After two meetings with several hours of public hearing, the Omaha City Council approved both the Housing Affordability Action Plan and bonds for the streetcar project Tuesday.
The Housing Affordability Action Plan was approved 5-2, with Councilmembers Brinker Harding and Aimee Melton voting against.
Councilmember Harding had moved for amendments to remove recommendations for a fee against new developments that don’t meet an affordability threshold, a requirement for a certain percentage of affordable units for TIF projects, creating a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction, and a section on rent control. All four failed along the same margins, 2-5.
“I don’t agree with the plan as written,” Councilmember Harding said. “With the amendments, I could’ve been supportive of it.”
Council President Pete Festersen said he didn’t think amendments were appropriate because the plan doesn’t implement any of the recommendations included in the document, which were based on public input.
“I don’t think amending this document is our role today,” Festersen said. “I think our role today is to respect the public process that was just undertaken.
Councilmember Melton said the amendments were reasonable. Melton—who volunteers for the Douglas County Tenant Assistance Project—especially took issue with a recommendation for a city ordinance to require a right to legal counsel for tenants. She said that would have to fall under state law and it would cost the taxpayers money.
“I will continue to support the program, continue to volunteer for the program,” Melton said. “But having something in here that says a city ordinance should mandate court-appointed counsel—that’s not something we can do and really in all honesty it’s ignorant to leave it in there.”
Councilmember Don Rowe said there will be chances down the line to vote on specific recommendations and strategies, and that he would push back against some of the plan’s recommendations if they came to a vote.
“I think most of us up here ran on affordable housing…it’s a tough issue but we want to tackle it and now’s the time to tackle it,” Rowe said. “I’m not sure that it’s the time to get into the sausage making up here and dealing with amendments.”
Streetcar Bonds
The City Council approved 6-1 the issuance of up to $440 million in bonds to fund the streetcar project. Councilmember Juanita Johnson was the only vote against.
The ordinances included $360 million in redevelopment bonds for the construction and installation of the system, and $80 million in lease-purchase bonds to purchase the streetcars themselves. Redevelopment bonds are backed by banks and come at little risk to taxpayers, while lease-purchase bonds are backed by the city’s general fund but have lower interest rates.
The bonds will be paid back using a percentage of revenue generated by TIF projects within a redevelopment district surrounding the streetcar route. A third-party analysis by MuniCap estimated that the redevelopment area will generate more than enough to pay back the bonds.
The Metropolitan Utilities District raised concerns last week that construction would raise costs for improving and relocating water and gas lines in the area, resulting in rate hikes. MUD general counsel Mark Mendenhall said he and other MUD board members met with city officials and will continue to work on finding a solution.
“I cannot sit here and express to you all that we are confident this will result in no rate increase,” Mendenhall said. “What I will say is that we are confident that we will continue to work with the city…in good faith to minimize costs through design efficiencies.”
In a statement last week, the city proposed splitting the costs. Jennifer Taylor from the city’s legal department said she was confident they’ll come to an agreement.
Councilmember Johnson voted against the bonds as she urged the city and Metro Transit to come up with a concrete plan for improving public transportation north to south.
“Put that amount of dedication that is being put on a streetcar into providing a plan to address the underserved community in this city as it relates to transportation,” Johnson said. “It’s a reasonable, fair request.”
Steve Jensen from the Mayor’s office said the Omaha Streetcar Authority plans to discuss possible extensions to the route—including north to south—with federal officials.
Council Vice President Vinny Palermo said the city is moving forward and will need to increase density to keep growing. He said the streetcar will help support the city’s urban core.
“We’re going to need a way to get a large amount of people in the urban core, because eventually we’re going to be out of land,” Palermo said. “There are people that will live in this urban core, that will work in this urban core, that will raise their family in this urban core that will depend on this to get around.”
County Board
In a monthly update to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Douglas County Corrections Director Mike Myers said the department’s overtime costs in November were still high, but lower than previous months.
Myers said 14 officers below the rank of sergeant left the department last month and only five began training. The department is using an accelerated version of their training process that can be completed in four weeks instead of six to address staffing issues. He said a larger class of 12 officers began training this week.
Commissioner Mike Friend said the County Board has worked to negotiate better contracts for correctional officers.
“Public safety—I said this when I first came in here—is paramount,” Friend said. “It’s the main thing that the county has to take care of, and that includes corrections.”
The average daily population in the jail was 1,065, down by 75 compared to last month. Myers said the decrease was partially attributable to new pretrial release services, which allows for individuals who qualify to avoid jail time with conditions like regular check-ins, sobriety testing and GPS monitoring.
The population is still majority non-white. Myers said he will study the pretrial release program to see how it affects different demographics, hoping that will help address the racial imbalance.
Myers also reported that 19% of the jail population was homeless or near homeless. He said those inmates tend to come in because of “nuisance” crimes and don’t stay at the jail very long. The tight turnaround makes it difficult for the corrections department’s stabilization services.
“In essence, we are the third largest homeless shelter in Douglas County,” Myers said.
Mental health initiatives should help individuals facing homelessness, Myers said, because of the high co-occurrence of mental illness and homelessness.
The corrections department also launched a new program to provide tablets to inmates. Myers said inmates can use the tablets to access entertainment and educational opportunities and communicate with staff as well as family and friends.
Rehabilitative Services Administrator Justine Wall said both inmates and staff have responded well to the system, and they will continue to expand offerings. She said most of the tablet use has been for education, including for inmates on the waitlist to enroll in GED classes.
“It appears that our individuals are really utilizing the services that are available and we look forward to increasing the amount of services that are on there,” Wall said.