Tom Nesbitt

Tom Nesbitt

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Business owner

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Personal website

Tom Nesbitt was a candidate for at-large representative on the Lincoln City Council in Nebraska. He was defeated in the general election on May 2, 2017.

Although city council elections in Lincoln are officially nonpartisan, Nesbitt has been identified by the Lancaster County Election Commissioner as a member of the Republican Party.

Biography

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At the time of his 2017 run for office, Nesbitt was the CEO and president of the international security firm Nesbitt & Associates. His professional experience also includes work as the public safety director for the city of Canton, Ohio, and as a colonel in the Nebraska State Patrol.

Elections

2017

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

The city of Lincoln, Nebraska, held a primary election for city council and airport authority board of directors on April 4, 2017. A general election was scheduled for May 2, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 3, 2017. The following candidates ran in the general election for an at-large seat on the Lincoln City Council.

Lincoln City Council, At-Large General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Leirion Gaylor Baird Incumbent	20.80%	22,713
Bennie Shobe	17.98%	19,633
Roy Christensen Incumbent	16.86%	18,411
Tom Nesbitt	16.25%	17,745
Brayden McLaughlin	14.01%	15,297
Maggie Mae Squires	13.96%	15,246
Write-in votes	0.15%	163
Total Votes		109,208
Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official Final Results," accessed May 10, 2017

The following candidates ran in the primary election for an at-large seat on the Lincoln City Council.

Lincoln City Council, At-Large Primary Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Leirion Gaylor Baird Incumbent	18.60%	15,502
Roy Christensen Incumbent	16.08%	13,400
Tom Nesbitt	15.54%	12,953
Bennie Shobe	14.51%	12,093
Brayden McLaughlin	13.97%	11,643
Maggie Mae Squires	10.04%	8,363
Lou Braatz III	6.11%	5,093
Deb Andrews	4.99%	4,160
Write-in votes	0.15%	128
Total Votes		83,335
Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official Final Results," accessed April 18, 2017

Campaign themes

2017

Nesbitt's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	Public Safety Lincoln has lagged in keeping up with the staffing of our public safety. Our law enforcement is excellent, but hasn't been supported. Tom is committed to making sure that people in Lincoln are safe and secure. 'Basically I see government as being about choices … choices of how to spend the resources our citizens provide. I believe we need to spend more on keeping our citizens safe – safe in everything, from murders, which rose 1,000% in one year and rape/attempted rape that rose over 13%, to safety from potholes, some of which can almost swallow one of those little smart cars.' ~Tom Nesbitt Efficient Budgets Tom has a proven record of finding innovative ways of doing more with less. As commander of the Nebraska State Patrol, he implemented changes that reduced costs and increased driver safety. 'I believe we can do a better job with the money we have, but because of Lincoln's strong growth, everybody wants more to spend. We just got through defeating the Southeast Community College bond issue. Even before new public schools are open, our schools are stressed and we will need a new school bond in the next five years. The county has infrastructure needs, and so on and so on. We need beltways completed, and not just talked about for twenty years. All these needs must be prioritized and we must be smart about how we use our money, and balance our growth.' Transparent Government Tom supports increasing transparency of local government. Local government needs to be open and accountable for the budgets that run our city services. When everyone has access to the same information, it becomes easier to build consensus about the right thing to do. 'I believe the more eyes you put on a problem and the more brains you have trying to solve it, the better the solution is likely to be. That is one reason transparency is so important to me. The only reasons I can think of for not having transparency in government are that it's too much trouble or else you're hiding something. I believe in more eyes on the prize – the prize being good government.' ~Tom Nesbitt	”
—Tom Nesbitt's campaign website, (2017)

In response to a question from the Lincoln Journal Star about his goals for the city council, Nesbitt said, "My top priorities are: to increase public safety by hiring more police officers; to limit the emphasis on political partisanship on the City Council; and to increase transparency for the inner workings of the City Council. I would also like to maintain Lincoln’s high quality of life while delivering good government."

He listed the following as the city's three most important services: "1. Public safety (police/fire, building and safety, city planning for development); 2. Infrastructure (roads, sewer, water, high-speed internet access); 3. Maintaining a high quality of life (parks, trails, city amenities)."

Endorsements

2017

Nesbitt received endorsements from the following in 2017:

• Lincoln Central Labor Union
• Lancaster County Treasurer Andy Stebbing

See also

Lincoln, Nebraska	Nebraska	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• Lincoln City Council
• Campaign website
• Social media
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn