Alliance Mayor Mike Dafney announced his resignation last week, with the Alliance City Council Members expected to vote to accept the resignation at their meeting on Tuesday evening, the results of which were not available as of press time.
Dafney, when asked about the reason for his resignation, released the following statement, he said he was frustrated with the lack of protocol/procedural steps and chain of command not being followed.
He told the Alliance Times-Herald during his 23 years of service on the city council, he has seen numerous projects accomplished in the city throughout that period as a result of dedicated staff and fellow council members.
“We did this as a team,” said Dafney. “In my first 18 years, we built the library college attendance center and brought in WNCC, the lineman school. We built the new pool, and the 10th Street overpass was a big one. We saw a new golf course irrigation system go in that was greatly needed. We moved into new council chambers, a little more professional. We assisted with the Sunken Garden Pillars getting redone. We got a new Public Works Building. The tennis courts are being seen right now, and we’re working on a trade school that’s going to be a big improvement here. Those are projects that really stand out that I was on a council that got these things done.”
Dafney explained that these projects were achieved while keeping a steady mill levy.
“One of the things that I’m most proud of is all these years, when I went in 1988, our mill levy was up a dollar or more,” said Dafney. “It came down shortly after that because the citizens of Alliance imposed on themselves a sales tax. That was when it first came on, to pay off general fund debt, which was about $12 million. That got paid off relatively soon. That mill levy that we impose on the citizens has been holding steady in all these years at between $0.33 and $0.34. Your taxes may have gone up, but that’s because the county did reevaluation on it, but the city has held the mill levy steady for years. That’s a big accomplishment.”
Dafney noted that many great things are on the horizon for the City of Alliance. For example, The Alliance Recreation Center teaming up with the University of Nebraska at Lincoln to see about renovations and additions.
“Mara Anderson, at the ARC, there’s no doubt in my mind she’s going to get that done,” said Dafney. “She’s a go-getter. There’s not a better person to be the executive director of the ARC. The Heartland Express, I believe, is going to continue to draw businesses along that four lane. We’ve seen what it’s done so far. I think it’s just going to be a magnet. I think people are going to see that, from a business standpoint, from a retail standpoint, and I think that four lane is going to be a big deal.
“Just the continued maintenance of what the city has: our utility lines, our water, our sewer, the basic things that pertain to running a community to start with,” Dafney said. “The electric department is doing rebuilds. Another big benefit of the electric department is those John Deere generators that we have and get paid for having. A lot of communities do not have that ability. Our standby generators are a big asset.”
During his time serving on council from 1990 to 2006, Dafney served on the Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Committee, the Community and Economic Policy Committee and the Transportation and Communications Steering Committee with The National League of Cities. One thing Dafney hopes for is to see the City of Alliance continue to have a seat at the table on the national level. He said it has led to many benefits for the city.
“Having a council member have a seat at D.C. on different committees is a big plus,” said Dafney. “Being on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I’ve been able to testify on behalf of essential air service, which is how our airport operates. Just having that connection, where you can pick up the phone with something going on in D.C. and get answers and get people to help you is big. That didn’t just happen. I was there a lot of years before I got to be able to move up the ladder to be on those committees.”
Dafney said that council members have the opportunity to maintain that connection if they apply to serve on those committees and are appointed.
City Manager Seth Sorensen said he received notice of Dafney’s resignation on April 10. He noted that citizens are invited to submit applications and letters of interest to serve for the remainder of Dafney’s term.
“The statute that we are going off of is Chapter 32-569, and it outlines that after receiving those applications, in this case, the Vice Mayor, who is Brian Mischnick, will be the chairperson, and he will submit a name to the rest of the council for consideration, and if they agree with that nomination, then they will swear in the new council member and reassign the mayor and vice mayor at that time,” said Sorensen.