OMAHA, Neb (KMTV) — Omaha mayoral candidates debated for an hour at the Omaha Press Club on Thursday afternoon. Mayor Stothert promoted her record of economic development during her 12 years in office. John Ewing, the Douglas County treasurer since 2007, emphasized his previous work as an Omaha deputy police chief.
- Economic development: The mayor praised the city's growth, while Ewing said the city isn't growing fast enough.
- The police force currently needs to recruit about 115 new officers. Both candidates discussed plans for recruitment and retention of new officers.
- The need for affordable housing was a major discussion point.
- Ewing said he'd support cameras being used for traffic enforcement in light of problems with street racing in the metro area. Stothert said she thought increased penalties were a better option.
WATCH KATRINA'S STORY BELOW
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Policing, the streetcar, and a brief mention of that 16th Street sinkhole: all hot button topics mentioned at Thursday's Omaha mayoral debate.
I'm your neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel, downtown.
Mayor Jean Stothert and Treasurer John Ewing clashed over the best ways to recruit new police officers.
Both candidates agree: Omaha needs to recruit more than 100 new police officers. But they proposed different solutions.
Katrina Markel: "What are some of the things you think need to be done to get those staffing numbers back up?"
John Ewing: "So, one of the things that I believe we need to do, that I talked about over 25 years ago when I was still a member of the police department, was we need to look at having a cadet program."
Stothert: "They will get another raise this year, another raise next year, but the raise is based on – we will always be five percent higher than any law enforcement agency in the state of Nebraska."
As for affordable housing...
Ewing: "You can look at partnering with the non-profits, you can look at increasing density..."
Stothert: "We looked at changing zoning, we looked at changing city code. We looked at a lot of things to increase density..."
The candidates were asked if they supported traffic enforcement cameras to deter street racing and dangerous driving. Ewing said “yes.”
Ewing: "Because at the end of the day, the people in this room deserve to be able to drive on their streets; the people in this city deserve to be able to drive on their streets safely."
Stothert: "They're controversial and they don't always work right. I had the law department write a new ordinance that has more penalties for street racing."
They also addressed the streetcar and growth of the metro area. Stothert touted her record on economic development during her 12-year tenure. Ewing believed the city wasn't growing as much as it could be and criticized the city's handling of the sinkhole downtown.
