thursday, October 30, 1980
lincoln, nebraska vol. 105, no. 49
u
Regent Hansen asked for trust fund explanation
By Jim Faddis
The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commis
sion has sent a letter to NU Regent Kermit Hansen of
Omaha asking him to specify property he has in a trust
fund, and if the trust fund can benefit him financially.
In his statement of financial interests, in the section
asking for stocks, bonds and government securities not
listed elsewhere in the statement, Hansen wrote "1st
Northwestern Trust company has all stocks, bonds, insur
ance policies and title to real property .... under trust
agreements."
Thomas Burke, executive director of the commission,
said the law requires elected state officials to identify
businesses they have financial interests in.
Burke said if Hansen's trust fund is one that he can de
rive financial benefits from, he must report what business
es he has stocks in and what type of bonds he has.
But if the trust is for one of Hansen's children or fam
ily that he can't get direct benefit from, Burke said he
does not need to report it.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, Hansen said it
was his understanding that he could not get any bene
fits from the trust fund, so he did not report it.
"But I will go back to the trust institute and check
with them to make sure it is not of beneficial interest to
me and then clear it with the commission," he said.
If it is decided that Hansen can't get any financial ben
efits from the trust fund, he won't have to do anything
more, Burke said.
Burke said that there is no indication that Hansen is
concealing anything or that he has done anything improper.
"But the way he reported the trust requires an explan
ation," he said.
Hansen reported the trust in the same way in 1979, but
it did not come to the attention of the commission, Burke
said.
He said the commission receives a large number of fi
nancial interest staemcnts each year and that it does ran
dom audits of the statements. This year, Hansen's state
ment was audited.
The purpose of the law requiring elected officials to
file a statement of financial interests is so that the public
can see what private benefits a person might get from a
position, Burke said.
"We are not trying to snoop or to pry into someone's
private life," Burke said. "But we are trying to give the
public a measuring stick to see how a public official
carries out their official duties might be influenced by
private benefits."'
Lack of accountability decried
Task force: give governor increased control
By Steve Miller
Editor's Note: This is the fourth article
in a five-part series on recommendations to
make state government more efficient and
more responsive to Nebraska residents.
The operation of Nebraska's executive
branch of government leaves much to
be desired, according to the findings of
the governor's task force on government
improvement.
The task force reported that while it
is apparent that operation of individual
agencies is "remarkably good," as a whole
it is not well organized.
The task force described findings and
made recommendations to improve the or
ganization of state government after a
five -month study.
It said the reason state government is
not as effective as it should be is that the
executive branch is not one but four
branches, and no one person is in charge
of three of them.
The report listed as the four branches
the constitutional officers including the
governor and five elected officials, consti
tutional boards and commissons, agencies
under the governor's control and agencies
that are not under the governor's control.
The report says the main fault is that 71
agencies are not accountable to a central
authority "who can, in turn, be held ac
countable by the people of Nebraska."
The report went on to say a lack of re
sponsiveness to the public stems from the
lack of accountability.
Too many agencies
According to the report, state govern
ment also has too many agencies, because a
new organization was created each time a
new problem arose.
W.A. Hamilton, special consultant for
the task force, explained that state govern
ment was organized to handle the recent
demand for a multitude of services, espec
ially with the push to manage these ser
vices, at the state level.
Write-in alternative not available
on Nebraska presidential ballots
Although some people voting on Nov. 4
might prefer to write in the name of a pres
idential candidate other than the four
offered on the Nebraska ballot, no such
option is available.
Secretary of State Allen Beermann said
there is no write-in space offered on any
state's ballot and there never has been any
such provision.
Beermann said that when voting, "you
are technically not voting for the president,
you are voting for the electoral college."
If such a space were provided, Beer
mann said, it would be necessary for voters
to list not only their presidential choice,
but also five presidential electors' names.
He also said for a candidate to be elected
through a write-in provision it would be
necessary for everyone writing in the
candidate's name to also write in the
same five electors.
The candidates offered on the Nebraska
ballot are Democrat Jimmy Carter, Repub
lican Ronald Reagan, Independent John
Anderson and Libertarian Ed Clark.
Today is the last day to apply for an ab
sentee ballot for the Nov. 4 election. Cards
are available at a booth at the Nebraska
Union, the East Campus Union and resi
dence halls. Applications must be post
marked by today to be eligible for an ab
sentee ballot.
If Nebraska were a business, it would
rank as a major corporation with the gov
ernor in charge, Hamilton said.
"But he doesn't have the authority to
handle all that he is responsible for,"
Hamilton said. "In the business world, no
one would take a job like that without
total control of employees and the bud
get." The task force report suggests that most
of the operating agencies be under the gov
ernor's control. Some agencies attained
their goals should be cut, and some should
be combined into larger, more cost - effic
ient agencies, according to the report.
In trying to make the executive branch
more accountable, more responsive, and
trying to organize it in a way in which it
can still be manageable, the task force rec
ommended that certain agencies be organ
ized into five executive offices.
Coordinate agencies
The five offices would not have large
staffs, but would be designed merely to
coordinate functions of agencies.
The five offices also would look for
areas of duplication, coordinate activi
ties of their offices and serve as the gover
nor's special consultants.
The five coordinating agencies, ac
cording to the report, should be:
--The executive office of human serv
ices, to coordinate services provided by
the departments of health, public institut
ions, social services and labor.
--The executive office of natural re
sources, which would coordinate the act
ivities of the departments of environmental
control and the environmental control
council, natural resources implementation,
water resources and the inter-agency water
coordinating committee.
-the executive offices of energy policy,
to join efforts toward energy solutions and
coordinate activities of the department of
energy, the power review board, the oil and
gas conservation commission, the gasohol
committee, and those developing alterna
tive energy resources.
-the executive office of public safety
and protection, to oversee administrative
aspects of 15 agencies including the de
partments of racing; athletics, parole and
justice, liquor control and fire prevention.
-The executive office of surface trans
portation, an elevation of the state depart
ment of roads. The task force said the de
partment should be raised to an executive
office since it is also responsible for public
transit, railroad and river transportation.
1 - V ''
J
As the days get shorter and the weather more severe, colorful sunsets become more common, with the increased moisture and dust in the atmosphere.
Photo by Jon Natvig