Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Mary Jane Truemper NE GOP Chair

Transcript

Mary Jane Truemper NE GOP Chair · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

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Speaker 1: I am your host, Jean Stothard. Peyton Hilock, my producer,
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Speaker 1: is also here. Good morning, Peyton, very good morning to you.
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Speaker 2: Jane.
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Speaker 1: As I drove in, I saw Peyton out in the
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Speaker 1: parking lot working on his car today. Glad you could
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Speaker 1: make it today, Yes, I made it. We're good and
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Speaker 1: we are guaranteed human. We always have to say that always,
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Speaker 1: I know, because we might sound like AI, but we
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Speaker 1: are not. But we want to hear from you and
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Speaker 1: we want to get your feedback. We want to hear
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Speaker 1: your comments, concerns, questions, complaints, anything goes and we won't
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Speaker 1: back away from anything, will we, Peyton, No, never, whether
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Speaker 1: it's state, city, national, the world, the street car, anything.
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Speaker 1: And we will also have great guests, and of course
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Speaker 1: you're gonna hear plenty of opinions from me, but it
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Speaker 1: is your chance to speak up and sound off. You
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Speaker 1: can send your emails to comment at kfab dot com
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Speaker 1: or you can call us at four two five five
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Speaker 1: eight eleven ten. We are so happy that you are
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Speaker 1: with us today, and I'm also happy that Mary Jane
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Speaker 1: Trumper is with us. I called you Mary Ellen the
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Speaker 1: other day. I I'm sorry, that's okay. I answered everything.
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Speaker 1: I know I always say, and I've been called a
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Speaker 1: lot worse than when people mess up my last name too.
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Speaker 1: But Mary Jane Trumper is the chair of the Nebraska GOP,
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Speaker 1: and I'm so glad you're with us today because we
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Speaker 1: have so much to talk about. Because I'm going to
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Speaker 1: let people know a little bit about you, first of all,
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Speaker 1: but I believe you inherited this was back in twenty
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Speaker 1: twenty two. You inherited a party that I would consider
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Speaker 1: fractured by the Old Guard and the New Guard, and
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Speaker 1: you had a lot of work to do. I wasn't
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Speaker 1: around in twenty twenty two when that happened, but I
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Speaker 1: did come on board in twenty twenty four, okay, or
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Speaker 1: maybe it was early twenty twenty five to help serve
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Speaker 1: as vice chairman under Eric Underwood, who was in the
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty two convention and was elected chairman at that time.
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Speaker 1: And so I was just elected chairman, I guess about
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Speaker 1: fifteen months ago in twenty twenty five, in March, in
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Speaker 1: March of twenty twenty five.
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Speaker 3: So I've had the helm since then.
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Speaker 1: And you were the vice of Saunders County for a while,
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Speaker 1: is that corna?
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Speaker 3: I was I'm a member of the Saunders County Republican Party,
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Speaker 3: but I was vice chair of the NEEGP before I
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Speaker 3: was elected chairman.
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Speaker 1: Go several months, and I think what happened. We're going
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Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about what happened in twenty
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Speaker 1: twenty two, but I think that kind of showed to
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Speaker 1: me that the populist right maintained its grip on the
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Speaker 1: party leadership when that happened. And I'm going to remind
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Speaker 1: the listeners a little bit about we can both remind
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Speaker 1: them what happened. But you know, Mary Jane, one thing
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Speaker 1: I'm glad that you did. You did run for a
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Speaker 1: political office in twenty sixteen. You ran for Douglas County Board.
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Speaker 1: I sure did a great experience and you challenged Mark Kraft,
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Speaker 1: and I'm so glad you did because there's so many
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Speaker 1: people in party leadership that have so much to say
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Speaker 1: and so many opinions that has never run for anything,
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Speaker 1: that have never been in an elected office, and they
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Speaker 1: really they don't really know how hard it is. And
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Speaker 1: I got to give hats off to anybody, in my
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Speaker 1: opinion that runs for a political office. It is hard.
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Speaker 1: It is hard work. You know, you put yourself out
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Speaker 1: in front of everybody. You're knocking on doors when people
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Speaker 1: don't want you to be knocking on their doors, but
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Speaker 1: you got to do it. You do so many forums
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Speaker 1: and debates, and it's hard, hard work, and it scares
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Speaker 1: a lot of people. And I think it's so good
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Speaker 1: that people that are in party leadership have actually done
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Speaker 1: it and tried to do it and put themselves out there.
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Speaker 3: Because you learn a lot, didn't you. Oh, I learned
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Speaker 3: a tremendous amount. And at the time, you know, I
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Speaker 3: ran knowing. I mean, I do no math, and I
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Speaker 3: knew I was in a primarily Democrat district. But I
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Speaker 3: felt called to run, and I listened to those callings
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Speaker 3: when I get them, and as it turned out, I
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Speaker 3: wasn't called to win. But I learned so much during
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Speaker 3: that process that I've carried forward and have helped me
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Speaker 3: in so many ways, just a tremendous amount of ways.
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Speaker 3: And in twenty sixteen, if you'll remember, Hillary Clinton was
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Speaker 3: running for president, and in the subdivisions and things that
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Speaker 3: I was visiting during the last month or two of
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Speaker 3: the election cycle, there were vanloads of Democrats that came
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Speaker 3: in from out of state that were just swarming neighborhoods,
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Speaker 3: and I said, oh my goodness. So I had first
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Speaker 3: hand experience with that, and it was just there were
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Speaker 3: so many things I learned, and I agree with you,
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Speaker 3: it's worth doing. And I wasn't called to win, but
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Speaker 3: I do believe that I was called to learn the
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Speaker 3: lessons I learned.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely. I always tell myself things happened for a reason.
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Speaker 1: And you know, I won a difficult mayor's race, very difficult,
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Speaker 1: challenging the incumbent with great candidates at that time. Good Lord,
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Speaker 1: I mean Brad Ashford was a candidate, Dan Welch was
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Speaker 1: a candidate, The incumbent mayor was a candidate. There were
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Speaker 1: so many good candidates. Then won that when that was hard.
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Speaker 1: One in twenty seventeen against Heath Mellow, that was difficult.
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Speaker 1: He was very well known, very spoke very well. We're
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Speaker 1: good friends to this day. Heath and I are good friends.
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Speaker 1: Twenty twenty one, won it by sixty eight percent, and
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Speaker 1: then turn around four years later and I lost in
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Speaker 1: my fourth try by thirteen percent. You can never tell
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Speaker 1: the way political races are going to go. So let's
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Speaker 1: get back to the GOP. You're a Republican I'm a Republican.
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Speaker 1: I want you to tell our listeners what the mission
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Speaker 1: now is of the state GOP, and then I want
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Speaker 1: to go back and talk about what happened in twenty
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Speaker 1: twenty two. What are your priorities now?
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Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I think the number one priority is
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Speaker 3: always to elect Republicans, and we are in an existential threat.
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Speaker 3: I think because we see now a Democrat party that
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Speaker 3: there's quite a few communists that have run in won
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Speaker 3: in other states, and there seems to be that bend
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Speaker 3: here and we have threats from the Democrat Socialist of America.
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Speaker 3: They have a branch in Lincoln and in Omaha. And
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Speaker 3: so to get Republicans elected, to preserve the good life
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Speaker 3: and to preserve the platform of the Republican Party, which
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Speaker 3: is a pro life platform, but it's also pro business,
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Speaker 3: pro a free enterprise, pro families, and we want to
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Speaker 3: preserve them.
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Speaker 1: And you know you mentioned the word, you said, the
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Speaker 1: word communists, and they absolutely are what I see some
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Speaker 1: of these candidates that the Democrats are still supporting, and
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Speaker 1: some that got through the primary in New York for example, right,
6:19
Speaker 1: holy cow, I mean, who was the one chevalier? Is that?
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Speaker 1: How you say their last name with the white glasses.
6:27
Speaker 1: And she actually made this statement when she left a restaurant,
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Speaker 1: her hands were dirty and she couldn't find a napkin,
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Speaker 1: so she wiped her dirty hands on the American flag.
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Speaker 1: This is somebody that won the primary in the United
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Speaker 1: States of America. And you know, I just got to
6:42
Speaker 1: go back to the World Cup soccer. Peyton's a soccer player.
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Speaker 1: We talk about it a lot, but it just did
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Speaker 1: my heart so much good to hear all these people
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Speaker 1: from forty three different countries come to our country and say,
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Speaker 1: oh my god, I love the United States of America.
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Speaker 1: They even love BUCkies. I mean, they are going crazy
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Speaker 1: about the United States. Yet we hear people that are
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Speaker 1: US citizens that are sitting there saying they're going to
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Speaker 1: wipe their dirty hands on the American flag.
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Speaker 3: Well, they just had a survey that came out not
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Speaker 3: long ago where there was so many Democrats that you know,
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Speaker 3: did not feel good about America as opposed to Republicans
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Speaker 3: have consistently been pro America. And isn't that just a
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Speaker 3: sad state? I mean, I guess you can look at
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Speaker 3: the bad in things. I mean, you know, I think
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Speaker 3: we should all be realistic that things can be improved
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Speaker 3: in many areas, but can't you look at the ideal
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Speaker 3: that was set and that we've lived under for two
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Speaker 3: hundred and fifty years and how far we've come.
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Speaker 1: You know, I carry around my little pocket Constitution with
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Speaker 1: me just so I could refer to the Constitution, the
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Speaker 1: Preamble and the Declaration of Independence to remind myself of
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Speaker 1: what we fought for, what we have now, and what
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Speaker 1: we really need to preserve. So Mary Jane Trumper is
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Speaker 1: with us today and she is the chair of the
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Speaker 1: Nebraska GOP. And I mentioned earlier in my opinion you
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Speaker 1: inherited a party that was fractured between the old Guard
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Speaker 1: and the New Guard, and chime in right here. But
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Speaker 1: just to remind people, back in twenty twenty two, there
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Speaker 1: was some people called it a revolt, some people called
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Speaker 1: it a takeover. But there was a very motivated group
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Speaker 1: of old Guard conservatives and I would call them Trump
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Speaker 1: era populis took over the GOP. It was on a Saturday.
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Speaker 1: It was out in Carney, I believe right, It was
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Speaker 1: out in Carney, and they ousted the GOP chair, Dan Welch,
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Speaker 1: and that move sparked at least a dozen resignations from
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Speaker 1: GOP leaders by Saturday night. I want to remind people
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Speaker 1: our political party, the Republican Party, lost the chairman, the
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Speaker 1: executive director, two of three district chairs, the national committee woman,
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Speaker 1: three assistant state party chairs, the secretary, the treasurer, and
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Speaker 1: the attorney by that evening. So party critics were pressing
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Speaker 1: for a change. Several said that they were sending a
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Speaker 1: message to then Governor Pete Ricketts. They said that I
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Speaker 1: wasn't there, but they said that there were cheers that
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Speaker 1: erupted when an amendment was passed allowing delegates to fire
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Speaker 1: GOP leadership. So let's were you there, Let's talk a
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Speaker 1: little bit about it, and then tell me where we
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Speaker 1: have gone since that time.
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Speaker 3: I was not there, but I've obviously heard the same
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Speaker 3: things that you have heard about what occurred during that day.
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Speaker 3: I'd like to remind people there's been a populous movement
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Speaker 3: brewing in the United States for many years. We had
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Speaker 3: the Tea Party, we had the Ron Paul movement, and
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Speaker 3: then it escalated in twenty twenty. There was a lot
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Speaker 3: of disgruntlement over the election process, and a lot of
9:45
Speaker 3: people felt like the election was not was rigged against Trump,
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Speaker 3: and at that time there was a movement to get
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Speaker 3: people involved in state and county politics, in their local
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Speaker 3: gops so that they could have a voice. And because
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Speaker 3: of that, this movement erupted. But this is nothing new
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Speaker 3: to American history. If you look through history, there is
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Speaker 3: populist movements. It's a cycle that happens, and they usually
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Speaker 3: last when they're around for a good thirty forty years,
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Speaker 3: even before there's a turnover. So I don't think this
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Speaker 3: populist movement's going to go anywhere. And I personally, you know,
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Speaker 3: I've been called establishment, I've been called grassroots. I'm a
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Speaker 3: mix of both, you know, I consider myself grassroots, but
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Speaker 3: I certainly have a good understanding of all sides of
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Speaker 3: the situation. And it was, you know, I don't know
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Speaker 3: that it was a necessary thing to do in that
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Speaker 3: I guess it was necessary at the time for the
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Speaker 3: grassroots felt like they needed a voice, a bigger voice
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Speaker 3: in state politics. And so that was good. And we've
10:53
Speaker 3: come a long ways. If anybody that's been married knows,
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Speaker 3: you know, you can't. It takes a lot of energy
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Speaker 3: to stay mad hold resentment. And so my thing was
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Speaker 3: to come in and to build those bridges, to amend
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Speaker 3: fences and to get the party back together.
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Speaker 1: Okay, and do you think that the GOP has fully
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Speaker 1: recovered from this fallout and the fallout with Ricketts because
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Speaker 1: you had to deal with a great drop in fundraising,
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Speaker 1: which we need to help our candidates. You know, there
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Speaker 1: was some blowback excuse me for not endorsing the congressional
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Speaker 1: incumbents back in the primary in twenty twenty four. Do
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Speaker 1: you feel like now that the state party is working
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Speaker 1: to build better relationships with current office holders? I love
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Speaker 1: those things, I would say yes.
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Speaker 3: And one of the first things that I did was
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Speaker 3: go to the state Central Committee meeting that we had
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Speaker 3: after I was elected, and we put forth a state
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Speaker 3: party endorsement policy to go back to the way it
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Speaker 3: used to be at one time. And I don't know
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Speaker 3: that everybody remembers the history or whatever, but it used
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Speaker 3: to be that we were neutral in primaries, and so
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Speaker 3: we went back to that model where we're neutral in primaries.
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Speaker 3: We support all candidates, Republican candidates through the state Party,
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Speaker 3: so we don't take sides, and then we automatically endorse
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Speaker 3: or you know, support the candidates that come through our
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Speaker 3: nominees that come.
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Speaker 1: Through, you know, And I agree with you on that.
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Speaker 1: And I'm going to get to the Douglas County Republican
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Speaker 1: Party in a second, because i want to ask your
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Speaker 1: relationship with them. But when they endorsed in the primary,
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Speaker 1: they've done it before, they did it again now I
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Speaker 1: think I don't think that's the right thing to do.
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Speaker 1: You know, they endorse when with my race back in
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, they endorse Mike McDonald over me. I
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Speaker 1: was the incumbent twelve year Republican mayor of Omaha, and
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Speaker 1: the Douglas County Republican Party endorsed in the primary Mike McDonald,
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Speaker 1: a lifetime Democrat, a newly republic a newly become Republican,
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Speaker 1: one that was promising to stop the street car, which
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Speaker 1: was just a lie, and they endorsed him in the primary.
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Speaker 1: And in my opinion, the state party, the county party
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Speaker 1: should stay out in the primary.
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Speaker 3: Well, when we did the endorsement to policy so that
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Speaker 3: the state would remain neutral, we left it open at
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Speaker 3: the will of the state Central Committee for each of
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Speaker 3: the counties, because they're autonomous, the county chair is the
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Speaker 3: leader of their county and every County. You know, we
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Speaker 3: have counties that have, like, you know, five hundred people
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Speaker 3: and then you have Douglas County, and so it depends
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Speaker 3: on what the people that are part of their central committee,
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Speaker 3: county central Committee, decide to do.
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Speaker 1: And I think.
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Speaker 3: The way that Douglas County was handling it, as I recall,
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Speaker 3: is that anybody that anybody could apply to be endorsed.
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Speaker 3: And I think you were endorsed later when you ask
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Speaker 3: after the primary, was it after yes, after the primary.
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Speaker 3: But I think that the Douglas County Republican Party's endorsement
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Speaker 3: approach and process has much room for improvement.
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Speaker 1: That's in my opinion for it. But when you know,
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Speaker 1: I'll just say this. When I asked the chair of
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Speaker 1: the Douglas County Republican Party, who's Nancy Hicks, why they
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Speaker 1: moved to endorse Mike McDonald and the primary over a
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Speaker 1: twelve year Republican incumbent, they said, well, some people didn't
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Speaker 1: like the street car, and he came to the meetings.
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Speaker 1: I said, that's the reason you endorsed him. He came
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Speaker 1: to the meetings, and they did some people didn't like
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Speaker 1: the streetcar, nothing about what the party stands for. About
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Speaker 1: lower taxes, about all of these things that you mentioned earlier,
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Speaker 1: Nothing about that at all, and that disappointed me.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, you know, we're not autonomous. I mean, I'm
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Speaker 3: a state chairman, and so I have an executive committee
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Speaker 3: that can overrule what I do, and then the executive
14:46
Speaker 3: committee can be overruled by the state Central Committee MEE.
14:49
Speaker 3: And the same thing goes with the counties. So you
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Speaker 3: have to answer to the people, and it's the mood
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Speaker 3: of the people that were elected and you're the leadership
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Speaker 3: over them. So as a chair you have some power
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Speaker 3: over I guess what is proposed, but ultimately it's the
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Speaker 3: people that are elected in those positions.
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Speaker 1: Right, Mary Jane Trumper State or Chair of the Nebraska
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Speaker 1: GOP is with us today. Mary, you worked on Bacon's
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Speaker 1: campaign in twenty eighteen, and then you campaigned for his
15:19
Speaker 1: opponent in twenty twenty four. Talk about that a little bit.
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Speaker 3: Well, you know, I have a lot of respect for
15:24
Speaker 3: Don Bacon and the service that he's done, but there
15:28
Speaker 3: was a movement that people felt like there had not been,
15:33
Speaker 3: that he had not been responsive to his base, and
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Speaker 3: the way it happened. I was friends and and friends
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Speaker 3: with Dan and Sally Fry and they called me up.
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Speaker 3: They did not have any kind of organized campaign going
15:46
Speaker 3: on at the time, and really out of friendship, I said, well,
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Speaker 3: I'll help you with your campaign, which I did, and
15:55
Speaker 3: it was a good campaign. I know Don probably would
15:59
Speaker 3: have preferred not to have had a primary challenger, but.
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Speaker 1: I always tell that's our process.
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Speaker 4: You know.
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Speaker 3: And people don't like it sometimes when there's challengers to
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Speaker 3: the incumbent, but that is our Republican process, and if
16:13
Speaker 3: people feel dissatisfied, they will put up I always tell people,
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Speaker 3: if you don't want a primary challenger, be nicer.
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Speaker 1: Well, you know, here's another thing though, And I'm going
16:23
Speaker 1: to go back to my race too in twenty twenty five,
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Speaker 1: and there's seven city council members and the mayor that's
16:29
Speaker 1: on the ballot at one time. I think that this
16:32
Speaker 1: was no coincidence at all that brinker Harding and City
16:37
Speaker 1: Council District six and Don Roe and City Council District
16:41
Speaker 1: five did not have an opponent because I Jean Stoth
16:45
Speaker 1: got a lot of votes out in West Omaha. West
16:48
Speaker 1: Omaha as heavy Republican, they had no opponent, and so
16:53
Speaker 1: the voter turnout was miserable and then I mean it
16:58
Speaker 1: was like twenty eight percent the voter miserable, and I
17:02
Speaker 1: had so many Republicans say, eh, you know, I didn't.
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Speaker 1: I mean, they were very apathetic. I saw the same
17:09
Speaker 1: thing what happened in May this year, especially with the
17:12
Speaker 1: congressional race. I mean, I think the voter turnout was
17:14
Speaker 1: like twenty six percent in Douglas County. So what can
17:18
Speaker 1: you do as far as the state GOP. I mean,
17:21
Speaker 1: I think that is one of our primary things that
17:25
Speaker 1: we need to do, is to get our party activated again,
17:30
Speaker 1: because what I saw with my own race and what
17:32
Speaker 1: I saw in May is that the Democrats, I mean,
17:35
Speaker 1: they are for what it's worth, they are fired up.
17:39
Speaker 1: They are into these races. They're going to do about
17:42
Speaker 1: anything they can to get Democrat candidates elected. They have
17:45
Speaker 1: an agenda, and their agenda seems like, we hate Donald Trump,
17:49
Speaker 1: and we want to get rid of Donald Trump, and
17:50
Speaker 1: we want to get rid of the police, and we
17:52
Speaker 1: want to get rid of ice. Holy cow, we can't
17:54
Speaker 1: let that happen. But they are so energetic and I
17:57
Speaker 1: just got to throw this out. Jane Kleb, who is
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Speaker 1: chair of the State Democrat Party, I think she spews
18:03
Speaker 1: venom every time she speaks, and she says things that
18:08
Speaker 1: are so caustic and negative. But I have heard people
18:11
Speaker 1: say we need a Jane Club, and we need somebody
18:14
Speaker 1: that's going to go out there and say we are gonna,
18:17
Speaker 1: we're gonna, we are gonna unite and we're gonna get
18:20
Speaker 1: together and we're going to get Republicans elected again. Talk
18:23
Speaker 1: about that.
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Speaker 3: Well, I agree wholeheartedly. It's all about get out the vote.
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Speaker 3: And there was a lot of apathy in the those
18:31
Speaker 3: elections that you mentioned. And the thing is that bad
18:35
Speaker 3: things happen when Republicans don't show up to vote.
18:37
Speaker 1: Yeah.
18:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, elections have consequences, they have they have consequences, and
18:42
Speaker 3: you know, I my job, I think, is to get
18:45
Speaker 3: the message out of what we're dealing with. This is
18:47
Speaker 3: not your dad or your mom's or your grandparents' Democrat party.
18:52
Speaker 3: This has very taking a very very left turn into communism.
18:57
Speaker 3: And for people to think that this isn't happen here
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Speaker 3: in Nebraska, trust me, it is and right under our noses.
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Speaker 3: And so it's our job. We're getting that message out
19:07
Speaker 3: and we're going to we have a plan for getting
19:10
Speaker 3: out the vote for November. Part of the problem, though, Jene,
19:13
Speaker 3: has been that, you know, we've had rough transitions in
19:17
Speaker 3: the Republican Party. I've been involved for twenty five years
19:20
Speaker 3: or so, and every time there was a change in
19:23
Speaker 3: like leadership in the Republican Party, it would be like
19:28
Speaker 3: starting over again. There was no good transition. Those were
19:31
Speaker 3: rough transitions in twenty twenty two, very rough transition, and
19:35
Speaker 3: so you had to start from scratch. So the two
19:38
Speaker 3: years before I came on board or three years there
19:42
Speaker 3: was a good foundation was built, but they had to
19:45
Speaker 3: start from scratch and they were dealing with a lot
19:47
Speaker 3: of issues. And then I've added to that and used
19:50
Speaker 3: my experience both as campaign manager and as candidate and
19:53
Speaker 3: all the other things that I've done, and we really
19:55
Speaker 3: have a good base. And I always tell people, if
19:58
Speaker 3: I get voted off the island, or I don't again,
20:00
Speaker 3: or whatever happens, I will be the best former chairman
20:04
Speaker 3: the NYGOP ever had, because we can't keep starting over,
20:08
Speaker 3: that's right. We have to have good transitions so that
20:10
Speaker 3: we can build on what we've done before and learn
20:13
Speaker 3: from ore lessons and not just have to keep starting
20:16
Speaker 3: over and over.
20:17
Speaker 1: And we've got to work on it now, I mean
20:19
Speaker 1: when I'll go back to me again. But you know,
20:22
Speaker 1: we had a Republican mayor for twelve years in the
20:26
Speaker 1: blue dot in a blue city, and Omaha is high democrat.
20:30
Speaker 1: I think there's at least of twenty thousand more Democrat
20:34
Speaker 1: registered voters in Omaha then there is Republican. And I
20:37
Speaker 1: said many times if I don't get re elected, there
20:40
Speaker 1: is not going to be a Republican mayor of Omaha
20:42
Speaker 1: for a long time. Now we have a very liberal
20:46
Speaker 1: Democrat mayor of Omaha. He is vice chair of some
20:50
Speaker 1: national I think it's with the US Conference of Mayors
20:53
Speaker 1: committee that their sole goal is to get Democrat mayors elected.
20:59
Speaker 1: That's what the current mayor of Omaha is doing right now.
21:02
Speaker 1: And so we need to start if US Republicans, we
21:05
Speaker 1: Republicans don't like that, We've got to start recruiting now
21:10
Speaker 1: and not wait until three years from now and say, oh,
21:13
Speaker 1: who are we going to get to run for mayor
21:14
Speaker 1: of Omaha. And people need to start holding the current
21:18
Speaker 1: elected officials accountable.
21:21
Speaker 3: Yes, and right now we're building up our bandwidth, and
21:24
Speaker 3: it's been a limited bandwidth for a lot of tasks
21:27
Speaker 3: that we've had to deal with as a state party.
21:29
Speaker 3: And you know, toward your election, I agree you did
21:33
Speaker 3: a tremendous job building coalitions throughout the city and did
21:38
Speaker 3: a tremendous job. And I've always given you full credit
21:40
Speaker 3: for what you were able to accomplish. But I do
21:43
Speaker 3: think too, just a little bit of a different bid.
21:46
Speaker 3: I think when you have such a coalition and we
21:50
Speaker 3: have such a tight Republican Democrat divide there that you know,
21:58
Speaker 3: I think every election saw it peels off a little
22:02
Speaker 3: bit of your coalition. I think there's a life cycle
22:04
Speaker 3: to those positions that are just like Don Bacon, I
22:08
Speaker 3: think there's a life cycle that you know, every election
22:10
Speaker 3: you're going to see some more pilled off just because
22:13
Speaker 3: you have a record and oh yeah, and some people
22:15
Speaker 3: will get mad about one thing or another thing and
22:18
Speaker 3: it kind of builds up.
22:19
Speaker 1: You are so right, because about three days after my election,
22:24
Speaker 1: they had held out on this radio station and it
22:27
Speaker 1: was Rosy and Scott were saying, how did Jeane Scott
22:30
Speaker 1: the not get elected? And he started saying it's the
22:33
Speaker 1: Barnacle theory. And I listened to it and I thought, oh,
22:36
Speaker 1: that's so stupid. And then I thought about it and
22:38
Speaker 1: I go, that's exactly right, because he was just making
22:41
Speaker 1: your point. He said, it's eventually the little tiny barticles
22:46
Speaker 1: can sink the ship. Now, I don't know why that
22:48
Speaker 1: generally doesn't happen in Congress because some of our our
22:52
Speaker 1: congressmen are one hundred and ten years old. It seems
22:55
Speaker 1: like they just keep on electing them. But I want
22:57
Speaker 1: to bring something else up that about what we were
22:59
Speaker 1: just talking about is that far right and the far left,
23:04
Speaker 1: and they I think a lot of times with that
23:06
Speaker 1: far right, they will feel like if you don't think
23:11
Speaker 1: exactly like they do. And for being mayor of Omaha,
23:14
Speaker 1: I could not get elected mayor of Omaha for twelve
23:17
Speaker 1: years if I didn't have Democrat and independent votes. So
23:20
Speaker 1: I tried to say, I will represent all of you.
23:22
Speaker 1: People got mad at me for that, and they said, well,
23:24
Speaker 1: because you say you'll represent the Democrats in Omaha, here's
23:28
Speaker 1: this term I hate. You're a rhino. I got called
23:31
Speaker 1: a rhino so many times. I'm not a real Republican
23:35
Speaker 1: because I said as mayor I would represent Democrats. Don
23:38
Speaker 1: Bacon not a real Republican because of some of the
23:41
Speaker 1: decisions are votes he made. So he's a rhino, that term.
23:45
Speaker 1: We got to get rid of it. I mean, we
23:47
Speaker 1: have to get rid of it to say that, you know,
23:50
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean you have to be so far right
23:52
Speaker 1: and you have to say I hate every Democrat out there,
23:55
Speaker 1: otherwise you're a rhino. I mean, I'm a Republican every
23:59
Speaker 1: sense of the world way for everything the Republican Party
24:02
Speaker 1: stands for. But I got called that too. We got
24:04
Speaker 1: to get rid of that.
24:05
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, I think that you know, we see on
24:07
Speaker 3: the purists vers versus pragmatist, and we do have a
24:12
Speaker 3: lot of purists in both parties, absolutely, and they are
24:15
Speaker 3: usually on the far right, like you say, or the
24:18
Speaker 3: far left.
24:18
Speaker 2: Uh.
24:19
Speaker 3: And then you have pragmatists that you know, want to
24:22
Speaker 3: get the job done and bring us all together. And
24:25
Speaker 3: that is very divisive.
24:26
Speaker 1: But I would just.
24:27
Speaker 3: Tell you, you know, if we dwelled on what we were called. Uh,
24:32
Speaker 3: it's just it's not a very fruitful thing to do.
24:35
Speaker 3: And and I just kind of let it roll off
24:37
Speaker 3: of me, the names I get called. But it's not
24:39
Speaker 3: it's not helpful.
24:40
Speaker 1: No, it's the name calling isn't what I'm getting at.
24:44
Speaker 1: The name calling is is because people said, well, she's
24:46
Speaker 1: not Republican. Enough now we got a liberal Democrat Frier, right,
24:50
Speaker 1: I mean, that's still hurting our party. And and I
24:53
Speaker 1: think that's that's the one thing that all of us
24:55
Speaker 1: as Republicans got to keep in mind. Mary Jane, before
24:58
Speaker 1: we break, go for a break. And I know I
25:00
Speaker 1: could keep you on here for the whole hour, but
25:03
Speaker 1: we just had an email and they wanted to ask you.
25:05
Speaker 1: They wanted to ask about medical marijuana and medical weed.
25:09
Speaker 1: And you know what, the people voted for it. Now
25:13
Speaker 1: there is going to be a change. Did you take
25:15
Speaker 1: a position on that? Did the state party take a
25:17
Speaker 1: position on that? No, the state Party did not take
25:20
Speaker 1: a position on it. And uh, you know, personally, I
25:25
Speaker 1: do remember my husband, as you know, was pediatric critical
25:28
Speaker 1: care physicians, and I know he went to the legislature
25:31
Speaker 1: on a couple of occasions and was actually in favor
25:34
Speaker 1: of medical marijuana. Actor Ed Trumper, Yes, yes, a great guy,
25:38
Speaker 1: and so because he had seen so many kids with
25:40
Speaker 1: intractable seizures and the use of it and how it
25:44
Speaker 1: had helped and so so you know, medically speaking, I
25:48
Speaker 1: you know, can certainly see the benefits of it. But
25:51
Speaker 1: you know, the state party itself has not taken an
25:53
Speaker 1: issue on it, and and you know, I know that
25:56
Speaker 1: there's a lot of back and forth about it. And okay,
26:00
Speaker 1: all right, now another question. I keep on pushing the
26:04
Speaker 1: brake and Peyton's given me the stink guy over there.
26:07
Speaker 1: But Governor Pillen, I'm a fan of Governor Pillen. You
26:11
Speaker 1: know there are things that when I was mayor I'd
26:13
Speaker 1: argue with him about. But still I'm a big fan
26:15
Speaker 1: of Governor Pillen. Is by any chance, in your opinion,
26:18
Speaker 1: he at any risk. I think that there's a lot
26:21
Speaker 1: of things at risk. It's a midterm election. I think
26:24
Speaker 1: everybody should be running as if they're running from behind. Absolutely,
26:28
Speaker 1: I'm glad, you know. I know. I would always tell
26:31
Speaker 1: my campaign, I mean, we knew where we were pulling,
26:34
Speaker 1: but even when we were ahead, I would say, you
26:37
Speaker 1: run like we are ten points behind all the time,
26:40
Speaker 1: because anything can change with an election.
26:43
Speaker 3: Anything well, And it was funny when I was running
26:45
Speaker 3: for GOP chair and I had an opponent that was
26:47
Speaker 3: running against me, So I was making phone calls to
26:50
Speaker 3: the people that would be voting, and I didn't stop
26:53
Speaker 3: at the number I needed. I stopped at twenty more
26:56
Speaker 3: people than the number I needed because you know what.
26:58
Speaker 1: People are, they do and then they may forget to vote,
27:03
Speaker 1: I mean for crying out loud. Yes, what do you
27:05
Speaker 1: think about mail in ballots?
27:07
Speaker 3: You know, personally, you know, I think that when we
27:10
Speaker 3: looked at the Secretary of State's race, which was a surprise,
27:15
Speaker 3: I think to everybody with Scott Peterson winning that race,
27:19
Speaker 3: but you know he was even in mail in that
27:21
Speaker 3: ballots and then you know he took off with the
27:25
Speaker 3: in person day of voting. But the mail in ballots
27:29
Speaker 3: have a place, you know. I can understand the argument,
27:33
Speaker 3: and President Trump has had the argument, you know about
27:37
Speaker 3: tightening up the fraud, the ability for fraud, and it
27:40
Speaker 3: all happened. But there are some people, as you worked
27:43
Speaker 3: in the medical field. I worked in the medical field,
27:46
Speaker 3: you can't always get to the booth. You know, we
27:49
Speaker 3: work twelve hour shifts and you work, you don't know
27:52
Speaker 3: when you're going to be working. So there were a
27:54
Speaker 3: lot of elections that I could have voted in, but
27:57
Speaker 3: I wasn't able to when I was younger. Because we
28:00
Speaker 3: have that option with the mail in ballance and so
28:03
Speaker 3: for those people who can't do anything else, I think
28:06
Speaker 3: it's great.
28:07
Speaker 1: Okay, do we have any emails or anything coming in, Peyton.
28:12
Speaker 1: I do have a few, but we need to get
28:13
Speaker 1: to a break. We'll get to a break. Could you
28:15
Speaker 1: stay on for just one more little bit?
28:16
Speaker 3: Sure?
28:17
Speaker 1: Okay. Mary Jane Trumper, chair of the State GOP, is here.
28:20
Speaker 1: We're going to bring her back after break so Peyton
28:23
Speaker 1: doesn't have a heart attack over there. I asked Mary
28:25
Speaker 1: Jane Trumper, who is chair of the state GOP, to
28:27
Speaker 1: stay because we have a couple phone calls and a
28:30
Speaker 1: couple emails that I wanted her to answer with me.
28:32
Speaker 1: So Peyton, let's have it. Let's get after it.
28:35
Speaker 4: Guys. Scott sent me an email this morning and he says,
28:39
Speaker 4: do you think the slow roll of the medical marijuana
28:42
Speaker 4: deal in the state of Nebraska? Do you think the
28:44
Speaker 4: slow roll makes the governor vulnerable in the upcoming election?
28:49
Speaker 4: Not a Walls fan, but I'm also not a fan
28:51
Speaker 4: of the majority of our citizens being overridden by the
28:54
Speaker 4: lethargic implementation and his indifference towards it. And I'm just
28:59
Speaker 4: going to give one more footnote here. This was from
29:02
Speaker 4: the Nebraska Examiner. Last week, Signatures turned in for measure
29:06
Speaker 4: to restrict Nebraska lawmaker's ability to change voter pass laws
29:12
Speaker 4: and there is over just shy of one hundred and
29:15
Speaker 4: ninety thousand signatures currently. Do you think this is going
29:19
Speaker 4: to make the governor vulnerable in November?
29:21
Speaker 1: Well, you know, in my opinion, I think Mary Jane
29:24
Speaker 1: kind of answered what she felt. I'll let you talk
29:26
Speaker 1: and speak for yourself about medical marijuana. You know, I'm
29:30
Speaker 1: a supporter of it, and my background is nursing, and
29:33
Speaker 1: I felt the same way of what you said. Your
29:35
Speaker 1: husband felt like, I know so many children with conditions
29:38
Speaker 1: that benefit from it so much. Of course, I also
29:41
Speaker 1: feel very strongly in believing in the vote of the people,
29:44
Speaker 1: in the voice of the people, and so I do
29:47
Speaker 1: think that that has pretty much been answered because they
29:50
Speaker 1: are moving forward with it now. I think the cultivators
29:54
Speaker 1: are starting to grow weed medical marijuana right now, and
29:59
Speaker 1: so I think even though was a slow role, it
30:01
Speaker 1: is moving forward.
30:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with that, and I admire the fact
30:05
Speaker 3: that we have a system of government where the people
30:08
Speaker 3: can go and have a petition drive and can have
30:11
Speaker 3: their will. You know, that's unique. Not every state is
30:15
Speaker 3: easy to have that done as it is here in Nebraska.
30:18
Speaker 3: And so the fact that the people have a recourse
30:21
Speaker 3: to having their will said and through this petition movement,
30:24
Speaker 3: I think is a good thing.
30:26
Speaker 1: But I will go back to saying I believe in
30:28
Speaker 1: the voice of the people. The voice of the people
30:30
Speaker 1: is not being heard if twenty six percent come out
30:33
Speaker 1: and vote in a general election are a primary. That's
30:37
Speaker 1: the one thing I think both Mary Jane and I
30:40
Speaker 1: really want to get across today is Republicans. We've got
30:44
Speaker 1: to get out there and vote and have our voices
30:47
Speaker 1: be heard or we're going to lose more of our
30:49
Speaker 1: elected Republican officials.
30:51
Speaker 4: This is the Cafe B comment Line where we can
30:52
Speaker 4: also get the chance to hear your voice. Mary Jane
30:56
Speaker 4: Trumper joins us a chairwoman of the Nebraska GOP. Mark,
31:00
Speaker 4: thank you so much for calling and holding on for us.
31:02
Speaker 4: Welcome to the KFAB comment line. You are live.
31:06
Speaker 2: Good, Mone Hi, thanks for being on today. Sure, I
31:12
Speaker 2: just let just let you know that for many years
31:15
Speaker 2: I gave money to the state Party, and because of
31:18
Speaker 2: the Shenanigans it happened in the early two thousands, I've
31:22
Speaker 2: not written a check since, and I don't know if
31:23
Speaker 2: I ever will because once they started spending my money
31:30
Speaker 2: for two campaign against Republicans, which happened in multiple elections.
31:34
Speaker 2: I know the leadership has changed, but there's never been
31:37
Speaker 2: a anyone come to me and say, hey, we're sorry
31:41
Speaker 2: for what happened. We're sorry we wasted your money. And
31:44
Speaker 2: I said, I, you know, I was campaigning for somebody
31:47
Speaker 2: else and donating to them, and meanwhile my money that
31:50
Speaker 2: I sent to the state was being used against against
31:54
Speaker 2: the candidate that I want in a primary, which was
31:57
Speaker 2: absolutely wrong.
31:59
Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate you you say in that, because I
32:02
Speaker 1: know I said in the very beginning too, that when
32:05
Speaker 1: Mary Jane inherited the GOP, I think one of your
32:10
Speaker 1: your biggest challenges was dealing with a big drop in
32:14
Speaker 1: fundraising because of people that felt very similar to what
32:18
Speaker 1: you are saying right now, Mary.
32:19
Speaker 3: Jane, absolutely And I didn't realize what a challenge. I mean,
32:23
Speaker 3: I knew I was getting in for a challenge, but
32:25
Speaker 3: you're you're never quite prepared. And I have a business
32:28
Speaker 3: background and management background, and and you know, I knew
32:32
Speaker 3: what we needed to do, and and so we've gotten
32:35
Speaker 3: the party back on the right track. We're getting donors back. Uh,
32:40
Speaker 3: you know, back in Heineman's day, I give former Governor
32:44
Speaker 3: Heineman all the credit in the world. He had a
32:47
Speaker 3: broad donor base at that time and across the state,
32:52
Speaker 3: business leaders, some lobbyists, some uh, you know, but but
32:56
Speaker 3: it was a broad based grassroots and uh then after
33:02
Speaker 3: that when it was Governor Ricketts was involved, of course,
33:07
Speaker 3: Governor Ricketts, you know, contributed money and that donor base
33:11
Speaker 3: shronk and so I inherited, you know, a shrunken donor base,
33:16
Speaker 3: and we've been growing it. And you know, the best
33:19
Speaker 3: that you can do is your actions and for people
33:21
Speaker 3: to see what the party is doing and what the
33:23
Speaker 3: party's about. And there is the power of the pocketbook.
33:26
Speaker 3: If if you don't like what we're doing, don't donate.
33:29
Speaker 3: But I'm trying to my best to build the party
33:31
Speaker 3: back up, to get us all back together, get the
33:34
Speaker 3: gang back together again, and all of us win elections.
33:37
Speaker 1: And I will say I said it earlier, but I
33:39
Speaker 1: don't think that any GOP is fully recovered from this fallout.
33:43
Speaker 1: But and there is a lot of blowback from not
33:47
Speaker 1: endorsing incumbents in primaries from the GOP and from the
33:50
Speaker 1: DCRP too, But I think that if we're going to win,
33:54
Speaker 1: and if we're going to move forward, and we're going
33:56
Speaker 1: to win, and we're going to get more Republicans elected.
33:59
Speaker 1: We've got to unite. And the power of the pocketbook
34:03
Speaker 1: is real because people, I mean, you have to have
34:06
Speaker 1: a lot of money to run and be successful. There
34:09
Speaker 1: are a lot of good people that would serve very
34:14
Speaker 1: very well that are Republicans in the state of Nebraska
34:17
Speaker 1: and in Omaha and in Douglas County. But they have
34:19
Speaker 1: come to me a lot of times and they'd say,
34:21
Speaker 1: but nobody knows me. And I said, but a good
34:23
Speaker 1: campaign could get your name recognition from zero to ninety
34:27
Speaker 1: eight percent. But for a good campaign, you need money.
34:31
Speaker 1: You have to have money, and campaigns are totally different
34:34
Speaker 1: than they used to be. Hal Dob told me the
34:36
Speaker 1: first time he ran for mayor of Omaha, he spent
34:38
Speaker 1: thirty thousand dollars. I the last race I did it,
34:43
Speaker 1: it was a couple million. I mean, because races cost
34:46
Speaker 1: a lot. So if you want to get your message
34:48
Speaker 1: out there and who you are out there, you've got
34:50
Speaker 1: to have some money.
34:51
Speaker 3: And we have to you know. Also, we've get so
34:54
Speaker 3: much out of state money the Democrat Party does, and
34:57
Speaker 3: so many avenues through not for profit and NGOs that
35:02
Speaker 3: are able to put money into the process. It's very
35:05
Speaker 3: hard to compete with that in a state like Nebraska
35:07
Speaker 3: where we have less than two million people and a
35:10
Speaker 3: limited amount of like you know, big money donors that
35:12
Speaker 3: are Republican, and so there's always going to be a challenge.
35:16
Speaker 3: But we've met that challenge and I think it's only
35:18
Speaker 3: going to get better. And as we move.
35:20
Speaker 1: Forward, and we've got to get that congressional district to race.
35:24
Speaker 1: We have got to get Brinkerharding elected. We didn't even
35:28
Speaker 1: get to Denise Powell, but talk about out of state money.
35:32
Speaker 1: And eventually we will find out where that money is
35:35
Speaker 1: coming from. I mean eventually you do by their NADC
35:38
Speaker 1: reports and everything else that they have to do at
35:40
Speaker 1: different reports that the congressional candidates have to do. But
35:44
Speaker 1: where is all this out of state money coming from
35:46
Speaker 1: into Denise Powell's race. We don't really know yet. But
35:51
Speaker 1: I have said many times before we in Nebraska don't
35:54
Speaker 1: need out of state people telling us who to vote
35:57
Speaker 1: for and how to vote correct.
35:59
Speaker 3: And you know, it was funny because on Twitter a
36:02
Speaker 3: week or two ago, Jane Cleb was haraying me about,
36:06
Speaker 3: you know, billionaire donors or whatever with Republican Party. And
36:10
Speaker 3: then we sent her a photo of reed Hoffman had
36:13
Speaker 3: donated one hundred and fifty thousand to the Nebraska Democrats.
36:17
Speaker 3: And so I can promise you there's no billionaires out
36:20
Speaker 3: there donated one hundred and fifty thousand.
36:21
Speaker 1: To me, and she was Jane Cleb was over in Paris,
36:26
Speaker 1: she was over in France at some fundraiser. It's like,
36:29
Speaker 1: who in France is telling us who to vote for
36:32
Speaker 1: here in Nebraska. So I know we have to take
36:34
Speaker 1: a break. Mary Jane, thank you for staying on after
36:37
Speaker 1: the break. Mary Jane Trumper chaired the Nebraska GOP. You've
36:42
Speaker 1: got a lot of work on your hands, a lot
36:44
Speaker 1: of work to do, but I wish you every success
36:48
Speaker 1: in the world, because we've got to get back together.
36:50
Speaker 1: We got to unite, and we've got to get these
36:53
Speaker 1: Republican candidates elected because what we are seeing in the
36:57
Speaker 1: Democrat Party, and as you said, they're a g there's
37:01
Speaker 1: a lot of communists. We do not need that in
37:04
Speaker 1: our country. And that's exactly what is going to happen.
37:07
Speaker 3: Not in Nebraska.
37:08
Speaker 1: Not in Nebraska. We don't need that. So wish you
37:10
Speaker 1: all the luck in the world. Thank you so much
37:12
Speaker 1: for being here today. It's good to see you again.
37:14
Speaker 1: It's always great to see Eugene. Thank you, thank you
37:16
Speaker 1: for being here today. Mary Jane Trumper, chair of the
37:18
Speaker 1: Nebraska GOP, Mary Jane Trumper, chair of the state GOP,
37:22
Speaker 1: was just with us. I want to thank her again
37:24
Speaker 1: for coming. And you know, just a few other comments
37:27
Speaker 1: about that though. Peyton, after this twenty twenty two revolt,
37:31
Speaker 1: I want to call it or take over in Carney,
37:34
Speaker 1: And I said by that evening it was on a Saturday.
37:37
Speaker 1: I gave in the beginning this list of who left
37:41
Speaker 1: and who resigned from the Ney GOP, just to give
37:44
Speaker 1: you a little more example. There's a new National Committee
37:47
Speaker 1: woman after all of that. Her name is fashion blythe
37:53
Speaker 1: She was very critical of me as mayor of Omaha.
37:57
Speaker 1: I remember she came out and said, well, Jeene stother
38:00
Speaker 1: wants to take our guns away, and I went, what
38:03
Speaker 1: does that mean. I'm a huge supporter of the Second Amendment.
38:07
Speaker 1: I had my concealed carry permit while you still had
38:10
Speaker 1: to go and take a class. People used to make
38:12
Speaker 1: fun of me about it. The National Committee woman never
38:17
Speaker 1: reached out to me, never met me. I've never talked
38:20
Speaker 1: to her, and you know, here, I was the Republican
38:23
Speaker 1: mayor of the largest city in the state of Nebraska.
38:26
Speaker 1: Excuse me, I think you hit my cough button for
38:29
Speaker 1: me there. And so this is the problem that we
38:33
Speaker 1: are dealing with with our state party, and this is
38:37
Speaker 1: what we've Mary Jane's got a big job ahead of her.
38:40
Speaker 1: You know, we've got to get people united. We got
38:43
Speaker 1: to get Republican candidates because I'm telling you, when when
38:46
Speaker 1: you got a National Committee woman that never once reached
38:49
Speaker 1: out to the mayor, Republican mayor the largest city in
38:53
Speaker 1: the state of Nebraska, and then criticized that mayor. And
38:57
Speaker 1: then now we have a very liberal Democrat mayor of
39:00
Speaker 1: the city of Omaha for multiple reasons. But we've got
39:05
Speaker 1: to get her act together, folks. And I really want
39:07
Speaker 1: to hear what your thoughts and your opinions are. Call in.
39:11
Speaker 1: If we won't get to them today, but we will
39:13
Speaker 1: get to them tomorrow.
39:14
Speaker 4: Absolutely, Gene, And I know you have another topic that
39:17
Speaker 4: you want to get after, so I'll give you a
39:19
Speaker 4: little cue here ready.
39:23
Speaker 1: I love that. And I think we are giving them
39:30
Speaker 1: lots of stuff to talk about today, So really call
39:33
Speaker 1: in email us tell us what you thought about the
39:35
Speaker 1: interview with state gop ch here today. I want to
39:39
Speaker 1: hear what you have to say about it too, But
39:41
Speaker 1: I want to bring up one other thing of what
39:44
Speaker 1: we're dealing with here in Omaha. On yesterday's a World
39:47
Speaker 1: Herald July eighth edition, front page above the fold, there
39:51
Speaker 1: was a story about the first phase of innovation district
39:54
Speaker 1: now has a home and it was written by Cindy Gonzalez,
39:58
Speaker 1: and so it's a reprint of an article that came
40:00
Speaker 1: with the Nebraska Examiner. But this goes back to my
40:04
Speaker 1: criticism of local media, and hopefully it gets better because
40:09
Speaker 1: this article, a very long article about the Inland Port Authority,
40:16
Speaker 1: never mentioned that. I read this several times. It never
40:22
Speaker 1: mentioned Justin Wayne's name. Justin Wayne and Terrell McKinney were
40:27
Speaker 1: both state senators back in twenty let me think when
40:31
Speaker 1: it was when it was first established. Probably twenty twenty
40:34
Speaker 1: four is when the Inland Authority was established by state law.
40:39
Speaker 1: Never mentioned Justin Wayne's name, which they should have, and
40:43
Speaker 1: never really explained what the Inland Port Authority did. But
40:47
Speaker 1: here's my complaint, once again, taking credit when credit is
40:52
Speaker 1: not due. They're certainly with the way this article is written.
40:56
Speaker 1: One of the headline, in one of the different or
41:02
Speaker 1: the other parts of the story says a mayor, a lawmaker,
41:06
Speaker 1: a community meet up. I will say this, Mayor John
41:09
Speaker 1: Ewing had nothing to do with this what soever. This
41:13
Speaker 1: was all established before John Ewing came into office. There
41:18
Speaker 1: is a not by state law. There is a nine
41:21
Speaker 1: member board of the Inland Port Authority. I appointed that board,
41:26
Speaker 1: the entire board when I was mayor. There was one
41:31
Speaker 1: of the members of that board has to be either
41:33
Speaker 1: the mayor or the mayor's designee. I appointed Tom Warren
41:36
Speaker 1: to take my place on that board. And what they
41:39
Speaker 1: didn't mention either, that Sinding Gonzalez does know about is
41:43
Speaker 1: when this Inland Port Authority came up in front of
41:47
Speaker 1: the Omaha City Council. When it came up in front
41:51
Speaker 1: of the council, there was masses of people from North
41:54
Speaker 1: Omaha that came in and protested against it. They didn't
41:59
Speaker 1: want it. They were afraid we are going to take
42:01
Speaker 1: away their houses, their businesses, which we weren't. And so
42:05
Speaker 1: there were people that actually came a large number of
42:08
Speaker 1: people that came and protested and encouraged the city Council
42:11
Speaker 1: to vote against the Inland Port Authority. The city council
42:15
Speaker 1: representative at that time for Northeast Omaha was jan Aida Johnson.
42:19
Speaker 1: She voted against it. None of that is mentioned in
42:23
Speaker 1: this article. It's basically just talking about how great this
42:26
Speaker 1: is for North Omaha, that this is now finding a
42:30
Speaker 1: home and moving forward. None of this problem that we
42:34
Speaker 1: had was even mentioned with it, and I think that
42:37
Speaker 1: is quite unfair. Want to hear your feedback on that.
42:40
Speaker 1: That's it for us today. Thank you so much for
42:42
Speaker 1: spending this hour with us. Boy, this goes quickly because
42:45
Speaker 1: we have a lot to talk about, but thank you
42:47
Speaker 1: for being here. We'd love for you to join us
42:49
Speaker 1: again tomorrow. Tomorrow I am going to have the CEO
42:53
Speaker 1: of Metro Transit, Lauren Censek. She's going to be on.
42:55
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about our buses and our bus
42:57
Speaker 1: systems and that ought to be really interesting and we'd
43:00
Speaker 1: love for you to join us again tomorrow. I'm Jean
43:03
Speaker 1: Stothard and this is eleven ten k F A B