Douglas County Board of Commissioners

First up is Board of Equalization. Agenda approved

On to the regular meeting. The Board approved the consent agenda

During citizen comment, Larry Storer warned against “cultural marxism” and diversity, equity and inclusion

Next is an update from Visit Omaha

Executive Director Deborah Ward said hotel revenues in Douglas County were up by 25% in 2022

She said part of that is higher hotel rates, but there was also higher demand

Ward said that although there were fewer major events (like the Olympic swim trials in 2021) in 2022, there were more smaller events which brought in more revenue

Advertising was focused on target markets including Kansas City, Minneapolis and Chicago. Ward said the campaign reached visits to the Visit Omaha website increased by 30%

Ward showed the Board a tourism commercial for Omaha https://t.co/dVPyBLvMq5

Omaha had nearly 3.7 million visitors from targeted cities in 2022

Looking ahead, an independent research center projects that Douglas County will bring in $7million more revenue in 2023. Ward said they’ve seen an even larger percentage increase so far

Ward said Omaha attracts different types of visitors, so the new Visit Omaha website has recommendations for those different visitors https://www.visitomaha.com/

To increase visibility, Ward said they created the Omai campaign https://omaiadventure.com/

Next is a resolution directing county staff to begin the expansion of County Corrections for a mental treatment unit

The resolution sets aside $50 million in ARPA funds and $8 million from previously allocated CARES Act funds

This resolution drops the new community mental health center that was previously proposed, but it does include construction of a new parking structure

If it’s determined that ARPA can’t be used for a new parking structure, the county will use general fund money

Comm Jim Cavanaugh thanked Comm PJ Morgan for working on this resolution, which he said is better than the original proposal

Cavanaugh said there still needs to be vetting for alternative proposals

Cavanaugh said they’ve been advised that there could be a federal clawback of the COVID funds they’re using for the project. He also said they need a rationale for using new property rather than existing property

Cavanaugh proposed an amendment adding language saying that the County will try to minimize the risk of a federal clawback

Comm Chris Rodgers said he’ll vote against the resolution bc doesn’t think an expansion to the jail is necessary. He said this will be the costliest part of the proposal

Rodgers said this is putting money into a system that the state has done nothing to improve.

“If we’re gonna put more money into that, it’s just like pouring water onto the ground in 120 degree weather,” Rodgers said.

Comm Maureen Boyle said they still need to promote mental health for those outside the criminal justice system.

Boyle said they can save taxpayer dollars through stabilization services, keeping people out of incarceration

Cavanaugh’s amendment hasn’t received a second, but Comm Morgan said his concerns will be addressed by county staff

Comm Mike Friend said long-term care isn’t a statutory responsibility for the county. He said this project is “splitting the baby”

Friend said it’d be better to put the money toward private organizations and hold them accountable.

Comm Roger Garcia said he wouldn’t support a general extension to the county jail, but he does support this bc it’s for mental health treatment specifically

Garcia said this isn’t a “blank check” and anything will come back to the Board for approval

Comm Rodgers said this should be the state’s responsibility. The county jail is for short term stays, unlike state prisons

Chair Mary Ann Borgeson said the Board is missing the point by comparing this resolution to the full proposal. She said putting the community mental health center in proximity to the jail’s treatment unit would allow them to address both populations

Borgeson said she wants to know how much of the ARPA allocation will go toward this project. She also wants to remove the $8 million CARES act funds from this resolution

“It saddens me that this has been lost and we’re separating the two,” Borgeson said

Comm Morgan said he’s fine with just using the $50 million in ARPA

Morgan said he’ll look at getting the state and private foundations on board for community mental health. “We’ll never be able to serve enough people, but if we got those partnerships, we can serve more.”

Sheriff Aaron Hansen said law enforcement supports this resolution. He said his deputies regularly interact with people going through a mental health crisis, and those people need a better facility to be treated

Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub said the Board is on the right track, but the private sector could be a part of the solution. He said there’s more awareness now than in the past

Daub said they need to look at alternatives

Tim Heller said he’s glad the County Board is taking action on mental health. He said this is a needed fix, and agreed that there’s a lot more the county can do

Heller said the county should look at outside partnerships to increase the number of beds for mental health treatment

Amber Wood said her daughter was killed in a mass shooting last year. One of those people involved in the shooting had preceded been through the criminal justice system, and she said he clearly didn’t receive the mental health treatment he needed

Wood said public safety should be at the forefront of these conversations. She said she wants to hear more about the programs than new buildings

Not wanting to repeat what has already been said, former state senator Ernie Chambers said “amen” to Hal Daub’s comments

Luis Jimenez said he doesn’t agree that colocating with community mental health would be stigmatizing. He said he supports the corrections piece

He said the County Board doesn’t have a cost estimate for a new parking garage, but he estimates a 500 stall garage would cost over $3 million

Chair Borgeson said people should be able to regain their dignity outside of corrections. Colocating the facilities would’ve allowed them to continue care for someone after theyre incarcerated

Comm Boyle moved for an amendment to remove the $8 million in CARES Act.

County Administrator Patrick Bloomingdale said the intention of the general fund reserve money was in case they weren’t able to use ARPA for parking

The CARES act money is now a part of the general fund, so it doesn’t have that regulations

The Board is working out the details of the amendment

If I understand correctly, Boyle’s amendment would remove the highlighted text. https://t.co/pZrl8CZEQJ

The amendment will remove any mention of the general fund money earmarked for mental health https://t.co/W1CDDYS9re

The resolution as amended passed 5-2. Borgeson and Rodgers voted no

Next is a presentation on the County Attorney’s budget request

The department is requesting more than $390,000 over their targeted amount.

County Attorney Don Kleine said drug court helps save costs for the county by keeping people out of jail

Kleine said they’re also responsible for coroner’s duties, and their autopsy suite is saving millions of dollars for the county

He said the number of autopsies is going up, but cost per autopsy is still low compared to other agencies like the med center

Kleine said there also some expenses associated with the move to the new justice center and wage raises

Comm Boyle asked for more details on cost savings

Kleine said none of the over-budget money is for personnel. He said its mostly for coroner expenses

Kleine said they also seek out grant funding. He said he’ll send another document outlining cost-savings to the board

The agenda was out-of-date, the budget request is $442,000 overthe targeted budget

Next is a budget presentation by the Douglas County Civil Service department, which $300,000 over the targeted amount

HR Director Karen Busche said the bulk of the request is for staffing. She said they have 1 HR employee per 191 county employees, which is lower than ideal

She said they’re looking to hire 3 additional positions, including an investigator for employee relations matters

They also want to hire a recruiter to help fill vacant positions, and a pension/benefit specialist

Busche said they cant afford to hire people at market value, so they anticipate bringing people on to train them

She said much of her staff is burnt out, and HR employees are receiving offers from agencies outside the county

The department is also requesting money for license fees, eLearning content for mandatory training, and advertising to fill vacant positions

Busche said they are saving costs by utilizing exempt employees to acoud paying overtime and compensatory time. They also take advantage of free HR training and go to the County Attorney’s civil division instead of outside attorneys

Comm Cavanaugh said they’re requesting about a 20% increase to their budget, which is a big swing.

Busche said the biggest factor is the increased workload, which is taxing on her staff

Cavanaugh asked if the non-staffing requests are necessary.

Busche said the licensing fees are difficult to give up, and would increase the staff’s workload

Comm Morgan agreed that the 20% increase is a lot. He said the finance committee will have a close look at the budget

Comm Friend asked if a trained HR rep could handle taking on a position combining multiple responsibilities for the requested new positions.

Busche said they don’t have much time for new training, although their employees are all crosstrained

One more budget request presentation: emergency management, which is requesting $99,000 more than the targeted anount

Director Paul Johnson said grant awards have helped them save costs.

The over-budget money will go towards utilities, maintenance and upgrades for sirens, as well as the NRD flood warning system

Comm Cavanaugh asked if climate change has affected the tornado threat.

Johnson said data has shown an increase in number and severity in the southeast part of the country especially. In Nebraska, they’ve been putting out more warnings for wind as well as tornadoes

The increase in warnings means more use of sirens

The next item is to terminate the agreement with the state to provide detention at the DC Youth Center. Kim Hawekotte from administration said they’ll want to work out a new agreement, and prioritize Douglas County youth

Hawekotte said they engaged in conversations about a new agreement

Comm Friend said he’s concerned that the number of youth on probation will increase over the summer. He said the county’s chief responsibility is public safety

Friend said he’ll vote no, and he thinks they can take more time on this

Comm Cavanaugh said the problem is that the new youth center has reduced capacity, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. He said there will be consequences if the county doesn’t have room to detain juveniles

Hawekotte said terminating the agreement gives them leverage to negotiate a new agreement

She said DCYC holds about 3-5 youth from outside the county per day.

Comm Garcia said they need to run a financially sound facility but he has reservations about terminating the agreement

Comm Boyle said she supports the resolution so they can work out a new agreement thats better for kids on probation

Comm Morgan said he’ll likely vote no. He said he’d rather a resolution saying they’ll negotiate a new agreement

Sheriff Aaron Hansen said he opposes this resolution, as well as the next item which terminate a similar agreement with the US Marshall

Hansen said it’s unfortunate that some youth have to be detained, but it’s necessary for public safety

Joy Suder from Creighton’s juvenile justice legal clinic said children placed on probation have a right to rehabilitation services, and the Youth Center isnt the best place for that.

Suder said terminating the agreement will force probation to make necessary changes.

She added that the current system is perpetuating racial disparities.

LaVon Stennis-Williams from Reconnect Inc said this proposal will finally address racial disparities in DCYC.

She said some of what Sheriff Hansen and commissioners have said are dogwhistles about children of color

Stennis-Williams said the state should’ve seen these issues coming as well.

She said Sheriff Hansen has been irresponsible when talking about this issue on social media

Amber Wood, who spoke earlier and said her daughter was a shooting victim, said the system hasn’t been working for public safety. Her daughter’s murderer was on probation for a previous felony

She said this resolution isn’t proactive, and probation isnt able to do enough

Jaquala Yarbro said the pipeline to prison is clear for children of color. She said she might be in prison today if she hadn’t received support as a youth

Comm Garcia said they need more details on how they can improve the system

Comm Friend said since the number of youth they need to detain is the state’s authority, they need to provide adequate capacity.

He said if they dont have capacity, the state will send youth to another location, which could mean youth from Omaha being detained out of state

Friend said he wants to see as few youth detained as possible, but he doesn’t have “a magic wand” to make that happen

Comm Rodgers showed a snapshot of the DCYC population. He said numbers that another commissioner talked about earlier were incorrect https://t.co/9Z30Dwp29g

Rodgers said race can’t be ignored on this issue.

He said probation has admitted they need more services.

Rodgers said kids won’t be sent out of state. He said they need to have conversations about continually improving the system

He said length of stay is a major contributor to capacity

Chair Borgeson said nothing’s changed about what needs to be done, and they will still negotiate with the state

She said they’ll continue to work on programs to benefit youth and their families

The County Board voted to terminate the agreement, 4-2. Cavanaugh and Friend voted no, Garcia abstained

A similar agreement with the US Marshall passed 4-2, on the same lines

A resolution to raise the rate for detention at DCYC passed 7-0

Lastly is a resolution to establish measures to reduce capacity at DCYC for the transition to the new facility

Comm Cavanaugh said this is a “wish list” that doesn’t do anything to actually reduce capacity

He said they should engage in a real discussion on specific efforts to reduce capacity

Comm Rodgers said this resolution lays out a time frame

The resolution passed 4-3, Friend, Cavanaugh and Garcia voted no.

The Board adjourned at 1:55 pm. I’ll be back very shortly for Omaha city council