March 26, 2026 • 39 mins
We start with an important conversation about veteran services and the resources available to those who served. Then we switch gears and talk about the debate over restaurant dress codes and whether businesses should be able to enforce them
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today, I have a very special guest. Beth Kramer is
with me today. I've known Beth for a long long
time that Beth is the executive director for at Ease USA,
and you know, we've had Beth a couple calls in
the last week, one yesterday about veterans and about the
services that are available in Omaha for veterans. Yesterday was
(00:21):
specifically about homeless veterans and unsheltered veterans. But I wanted
you to come on today and as executive director of
ad Ease, to talk about ADES USA And this was founded,
I believe in two thousand and nine, but it's committed
to providing access to confidential trauma treatment for active military
(00:43):
veterans and frontline healthcare workers suffering from PTSD or post
traumatic stress syndrome. And there's a lot of need for
that in the city of Omaha, and I really wanted
you to talk a little bit about it today. So welcome,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Thank you for having me on. Always good to hang
out with Eugene, because we've done.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
It quite a bit of a blessing. Yes we have.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I think we first met when it was about two
thousand and six with a campaign when I was running
for the Nebraska Legislature.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Remember that, Yes.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I did, and that was fourteen votes.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I lost by fourteen votes. But you know, I always
tell people when I'm talking about running for political office,
I said, when you run for a political office, you're
one of two things is going to happen. You're gonna
win or you're gonna lose. And there's no second place.
I mean, you don't talk you know years later and go, well,
I came in second place for the mayor's race. You
win or you lose, and that's all there is to it.
(01:36):
But we've known each other for a long time. But
what a great organization this is and you're the one
that really got me involved with it. We could talk
about that, but just tell us about Addies. It's called
Addis USA. Is it a national organization? And how did
it start in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It's actually a great story. Scott Anderson, who is a
marketing EXEUS executive turned counselor here in Omaha, had a
client whose son was serving overseas and unfortunately her son
did not make it back. But in his discussions with her,
(02:17):
discovered that she had developed secondary PTSD and did not
have any assistance and Scott is a go getter and said,
we've got to fix this. And so he put together
a group of volunteers and they said, what can we
do to help? And they discovered that if we all,
if they pulled their resources and they they all had
(02:40):
a vast amount of knowledge on nonprofits and fundraising, and
they put together Adies USA to offer mental health counseling
for At the time, it was active military veterans and
their family members, because if someone has post traumatic stress,
(03:01):
it doesn't impact just the veteran, It impacts the entire family.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Absolutely, it does in the area that it serves. And
I'll let you talk a little bit more about the specifics,
but it's not just Omaha, right, I mean it is.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
It's wide range.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
So we serve the entire state of Nebraska and four
counties in western Iowa, so that it's the Omaha metro area. Obviously,
most of this population of Nebraska's on the eastern part
of the state, but we have fifty three therapists across
the state. All of our therapists have to be able
to offer telehealth and when someone calls in, we try
(03:39):
to match them with a therapist that fits them. If
they speak Spanish, if they are a loved one versus
a veteran. We try to make that so that it's
comfortable and accessible for everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
And we said at the beginning, or I said, it
was founded in two thousand, Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So how has it grown over the years?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Oh? Well, this is I will say since COVID in particular,
is it has just really grown. I think people are
there's been a huge push not only by the VA
but the community in general to have an awareness of
mental health issues. In twenty twenty two, for example, we
had fifty five clients. In twenty twenty five, we had
(04:29):
three hundred and seventy eight clients, and all of those
three seventy eight received five hundred and five points of service.
So we had two hundred and sixty six people doing therapy,
but they might have also been doing one of our
wellness programs. And that's the other thing that we've done
in the last two to two and a half years
(04:50):
is we have expanded how we've reached out to our
military connected families. You know, no one wants to just
necessarily go in and rip the band aid off everyone.
We can talk about their mental health issues. Correct, Sometimes
they need just a step in and a segue into
that and to have some trust in an organization. So
we have started offering peer support and wellness programs so
(05:13):
that military connected families can learn who we are, understand
that we provide quality programs, that we're one hundred percent confidential,
and that they can trust us. So if they maybe
come in and do yoga, they say, oh, well, they
also offer these other services. This is a good organization.
Maybe I'll look into therapy.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And at easy USA. It does not replace services that
are provided by the VA. Right, I think our listeners
might be saying, well, what about the VA and how
do you work with the VA. But it's more that
this fills the gap for the services or that the
VA doesn't provide, or if they just feel hesitant to
(05:56):
go to the VAS. AM I not correct with that.
You are correct.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
So we have been privately funded until this last year,
and we actually have a staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox
grant from the VA. So we have two revenue streams.
But we do fill that gap for folks who either
don't want to go to the VA for whatever reason.
There's lots of them out there. A lot of times
(06:22):
with the mental health counseling. It may be three months
or more to get into a counselor, and so we
get all of our therapy clients in with a counselor
within ten business days. We are also on a sliding
scale fee, so there is you know, we'll take insurance,
but if someone can't pay for that therapy, we cover it.
(06:44):
Our goal is to remove barriers. We do through the
the staff, Sergeant Fox Grant do suicide prevention activities that
we provide services that for folks who don't currently go
to the VA and help them maybe transition into some
services at the VA they can use. But a lot
of what we offer yoga, for example, we're offering acupuncture
(07:08):
in Lincoln. We're working with Hetera to provide equine therapy.
Those are services that the VA does not offer, and
so we are providing wellness and pure support that you
wouldn't necessarily get at the VA.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And you know, I dealt with this personally with mental
illness with my previous husband that I think everybody knows
battled with mental illness and ended up dying of suicide.
People that are dealing with mental illness, it's so difficult
sometimes for them to admit that they have an issue
(07:45):
to seek help. Even when they know they need help,
they don't want to do it. I mean, and I
think that's it's so important, especially for our veterans, that
we're out there putting their lives at risk, most of
them for us, that they have these services that are available,
and I'm so grateful that we have this type of organization.
(08:06):
I have to ask you a question as far as
family members, I know at Ease provides services for family
members too, correct, correct, that's a VA. I was thinking
that I don't know if the VA provides the services
or if family members are eligible for VA services.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
The VA provides limited services for family members. I don't
I will be honest, I don't know the specific says
to what all they provide, but from at Ease's perspective,
we will. We provide marriage counseling. We have a what
we call it a tribe that is for spouses and
caregivers and it's a it's a peer support group for
(08:46):
spouses and caregivers every week and it's virtual, so we
get folks from across Nebraska. We also have someone from
the East Coast who has joined that that that Tribe
group so we make sure that those family members can participate.
They We've got one couple and they come to yoga together.
(09:10):
It's there one night a week where they get to
spend some time together. Frankly, a lot of times with
these service members, it is the spouse that gets that
service member into counseling. So if you can get the
service member to go to our camp, recharge in June,
or come to yoga, then that gets them into our system,
if you will, and makes them more comfortable with taking
(09:33):
that next step if they need it.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And let's talk just a little bit about PTSD. I
know everybody has heard that's a you know those letters,
and they know what stands for post traumatic stress disorder.
Let's talk a little bit more about actually what it is.
I mean, it's a mental health condition, but there are
so many different levels of it and some with some
(09:56):
it is so serious. It really interferes with their ability
to function and for their ability to work, and for
their ability to communicate with people. And that's something I
think that at Ease is aware of and when deciding
what your client's treatment is, there's so many different levels.
Talk a little bit about just what PTSD is, and
(10:19):
then also those that are experiencing PTSD, they are at
such a higher risk for drug addiction, alcohol abuse, eating disorders,
higher risk of suicide. All of those things play into PTSD.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
So PTSD is a reaction to a traumatic event, and
for some people, as you mentioned, it is a very
It impacts everyone differently. You may have an employee in
your office who is a veteran that is in a
cubicle and if you just had a rear view mirror
(10:56):
in front of his computer so he could see behind him,
no issues. A lot of people have impact of trauma
that can set them off, but they have managed to
control it, to mask it, to be productive members of
our community. We have had clients in the past who
(11:19):
truly will not come out of their home and to
get them out and into the world because they may
be driving down the street and they see a bag
of trash along the road and you and I see
that as a bag of trash. A veteran who has
been in combat may see that as a roadside bomb,
(11:40):
and so you know, it is flagging all of those
potential triggers.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And it just sets off a whole reaction.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
That's correct, and the other part of the trauma for
particularly female veterans, is the military sexual trauma. And you know,
you don't have to be in combat to have experienced that,
and it that is another thing. You know, again, we
can trigger some of our current veterans and active even
active duty folks.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And I think with mental illness. Like I said, I
experienced it personally, but many think that there is a
stigma that's associated with it or they're ashamed of it,
and that's why they just don't want to go out
and get help. And I lookt at EASE as an
organization that really removes the barriers for treatment.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Right. Our goal is to make sure that everybody gets
the help that they deserve. Our job is to honor
those military connected families because they do so much and
they've done so much for our country. And so we
remain again one hundred percent confidential. We don't share any
(12:50):
of their information outside of our organization, and that's just
basically for outcome reasons. But our goal is to if
someone needs help and they are struggling from trauma, moral injury,
or any type of suicide, suicide prevention is huge. That's
the cornerstone of our organization. Our goal is to get
(13:12):
them in and get the help that they need and
that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
So what message would you have as executive director in
being involved with at ease, What message would you have
right now for the veterans that are listening, We're here.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
If you need help, we are here for you. We
will do whatever we can and work with you in
whatever level of care that you are comfortable with. If
you are an employer or a coworker, or a spouse
or caregiver and you know a veteran or active duty
(13:48):
service member that truly is struggling and is on edge,
give them our flyer, send them to our website, give
us a call and just ask what we can provide,
and we are happy to give you some information about
our services. We will remove any and all barriers to
getting that individual the care that they need and deserve.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
So that's what I was going to ask you. What
you know, if veterans are listening to this and they
need help, how can they get a hold of you?
Speaker 2 (14:15):
They can call us at five three, one, two four
seven for zero for zero. Our website has all of
our programming on it and that is at ease USA
dot org. We are on Facebook, We're on Instagram and Twitter,
though I don't do any of that, I am not competent,
(14:36):
but I would suggest follow us maybe just you know,
follow us on one of those social media and see
what we've got going on, and maybe there will be
something that is attractive to you that draws you to
seek help.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
And if you're not military and you're listening to this
and you want to help, and you're not involved with
with veterans, but you just really like what they're hearing
and they want to help, what can they do.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Well, We've got a couple events coming up. We have
a golf outing on May eighth, So if you like
to golf and want to support a good cause, we
hope you'll come on May eighth. Last Saturday, we just
did a maaj On fundraiser which was a huge success.
We have a five K coming up and that is
a friend raiser. We're actually going to have yard signs
that you can put the photo and the name of
(15:26):
a loved one who's in the military and honor them,
and they'll be along the route and you can take
those signs home. Our luncheon is coming up November fourth.
Will Summers is our keynote speaker and our Chamber President,
Heath Mellow is our honorary chair. Oh good, and we
have Will Sommers is one of the twelve Green Berets
(15:49):
who went into Afghanistan on horseback and the movie Twelve
Strong May was created based on that story. So he's
our speaker in November.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Oh, that ought to be good. I've been to the
event and the luncheon and it's held down at CHI
at the our convention center, and your speakers have always
been just great. I mean they really they really make
you feel what's going on with them and how how
great a need there is to have something like this.
One last question for you, what is Is there any
(16:21):
involvement with at ease, with the Douglas and Sarpy County
jails and Veterans Court.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
There is.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
We have a lot of folks and back to earlier comments,
sometimes that trauma gets some of our military folks into
legal trouble and they may end up in jail, they
may have some kind of legal issues. Sarpy and Douglas
County both have a Veterans Treatment Court, and that gives
(16:50):
veterans the opportunity they apply to be part of that program,
and it gives them an opportunity to go through that
program and after I think it's eight I don't want
to see the timeframe on it. But at the end
the judge will either reduce or dismiss all of the charges.
We work very closely with Starpy County Veterans' Court. We
(17:11):
mentor we offer peer support services. We have a peer
support specialist who goes into both Douglas and Starpy County jails.
So when those incarcerated veterans get out of jail, they
have a resource. We can help connect them. We can
get them resources that they need to get them into
a place where they can get a job again be
(17:32):
productive members of society because their incident with trauma should
not completely end the rest of their life.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Absolutely, and I think you said this before, but really
a main focus is suicide prevention and it is so
common with those that were in the military and those
suffering from PTSD. So once again, if they want to
find out more about Eddie's USA your website.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
It is at ease USA dot org.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
And anybody that has any other questions feel free to
call in. Beth, thank you so much for being here today.
I really appreciate it. You know, I didn't want to
mention this, but you asked me a while ago to
serve on this board. And when I no longer was
going to serve as mayor for the next four years,
I told people, I'm not out there looking for something
to do. I'm not out there looking for a board
(18:24):
to sit on. You know, I'm gonna enjoy life the
way it is. And yet when you asked me about
this one, I jumped at it because I felt like
this is so important and I'm not sure I've been
helping you that much, but I mean, really, but I
mean your Beth just kind of takes things by the
bowl by the horn and gets things done. But it's
(18:44):
so important, and I'm glad we have an organization like this.
And once again, at eas USA is not an international
national organization.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
We are local.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
We are very very local, and so all of the
fundraising goes basically to this area includes all in Nebraska
and western Iowa where the largest concentration of our clients
are living in the Omaha metropolitan area. Correct, and so
what a great organization. Thanks so much for being here today.
Good to see you always, nice to see you. Good,
thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
The kfab comment line. Your host the show, Jean Stouth.
My name is Peyton Hilock. Good morning, Gen, Good morning.
I just have to tell you something. This is so funny.
One of the things that I get to do, and
I mean it is it's so fun for me to
do because I'm not mayor, is take care of my
little kindergarten grandson every Wednesday afternoon. And I really mean
(19:36):
this because when I was mayor, I think there were
so many things my grandsons did that I was not
able to go to. I have two grandsons that are
in Cincinnati, one is eight and one is five, and
then I have two here in Omaha.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
One is eight and one is six. And I want
to talk about the six year old today. He's the
one I take care of. He goes to Millard he's
in kindergarten and they get out every wee Wednesday at
two thirty, so they get out early. And my daughter
and son in law, they work at Union Pacific. They
can't get home in time for a two thirty dismissal,
so I really I get to take care of him.
(20:12):
On Tuesday yesterday, the kid wore me out because the
weather was so nice. He wanted to play ball out
in the backyard for two hours, and he finally said, Grandma,
you're really bad at this. Let's go in and watch
a movie. So we did after a while. But my
daughter is good for her. She's trying to teach both
of my grandsons how to be kind, and she's always
(20:32):
telling them, now, that's not a kind word. You need
to treat people kind. They will treat you kind and return.
So he knows Max. Max is his name. I call
him Maximus. Max's is his name, and he's so smart.
He has such a good vocabulary. But on Wednesdays he
knows that Grandma's coming. So he said to my daughter,
yesterday morning, she sent me a text and she said,
(20:55):
you got to hear what Max said this morning, and
she said, Max said, I'm going to tell Emma today
that she has.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
A really big head.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And my daughter says, I said, Max, that isn't very
nice of you. You need to only be kind to grandma,
and she said. Max then looked very very confused, and
he said, I am being kind. It's a compliment. I
wanted to know that she I wanted her to know
that she had a big head. It's a big compliment
because it holds her big brain. And my daughter said
(21:25):
her response to him was, maybe you should just stick
with telling her she's smart.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
But I mean, what these kids say is so funny.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
But he did tell me yesterday that I had a
big head, so I took that as a conflict.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
At least, you know, it means you have a big brain.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah that's what he thinks. He goes, oh, no, this
means she has a big brain, which I thought was
so funny some of the things he said to me.
He was in a taekwondo when he was in a
contest this past weekend, and I asked him about, you know,
his belts that he has, and he told me he says, well,
I'm a black belt, and then he said, well, technically
I'm really a white belt because it's a black belt
(22:01):
in junior. But his vocabulary just amazes me. But I
thought that was pretty funny that he said I had
a big head. But that means I had a big brain,
So that's all good.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Yeah, kids are so funny. And I have so many
cousins that are so little. They will say the most
ridiculous thing to you.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
I know it.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
They have no filter and they mean it too. I
know it.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
We were playing a video game a couple of weeks ago.
I'm bad at those. It's one of those interactive ones
that a camera's on you, and if you sway to
the right, the character on the screen sways to the right,
sways to the left, and then he jumps up and
down if you jump up and down. So he's jumping
up and down. I go, now, not jumping up and down.
And he looked at me and he goes, you're so
bad at this. And then and then he said he
(22:46):
put on something real easy, like candy Land, and he goes, Grandma,
now this is your time to shine. And I thought
it was so funny coming from.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
A six year old.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
I know.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Yeah, that's too good. He's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
But that's Maximus. I have more Maximus stories.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
We need to hear Maximus stories as we go on.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
He's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Let's get into this restaurant dress code here. This was
teased a little bit yesterday and Chris Baker and I
in the afternoon talked about it a little bit as well.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
And I'll just give you the headline here.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Ruth Chris Steakhouse had something to say about dress code
and real quick they just reminded restaurant goers on its
website that hats gymware, pool attire, tank tops, and revealing
clothing or exposed undergarments are all banned from its dining room. Yes,
what do we think about that?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And I want to know what our listeners think about
that too, because I mean, it is burning up the
internet yesterday and today what Ruth Chris did with the
dress code. And you know that you just read what
they put on their web page and immediately other restaurants responded. Then,
So for example, Chili's, they put on their website only
(23:56):
dress code, not there's no dress code.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
You just have to be dressed.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I know the cheesecake factory put out come as you
are just come hungry. And I know that there was
something else from Morton's Steakhouse that I read that said
they expect you to dress smart casual. Now what the
heck is that? Because Peyton, I think your smart casual
and my smart casual might be a little bit different.
(24:22):
I understand business casual, but smart casual, I don't know.
You know, if anybody watched The Sopranos, which I didn't
watch until recently, all eight seasons, but it reminds me
of one funny Soprano episode when Tony Soprano walked up
to a kid in the restaurant and he said, take
your hat off. We don't sell hot dogs in here.
(24:44):
It kind of reminded me of that. But you know,
I want to know what people think about that. Now.
I think we've got to be careful with that. But
when the airlines came out with come on, people dress
a little bit better to fly on an airplane. You know,
you need to be comfortable. You don't need to dress up.
It used to be I'm so old Peyton. When I
(25:06):
was younger, women dressed up to go on an airplane.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Well, yeah, they also smoked on airplanes.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
And they smoked on an airplane, and they were like
high heels, shoes and everything on an airplane. But I mean,
I have sat next to somebody that brought in a
pillow a blanket and had fuzzy house slippers on too,
and her blanket took my seat which was next to them.
So I think that there is a there's a reason
why restaurants are doing this. If you're going to a
find restaurant, and you know, I mean Ruth christ is good.
(25:34):
If you've never had their stakes. They're great, Morton's is good.
A lot of these restaurants are good. But what do
people think when they visit those restaurants? Do they expect
people to at least not have their pajamas on. I
think there's a point to it, But let me tell
you a little experience I had that I think you've
got to be careful with this too. So my husband, Kevin,
and I were down in Miami and we went to
(25:56):
a pretty nice restaurant down there in Miami Beach and
I had a dress on and he had slacks and
a golf shirt on. But I had what would I
guess be considered flip flops on. But they weren't like
rubber that you'd wear to the beach. They were like
pink Patent leather. Yeah, and my husband had a pair
of Tommy Bahama leather, which they would consider flip flops.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
We look pretty nice.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
We went in this restaurant, we had reservations, we had
him for months, and they looked at our feet and
they said, I'm sorry, you can't come in here because
we have a sign on the door that says no
flip flops. And I'm thinking, what and they said you
could go sit out on the patio on the sidewalk.
We look pretty good, but what they considered we had
(26:41):
on our feet were flip flops. And there was a
guy standing right next to me that was checking in
that had a Grateful Dead T shirt and torn up
blue jeans, and they let.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Him in but he didn't have flip flops.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
But he didn't have flip flops on. So Kevin and
I were banished out to the you know, to the
sidewalk at the outdoor because we had but they considered
flip flops on. So I think you've got to be
careful with what your restrictions are.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Yeah, I think for a lot of places, the no shirt,
no shoes, no service is good enough. Now I understand
high end steakhouses having a dress code, but how much
of this is kind of common sense?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It seems that to me. But you know, you'd get
a place that is really attracts a lot of visitors,
like Miami Beach. You do take the chance if you
don't have some restrictions of people coming in with a
swimsuit on and a towel wrapped around them, right and
you know, sand all over them and so I understand
that when you are in a more of a resort
type place, especially if you are in a city that
(27:41):
attracts a lot of spring breakers to I used to
live in Galveston, Texas. In fact, I moved to Omaha
from Galveston. We were down there for nine years. My
kids were born down there. But Galveston, as everyone probably knows,
is an island in the Gulf, and there was a
huge amount of spring breakers that came down there. And
I'm telling you, during spring, I didn't even want to
go to the grocery store because a lot of strangers
(28:03):
walking around in their swimsuits and they're and no shoes
or you know, just a beach towel around them. And
so you kind of expect that in an area like that.
And I guess they want to maintain a certain type
of ambiance in their restaurants. But boy, I'm telling you,
are projecting image. Maybe that's a better way to put
it in their restaurant, like a place like Morton's or
(28:24):
a place like Ruth Chris. But I'd really like to
know what people think about it, too, because boy, is
it tearing up the internet today.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Christopher sent us an email and he said, I'm one
hundred percent on board with dress codes for nice restaurants.
Big difference between going to v Mertz or boiler room
and going to Chili's. M there's something nice about taking
my wife to a nice restaurant. I don't want to
see dirty jeans and ball caps.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I agree with that. I one hundred percent agree with that.
Or going back to with the airlines, I really don't
want to sit next to somebody that has a huge
blanket and a few pillows and they're GM's on. I mean,
it's like, come on, you wantn't to be comfortable in
an airplane, but do you really need to.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Dress like that? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Sean Duffy, he's the Secretary of Transportation. During the first
government shutdown that was like forty two days, he was
telling people, Hey, let's just be better people. Let's dress
up to the airport. Let's make it a better environment.
I don't know if I've ever seen somebody talk that
casually about something. It was kind of interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Yeah, and it's his. It was his opinion, but I
think a lot of people share that opinion. And you
mentioned earlier when people used to smoke on the airplanes.
I remember those days, and they used to smoke in
restaurants and you I was never a smoker, and you know,
to sit next to somebody in a fine restaurant with
a table right next to somebody that was smoking can
be quite irritating when you don't smoke yourself. So glad
(29:47):
that they stopped that.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, I believe that. So we want to hear what
you guys have to say about this.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Give us a call for zero two five five eight
eleven ten, or you can email us at comment at
kfab dot com.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
In the meantime, I'm gonna.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Take a little bit of a exit here, but we're
gonna stay on the same lane. This is gonna be
about the restaurant tax. Okay, and someone here sent us
an article coming from the Flatwater Free Press, and basically
what's highlighted was Omaha's two point five percent restaurant tax,
enacted in twenty ten to address recession induced budget shortfall.
(30:22):
Was originally intended to be temporary, but has become a
permanent major revenue for the city. We talked a little
bit about Flatwater Free Press off the air. I have
not read anything from them in the past, but that's
just the quotation I'm giving you.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I'll let you run with that.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Sure, you know, Flatwater has a lot of reporters that
used to be with the World Herald. They're editors with
the World Herald.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
I read it.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
They tend to do stories. They're not reporting the news,
but they tend to do stories, and they tend to
do a lot of research into the story, whether it's
about something with the city development budget, whatever. And I
think they're good, They're credible. I will say this, this
is that statement to say that the restaurant tax was
meant to be temporary is absolutely one hundred percent false.
(31:08):
It was not, and you could go on the City
of Omaha website. You could look at every ordinance and
read the ordinance. True. It was passed in twenty ten.
I was on the city Council at the time. It
actually was amended several times. I think we started out
with about four and a half percent and it went
down to two and a half percent because at that
(31:30):
time there was a budget shortfall and the City of
Omaha needed to put in about thirteen million dollars more
into the fire and police pension. Now it did that.
Mayor Suttle and his finance team. They're the ones that
pushed through the restaurant tax. As a city council member,
(31:50):
I did not vote for it because I thought it
would hurt the restaurant industry. But at two and a
half percent restaurant tax is on prepared food and beverage.
It was estimated at that time it was only going
to bring in about fourteen million dollars a year. That
was the estimate for two and a half percent. Go
online and read that ordinance if anybody wants to do that.
(32:12):
It never says anything about it being temporary, and it
never said anything about all of this money will go
into the fire and police pension. All it is an
occupation tax. An occupation tax, all of the revenue from
it goes into the general fund. What goes into the
general fund, then is what the mayor uses to prepare
(32:32):
the budget, and it funds all the city departments. So
it was again supposed to bring in about thirteen fourteen
million the very first year, it brought in almost twice
that much. And so my concerns with it harming the
restaurant business, the reason I didn't vote for it, were incorrect.
But it again it did not ever say all of
(32:53):
it was supposed to go in the Fire and Police pension.
Either it goes into the general fund, like all occupation
taxes do. There was a budget shortfall. It made twice
as much as they anticipated it would. They had enough
additional revenue to put in the fire and police pension,
but they had additional revenue on top of that that
just went into the general fund and helped fund all
(33:16):
the other departments. Now, look at what the revenue is
for the restaurant tax.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Now it has.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Gone up from that beginning of an estimated fourteen million
dollars a year, and I'm estimating that amount of money
in to or twenty ten, and now it is bringing
in about forty eight million dollars a year. It is
the third largest source of revenue that the City of
Omaha funds a general fund. The City of Omaha, their
(33:44):
primary source of revenue is sales tax, their next is
property tax, and the next is the restaurant tax. So
to say, you know, you should get rid of the
restaurant tax now, I said many times, and I hope
Mary Ewing feels the same way. And it would be
financially irresponsible to take that almost fifty million dollars out
(34:06):
of the general fund now because it would cut every
city department if we would have to take that, or
we would get rid of the restaurant tax. It's obviously
not hurting the restaurant tax in industry, and who would
want to do that. And with fire and police being
two thirds of the general fund budget, to take fifty
million dollars out, fire and police would get hit the worst.
(34:27):
And so no, it is not meant to be temporary,
but it is a large source of revenue, and like
I said, it will as far as I was concerned,
it would be financially irresponsible to try to get rid
of it, and I wanted to keep it on. The
number one tax that people complain about, not only in
Omaha but across the state of Nebraska is a property tax,
because you still have to think of the restaurant tax.
(34:50):
If you don't want to pay it, and you're totally
against it, you don't go out to you don't go
to a restaurant property taxes. If you own property, you must.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
The outam here on news radio eleven ten kfab Yeah,
I was.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Calling in about the addressing up when you go out
to a restaurant. I totally agree with it. I also
just think in general, people need to dress a little
bit better in public. And then one other thing I
wanted to ask Gene, is you know you're talking about
smoking a restaurant. I remember when that happened. I never
understood how the how local governments were able to tell
(35:27):
private businesses who could smoke in their business.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah, that was quite controversial at the time I recalled that,
but I think after a period of time, I think
people were appreciative that a step was taken. You know,
I brought this up before, but you know, I'm not
really a young person anymore. Everybody knows what my age is.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
I won't go into that.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
But when I first was a young nurse, they were
smoking in the hospitals. Nurses and doctors and patients were
allowed to smoke in the hospital. And I know some
people look at it as as you know, a right,
they're not doing anything illegal. But at the same time,
good lord, I mean, should you be smoking in a hospital?
(36:12):
And then they set up these puff huts outside the
hospital is what they called it, and all the doctors
and nurses would go out there and they'd be smoking away,
you know, ten feet from the hospital door. So there
are some moves that have been taken that I think
after time goes by, people appreciate. But it's the same
thing with like helmets with a motorcycle. I mean, people
(36:33):
some people look at it as as a personal freedom thing.
But when your personal freedom is violating somebody else's personal freedom,
that's when I think it's okay.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
To step in. Yeah, that's very that's very true. We're
gonna have Jeff here.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Jeff, you're on news radio eleven t KFAB with jeanst Author.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
Yes, you mentioned the pensions on shortfall when you were
mayor and console person. Did they ever consider turning the
pitch and funds over to the state to manage?
Speaker 1 (37:03):
You know, I don't. It would have to be an
agreement with our collective bargaining units. And you know, I
will say the majority, not everybody, but the majority of
employees for the City of Omaha are in a union,
in a collective bargaining unit. And that makes a big
difference because it makes a difference when the mayor is
(37:25):
doing and preparing the budget because these employees are under
contract and their raises are under contract. But the pension
it does say in the city Charter that the pension
will be funded and that the employee in the employer
will put substantially equal amounts into the pension. And so
(37:49):
that means the employee, the union members, and the city
will put in basically an equal amount. When I became mayor,
the fire and police pension was thirty eight percent funded,
and I brought this up previously, but this could really
affect the city's bond rating and the bond Raiders, which
(38:13):
the city goes to multiple times during the year, but
actually presents the city once a year. It's usually in
the fall. I did the presentation when I was mayor
to the bond Raiders. We go up to Chicago one
year or they would come down another year. To the
bond Raiders being fully funded. Is at least eighty percent
or more now with you know, thirty eight percent. When
(38:34):
I left, the fire and Police pension was about fifty
eight percent funded. So we made a lot of progress.
But at the same time, it's nowhere where the bond
Raiders won us yet and that's the main reason why
we don't get a triple A bond rating.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Yes we have.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
We thought, I mean we thought, is this a possibility?
But I think the unions would would never accept that,
And you know, it's it's got to be some thing
that is further discussed, because I think another thing I
would like to hear some feedback on. Are those public
employee unions something that people feel are still important to have.
(39:13):
It used to be with this with the public employees
that they got low salary but good benefits, and now
they get pretty good salary and good benefits too. So
that's a subject for another day.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
Absolutely, And if you guys have things that you feel
about that, go ahead be sure to let us know.
You can reach out comment at kfab dot com or
tomorrow we'll be live yet again ten to eleven in
the morning.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
You can call us for zero two five five eight
eleven ten
Speaker 1 (39:37):
And thanks for listening and thanks for being with us
today
Today, I have a very special guest. Beth Kramer is
with me today. I've known Beth for a long long
time that Beth is the executive director for at Ease USA,
and you know, we've had Beth a couple calls in
the last week, one yesterday about veterans and about the
services that are available in Omaha for veterans. Yesterday was
(00:21):
specifically about homeless veterans and unsheltered veterans. But I wanted
you to come on today and as executive director of
ad Ease, to talk about ADES USA And this was founded,
I believe in two thousand and nine, but it's committed
to providing access to confidential trauma treatment for active military
(00:43):
veterans and frontline healthcare workers suffering from PTSD or post
traumatic stress syndrome. And there's a lot of need for
that in the city of Omaha, and I really wanted
you to talk a little bit about it today. So welcome,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Thank you for having me on. Always good to hang
out with Eugene, because we've done.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
It quite a bit of a blessing. Yes we have.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I think we first met when it was about two
thousand and six with a campaign when I was running
for the Nebraska Legislature.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Remember that, Yes.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I did, and that was fourteen votes.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I lost by fourteen votes. But you know, I always
tell people when I'm talking about running for political office,
I said, when you run for a political office, you're
one of two things is going to happen. You're gonna
win or you're gonna lose. And there's no second place.
I mean, you don't talk you know years later and go, well,
I came in second place for the mayor's race. You
win or you lose, and that's all there is to it.
(01:36):
But we've known each other for a long time. But
what a great organization this is and you're the one
that really got me involved with it. We could talk
about that, but just tell us about Addies. It's called
Addis USA. Is it a national organization? And how did
it start in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It's actually a great story. Scott Anderson, who is a
marketing EXEUS executive turned counselor here in Omaha, had a
client whose son was serving overseas and unfortunately her son
did not make it back. But in his discussions with her,
(02:17):
discovered that she had developed secondary PTSD and did not
have any assistance and Scott is a go getter and said,
we've got to fix this. And so he put together
a group of volunteers and they said, what can we
do to help? And they discovered that if we all,
if they pulled their resources and they they all had
(02:40):
a vast amount of knowledge on nonprofits and fundraising, and
they put together Adies USA to offer mental health counseling
for At the time, it was active military veterans and
their family members, because if someone has post traumatic stress,
(03:01):
it doesn't impact just the veteran, It impacts the entire family.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Absolutely, it does in the area that it serves. And
I'll let you talk a little bit more about the specifics,
but it's not just Omaha, right, I mean it is.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
It's wide range.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
So we serve the entire state of Nebraska and four
counties in western Iowa, so that it's the Omaha metro area. Obviously,
most of this population of Nebraska's on the eastern part
of the state, but we have fifty three therapists across
the state. All of our therapists have to be able
to offer telehealth and when someone calls in, we try
(03:39):
to match them with a therapist that fits them. If
they speak Spanish, if they are a loved one versus
a veteran. We try to make that so that it's
comfortable and accessible for everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
And we said at the beginning, or I said, it
was founded in two thousand, Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So how has it grown over the years?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Oh? Well, this is I will say since COVID in particular,
is it has just really grown. I think people are
there's been a huge push not only by the VA
but the community in general to have an awareness of
mental health issues. In twenty twenty two, for example, we
had fifty five clients. In twenty twenty five, we had
(04:29):
three hundred and seventy eight clients, and all of those
three seventy eight received five hundred and five points of service.
So we had two hundred and sixty six people doing therapy,
but they might have also been doing one of our
wellness programs. And that's the other thing that we've done
in the last two to two and a half years
(04:50):
is we have expanded how we've reached out to our
military connected families. You know, no one wants to just
necessarily go in and rip the band aid off everyone.
We can talk about their mental health issues. Correct, Sometimes
they need just a step in and a segue into
that and to have some trust in an organization. So
we have started offering peer support and wellness programs so
(05:13):
that military connected families can learn who we are, understand
that we provide quality programs, that we're one hundred percent confidential,
and that they can trust us. So if they maybe
come in and do yoga, they say, oh, well, they
also offer these other services. This is a good organization.
Maybe I'll look into therapy.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And at easy USA. It does not replace services that
are provided by the VA. Right, I think our listeners
might be saying, well, what about the VA and how
do you work with the VA. But it's more that
this fills the gap for the services or that the
VA doesn't provide, or if they just feel hesitant to
(05:56):
go to the VAS. AM I not correct with that.
You are correct.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
So we have been privately funded until this last year,
and we actually have a staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox
grant from the VA. So we have two revenue streams.
But we do fill that gap for folks who either
don't want to go to the VA for whatever reason.
There's lots of them out there. A lot of times
(06:22):
with the mental health counseling. It may be three months
or more to get into a counselor, and so we
get all of our therapy clients in with a counselor
within ten business days. We are also on a sliding
scale fee, so there is you know, we'll take insurance,
but if someone can't pay for that therapy, we cover it.
(06:44):
Our goal is to remove barriers. We do through the
the staff, Sergeant Fox Grant do suicide prevention activities that
we provide services that for folks who don't currently go
to the VA and help them maybe transition into some
services at the VA they can use. But a lot
of what we offer yoga, for example, we're offering acupuncture
(07:08):
in Lincoln. We're working with Hetera to provide equine therapy.
Those are services that the VA does not offer, and
so we are providing wellness and pure support that you
wouldn't necessarily get at the VA.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And you know, I dealt with this personally with mental
illness with my previous husband that I think everybody knows
battled with mental illness and ended up dying of suicide.
People that are dealing with mental illness, it's so difficult
sometimes for them to admit that they have an issue
(07:45):
to seek help. Even when they know they need help,
they don't want to do it. I mean, and I
think that's it's so important, especially for our veterans, that
we're out there putting their lives at risk, most of
them for us, that they have these services that are available,
and I'm so grateful that we have this type of organization.
(08:06):
I have to ask you a question as far as
family members, I know at Ease provides services for family
members too, correct, correct, that's a VA. I was thinking
that I don't know if the VA provides the services
or if family members are eligible for VA services.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
The VA provides limited services for family members. I don't
I will be honest, I don't know the specific says
to what all they provide, but from at Ease's perspective,
we will. We provide marriage counseling. We have a what
we call it a tribe that is for spouses and
caregivers and it's a it's a peer support group for
(08:46):
spouses and caregivers every week and it's virtual, so we
get folks from across Nebraska. We also have someone from
the East Coast who has joined that that that Tribe
group so we make sure that those family members can participate.
They We've got one couple and they come to yoga together.
(09:10):
It's there one night a week where they get to
spend some time together. Frankly, a lot of times with
these service members, it is the spouse that gets that
service member into counseling. So if you can get the
service member to go to our camp, recharge in June,
or come to yoga, then that gets them into our system,
if you will, and makes them more comfortable with taking
(09:33):
that next step if they need it.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And let's talk just a little bit about PTSD. I
know everybody has heard that's a you know those letters,
and they know what stands for post traumatic stress disorder.
Let's talk a little bit more about actually what it is.
I mean, it's a mental health condition, but there are
so many different levels of it and some with some
(09:56):
it is so serious. It really interferes with their ability
to function and for their ability to work, and for
their ability to communicate with people. And that's something I
think that at Ease is aware of and when deciding
what your client's treatment is, there's so many different levels.
Talk a little bit about just what PTSD is, and
(10:19):
then also those that are experiencing PTSD, they are at
such a higher risk for drug addiction, alcohol abuse, eating disorders,
higher risk of suicide. All of those things play into PTSD.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
So PTSD is a reaction to a traumatic event, and
for some people, as you mentioned, it is a very
It impacts everyone differently. You may have an employee in
your office who is a veteran that is in a
cubicle and if you just had a rear view mirror
(10:56):
in front of his computer so he could see behind him,
no issues. A lot of people have impact of trauma
that can set them off, but they have managed to
control it, to mask it, to be productive members of
our community. We have had clients in the past who
(11:19):
truly will not come out of their home and to
get them out and into the world because they may
be driving down the street and they see a bag
of trash along the road and you and I see
that as a bag of trash. A veteran who has
been in combat may see that as a roadside bomb,
(11:40):
and so you know, it is flagging all of those
potential triggers.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And it just sets off a whole reaction.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
That's correct, and the other part of the trauma for
particularly female veterans, is the military sexual trauma. And you know,
you don't have to be in combat to have experienced that,
and it that is another thing. You know, again, we
can trigger some of our current veterans and active even
active duty folks.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And I think with mental illness. Like I said, I
experienced it personally, but many think that there is a
stigma that's associated with it or they're ashamed of it,
and that's why they just don't want to go out
and get help. And I lookt at EASE as an
organization that really removes the barriers for treatment.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Right. Our goal is to make sure that everybody gets
the help that they deserve. Our job is to honor
those military connected families because they do so much and
they've done so much for our country. And so we
remain again one hundred percent confidential. We don't share any
(12:50):
of their information outside of our organization, and that's just
basically for outcome reasons. But our goal is to if
someone needs help and they are struggling from trauma, moral injury,
or any type of suicide, suicide prevention is huge. That's
the cornerstone of our organization. Our goal is to get
(13:12):
them in and get the help that they need and
that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
So what message would you have as executive director in
being involved with at ease, What message would you have
right now for the veterans that are listening, We're here.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
If you need help, we are here for you. We
will do whatever we can and work with you in
whatever level of care that you are comfortable with. If
you are an employer or a coworker, or a spouse
or caregiver and you know a veteran or active duty
(13:48):
service member that truly is struggling and is on edge,
give them our flyer, send them to our website, give
us a call and just ask what we can provide,
and we are happy to give you some information about
our services. We will remove any and all barriers to
getting that individual the care that they need and deserve.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
So that's what I was going to ask you. What
you know, if veterans are listening to this and they
need help, how can they get a hold of you?
Speaker 2 (14:15):
They can call us at five three, one, two four
seven for zero for zero. Our website has all of
our programming on it and that is at ease USA
dot org. We are on Facebook, We're on Instagram and Twitter,
though I don't do any of that, I am not competent,
(14:36):
but I would suggest follow us maybe just you know,
follow us on one of those social media and see
what we've got going on, and maybe there will be
something that is attractive to you that draws you to
seek help.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
And if you're not military and you're listening to this
and you want to help, and you're not involved with
with veterans, but you just really like what they're hearing
and they want to help, what can they do.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Well, We've got a couple events coming up. We have
a golf outing on May eighth, So if you like
to golf and want to support a good cause, we
hope you'll come on May eighth. Last Saturday, we just
did a maaj On fundraiser which was a huge success.
We have a five K coming up and that is
a friend raiser. We're actually going to have yard signs
that you can put the photo and the name of
(15:26):
a loved one who's in the military and honor them,
and they'll be along the route and you can take
those signs home. Our luncheon is coming up November fourth.
Will Summers is our keynote speaker and our Chamber President,
Heath Mellow is our honorary chair. Oh good, and we
have Will Sommers is one of the twelve Green Berets
(15:49):
who went into Afghanistan on horseback and the movie Twelve
Strong May was created based on that story. So he's
our speaker in November.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Oh, that ought to be good. I've been to the
event and the luncheon and it's held down at CHI
at the our convention center, and your speakers have always
been just great. I mean they really they really make
you feel what's going on with them and how how
great a need there is to have something like this.
One last question for you, what is Is there any
(16:21):
involvement with at ease, with the Douglas and Sarpy County
jails and Veterans Court.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
There is.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
We have a lot of folks and back to earlier comments,
sometimes that trauma gets some of our military folks into
legal trouble and they may end up in jail, they
may have some kind of legal issues. Sarpy and Douglas
County both have a Veterans Treatment Court, and that gives
(16:50):
veterans the opportunity they apply to be part of that program,
and it gives them an opportunity to go through that
program and after I think it's eight I don't want
to see the timeframe on it. But at the end
the judge will either reduce or dismiss all of the charges.
We work very closely with Starpy County Veterans' Court. We
(17:11):
mentor we offer peer support services. We have a peer
support specialist who goes into both Douglas and Starpy County jails.
So when those incarcerated veterans get out of jail, they
have a resource. We can help connect them. We can
get them resources that they need to get them into
a place where they can get a job again be
(17:32):
productive members of society because their incident with trauma should
not completely end the rest of their life.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Absolutely, and I think you said this before, but really
a main focus is suicide prevention and it is so
common with those that were in the military and those
suffering from PTSD. So once again, if they want to
find out more about Eddie's USA your website.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
It is at ease USA dot org.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
And anybody that has any other questions feel free to
call in. Beth, thank you so much for being here today.
I really appreciate it. You know, I didn't want to
mention this, but you asked me a while ago to
serve on this board. And when I no longer was
going to serve as mayor for the next four years,
I told people, I'm not out there looking for something
to do. I'm not out there looking for a board
(18:24):
to sit on. You know, I'm gonna enjoy life the
way it is. And yet when you asked me about
this one, I jumped at it because I felt like
this is so important and I'm not sure I've been
helping you that much, but I mean, really, but I
mean your Beth just kind of takes things by the
bowl by the horn and gets things done. But it's
(18:44):
so important, and I'm glad we have an organization like this.
And once again, at eas USA is not an international
national organization.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
We are local.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
We are very very local, and so all of the
fundraising goes basically to this area includes all in Nebraska
and western Iowa where the largest concentration of our clients
are living in the Omaha metropolitan area. Correct, and so
what a great organization. Thanks so much for being here today.
Good to see you always, nice to see you. Good,
thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
The kfab comment line. Your host the show, Jean Stouth.
My name is Peyton Hilock. Good morning, Gen, Good morning.
I just have to tell you something. This is so funny.
One of the things that I get to do, and
I mean it is it's so fun for me to
do because I'm not mayor, is take care of my
little kindergarten grandson every Wednesday afternoon. And I really mean
(19:36):
this because when I was mayor, I think there were
so many things my grandsons did that I was not
able to go to. I have two grandsons that are
in Cincinnati, one is eight and one is five, and
then I have two here in Omaha.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
One is eight and one is six. And I want
to talk about the six year old today. He's the
one I take care of. He goes to Millard he's
in kindergarten and they get out every wee Wednesday at
two thirty, so they get out early. And my daughter
and son in law, they work at Union Pacific. They
can't get home in time for a two thirty dismissal,
so I really I get to take care of him.
(20:12):
On Tuesday yesterday, the kid wore me out because the
weather was so nice. He wanted to play ball out
in the backyard for two hours, and he finally said, Grandma,
you're really bad at this. Let's go in and watch
a movie. So we did after a while. But my
daughter is good for her. She's trying to teach both
of my grandsons how to be kind, and she's always
(20:32):
telling them, now, that's not a kind word. You need
to treat people kind. They will treat you kind and return.
So he knows Max. Max is his name. I call
him Maximus. Max's is his name, and he's so smart.
He has such a good vocabulary. But on Wednesdays he
knows that Grandma's coming. So he said to my daughter,
yesterday morning, she sent me a text and she said,
(20:55):
you got to hear what Max said this morning, and
she said, Max said, I'm going to tell Emma today
that she has.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
A really big head.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And my daughter says, I said, Max, that isn't very
nice of you. You need to only be kind to grandma,
and she said. Max then looked very very confused, and
he said, I am being kind. It's a compliment. I
wanted to know that she I wanted her to know
that she had a big head. It's a big compliment
because it holds her big brain. And my daughter said
(21:25):
her response to him was, maybe you should just stick
with telling her she's smart.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
But I mean, what these kids say is so funny.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
But he did tell me yesterday that I had a
big head, so I took that as a conflict.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
At least, you know, it means you have a big brain.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah that's what he thinks. He goes, oh, no, this
means she has a big brain, which I thought was
so funny some of the things he said to me.
He was in a taekwondo when he was in a
contest this past weekend, and I asked him about, you know,
his belts that he has, and he told me he says, well,
I'm a black belt, and then he said, well, technically
I'm really a white belt because it's a black belt
(22:01):
in junior. But his vocabulary just amazes me. But I
thought that was pretty funny that he said I had
a big head. But that means I had a big brain,
So that's all good.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Yeah, kids are so funny. And I have so many
cousins that are so little. They will say the most
ridiculous thing to you.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
I know it.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
They have no filter and they mean it too. I
know it.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
We were playing a video game a couple of weeks ago.
I'm bad at those. It's one of those interactive ones
that a camera's on you, and if you sway to
the right, the character on the screen sways to the right,
sways to the left, and then he jumps up and
down if you jump up and down. So he's jumping
up and down. I go, now, not jumping up and down.
And he looked at me and he goes, you're so
bad at this. And then and then he said he
(22:46):
put on something real easy, like candy Land, and he goes, Grandma,
now this is your time to shine. And I thought
it was so funny coming from.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
A six year old.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
I know.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Yeah, that's too good. He's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
But that's Maximus. I have more Maximus stories.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
We need to hear Maximus stories as we go on.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
He's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Let's get into this restaurant dress code here. This was
teased a little bit yesterday and Chris Baker and I
in the afternoon talked about it a little bit as well.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
And I'll just give you the headline here.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Ruth Chris Steakhouse had something to say about dress code
and real quick they just reminded restaurant goers on its
website that hats gymware, pool attire, tank tops, and revealing
clothing or exposed undergarments are all banned from its dining room. Yes,
what do we think about that?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And I want to know what our listeners think about
that too, because I mean, it is burning up the
internet yesterday and today what Ruth Chris did with the
dress code. And you know that you just read what
they put on their web page and immediately other restaurants responded. Then,
So for example, Chili's, they put on their website only
(23:56):
dress code, not there's no dress code.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
You just have to be dressed.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I know the cheesecake factory put out come as you
are just come hungry. And I know that there was
something else from Morton's Steakhouse that I read that said
they expect you to dress smart casual. Now what the
heck is that? Because Peyton, I think your smart casual
and my smart casual might be a little bit different.
(24:22):
I understand business casual, but smart casual, I don't know.
You know, if anybody watched The Sopranos, which I didn't
watch until recently, all eight seasons, but it reminds me
of one funny Soprano episode when Tony Soprano walked up
to a kid in the restaurant and he said, take
your hat off. We don't sell hot dogs in here.
(24:44):
It kind of reminded me of that. But you know,
I want to know what people think about that. Now.
I think we've got to be careful with that. But
when the airlines came out with come on, people dress
a little bit better to fly on an airplane. You know,
you need to be comfortable. You don't need to dress up.
It used to be I'm so old Peyton. When I
(25:06):
was younger, women dressed up to go on an airplane.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Well, yeah, they also smoked on airplanes.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
And they smoked on an airplane, and they were like
high heels, shoes and everything on an airplane. But I mean,
I have sat next to somebody that brought in a
pillow a blanket and had fuzzy house slippers on too,
and her blanket took my seat which was next to them.
So I think that there is a there's a reason
why restaurants are doing this. If you're going to a
find restaurant, and you know, I mean Ruth christ is good.
(25:34):
If you've never had their stakes. They're great, Morton's is good.
A lot of these restaurants are good. But what do
people think when they visit those restaurants? Do they expect
people to at least not have their pajamas on. I
think there's a point to it, But let me tell
you a little experience I had that I think you've
got to be careful with this too. So my husband, Kevin,
and I were down in Miami and we went to
(25:56):
a pretty nice restaurant down there in Miami Beach and
I had a dress on and he had slacks and
a golf shirt on. But I had what would I
guess be considered flip flops on. But they weren't like
rubber that you'd wear to the beach. They were like
pink Patent leather. Yeah, and my husband had a pair
of Tommy Bahama leather, which they would consider flip flops.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
We look pretty nice.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
We went in this restaurant, we had reservations, we had
him for months, and they looked at our feet and
they said, I'm sorry, you can't come in here because
we have a sign on the door that says no
flip flops. And I'm thinking, what and they said you
could go sit out on the patio on the sidewalk.
We look pretty good, but what they considered we had
(26:41):
on our feet were flip flops. And there was a
guy standing right next to me that was checking in
that had a Grateful Dead T shirt and torn up
blue jeans, and they let.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Him in but he didn't have flip flops.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
But he didn't have flip flops on. So Kevin and
I were banished out to the you know, to the
sidewalk at the outdoor because we had but they considered
flip flops on. So I think you've got to be
careful with what your restrictions are.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Yeah, I think for a lot of places, the no shirt,
no shoes, no service is good enough. Now I understand
high end steakhouses having a dress code, but how much
of this is kind of common sense?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It seems that to me. But you know, you'd get
a place that is really attracts a lot of visitors,
like Miami Beach. You do take the chance if you
don't have some restrictions of people coming in with a
swimsuit on and a towel wrapped around them, right and
you know, sand all over them and so I understand
that when you are in a more of a resort
type place, especially if you are in a city that
(27:41):
attracts a lot of spring breakers to I used to
live in Galveston, Texas. In fact, I moved to Omaha
from Galveston. We were down there for nine years. My
kids were born down there. But Galveston, as everyone probably knows,
is an island in the Gulf, and there was a
huge amount of spring breakers that came down there. And
I'm telling you, during spring, I didn't even want to
go to the grocery store because a lot of strangers
(28:03):
walking around in their swimsuits and they're and no shoes
or you know, just a beach towel around them. And
so you kind of expect that in an area like that.
And I guess they want to maintain a certain type
of ambiance in their restaurants. But boy, I'm telling you,
are projecting image. Maybe that's a better way to put
it in their restaurant, like a place like Morton's or
(28:24):
a place like Ruth Chris. But I'd really like to
know what people think about it, too, because boy, is
it tearing up the internet today.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Christopher sent us an email and he said, I'm one
hundred percent on board with dress codes for nice restaurants.
Big difference between going to v Mertz or boiler room
and going to Chili's. M there's something nice about taking
my wife to a nice restaurant. I don't want to
see dirty jeans and ball caps.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I agree with that. I one hundred percent agree with that.
Or going back to with the airlines, I really don't
want to sit next to somebody that has a huge
blanket and a few pillows and they're GM's on. I mean,
it's like, come on, you wantn't to be comfortable in
an airplane, but do you really need to.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Dress like that? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Sean Duffy, he's the Secretary of Transportation. During the first
government shutdown that was like forty two days, he was
telling people, Hey, let's just be better people. Let's dress
up to the airport. Let's make it a better environment.
I don't know if I've ever seen somebody talk that
casually about something. It was kind of interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Yeah, and it's his. It was his opinion, but I
think a lot of people share that opinion. And you
mentioned earlier when people used to smoke on the airplanes.
I remember those days, and they used to smoke in
restaurants and you I was never a smoker, and you know,
to sit next to somebody in a fine restaurant with
a table right next to somebody that was smoking can
be quite irritating when you don't smoke yourself. So glad
(29:47):
that they stopped that.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, I believe that. So we want to hear what
you guys have to say about this.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Give us a call for zero two five five eight
eleven ten, or you can email us at comment at
kfab dot com.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
In the meantime, I'm gonna.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Take a little bit of a exit here, but we're
gonna stay on the same lane. This is gonna be
about the restaurant tax. Okay, and someone here sent us
an article coming from the Flatwater Free Press, and basically
what's highlighted was Omaha's two point five percent restaurant tax,
enacted in twenty ten to address recession induced budget shortfall.
(30:22):
Was originally intended to be temporary, but has become a
permanent major revenue for the city. We talked a little
bit about Flatwater Free Press off the air. I have
not read anything from them in the past, but that's
just the quotation I'm giving you.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I'll let you run with that.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Sure, you know, Flatwater has a lot of reporters that
used to be with the World Herald. They're editors with
the World Herald.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
I read it.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
They tend to do stories. They're not reporting the news,
but they tend to do stories, and they tend to
do a lot of research into the story, whether it's
about something with the city development budget, whatever. And I
think they're good, They're credible. I will say this, this
is that statement to say that the restaurant tax was
meant to be temporary is absolutely one hundred percent false.
(31:08):
It was not, and you could go on the City
of Omaha website. You could look at every ordinance and
read the ordinance. True. It was passed in twenty ten.
I was on the city Council at the time. It
actually was amended several times. I think we started out
with about four and a half percent and it went
down to two and a half percent because at that
(31:30):
time there was a budget shortfall and the City of
Omaha needed to put in about thirteen million dollars more
into the fire and police pension. Now it did that.
Mayor Suttle and his finance team. They're the ones that
pushed through the restaurant tax. As a city council member,
(31:50):
I did not vote for it because I thought it
would hurt the restaurant industry. But at two and a
half percent restaurant tax is on prepared food and beverage.
It was estimated at that time it was only going
to bring in about fourteen million dollars a year. That
was the estimate for two and a half percent. Go
online and read that ordinance if anybody wants to do that.
(32:12):
It never says anything about it being temporary, and it
never said anything about all of this money will go
into the fire and police pension. All it is an
occupation tax. An occupation tax, all of the revenue from
it goes into the general fund. What goes into the
general fund, then is what the mayor uses to prepare
(32:32):
the budget, and it funds all the city departments. So
it was again supposed to bring in about thirteen fourteen
million the very first year, it brought in almost twice
that much. And so my concerns with it harming the
restaurant business, the reason I didn't vote for it, were incorrect.
But it again it did not ever say all of
(32:53):
it was supposed to go in the Fire and Police pension.
Either it goes into the general fund, like all occupation
taxes do. There was a budget shortfall. It made twice
as much as they anticipated it would. They had enough
additional revenue to put in the fire and police pension,
but they had additional revenue on top of that that
just went into the general fund and helped fund all
(33:16):
the other departments. Now, look at what the revenue is
for the restaurant tax.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Now it has.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Gone up from that beginning of an estimated fourteen million
dollars a year, and I'm estimating that amount of money
in to or twenty ten, and now it is bringing
in about forty eight million dollars a year. It is
the third largest source of revenue that the City of
Omaha funds a general fund. The City of Omaha, their
(33:44):
primary source of revenue is sales tax, their next is
property tax, and the next is the restaurant tax. So
to say, you know, you should get rid of the
restaurant tax now, I said many times, and I hope
Mary Ewing feels the same way. And it would be
financially irresponsible to take that almost fifty million dollars out
(34:06):
of the general fund now because it would cut every
city department if we would have to take that, or
we would get rid of the restaurant tax. It's obviously
not hurting the restaurant tax in industry, and who would
want to do that. And with fire and police being
two thirds of the general fund budget, to take fifty
million dollars out, fire and police would get hit the worst.
(34:27):
And so no, it is not meant to be temporary,
but it is a large source of revenue, and like
I said, it will as far as I was concerned,
it would be financially irresponsible to try to get rid
of it, and I wanted to keep it on. The
number one tax that people complain about, not only in
Omaha but across the state of Nebraska is a property tax,
because you still have to think of the restaurant tax.
(34:50):
If you don't want to pay it, and you're totally
against it, you don't go out to you don't go
to a restaurant property taxes. If you own property, you must.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
The outam here on news radio eleven ten kfab Yeah,
I was.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Calling in about the addressing up when you go out
to a restaurant. I totally agree with it. I also
just think in general, people need to dress a little
bit better in public. And then one other thing I
wanted to ask Gene, is you know you're talking about
smoking a restaurant. I remember when that happened. I never
understood how the how local governments were able to tell
(35:27):
private businesses who could smoke in their business.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah, that was quite controversial at the time I recalled that,
but I think after a period of time, I think
people were appreciative that a step was taken. You know,
I brought this up before, but you know, I'm not
really a young person anymore. Everybody knows what my age is.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
I won't go into that.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
But when I first was a young nurse, they were
smoking in the hospitals. Nurses and doctors and patients were
allowed to smoke in the hospital. And I know some
people look at it as as you know, a right,
they're not doing anything illegal. But at the same time,
good lord, I mean, should you be smoking in a hospital?
(36:12):
And then they set up these puff huts outside the
hospital is what they called it, and all the doctors
and nurses would go out there and they'd be smoking away,
you know, ten feet from the hospital door. So there
are some moves that have been taken that I think
after time goes by, people appreciate. But it's the same
thing with like helmets with a motorcycle. I mean, people
(36:33):
some people look at it as as a personal freedom thing.
But when your personal freedom is violating somebody else's personal freedom,
that's when I think it's okay.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
To step in. Yeah, that's very that's very true. We're
gonna have Jeff here.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Jeff, you're on news radio eleven t KFAB with jeanst Author.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
Yes, you mentioned the pensions on shortfall when you were
mayor and console person. Did they ever consider turning the
pitch and funds over to the state to manage?
Speaker 1 (37:03):
You know, I don't. It would have to be an
agreement with our collective bargaining units. And you know, I
will say the majority, not everybody, but the majority of
employees for the City of Omaha are in a union,
in a collective bargaining unit. And that makes a big
difference because it makes a difference when the mayor is
(37:25):
doing and preparing the budget because these employees are under
contract and their raises are under contract. But the pension
it does say in the city Charter that the pension
will be funded and that the employee in the employer
will put substantially equal amounts into the pension. And so
(37:49):
that means the employee, the union members, and the city
will put in basically an equal amount. When I became mayor,
the fire and police pension was thirty eight percent funded,
and I brought this up previously, but this could really
affect the city's bond rating and the bond Raiders, which
(38:13):
the city goes to multiple times during the year, but
actually presents the city once a year. It's usually in
the fall. I did the presentation when I was mayor
to the bond Raiders. We go up to Chicago one
year or they would come down another year. To the
bond Raiders being fully funded. Is at least eighty percent
or more now with you know, thirty eight percent. When
(38:34):
I left, the fire and Police pension was about fifty
eight percent funded. So we made a lot of progress.
But at the same time, it's nowhere where the bond
Raiders won us yet and that's the main reason why
we don't get a triple A bond rating.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Yes we have.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
We thought, I mean we thought, is this a possibility?
But I think the unions would would never accept that,
And you know, it's it's got to be some thing
that is further discussed, because I think another thing I
would like to hear some feedback on. Are those public
employee unions something that people feel are still important to have.
(39:13):
It used to be with this with the public employees
that they got low salary but good benefits, and now
they get pretty good salary and good benefits too. So
that's a subject for another day.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
Absolutely, And if you guys have things that you feel
about that, go ahead be sure to let us know.
You can reach out comment at kfab dot com or
tomorrow we'll be live yet again ten to eleven in
the morning.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
You can call us for zero two five five eight
eleven ten
Speaker 1 (39:37):
And thanks for listening and thanks for being with us
today
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