Citizens of Elkhorn
Citizens for a Free Nebraska
Taxation Without Representation in Omaha
Taxation Without Representation in Nebraska
Annexation Across County Lines
Omaha's Recent Growth to Annex The City of Bennington
Arbitrary Annexation Thresholds
Dangers of County Mergers
Balance of Power in State Legislature
*Statewide
Implications*
(please click for more
details)
There are few greater
insults to our nation than when freedom and democracy are being
perverted and undermined right here at home. Due to the subjective
interpretation of law and manipulation of the Nebraskan people, our
cities, our counties, and even our state are in dire jeopardy of
being overrun by an unbridled entity that thrives on
unconstitutional law.
"The creed of our democracy is that liberty [should be] acquired and
kept by men and women who are strong and self-reliant, and possessed
of such wisdom as God gives mankind - men and women who are just,
and understanding, and generous to others - men and women who are
capable of disciplining themselves. For they are the rulers and they
must rule themselves."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
Citizens of
Elkhorn
The City of Elkhorn, a
140 year-old community of 8,200 with its own rich history and unique
identity, fought against unilateral takeover by the
metropolitan-class City of Omaha in the courts for over two years.
But, after the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately denied Elkhorn’s appeal
for a stay, Elkhorn was forced to hand over its City Hall on March
1st, 2007 without even a vote of the citizens.
The State of
Nebraska is the only state in the Union that allows one municipality
to take over another without a vote of the citizens.
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Citizens for a Free Nebraska
Citizens for a
Free Nebraska, initially founded by citizens from Elkhorn, is
continuing the former City of Elkhorn's fight to regain its
independence and to defend the right of all Nebraskan citizens to
have a representative government.
When
it comes down to it, all that we are fighting for is the right to
vote on an issue that is fundamental to the form of government on
which our nation was founded; the same right to vote that is
found everywhere else in the country. After all, WHAT is the
fear in allowing the people to vote? WHO fears that, in the United
States of America, the principles of its own Constitution would be
put into action? The answer is obvious: those who fear the voice
of the citizens are those who do not truly represent them.
While we are fighting
for Elkhorn's independence, we believe very deeply that independence
and local control are in no way “Elkhorn-exclusive” issues,
especially in these recent times. This is a fight that must be won
for the rights of all Nebraskans because the outcome of the struggle
will impact all Nebraskans, east and west. Continue reading to
find out why.
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Taxation Without
Representation in Omaha
The citizens of Elkhorn are all too
familiar with the issue of taxation without representation,
now that they are occupied by Omaha, and the other remaining nearby
municipalities will inevitably become acquainted with it as well,
soon enough, unless it is stopped before it is allowed to happen
again.
Take it from us in
Elkhorn: If and when they take you, they won't care about what your interests are, and you
will no longer have any
real voice in where your tax dollars
are being spent. Time and again, the government of Omaha
misallocates critical tax dollars that should be spent addressing
the major needs and problems of the city (from everything between
struggling with paying employee pensions to implementing a federally
mandated sewer system overhaul that is estimated to cost taxpayers
one-and-a-half billion dollars) into misguided, large-scale projects
that cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions. Most of these
large-scale projects draw criticism and fire from the public, yet
while numerous calls have been made for a vote of the people, the
government of Omaha continues to form unbalanced committees and
proceeds without the majority consent of its citizens.
As a part of Omaha,
the citizens of Elkhorn will not be able to vote for their new
"representatives," an Omaha Mayor or Council members, until 2009.
And, according to the State Supreme Court's ruling that annexation
occurred on March 4, 2005, the citizens of Elkhorn have been denied
the right to vote for their representatives since 2005, and won't be
able to vote until 2009. Needless to say, that's taxation without
representation... in a big way.
When the City of
Elkhorn was taken, there was no vote. When Omaha Public Schools
attempted to take over the other large school districts in the county,
there was no vote. When Omaha started making frivolous address and
street changes that affect thousands of Elkhorn residents,
businesses, and schools, there was no vote. When any of the large-scale, financially
infeasible projects were being started downtown and paid for with taxpayer
dollars, there was no vote, and there will continue to be no vote
unless we are successful.
The government of
Omaha blatantly ignores even the voice of its own citizens, and if
it takes you, it will ignore you as well.
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Taxation Without
Representation in Nebraska
The principles of democracy are at stake, right here in the
heartland.
Taxation without
representation will not remain solely an eastern, metropolitan-area
problem for much longer. If and when the east eventually seizes
control of the west, there will be no more "western representation" to
speak of, either.
It is important that municipalities across
the state must not become lulled into a false sense of security and
complacency, but should instead take notice of the injustices being
committed in the east and be warned that unless something is done to
put an end to it now, the City of Elkhorn will certainly not be the
last to fall.
What happened to the
City of Elkhorn can, and will, happen again to others unless the
citizens put
a stop to it immediately.
And with increasing control of the State Legislature
being taken away from western Nebraskans, even the most remote
municipalities are at risk of being controlled and regulated by those who
do not represent them and may not
have their best interests in mind.
Does that remind you
of a certain thirteen colonies? Well, it's happening again in the
21st century, in the heartland of the United States.
Read more on the
Statewide
Implications
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Annexation Across
County Lines
There is no
law that prohibits annexation across county lines. That ‘rule’
comes from an outdated 1960's court case - a court case that only
denied annexation across county lines due to 1960’s issues such as
sharing paperwork and services. All that it would take for Omaha to
annex into Sarpy County and other counties today would be for it to
test the issue on a small piece of land in another county and obtain
a new ruling from an ‘agreeable’ judge.
Co-mingling
of funds between Omaha and Sarpy County already exists through the
fire districts. The Omaha Fire Department is already providing
coverage to parts of Sarpy County because it has agreements with the
Millard Fire District that extend into Sarpy County, and Omaha will
more than likely use that in its defense.
And, the minute
that Omaha annexes even one square
inch into Sarpy County or any other county, its zoning jurisdiction
would automatically be extended three miles further into that
county and it would immediately become the largest city of that
county, making it much easier for it to take control.
Yes,
it is true that Omaha officials have stated that they have no
intention of attempting to annex across county lines, but I also
remember when Omaha officials stated that they had no intention of
annexing the City of Elkhorn.
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And even now,
Omaha officials continue to state that they have no intention of
annexing the City of Bennington, yet one only needs to look
at the current maps provided by the Douglas County Assessor and take
note of Omaha’s recent growth toward Bennington to see what’s really
going on behind our backs.
Omaha’s intention to annex the City of Bennington is obvious and
undeniable.
Click below to
see the maps:
1
2
3
4
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Furthermore, according to testimony entered by the City of Omaha in
the trial against the City of Elkhorn, Omaha said that it must be
allowed to continue to expand, or it will die. So, according to
testimony given under oath, it follows that Omaha officials
believe that their city will ‘die’ when it reaches the borders of
Douglas County. So, what then, can they do? What then, must
they do? You can be sure that they will continue to profess their
lies and give false assurances while they prepare to seize control.
Omaha
has already been "testing the waters" in
the State Legislature – Senator John Nelson of Omaha
recently introduced LB1166, which would have given Omaha the power
to annex across county lines. It is undoubtedly the first of many
such bills to come, and they will
only become more difficult to stop if we don’t act immediately.
Read more on the
Statewide
Implications
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Arbitrary Annexation
Thresholds
Wait a minute, my city's population exceeds 10,000, and I've been
told that we are immune to annexation by Omaha. Why should I care?
The 10,000
population threshold is an arbitrary threshold, defined by
the State Legislature, and could easily be changed with the stroke
of a pen; there is no reason for the number to remain 10,000, and
there is no reason that it couldn’t be 50,000 or 200,000. Annexation of a city of over 10,000 citizens
and annexation across county lines could easily be made
possible and should be prevented now while the citizens still
have the power to defend themselves.
The changes to
the thresholds would have to be made in the State Legislature, but
due to Omaha’s current ability to make forced annexations of its
neighbors and gobble up nearby legislative districts, Omaha will
soon gain enough power to force the state to comply with its every
whim. It's no secret that Omaha wants power over the state, and when
it happens, you can kiss western representation goodbye.
Citizens for a
Free Nebraska's proposed statutes would take care of the arbitrary
thresholds by simply requiring a vote of the citizens before
annexation of any city or village can occur, and they would help to
prevent the diminishing of western representation in the State
Legislature by keeping our districts in the hands of independent
cities.
Read more about it in our
Statewide
Implications letter.
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Dangers of County Mergers / Municipal Counties
Another issue
that CFN is contending with is trying to defend cities and villages
from the growing possibility and threat of city-county mergers
and multiple-county mergers.
Under current
law, once any municipal county is formed through city-county
merger, its governing body would eventually be able to take control
over all of the cities in its territory, regardless of how
big they are or whether or not they were even contiguous with
the city that originally merged with the county.
It is also
important to note that once any city merges with a county, it
will share its borders, making it immediately adjacent to ALL of
the surrounding counties, regardless of whether the former city's
borders were even anywhere close.
So, if Omaha
became a municipal county, it would no longer have to go after
one city at a time. If your city is in Douglas or any of the
surrounding Counties, it won’t matter how big or how far away your
city is when the City of Omaha becomes the Municipal County of
Omaha and decides that it wants to merge with your county
as well. And again, the second that Omaha annexes even one square
inch into Sarpy County or any other county, its zoning jurisdiction
would automatically be extended three miles further into that
county and it would immediately become the largest city of that
county, making it much easier for it to take control.
The possibility
exists for Omaha to not only take control of cities in multiple
counties, but for it to actually take control of multiple
counties, themselves. The citizens need to take action to defend
their cities now, before that happens. And city-county mergers are a
statewide issue because any county in Nebraska can become a
municipal county.
Read more on the
Statewide
Implications
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Balance of Power in
the State Legislature
Among
other statewide issues,
perhaps one of the most dire is that the Nebraska Legislature is now
reaching a point where, due to Omaha’s current ability to make
forced annexations of its neighbors and gobble up legislative
districts, Omaha will soon
gain enough power over the Legislature to force the state to funnel
tax dollars directly into its fiscally irresponsible projects and
comply with its every whim.
As only a small
example of what’s coming, during a state of the city address, Omaha
Mayor Mike Fahey asked that the state "recognize all of the economic
benefits" of Omaha’s new convention center, and for it to "reimburse
[Omaha] with its fair share," because Omaha is not able to manage
the expenses of the projects that it starts. And, with their
increasing control of the State Legislature, it won’t be long until
they are simply able to demand it.
Big ticket-items
like baseball stadiums, trolley car systems, and sewer replacement
projects don't come cheap, but Omaha isn’t all that concerned
and continues to spend recklessly because when funding comes from
the state, everyone pays. Whether you do or do not agree that
Omaha's large projects are beneficial to the "look and feel" of the
area, it is undeniable that the pace at which they are being
constructed is financially irresponsible and detrimental to the
basic quality of life of a large number of Omaha's citizens.
Omaha's sewers are
backing up into its citizens' basements, its roads are
never finished, it
can't pay its employees or their pensions, services across the
entire area are suffering and stretched beyond their ability, etc,
yet even before the ink on the deal for the new and highly
controversial 150 million dollar ballpark even dried, its Mayor is
proposing adding a new 55 million dollar downtown streetcar
system... Who do you think is going to pay for it all?
Y-O-U.
Not only that, but
if and when the east controls the west, any legislation would
undoubtedly favor the east, regardless of whether or not they have
the west's best interests in mind. Whoever controls the
Legislature controls state law. And whoever controls state
law ultimately controls ALL lower governments, no matter how
remote.
With the stroke of a pen, both annexation across county lines
and annexation of a city of over 10,000 citizens are possible
and are necessary to satisfy the continued
sprawl that both Omaha and Lincoln desire. And, due to forced
annexations of their surrounding areas, they are exponentially
gaining in power to make such self-serving changes in the
Legislature. If anyone thought that western representation was
up for grabs before, just wait a few years.
Read more on the
Statewide
Implications
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