Mark Koller got a D on his report card Wednesday, and he can't recall ever getting a grade that low. But he hopes he still passes muster with Lincoln voters, despite the grade given to him by the Lincoln Neighborhood Alliance, which graded the six Lincoln City Council candidates based on their support for the group's agenda.

Voters will elect three of the six candidates in Tuesday's general election.

While the Neighborhood Alliance doesn't endorse candidates, it hopes voters will take a look at its grades when they go to the polls next week. The group took pains to explain it is nonpartisan and used an unbiased process to develop the report card, but the only two candidates who earned As were the two Democratic candidates, Terry Werner and Dan Marvin.

"We wish everybody got an A," said Carol Brown, a board member of the Neighborhood Alliance. "Some of them probably will be a little bit disappointed."

Larry Zink, past president of the University Place Neighborhood Organization, said over the past several months, 17 neighborhood groups developed and endorsed an action plan outlining their agenda. The questions posed to candidates were based on that agenda. See the questionnaire

The Neighborhood Alliance focuses on candidates' positions on issues, Zink said, not their party affiliations.

The candidates' names were removed from the questionnaires prior to being scored by a "nonpartisan committee of neighborhood leaders," he said. Good scores indicate the candidate is concerned about neighborhood issues, he said, not because the group favors one candidate over another.

"We think that fixing sidewalks is not a Democratic or Republican issue," said Michael Cornelius, another board member of the Neighborhood Alliance.

However, the questionnaire went well beyond sidewalks.

It awarded points based on support for everything from creating neighborhood police substations to burying power lines, adopting design standards, clamping down on dilapidated buildings and junked cars, downzoning neighborhoods and banning upholstered furniture on porches.

Candidates were also asked several questions about how much developers should pay for growth.

They were dinged if they didn't support existing impact fees and an expansion of impact fees for power, schools, fire and police protection. The city of Lincoln began charging impact fees in 2003 to help pay for infrastructure costs associated with new development.

Candidates were also rewarded points if they agreed new development should pay "a significant share" of initial infrastructure and school, fire and police services to the development.

Candidates also were asked whether they agree the Lancaster County Board should have some members elected by district instead of the current system, in which candidates are nominated by district but elected at-large.

Koller said he was surprised to get a D when he's been involved in groups that focus on core neighborhood issues: He sits on the board of directors for Neighborhoods Inc. and Community Development Resources, a nonprofit group that provides loans, business training and technical assistance to small Lincoln businesses.

He agreed with almost all of the group's goals, he said, except its support for impact fees.

"I'm against impact fees because I don't think they're working," he said. "I am pro-growth and I think what they're doing is anti-growth and promotes higher taxes."

He said because the group largely only awarded points if candidates "agreed" or "strongly agreed" with its positions, there was little room for "a moderate position." And Koller described himself as a moderate.

"We need diversity and tolerance or we're going sink this ship," he said. "This town is more than just one group."

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.

How they scored

Terry Werner: A

Dan Marvin: A

Shawn Traudt: B

Ken Svoboda: C

Robin Eschliman: C

Mark Koller: D

What is the Neighborhood Alliance? The Neighborhood Alliance is a coalition of neighborhood associations. It formed in late 2002 — in part to join forces in support of impact fees — and has twice before graded candidates for office.