GI Mayor Debate Recap Between Jimmy Reed & Ryan O'Neill

GRAND ISLAND – Among the eight questions asked during the 80-minute Grand Island mayoral debate in the evening Oct. 29 at the College Park auditorium, answers to two questions pointed out differences between candidates Ryan O’Neill and Jimmy Reed.

(A full audio copy of the debate is below) 

Grand Island Independent Reporter R.J. Post asked the candidates if they would keep Patrick Brown as the Grand Island city administrator. Reed said that he would not keep Patrick Brown as the city administrator. O’Neill said he would retain Brown as the city administrator.

When asked to explain differences between the candidates, O’Neill mentioned his eight years of service on the Hall County Airport Authority Board and serving on Grand Island’s City Council since 2024. O’Neill is the City Council president this year. He said he did not seek the position of City Council president. He said that other City Council members asked him if he would serve in that role.

Reed repeatedly referred to his experience as a real estate agent and how that would make him the better candidate for mayor.

The mayoral race is attracting top local election attention, with current Mayor Roger Steele, an attorney, not seeking re-election after eight years in office. O’Neill, 45, is IT manager at Amur Equipment Finance. Reed, 37, is a real estate agent for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices/Da-Ly Realty.

Usher Media Group and KRGI, the Grand Island Independent, NTV, and KSNB Local4 News sponsored the Oct. 29 debate, which had no admission fee. Brian Gallagher with KRGI/Usher Media Group was the moderator. 

The capacity of the College Park auditorium (also known as Hornady-Marshall Theater) is 332 people, according to the College Park website. The auditorium was approximately half-full, so an estimated 166 people attended. 

Each candidate was given four minutes to make opening remarks. Then, one representative from each of the four media groups asked two questions, for a total of eight questions. Each candidate had three minutes to answer a question from media, with another minute for rebuttal. Then, each candidate had four minutes to make closing remarks. The first candidate to respond was rotated throughout the debate.

Opening Remarks: Jimmy Reed

Reed started his opening remarks by saying, “Grand Island, what an opportunity we have in front of us.”

“Here’s a thought I want to leave with you. This is not a race about a single individual. It is about making the strongest team for Grand Island,” Reed said.

Reed asked if others are “sick” of the political situation.

“We’re just being bombarded, aren’t we? Here’s what I’m tired of. I’m tired of the hate. I’m tired of the ill speech. I’m tired of how we are at each other’s throats,” he said.

He doesn’t like what he’s seeing at the state or national level.

“We’re not going to do that here tonight,” Reed said. “We’re going to start leading tonight to give the citizens, the employees, and everyone who’s part of Grand Island the future it deserves by being respectful and getting along.”

“I love Grand Island,” Reed said. “You are all a part of my family.”

“I am in the real estate profession. What that allows me to do is it allows me to connect with every corner of this community,” he said. “That’s why I’m so passionate about this city.”

His job puts him in residential and commercial settings, and working with low-income and high-income people.

“I can tell you there’s nowhere I have not been in the city of Grand Island,” he said.

“Here’s what real estate does,” Reed said. He gets to market things, he gets to sell things. 

“You have to negotiate through hardships,” he said. “We have to close deals.”

“We have to have referrals. We don’t survive unless people enjoy working with us,” he said.

He wonders what other people in the state think about how Grand Island has operated the last few years.

“I’m a business owner. I want to attract other families here. I want to bring everybody together,” Reed said.

“My priorities: The Good Life District. We’ve got to get that done,” he said.

“I do know that my time is now,” he said.

He wants to do a deep budget review. He wants to have a performance analysis to see where efficiencies can be increased.

“Right now, we do not have a vision or a mission. We need to be planning, with everything going on in our city, to the next decade to come,” he said.

He said that transparency is important to him. 

“When I’m your mayor, Grand Island is open for business,” Reed said.

Reed concluded that there has been an absence of leadership the last few years.

Opening Remarks: Ryan O’Neill

O’Neill said that when a community entrusts someone to lead a public multi-million dollar organization, that shouldn’t be based on promises alone. It should be based on regular performance.

“I’ve managed multi-million dollar budgets in multiple organizations,” O’Neill said, with those organizations being both public and private. He has participated in union negotiations. 

He said he’s had to make a lot of hard decisions.

“It’s not always fun out there,” O”Neill said. 

He said there is a learning curve for leadership, including when someone is elected for public office. 

“I have an eight-year record of being elected,” O’Neill said, which includes eight years on the Hall County Airport Authority and also serving the last two years on the Grand Island City Council.

After being elected to the Airport Authority Board, he said it took him a while to “learn the ropes.” 

“There’s a lot of systems you have to learn how to navigate,” he said.

He said he has learned from peers and staff.

His third year on the Airport Authority board, he became the treasurer. He started learning about finances and the budget.

In his fifth year on the Airport Authority board, he became the board chairman. That included running board meetings and dealing with the media.

“Knowledge and experience compound over time,” O’Neill said.

He said after being elected to the City Council two years ago, he toured a lot of city departments. 

“I asked a lot of questions. I really tried to understand the whole process,” he said.

At the end of his first year on City Council, several City Council members approached him and asked him if he would consider being the City Council president.

He asked them why they were interested in having him as City Council president. They said he was “good to work with,” has a good temperament, is really good at digging into problems, give people respect, and know how to get things done.

He said he did not ask a single City Council member about having him become City Council president.

“I’m glad to serve my community and my peers,” O’Neill said. 

He wants to help train new members on the City Council. 

“The torch has to pass at some point,” he said.

O’Neill said that as a City Council member, he gets access to City Council packets that may be 400 to 500 pages long late Friday afternoons, preceding the City Council meeting on Tuesday night of the next week.

“I think those packets need to be out a lot earlier than that. If we have better information, we’re going to make a lot better decisions,” he said.

He also thinks the City Council should have more committees that could study issues prior to City Council meetings, rather than having issues potentially solely discussed at a City Council meeting.

“I’m not running to keep things the same at City Hall. I’m running to make things better at City Hall,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said he is running for mayor because he really wants to make Grand Island a better place.

Before media representatives asked questions, Gallagher said that Reed would be the first one to answer questions, and then that would be rotated later to have O’Neill be the first one to answer questions. 

Question 1 (Alan Usher, Usher Media Group): 

“An important responsibility of any elected leader is to be open, accessible, transparent, and responsive. Grand Island has had mayors with varying communication styles, from highly visible and engaged to more reserved. When the President of the United States visited our community, for example, our current mayor declined to comment publicly. Regardless of political affiliation, situations like this raise questions about how the mayor should represent and communicate with the community. My question to both of you is: If elected mayor, how will you demonstrate openness, transparency, and accessibility? How available will you be to the media, the public, and the business community, and how will you build relationships with state and federal leaders to ensure Grand Island is well represented? When controversial or difficult political issues arise, will you commit to answering questions and making yourself available, even when your position may be unpopular? Ultimately, how will you ensure residents feel informed, heard, and connected to their city government?”

Jimmy Reed: 

Reed said that for any sitting President of the United States (visiting Grand Island), the community should embrace that and roll out the carpet for the President. 

“We need to be open and transparent,” Reed said. “I will guarantee you that I will show up.”

“My office is your home. My office is your business. My office is this community,” he said.

“The best part of our community is the vast variety of people here,” he said.

“We need to tell people why we’re doing things,” he said. “A lot of us don’t know what we’re doing.”

“It’s been such a blessing to have conversations with Adrian Smith, Mike Flood, Jim Pillen, people on Pete Ricketts’ campaign trail,” Reed said.

“In sales you have to find opportunity,” he said. He enjoys having to hunt and find opportunities.

He said that salesmanship and how Grand Island presents itself has been lacking, and he thinks he can fill those gaps.

Ryan O’Neill:

“As far as talking to media, I talk to media quite a bit.” He said that some people may not know that he worked for a media group (Grand Island Independent, information technology job) about 20 years ago.

He says he tries really hard to respond back in a timely manner to questions from media. He has made it a point to be accessible to media after public meetings. He said he thinks he’s had a pretty good record of being available to the media, whether it’s radio, TV, newspaper, or some other media organization.

O’Neill said he also gets phone calls and emails from constituents, and he also responds in a timely manner to those inquiries. 

He said he has worked with state and federal officials with Airport Authority Board and City Council business. For instance, he has worked with U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer with Hall County Airport Authority Board business. He said he talks to State Senators Loren Lippincott of Central City and Dan Quick of Grand Island regularly. He also participates in the League of Municipalities, which allows him to talk to peers in other cities in Nebraska.

“Being a public official, you really have to put yourself out there,” O’Neill said. He said his phone number and City Council email address are publicly available. He said it’s very important to be publicly accessible in office.

“I think my record speaks for itself in that,” he said. 

Jimmy Reed (Rebuttal):

Reed said he would rather drive to meet with someone in person than talk to them on the phone. He said it was a “shame” that the city lost Communications Manager Spencer Schubert, who left the city in mid-August to take a job as the Director of Sales and Marketing for BigIron Events Center. 

“We need to revitalize our communications for the city,” Reed said. “It can’t be mundane anymore.”

He said that as Mayor, if the City Council is going to be discussing a very important item, the public needs to be informed to show up to the meeting.

Ryan O’Neill (Rebuttal):

O’Neill said he agreed that the city has needed a new communications manager since Schubert left for another job in August. 

“Spencer Schubert did a very good job out there,” O’Neill said. For instance, after City Council meetings, Schubert would take a video of an interview with a City Council member about important issues discussed at that meeting.

He said it would be helpful also to have video interviews, for instance, with city department leaders about important issues.

O’Neill said that communication about the city should not be on Facebook alone, because a number of people do not use Facebook. He said a communications employee for the city should assist media by producing things such as news releases and briefing them about important city issues. 

Question 2 (Alissa Harrington, KSNB Local4 News): 

“Grand Island residents are concerned about the rising cost of living, particularly property taxes. Would you support an increase in the sales tax to tax pressure off of property taxes?”

Ryan O’Neill:

“Right now, our current sales tax is 7.5 percent. I don’t believe we have the ability to go beyond that,” O’Neill said. 

He said that the city has asked for the same amount in property taxes for the last seven years. He said that sales tax revenue has increased quite a bit over the last several years. 

He said that inflation and high interest rates have caused challenges. He wants the property tax-asking to remain the same for as long as possible.

“We have to do a deep dive into our budget,” he said. He would like to have a committee review the budget regularly, and that the budget should be discussed throughout the year.

He said that the city had another new revenue source, from the casino, for approximately $1.5 million annually.

He said there has been a lot of turnover in the last 10 years with finance directors and city administrators. 

He said if there is ever an increase in city sales tax, it should only occur after a “deep dive” has occurred to examine the city’s budget.

Jimmy Reed:

Reed said he hears constantly about property taxes, particularly when property assessments increase. He said that Nebraska has the fifth-highest property tax in the nation.

He said that he would fight “tooth and nail” to keep property taxes as low as possible.

He said that Grand Island needs to attract outside dollars. He said it has taken too long to get the Good Life District project started. 

“We can’t be reactive in our budget,” Reed said. “We need to be proactive.”

Ryan O’Neill (Rebuttal):

“I work with a lot of organizations,” O’Neill said. In organizations where he’s worked, when “deep dives” have occurred, things that don’t make sense have surfaced. He said that’s one reason why he wants to form a budget committee that would meet monthly.

Jimmy Reed (Rebuttal):

“The city’s OK. But if we don’t do something now to turn the ship,” there will be trouble.

Reed said the city has had to tap into its General Fund the last two years. 

“We need to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars,” Reed said. 

Question 3 (R.J. Post, The Grand Island Independent):

“How would you improve the work environment at City Hall?”

Jimmy Reed:

He said that people can tell when there is good culture and bad culture in an organization. He said he would let people decide what the current culture is and what outsiders think. 

“Culture is consistent,” he said. Culture is done by things such as being kind, being encouraging, helping to identify areas of opportunity. He said culture is not an “I” thing. It is a “we” thing. 

He said that when people work in isolation, people get a little feisty. 

“When people are united, our community will have opportunity,” he said. He said as mayor he would be “relentless” to be transparent.

Ryan O’Neill:

O’Neill said that he talks to a lot of people in various city departments. He said that city employees are somewhat in a “silo.” He has talked to city staff such as at fire stations. He said that taking tours of city facilities is very important, and he has learned a lot from that. He said he has earned trust from city employees, and they reach out to him. He said that if a city employee shares a problem with him, he keeps the issue private between them. 

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not more simple,” O’Neill said.

He said that he has visited with code enforcement officers, and they have added duties as animal control officers. He said he hears from a lot of city employees.

“I want their lives to be easier,” O’Neill said. He wants them to work smarter, not harder.

JImmy Reed (Rebuttal):

He said that there would be a strong team with Reed as mayor and O’Neill as City Council president. 

“There’s a difference between IQ and EQ,” Reed said. 

He said that city division leaders are bombarded with emails with information about how they should do their jobs. 

Ryan O’Neill (Rebuttal):

O’Neill said that the mayor provides executive leadership. He said that it’s important for the mayor to have regular meetings with department directors. He said that it’s important that the city administrator and mayor be present at bi-weekly department meetings. 

Question 4 (Emma Leek, NTV):

“The city recently approved hiring outside counsel for Good Life District negotiations despite having city attorneys. Do you support this decision?”

Ryan O’Neill:

O’Neill said that the city has had outside counsel during the entire time of its Good Life District negotiations. He said that outside attorney Mike Bacon that the city just hired to work with Good Life District negotiations does a lot of work with community redevelopment situations. 

“There’s a lot of types of lawyers out there. Sometimes you need a real special skill set to do something,” O’Neill said. “Sometimes you need a specialist for certain things.”

He said that the city has “highly intelligent” city attorneys who have specialties. 

“Sometimes you have to have an expert in a specific area,” he said.

Jimmy Reed:

“Unfortunately, the Good Life District has been an embarrassment,” Reed said. This is why Grand Island does not have good respect from people who live elsewhere in the state. 

He referred to the new youth sports complex in Kearney. 

“There’s nothing that attracts outside dollars more than youth sports,” he said.

He said that leadership is holding people together, no matter how hard it gets. 

He said that issues with Good Life District negotiations should have been talked about two and a half years ago, rather than now. 

He said his background in real estate and sales would have helped the Good Life District project progress.

He said that real estate is complex and requires real estate attorneys. 

“We need to understand the mission of Grand Island,” Reed said.

Ryan O’Neill (Rebuttal):

“The Good Life project was very frustrating, especially at the beginning of this year,” O’Neill said. “That is one of the reasons I decided to run for mayor. I thought we needed stronger mayoral leadership.”

O’Neill said that in July, Mayor Roger Steele asked O’Neill to become involved in negotiations because of his role as City Council president.

“All of a sudden people started smiling and shaking hands,” he said. He said that the project is moving forward, and he is confident that deadlines will be met.

Jimmy Reed (Rebuttal):

He said that as complex as the Good Life District project is, effective communication is important. 

“The team will help, when I am mayor, find solutions,” Reed said. 

“People outside of Grand Island have watched how we’ve handled this, folks,” he said. Other people throughout the state are watching and are disappointed.

Question 5 (Alan Usher, Usher Media Group):

“Every election gives voters an opportunity to choose the person they believe will best lead their community. While you both share a desire to serve Grand Island, you undoubtedly have different experiences, leadership styles, and visions for our city’s future. My question to both of you is: What makes you different from your opponent, and why do you believe you’re the better choice to lead Grand Island? If you were sitting across the table from an undecided voter who asked, “Why should I vote for you instead of your opponent?” What would you tell them? What is the one thing you want voters to remember about you when they cast their ballot?”

JImmy Reed:

“A vote for me for mayor is going to strengthen the team that is going to help Grand Island grow,” Reed said. He said he would be a very strong benefit to the City Council and taxpayers. “People want the mayor and city leadership to come together,” Reed said. “They want us to show up.”

“We need unification,” Reed said. Taxpayers are thirsty for that. 

“I like finding opportunities. I think all of us in sales” like to find opportunities.

“Now is the time for this opportunity for me,” Reed said.

Ryan O’Neill:

“I think the biggest difference between Jimmy and I is that I’ve served in elected office for eight years,” O’Neill said. He said he has been involved in bringing federal dollars to Grand Island for city and airport projects. O’Neill said that he has earned the respect of his peers on the Airport Authority Board and City Council. 

“I am an extremely hard worker,” he said. “We need more leaders in this town.”

“I have a good temperament,” he said. He has been involved in management for 20 years. 

“I love solving problems,” he said. “I look for patterns.”

He likes to have people show him their problems, then he can help.

“We just have very different backgrounds,” O’Neill said.

“You can go back and look at my record,” he said. He said he is proud of what he has done in his work on the Airport Authority Board and City Council. 

Jimmy Reed (Rebuttal):

“People are not patterns,” Reed said.

He said people have seen frustration in the last two years, whether it has been the Good Life District or livestock shows or the Humane Society. 

Ryan O’Neill (Rebuttal):

“Experience and knowledge compound over time. Working in the public sector is very different than working in the private sector. It can be much more frustrating,” he said.

He said it can take elected officials two years or longer to really learn how things operate.

Question 6 (Alissa Harrington, KSNB Local4 News):

“If you are elected mayor, what are three things you will have accomplished in the first year that will validate the voters’ choice in electing you?”

Ryan O’Neill:

O’Neill said that the first item would be progress on the Good Life District project. He said that “dirt will begin moving” for the project in April (2027). He said that is the top priority. Another thing is some key staff positions need to be filled: communications director, assistant city administrator (position has been unfilled for over a year). 

“One of my top priorities is the budget,” O’Neill said. “It drives every single thing that we do.”

His goal is to continue for as long as possible not to raise property taxes. 

“For me, the budget process is very painful,” he said. That’s one reason he would like to form a budget committee. The budget should be examined year-around. 

Jimmy Reed:

Reed said he has had conversations with division leaders who have worked for the city for more than five years. He said he has asked how often city leadership, including City Council, have contacted them. He said that contact has been “zero” in the last four to eight years. Reed said he has sat at people’s dinner tables until midnight talking to them since he filed for mayor. He said that he agreed with O’Neill that a communications manager needs to be hired for the city. Reed said that there is media equipment worth about $50,000 that is just stored in the basement at City Hall. He said that the strongest team for Grand Island would include him as mayor and O’Neill as City Council president. “Real estate is difficult,” Reed said. “Real estate moves the world.” He said that the Good Life District, getting a city communications manager, and transparency are top priorities. “If there are things that the public needs to know about, we need to tell them.” He said that people need to be invited to be involved.

Ryan O’Neill (Rebuttal):

O’Neill said that Reed’s comment about “zero” communication with division leaders is misleading. He has talked to code enforcement officers and received tours from them. He said he encourages other City Council members to participate in tours or ride-alongs. He has also visited fire stations. 

Jimmy Reed (Rebuttal):

“Understanding takes commitment and consistency,” Reed said. He said he can’t wait to be out where employees are. 

He said that city employees feel left out.

“They are not acknowledged,” Reed said. “We need to have a revamp how we are working with city employees.”

Question 7 (R.J. Post, The Grand Island Independent):

‘If you are elected, would you retain Patrick Brown as city administrator. Why or why not?”

Jimmy Reed:

“That’s a really good question,” Reed said. “Leadership starts from the top down.” He said that the mayor’s position is part-time but has full-time responsibility. 

“I will make the effort to be in the city as much as needed,” Reed said.

He said it’s important to have a city administrator who can be trusted. 

“It’s nothing against Mr. Brown,” Reed said. “It’s not personal.”

“We will have new leadership in City Hall,” Reed said.

Ryan O’Neill:

O’Neill said he would retain Patrick Brown as the city administrator. O’Neill said that as City Council president, he has met with Brown twice a month. 

O’Neill said that it’s important that Brown has been with the city the last seven or eight years. 

O’Neill said that a new finance director started in June. “She’s still learning a lot.”

He said he does not like seeing a lot of turnover in city administrators.

“Pat works very hard,” O’Neill said, describing him as a person with integrity. 

If a search for a new city administrator occurs, “Who are we going to find?”

O’Neill said that the City Council has to approve a new city administrator. 

“Right now I think that would be devastating,” O’Neill said, referring to projects such as the Good Life District. 

“Pat Brown has been highly involved in the Good Life District development,” O’Neill said. If Brown is replaced, that could be a detriment to keeping the Good Life District project on schedule.

O’Neill said that at one point, Brown was serving as the finance director, the city administrator, and the assistant city administrator before a new finance director was hired. “Pat’s had to work through some really difficult situations.”

He said that it’s important to have some experience at a high leadership level or the city could be in trouble.

Jimmy Reed (Rebuttal):

Reed said he has talked to the new city finance director (Chelsey Steinke), who was appointed in April. She previously was Director of Finance for VenuWorks, which manages the city-owned BigIron Events Center. She asked Reed not to fire her if he became mayor. Reed said that Steinke is having trouble getting access to some of the documents she needs. 

“You need to know what’s going on in the weeds. That’s exactly why I’m running for mayor,” Reed said.

Ryan O’Neill (Rebuttal):

O’Neill said he has talked to Steinke and has given her advice. He said that city employees have told him they enjoy working with Brown and Steinke. 

“Chelsea brings new experience there,” O’Neill said. 

O’Neill said he would like to have an assistant city administrator hired who could eventually become the city administrator. He said previous mayors have not had city administrators and have gotten “sucked into” operations of the city. 

Patrick Brown’s Background with the City of Grand Island: Grand Island’s City Council voted 9-0 Sept. 23, 2025, to approve the appointment of Patrick Brown as the new city administrator.City Council Member Doug Lanfear was absent from the meeting. Mayor Roger Steele recommended appointing Brown as the city administrator. At the time of his appointment, Brown was chief financial officer, assistant city administrator, and acting finance director/city treasurer. Brown has been with the city since 2018, when he joined as finance director/city treasurer. He has served as assistant city administrator since 2023. 

Question 8 (Emma Leek, NTV):

“What are your priorities for public safety, and what specific actions would you take to address them as mayor?”

Ryan O’Neill:

He said one of the more important projects is Fire Station 2. He said it was built in approximately 1957. 

“That’s not a very comfortable station for firefighters,” O’Neill said. “There’s a lot of health and safety risks.”

Newer fire stations have “hot, warm, cold” stations to prevent contamination from reaching living quarters in the fire stations.

“When you have a fire station built in 1957, you have some serious issues,” he said. “That’s a heavily utilized station.”

O’Neill said that the city and county share an emergency management department. The call volume there is very high.
“Emergency services are the major priority for the city,” O’Neill said. That includes responses from police and fire stations. Fire trucks need to be replaced, and that can take up to two years.

“We need to take care of the people who are taking care of us,” O’Neill said.

Jimmy Reed:

“You can’t attract families unless you have strong public safety,” Reed said. 

He said that the Police Department is fully staffed with police officers. 

“I know this community. I have friends that are your friends,” Reed said. “Public safety is a high priority for Grand Island.”

“I have three daughters. I want them safe,” Reed said.

Reed said the Police Department is an example of where a culture change has occurred.

Closing Statements

Ryan O’Neill:

“If I’m elected mayor, what changes? I have a different leadership style than what Mayor Steele does,” O’Neill said. He said that Steele comes from a legal background, while his background is managerial.

“My big goal is better information drives better decisions,” he said. He would like to see City Council members have access to meeting packets a week ahead of the meeting. He said it’s difficult to get a 500-page packet prior to the weekend, then not have staff available to answer questions until Monday or Tuesday of the next week. He said it would be helpful for the City Council to have a few more committees. He pointed out that committees make recommendations but don’t make decisions.

If problems are fixed on an ongoing basis, it fosters continuous improvement, he said. 

O’Neill said he is particular with meetings. He has an agenda. He documents things. He comes back with a plan of who’s doing what.

“I know how to run projects,” O”Neill said. 

“I’m not running to keep things the same. I’m running to make things better,” he said. He wants to see the Good Life District continue to progress. 

In the aftermath of 9/11, there was a message of “united we stand.” He said that message has faded, and people need to be united again. He said he wants to build people, he doesn’t want to tear them down. 

Jimmy Reed:

“Grand Island, I love you,” Reed said. 

“I agree with Ryan. We do need unity,” he said.

“When you elect me as mayor, I will be relentless for you,” Reed said. “Good people deserve good leadership.”

“As mayor, I’m not your boss. You’re mine. I answer to you,” Reed said. 

Reed said that having the best team is important for Grand Island’s future. 

“We want to restore pride in Grand Island,” he said. “We need to pick up trash.”

Reed says he wants to use what he has in his profession to help at City Hall.