Douglas County Board of Commissioners Meeting

First up is Board of Equalization. During citizen comment, Luis Jimenez said more documents should be available online

Douglas County Assessor Mike Goodwillie said he recommends the denial of exemption applications for Chi Club and the Regency Homes Association bc the properties aren’t used for charitable purposes

He said the club has a special membership that offers benefits not available to nonpaying members

A rep from Regency Homes said they fit the requirements for the exemption.

Comm Roger Garcia asked if they are a 501c3 non profit, but the rep wasn’t sure

The rep said it’s available for anyone to rent out. He said it’s a charitable service bc it provides a benefit to the community

Comm Jim Cavanaugh said he’s been at many noncharitable events at the property

Comm Mike Friend said approving this could set a precedent for giving other HOAs exemptions

The Regency rep said he doesn’t think many HOAs have as much property as they do, so it wouldn’t be beneficial to seek the exemption

Goodwillie said there isn’t much case law for setting a precedent.

Comm Garcia said anyone seeking to apply as a charitable org would apply as a 501c3.

Garcia asked how many of the HOA’s members are impoverished, the Regency rep didnt have that number

Garcia said he’s worked 18 years in non profits, so he has reservations in this

The Regency rep said no one owns the HOA, so no one is making money off of it. The $500 membership fee is to pay for operating costs for the pool

Luis Jimenez said he wouldn’t form an opinion on this without seeing the Regency HOA’s budget

Jimenez added that having a health club in a residential area is a benefit to the community

The Board approved the Equalization consent agenda, denying the Regency HOA’s exemption application

Before moving on to the regular meeting agenda, Chair Mary Ann Borgeson welcomed the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative from UNO

Community liason Val McPherson said some of the students with him today may be a future president or prime minister of their country

After hearing introductions from the students, Comm Maureen Boyle said the Board is looking forward to them becoming future leaders of their countries

Chair Borgeson said the issues the students are interested in are the same as the issues the Board deals with

On the consent agenda is a resolution for an electronic case management system for the DC Youth Center. Finance Director Joe Lorenz said the $302,606 contract is being paid for mostly through grant funding

Consent agenda approved. The Board recognized the retirement of Dennis Browne from the Douglas County Attorney Office

The Board recognized last week as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Chair Borgeson said 911 operators and dispatchers are truly first responders

Borgeson said the past few years have been especially difficult for emergency services bc of the pandemic

The Board approved a $100,000 ARPA award for GESU Housing to provide operating funds for affordable housing and housing stability services. Dan Dougherty these funds will help a family directly

The Board is going into executive session for contract negotiations and litigation before the monthly corrections update

The Board is now coming back from executive session to receive a monthly update from Corrections Director Mike Myers

Myers said $1.4 million was spent on overtime in March, but they project a significant cost reduction by May as staffing improves and new officers complete training

He said he feels like a broken record saying they’re still working on getting the case management system integrated for the pretrial release program

The use of tablets has expanded, reducing the need for resources ar the traditional law library

Myers said the corrections department will be fully staffed this month for the first time in years

He thanked the training department and hiring department for achieving their goal. He said they will now pause continuous hiring

He also thanked the Board for their support

The average daily jail population decreased by 25 in March, despite an increase in admissions, thanks to diversion and pretrial release services

40.87% of the population is diagnosed with a mental illness

Myers said the facility-wide safety project continues, which includes safety netting and safer bunks

Myers added that the first week of May is Corrections Professionals Week

Chair Mary Ann Borgeson asked what the average length a person spends on pretrial is. Myers said he doesn’t have that data yet, but he will when the case management system is fully integrated

Borgeson said the Board will tour the facilities later today. Meeting adjourned at 12:00