MR. SMITH WANTS TO GO TO LINCOLN © 1997 Joe Murray

Imperial businessman, Steven D. Smith, has formally decided to throw his hat in the ring to succeed Owen Elmer as senator of Nebraska's 44th legislative district. Senator Elmer decided not to seek another term, so he could devote more time to his children.

Four years ago, Smith failed in an attempt to unseat the incumbent Elmer. Smith finished third in the primary with 24.9% of the vote. Barry Richards barely edged him out for the second spot in the fall election with 25.1% of the vote. There was less than a 100-vote difference. Smith ran best in his hometown of Imperial.

Steve Smith has a simple, straightforward goal in running for the Unicameral. He says, "I don't want you to measure me by how many new rules or regulations I can add to the system. I would rather be measured by how many unnecessary rules and regulations I can help remove. There are so many regulations that no one can keep track."

When asked, Smith offered several examples of what he feels are excessive regulation: "It should be possible to drain underground fuel tanks and fill them with sand and abandon them where they are. Instead, they must be dug up at a cost of thousands of dollars. Water must be tested for chemicals that have never been found in the area, at a cost of many more thousands. Anyone who has worked with registering their boat this year will be quite aware how unnecessary so many rules are."

Steve Smith has an understanding of how the system works. While attending college in Lincoln during the early 80's, Smith worked as a legislative aide for John DeCamp. This experience gave Smith the opportunity to learn the inner-workings of the Unicameral. While wanting to reduce the size of government, Smith believes a senator can really make a difference. He says, "One will not succeed if they approach the process as a radical determined to burn the place down, tempting as it might be. What works are patience, determination, and a solid set of principles. Some suggest that the problems are too big, and that we cannot improve the situation. I disagree."

Smith's background sheds light on the issues he feels are most important to the 44th district. He grew up on a farm near the village of Lamar, Nebraska, and is the oldest of three boys. After graduating from college, he worked in Chicago for a few years before returning home to farm with his family. He has started several agriculture-related businesses. Pops Almighty markets popcorn and dry edible beans. Noble Squire is a farm management consulting firm. He has also started Grain Central, which matches buyers and sellers of bulk commodities. This allows them direct market access using the technology of the Internet.

The lifeblood of farming in Western Nebraska is water. Smith, who has spent his share of time stringing irrigation pipe, is concerned about the future of water rights. He says, "Water policy is critical to the economy of Southwest Nebraska, and there are forces which are attempting to take away local control of the most valuable resource." Smith also expresses determination to fight for the protection of local control, if elected: "The laws governing water are broken into two parts. Those which control surface water and those that control underground water. There have been several attempts to link these two types of water. There are also attempts (by those who wish to take control from the local NRD's) to piggyback on the threat that Kansas is making. Kansas wishes to stop new well-drilling in Nebraska and to claim damages for what it claims are water shortages from a 1943 compact. Both Kansas and some of the larger cities in Nebraska have a common interest in securing long-term water rights to allow them to continue to grow. This is in conflict with the needs of agriculture to continue to grow as well. If the control is taken from the local people who serve on the NRD's and transferred to the State, then the economy of Southwest Nebraska is threatened."

Like some other property owners, Smith is upset with the high rate of property taxes in Nebraska: "The taxes on my house are up 36% after the reduction in taxes. I don't like it when down means up." Smith wants to reduce taxes, but has not suggested to this reporter a specific plan to lower taxes. When asked for his solution, he said, "There are 79 state-funded agencies, plus higher education. Most of these agencies have the power to pass regulations. Most feel the need to add a few new pages to their rulebook each year. Each time new regulations are added, more people are needed to enforce the new rules. In 1986, there were about 13,000 state employees. In 1996, there were about 18,000 state employees, not counting those that work for higher education. The best way to cut costs is to reduce the number of rules and regulations."

Smith has a great deal of interest in technology. In 1996, he became the first Internet service provider for Imperial when he started Chase3000. Sodbuster was also his idea, and he remains a part owner. It must be noted that because of Smith's interest in politics, he has no control of the editorial content of Sodbuster.

Smith sees great possibilities of technology (such as the Internet) stopping what he calls the "Brain Drain." He states, "Southwest Nebraska is experiencing a brain drain. We are raising intelligent, honest, and hard-working kids, then they are leaving our area. We are exporting them. More opportunities in technology will allow kids to come back to our area. The future of telecommunications will profoundly change the way our world works, and we need to take advantage of the incredible opportunities which are now becoming available."

Smith feels that stopping the "brain drain" is primarily an area for the private sector; however, he hopes to use politics as an avenue to get the government out of the way of change while at the same time helping to promote its use in rural areas. In his view, the government can help promote technology in our area: "What I think the government should do is highlight this fact and stress the importance of taking advantage of this huge opportunity. It should also remove barriers to competition and provide the technical resources to make Nebraska a leader in technology."

Another issue that is important to Smith is education. He critiques LB1114 and 806, which have created inequities for many school districts: "Some schools see their spending ability go up while most lost 10 to 20% of their revenue. Imperial will not lose any money, while Trenton and Stratton are being forced to make some difficult decisions. Each school is in a different situation. Some are very frugal and still have high per capita costs due to low land value or sparse population."

Smith thinks that a major problem with our educational system is the lack of competition. He believes in a free marketplace of ideas as well as a free marketplace of dollars. "I believe that competition is good. When parents and children can choose the teachers, the classes, the subjects, and the methods used to teach, then you will see a lot of reform in education. Any time you have competition, then innovation is a natural result."

Another reform that Smith thinks is needed is to restore the control of education to parents and the local community: "The best way to work with this is to give parents and the local community the power to make a difference when they get involved. A school board spends about 3/4 of its time dealing with state mandates. Give local community the power to control their own future. They love and know their own children more than politicians do."

Smith's determination and ambition, while seen as positive characteristics to most, sometimes can get him in trouble. To his credit, Smith acknowledges this: "Because of my businesslike nature, I am sometimes seen as someone who is rather cold and unfeeling. I need to learn how to come across as I truly am so people will realize that I do care."

From listening to him, one might conclude that Smith would add some "spice" to the legislature like his former boss, John DeCamp, once did. A glimpse of this can be seen by his criticism of the current Unicameral. Smith says that the current legislators "try to say yes to everyone. Politicians, by nature, want to give the constituents what they want. Politicians need to learn to say 'no' once in a while. We cannot say 'yes' to all of the interest groups or we'd all go broke."

He further comments that one thing he learned while working in the Unicameral was that "understanding the rules and how to use them will allow you to be effective, even if you are outnumbered."

It will be up to the voters of the 44th district next year to decide whether Steve Smith will get his wish to go to Lincoln as a state senator. Right now, he is the only candidate to have publicly declared his intentions to run, but it is likely that other candidates will soon throw their hats into the ring, as well. Sodbuster pledges to give all candidates a proper and impartial treatment, as we have done for Steve Smith.

Smith made a final comment: "Current legislators have sometimes been accused of losing touch with the communities they represent, once they get to Lincoln. I do not plan to do that. If anyone ever feels that I am, I want them to tell me. I invite input. If you feel that I am losing touch, get out your baseball bat and let me know."