Equal pay for equal work.
Both mayoral campaigns say that's their goal for Omaha but they disagree about where the city stands now.
Challenger Heath Mello cited a study this week. It says women, here, make 79 cents for every one dollar a man earns.
He's proposed a "blueprint for workplace equity" that would stop the city from asking about applicant's wage history. He says it would even the playing field in city government.
Mayor Stothert says that city employee salaries are posted ahead of time so applicants know what to expect wage wise before they even apply - adding there is no wage gap.
"They know what the salaries are ahead of time and it does not make any difference what your gender is. The salaries go with the position," said Mayor Jean Stothert.
Mayor Jean Stothert says there no question of whether men and women get fair pay in city government.
"All of our city employees are represented by a bargaining unit and so the contract is negotiated," said Stothert. "The salaries are negotiated and then the employees approve the contract as well as the city council."
Opponent Heath Mello says otherwise.
"Right now, 86 percent of people earning 100 thousand dollars or more are men in the current city hall administration," said Mello.
Mayor Stothert fires back in support of women in the workplace.
"Of my staff that I have in my office - there's 16 and of the 16, there's ten that are women. And we have department directors now that are women. We value each other," said Stothert.
Mello cites figures stating women in Nebraska only earn 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. He's calling for a ban that'll stop city departments from asking applicants about wage history and says he'll ask private businesses to do the same.
"Omaha is a city working with the private sector that values making sure women make the same amount as men when they do equal work and we can set a real standard across the country," said Mello.
Looking at the top 20 salaries of Omaha city employees -all of who earned more than 148 thousand a year - there's only one woman. This is according to the Omaha World-Herald's Data Omaha site.
