The City Council of Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

is elected every four years on a nonpartisan

Nonpartisan

In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....

 basis. The next election will occur in 2009. Omaha has a strong mayor form of government. Members are elected by district. Currently seven city council districts are represented across the City of Omaha.

Additional seats

In 2006 the Nebraska State Legislature began deliberations on adding additional seats to the Omaha City Council. Due to the annexation

Annexation

Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...

 of Elkhorn

Elkhorn, Nebraska

Elkhorn was a city in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States and is a present-day neighborhood on the western edge of Omaha. The population was 6,062 at the 2000 census and was estimated by the Census Bureau at 8,192 in 2005...

 by Omaha, the City Council has proposed new boundaries for the districts that would split Elkhorn between two districts. Legislative Bill 405, introduced by Elkhorn State Senator Dwite Pedersen, would increase the size of the Omaha City Council to 9 members and realign districts. However, this bill was tabled in March 2007 until the next legislative session.

2009 Omaha City Council members

In 2009 city council members represented seven districts throughout the city of Omaha.

The City Council is officially nonpartisan; party affiliations are for informational purposes only.

District	Councilman	Party
1	Pete Festerson	D
2	Ben Gray	D
3	Chris Jerram	D
4	Garry Gernandt	D
5	Jean Stothert	R
6	Franklin Thompson	R
7	Thomas Mulligan	R

First Omaha City Council

The first Omaha City Council was convened in 1857. It was composed of A. D. Jones, who resigned March 23, 1857; T. G. Goodwill, who died May 18, 1857; G. C. Bovey, H. H. Visscher, Thomas Davis, William N. Byers, William W. Wyman, Thomas O'Connor, C. H. Downs, J. H. Kellom, for whom Kellom School was later named; and John Creighton

John Creighton

John Creighton may refer to:*John Oliver Creighton, American astronaut*John W. Creighton, Jr., American businessman*John Creighton, 1st Earl Erne, Irish peer*Lieutenant John Creighton, American Naval officer involved in the Little Belt Affair in 1811...

, whom Creighton University

Creighton University

Creighton University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is accredited by...

 was later named for.

The City Council has long taken stances on issues. In 1859 a local newspaper reported that a, "...bill introduced in [the Omaha City] Council, for the abolition of slavery

Abolitionism

Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...

in this Territory, was called up yesterday, and its further consideration postponed for two weeks. A strong effort will be made among the Republicans to secure its passage; we think, however, it will fail. The farce certainly cannot be enacted if the Democrats do their duty.