Despite the tough economic times, Omaha has grown. Cutting the budget to match expected revenue will be difficult. One candidate for mayor has a plan, but the other candidates believe he may be jumping the gun.

Good economic news came from the Omaha Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. Forty-two projects landed over the past year that will create more than 3,000 jobs and result in a $530 million investment in Omaha.

But it's not enough. Earlier this month, Mayor Mike Fahey proposed cutting between $4 and $6 million from the city's budget. "By making these cuts now, we're trying to make sure we don't have to make more drastic cuts come February, March and April."

No specifics on what may be cut, but the mayor stressed fighting crime is a top priority and he wants to leave the city "solid" for the next administration.

Two of the men vying to be the next mayor watched and listened as the Chamber of Commerce highlighted its successes.

Councilman Jim Vokal has proposed cutting some $5.2 million from the budget from some very specific areas. Vokal says his time on the council helps.

"Pretty in-depth understanding of the budget and as I said when I announced a couple weeks ago, I know where the bodies are buried within city government and where the cuts can be made."

A second councilman running for mayor, Jim Suttle, says Councilman Vokal is overstepping his authority.

"I think it is out of place. We have one mayor and we have to re-enforce what the mayor is doing so the council needs be in lockstep with the mayor and let him and his department heads do their jobs."

The third announced candidate, Hal Daub, says he supports what the mayor is trying to do. Daub says he knows the difficulties Fahey faces because he faced them himself when he was mayor.

Vokal says some of his proposed cuts are actually city jobs that weren't filled this past year. Critics say these aren't true cuts because those positions went unpaid in the last fiscal year.

Mayor Fahey is expected to release some of his proposed cuts sometime next week.