Thread by @asanderford

Just when you thought you’d had enough of elections, #Omaha city elections would like a word.

Spending part of the afternoon with @jeanformayor, who is formally announcing her run for mayor.

I’ll try to tweet some of what she says.

Campaign staff say she will start speaking around 2:30 p.m.

She’s expected to stress themes that include growing the police department, passage of the bond package to improve streets, the new trash and recycling contract, improving the city’s amenities and environment for attracting and retaining young professionals and talent.

Based on handouts from her campaign, her comments will also emphasize a record-low number of officer-involved shootings and an effort to provide "citizens a better way to voice complaints about the conduct of police officers." (Will ask for more detail.)

No crowd at this one, other than reporters and staff. Mayor even kept her family away, citing local #coronavirus concerns.

She leads off saying she will run for a third term.

Stothert leads off talking about her family and their support.

Stothert: Why am I running again? Because I want to continue the great partnerships with so many talented people and organizations who make this city so successful and dynamic.

Stothert: People are really tired of elections right now. They're tired of the division and mistrust. They're tired. They're tired of nasty campaigns that seem to bring everybody down. We're tired of it too. Our 2021 campaign will be different.

Stothert: Ours will be about ideas, respect, a united Omaha and the honor of public service.

Stothert: No issue is more important than the safety and security of the place Omahans call home. (She's talking about budgeting for more than 900 police officers, a total number of sworn officers the city has yet to reach, but is trying to hire and train.)

(Stothert is touting improved police response times, record-low number of police-involved shootings. Saying they'll do more to help give people a better way to report complaints about the conduct of police officers.)

(She's talking about seeking more body-worn cameras, more transparency and continuing to work on relationships in every part of the city.)

(Stothert also talked about buying more and better equipment for the Omaha Fire Department, to keep firefighters safe, a new South O fire station, 31.)

Stothert is now talking about roads: This new $200 million bond will provide an additional $40 million a year, doubling the amount of road repairs the city can do each year. Also saying $6 mil in new funding will be set aside each year to address Omaha's unimproved streets.

(She's talking about how quickly Omaha's economy has bounced back from the spring coronavirus-related recession. Saying the number of building permits has grown from $1 billion to $6.6 billion.)

(Stothert discussed the importance of small business development in addition to major developments aimed for Crossroads, Blackstone, 75-North, Southside Terrace, and Heartwood Preserve. @cgonzalez_owh.)

Stothert: "We will highlight the appeal of Omaha to young professionals, who want an exciting urban setting that offers entertainment, retail, social and reaction spaces, and low-cost transit options."

(Stothert talks about the launch yesterday of ORBT, the rapid-transit bus system Omaha just added. @jeffreyrobb.)

Stothert: Over the next four years, I will continue to prepare every city budget like I have the last four years. We will work to keep all tax rates as low as possible.

(Stothert gives the new trash contract a shout out, saying it will be the "gold standard." Says the city needs to focus on making "our great police department even greater, where the police department and our community work as partners.")

Stothert: I want the city to become a more inclusive and welcoming city for all people and all lifestyles. Wants to expand employment, affordable housing and retail in economically challenged parts of town and local historic and unique neighborhoods.

(Stothert says the new downtown parks, built around the riverfront, will become Omaha's calling card.)

Stothert: "The parks will start to open in 2022, and I can't wait to take our grandsons there.

(Stothert is now addressing the pandemic. Says her job is to protect the health, safety and welfare of everybody in the city. The impact of the pandemic keeps her awake at night, she says.)

Stothert: "For as long as it takes, we will continue the health measures, public information and strategies needed to keep cases as low as possible." (Says city will continue to coordinate with health experts, including at UNMC.)

Q: Was there ever a point you considered not running?

A: Absolutely not. I love what I do. I love the direction Omaha is going. There has not been a mayor that has served a third-consecutive term. I feel like I just got started.

Stothert: This pandemic has really, really kept me awake at night.

Q: Win or lose is this your last campaign for mayor?

A: I love what I do. It's a hypothetical question. I'm not even thinking about that right now. I do love what I do.

Q: What more should the city be doing on the pandemic?

A: Do the best we can to inform people. Some of the recommendations. Masks, social distancing, avoid crowded spaces. Those are the things we can all do and we know what they can do. I think right now we are seeing a bit of uptick that is very concerning to us.

Stothert (continued A): We are in that orange level. One day could send us to red and shut more things down. I don't want people to think there is no plan. They (health care experts) guarantee they'll have enough hospital beds if needed.

Stothert: If we work together and do the things that are expected, we will get through this. It'll take a lot of time to vaccinate 350 million people. I think we just have to be very, very vigilant about it. The health and welfare of all of our citizens is very important to me.

Q: Is there any project in particular you want an extra four years to see done?

A: No. 1, the Riverfront, because that is 90 acres of city-owned property, a $400 mil project going on down there, a $100 mil science museum. And the city put in $100 mil. Private folks put the rest.

Stothert (continued A): Also want to see Crossroads. A privately-owned site there. Now when I drive by there, there are construction fences there, they're starting demo. It's going to be about a $500 mil development. It's going to spark the city again. I want to see that through.

Stothert (continued A): Also want to see the Civic Auditorium site developed. Working with several developers right now to develop that site. I don't want to diminish any other developments. I think we'll have a memorandum of understanding sometime soon, a mixed-use development.

Q: Any concerns about garbage pickup about rollout?

A: I'm more excited about the FCC rollout than I thought I should be. They are a worldwide company, a great company. They want to build more presence in the Midwest and this area. I know they want to make this rollout smooth.

Stothert (continued A): I think people, once they get used to it, are gonna love it. I think there will be a little learning curve. But I think people will love them.

Q: How would you make the police accountability reporting system better?

A: They used to have to file it with internal affairs, now they can file in additional places, including Human Resources and the Citizens Complaint Review Board.

Q: Do you think there's enough ridership for the buses to invest and support a program like ORBT?

A: Yes. I feel like the ridership was there before the pandemic and will get there again. They have plans to bring more routes in from the west and south that will make a bus system

Stothert: The ridership in our Metro bus system is down 50 percent during a pandemic, but it shows me that 50 percent really need it. They rely on it. We need to offer a modern bus system with more routes in the future. It's important.

Stothert (continued A): I think we need this. We have done a lot of study of what Omaha needed for a public transportation system, for the type of city that we have, and this came up very high in the list of needs.

Stothert (continued A): The cost is great, $37 million, but nothing like a rail system at this point in time. We hope that with offering other, more modern transit systems for people, that more people will take it.

Q: Do you plan to keep a slow rise on the police budget?

A: I fund the police budget the way we think they need to be funded. I added (budgeting) for 100 new police officers.

Stothert (continuing A): That's why Chief Schmaderer and I had a six-year plan to increase their number of officers. We feel right now we have the right number of officers for our town. We added more officers because we knew we'd open a new police precinct.

Stothert (continuing A): We wanted officers hired, and trained and ready to go. As you know, I like annexing. And I will continue annexing as we grow. If we continue to grow, we will add more officers as needed.

Stothert (continuing A): To defund the police department right now is reckless and irresponsible and I will not do it.

Stothert (continuing A): Every city department, I will fund it in the way I think we need to provide the service.

Q: Looking back, anything you'd have done differently with the pandemic?

A: I don't think so, but we're learning new things all the time. Obviously I'm a former critical care nurse. I do understand virology, even if it's been a long time since I took it.

Stothert A (continued): It is the hardest thing to legislate behavior. People do not like to be told you have to wear a mask. You have to stand 6 feet away. You can't come into this store without a mask. It's hard on people.

Stothert A (continued): In times of war (and pandemics), you sometimes lose your rights, but you will get them back. Police are also doing random checks over Omaha and report response to complaints. I told them (police) to educate first and they will go back and randomly recheck.

Q: What do you say to critics of you on streets?

A: It's never too late to work on streets. I was not sure of what to do. I asked them to tell me why do our streets look like they do and how do I get the money. They took nearly two years studying and gathering data.

Stothert (continuing A): I had to study options and work with our finance department. Once we knew what we needed to do, I did probably over 12 town hall meetings to let people know why I made this choice, and then the pandemic hit. A lot of help we had, their focus changed.

Stothert (continuing A): We did some ballot chasers. Explained what the bond issue would mean, and I was concerned during a pandemic. One was a bond issue, and one was would you accept having your taxes increased. People understood what was going on.

Stothert (continuing A): That it was worth their money. This offered a permanent solution. We'll get to resurface streets once every 20 years. What that would mean is we would not be in that situation in the future.

Stothert (continuing A): That winter of 2019, I think everybody realized that something had to get done and it had to happen really quickly. We were ready for it with contractors and alternates. We are able to start the road work in 2020-21.

Stothert (continuing A): By our calculations, if we have to raise the levy to pay the bond debt, we might get two years in without having to do so.

Q: Did the city have to chip in more when the project at the riverfront climbed to $400 mil?

A: No. The city put in $50 mil and that's it. We worked with the people on the science museum. That is completely and totally privately funded.

@threadreaderapp Please unroll

Thank you everybody for following along. Story to come on @OWHnews.