Becky Barrientos-Patlan

HOUSING

Q1: Do you believe housing is a right?  

No! My parents were immigrants and I am a first generation American.  I watched my family work hard and sometimes had two-three jobs to make ends meet.  We are not a socialist country and everyone must work to better our own lives.  Nothing is free in this world except the air we breathe. 

Q2: Should TIF continue to be used for market rate housing construction?

Studying the TIF Tool..

Q3: What percentage of TIF expenditures should be spent on affordable housing? 

Studying the TIF Tool.

Q4: Should non-compliant landlords face criminal charges rather than citations? 

Because landlords we’re not maintaining their properties and tenants were in fear to complain about conditions, the City of Omaha enacted the landlord tenant act #41767 code.  A citation is the same but non-compliant landlords, won’t have to post a bond but are still required to go to court on the charges and may still be held accountable.

Q5: In an effort to halt the negative and displacing effects of gentrification, should homes and residential rental properties in areas of clustered commercial and residential TIF funded projects be subject to higher tax valuations based on proximity to improvements rather than having real improvements to the property?

I understand fully about negative and displacing affects in neighborhoods, pushing out families.  Like I said in prior TIF questions, I am studying this very closely.

POLICING

Section A

Q1 : Should the historically Mayoral appointed position of Chief of Police continue to remain appointed or should the position become an elected one?   

By charter the responsibility of the position of police chief is given to the mayor.  All Director for every department is his or her responsibility.

Q2:  For the first time in Omaha municipal elections the labor union for OPD, the Omaha Police Officers Association, as well as the current Police Chief Todd Schmaderer have endorsed candidates in the Mayoral and City Council elections. Do political endorsements by OPOA and the Chief open the department to further scrutiny for bias from the community? Can fairness be expected with the politicization of the police department? 

Usually and typically all labor unions endorse democrat candidates, bias is a known factor, and does not only occur in OPD.  

Section B

Q3: Should footage of in custody deaths from law enforcement officers and jailers in Omaha be made public immediately upon incident? If not, when do you feel it should be released or why not. 

According to state law the grand jury must be conducted, until amended.

Q4: Currently according to Nebraska law footage from police body-worn cameras and dashcam footage can only be released by the county prosecutor. The Omaha Police department can not release video footage, only stills of footage. Does the ability to selectively release footage of deaths in police custody solely through the discretion of one prosecutor give undue influence towards prosecuting possible homicides by police?

Again we must follow state law until it is amended.

Q4 LINK Nebraska Legislature 

Link to Grand Jury Results Defined Nebraska Legislature

Q5: Should the turning off of a body-worn camera or cruiser dashcam and destruction or deletion of any footage by an officer result in an automatic termination as well as lead to felony criminal charges of evidence tampering?  

An independent review of custody deaths and assaults should not be publicly disseminated but wait on the grand Jury,   Senator Ernie Chambers established this grand jury investigation procedure.  We must always remember that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, even police officers.

Section C

Q6: In 2013 local police oversight advocacy groups and citizens presented a plan for independent police oversight in the form of a police oversight board which was implemented in 2014 by executive action from Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert called the Civilian Complaint Review Board. Should the duties of the CCRB be expanded to include independent review of in custody deaths and assaults for public dissemination? 

No response given.

Q7: The CCRB only reviews complaints made against police officers retroactively after the offense has taken place. In an effort to increase monitoring and curtailing police abuses of power and people, should the CCRB's functions, budget, and facilities be expanded to include a real time monitoring and forensic center where police can be monitored 24/7 independent of the police department? Should an expanded CCRB include a forensic auditor to determine causes of death from in custody fatalities? 

I am not in favor of reforming the Omaha Police Department.  We already have County Coroners, for causes of death.