Svoboda’s “Roads to Nowhere” Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2007
Contact: Eric Fought
(402) 434-2184
eric@nebraskademocrats.org
Svoboda’s “Roads to Nowhere Plan”
LINCOLN, Neb. – On Friday, Lincoln City Councilman and candidate for mayor, Ken Svoboda, announced his “roads plan” with much fanfare.
In the plan, Svoboda bragged about his involvement as chairman of the I-80 Commission. At that time, he proposed a seven-year moratorium on non-interstate-related road construction in the western two-thirds of Nebraska. Under the proposal, the majority of resources would go to fund road projects in the eastern one-third of the state, mainly to the cities of Lincoln and Omaha.
“We’re state residents, and we don’t mind subsidizing road construction in the western two-thirds of the state to a certain degree,” Svoboda said. “But there’s more economic development benefit in having roads built in the eastern third of the state than in the western two thirds.” [Emphasis added]
Svoboda’s plan was quickly championed by the Nebraska Republican Party, who placed its text on the front page of the Party’s website.
“The mayor of Lincoln serves as an ambassador for the city to the entire state,” said Eric Fought, spokesperson for the Nebraska Democratic Party. “By making these radical comments, Ken Svoboda will alienate Lincoln from the rest of the state in the Legislature if elected. Additionally, as a result, he would damage the entire state and would hurt Lincoln’s chances of getting anything done on the floor of the Unicameral.”
In coverage of the plan’s release, Svoboda said that he realizes his anti-rural Nebraska agenda is “politically incorrect.”
“The citizens of Lincoln realize that they are part of a larger statewide community; and are looking for a leader who can build relationships that benefit all Nebraskans, Fought said.”