He wants to boost funding for road repairs and get more vehicles off the city's roads by investing in transportation alternatives, including light rail, rapid bus service, bicycle lanes and trails. The city is studying its future transportation needs.

Palermo has also argued the city needs to invest more in its Public Works Department, hiring more employees and relying less on contractors. And the city needs to examine how far out it should annex and expand, he said. The city should only annex what it can afford to maintain, he said.

"If we don’t do something on the roads, I think it’s going to have a negative effect on people wanting to come to Omaha," Palermo said. "What fails to get mentioned is if we weren’t so reliant on vehicles, we wouldn't be so behind."

Still, some members of the public are questioning the city’s priorities: How much of a difference could the city make in the quality of city roads if it punted or delayed the riverfront project and scraped together $50 million in one-time money for roads and another $3 million a year for 10 years?

Landow laughed at the question and said very few people would see a difference from a handful of projects getting resurfaced sooner. The city’s Public Works Department wouldn’t speculate about the hypothetical. Neither would the Finance Department.