one vote
■ Community Health
Endowment measure will be
reconsidered next week.
By JoshKnaub
Staff writer
The City Council failed to override a mayoral
veto Monday but will reconsider the issue next
week.
The council voted 4-3, one vote short of the
five votes needed, to override Mayor Don Wesely’s
veto of a measure that would have extended the
term of all members of the Community Health
Endowment by one year.
The council then voted 4-3 to reconsider the
motion next week, meaning it will hold a public
hearing and be able to amend the ordinance before
another vote is taken.
The Community Health Endowment was
formed in 1998 to invest the interest earned from
the sale of Lincoln General Hospital in communi
ty health projects and organizations.
According to a press release from Wesely’s
office, the board currently holds $41 million in
assets. Of that, $ 1.2 million is available for distrib
ution this year.
The Endowment board has not made any
grants or donations to date.
In a telephone interview Monday, Wesely said
he vetoed the measure because a blanket extension
is “bad policy.”
Wesely said each opening should be reviewed
individually.
The mayor said the board has done nothing so
far.
“That’s why I’m not sure they should have
another chance,” he said.
Councilman Jon Camp, reached at his home,
said the mayor was “politicizing the issue”
Camp said even if the council’s measure was
enacted, the mayor would be able to appoint a
whole new board during his term.
“I believe firmly in an extension for the board,”
Camp said.
He said it was unrealistic to expect the board to
complete the “monstrous task” of organizing and
completing its first round of donations in one year.
Camp also said the board had faced an “adver
sarial process” because the administration had
placed roadblocks in its way.
Giving the board additional time would be a
way to show its volunteer members they are appre
ciated, Camp said.
“It’s like a tax extension,” he said. “If you don’t
have the information in time, you can’t file.”
Wesely said he had offered amendments to the
council, including a one-year extension for the four
members whose terms expire at the end of August.
“I’ve tried to compromise,” Wesely said.
Both Camp and Wesely said some sort of com
promise would have to be made soon.
“This needs to work somehow,” Camp said.
Wesely said it was time to “put the issue behind
us.”
“I hope this is an aberration, not a trend,”
Wesely said.
He said his off ice and the council generally had
a good working relationship, pointing to the recent
unanimous budget agreement.
