Mayor Stothert and a Hidden Microphone

Jean Stothert has a long track record as the Mayor of Omaha. After defeating Jim Suttle in 2013, she has served an unprecedented three terms in office, and she is now seeking a fourth.

At the River City Republicans’ luncheon on Wednesday, she highlighted achievements from her twelve years in office and made her case for reelection. By the end of her talk, however, I’d learned that someone had secretly recorded audio of her opponent, Mike McDonnell, at an event a few days earlier and had sent it to her campaign.

Highlight Reel

Stothert’s tenure has included public-private partnerships like the new library at 72nd and Dodge, renovations to the Gene Leahy Mall and the surrounding downtown corridor, and housing projects such as Heartwood Preserve and Avenue One in West Omaha. She emphasized that these projects would not have happened without her leadership.

“They didn’t trust me when I was first mayor,” Stothert said. “The whole first term — four years — I didn’t have any public-private partnerships because they wanted to make sure you do what you say you’re going to do, take care of their dollars, and can do the job. So everything would slow down with a new mayor.”

Stothert also discussed the streetcar project, asserting that “the streetcar cannot be stopped” and that ending it would be “suicide.” She then addressed comments made by her opponent, Mike McDonnell, at a Free Speech Society event on Saturday.

“I heard one of my opponents say, ‘Well, I will honor all the contracts, but I will stop the streetcar.’ And that makes no sense whatsoever,” Stothert said.

For a moment, I thought she had been reading my blog, as those comments were in response to a question I’d asked McDonnell and written about in a previous post.

Cooperation with ICE

During the Q&A, I asked Stothert about comments Police Chief Todd Schmaderer made at a press conference last month. He had stated that federal and local governments operated in “two different silos” and that “the federal government can’t come one day and give a directive to the Omaha Police Chief, to the mayor, and say, ‘This is what you’re gonna do.’” I asked her to clarify which directives the city would and wouldn’t follow.

“He [Schmaderer] really did not say that,” Stothert replied. “What he said was the Omaha Police Department are not ICE agents — and they are not. He said we do work with and cooperate with ICE. So what he was trying to say is the Omaha Police Department is not going to be out doing raids.”

She recounted an incident on South 24th Street in South Omaha, where a planned ICE arrest of a fugitive at a Walgreens sparked widespread fear among residents.

On or Off the Record?

After answering my question, Stothert abruptly changed subjects and brought up other comments McDonnell made at the Free Speech Society event on Saturday.

“I know my opponent said last weekend at a public session that I have a homeless coordinator,” Stothert said. “She’s done a great job. She’s been in my office for two years. She’s placed over 200 people into shelter and gotten them the services they need. Mike did say publicly that she is a DEI hire because she’s a woman. I do not consider DEI being a woman.”

The comment surprised me, as I recalled that McDonnell hadn’t said the homeless coordinator was a “DEI hire” because she was a woman. I told Stothert I’d been there and hadn’t heard him say that.

Stothert responded, “I know it, and we have it recorded.”

The organizers of the Free Speech Society event had told guests that recording was not allowed. At least one attendee, however, had apparently recorded audio anyway and then shared it with the Stothert campaign. Both McDonnell’s comments and at least part of the audio recording made their way into local media, including the Omaha World-Herald and multiple TV networks.

What didn’t make the news, however, was the rest of McDonnell’s talk, where he discussed Omaha’s growing homeless problem. He described person had been found living in a dumpster nearly frozen to death. Over the weekend, a woman living in a tent community near Carter Lake had died. McDonnell also outlined his plan to address homelessness, using a FEMA-type approach and partnering with organizations like the Siena Francis House and the Stephen Center.

Friends in High Places

Stothert wrapped up her talk by announcing support from one prominent politician.

“I do have a lot of support. I do have the President of the United States saying that he would be more than happy to help me if I needed help,” Stothert said.

President Donald Trump has yet to make an official endorsement in the Omaha mayor’s race, but if and when he does, it will likely be shared on his Truth Social account.