Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Former Mayor Hal Daub

Transcript

Former Mayor Hal Daub · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I am your host, Jean Stothert. Peyton Heilach, my producer,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: is also here this morning. Good morning, Peyton. Good morning, Jean.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: How are you?
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I am really good today, and thank you all for
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: being with us. We want to hear from you. We
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: want to get your feedback. We want to hear your comments, concerns, questions, complaints.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Anything goes. We won't back away from anything. And I
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: know we still have a lot of emails and some
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Talk Back Mike from yesterday with Don Bacon and probably
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the day before with taxes. So we'll get all that
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: covered today. But anything goes with us, City, State, National,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the world. And of course, you're going to hear plenty
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: of opinions from me too. But it is your chance
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to speak up and sound off. You can send your
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: emails to comment at kfab.com. You can call us. at 402-558-1110,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: or you can leave us a recorded message on the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: talkback mic, and we just may play it on the air,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: depending on if it has too much profanity in it.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Peyton might dump that one, but no, we usually play
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: them all on the air. But we are very happy
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: that you are with us, and I always announce that
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: we will always have plenty of good guests, and we
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: have a great guest today, former Mayor Hal Dobb. Good morning, Hal.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Good morning to my favorite mayor. Hi, Gene.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Oh, no, you're my favorite mayor.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, well... We have our admiration society well in hand
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: for this morning for your listeners.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: I guess we do. But I really want to thank
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: you for being here. We could keep you on the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: show all week. We have plenty to talk about. But
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: I'm particularly happy you're with us this week because I've
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: been doing commercials for the Durham Museum this week. because
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: they have a new exhibit called In Search of the Signers.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: And I've been giving away family day passes each day
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: this week. But Hal, you had so much to do,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: such a significant role back when you were mayor with
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the restoration of the Durham. The Durham Museum is located
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: in Historic Union Station. And a lot of people don't
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: know who owns that facility.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Of course, the city of Omaha.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: The city of Omaha.
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  Speaker 2: Actually, the old train station. was given by the Union
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Pacific Railroad to the city during P.J. Morgan's administration. Okay.
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  Speaker 2: And it sat then, empty, vacant, windows blown out, full
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: of birds and you know what else.
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  Speaker 1: I remember you telling me that. You said you walked
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: in there and it was a disaster.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Well, I'd seen it before and I worried about it,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: but then the phone call came. The really important trigger
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: point for all of our conversation today would be a
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: call to my assistant when I was just a brand
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: new mayor. And the person on the other line said, Mr.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Charles Durham would like to meet the mayor at the
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: old Union Station at 11 o'clock on Tuesday morning.
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  Speaker 1: And you said, I'll be there.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I said, I can't tell Mr. Durham's assistant that I
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: can't be there because Tuesday was City Council Day and
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: that was my most favorite day of the week, of course.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Oh, for sure.
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  Speaker 2: And I never left the building on that day.
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  Speaker 1: You dared not.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: But I did. The lady said, he'll see you there.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: And she hung up. So I talked to my folks
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  Speaker 2: and my security officer. I showed up the next morning
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  Speaker 2: at 11 o'clock. And Mr. Durham was standing in the door. Clearly,
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: he had connected to the public works people and got
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: the building door open. And he was standing there with
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  Speaker 2: his little pet white dog, Tina.
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  Speaker 1: I remember he always had his dog.
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  Speaker 2: Always carried little Tina.
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  Speaker 1: Tina was always with Chuck Durham.
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  Speaker 2: We walked into the cavernous old building. And again, the
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: windows were all broken and it was dingy and dirty
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: and stuff all over. And we walked to the center
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: of that cavernous area. And then he said, Marge and
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: I would like to donate several million dollars to the
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: renovation and restoration of the old train station. And we'd
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  Speaker 2: like it to be a Western Heritage Museum. He put
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Tina down. We walked in all the way now. through
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  Speaker 2: to where the Byron Reed coin collection is now displayed.
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  Speaker 2: And I turned around and looked as we walked toward
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  Speaker 2: what would be now the area where the bars are
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: and the ice cream station is. The fountain. And little
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  Speaker 2: Tina had– dropped a couple of big ones on the floor.
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  Speaker 2: And I was a little bit flabbergasted, but I just
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: kind of laughed and we went on and he told us.
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  Speaker 1: Because there was probably other things dropped on the floor.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Well, and you couldn't kind of tell. But by the
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: time we had our conversation, it was about wanting to
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: make a serious, generous contribution, the lion's share of the
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: cost of doing that from his HCR engineering perspective. And
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  Speaker 2: as we walked back out, Somebody had cleaned up after
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: the dog.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, no kidding?
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  Speaker 2: Somebody was– He picked up his dog and we parted.
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  Speaker 2: And I said, Mr. Durham, when would you like an answer?
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  Speaker 2: And he said, tomorrow will do. And so that's the
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: end of the story and the beginning of what you
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: see today as a wonderful venue for our citizens and
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  Speaker 2: a great home for one of the most famous collections
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  Speaker 2: of not just coins but of– Manuscripts. Signatures and manuscripts
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  Speaker 2: and a variety of other very important documents. It's considered
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  Speaker 2: one of the– most intact, well-curated collections today in history
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: in the United States.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: In any museum.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Any museum.
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  Speaker 3: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Now, this was in the late 1990s, early 2000s. Is
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: that correct?
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: The auction at Christie's for a portion of the Byron
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Reed collection, which became the leverage that we found to
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: be able to do the match for the Durham collection.
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  Speaker 2: And the auction was carefully curated so that we picked
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: some of the very fine coins, but we didn't cherry
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  Speaker 2: pick the coins. Some of the very fine signatures, historic
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  Speaker 2: signatures like the signers of the Constitution, but not the
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: good ones, sort of the medium quality and lower quality.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: And that was true for manuscripts and other things. That
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: total auction was a two-day auction in October of 19…
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: I think 96, and it netted the city $ 6. 1 million. Then,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: think how many years ago that was. Now the value
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: of that collection is probably around $ 8 or $ 9 million
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  Speaker 2: in total.
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  Speaker 1: And I think a recent assessment had it around $ 9 million.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: That would be right. At any rate, that put together
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: the $ 25 million that we needed because there wasn't any
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: fluff in the city budget to be able to capture
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: his generosity without finding some other new source of revenue.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: And that's what we landed on. Because the old coins
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: and all the rest of it were in crates in
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: an old building behind City Hall that nobody saw. Those
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: of us who are coin collectors knew it was there,
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: but it was never on display or available for public viewing.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: And needed to be. And you helped secure the funding
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: and the support for the renovation.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Which was really aimed at preserving that building's historical significance.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Great old building.
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  Speaker 1: Very Art Deco look to it. And I have to
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: say or remind people that in December of 2016, not
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: that long ago, The U.S. Department of the Interior recognized
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: the building's significance by formally designating Union Station as a
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: National Historic Landmark. And so then they had worked on
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: this for more than a decade. That's right. And then
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: they had worked in 2016 to 2018 on restoring the exterior.
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  Speaker 1: But let's talk a little bit. Let's back up just
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: a little bit and talk about what you did, the
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: funding initiatives about the historical preservation. But let's talk about
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  Speaker 1: who Byron Reed was first.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Well, Byron Reed was a very interesting fellow. He passed
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: away when he was 62 years old, had quite a
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: storied history from his birth year, which was 1891. In
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: the 1800s, okay. In 1829.
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  Speaker 1: And essentially ended up in Omaha.
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  Speaker 2: As a telegraph operator and a correspondent for the New
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: York newspapers in journalism and then decided to open a
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: real estate office. And he did that. And three years later,
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: by the way, that he came to Omaha in the
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: same year that Omaha became a citizen, a city, which
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  Speaker 2: was in 18, I think, 1855.
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  Speaker 1: And it said he began collecting in the 1870s. Yes.
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  Speaker 1: And he continued to collect until he died in 1891.
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  Speaker 1: And he collected rare material. So it was books, manuscripts, autographs, coins.
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  Speaker 2: Coins. Okay. And principally United States coins, U.S. coins.
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  Speaker 1: And he did have some, I know when I visited there,
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  Speaker 1: there were some Jewish and Roman coins too.
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  Speaker 4: Correct.
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  Speaker 2: He had some.
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  Speaker 1: But mostly in almost a perfect collection of U.S.
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  Speaker 2: Coins.
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  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: And it's kind of fun for me because I've been
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  Speaker 2: collecting U.S. coins and U.S. stamps since I was a
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  Speaker 2: paper route fellow for the World Herald when I was in.
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  Speaker 2: elementary school.
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  Speaker 1: Now there's a story. And you're a coin collector too.
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  Speaker 1: So you have a special love for this collection, I'm sure.
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  Speaker 1: And then at his death, Byron Reed willed to the
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  Speaker 1: city of Omaha his collection. So the city of Omaha
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  Speaker 1: owns the Byron Reed collection.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: That's correct.
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  Speaker 1: As well as they own the Union Station, the Durham.
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  Speaker 2: But for that source of revenue, and we were careful
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: not to decimate the collection just to get the money
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  Speaker 2: to do the project. We wanted to balance as we
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: curated the auction lots to not damage the overall value
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: of the total collection. We wanted to keep it intact
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  Speaker 2: as a very valuable collection of a variety of history.
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  Speaker 2: If we had just sold off a few of the very,
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  Speaker 2: very special U.S. coins, we would have raised $ 10 million
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  Speaker 2: probably from four or five of the coins. But it
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  Speaker 2: would have ruined the idea of the value of that
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: collection and all the history that he was interested in.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Not so much in his collection. He was collecting history.
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  Speaker 2: And he was That was his hobby. It was the
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: fun thing that he had in life. He was very successful,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: of course, in real estate, and his company still exists
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: to this day here in Omaha.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: And that selling a portion of that Byron Reed collection,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: that was in 1996, I believe, to Christie's, that's still
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: a sore spot for many people that are collectors, that
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: we sold part of that collection. collection off.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: I certainly realized that that effort was not without controversy.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: And the city council, they're the ones who voted to
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: approve it. So it went through the city council to
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: approve to sell portions of that.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Of course, Byron Reed was a county commissioner and a
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: member of the city council and its president for one year.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Isn't that something? And remind me again, I know you
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: just said it, but it was sold at Christie's in
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: New York City for about $ 6 million?
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: $ 6.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: 1 million.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 1: And so a portion of that was. But now the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: rest of it is the rest of the coin collection
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  Speaker 1: is on display now at the Durham. Now, I haven't
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: been back since they've redone their display.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: You've got to go. Tomorrow's a big day because tomorrow
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: morning at the museum at 10 o'clock, there's going to
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: be a wonderful presentation. It's called Coffee with Kirsten. curatorial,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: and collections. And the folks that are in charge of
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: that collection and the managers are going to present the
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: history of the collection and talk about its very valued
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: prize pieces, which are particularly valuable. the original signatures of
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: many of the signers of the Constitution.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: And the Declaration of Independence, right. So that's what a
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: display that we are talking about giving the passes to,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: in search of the signers, is the new exhibit. So
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: this is a lot of people that have signed papers
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: tied to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. So
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: what a great exhibit and a great thing to go
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: there and look at that we have right here in Omaha.
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  Speaker 2: And what's important is the history behind the items in
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: the collection. Because with a coin or a signature comes
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: a whole other story. And particularly for our kids in
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: elementary and high school, to be able to go there
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: and see them, not just to read about them, but
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: to actually see the items that are so valuable. And
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: they carry with them such a story of history and
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: even greater story now about Omaha.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: And, you know, a lot of those– no, I went
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: back in that. They have like a vault that they
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: keep a lot of the papers. A lot of the
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: documents are not on display.
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  Speaker 2: And they rotate them. And they rotate them. But they're valuable.
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  Speaker 2: So security for that kind of an artifact collection is
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: very important.
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  Speaker 1: Security and the temperature and the humidity and all of
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: that stuff, they're like in little drawers, tons and tons
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: of them where a lot of these documents are. But
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: I think the important thing is they're preserving them, but
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: at the same time, they want people to see them.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Well, you read about the theft recently in France in
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: some of the museums of art. You want to worry
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: about it when you have– valuable historical artifacts like that,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: that they're kept, as you just said, with an eye
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: toward the humidity control, the lighting, which can deteriorate the
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: documents if it's not managed and filmed correctly. And also,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: there are a lot of smaller items, which if you're
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: not careful, could be just picked up by somebody and
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: walked off with it, and you'd never know it was missing.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: So they're very careful about all that. But it's a
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: wonderful exhibit, and I really urge your listeners to Think
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: about spending some time, if not tomorrow, at the special
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: presentation that's going to be made, then to be sure
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: and go see the exhibit because it's terrific.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: And that exhibit is going to run through January 10th
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: of 2027. So let's go back to Mayor Dobbs' administration.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: What you did facilitate is not just the agreement that
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: you had with Chuck Durham, but you also facilitated a
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: public-private partnership.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Correct.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: And contributions that came in just like we do today
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: with public-private partnerships. Talk a little bit about that.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: The greater vision was to fix the 10th Street Bridge. Yes.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Which was important to the old market area and then
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: going south. 10th Street at the time was the main
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: pathway through South Omaha to Rosenblatt Stadium. and to the zoo,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: and so that was an important part of it. It
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: wouldn't have been very workable just to do the Union
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: Station and create the museum idea, but you needed to
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: have the traffic grid around it and parking and all
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: those things. My dad would drop me off when home
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: from vacation from Washington University in St.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Louis.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: That's how I got to school, back and forth to
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: school for four years from the old Union Station And
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: the train didn't run all the way to St.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Louis.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: You had to cross the river in Missouri Pacific and
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: get the Southern Pacific in Council Bluffs, changing trains to
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: get through Moberly, Missouri to St. Louis to go to school.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: So I loved the old station. And then, of course,
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: next to it, the other railroad station next to it,
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: which is now a television studio.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and they did great work with that, too. And
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: I was reading just a little bit about the history
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: last night. I read that Mayor Dobb, really emphasized community
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: involvement in the restoration process because you really wanted to
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: foster local pride. And I really like reading that. That
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: sounds just like you, pal.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: And, you know, the Western Heritage Museum just celebrated its
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: 50th anniversary, but it hasn't been in that building for
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: 50 years. But the idea of a Western Heritage Museum
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: was actually started about 50, 55 years ago, and it
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: was an elderly gentleman, a lawyer in Omaha, I can't
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: remember his name, Hutter, It was the original president of
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: the Western Heritage Museum, which really was the– I think
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: where Marge and Chuck Durham got their idea that that
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: was something we could do and that we needed a
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: place for it. It didn't have a place. And it
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: involved all sorts of community activity. And we eventually got
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: even most of those stamp and coin collectors to agree
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: that we were careful about not cherry picking off the
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: best of the best and selling it just to raid
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: the collection.
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: So we preserved its history, and now it's available for learning,
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: and that's what's really important to our community.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: And when you did the preservation, I know it was
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: really a priority of yours and your administration to maintain
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: the architectural style, the very art deco.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Isn't that a cool looking building?
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's such a cool building. And then they– it
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: wasn't that long ago that they had to restore the ceiling,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: which is magnificent. That's really something there too. But it
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: also– do you feel like once that was– that happened
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: there– that it contributed to the economic development in the
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: surrounding areas and, of course, it attracted more visitors. But
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: did it boost local businesses too? And did you see
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: a boost in the economic development around the area?
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: I think it was a stimulus for the further development
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: of the old market area. And now if you take
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: a look at it, what's grown up around that are
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: apartment buildings and other commercial buildings and restaurants moving a
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: little bit further south of the old market And essentially
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: moving toward what used to be the old Grace University campus.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: And that whole track, that whole direction now has developed.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: And I think that was part of the stimulus in
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: the beginning.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. So there's a lot. A lot has happened there.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: It's a great place to go and have fun.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: It's a magnificent place. They use it for a lot
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: in the community for different events and things like that.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: There's some old streetcars there too, Mayor.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: There is.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: And you know what?
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: I was just going to say, it caught my attention
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: when you just said a minute ago, you said it
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: was a catalyst for economic development and how you and
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: I could talk about the streetcar for the next three
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: months because that's exactly what the streetcar is doing. It's
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: a catalyst for economic development.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: It has a principal value in its economic development. And
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: as I understand it, the total permitted new within the
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: streetcar district is several billion dollars. We're close to it.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: It already reached about $ 1. 8 billion of new development either
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: happening or approved and underway.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: And what that does first is it defeases the privately
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: purchased bond debt financing the streetcar district. In six to
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: ten years instead of 15 or 20. Absolutely. Which is
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: phenomenal because that pipeline then of new tax revenue to
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: local government entities is being filled, which should over the
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: next ten years cause mill levies to drop as a
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: result of that. That one simple project you advanced is
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: going to be very definitely successful. of significant benefit to
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: all Douglas County taxpayers.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: And you know, when Steve Jensen and I used to go,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: we were out on the road doing the presentation, the PowerPoint.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I attended a couple of them.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Oh, yes, you did. On the streetcar, we kept on
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: saying over and over again, no new taxes, no increase.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: in the property tax. There was going to be enough
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: revenue generated when our original estimates were $ 2 billion of
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: new development in the first 20 years. By the time
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: I left office, the rails weren't even in the ground
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: and we already had $ 1. 8 billion. Now they have changed
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: that estimate to $ 4 billion in the first 20 years,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: and that will have more than enough revenue. In fact,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: the revenue is predicted right now with about $ 4 billion
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: worth of new revenue and development in the first 15
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: years now. It's going to generate about $ 940 million, and
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: that is more than enough to pay for the streetcar.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Well, you know I kind of like the project.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: I know. And that's another thing I wanted to point
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: out is this is not what Gene Stothert thought up
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: because Hal Dobb talked about this when he was mayor.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: The plan that you are caused to be executed, the
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: route is what was in my first paper and the
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: financing mechanism, which was TIF. Now, I don't like TIF
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: as a general tax lawyer, tax policy. I think it's
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: arbitrary and discriminatory in a large sense. But It is
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: the proper and correct use of what the state statute intended,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: which was for infrastructure. Yes. And this is done with
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: the TIF bond. And if you don't have new growth,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: then the school districts and the county government and the
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: city government and 11 different units of local government that
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: depend principally on their revenue from the property assessed valuation die.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Because there's no growth. You have to have growth to
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: create the chemistry for all that to work. So you
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: should be very proud of the work you did. And
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: the city will understand not only the growth benefit, but
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: it's a connector to what I call the sizzle, always
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: trying to figure out what does it take to keep
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: people here, to bring new jobs here, to stimulate growth
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: beyond the corridor of the district. You're seeing it essentially
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: like– green grass growing when it rains, it's seeping out
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: of the district and the border means maybe a connection
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: to the airport, maybe a connection to Iowa and Council Bluffs.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: You can't get all that growth done if you don't
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: start somewhere and this is the backbone piece of it
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: that's being put in place now.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: It's the catalyst and it is working already because of
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: all of that development and growth along those rails. And
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: we know it is.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: There are discomforts and there are some disruptions and inconvenience,
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: no doubt about it. But that's also the price you
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: pay for progress is there is always that uneven gap
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: in between where you're getting from where things used to
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: be ugly and also griped about to the new place,
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: which takes a little bit of vision, some execution, and
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: some patience. Yes, it does.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: And like when people said, we don't need an arena
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: convention center downtown. We don't need a new ballpark downtown. Hal,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: we don't need the– I'm going to call it the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Dobb Expressway, the Dodge Expressway. Remember all of that. People
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: would say, we don't need it. We don't want it.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: And they were the first people to drive on it
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: and the first people to be in the front row
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: seats for the first basketball game.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: And hopefully they'll be on that. Street car for the
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: first ride for the street car.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: But it's park and ride, remember. So everybody else in
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: the county will benefit from the backbone that's being built now.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: And it will be free for you to ride. Now,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: before we take a break, I think we might as
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: well just talk about what we're doing here this week.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: The reason I wanted to have you, for so many
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: reasons I want to have you, but the Durham Museum
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: has provided five family day passes for for their new
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: In Search of the Signers exhibit. And I have been
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: giving away one Family Day Pass each day this week.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: And like Hal and I just said, it runs through
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: January 10th, 2027. It's called the In Search of the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Signers exhibit, and it showcases a premier collection. of authentic
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: signatures and documents belonging to the men who founded our nation.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: And this Byron Reed collection during the late 19th century,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Reed dedicated himself to acquiring these original manuscripts and official
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: papers that are tied to the signers of the Declaration
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: of Independence. So you can give us a call now,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: the listeners. You can call us at 402-558-1110. And Hal,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: what caller shall we take today?
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: 34.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: We're going to take caller number 34 today. So give
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: us a call for your chance to win a family
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: day pass to the Durham and you will love this exhibit.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: Right, pal?
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: It's not only fun to see, but while you're there,
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: if you've never been to the Durham Western Heritage Museum before,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: it's a chance to explore lots of other wonderful things
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: that are contained there.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: It's great. The history of Omaha, the history of Nebraska,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: it's all there.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Plenty of parking, not a problem to get in and
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: get out really easy. And there's also a chance when
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: you're there that you can Get on an old streetcar.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: There you go. Hal Dobb, former mayor, former U.S. congressman,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: former board of regents. Hal, thank you so much for
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: being with us today.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: You know, I went to the tax hearing last night
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: at City Hall, too.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: Oh, boy.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: That was always my favorite day of the year.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: Interesting, interesting, interesting experience.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: You know, I haven't even heard the feedback, and I'm
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: going to have to get that done today. So thank
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: you so much for being with us today. Thanks for
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: having me. Thanks for being there. Appreciate you. And one
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: of the most important jobs you have is you are
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: the husband of Mary Dobb.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Hey, and you're the wife of Kevin. Give him my
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: high regards when you see him today. I will.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: I will. Thanks, Hal. Thanks for being with us today.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Good day.
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: Gene Stothert and the KFAB comment line. My name is
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: Peyton Highlock. We had former mayor of Omaha, Hal Dobb,
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: on today. And we had Congressman Don Bacon on the
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: program yesterday. You can always find these podcasts uploaded to KFAB.com.
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: The whole show, no commercials. You can give it a listen.
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: in case you miss anything at all.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: And you know, it was so good to have Hal
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: on here. He wouldn't mind me saying this because this
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: is pretty public knowledge, but Hal is 85 years young
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: and he is still going 100 miles an hour. And boy,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: his history, like I said, for being mayor, for being
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: in Congress, he was on the Board of Regents. He
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: has done so much for the community and continues to
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: do so. So Once again, thanks a lot, Hal, for
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: being here today. And his knowledge of the restoration of
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: the Durham is just vast. And so I thought now
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: that we're giving away these great family day passes, it's
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: good to have him on to kind of review that
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: with the Durham. And a lot of people don't realize
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: the city of Omaha owns the Western Heritage Museum. They
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: own the Union Station and they own the Byron Reet Collection.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: It's an asset for the city. Absolutely.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: And Miss Debbie was the winner of the Family Day
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: Pass to the Durham today. Congratulations, Miss Debbie. Congratulations, Miss Debbie.
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: That's four down. We have one to go tomorrow. And
• 27:04
  Speaker 4: the beautiful thing I love about the Durham, whether you've
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: been there a hundred times or you're going for your
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: first time, it's always changing. It's always looking fresh. They're
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: keeping it new and exciting and it's always moving and shaking.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: It's beautiful in there, too.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: Yes, it is.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: So with our conversation with Congressman Bacon yesterday, that sparked
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: quite a few emails and quite a few on our
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: talkback mic. Peyton, we had a few that I didn't
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: get to answer yesterday. I think there was one that
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: you might have mentioned that I didn't get an answer.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: I didn't answer them correctly. So could you hit that
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: one again?
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Gene.
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: I'm listening to your interview with Don Bacon and the
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: problem is he's voted and sided with the Democrats so
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: many times just to undercut Trump himself that nobody's going
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: to trust him to run as the Republican candidate for president.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, and that one I didn't comment about yesterday because
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: we had so many we wanted to play. But I
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: did review last night, and, you know, that is not accurate.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: For the 119th Congress, for example, that there are statistics
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: that are published about votes for the Republicans with the Democrat,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: and Don Bacon– and this is public knowledge, has voted
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: with the Republican majority 93.5% of the time through the
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: current Congress. 93.5% of the time. So the caller saying
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: that he votes with the Democrats the majority of the
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: time is not true. And that's public knowledge that anybody
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: could look up.
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: Can I ask you a quick question here, Gene? And
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: I don't, think that there's a right or wrong answer.
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: I just want you to maybe give me your opinion.
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: If somebody was to make a comment about this with
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: Don Bacon, hypothetical situation, what percentage of the time voting
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: with the Republicans, quote unquote, or should I say voting
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: with the Democrats would be of concern? So, so far,
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: Don Bacon has voted 93 point something percent of the
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: time for the Republicans.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: What percentage, in your opinion, would be of concern?
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: And there's no right or wrong.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: I'm just curious. It's a good question that you're asking there.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: But I think it is a concern to some people.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: And I think what this caller, in my opinion, and
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: they could call me back if they want, was trying
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: to say is that Don Bacon votes with the Dems.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: and he is not supporting the Republican agenda. And he
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: was making that comment after Don Bacon made all his
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: comments yesterday saying that he would even consider a presidential
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: run to get back into the old values of the GOP.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: And so I think the caller was trying to say
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: here's a controversy going on here. But in reality, you know,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: it's I mean, this is documented. There is no way
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: that this these numbers are wrong, that he did vote
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: with the Republican majority. Ninety three point five percent of
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: the time through the current Congress. So, you know, he
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: he does support what the Republicans are doing and voting
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: for in U.S.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: Congress.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: Now somebody else is going to turn around. And they're
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: going to say, well, you'll do whatever Donald Trump wants.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: So it goes both ways. And I think the one
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: thing that most people say about Don Bacon is that
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: he obviously he has a great military background. He retired
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general. So
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: he had many leadership roles, served overseas, serving our country many,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: many times. But at the same time, I think that
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: he is known as being an independent thinker and known
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: as being not just a yes man. That really aggravates
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: some Republicans that he will vote sometimes or make comments
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: against Republicans. Some of the things that the president, current president,
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: is doing or saying, that really aggravates some people. But
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: I think that's him, and he's being an honest person
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: that this is how he is, and this is how
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: he feels.
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: I have a phone call from Tom here, 402-558-1110. Tom,
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: you are live with Gene Stothert.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Good morning.
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: Good morning. Yes, I voted for Don Bacon several times,
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: but I just don't see where he's made a difference.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: and impact. I think he says conflicting things. He says
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: we shouldn't go after the other party, number one. And
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: then we should forget, don't look at pennies, look at
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: the big ticket items and get the big picture. Well,
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: first of all, Obama and Biden, they did weaponize the
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: DOJ and the FBI against Republicans and conservatives. They wiretapped U.S.
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: senators and representatives. and they've done this, and nothing seems
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: to happen. And he says, well, work across the aisle. Well,
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: if people see that they've been weaponized against, and there
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: are illegal acts, and we just let it go, people
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: lose faith in anything being accomplished. Then he says, look
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: at the big ticket items. Well, the biggest ticket item
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: is the Save America Act, which over 75% of all
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: different blacks, whites, Republicans, Democrats all want it passed. but
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: yet we can't even get it on for a vote.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: And that makes no sense to me. Why compromise with
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: somebody if they can't even, you have to, can't do
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: anything without an ID and can't go into any countries
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: without IDs. And yet we're blocking that so that you
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: have illegals voting, the integrity of the elections, people don't
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: have faith in them, and the fraud. So they find
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: fraud and nothing happens. And then you've got California. They're saying, well,
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: it's now against the law to fine fraud. You can
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: be fined for doing it. I mean, that makes no
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: sense to most Americans. But working across the aisle isn't
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: getting that done. Need to drive those two home. And
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: the Republican leadership has not gotten it accomplished.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Well, Tom, I appreciate your comments, and I agree with
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: you 100% about the Save America Act. Why the Senate
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: won't pass it, God only knows, when you said the
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: majority of Americans would approve that. But I wanted to
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: ask you, I mean, you said you don't think Don
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Bacon has accomplished anything. We have 435 congressmen. Can you
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: point any congressman individually that you think has accomplished a lot?
• 33:50
  Speaker 4: Well, I.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Frankly, no.
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: I think people's faith in Congress is very low. And
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: I think they put on a show to their base
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: to say what they're doing and fighting, and then they
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: just go have dinner together and nothing much gets accomplished.
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: But when you can't address the two biggest items, and
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: that's fraud, and they find fraud, and yet the Democrats say,
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: Don't look there, and we don't do anything. Nobody is responsible.
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: Nobody goes to jail. People's faith in the election is
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: so low, people start not showing up. That's the worst
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: thing that could happen.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: And, you know, I mean, with the House now, I mean,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: obviously the Republicans barely holding on. There's 218 Republicans and
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: 435 altogether. The Senate, 53 Republicans out of 100 in
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: the Senate. So, I mean, if you even look at Nebraska,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, out of 50, there's 26 Republicans. So currently, currently. So,
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: you know, it seems like I think what I feel
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: like is both sides now. aren't getting things accomplished because
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: of this far extreme, especially that the Democrat Party has taken,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: especially with the Socialist Party. And they're getting elected, and
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: that's what is a big concern right now. obviously, to
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: all of us, too. And I guess what Don Bacon was,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think what he was trying to say
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: is that that's how Congress works. It's Democrats and Republicans.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: And if you're going to get something done, you're going
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: to have to work together and you're going to have
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: to do some compromising to get some things done. But
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: that's how Congress works. It doesn't work with independents. And
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: that's why we keep on asking candidate Dan Osborne, you know,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: how if you were elected, you know, are you going
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: to caucus with the Democrats? Because otherwise you're not going
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: to get anything done. I mean, that's how they get
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: things done in D.C. It's the Democrats and the Republicans.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: There's two parties. And so, you know, and we have
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: yet to been told by Dan Osborne how he expects
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: to get things done. And he has said, He said
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: on the morning show with Rosie and with Scott Voorhees, well,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to caucus with anybody. Well, then you're
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: not going to get anything done. So I think we've
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: got issues that I think what Don Bacon, in my opinion,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: was trying to say is we have issues that we
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: need to be working on. And I'm willing to go
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: out there throughout the country and talk to people about it.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: I think when he said, I would even be willing
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: to consider a run, I don't think that that is
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: his goal, is to run for president. I think he
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: was saying his goal would be is to travel and
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: talk to people and say, what do we need to
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: do to get things back in order? That's me. That's
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: just me. I want to hear what all of you
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: have to think about that, too.
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: When you were on here with Mayor Hal Dobb, which
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: you can find on the KFAB.com or your iHeartRadio app,
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: it's going to be on the podcast here in about
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: an hour.
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: I got an email here from Greg coming at KFAB.com. Gene,
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: when are you going to have Jim Rose as a guest?
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: on your show to discuss the streetcar.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: I'd love to. Now, that will be good radio. Thank
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: you for the email, Greg. I would love to because
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: I listened to Rosie this morning, and I love Rosie,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: but my blood pressure was going up. I would love
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: to debate Jim Rose on the streetcar because here's the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: long and short of it, folks. Rosie, if you're listening,
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Rosie continues to say the $ 700 million streetcar. It is not...
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: In fact, the city council approved up to $ 440 million
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: in bond financing, and that is it, folks. I wanted
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: to keep it under $ 400 million. I felt like we
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: could because of the extra work that the city is
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: required to do by MUD. The cost has gone up
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: a little bit over $ 400, but it is not a
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: $ 700 million streetcar. Now, Rosie will say... including the garage,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: Mutual of Omaha, and then he will always say the interest. Well, folks,
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: if you go out and buy a $ 400, 000 home, Peyton,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: if you go out and buy a $ 400, 000 home and
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: you put it on a 30-year loan, you're not going
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: around telling people, well, I just bought a $ 700, 000 home
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: because by the time I get done paying the interest
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: over in the next 30 years, that's what it's going
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: to be. The value of your home still stays at $ 400, 000
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: what you paid for it. The same with the streetcar.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: You can't– because we are constantly refinancing bonds. We are
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: constantly paying bonds off early. You can't figure in the
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: interest with the bonds. We use bonds for streets and
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: sewers and public facilities and public safety all the time.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: But the thing of it is also with the Mutual
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: of Omaha garage, it is $ 100 million, 14-story garage that
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: the city of Omaha has. has already purchased. It is
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: not being paid for with streetcar bonds. It is being
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: paid for like the city of Omaha pays for every
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: other garage with revenue bonds. It pays for itself. You
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: pay for it with the revenue that it produces. And
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Mutual of Omaha, even though the city of Omaha will
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: own that garage, they will basically lease the majority of
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: it for for their employees, and then it will be
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: opened for the city to operate and manage weekends individually.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: evenings for all the events happening downtown. But it will
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: be paid for. Mutual of Omaha will be paying for
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: a lot of it because they will be leasing these
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: spaces monthly. And then the people that use it will
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: be paying for it. And that's how you pay off
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: revenue bonds, not with the part of the streetcar. And again,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: I'm on a roll. I got to finish. It is
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: projected that that we will get revenue by the TIF
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: with the new development at about $ 940 million over the
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: first 15 years it's already happening. That is enough to
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: pay for the construction of the streetcar, which the current
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: estimate right now is about $ 421 million. $ 421 million cost,
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: projected revenue $ 940 million. It will not raise your taxes.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: And that is it for us today. Peyton's going to
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: go crazy if I don't cut this off. Please come
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: back and spend the time with us tomorrow. We'd love
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: for you to be with us. And I am Jean Stothert,
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: and this is 1110 KFAB.