OMAHA- On Tuesday, the Omaha City Council voted to appoint Ron Hug, a South Omaha native, to former Councilman Vinny Palermo's seat, giving the people of District 4 a representative after nearly 6 months. Hug will be sworn in on September 26th. The new Councilman indicated that his first, and main, priority while serving Palermo's final year and a half term will be to rebuild constituents' trust in the City Council, which he believes was damaged by the Palermo scandal.

"Once I'm sworn in, I'm going to start planning some open house meetings," said Hug, "I'll try to do one a week for the foreseeable future, where constituents won't need an appointment. They'll just come in, and I'll be willing to talk to anybody about any issues they have." Hug was appointed to the position on a 6-0 vote. Currently serving as the operations manager for City Taxi Inc., Hug, a 67-year-old Democrat, had served previously as a board member for Metropolitan Community College.

Hug announced almost immediately following his appointment to the seat that he would run for reelection in 2025, when Palermo's term expires. Although it took three different ballots for the Council to appoint him, Aimee Melton, a Republican Councilwoman, said Hug was a second choice everyone on the Council could agree on. Besides restoring constituent trust, Hug also indicated that he will focus on affordable housing and preventing brain drain while he serves in the role.

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