Here's our agenda for all to see

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It should surprise no one that the Journal Star editorial board has an agenda. After all, we express a point of view daily on all sorts of topics, mainly those close to home, and also national and international issues that affect life in Nebraska.

This year we’ve decided to go a step further. In this editorial we are laying out our agenda for the coming year. Our objective is to be clear and direct with our readers. There should be no question about our priorities. As always, our editorials are offered with the hope that they will provoke thought and contribute to discussion.

1. Our top priority for the coming year is to promote and encourage creation of Innovation Park on the 251-acre state fairgrounds adjacent to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln city campus. We believe that the proposed research park has immense potential value to the entire state and the Capital City. For too long Nebraskans have failed to appreciate the role the university plays as a economic engine, providing research and innovation that benefit the spectrum of businesses from family farms to small businesses to high-tech employers. The proposed Innovation Park would enhance UNL’s vital economic role.

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2. Lincoln is in desperate need of adequate funding for street and road construction. Meanwhile state and federal funding is drying up. Mayor Chris Beutler has suggested diverting some of the local sales revenue generated in new developments to pay for street construction. Ideas, such as one to replace the per-gallon fuel tax with a sales tax on fuel at the wholesale level, also are circulating for providing a better and more stable source of funding at the state level. The merits of the various proposals deserve more scrutiny. The need to change the status quo is clear. Lincoln has a current shortfall of more than $135 million.

3. The state of Nebraska needs to strengthen its services for developmental disabled and mentally ill residents. The state should start by finally fixing the problems at the Beatrice State Developmental Center. Nebraska Advocacy Services charged last year that the “problems and failures at the Beatrice State Developmental Center are systemic, chronic, and have persisted for years.” Regrettably, the advocacy group is right. One of its biggest problems is lack of staffing, which state officials hope to address by expanding community-based services. The same switch is under way with services the mentally ill. The state cannot allow this effort to falter.

4. Nebraska has made progress in recent years toward water use policies aimed at guaranteeing that adequate supplies of water can be sustained for future generations. For the first time state officials can — and have — declared that some river basins in Nebraska are overappropriated. For too long Nebraska has failed to adequately take into account the effect that unrestricted groundwater irrigation was having on its streams, rivers and groundwater. Demand in rural and urban areas will continue to increase. The needs of all stakeholders, including wildlife, must be properly balanced.

5. The Journal Star editorial board intends to maintain an independent, nonpartisan stance in offering candidate endorsements and other election commentary. This agenda item continues past practice, since the Journal Star historically has endorsed both Republican and Democratic candidates. The editorial board supports a pragmatic approach to government, and abhors partisan rancor and scorekeeping that interfere with problem solving. As publisher John Maher announced in a December column, the Journal Star has joined other Nebraska newspapers in a pledge to consider the tone and integrity of a candidate’s campaign in making endorsements. Nebraska voters deserve substance rather than accusatory messages and vague promises.