Speed-dating, Suttle style

I’ve always been tempted to sign up for a speed-dating event. A group of women would sit around a room at different tables and I would visit each one briefly to try to court them.

Apparently Mayor Jim Suttle harbored a similar wish, because that’s exactly how he organized last night’s 2010 city budget public hearing.

The Omaha World-Herald reported Suttle and other public officials broke the attendees into groups and then visited each one:

“The crowd was split into groups of about 20 people around large tables. Suttle and representatives of several city departments, including police, fire, public works and parks, individually visited each table for 10 minutes, answering questions about the city's finances.”

The mayor and his staff may have decided consciously that the speed-dating format would be best because it’s obvious Omaha’s citizens need to be wooed.

One quote from the World-Herald may sum-up what people in Omaha think:

“People are very angry,” Dorothy Higgins said. “There are a lot of hard feelings. I don't think there has been much thought given to taxpayers.”

Word of warning, Mr. Mayor, from a guy who’s been single for a while: you won’t get a second date with “a lot of hard feelings.”