Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The City Council will be in session today, and I
think the County Board does tuesdays as well. And we're
joined for a few minutes here by Omaha City Councilman
Brinker Herding Brinker, good morning, Good morning, Mary Goring, come back. Well,
what horrors do you have for us today?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Jeez? And this is.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Supposed to be the fiscal conservative you're talking to here.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I am, well, I want to be here to spend
any money. Oh that's good.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I want to have you on there because you've suggested
something to address our homeless encampment issue in Omaha. This
isn't going to be decided today, in fact, the hearing
won't be for a while, but it's going to be
introduced today basically to say you can't be here and
it's going to cost you three hundred dollars or thirty
days in jail, right basically, that's it.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah. The ordinance that I proposed is to address what
what I've been hearing and seeing myself anecdotally is certainly
an increase in the amount of homelessness and encampments around
the city, really around the metropolitan area. So this look,
this is a public safety issue. It's a public health issue,
(01:02):
and it's something that I want to make sure that
we're on top of so that it doesn't continue to grow.
I will say that, you know, the former administration, Mayor
Stothard started to address the issue, and I just think
it's you know, in the last you know, three four months,
I think it's gotten progressively worse. I'm not sure what
the reason for that would be. But look, as I said,
(01:25):
it's a public safety issue, it's a public health issue.
There's for both the homelessness for the homeless as well
as the citizens of Omaha.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well, let me let me ask you something that seems
to me to be self evident. Almost by definition, these
folks don't have three hundred dollars to pay a fine.
They may like thirty days in a warm cell with
three meals a day. So what would this solve?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Well, first of all I wanted to introduce is to
really start the conversation what the final ordinance looks like.
I'm open to those, you know, amendments or ideas that
others have expressed. I am open to including those in
the final ordinance. Now, remember too, when people are saying, oh,
(02:11):
you're just you're just criminalizing the homeless. Well, there are
already penalties in place for littering and things of that nature.
So this is Look, we're not criminalizing the homeless. What
we're trying to do is find a way to address
this so that it doesn't become a growing problem. I mean,
(02:33):
there's prostitution, there's sex trafficking, there's drug use, there's human waste.
All that is a public health issue and a public
safety issue. Again, both for the homeless as well as
for the citisens of Omaha, and we need to make
sure that this is Look, the last the time you
(02:53):
want to take care of a problem isn't when it's
out of control. So what I'm trying to do is
start that conversation to find a solution for this. It
may include additional shelters, may it definitely should include something
about mental health, because most of these people in these
situations are probably victims or suffer from addiction problems, and
(03:18):
so we want to make sure that they.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Can get help. I believe that's all true. Here's what
had occurred to me. Although this would probably be like
whack them hole, particularly given our staffing issues with law enforcement,
but what if the policy was move along, you can't
be here, and the next place they set up, move along,
you can't be here, over and over and over again,
(03:40):
till all of a sudden they're outside the metropolitan area. Now,
I don't know how many police it would share his
deputies it would take to do that. But if the
issue is we don't want this happening on our streets,
that would be one way to make it not happen.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, right, well, look again, what this ordinance, at least
is in the format it's in now, the first thing
that the officer would do is offered to get the
people to a place of shelter to get them the
help that they need. Part of the issue, though, Gary is,
as I said, over the last couple of months, it
seems to be a growing concern, is that when the
(04:17):
current homeless coordinator from the City of Omaha goes in there,
there's an assessment that is done. I mean, it's a
scoring system, and it may be that the score and
that's you know, I need more information on this because
I have a problem with that, because it may be
that they say, okay, well, you know, try to clean
this up. We'll be back in three weeks. This is
(04:37):
not a problem that we need to fester for three weeks.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It'll only grow. Your definition of the term control might
be a little elastic, because it seems to me it's
out of control.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
You drive up and down areas of the city, the
core of the community, Mintown, all the way to downtown,
and you see people that weren't there four months ago.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Growing.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, it is growing. We need to take care of it.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
The issue is to find a way to keep to
eliminate the incentive to be here.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Now.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
We don't wish a homeless problem on any other community,
but rather them than us. So we have to do
something I think stridently important at the city level to
get them to not come here. And I don't know
what that looks like, Brinker, but it seems to me
what we're trying to do is manage the growth of
the problem, not eliminate the problem.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
No, I would agree with you. I think the first step, though,
is through this ordinance or a form of this ordinance.
But you're right, we have to get to the root
of the issue because we don't want to just manage this.
We want to be able to solve it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
It'll grow because it's tax dollars that support the program,
so it'll just keep growing. Okay, Well, now we need
another million this year for the homeless problem, on top
of the million we spent last year, and pretty soon
what happens is there's a program, and homeless people gravitate
to where there's a program. They don't gravitate to communities
that kick them out. When will you take input from
(06:01):
the public on this.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Well, the public herying, i think is on the twenty third.
Who have my calendar, right, and then the first time
it could be voted on would be the thirtieth. But look,
I've said to the mayor's office, I've said to the shelters,
I've said to you know, constituents, and you know people
aren't even constituents that you know. I'll take their input.
(06:24):
I want to make this, you know, and we want
to make sure that this step is done in the
proper manner and that Jim, to your point, this is
the first step in that process. We have to find
a solution to it. In the meantime, I want to
make sure that we're taking actions so that it doesn't
become a growing problem because it is a public health situation,
(06:46):
it is a public safety issue and we need to
solve it.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
How's a campaign going.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Campaign's going great way. Now I'm putting a different hat on.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
You need to worry about Denise Powell, all the Democrats
out there, she's the one that Republicans need to worry about.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, I appreciate your confidence, Jim by saying that you're
making the assumption that I'll be the nominee. And look,
I'm concentrated, concentrating on what I can do. That side
of the ticket will do their thing and we'll meet
up after me, all right, bringer thanks for coming
The City Council will be in session today, and I
think the County Board does tuesdays as well. And we're
joined for a few minutes here by Omaha City Councilman
Brinker Herding Brinker, good morning, Good morning, Mary Goring, come back. Well,
what horrors do you have for us today?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Jeez? And this is.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Supposed to be the fiscal conservative you're talking to here.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I am, well, I want to be here to spend
any money. Oh that's good.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I want to have you on there because you've suggested
something to address our homeless encampment issue in Omaha. This
isn't going to be decided today, in fact, the hearing
won't be for a while, but it's going to be
introduced today basically to say you can't be here and
it's going to cost you three hundred dollars or thirty
days in jail, right basically, that's it.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah. The ordinance that I proposed is to address what
what I've been hearing and seeing myself anecdotally is certainly
an increase in the amount of homelessness and encampments around
the city, really around the metropolitan area. So this look,
this is a public safety issue. It's a public health issue,
(01:02):
and it's something that I want to make sure that
we're on top of so that it doesn't continue to grow.
I will say that, you know, the former administration, Mayor
Stothard started to address the issue, and I just think
it's you know, in the last you know, three four months,
I think it's gotten progressively worse. I'm not sure what
the reason for that would be. But look, as I said,
(01:25):
it's a public safety issue, it's a public health issue.
There's for both the homelessness for the homeless as well
as the citizens of Omaha.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well, let me let me ask you something that seems
to me to be self evident. Almost by definition, these
folks don't have three hundred dollars to pay a fine.
They may like thirty days in a warm cell with
three meals a day. So what would this solve?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Well, first of all I wanted to introduce is to
really start the conversation what the final ordinance looks like.
I'm open to those, you know, amendments or ideas that
others have expressed. I am open to including those in
the final ordinance. Now, remember too, when people are saying, oh,
(02:11):
you're just you're just criminalizing the homeless. Well, there are
already penalties in place for littering and things of that nature.
So this is Look, we're not criminalizing the homeless. What
we're trying to do is find a way to address
this so that it doesn't become a growing problem. I mean,
(02:33):
there's prostitution, there's sex trafficking, there's drug use, there's human waste.
All that is a public health issue and a public
safety issue. Again, both for the homeless as well as
for the citisens of Omaha, and we need to make
sure that this is Look, the last the time you
(02:53):
want to take care of a problem isn't when it's
out of control. So what I'm trying to do is
start that conversation to find a solution for this. It
may include additional shelters, may it definitely should include something
about mental health, because most of these people in these
situations are probably victims or suffer from addiction problems, and
(03:18):
so we want to make sure that they.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Can get help. I believe that's all true. Here's what
had occurred to me. Although this would probably be like
whack them hole, particularly given our staffing issues with law enforcement,
but what if the policy was move along, you can't
be here, and the next place they set up, move along,
you can't be here, over and over and over again,
(03:40):
till all of a sudden they're outside the metropolitan area. Now,
I don't know how many police it would share his
deputies it would take to do that. But if the
issue is we don't want this happening on our streets,
that would be one way to make it not happen.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, right, well, look again, what this ordinance, at least
is in the format it's in now, the first thing
that the officer would do is offered to get the
people to a place of shelter to get them the
help that they need. Part of the issue, though, Gary is,
as I said, over the last couple of months, it
seems to be a growing concern, is that when the
(04:17):
current homeless coordinator from the City of Omaha goes in there,
there's an assessment that is done. I mean, it's a
scoring system, and it may be that the score and
that's you know, I need more information on this because
I have a problem with that, because it may be
that they say, okay, well, you know, try to clean
this up. We'll be back in three weeks. This is
(04:37):
not a problem that we need to fester for three weeks.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It'll only grow. Your definition of the term control might
be a little elastic, because it seems to me it's
out of control.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
You drive up and down areas of the city, the
core of the community, Mintown, all the way to downtown,
and you see people that weren't there four months ago.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Growing.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, it is growing. We need to take care of it.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
The issue is to find a way to keep to
eliminate the incentive to be here.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Now.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
We don't wish a homeless problem on any other community,
but rather them than us. So we have to do
something I think stridently important at the city level to
get them to not come here. And I don't know
what that looks like, Brinker, but it seems to me
what we're trying to do is manage the growth of
the problem, not eliminate the problem.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
No, I would agree with you. I think the first step, though,
is through this ordinance or a form of this ordinance.
But you're right, we have to get to the root
of the issue because we don't want to just manage this.
We want to be able to solve it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
It'll grow because it's tax dollars that support the program,
so it'll just keep growing. Okay, Well, now we need
another million this year for the homeless problem, on top
of the million we spent last year, and pretty soon
what happens is there's a program, and homeless people gravitate
to where there's a program. They don't gravitate to communities
that kick them out. When will you take input from
(06:01):
the public on this.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Well, the public herying, i think is on the twenty third.
Who have my calendar, right, and then the first time
it could be voted on would be the thirtieth. But look,
I've said to the mayor's office, I've said to the shelters,
I've said to you know, constituents, and you know people
aren't even constituents that you know. I'll take their input.
(06:24):
I want to make this, you know, and we want
to make sure that this step is done in the
proper manner and that Jim, to your point, this is
the first step in that process. We have to find
a solution to it. In the meantime, I want to
make sure that we're taking actions so that it doesn't
become a growing problem because it is a public health situation,
(06:46):
it is a public safety issue and we need to
solve it.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
How's a campaign going.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Campaign's going great way. Now I'm putting a different hat on.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
You need to worry about Denise Powell, all the Democrats
out there, she's the one that Republicans need to worry about.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, I appreciate your confidence, Jim by saying that you're
making the assumption that I'll be the nominee. And look,
I'm concentrated, concentrating on what I can do. That side
of the ticket will do their thing and we'll meet
up after me, all right, bringer thanks for coming
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