Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / More OWH and Omaha Parks

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More OWH and Omaha Parks · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Adoptee and a very good morning to all of you.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the KFAB comment line. I just heard my
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: voice saying adoptee. You know, I walked out of my
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: garage the other night to bring my dragon, my trash
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: cans out, and my neighbor next door, he goes, I
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: just have one question, John. I go, yes, John, and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: he goes, who thought up adoptee? I had to give
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: credit to Chris Baker.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Geen.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Did you see that that post on Facebook yesterday?
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  Speaker 4: No?
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: And it was I tried to stay away from. No,
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: it was a post by Cafe b Sophie Cunningham. She
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: was pointing and it said when your neighbor shouts adoptee
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: and Jean Stouthart sees and it's like, poor.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Adoptee. There we go. Yes, that is my voice there.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: If you listen to Chris Baker, you and the twelve
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: others sat listen to Chris Baker in the afternoon. But
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: I am your host this morning. Jean Stothart is my name.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Peyton high Lock, my producer, is here. Good morning. We
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: just went right into it today. ID you could say
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: good morning, thank you all for being with us today.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: And we want to hear from you. We want to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: get your feedback. We want to hear your comments, concerns, questions, complaint,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: anything goes and we mean this. We won't back away
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: from anything, whether it's city, state, national, the world and
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: the streetcar. We'll talk about that till we're blue in
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the face. But we will also have some great guests.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: We're gonna have a great guest tomorrow. But you're gonna
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: hear plenty of opinions from me too. But it is
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: your chance to speak up and sound off. You can
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: send your emails to comment at kfeb dot com or
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: you can call us at four oh two five five
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: eight eleven ten. We are very happy that you're with us. Peyton,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: I started my day out with being annoyed. Now yesterday
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: that's not unusual for me. Now it is yesterday. I
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: talked a lot about the World Herald. I said that
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: I felt like that there some of their articles have
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: taken a very left leaning turn. I wasn't real happy
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: with the the one that was about congressional district to
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: race with Denise Powell above the fold and Brinker Harding
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  Speaker 1: in a very unattractive picture because he's a very attractive
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: man below the fold, and I said that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it seems to me that they are becoming more and
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: more biased, and I don't like that. I felt like
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: that they're they're not holding certain people accountable as they should.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: But here's why I'm annoyed this morning. Are you ready
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: for this? Peyton knows this. Every day I bring in
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the Omaha World Herald in the Wall Street Journal. They
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: come packaged together. They're laying on my sidewalk. I go
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: out first thing and get them. Look, I wish you
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: could all see this. Look what I got this morning, Peyton.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: I got three Omaha World Heralds, all the same date,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: packaged together. And I didn't get my Wall Street Journal.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: Well, we had some choice words for the World Harald yesterday. Well,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: they said, you know what, We're just gonna send you
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: three copies. I had no Top New York Times.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: How about that? I not Wall Street Journal Journal.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: So to make it even worse, I looked up the
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: World Herald and there was their customer service line, and
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: so I called them and I was on hold fifteen minutes,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: and some gentlemen came on, and it was.
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  Speaker 2: Very hard to carry on a conversation. With this gentleman.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: But he said, we don't have anything to do with
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  Speaker 1: the Wall Street Journal. You got to call the Wall
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Street Journal. And I said, but they come package you together. Well,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: we hire somebody, and they hire the same people. I
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: couldn't get I couldn't get this figured out. So I'm
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: going to say another thing about the World Herald this morning.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Their customer service isn't very customer friendly because they said, well,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: I don't know why you got three.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Well I don't.
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  Speaker 1: Either, That's why I'm calling. So I do have three
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  Speaker 1: Omaha World Heralds right here in front of me from Tuesday,
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  Speaker 1: June thirtieth.
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  Speaker 2: What do you need three Toaha World Heralds for?
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  Speaker 1: I do not know so anyway, But now that we've
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: talked about them two days in a row, I will
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I have to say one thing though. Aaron Sanderford was
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  Speaker 1: a reporter for the World Herald for many many years.
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  Speaker 1: He left the World Herald went to the Nebraska Examiner.
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  Speaker 1: He was editor in chief there for a while, and
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  Speaker 1: Aaron has a lot of experience reporting, probably a good
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  Speaker 1: twenty five years. He is returning to the Omaha World Herald.
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  Speaker 1: I think he's already started there as the managing editor.
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  Speaker 1: And I will say this about Aaron. I have never
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and I worked with a lot of reporters over the
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: last sixteen years being down at City Hall, I've never
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: worked with a more responsible reporter than Aaron Sanderford. I mean,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: he was on it all the time. And I've never
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  Speaker 1: had a reporter when they were doing a story like
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Aaron that would call me all the time in the
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  Speaker 1: last twelve years and say this is what I'm writing?
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  Speaker 2: Is this right?
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  Speaker 1: Am I accurate? Nobody else does that and he would,
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  Speaker 1: so kudos. I'm giving the World Herald kudos here. Kudos
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  Speaker 1: to the World Herald for bringing Aaron Sanderford back to
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  Speaker 1: the World Herald. And I hope we see some improvement now.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: What I want to talk about right now, and hopefully
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: I'll get a lot of your opinions about this, is
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  Speaker 1: this ordinance that the City council. It was introduced by
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Danny Begley, who is represents City Council District four, which
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: is basically downtown in Midtown. He always will introduce himself
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: as I'm the union guy, but he's president of the
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: council now and this ordinance that he introduced would be
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: raising the minimum wage in Omaha above and beyond what
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: the state of Nebraska did. Now, it's not going to
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: be voted on until July fourteenth. It'll be in front
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: of the city council July fourteenth for a vote. However,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: the city of Lincoln did something very similar. The Attorney
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: gen role sued Lincoln.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: It looks like that Hilders.
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  Speaker 1: I've heard him say that he expects to have a
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  Speaker 1: decision in the Lincoln case by July fourteenth, before the
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  Speaker 1: city council votes on it. But here is what I
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: would like you all to do. I want your opinion,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: and if you don't or you do agree, I'm asking
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: you contact your city council member. That's why they're there.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: They're there to represent you and tell them how you
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: think about this. Me I support the minimum wage, but
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  Speaker 1: I would follow the law what the state of Nebraska has.
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  Speaker 1: And if the City of Omaha goes forward with this,
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  Speaker 1: they undoubtedly they will one hundred percent get sued by
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: the Attorney General, just like Lincoln did. And because our
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: law department wrote this ordinance, they would have to hire
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: outside council to represent the city in this case. And
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  Speaker 1: we're talking on my estimation at least a couple hundred
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars of taxpayer money would have to go to
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: fight this. Now, keep this in mind too, is that
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  Speaker 1: the City of Omaha doesn't hire anybody at minimum wage,
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  Speaker 1: so it would not affect any of our labor negotiations
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  Speaker 1: at all.
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  Speaker 2: And I did check.
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  Speaker 1: Even the lifeguards that we hire for seasonal employment, they
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: have to be at least fifteen years old, and we
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: currently start them at no less than fifteen dollars an hour,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: and then it goes up from there depending on what
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  Speaker 1: their experience is, if they've been with the city before.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: I ask about camp counselors too, because we have all
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: these great summer camps, and the camp counselors have to
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  Speaker 1: be at least seventeen years old, and they currently start
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: out at fifteen fifty and it goes up from there.
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  Speaker 1: So even our younger seasonal help that are hired for
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  Speaker 1: the City of Omaha during the summer are not affected
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: by what Councilman Bagley is trying to do to raise
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  Speaker 1: this for fourteen fifty sixteen year olds the minimum wage.
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  Speaker 1: As we understand, and this is accurate, it's never meant
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  Speaker 1: to be a living wage. It's never meant to support
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  Speaker 1: a family of four. And you know there's not too
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  Speaker 1: many fourteen fifteen year old kids out there that got
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  Speaker 1: their first job that need a living wage, that are
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  Speaker 1: supporting a family of four. And so what do you
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: all feel about this, because you know it's not affecting
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  Speaker 1: any of the City of Omaha employees. Like I said,
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  Speaker 1: Councilman Bagley does frequently introduce himself as the union guy.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure what his motivation is.
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  Speaker 2: With this at all.
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  Speaker 1: But the last thing that you would want to do
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: as a council member, as the city council because they
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: vote as a group, is to pass an ordinance that
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  Speaker 1: you know you're going to turn around and get sued
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and it's going to cost the taxpayers money. And we
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: know that because of what's happening in Lincoln right now,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and the Attorney General already did say Mike Hilger's already
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: said we will sue the City of omahaf this is
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  Speaker 1: past two.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: We all think about it.
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  Speaker 3: We'd love to hear from you for zero two, five, five,
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  Speaker 3: eight eleven ten comment at kfab dot com. It can
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  Speaker 3: be about the minimum wage or anything that's on your mind.
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  Speaker 3: Gene I'm just going to ask you a quick follow up.
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  Speaker 3: You kind of hinted at it, though. If the city
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  Speaker 3: council is seeing this precedent in Lincoln with the Attorney General,
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  Speaker 3: why why why are they still going with this? So
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: what's the point, What's what are they pushing it for?
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  Speaker 1: That is exactly what I don't understand, and I have
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: not been able to talk to council in Vaguley. The
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  Speaker 1: city council would not be restricted under the Mary Ewings
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  Speaker 1: gag order because they're elected officials, but I don't know
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  Speaker 1: what his motivation is. The thing of it is too
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: that we have seen, and we have seen across the
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  Speaker 1: country that other cities that have tried to raise the
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  Speaker 1: minimum wage above what the national minimum wage is, what
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  Speaker 1: they see is the unemployment rate going alarmingly up. And
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: it's just what we talked about the other day. If
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  Speaker 1: you're talking about say fast food restaurant, and you know
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  Speaker 1: they have to make a certain amount of revenue to survive,
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  Speaker 1: and if they are required to pay all their employees,
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  Speaker 1: say that they are hiring them in at minimum wage
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  Speaker 1: and they are required the fourteen or fifteen year olds
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  Speaker 1: to pay them more than what they are going to
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  Speaker 1: do is hire less, and that is exactly what we
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  Speaker 1: are seeing throughout the country when other cities have tried
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  Speaker 1: to do this. You know that nut case Chris Murphy
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: that's in Congress, the one with a bad combover that
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: starts above his like an inch above his ear. He's
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: out there saying he wants to minimum wage to be
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: twenty five dollars an hour. Can you imagine what that
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: would do? I mean it would the end result would
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: be exactly the opposite of what they are trying to achieve.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: It would cause unemployment to go up, lest people would
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: have jobs. That's what's going to happen with this. I
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: don't even think he understands. I don't think that guy's
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: ever had a job, to tell you the truth.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: Well, you make a good point, Gene, because Chris bad
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: comb over Murphy is pushing livable wage. How can you
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: live if you're if you're working a full time job,
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: you need to be able to make a livable wage.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: That's just like what you said.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: Not every job needs to be a living wage job, right,
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  Speaker 3: And a lot of the times that's entry level or
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: you're starting out at a new job and hopefully thirty
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: sixty ninety days down the line, you're looking at getting
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: paid a little bit more.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Right, You're not going to stay at that entry level.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: And just just again to let you know, I mean
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: I was bringing up the City of Omaha. I mean
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: not even not even public works. I mean, your guys
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: out there working on your streets, are mowing the grass,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: are fixing the pot. Nobody in the City of Omaha
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: is hired in at minimum wage. They're not, So it
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: does not it won't affect labor negotiations at all. So
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: with the City of Omaha, that's not an issue. But
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: I don't know what the motivation is behind this. Now
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: what we might see with the Omaha City Council. You know,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: there's seven of them, and there's four Democrats, three Republicans.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: You know, you could possibly see a four to three
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: vote and that would pass, and so then it would
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: be up to the mayor whether the mayor would veto
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: or not veto. And I don't know that information at all.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I don't know what the mayor feels about this at all.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: I would hope the mayor would just feel like, we
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: need to follow the law and we need not to
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: get ourselves in a position that we're getting sued. But
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the vote is on the fourteenth of July, and if
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: you feel strongly about this either way, you know, please
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: call your council members.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: I know you know all who they are. But I
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: think teen employment.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Will really really take a hit if that ordinance is passed,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: and so anyway, I want to bring that up to
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: let you know because it is something. I even heard
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: it on National News this morning talking about this issue
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: about raising the minimum wage in certain cities. So I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: don't think it's a good idea at all, and I
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: want to hear what you think about it too.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: This is the Cafabe comment Line with your host of
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: the show, Jean Stock. Third, my name is Peyton Hylock,
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: and Gene we can talk about this minimum wage two
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: as people to go ahead and chime in. One thing
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: that I am gonna go back to real quick, because
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: I got a call from a Lillian. She called in
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: four zero two five five, eight eleven ten and she
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: said that she was getting two papers a day in
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: the Omaha World Herald for about a week and she
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: called the customer service line. She had some problems, and
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: she said that the customer service line is located in Manila.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Manila is in the Philippines. Yes, And I when and
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: I didn't want to sound.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: Condescending at all, but when I said, it was hard
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: to understand this conversation. The person that I was talking
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: to had a hard time speaking English. Strong accent, very
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: very strong accent. And you know, the other day, there
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: was something else, another issue that I had that I
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: call customer service and it was a very strange number
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: that came up. And on my phone, you know when
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: you dial it on my cell phone, on my phone,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: it came up.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: It was in Vietnam. Wow, yep.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: And that's not particularly uncommon though, for customer service to
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: be outsourced.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: No, it's not at all.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: But you know when you got your hometown newspaper and
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: you call and there's this big recording about we're here
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: to help you and we're here to serve you, and
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: we're your customer service. And then you call somebody and
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: you're in the Philippines, you're thinking they don't give a hoot. Yeah,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: And he kept on asking me, well, why did you
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: get three newspapers?
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Did I go, that's why I'm calling here. I don't
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: know why I got three.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: I don't need three World Heralds every morning, but I
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: got them, but I didn't get my Wall Street Journal.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Well you got to call the Wall Street Journal. Oh great,
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: I know. Yeah.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: So anyway, talking about the hometown newspaper, let's get to
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: some hometown concerns. We go to comment at kfab dot com.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: This email comes from Sarah Gene. Is there anything that
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: can be done with people swimming in the fountain at
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: Gallagher Park? It is very annoying when there's a splash
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: pad and a swimming pool right there. It's an eyesore.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: I've seen people basically taking a bath and I don't
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: want the fountain to get shut down.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: I hate hearing that.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: And you know, because for a while, once that fountain
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: was redone, refurbished or whatever several years ago, then they
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: had immediate problems with it. If you recall at Gallagher
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: they had immediate problems also with the spray ground that
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: they had there, and they worked on it all summer
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: and so they obviously they finally got it going. But
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: that's the issue when you have the spray grounds. The
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: good thing about it is you don't need any personnel.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: I mean, they just they automatically turn on. They're not
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: on all the time, and so they have sensors in
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: them they automatically turn on. They don't need the lifeguards,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: they don't need maintenance out there all the time. But
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: having said that, then they don't have any city employees
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: out there that are watching for things like people swimming
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: in the fountain. And you know, the we still have
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: an issue with our parks and that is we do
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: not have a parks director yet. Remember the one that
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: I hired was that Mary Ewing terminated within the first
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: month or so. They did a national search, didn't find anybody.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: They did a second national search, and keep in mind
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: those national searches are very expensive, and as far as
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: I know, well I know for sure we don't have
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: a parks director yet. So as far as I know,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: the second search didn't come up with anyone that they
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: want to hire. Now hopefully they will, but they still
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: don't have a parks director. That makes a big difference.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: Well, Gene, we're a year into Mayor Ewing being in office,
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: and how significant is it to not have a parks director.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: There's somebody that's interim right now, there's somebody in the seat.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: I mean, is it is it something where we can
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: just continue to get by or is this a critical
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: issue that needs solving.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Well, to me, it's a very I don't think I
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: would call it critical, but it is a very important issue.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Jake Linder is the introm Or acting parks director. He
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: was my acting parks director for a while too, until
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: I hired Matt Kalsovitch.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: And so if you recall, I.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Hired brook Bench, who was great when I first became mayor.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: He was great.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: He was a great parks director. I used to kid him.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: I said, we have two hundred and fifty six parks
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: in Omaha. Do you visit each one every day? And
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: he probably does. He knew everything about everything. Then he
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: went out to Cunningham. So I did do a national
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: search and I hired Matt Kalsovich, who I thought did
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: a really great job. And in that interim Jake Linder
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: was in there at intram. It is so important when
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: we got just to put it, give you a good example,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: when we received our COVID money from the government, I
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: did an open ended survey online and I didn't say,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: you know, rank these areas one to ten, what you
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: think is most important.
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: To me?
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: I hope he did.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: My cough button there For me, what is most import
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: sortant is for it's where we're going to spend our
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: COVID money. The number one issue that came back from
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Omahon's surprised me. Number one issue was the parks. People
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: care about our parks a lot in Omaha, and you know,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: to give, you know, elaborate a little bit more. I
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: ask Matt Kalsovitch to do a parks master plan, a
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: new one, because I put more and more money into
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: the park's budget every year. We put over ten million
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: of COVID money into the parks. But I said, we
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: really need a coordinated effort with two hundred and fifty
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: six parks, and so we needed a master plan that
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: we could prioritize what parks we need to address first, second, third,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: how much money we need for the work that needs
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: to be done, and then we would try to work
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: that all into the budget. Since Kalsovitch was let go,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know where that park's master plan is. I
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: believe they are waiting for a new parks director to
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: push it through. But that to me was very important.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: And now you know, the city budget should be done
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: by now for twenty seven that will go to the
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: city Council this summer, and you know, to be able
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: to do the budget for the parks, that master plan
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: needed to be done so that the Parks Department can prioritize.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Now, I'm going to bring.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Up maybe a little bit of a touchy subject, but
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: the Parks Foundation that exists in Omaha, you know, they
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: totally exist to raise money for the parks. I will
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: say my experience with the Parks Foundation, they should be
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: there to raise money, they should be there to work
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: in collaboration with the Parks Department. But I have found
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: that they have become quite the board, quite political, and
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: they don't need to be doing that. They need to
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: be concentrating on raising money and doing good things for
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: the parks. You know, their name was listed for the
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Memorial Park concert. But just to give you a little example,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: after I was not married anymore, I was not looking
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: for any kind of board to serve on. But I
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: thought I knew a lot a lot about the parks.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: I knew what was needed as far as a master plan.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I had raised a lot of private money for our parks.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Look at our riverfront parks downtown and we worked and
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: raised over four hundred million of private money for those
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: riverfront parks. You know, we raised it was totally funded privately,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: the Luminarium which is down on Lewis and Clark Landing,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: which is a city owned property there. But I offered
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: to be on the Parks Foundation board and I received
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: a Dear John letter and said that they are hiring.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: They were choosing somebody that was more experienced than me
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: for the board, and I was told the conversation was
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: that it got very political about bringing me on the
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: board and they didn't want to do that. They were
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: worried that they would make the current mayor angry if
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: I was on the board. It's like, come on, folks,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: that that should and enter into the conversation. The Parks
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: Foundation should be there to raise money for the parks,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: into work in collaboration with the Parks Department.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: That's why they exist.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: They need to stop being so political with who they
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: choose to be on the board.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: That's ridiculous.
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: Your host, Jean Sauth, my name Peyton Hylock, and we've
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: been talking quite about quite a bit about the minimum
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: wage this morning, and we're gonna head off to the
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: phone lines here for Rob. Rob has something to chime
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: in on. Rob Thank you so much for holding on
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: over that break. You are live with jeans so author.
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: Good morning, Rob, Thanks, thank you very much, thank you. First,
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: I need to say that Max needs to go over
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: to his uncle in Cincinnati to catch a redskin so
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: he understands how to run.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: There you go, and you know what, we're gonna do
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: that too. Mah.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Max was my grandson that I reported yesterday. At his
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: first baseball game. He hit the ball, but he didn't
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: understand he had to run. So we'll take him to
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: either see the Cincinnati Reds or the Saint Louis Cardinals.
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: Absolutely. Well, my point is with the minimum wage, you know,
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: without a thirteen dollars fifty cent minimum wage or wage
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: that is for those under sixteen, where is any incentive
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: to hire the untrained fourteen year old instead of an
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: experienced seventeen year old.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Good point.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I had to stop and think about that for a minute.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Where's the incentive?
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: Well, there is none. Why Why am I going to
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: hire a fourteen year old that I have to train? Yes, exactly,
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: when I can just hire somebody who knows what they're doing.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. Now I'm following it, and that's exactly the truth.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: And to go along with that, I need to remind
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: people rob that you know, right now the state of Nebraska,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: it's fifteen dollars is a minimum wage. Keep in mind,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: the federal minimum wage is seven dollars and twenty five
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: cents and it's been unchanged since two thousand and nine.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: What happened in Nebraska was in December of twenty twenty two,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: our minimum wage state was nine dollars, and since twenty
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: twenty two it has gone up a dollar fifty a
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: year ever since twenty two to where it is.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Now at fifteen.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: So mean we with the federal being seven to twenty
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: five seven dollars twenty five cents in Nebraska's at fifteen,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: that's quite a job right there.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: And your point is well taken.
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: Sure, if I'm not mistaken, Iowa is still at the
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: federal minimum. So if you're going to have a bunch
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: of people doings cast little things, where are they going
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: to put the business?
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and it's it's they're going to be that's right,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: that's right, because that's what they They have to make
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: a certain amount of money to survive.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, we just know that.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: And if they have to pay their employees a lot more.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: That's going to affect their bottom line. All they're going
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: to do is hire less employees and that that unemployment
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: rate is going to go up and they may just
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: take their business somewhere else. Especially for those of us
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: in Nebraska that live along the border, that's what's going
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: to affect the most. And then those that are in
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: the interior that's where it's going to affect those people
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: the most. So thank you for your call. Rob, always
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: good to hear from you. And we are back and
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Peyton is tucking.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Yes, I have a good phone call here, and I'm
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: going to let her introduce herself. Welcome to the KFABE
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: comment line. You're live with Jean Stouthorn.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Maybe just introduce yourself for us please, ma'am, Hi.
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: Mayor, it's Christi Erman dearis, how are you very good?
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Thank you? So I was just going to say.
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: That, yes, yes, you and I have spoked many times.
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: I wanted to call in about the minimum wage that
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: we passed here and the refinement remained. So I did
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: speak at the city council meeting a few weeks ago.
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: They only give you three minutes. And this issue is
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: way more complex than that, so I thought if you
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: wanted to give me a little bit of time, I
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: could talk a little bit deeper on how that affects
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: not only Omaha, but the state and the country when
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: we mandate wages like this.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Please do, I mean, please do tell us what you're
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: feeling is about that, because you are right there when
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: all of this debate and discussion was going on when
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: it was raised in December of twenty two.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: Tell us tell us about your take on all of this.
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: Sure, So you know through your conversations with me before
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: I've met you with through your office, that I am
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: pretty physical conservative. But when we talk about the economics
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: of mandating wages or even services, when we talk about
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: mandating and health care that healthcare must purchase certain services,
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: it drives up a cost to everybody. Now, if we
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: want to mandate a minimum wage as a government, that's okay.
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: But the problem is in a free market, companies can go.
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: To other countries.
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: So one of the city council members did mention the
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: telemarketing jobs that she had as a younger person, and
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: I'm guessing she might be close to my age. I'm
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: not sure, but Omaha used to be like the telemarketing
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: capital of the country, and very good wages that you
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: could get in telemarketing above the minimum wage. So a
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: lot of folks, non degree folks would go to telemarketing,
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: but those of all but diminished and have gone away
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: because possible, that's right, as you talked about just a
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: few minutes ago. They've gone to other countries where the
• 26:51
  Speaker 4: wages are much lower. So when we mandate a higher wage,
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: that can be okay, But at the same time, you
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: have to then mandate everybody in this country cannot purchase
• 27:04
  Speaker 4: services outside of the country, and we would have to
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: be a closed economy because we can pay our folks
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: higher wages, but that will drive up costs, so we
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: have to then buy that product at that higher cost.
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: And what I was trying to get across to that
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: city council meeting was you end up in the same
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: place because now you're spending more for your product and
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: service as well. Unfortunately that's not the case, and a
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: lot of those jobs will then go to other countries
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: that they do pay their folks lower wages. We saw
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: that in telemarketing is a very good example of that.
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: But I also am old enough to know manufacturing is
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: very diminished. You used to have seven thousand employees at
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: Western Electrics turned at and T, and that is completely gone.
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: And those were great ment Those were great wages that
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: people had raised families on, and unfortunately those they went
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: away to other countries. And I've also been very expressive
• 28:16
  Speaker 4: that I grew up in Northeast Omaha and at a
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: time where there was a lot of a lot more
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: retail and restaurants, and those have all gone away. So
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: when you eat into the very very narrow margins of
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: those kinds of services, they'll just leap. So when we
• 28:35
  Speaker 4: mandate high wages that digs into margins and to get
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: those retail establishments that to go back to North Omaha
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: would never happened if we mandate that they pay them
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: a high high wage that they already are not there
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: because their margins are too tight, or or have flipped
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: and have caused them to leave the area. Memoriae. It's
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: a very complex issue, right, yes.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: And I appreciate you calling in a minimum wage. Was
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: never intended to be the living wage, you know, Like
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: I said before, one of the council members said, well,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: every everybody should be able to have a living wage
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: with the job they have, and when you think about
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: a fourteen year old, you think that you know they're
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: not going to be trying to make a living wage
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: to raise a family. Afore, it just doesn't work that way.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: It's an entry level wage.
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: And I think correctly what.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: The state in.
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: My husband and I used you if you remember one
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: hostess was I think, file for bankruptcy. But they were
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: good paying union jobs, and they had a woman on
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: the radio saying she had been there for eighteen years
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: making a great wage, straightening tweakies on the line. Unfortunately,
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: the company went bankrupt and had to sell to another
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: another company. So and that's just the reality of it.
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: And I also wanted to note that no tax payer
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: funded entity my knowledge is subject to the laws, so cities, county,
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: school district, none of them have to abide by this law.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: Christie, I have one quick question for you.
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: We need to go to break so I don't have
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: too long, but maybe Gene would know this too. But
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: when I think about a fourteen, fifteen, maybe even sixteen
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: year old, the percentage of them that.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Work a job is not super high.
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: How long how far back do they go and tracking
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: unemployment for kids this age and is it really a
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: considerable number considering the percentage of them that don't even work.
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: Do we know any statistics about that don't feel like
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: they have to work, don't feel like they have to work?
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: I mean, and fourteen not very very very few places
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: even higher kids that young, you have any information?
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: True?
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: And we're finding that in service out here in northwest
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: Omaha that they just can't hire pee enough people. So
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: even at thirteen fifty an hour, the kids aren't coming
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: for the jobs, right. And you know, Chris and I
• 31:16
  Speaker 4: worked at a very very young age.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: But go ahead, Christy, I brought up even earlier.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you were listening, but you know,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: the city of Omaha, for example, they don't have anyone
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: at minimum wage. Even the seasonal lifeguards, they have to
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: be at least fifteen and they start out at fifteen
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: dollars an hour and it goes up from there. All
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the camp counselors have to be at least seventeen, and
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: they start out at fifteen fifty and go up from there.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: And so yeah, we would not be affected at all.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Somebody called in the other day and asked how this
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: would affect labor negotiations and with the city of Omaha,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: not at all.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: But I thank you for calling in. We need to
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: go on a break.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: But I really appreciate your perspective on this because you
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: were down there and you heard all of the debate
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: and all of the discussion, and I really appreciate you
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: calling in, So thank you.
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: Yes, and thank you so much for giving me.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: The time you bet.
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: I got a very interesting email this morning in regards
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: to the Omaha World Herald, and it says, Gene, I
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: find it amusing that it bothers you that you believe
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: the Omaha world is beginning to lean left when you
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: work at a radio station who leans heavily right. Not
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: to mention you are also affiliated with the news network Fox.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: That is even further right, Gene, I'm glad that person
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: finds me amusing. But here here's the answer to that.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: I'm a radio talk show host. Now I'm not reporting
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: the news. News media, whether it be TV, whether it
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: be the actual news on the radio, whether it be
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: your local hometown newspaper should be non bought bias, and
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: they should be fair in all of their reporting. And
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: let me just bring up the World Herald. I would
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: say in the when I first was down at City Hall,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: and that's been sixteen years I was down there. I
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: did not find them to be biased at all, are
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: left leaning at all. I found them to be exceptionally
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: fair and every article and good articles that they would
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: put out. But I think a local hometown newspaper like
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: the Omaha World Herald has to reflect the community that
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: they are representing. It's not like the World Herald is
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times either,
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: you know. And so this is what I'm saying. I
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: feel like that they have changed. Look at the public
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: pulse in the Omaha World Herald. Look at what the
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: majority of the letters are in the public pulse that
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: they print all the time.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: Are the editorials.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: So that's why I said that KFAB is known as
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: being more of a conservative talk show, but I am
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: not reporting the news. That's I think that's the real
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: difference here. I'm giving you my opinions, and you know
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: my political affiliation. You know, I do lean to the right,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: but I try to be fair with everybody and to
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: try to and when I became mayor, I did say
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: to everybody, I will represent all of you. I don't
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: care if you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent, black, white, brown.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: I don't care if you're a male or a female.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: I will represent you and I meant that. And so
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: that's why we feel like what I am doing here,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: even though KFAB is known as being more of a
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: conservative talk show, that my show is trying to be
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: fair to everyone.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: There we go, and that addresses that.
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: Now I'm going to change the topic a little bit here,
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: and a few people are just referencing local restaurants. Why
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: why does it feel like restaurants here in Omaha close
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: so early? My workshift ends at seven point thirty. I
• 34:56
  Speaker 3: want to meet up with some friends, go to a restaurant,
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: have an appetizer and maybe a drink, eat a meal,
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: and not be in a rush. Looking around at other
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: big cities, Dallas, she said, for example, you can go
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: to dinner nine to ten. They're not worried about closing.
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: Do you notice any trend with this gene? Not really.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, the bars in Omaha can stay open till
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: two am, now, now that's for sure, and a lot
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: of the bars do serve food. But let me tell
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: you that's not really typical in all big cities anymore.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: Maybe New York or Los Angeles. But I recently was
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: down to New Orleans for the jazz Fest with you know,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty thousand of my best friends down
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: there too going to the jazz Fest. And we were,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: actually my husband and I, Kevin and I were walking
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: up and down Bourbon Street at about eleven pm at night,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: trying to find a place open to eat, if you
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: could believe it, in New Orleans on Bourbon Street. So
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: it's not typical that all bigger cities are at least
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: the top fifty or top one hundred keep restaurants open till,
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: you know, after midnight. I think you would just have
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: to look at the ones that are considered bars that
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: stay open till two am if they serve food. But
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: I think a regular restaurant to keep the chefs, the cooks,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: the wait staff on much past when they do typically
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: close is pretty common, and so I don't I'm not
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: aware of Omaha restaurants more more closing earlier and earlier.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: I'm just not aware of that, and I'd have to
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: look into that.
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: Though it's very interesting there. I have a message from
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: Bob and this is I don't know the truth behind this,
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: but I just think this is kind of interesting, says
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: KTV is having a special story on the parks in
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: Omaha tonight in the ten o'clock news. The preview I
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: saw featured a lot of whining. I'm assuming that this
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: is me speaking now, not the email. I'm assuming that
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: whining is going to be from you.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: Mean, like whining, like their people are complaining that type
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: of thing. I you know, I don't know. I have
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: no idea.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: Of course, k ETV does not ask me to approve
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: their stories. I don't know what they're talking about, but
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: I would. I'm just gonna assume right now that they
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: are probably saying, you know, the parks that I go to,
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: they they're not as clean as I like them to be.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: They're not mode. There's weeds, et cetera, et cetera. I'm
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: assuming that's what we're going to be hearing about, and
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: so maybe that's what the story is focusing on. But again,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: that really makes the difference if you don't have a
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: parks director. And it's so important in the summer because
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: whether summer camps, you know, whether our swimming pools or
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: recreation centers, all that stuff going on, it's so important
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: to have somebody that is the ultimate boss of what
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: is going on. I will say with the city budget,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: I did not cut the parks. I gave more and
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: more money to the parks. Like I said, it gave
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: a lot of COVID money to the parks, got a
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: lot h hundreds of millions of private money to go
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: into some of our parks too, and so, but they
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: cannot be ignored with that many parks, two hundred and
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: fifty six parks in Omaha. Some are big, huge memorial park,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: you know, our riverfront parks. Some are very very big
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: and everybody knows all about them, and some are little,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: tiny pocket parks. But there's still parks that people in
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Omaha enjoy and they should be kept up the way
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: people expect them to be kept up. I never want
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: to hear that people are saying that they hear from
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: the City of Omaha. Well, you know, we don't have
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: enough money to buy chemicals or to buy to treat
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: the weeds, or to buy equipment to mow of the grass.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: That should all be worked in in part of the budget.
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: Jeane, we have about a minute and a half here
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: wrapping up the show, and I think it's important that
• 38:48
  Speaker 3: we recognize that we're having a guest on the show tomorrow.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: Yes, and I can't wait. Jeff Beils is going to
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: be on tomorrow with Grow Omaha. I know so many
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: people listen to Jeff Beals and Trenton Maggot on Saturday
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: mornings for Grow Omaha. Kidding Lee, I used to tell
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Jeff I'd learn a lot more from their show. I'd
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: listen to it every morning, every Saturday morning. It's really
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: information and the planning department.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: They know everything going on.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: And Jeff is going to spend the time with us
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: tomorrow and I'll either I'll even ask him to stay
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: on and take some calls, So think of your calls
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: that you want to ask. But he knows everything about
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: everything going on in Omaha.
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: Absolutely wait to have him on.
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: And I have actually already gotten an email or to
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: in advance asking some questions to Jeff Bial's You can
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: send emails to comment at kfab dot com as soon
• 39:36
  Speaker 3: as today. You think of something later tonight or during
• 39:38
  Speaker 3: the show tomorrow, and that's something that we can bring up.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: And Jeff will be able to answer it. I guarante
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: know he will.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: He is so good at it. And when I was mayor.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: I like being on the show. I'd come on the
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: show every now and then and we talk about what
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: is going on in Omaha. But that'll be good. And
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: next week we're going to have the mayor of Council Bluffs.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: It's going to be on and we're going to have
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: some other good guests too, So we wanna keep it
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: interesting here. But that is it for us today. Thank
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: you so much for spending this hour with us, and
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: thanks for listening. We'd love for you to join us
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: again tomorrow. And I am Jean Stothard and this is
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: eleven ten k FA B