Grant Sturek

Grant Sturek

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Grant Sturek was a candidate for District 1 representative on the Omaha City Council in Nebraska. Sturek was defeated in the general election on May 9, 2017. Sturek lost in the primary election on April 4, 2017, but replaced Paul Anderson on the general election ballot after Anderson's withdrawal. Though Omaha's elections are nonpartisan, Sturek identified as a Democrat in his filing for the 2017 election.

Biography

Sturek was a student at the University of Nebraska-Omaha at the time of the 2017 election.

Elections

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Omaha, Nebraska (2017)

Incumbent Pete Festersen defeated Grant Sturek in the general election for District 1 on the Omaha City Council.

Omaha City Council, District 1 General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Pete Festersen Incumbent	82.06%	12,562
Grant Sturek	16.66%	2,550
Write-in votes	1.29%	197
Total Votes		15,309
Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "Official Results," accessed June 28, 2017

Incumbent Pete Festersen and Paul Anderson defeated Grant Sturek in the primary election for District 1 on the Omaha City Council.

Omaha City Council, District 1 Primary Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Pete Festersen Incumbent	75.50%	7,110
Paul Anderson	14.98%	1,411
Grant Sturek	8.42%	793
Write-in votes	1.09%	103
Total Votes		9,417
Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "Official Results," accessed April 25, 2017

Campaign themes

2017

See also: Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey

Sturek participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	A massive hike in property valuations by the county assessor is taxing the people of Omaha out of their homes. There are two problems with the property tax: 1. it taxes people for having shelter (a basic need) without considering whether a taxpayer has the income needed to pay the tax. 2. The property tax gives the county assessor undue control over how much residents of Omaha are paying the city in taxes. If elected, I will propose a number of alternative tax schemes to replace the property tax, allowing the city council to choose the tax plan that is most progressive and most affordable for the city government.	”
—Grant Sturek (March 16, 2017)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue	Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Government transparency	7	Environment
2	Crime reduction/prevention	8	Civil rights
3	Transportation	9	Public pensions/retirement funds
4	Housing	10	Unemployment
5	City services	11	Recreational opportunities
6	Homelessness	12	K-12 education

Nationwide municipal issues

The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.

Question	Response
Is it important for the city’s budget to be balanced?Answer options: Not important; Not important, but required by state law; A little important; A little important, but required by state law; Important; Very important	Important
Which level of government do you feel should set a minimum wage?Answer options: None, Local, State, Federal	Local
What do you think is the best way to improve a city’s public safety? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Increased economic opportunities, Increased police presence/activity, Harsher penalties for offenders, Public outreach/education programs	Public outreach/education programs
How do you think your city should emphasize economic development? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Changing zoning restrictions, Create a more competitive business climate, Focusing on small business development, Instituting a citywide minimum wage, Recruiting new businesses to your city, Regulatory and licensing reforms, and tax reform	Recruiting new businesses to your city
What is the one thing you’re most proud of about your city?	Omaha has an extremely friendly community with a strong spirit of giving back. This allows the city government and economic development organizations to finance large projects at least in part with donated money.
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about your city?	I want to pass basic campaign finance reform laws to cap the amount that any candidate for local office can receive from any individual contributor. When we allow unlimited funds to be raised and spent in local elections, it discourages potential candidates from running and makes it easier for incumbents to get re-elected even if they have a mediocre record of working for the betterment of the city.

Additional themes

Sturek's campaign website included the following themes:

“	Campaign Finance Reform With our current leadership, corporations and special interests are able to donate tens of thousands of dollars to political campaigns with little oversight. Nebraskans value integrity and accountability, and we owe it to ourselves to put a cap on contributions in order to make sure that our elected officials cannot be bought and paid for. As your city councilmember, Grant Sturek will propose an ordinance to restrict the amount of money that any individual, company, or organization can spend in support of a political candidate. Growing our Community Omaha's economic growth is currently being stifled by "brain drain." Too many young people leave Omaha to go to college and never come back. The problem is that we don't actively sell the benefits of living in Omaha to people outside of the city. We need to encourage college graduates from around the country to choose to build their families and careers in the Omaha Metro. With Grant's leadership, the city government will partner with metro area employers to hold Omaha career fairs at colleges and universities around the Midwest, connecting talented people with local businesses and telling them about the benefits of living in Omaha. Rebuilding our Infrastructure The quality of our city's infrastructure has not kept pace with Omaha's population growth. Especially in the eastern portion of the city, roads are too narrow and traffic is too congested. Large redevelopment projects such as the Civic Auditorium and Crossroads Mall have ground to a halt with nothing to show other than excuses from city hall. Grant Sturek will aggressively prioritize smart redevelopment efforts, making sure that taxpayer dollars are being spent on Omaha's future, not the special interests. Guaranteeing Public Safety Criminal activity continues to be a significant problem in Omaha. Gang violence has made many people too afraid to leave their homes after dark, and too many of our most disadvantaged youth fall into lives of crime, drug abuse, and chronic incarceration. Supporting our police and being tough on violent crime are important parts of a greater solution, but those policies alone have proven insufficient to eradicate regular violence in our streets. As your city councilmember, Grant Sturek will engage with law enforcement, community organizations, and the justice system to develop community-oriented solutions to systemic poverty and criminality while helping those with a criminal record become productive members of society.	”
—Grant Sturek (2017)

See also

Omaha, Nebraska	Nebraska	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• Omaha, Nebraska
• 2017 campaign website