Beutler to end city contract

Beutler to end city contract
By DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Sen. Chris Beutler will no longer be a quasi-city employee by the time his name appears on ballots next year in his bid to be Lincoln’s next mayor.

Beutler recently notified the city he will terminate his consulting contract Jan. 2.

Since he was hired by former Mayor Don Wesely in 2000, Beutler has had an annual contract to raise funds for the Parks & Recreation Department.

Under his current contract, which was renewed in June, he’s paid $62,000 to work an average of 1,250 hours annually, which works out to about 24 hours per week. That helped accommodate his schedule as a state senator, but he is being term-limited out of his long-held seat in the Legislature.

His Republican opponent, Ken Svoboda, also does contract work for the city. His family-owned company, Ray’s Lawn and Home Care, holds city contracts worth about $24,000 annually to maintain medians.

Svoboda said he has notified the city he doesn’t intend to extend his contracts, either.

He said it would be a conflict of interest to continue the contracts as mayor.