Reporting on Terry "the Real Deal" Werner

Werner said discrimination extends beyond color to gender, religious preference and sexual orientation.

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When Councilman Ken Svoboda mentioned that the bus system was subsidized by several million dollars annually, Werner said the city's Comprehensive Plan called for $800 million in new roads. "Now that's a subsidy," he said. "We need to have a community that's not based solely on the automobile."

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Werner questioned whether Lincoln really wanted to grow to the size of Austin, Texas, or Omaha. He said it was cheaper to have a cornfield than a development, because you don't have to provide infrastructure. "Now is that what we want? Of course not, (but) you folks need to think about all this grow, grow, grow. I don't favor those tax incentives."

Asked what they could do to promote diversity and tolerance in Lincoln, most candidates said people just need to respect each other. Werner said they need to go beyond that, as city employees can be fired for being gay, lesbian or transgender.

He challenged other candidates to add "sexual orientation" as a protected class in city ordinance. "We have a long way to go, folks," he said. "We've got to continue to fight this fight."