Mayor Chris Beutler reflects on accomplishments after serving Lincoln for past twelve years

As a new mayor is set to take over, Lincoln says goodbye to Chris Beutler.

He served 12 years as Lincoln’s mayor, but had to step down because of term limits.

Channel 8’s Zach Worthington visited with Beutler on his last day as mayor to look back on all of his accomplishments and to hear his thoughts on the direction of the city moving forward.

Beutler has a long history of public service, starting out as a state senator back in 1977.

He says he was inspired as a young boy by a popular president of the time period.

“There was a time when many, many young people in this country were inspired to public service by president John F. Kennedy, and I was one of them,” said Beutler.

Beutler served in the Nebraska State Legislature until the early 2000s. That’s when he decided he wanted to do more.

Once elected mayor in 2007, he wanted to give Lincolnites a higher quality of life, education and recreational activities.

“We put a lot of time into making this a great place to live. We don’t have mountains, we don’t have sea side, but we have other things we can do to make it a great place to live and we’ve been doing it,” said Beutler.

Looking back on his time as Lincoln’s mayor, Beutler points to technological advances, a partnership with Allo high speed internet and citywide environmental changes like switching city lights to LEDs as things he is proud of.

“Certainly, Pinnacle Bank Arena, the whole west Haymarket area, taken as a whole, is an incredible addition to the city in many, many ways. I’m also really proud of the fact that everyone has access to the very best technologies now, we’ve created, essentially, a whole new infrastructure in the city to go along with water and sewer and roads,” said Beutler.

Another thing Beutler takes pride in is an improved relationship between the city and Lincoln public schools.

He says he’s always been interested in better preparing students for the future.

“The community learning centers are a big deal to me. Giving low–income kids opportunities that they didn’t have before,” said Beutler.

Beutler says he would like to see a plan put in place for what to do with Lincoln’s water wells if another historic flooding incident hits the state.

As far as advice for the future leaders of the city, Beutler points to a portrait of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in his office, which includes a famous quote he learned to follow during his three terms as mayor.

“With public sentiment, you can do anything, without it, you can’t do anything at all,” said Beutler.

Beutler is looking forward to spending more quality time with friends and family to kick off his retirement.

He says he will continue to live in Lincoln and stay engaged with the city moving forward.