arterial street
construction, because they are part of
either state or federal highway
systems.
If the amendment passes, the city
will not be able to carry through on
several street improvement projects
scheduled for summer.
If passed, the amendment might
render the city ineligible for some
future federal highway and mass
transit funds.
Many other officials have
entrenched themselves with
Schwartzkopf. City Atty. Dick Wood,
who is appointed by Schwartzkopf,
said several problems "appear to exist"
with the proposed amendment.
State and federal officials also have
urged Amendment 2 be rejected. A
prepared statement from a committee
of State Roads Department officials,
the Federal Highway Administration,
Lancaster County and the city argued
that even though the amendment
follows current state and federal
highway planning policies, when
federal and state standards change, the
charter amendment won't.
"Consequently, the statement
continued, "Lincoln would lose
transportation funds if any alteration
of the amendment were defeated."
And finally, the major's position is
upported by all former Lincoln
mayors and city councilmen, who,
regardless of their feelings about the
radial, oppose Amendment 2 because
they say it's bad legislation.
The amendment's supporters are
vehement as it's opponents. The
amendment's sponsoring group, CAR,
has solicited suoport from the Citizens
for Improved Planning, Citizens for
Environmental Improvement, the
Lancaster County Young Democrats,
City-Wide Tennants Association, the
Fremont (Street) Area Citizens Grour
and the Clinton Area Neighborhood
Organization.
Chief standardbearer for CAR,
attorney John Steven Berry, has
Tiie Northeast Radial Poins Say:
"irdver Peoples
Houses and Lawns :r
TrucKin Over
admitted from the start that
Amendment 2 was directed both at
the Radial and at future major street
construction. Although the huff about
Amendment 2 has shoved arguement
about the radial somewhat into the
background, CAR's original
justifications for the amendment and
against the radial are:
Lincoln cannot afford a four-lane
roadway without federal assistance
(currently no federal funds have been
used for land aquisition for the Radial,
but city officials have been making
overtures that they may ask for some
in the future. CAR questions whether
the Radial is even eligible for federal
funds.)
-The radial would cost between
$700 and $1,100 per Lincoln
household. CAR says that't too much.
The radial would contribute to
urban sprawl, contrary to the balanced
growth sought by those who complied
the City-County Goals and Policies
statement.
-People should have the right to
decide what kind of city they want
and the right to help in the decision
making.
Berry categorically denies that
Amendment 2, if passed, would
unduly delay any currently planned
street construction projects.
Concerning future construction,
Berry says: "The proposed
amendment clearly states that all state
and federal laws shall supercede any
requirements contained within the
amendment."
To date, $3.5 million has been
spent on right-of-way land acquisition
for the Radial. No more money will be
spent on tnat until at least the start of
the city's next fical year in September.
When the council impounded
Radial funds, Councilman Merle Hale
said the action was, in part, to show
the city's sincerity that it would not
continue to buy land for the radial
"without further study."
City officials have said repeatedly
that they will be bound by the results
of updating study on the Radial
scheduled to be completed early next
year.
Currently the council is split on the
Radial question: some in favor, some
not sure. If the amendment passes,
although they hope it won't, the
Radial moneky will be off their backs,
but on the voter s.
Private investigators
have eyes on Lincoln
Sure, it happens in the movies, hut how
could the life of a private eye in Lincoln be
that exciting? Elementary, my dear Mr,
Watson, it's all in the type of work they're
doing. In today's Close Up, staff writer
Adella Wacker dusts off her deer-stalker's
cap, polishes her monocle and takes a look
at Lincoln's private detectives,
by Adella Wacker
Throughout a Mickey Spillane detective
paperback, the movie "Shaft" or "Mannix"
on Sunday night television, the sharp-sexy
private eye image glitters.
With drink and woman in tow, private
detectives solve murders, recover bodies and
crack dope rings in glamorous ways. Too
bad, you say, that it's not real.
But there might be a bit of glamour to
being a private detective in Lincoln. Lincoln
has two such men who investigate on their
own and who don't work for a detective
agency.
Private detectives also operate and work
for five agencies in the city.
"I've had a couple of deals which might
fall in the TV variety," said Robert J.
Sawdon, private detective. He was formerly
chief of detectives for the Lincoln Police
Department.
Sawdon "officially and formally" became
a licensed private detective after his March
16 retirement. He'd been with Lincoln
police for 25 years.
Another Lincoln detective who prefers to
remain anonymous seems to be an exception
rather than a rule-he never was a policeman.
He takes as many cases as he can handle
part time, because full time he's Nebraska
area manager and broker for a national land
development corporation.
The 25-year-old Lincoln detective
graduated from the UNL College of Business
Administration in 1969. His interest in
detective work came from his father who
was a postal inspector and had friends in the
FBI.
He said he usually is hired by an attorney
to "follow somebody or find out
something."
"I don't want to say it's boring but..." his
job involves much time sitting and observing,
he said. He's mainly involved in child
custody cases, and some divorce cases.
The glamour may come from the money
and the travel in the detective business.
"Number one, I'm in it for monetary
reasons," the pipe-smoking land executive
said. He said that he turns down cases if
"they're not lucrative enough" or if he
doesn't think he has the time to investigate
the case correctly.
Both he and Sawdon said a detective's
time by the hour is worth $25 in fees, plus
expenses. However, while doing o lonq-teim
investigation, a detective may bo paid $100 a
day plus expenses.
Sawdon said that his third out-of-state
assignment since becoming a piivate
detective took him to the West Coast for
two days, and earned him $300 plus
expenses.
"If you can save a person a lot of money,
they're more than happy to pay a high fee,"
Sawdon said.
Sawdon said he's been hired by attorneys,
insurance companies, doctors and businesses.
Most of his work is with business firms anr
security studies.
"Just sitting in a car and watching in noi
my bag," Sawdon said. He said his work
involves interviewing, making complete
reports and occasionally escorting people o
property.
The land executive said that most
detective techniques are just common sense.
From his father, he said he learned how to
Continued on p. 2
