Re-elect Josh Eickmeier for Mayor

I am honored and blessed to serve as Mayor of my hometown. Seward is a great community and it would be my privilege to continue serving as your Mayor. I ask for your support and your vote this upcoming General Election November 8.

As your Mayor, I’ve identified the following priorities and accomplishments:

Low Property Taxes

As Mayor, not only has the City never raised property taxes, under my leadership we have lowered Seward’s property taxes to one of the lowest property tax rates in the State. In fact, when you include all property taxes that Seward residents pay (City, County, School District, etc), we have the lowest property tax rate of any city our size or larger.

Economic Development

As Mayor, supporting local businesses and industries has been one of my top priorities.

For many visiting Seward or passing through our community, the downtown and especially the Courthouse Square is a great first impression and a source of pride for our community. We have worked hard to provide funding opportunities to allow for the revitalization of many of these 100-year-old buildings, which are such an important part of Seward’s identity.

Recruiting new businesses and industries to our community has also been a priority. Before I was Mayor, Seward had approved utilizing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) but had not fully implemented it. As Mayor, I made it a priority to bring this important economic development tool online. Having TIF available made many development projects possible including bringing Scoular’s $50 million, 100-employee Petsource facility to our community. Petsource has been such a huge success that Scoular is planning an additional $75 million, 80-employee expansion to a facility that is now the flagship of the Seward Rail Campus.

Improved Quality of Life

As Mayor, I’m proud of the many amenities Seward has to offer including the Seward Memorial Library, Seward Community Golf Course, and the Civic Center. Another amenity we continue to improve upon is the Hiking/Biking Trail. We are working on adding five miles to the existing two-and-a-half-mile Trail. Completing the loop around Seward will connect many other amenities including the Dowding Swimming Pool, Independence Landing, Plum Creek Park, Seward Dog Park, and the Parade of Flags. Expected completion date of 2024.

Access to high-speed fiber internet is becoming more important and even essential to Seward residents, businesses, and industries. Since ALLO Communications finished their buildout of Lincoln, I have been in talks to bring ALLO internet to Seward. These efforts have paid off with ALLO’s announcement that they will begin providing high-speed fiber internet to the Seward community starting this year and completing its buildout of the entire City in 2023.

One amenity missing in Seward is a Wellness Center. I proposed a City-run Wellness Center in my first term and continue to support such a needed facility. It’s important that the Wellness Center be a public-private partnership utilizing charitable donations, grants, and a half-cent sales tax that will be voted on May 10th at the Primary Election. The Seward Wellness Center would include an indoor pool, basketball courts, and exercise/workout equipment. While Seward has many outdoor amenities, it is important that we have a year-round facility for residents of all ages to enjoy.