Updated: 2:01 PM CST Feb 25, 2021
KETV Staff Report
"A year of recovery and rebuilding" -- that is how Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert described her aspirations for the city in 2021.In a past year marked by the pandemic and protests, Stothert made her case that the city can be cautious but optimistic moving forward. A small group of City of Omaha employees, department directors and council members sat inside the Civic Center's legislative chambers to hear Stothert deliver her latest State of the City address Wednesday afternoon.Stothert touched on both major challenges impacting the city's future actions and decisions, calling it a rare thing for a community to have to live these particular experiences in 2020.Stothert also acknowledged secondary effects caused by the pandemic. "The past year highlights the need for additional housing options," she said.Many families in Omaha will still have to claw back out of the hole made by past-due payments in the housing crisis. Stothert said the city's role is to foster a public-private partnership to address affordable housing and have the right tools to incentivize it."A new micro TIF policy broadens the requirements to be eligible for tax-increment financing and will increase the availability of affordable housing," she said.She also said the city will commit to improving relationships between the Omaha Police Department and the community. According to Stothert, the summer's protests brought to attention issues of police misconduct and racial equality. Some demonstrations, she said, devolved into violence.“Justice is never born of violence," Stothert said. "Change must come from within each one of us... we can be a city of example, a community of conscience."Stothert announced that all City of Omaha employees will receive anti-bias training in 2021, adding that public safety would remain her top priority and that she would continue to commit support to programs for Omaha police officers."Extra crisis intervention training; the mental health co-responder program that we already had in motion; the training, the additional training," she said in a post-address news conference."Our police department has about twice as much training as the state requires... We have always been a notch above a lot of police departments, but we can be better and we will be better." Despite the COVID-19 pandemic's economic consequences, Stothert said the City of Omaha ended 2020 with a modest surplus of $5-7 million. Early projections from the city finance department signaled a $75 million shortfall.Stothert said about $60 million in federal aid from the CARES Act helped stabilize the city's finances. As for the 2021 budget, she said the city has balanced it without expecting more federal aid. At the same time, She said the city's unemployment rate decreased to 3.3% by year's end. Last April, the figure was 10.2%.Stothert said revitalizing Omaha's tourism remains critical. That belief resulted in the city putting an extra $3 million dollars into the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau recovery effort."Our hotel/motel revenue, that was a huge concern. Our restaurant revenue just dropped," she said in a post-address news conference, "but a couple weeks ago, when volleyball was here, our hotels were up about 80 percent. They said the Cottonwood (Hotel) was almost full, and so, that's a good sign."Stothert said part of Omaha's continued recovery means hosting the College World Series this summer, although the city's still working on how that will look. Stothert also named major redevelopments she believes will revitalize the city's economy: The Crossroads project, UNMC's expansion, riverfront parks and new headquarters for major companies, to name a few."These and many other incredible projects will improve our city. A healthy, successful urban core benefits all of Omaha," she said.Despite a challenging year for the city's budget, Stothert said Omaha will distribute millions of dollars in rent and utility assistance, small business support, food and coronavirus testing.As health care professionals continue to treat COVID-19 patients and administer vaccines, Stothert invited a group of nurses and employees from the Douglas County Health Department and Visiting Nurses Association to the address. “Thank you for providing care and for caring," she said.You can watch the entire state of the city address in the clip below.