Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Council Bluffs Mayor Jill Shudak

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Council Bluffs Mayor Jill Shudak · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

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Speaker 3: There you go.
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Speaker 1: Today we have Council Bluff's mayor Mayor Jill Shoe Deck.
1:03
Speaker 1: Am I saying your name right, shoe Deck, because my
1:06
Speaker 1: name Stothard. I'm telling you people butchered my name for
1:09
Speaker 1: years and years and years, and I finally thought, whatever
1:12
Speaker 1: you want to call me, that is okay.
1:14
Speaker 3: But good morning, good morning, and I'm having you bet.
1:17
Speaker 3: I'm so glad you're here.
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Speaker 1: You know, we get a lot of calls from Council Bluffs,
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Speaker 1: and we have had people say, you talk about Omaha
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Speaker 1: all the time. Let's talk about Council Bluffs too. But
1:26
Speaker 1: let's talk about you a little bit, a bit about
1:28
Speaker 1: your background, because you know, we are similar in that
1:32
Speaker 1: we were both on the school board, we were both
1:34
Speaker 1: on city council.
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Speaker 3: We both became mayor.
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Speaker 1: I was the first woman that was ever mayor in
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Speaker 1: the city of Omaha, fifty first mayor. You are the second,
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Speaker 1: but the first elected.
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Speaker 3: Is that right?
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Speaker 1: That is good because there was another woman that was mayor,
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Speaker 1: but she was appointed and that was quite a few
1:51
Speaker 1: years ago.
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Speaker 4: Absolutely.
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Speaker 1: And here's what's really kind of unusual, I think kind
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Speaker 1: of about both of us is that I was a
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Speaker 1: Republican mayor in a blue city and you are now
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Speaker 1: a Democrat mayor in what is known as a red city.
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Speaker 1: So we're going to get into that so that you
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Speaker 1: know there's similarities between that, because I think I wouldn't
2:14
Speaker 1: be mayor of Omaha for the length of time I
2:16
Speaker 1: was twelve years if I didn't get a lot of
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Speaker 1: Democrat votes and a lot of independent votes. And it
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Speaker 1: was really important to me when I first became mayor
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Speaker 1: to say I am a Republican. You know, I'm a Republican,
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Speaker 1: but I will represent every one of you. I don't
2:29
Speaker 1: care if you're black or white, or man or woman,
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Speaker 1: or if you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent.
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Speaker 1: Is that kind of what you're feeling is tell me
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Speaker 1: about how you feel about being a Democrat mayor newly
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Speaker 1: elected and beat the incumbent Mayor Walsh, who was a
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Speaker 1: Republican mayor.
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Speaker 3: Tell me what was your pathway to victory?
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Speaker 4: Well, I think that you kind of nailed it.
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Speaker 5: We do have a lot of similarities in the fact
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Speaker 5: that we are a minority registered a party leading a
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Speaker 5: city of the other of the other party. And to
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Speaker 5: be quite honest, I'm a registered Democrat because historically they
3:09
Speaker 5: have backed the unions and in stronger ways than the
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Speaker 5: Republican Party has. I come from a very strong Union family.
3:17
Speaker 5: Both of my grandparents were in the Union. My father
3:20
Speaker 5: is a Union representative. One of my brothers is in
3:23
Speaker 5: the Union, and he's actually now a international organizer. He
3:28
Speaker 5: works for the International Union and he's an organizer. So
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Speaker 5: Union very proud, and so that is the main reason
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Speaker 5: why I am a registered Democrat. But I look at
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Speaker 5: every issue, and I look at every person, and I
3:42
Speaker 5: really look to see what can I do best to
3:44
Speaker 5: serve my community as a whole. I never look at
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Speaker 5: it from a partisan perspective. It's always what is best
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Speaker 5: for the community.
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Speaker 3: And let me ask you this.
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Speaker 1: So because I on school board, city council, and then
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Speaker 1: as mayor, I've been involved in negotiating a lot of
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Speaker 1: labor contracts. In fact, you know, about seventy four percent
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Speaker 1: percent of the City of Omaha's budget is personnel, and
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Speaker 1: almost every one of them is in a bargaining unit.
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Speaker 1: So I have a lot of experience with that. But
4:13
Speaker 1: why do you think we've got this label that Republicans
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Speaker 1: are not union friendly and Democrats are Because I mean,
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Speaker 1: I had a lot of support from the unions when
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Speaker 1: I was mayor.
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Speaker 5: I think it's from a national level. I think from
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Speaker 5: a local level, we can definitely see that. You know,
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Speaker 5: both both us me and you supported the unions and
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Speaker 5: had the backing of the unions some time.
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Speaker 3: For me, not all the time, let me tell you,
4:36
Speaker 3: not all the time.
4:37
Speaker 5: But I think that comes from a national level. From
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Speaker 5: a national level, you saw the Democratic Party support the
4:43
Speaker 5: unions more than the Republican Party. But I think when
4:46
Speaker 5: it gets down to state and local level, it really
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Speaker 5: is the person in the candidate.
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Speaker 1: And you know when when you're running, say for the
4:54
Speaker 1: first time, like you did and when I did too,
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Speaker 1: and you talk about these things you are going to do,
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Speaker 1: and you just spoke about the union and being a
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Speaker 1: very i'll just use the word term union friendly. Once
5:05
Speaker 1: you're in that position, and as mayor, you are in
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Speaker 1: charge of starting those labor negotiations they want you to deliver.
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Speaker 1: Have you negotiated a contract yet?
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Speaker 5: So we just finished our first one fully, and so
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Speaker 5: I want to give you a little bit of a
5:20
Speaker 5: background as to why I actually got.
5:22
Speaker 4: Involved in politics.
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Speaker 5: Sure, in twenty seventeen, the State of Iowa went in
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Speaker 5: and they made changes to Chapter twenty, which is our
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Speaker 5: collective bargaining rights in the State of Iowa, and they
5:32
Speaker 5: made a pretty drastic change where they said that permissive
5:35
Speaker 5: topics were no longer required and it was up to
5:38
Speaker 5: each entity to determine whether they wanted to bargain or not.
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Speaker 1: So you felt like bargaining rights. We got it back
5:45
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen.
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Speaker 5: They were for the state of Iowa, and so actually
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Speaker 5: the Constablist School District removed every single permissive topic from
5:53
Speaker 5: their contract. And so I got upset and I organized,
5:58
Speaker 5: and I found a group that taught women how to
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Speaker 5: run for office, and so I took a six month class,
6:04
Speaker 5: one hundred and eighty hours to learn how to run
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Speaker 5: for office, and I went in decided to run for
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Speaker 5: Constable Sport of Education with My main goal was to
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Speaker 5: put permissive topics back into their contract.
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Speaker 1: Okay, and explain to our listeners what permissive topics are.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, there are things like seniority, bereavement, time guaranteed forty
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Speaker 5: hour work week. There's a list of permissive topics, twenty
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Speaker 5: some permissive topics, and so you know, everything was in
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Speaker 5: their contract in twenty seventeen, and then in twenty eighteen,
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Speaker 5: when that law took effect, everything was removed and the
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Speaker 5: only thing that remained in their contract was wages. They
6:47
Speaker 5: were required to Wages was the only thing that was required.
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Speaker 5: And I believe insurance benefits benefits were left. Some benefits
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Speaker 5: were left. Some benefits are concerned a permissive topics.
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Speaker 1: Usually permissive topics just for the listener's benefit. Are usually
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Speaker 1: things that don't cost the taxpayers extra money.
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Speaker 5: Yes, but some are right so over time that rate,
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Speaker 5: those would be permissive topics. But health insurance, dental insurance,
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Speaker 5: vision insurance, those are the benefits I think that most
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Speaker 5: common people think of. But when you're talking about a
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Speaker 5: guaranteed forty hour work week, or what your hours are,
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Speaker 5: or your grievance policy, those are all going to be
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Speaker 5: permissive topics.
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Speaker 1: And you know, healthcare is huge and very expensive. I remember,
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Speaker 1: for the City of Omaha in the twenty twenty six
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Speaker 1: budget which we are in now, which I had finished
7:40
Speaker 1: when I left office last June, we pay wait till
7:44
Speaker 1: you hear this, you're going to fall out of your chair.
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Speaker 1: In the City of Omaha about ninety million a year
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Speaker 1: just in healthcare benefits to our employees.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely, and so that.
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Speaker 1: Is a huge topic, and it's a huge, huge topic
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Speaker 1: during labor negotiations. Jill Shudeck is here with us today.
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Speaker 1: She is the mayor Council Bluffs. And you mentioned just
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Speaker 1: a few minutes ago that you took a six month course,
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Speaker 1: a training program, and I read I was reading a
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Speaker 1: little bit about you last night and you said it
8:10
Speaker 1: taught you how to run for office as a Democrat woman.
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Speaker 1: Was that very democrat oriented or yeah?
8:17
Speaker 5: So it was a merge Iowa is the class that
8:20
Speaker 5: I took. Emerged as a national group, and each I
8:24
Speaker 5: shouldn't say each state, but about thirty six states have
8:27
Speaker 5: a chapter of e Merge. And it actually was founded
8:31
Speaker 5: out of Kamala Harris's neighbor's kitchen. And so the first
8:36
Speaker 5: time she ran for office, way back in the days,
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Speaker 5: she didn't quite know what was going on, and so
8:41
Speaker 5: some of our neighbors got together and they figured out,
8:44
Speaker 5: you know, how to get the petition signed and what
8:47
Speaker 5: all needed to be done. And so Emerge is for
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Speaker 5: democratic women.
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Speaker 4: Yep.
8:52
Speaker 3: Okay, all right?
8:54
Speaker 1: And do you feel like when you were running for
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Speaker 1: mayor you were really campaigning as far as the I'm
9:00
Speaker 1: a cred agenda?
9:01
Speaker 3: No, okay, not at all.
9:03
Speaker 6: No.
9:03
Speaker 5: I went out and I spoke to people, and I
9:06
Speaker 5: pride myself on making myself available, which is why the
9:10
Speaker 5: minute you reached out and said, hey, will you come
9:11
Speaker 5: on my show, I said absolutely.
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Speaker 4: To me, it's.
9:14
Speaker 5: About listening to the people in the community, hearing what
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Speaker 5: they want, and it's not about my agenda and what
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Speaker 5: I want. It's what's what's best for the community as
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Speaker 5: a whole. And so that's what I did, is I
9:27
Speaker 5: went out, I spoke with people, I had conversations, I
9:30
Speaker 5: had little mini town halls to hear what was important
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Speaker 5: to the people.
9:34
Speaker 4: And that's what I ran on.
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Speaker 1: And you know, you and I share this that you
9:38
Speaker 1: said you thought door to door grassroots was very important.
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Speaker 3: I did too.
9:42
Speaker 1: And you know when I ran for mayor for the
9:43
Speaker 1: second term, the third term and the fourth term, you
9:46
Speaker 1: know my campaign would say, oh, everybody knows you now,
9:49
Speaker 1: there's no reason for you to be out there knocking,
9:51
Speaker 1: but I did. I said, no, I'm doing it because
9:54
Speaker 1: I think that makes a huge difference that grassroots being
9:58
Speaker 1: out there knocking on people doors. It makes them be
10:02
Speaker 1: able to ask you the questions they want to and
10:05
Speaker 1: it shows them you really want this position too.
10:07
Speaker 5: Not only that, but it's I think it's important as
10:11
Speaker 5: local leaders that we show up where people are, and
10:14
Speaker 5: so people work nights, they work afternoons, they work weekends,
10:18
Speaker 5: and so to make myself available to go to their
10:21
Speaker 5: door and show up and hear from them directly. You'll
10:25
Speaker 5: also see that I do a lot of posting as
10:26
Speaker 5: far as where I am, you know, at the farmers' markets,
10:30
Speaker 5: at the one hundred block events, wherever the case might be.
10:33
Speaker 5: I want to make sure that I'm available to talk
10:35
Speaker 5: to people.
10:36
Speaker 1: What about your social media do you do? You have
10:38
Speaker 1: social media? Facebook? You social media web page that you
10:42
Speaker 1: interact absolutely, okay, and you do that quite often.
10:45
Speaker 7: Yep.
10:45
Speaker 5: Shoot Out for Iowa as my Facebook page. That's what
10:48
Speaker 5: I've used for the last several years for running and
10:51
Speaker 5: so actually while I was waiting to come on the air,
10:53
Speaker 5: I was responding to some people right there.
10:55
Speaker 1: You know what my staff taught me after a period
10:59
Speaker 1: of time, like twelve years, they would go, stay away
11:02
Speaker 1: from that social media because I mean, it can be
11:05
Speaker 1: not good for your mental health.
11:06
Speaker 4: It's a double edge short for sure, it really is.
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Speaker 1: And I always people would always say to me, you know, oh,
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Speaker 1: I bet you never look at that.
11:13
Speaker 3: You have staff do that.
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Speaker 1: It was me and my communication director, I mean and
11:17
Speaker 1: anything that was posted I gave approval for, and with
11:21
Speaker 1: there was an issue that was controversial, we would both
11:24
Speaker 1: be answering people. We tried to be as interactive as
11:27
Speaker 1: we can now, which is different when the current mayor.
11:29
Speaker 1: But we're not even going to go into that right now.
11:31
Speaker 1: But town halls, you said, you think it's good to
11:34
Speaker 1: get yourself out there to answer people. Town halls in
11:38
Speaker 1: the last year have become, at least in Nebraska, explosive,
11:43
Speaker 1: But I agree with you. I love them. When I
11:46
Speaker 1: was mayor, I did over seventy town hall meetings. We
11:50
Speaker 1: have seven city council districts within the city of Omaha,
11:54
Speaker 1: and every fall I would do seven town halls, one
11:58
Speaker 1: in each city council district. I would go out there
12:00
Speaker 1: and I would do a little bit of a little
12:02
Speaker 1: mini state of the city, and then just open up
12:04
Speaker 1: for questions. We wouldn't screen the questions, we wouldn't ask
12:07
Speaker 1: them to write them down. I would just take them
12:09
Speaker 1: as they came. The staff got a little tired of
12:12
Speaker 1: going to post with me every fall, and the only
12:15
Speaker 1: fall that we missed was twenty twenty because of COVID.
12:18
Speaker 1: But I loved doing them. Have you done any of
12:21
Speaker 1: the town halls and what's the attendance and the feedback
12:24
Speaker 1: like yeah.
12:25
Speaker 5: So I made it a priority to say that we
12:28
Speaker 5: were going to do two a year, one in the
12:29
Speaker 5: spring and one in the fall. So I had one
12:32
Speaker 5: in the spring right out in my first ninety days,
12:35
Speaker 5: and we are planning our fall one. We had great attendance.
12:39
Speaker 5: I think over three hundred people were there for the
12:41
Speaker 5: first one, which is amazing because the former administration didn't
12:45
Speaker 5: have them, so we didn't quite know how to gauge
12:48
Speaker 5: the activity. It was on a Saturday morning. We do
12:51
Speaker 5: a little bit of a screening where we just have
12:52
Speaker 5: them right down the comment but that's because I want
12:56
Speaker 5: to make sure that those questions are captured specific as
13:00
Speaker 5: We took the questions and answered and then put them
13:03
Speaker 5: on the city's Facebook page as well, so those people
13:05
Speaker 5: that couldn't attend were able to see the questions and
13:08
Speaker 5: have those taking care of as well.
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Speaker 1: I think people, although I know and like I said Nebraska,
13:13
Speaker 1: they've been quite explosive, I still think they're good and
13:16
Speaker 1: I still think they're really worth any elected officials time
13:20
Speaker 1: to get out there and say okay, if you want
13:21
Speaker 1: to come and really complain about something or yell at
13:24
Speaker 1: me about something.
13:25
Speaker 3: Here I am.
13:26
Speaker 1: Because I'm here to represent you, and I really loved
13:29
Speaker 1: I loved doing them. Yeah, all right, So when you
13:33
Speaker 1: won this race last November, it was pretty close. Yes,
13:37
Speaker 1: it was like you were forty three point nine and
13:39
Speaker 1: Walsh was forty two point five. Is what I had down.
13:42
Speaker 1: It might have changed a little bit after that. And
13:44
Speaker 1: I found this interesting because Council Bluffs in twenty twenty four,
13:49
Speaker 1: Donald Trump edged out Kamala Harris. Yes, so it definitely
13:53
Speaker 1: is what I would consider a red district.
13:56
Speaker 4: No, it definitely is, absolutely so.
13:58
Speaker 1: All right, So a couple of things I was going
14:01
Speaker 1: to just ask you, is city budget. First of all,
14:04
Speaker 1: what's a population of Council Bluffs. I'm I'm offul little.
14:07
Speaker 1: I'm thinking sixty one sixty.
14:09
Speaker 4: Three third around sixty three thousand, and.
14:11
Speaker 1: You know Omaha right now is right under five hundred thousand. Yes,
14:15
Speaker 1: so there's quite a bit of difference there, but you
14:18
Speaker 1: know it's still you've you've got you've got you've got
14:21
Speaker 1: a big city there, and you've got a lot of
14:23
Speaker 1: things that you have to deal with.
14:25
Speaker 3: What is your city budget in Omaha? In Omaha.
14:28
Speaker 1: I could tell you that what's your your city budget
14:31
Speaker 1: in Council Bluffs.
14:32
Speaker 4: I don't have that number off the top of my head.
14:33
Speaker 3: General fund budget, Okay, you know Omaha's.
14:36
Speaker 1: It's grown and grown and grown the Omaha The city
14:39
Speaker 1: budget is about two hundred and sixty two million now
14:41
Speaker 1: and the all fund budget's over a billion. And so
14:45
Speaker 1: are you going to be very involved in developing the
14:48
Speaker 1: twenty seven budget?
14:49
Speaker 3: And have you already started on it?
14:50
Speaker 7: Yes?
14:51
Speaker 5: So each department is working through their CIP plans right
14:55
Speaker 5: now and their budget and they are you into my
14:58
Speaker 5: office here. I think the next month six weeks, I
15:02
Speaker 5: will be extremely involved in the budget.
15:03
Speaker 3: Okay.
15:04
Speaker 5: And so we're already looking at things like overtime. How
15:07
Speaker 5: do we make efficiencies? Where can we streamline processes? Are
15:12
Speaker 5: there different for example in our it as, there different
15:16
Speaker 5: software that we can use to make sure that we're
15:19
Speaker 5: utilizing things at the best rate. How can we bundle things?
15:25
Speaker 5: Can we work with our county because our county office
15:27
Speaker 5: is directly across the street, Where can we utilize and
15:31
Speaker 5: maybe there's some purchasing power that we can utilize from there?
15:35
Speaker 5: We are I'm going to be extremely involved in the budget.
15:38
Speaker 1: I was very involved in our budget too, and it
15:40
Speaker 1: took us at least five to six months to develop it.
15:43
Speaker 1: We started it right after January of every year. And
15:46
Speaker 1: of course everybody knows this, but it's all based on estimate.
15:50
Speaker 1: So what your revenue would be. Property taxes are the
15:53
Speaker 1: number one issue in the state of Nebraska. Property taxes
15:56
Speaker 1: are the number one issue in Omaha. What are your
16:00
Speaker 1: primary issues that you are going to be dealing with?
16:02
Speaker 1: Is taxes and property taxes a big issue in Council Bluffs.
16:06
Speaker 5: Property taxes are a big issue, I would say, and
16:08
Speaker 5: I'll come back to that in a second. Property taxes, homelessness, crime,
16:13
Speaker 5: and housing, those are those are our four big ones.
16:17
Speaker 5: The state legislature just did a property tax reform that
16:21
Speaker 5: passed us a few weeks ago May, I believe May
16:26
Speaker 5: beginning of June, and so we are looking at how
16:30
Speaker 5: that is going to affect the city of councilbus They
16:33
Speaker 5: did some pretty major things where they're property are. They
16:36
Speaker 5: are cappying revenues from property taxes at two percent.
16:40
Speaker 3: They did tiffre in Nebraska.
16:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, they did tiff reform.
16:44
Speaker 5: They've done some They've done something that is going to
16:47
Speaker 5: make some major changes within the council US.
16:50
Speaker 1: Okay, so property tax is a big issue. Is one
16:53
Speaker 1: of your goals to lower the tax levy than Yes?
16:56
Speaker 5: And last year we have Historically, we've been lowering our
17:01
Speaker 5: levee for the last five years, and so we will
17:05
Speaker 5: continue to lower.
17:06
Speaker 1: That levee every year it's been lowered. Yes, Okay, do
17:08
Speaker 1: you know what your levey is?
17:10
Speaker 5: Off the top of my head, now, Okay, I gotta
17:12
Speaker 5: tell you, Gene, I'm not a career politician, so I
17:15
Speaker 5: will I use the notes quite often, and so just
17:18
Speaker 5: off the top of my head, I do not.
17:20
Speaker 1: And I hate to say I am a career politician
17:22
Speaker 1: because I'm not. But I bet I've done so many
17:25
Speaker 1: budgets and I lowered the levee five times since I
17:29
Speaker 1: when I was mayor. However, and I wanted to ask
17:32
Speaker 1: you how it breaks down, because when I always tell people,
17:35
Speaker 1: when you get your property tax bill in the City
17:37
Speaker 1: of Omaha, we get the City of Omaha gets twenty
17:40
Speaker 1: two percent. Yeah, and then if I lower the levee
17:44
Speaker 1: a penny or so, that's that's one percent or whatever
17:48
Speaker 1: of twenty two percent of your entire bill. You hardly
17:50
Speaker 1: see a difference sixty two sixty three percent goes to
17:54
Speaker 1: the school districts, is it, and then like Douglas County
17:57
Speaker 1: gets twelve and a half and then the other taxing entities.
18:00
Speaker 1: Is it similar in Council Bluffs?
18:01
Speaker 4: It is?
18:02
Speaker 1: It is So the biggest majority of the property text
18:05
Speaker 1: bill goes to the public schools, that is correct, and then.
18:07
Speaker 4: It goes and then the county and then the city.
18:10
Speaker 1: Yes, and I think that that is the number one
18:13
Speaker 1: issue that I heard a lot of in Omaha. Now,
18:15
Speaker 1: another one one of my priorities was always economic development
18:20
Speaker 1: and job growth. Howard, what I looked at last night,
18:24
Speaker 1: it looks like the population in Council Bluffs has been
18:27
Speaker 1: declining some.
18:28
Speaker 3: Let's talk about that.
18:30
Speaker 1: I talk about your feelings about job growth and bringing
18:33
Speaker 1: new businesses into Council Bluffs.
18:35
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's very important that we are on
18:39
Speaker 5: actively looking for new job opportunities to come into Councilbluss.
18:44
Speaker 5: Our top five employers in Constablelis include the school district,
18:48
Speaker 5: Constable Schools, Mercy Hospital, the Casino, Tyson Foods, and then
18:56
Speaker 5: the City of Council Bliss itself, Okay has over six
18:59
Speaker 5: hundred employees and so we are in.
19:04
Speaker 4: We are what I would.
19:05
Speaker 5: Consider a great bedroom community where about half of our
19:09
Speaker 5: residents come over the bridge to Omaha, o Urs or
19:12
Speaker 5: one of the metro area communities to work and then
19:16
Speaker 5: head back over the river at the end of the
19:18
Speaker 5: ninety two to rest their head. We have finally gotten
19:22
Speaker 5: to a point where we're about fifty to fifty of
19:24
Speaker 5: the amount of people coming over to Consablists that live
19:27
Speaker 5: in Omaha as well. But I think it's extremely important
19:30
Speaker 5: that we are looking for good, pain quality jobs to
19:34
Speaker 5: come into Consiblists to increase our population not only of
19:38
Speaker 5: the workforce, but then people to move and live in
19:41
Speaker 5: Consolenus as well.
19:42
Speaker 1: Jill Shudeck is here, who is the mayor of Council Bluffs,
19:45
Speaker 1: and I wanted to ask you too. When you talk
19:47
Speaker 1: about jobs, you talk about economic development goes along with it.
19:52
Speaker 1: What is the fate of Dodge Riverside golf Course? That
19:55
Speaker 1: was a topic, wasn't it during your campaign?
19:58
Speaker 6: Yes?
19:59
Speaker 1: Because if I remember correctly and correctly if correct me
20:02
Speaker 1: if I'm wrong, Mayor Walsh wanted to sell and develop
20:05
Speaker 1: that into a mixed use development with condos and apartments. Yes,
20:11
Speaker 1: you said that you need more housing in Council Bluffs.
20:15
Speaker 3: Where what's the fate of that? Now? Where does that stand?
20:18
Speaker 1: And interestingly enough, in Nebraska, I don't know if it's
20:21
Speaker 1: that way in Illinois, I mean in Illinois, Iowa. Good lord,
20:24
Speaker 1: I was just in Illinois, so I got it on
20:27
Speaker 1: my mind. But if it's if it's our, if it's
20:30
Speaker 1: been designated park property, which all golf courses are, it
20:34
Speaker 1: can't ever be developed into anything else. Tell us about
20:37
Speaker 1: Dodge Riverside Golf Course.
20:39
Speaker 5: So Dodge Riverside, a small portion of that land was
20:43
Speaker 5: donated in perpetuity to Constabulus from the Dodge family to
20:48
Speaker 5: remain a park or open space.
20:50
Speaker 4: Okay, Dodge Riverside Park.
20:52
Speaker 5: Is one of the amazing golf courses in the metro area.
20:56
Speaker 5: I think if you go over there on any given day,
20:58
Speaker 5: seventy percent of the car are from Omaha, which is
21:01
Speaker 5: a great tax revenue for us to be able to
21:04
Speaker 5: get that money coming into our city. It's a profitable park.
21:09
Speaker 5: You are correct, it was one of the major topics.
21:12
Speaker 5: I would think there's three topics that really kind of
21:15
Speaker 5: won and lost the election for me, or I should
21:17
Speaker 5: say wand for me and lost for former mayor Walsh
21:20
Speaker 5: and Dodge river Side Park was one of them. For me,
21:23
Speaker 5: I am not interested in developing that park for a
21:27
Speaker 5: couple of different reasons. And it's not because I love golf.
21:29
Speaker 5: I do, but it's not because I love golf. We
21:32
Speaker 5: need affordable housing, not high rent condos that are on
21:35
Speaker 5: the riverfront that people in Consabes can't afford. Our average
21:38
Speaker 5: medium income is I think seventy eight thousand dollars right now.
21:43
Speaker 5: They can't afford luxury condos on the riverfront. We need
21:48
Speaker 5: solid middle road, that gap housing. I've been looking Gene
21:54
Speaker 5: for Can I call you Jane.
21:56
Speaker 3: Sure, Sorry that's my name.
21:57
Speaker 5: Well, I know, but for former mayor. I want to
21:59
Speaker 5: make that I addressed rapidly. I've been looking for a
22:04
Speaker 5: home I had. I bought my first home eleven almost
22:07
Speaker 5: twelve years ago, starter home. I've been looking to the
22:10
Speaker 5: move into that next round of housing for eleven years
22:14
Speaker 5: and it's difficult to find something in that two hundred
22:17
Speaker 5: thousand dollars price range low, you know, high one hundreds
22:20
Speaker 5: to mid upper two hundred thousand.
22:23
Speaker 3: You hardly can find it anymore, can't find it.
22:25
Speaker 5: And so that is a priority for me, is that
22:27
Speaker 5: we are actually doing that housing right now, and so
22:31
Speaker 5: you know that is the number one thing. The second
22:33
Speaker 5: thing is that in speaking with people at the corp
22:36
Speaker 5: of Engineers, you know there are large channels that are
22:38
Speaker 5: running under that golf course from the river, and so
22:42
Speaker 5: there's a safety concern as far as do those channels,
22:45
Speaker 5: you know, ever collapse. What happens then to those people
22:47
Speaker 5: that are in that It's on the other side of
22:49
Speaker 5: the interstate, so access getting in and out from that
22:53
Speaker 5: part of.
22:53
Speaker 4: Town is difficult.
22:55
Speaker 5: And then the amount of dirt that would need to
22:57
Speaker 5: be brought in to raise that area up to be
23:01
Speaker 5: able to build is astronomical.
23:03
Speaker 3: No doubt, it would be a major, major project project.
23:06
Speaker 2: Gene, I do have a caller here on the line
23:08
Speaker 2: to interject. You don't have too much time before we
23:10
Speaker 2: have to go to break, but go ahead. I had
23:12
Speaker 2: Mark ask a question here. We have Council Bluffs Mayor
23:15
Speaker 2: Jill Shutack on the Big Show with us. Mark, you
23:19
Speaker 2: are live here on eleven ten kfab.
23:23
Speaker 6: Hi, This is Mark, and I was just wondering your Jeff, Jill,
23:28
Speaker 6: what's your experience with smoke free parks in Iowa. I
23:32
Speaker 6: think your state law made them smoke free quite a
23:35
Speaker 6: few years ago, and Omah has refused to do that
23:41
Speaker 6: for our city. And I'd love to hear what your
23:45
Speaker 6: reaction is for your smoke free parks. Are you're getting
23:48
Speaker 6: complaints about it? Are people still smoking in your city parks?
23:52
Speaker 6: What's going on?
23:53
Speaker 4: That's a great question.
23:54
Speaker 6: Mark.
23:55
Speaker 5: You know, they are smoke free parks in any city
23:58
Speaker 5: property of smoke free.
24:00
Speaker 4: Unfortunately, we do have people that.
24:02
Speaker 5: Break the law, and so there are still some people
24:04
Speaker 5: that are smoking out there. You know, I'm hoping one
24:07
Speaker 5: day smoking is just a trend of the old because
24:10
Speaker 5: it is a little stinky, and it is definitely something
24:16
Speaker 5: that I think that younger generations are moving away from.
24:22
Speaker 3: Fully they are, I.
24:24
Speaker 5: Know, but unfortunately, we still do have some people that
24:27
Speaker 5: are smoking outside in those parks. But it's something that
24:32
Speaker 5: we don't see a ton of, and so that's I
24:34
Speaker 5: think that that's a good thing.
24:36
Speaker 1: And Mark, it's not that Omaha is refusing to do it.
24:39
Speaker 1: In Omaha, we have two hundred and fifty six parks.
24:42
Speaker 1: The problem is, and I know Mayor Schudek will agree
24:45
Speaker 1: with me, it's enforcing it. I mean, we don't have
24:48
Speaker 1: enough police officers to be in every one of these
24:50
Speaker 1: parks to make sure that somebody's not out there lighting
24:53
Speaker 1: up exactly. And so that's why we don't have signs
24:56
Speaker 1: all over the place that say no smoking. We don't
24:59
Speaker 1: want people to smoke in our parks, but it's the
25:01
Speaker 1: enforcement that's so difficult. One more, a subject I want
25:06
Speaker 1: to talk about is not affordable housing. It's a homeless issue.
25:10
Speaker 1: We have a homeless issue, as every other city does,
25:13
Speaker 1: so do you. There used to be a joke that
25:15
Speaker 1: we'd send them back and forth between Council Bluffs and Omaha.
25:18
Speaker 3: That wasn't the case.
25:19
Speaker 1: But I did hire a homeless service coordinator several years
25:22
Speaker 1: ago that I think has made a huge difference because
25:25
Speaker 1: she does just that. She tries to coordinate what the
25:28
Speaker 1: issues are with all of the services that we already
25:31
Speaker 1: have available homeless in Omaha, especially with street outreach, And
25:36
Speaker 1: when I left office, she had gotten over ninety people
25:39
Speaker 1: that were homeless into care or into the services that
25:42
Speaker 1: they need. Tell me what your thoughts are, what you
25:45
Speaker 1: want to do on Council Bluffs as far as addressing
25:47
Speaker 1: the homeless issue.
25:48
Speaker 5: Yeah, So, actually I looked at the position that you
25:51
Speaker 5: created and that's remained in the Mayor Ewen's cabinet, and
25:57
Speaker 5: I thought it was a great idea for the City
25:59
Speaker 5: of conso Bliss also have somebody who's dedicated on that
26:02
Speaker 5: problem in issue every single day. I took the the
26:07
Speaker 5: proposal to the city council and unfortunately, the city council
26:10
Speaker 5: did not agree that it needed full time.
26:17
Speaker 4: Attention care on that topic.
26:20
Speaker 5: And so you know, I'm working with We have a
26:23
Speaker 5: HOP team, a homeless outreach program that is run by
26:28
Speaker 5: the Constablist Police Department. They do amazing job, so I
26:32
Speaker 5: continue to work with them.
26:33
Speaker 4: The COCs.
26:35
Speaker 5: We are working with our partners across the river here
26:37
Speaker 5: to make sure that there isn't an issue with people
26:40
Speaker 5: going back and forth accessing different providers, not that they
26:45
Speaker 5: you know, run out of benefits and want and go
26:47
Speaker 5: back and forth across So we want to make sure
26:50
Speaker 5: that a lot of our providers offer services in both states,
26:53
Speaker 5: in both communities. So I am working with them and
26:57
Speaker 5: we are going to continue to work on this issue
27:00
Speaker 5: and see, you know how we can continue to work
27:03
Speaker 5: with Omaha with different funding, with different opportunities. I meet
27:08
Speaker 5: with Mayor Ewing staff multiple times a month on the
27:12
Speaker 5: on the issue. It's just we don't have somebody full
27:14
Speaker 5: time working, and.
27:16
Speaker 1: I think that's good because since we have you know,
27:19
Speaker 1: Tamara Dwyer as our homeless service coordinator, I think it's
27:22
Speaker 1: really good and important that you have the same that
27:24
Speaker 1: they can collaborate together because you know, every single year,
27:27
Speaker 1: just for our lift listener's sake, HUD does an actual
27:30
Speaker 1: count in time and it's usually done in January, and
27:33
Speaker 1: they count how many homeless there are, whether they're sheltered
27:35
Speaker 1: or unsheltered. And the last time we did it in
27:38
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, the last given known address for the
27:42
Speaker 1: majority of the homeless in Omaha with Council bluffs. Yes,
27:47
Speaker 1: so they are moving back and forth.
27:48
Speaker 4: They are.
27:49
Speaker 5: And you know, when we get federal funding because Omaha
27:52
Speaker 5: we are part of the Metro Core coalition, you know,
27:55
Speaker 5: Omaha receives those funds and then and then they get
27:59
Speaker 5: kind of parsed out to the diferent communities.
28:01
Speaker 4: And while we have a.
28:02
Speaker 5: Larger percentage, obviously the number isn't the same, but because
28:07
Speaker 5: we have a smaller percentage of people that live in constables,
28:09
Speaker 5: that percent of homelessness is higher. But we're not getting
28:13
Speaker 5: that equal funding to equal that percentage. So it is
28:16
Speaker 5: very important that the two communities are working together to
28:20
Speaker 5: solve the problem together.
28:22
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
28:23
Speaker 1: And one other recommendation I'd give you is the Planning
28:25
Speaker 1: Department in the City of Omaha. For several years now,
28:28
Speaker 1: we developed and we call it a hat plan HAAP
28:31
Speaker 1: Housing and Affordability Action Plan. If you're not familiar with it, it's
28:36
Speaker 1: a really good plan how we are going to address
28:38
Speaker 1: affordable housing and what we need in the City of Omaha,
28:41
Speaker 1: and how we're going to get there.
28:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, we have three actual affordable housing projects and one
28:45
Speaker 5: we did a a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday, which will be
28:51
Speaker 5: all one hundred percent affordable housing. With part of it,
28:56
Speaker 5: I think five units in that building will actually be
29:00
Speaker 5: for people who are coming out of homelessness or on
29:03
Speaker 5: the brink of homelessness.
29:04
Speaker 3: Sounds great.
29:05
Speaker 1: We could talk for probably the next three hours, but
29:07
Speaker 1: I don't think they're they're gonna let us. And Peyton's
29:09
Speaker 1: given us the stink eye over there. So Mayor Jill
29:13
Speaker 1: Shudak from Council Bluffs, thank you so much for being
29:15
Speaker 1: here today. There's a lot of other topics I wanted
29:18
Speaker 1: to cover, but let's get back together again and do
29:21
Speaker 1: it again. Sometime because I know you'll have a lot
29:23
Speaker 1: to share about what you're doing in council Bluss, Iowa.
29:26
Speaker 3: So nice to meet you. Thank you for being on
29:27
Speaker 3: our show.
29:28
Speaker 4: Today, Thank you for having me, and I will definitely
29:30
Speaker 4: be back.
29:30
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, and we have plenty of things
29:32
Speaker 3: that we can talk about.
29:33
Speaker 6: Jane.
29:34
Speaker 3: We would love to hear from you though.
29:36
Speaker 2: Four zero two five five eight eleven ten comment at
29:40
Speaker 2: kfab dot com and the radio talkback Mike on the
29:44
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app. This is the kfab comment line. It's time
29:47
Speaker 2: to hear from you.
29:48
Speaker 1: And you know what I just want to say again,
29:50
Speaker 1: I want to really thank Mayor Shudak from coming over.
29:53
Speaker 1: You know, like I said, it's kind of an interesting
29:56
Speaker 1: story here that I was. I was a Republican mayor
29:59
Speaker 1: of blue city and now she is a newly elected
30:02
Speaker 1: Democrat mayor of a typically red city. And it's interesting
30:07
Speaker 1: how things change, how politics are. But I enjoyed the
30:11
Speaker 1: interview with her, and I hope Mary Shudeck will come
30:14
Speaker 1: back again and we can talk more because I wanted
30:16
Speaker 1: to get into the streetcar with her because I know
30:19
Speaker 1: all of you love hearing about the streetcar and she's
30:22
Speaker 1: made some comments about the streetcar being a disaster, So
30:25
Speaker 1: I wanted to get into that, but I thought it
30:27
Speaker 1: would take a lot longer. Now I have to just
30:29
Speaker 1: tell you I got to really apologize because Mary Jane
30:33
Speaker 1: Trumper is coming on tomorrow, and I called her Mary
30:38
Speaker 1: Ellen Trumper on the show yesterday. I don't know why
30:42
Speaker 1: I did that, folks, because I've known that woman for
30:45
Speaker 1: years and years and years, and I know her name
30:47
Speaker 1: is Mary Jane. So if anybody was listening and has
30:50
Speaker 1: called in and said, you called her Mary Ellen, for
30:54
Speaker 1: God's sake, I did, so I apologize. She's Mary Jane
30:57
Speaker 1: Trumper will be on tomorrow, who is the state GOP
31:01
Speaker 1: chair for Nebraska. And I think she inherited a party
31:05
Speaker 1: that was fractured, the Republican Party between the New Guard
31:11
Speaker 1: and the Old Guard, and that's what we Republicans have
31:14
Speaker 1: recognized is going on. So I can't wait to have
31:17
Speaker 1: Mary Jane. Like I said, I've known her for years.
31:20
Speaker 1: Her husband is a pediatric intensivist that used to work
31:23
Speaker 1: at Children's Hospital ED. I know him very well too,
31:27
Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about that tomorrow. I hope
31:29
Speaker 1: you listen in. And then also, Lauren says I always
31:33
Speaker 1: say her name wrong. Censeic is going to be on tomorrow.
31:36
Speaker 1: Her last name is spelled cenc I see, so it's
31:39
Speaker 1: a little difficult. But she is the CEO of Metro Transit,
31:43
Speaker 1: so we're going to She replaced Kurt Simon, who was
31:47
Speaker 1: in that position for thirty three years. But she comes
31:50
Speaker 1: from La Metro Transit Authority and she came on board
31:56
Speaker 1: got Lee I think in twenty twenty, so it's been
31:58
Speaker 1: six years now.
32:00
Speaker 3: But we're going to talk about our bus system.
32:01
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about the BRT, We're going to
32:04
Speaker 1: talk about a lot of what Metro Transit does, so
32:07
Speaker 1: that'll be interesting on Friday.
32:08
Speaker 2: So we have some good guests, yes, and it's important
32:10
Speaker 2: to remember too that when you're listening to the show,
32:13
Speaker 2: we have a guest on the Kfaby comment line, you
32:16
Speaker 2: are more than welcome chime in. You don't like what's
32:18
Speaker 2: being said, you agree with it, you want to comment
32:20
Speaker 2: on it, All of that is welcome. While we have
32:23
Speaker 2: some guests on the line now, Gene, I have a
32:25
Speaker 2: few questions for you that I want to get into,
32:27
Speaker 2: and like I said, you are more than welcome to
32:30
Speaker 2: chime in. Four zero two five five, eight, eleven, ten
32:32
Speaker 2: phone lines are wide open. This one comes from Kyle.
32:36
Speaker 2: In regards to the Mutual of Omaha Tower, I saw
32:41
Speaker 2: an article that the First National building is going to
32:43
Speaker 2: open up to apartments. I assume it's due to a
32:47
Speaker 2: lack of demand for office space. If so, then why
32:51
Speaker 2: is an even larger office building the Mutual of Omaha
32:54
Speaker 2: Tower even needed.
32:56
Speaker 1: Okay, so the old First National building, the one next
33:01
Speaker 1: to the double tree, is the one that is being converted,
33:04
Speaker 1: that was purchased and being converted into part apartments because
33:09
Speaker 1: First National Bank built a new tower right next to it.
33:12
Speaker 3: So so make sure that you know.
33:15
Speaker 1: That the the First National Bank tower, the newer one
33:19
Speaker 1: still stands and it's a bank building. It's the old
33:22
Speaker 1: one that they weren't in anymore that is being converted
33:25
Speaker 1: into part apartments. And that's where the press club is,
33:29
Speaker 1: for example, on the roof. That's the one being converted
33:31
Speaker 1: into apartments. Now, Mutual of Omaha is building that skyscraper.
33:37
Speaker 1: Mutual of Omaha has four thousand employees in Omaha. They
33:43
Speaker 1: are not planning on condoing out or or you know,
33:49
Speaker 1: renting out any other space. And that that big skyscraper
33:53
Speaker 1: that they're building to anybody else because they feel like
33:57
Speaker 1: they need it for their employees. Now, well, all four
34:00
Speaker 1: thousand begin that building at one time.
34:03
Speaker 3: No, that's why.
34:04
Speaker 7: You know.
34:05
Speaker 3: The one thing that was talked about.
34:06
Speaker 1: A lot is the first fourteen floors of the new
34:10
Speaker 1: Mutual of Omaha tower is a garage, a parking garage.
34:15
Speaker 1: It has two two hundred spaces in that parking garage.
34:19
Speaker 1: The City of Omaha has already purchased that parking garage
34:23
Speaker 1: for a woppen hundred million dollars. The City of Omaha
34:27
Speaker 1: is purchasing that, so the actual office space for Mutual
34:31
Speaker 1: of Omaha is fifteen floors up. The City of Omaha
34:35
Speaker 1: wanted to purchase that so they can manage it. They
34:38
Speaker 1: can own it, operate it, and management and manage it.
34:41
Speaker 1: And like I said, not all Mutual of Omaha employees
34:44
Speaker 1: will be there all at the same time. But the
34:47
Speaker 1: City of Omaha will pay for that one hundred million
34:50
Speaker 1: dollars for that garage by the revenue it produces. And
34:53
Speaker 1: keep in mind that every single space that Mutual of
34:56
Speaker 1: Omaha uses for their employees, they will be paying for
34:59
Speaker 1: the too back to the City of Omaha. And then
35:02
Speaker 1: on weekends and at night, then the City of Omaha
35:07
Speaker 1: can open up a lot of those spaces for the
35:09
Speaker 1: public if they're doing things down at the Riverfront Parks
35:12
Speaker 1: or whatever, because there isn't when the Riverfront Parks were developed,
35:16
Speaker 1: as you all know, there wasn't a bunch of parking
35:19
Speaker 1: developed so that people can park easily.
35:22
Speaker 3: People just find a way.
35:24
Speaker 1: But that garage will be a big benefit to what
35:27
Speaker 1: is going on and is downtown continues to grow. And
35:30
Speaker 1: so yeah, that parking garage that is going to be
35:34
Speaker 1: down that is down there, the city's already purchased as
35:36
Speaker 1: well as all the other city parking garages. We pay
35:40
Speaker 1: for them with revenue bonds, and it's paid for with
35:43
Speaker 1: the revenue that that garage produces. And it is an enterprise,
35:47
Speaker 1: meaning that all the revenue that currently, all the revenue
35:51
Speaker 1: that is produced goes back into the maintenance and operation
35:56
Speaker 1: of the garages, and some of that revenue in the
35:58
Speaker 1: future is going to go towards the streetcar too for
36:00
Speaker 1: their annual operation and maintenance.
36:02
Speaker 2: After a longer segment with the Mayor of Council Bluffs,
36:05
Speaker 2: Jill shoot at, we're gonna take a quick break here
36:07
Speaker 2: and we'll be back, Gene. I have a few questions
36:09
Speaker 2: lined up on the phone lines. When we come back,
36:12
Speaker 2: we'll play a little rapid fire hot potato with the
36:14
Speaker 2: phone lines to get as many comments as we can.
36:17
Speaker 2: My name is Peyton Hylock and Gene. We're gonna rapid
36:20
Speaker 2: fire some phone calls here. We had a mayor of
36:24
Speaker 2: Council Bluffs Jill shoot act on the show. You are
36:27
Speaker 2: former mayor of Omaha. Let me get that right.
36:29
Speaker 4: So here we go.
36:29
Speaker 2: Let's get to the phone lines we got Mark, thank
36:32
Speaker 2: you for calling in. You are live with Jean's authored
36:34
Speaker 2: on KFAB.
36:35
Speaker 6: Good morning, Hey Gee, good morning, thanks for taking my call.
36:39
Speaker 6: First off, Matt lost the election.
36:41
Speaker 7: It was a close election. What bade him in the
36:43
Speaker 7: rear end is he wanted to get rid of Dodge Park,
36:46
Speaker 7: the golf course. That's the thing that I think Dan Hymn.
36:50
Speaker 6: But also, how can you be mayor of a city
36:53
Speaker 6: and not know the levy and not know the budget.
36:55
Speaker 7: That is absolutely ridiculous and that's not acceptable.
36:59
Speaker 3: Well, I I appreciate your comment.
37:00
Speaker 1: I was kind of taken back a bit because she said, well,
37:03
Speaker 1: I'm not a career politician. Well, you don't need to
37:05
Speaker 1: be a career politician to know your budget. So you know,
37:08
Speaker 1: I still know Omaha's budget. I know what this year
37:11
Speaker 1: the general fun budget is. I said it before. It's
37:13
Speaker 1: about five hundred and sixty two million dollars. And I
37:16
Speaker 1: know our levy. It's forty three cents per one hundred
37:21
Speaker 1: dollars valuation. She's been mayor six months. I agree with
37:25
Speaker 1: you that should be top first and foremost. The one
37:29
Speaker 1: of the mayor's most important responsibilities is developing and maintaining
37:34
Speaker 1: the city budget.
37:35
Speaker 3: So if Mayor Shudak, if you're.
37:37
Speaker 1: Listening, I think you just need to be really really
37:40
Speaker 1: familiar with that budget from now on and going forward,
37:43
Speaker 1: because she's been mayor since January, so seven months now.
37:46
Speaker 3: Thank you for the call. Mark.
37:47
Speaker 2: We go now to Sparky. Nice fun nickname, Sparky. Thanks
37:51
Speaker 2: for calling into the kfab comment line. You are live
37:54
Speaker 2: with Jean's author, So Mayor.
37:58
Speaker 7: Say, Keith Clark, call me Sparky. You met me. I'm
38:01
Speaker 7: on Bruce Joynt's all playboard. But I'm in Long Beach, Mississippi.
38:05
Speaker 7: We've got about seventeen thousand a residents and I've heard
38:08
Speaker 7: you talk about Tiff and so my question would be
38:12
Speaker 7: for a fast growing coastal city like US. What would
38:16
Speaker 7: be the first type of project you would use TIFF for?
38:19
Speaker 7: What kind of projects would you avoid?
38:21
Speaker 1: Well, you know, the TIFF is only allowed in the
38:24
Speaker 1: state of Nebraska, and obviously it's allowed in Iowa because
38:27
Speaker 1: a marriage has talked about it from Iowa from Council Bluffs.
38:30
Speaker 1: But it's called tax increment financing and state law determines
38:34
Speaker 1: when you can use it. There's only certain tax eligible
38:39
Speaker 1: TIFF eligible expenses that can be approved. The type that
38:44
Speaker 1: the thing that is important to know about how we
38:46
Speaker 1: use TIFF here is that project and it's usually a
38:50
Speaker 1: development project, so it's usually say an apartment building. It
38:55
Speaker 1: could be a shopping center, it could be a rehabilitated
38:59
Speaker 1: shopping center, could be a mixed use development. But they
39:02
Speaker 1: would not be able to do that project without the
39:06
Speaker 1: benefit of TIFF.
39:08
Speaker 3: Otherwise.
39:08
Speaker 1: It's called the butt four clause in state law, meaning
39:12
Speaker 1: this development would not happen but for the TIFF. And
39:15
Speaker 1: it basically what it does is it helps the developer
39:19
Speaker 1: pay for that project. In simple terms, as he is
39:22
Speaker 1: building that project, the value of that area that he's
39:26
Speaker 1: building where he's doing that development. It increases every single
39:30
Speaker 1: year as it gets bigger and bigger. That developer pays
39:34
Speaker 1: extra taxes every single year as that value goes up
39:38
Speaker 1: and up and up. But the city, with whatever they
39:41
Speaker 1: approved is for tiff benefits, will basically give that a
39:45
Speaker 1: certain amount of the tax dollars, say, pay back to
39:48
Speaker 1: the developer for a period of about up to twenty years,
39:52
Speaker 1: and that helps them pay for that development. Otherwise they
39:55
Speaker 1: could not do it without the tiff and that area
39:59
Speaker 1: may just stay vacant with the value going lower and
40:02
Speaker 1: lower and lower without.
40:03
Speaker 3: The tax increment financing.
40:05
Speaker 1: The thing that people are confused about is they think
40:08
Speaker 1: that they are taking Omaha taxpayer money away, and they're not.
40:13
Speaker 1: They're not at all, because you can't give away what
40:16
Speaker 1: you don't already have, and so somebody's making faces at
40:20
Speaker 1: me outside the window.
40:21
Speaker 3: But you can't.
40:22
Speaker 1: So the taxpayers are the biggest benefactors of tiff once
40:26
Speaker 1: that tiff note is paid off. And keep in mind too,
40:28
Speaker 1: in the state of Nebraska, it's the developer goes to
40:31
Speaker 1: the bank and takes out a loan, it's not the
40:35
Speaker 1: city basically giving them city dollars. So they take out
40:39
Speaker 1: the loan and the risk is between the developer and
40:41
Speaker 1: the bank, not the city.
40:44
Speaker 3: Jeff.
40:45
Speaker 2: I would love to get to your question. We are
40:47
Speaker 2: just a little bit out of time today. Jeff wants
40:49
Speaker 2: to get into homelessness. I would love to hear from
40:51
Speaker 2: you tomorrow, Jeff, if you would like to call in
40:53
Speaker 2: again for zero two, five, five, eight eleven ten. Wrapping
40:56
Speaker 2: up the show here, Gene, we got a guest tomorrow
40:59
Speaker 2: and maybe a Max store if we have time.
41:01
Speaker 1: I do have a Max story about with my little
41:03
Speaker 1: six year old grandson who is so precocious. But they
41:07
Speaker 1: went and saw Wicked last week. My daughter Elizabeth took
41:09
Speaker 1: the kids to see Wicked, and she sent me a
41:12
Speaker 1: text last night and said she was singing Wicked songs
41:14
Speaker 1: with Max. That's my grandson. And I asked him if
41:17
Speaker 1: he thought I could play Glinda in the stage show,
41:19
Speaker 1: and he got really serious and looked at her and
41:21
Speaker 1: he goes, no, Mommy, I don't think so. And I
41:23
Speaker 1: said why not. Don't you think I have a good voice?
41:25
Speaker 1: And he said sure, but aren't you afraid of heights?
41:28
Speaker 1: And she said, I said, I don't think Linda goes
41:31
Speaker 1: at high and he says, well, mommy, you're gonna need
41:33
Speaker 1: to be comfortable riding around in a three D sphere.
41:37
Speaker 1: How this sixty year old says these things, I don't know.
41:40
Speaker 1: But that's my MAX story for today, and that is
41:44
Speaker 1: it for us today. Thank you so much for spending
41:46
Speaker 1: this hour with us, and thanks for listening. We'd love
41:49
Speaker 1: for you to join us again tomorrow. Like I said,
41:52
Speaker 1: Mary Jane Trumper, who was the chair of the Nebraska
41:55
Speaker 1: State GOP, will be on with me and I hope
41:58
Speaker 1: you are too. Jean Stothard and this is eleven ten
42:02
Speaker 1: kfab