Mayor Jean Stothert is in her second term, following her re-election in 2017.
Her priorities are public safety, managing the city budget, job growth and economic development and improving the taxpayer experience--so that every citizen receives excellent customer service when they interact with city government.
During her first term, Mayor Stothert reduced the property tax rate twice, increased the number of police officers to a record high level, increased the budget for street repair and maintenance, improved city services and increased the city’s population and tax base through annexation.
In each year of her administration, the city has reported a budget surplus.
Mayor Stothert is the first woman elected to the Office of Mayor. She previously served fours years on the Omaha City Council and three terms as Millard Board of Education member, including three years a President.
She believes in open, transparent government and gets the most satisfaction from helping people solve problems.
Last week was a one of a kind meeting of our club. We brought Rotary to our friend and Immediate Past President, Kent Templien at QLI. Kent's Rotary leadership class last year, led by PDG Gary Bren, joined us with Past Club Presidents in the area. President Nuzhat Mahmood presided the meeting. Andy Shim gave the Invocation. Rebecca Miller and Anne Fuhrman served as greeters, while Rodge Bickerstaff was Sgt. at Arms.
President-Elect Jill Slupe was Chair of the Day. Jill introduced Jon Pearson, Director of Creativity at QLI. Jon shared with us what QLI is and what it does as a Rehabilitation provider. A professionally produced video titled "Step by Step: Kent Templien's Story of Resilience" explained QLI’s proprietary Tri-Dimensional Rehabilitation® program. You can view the video here.
Susan Rohrig described the inspirational meeting on her Facebook post: "...Kent was injured 4 months ago and was paralyzed with a spinal injury. His story was shared via video. When the lights came back on, he shocked us all. He had gotten out of his motorized chair and was using a walker to walk to the front of the room! A beautiful surprise and not a dry eye in the room. Even though his struggle is not over, he is an amazing man with fierce determination. We are so proud to call him a fellow Rotarian. Keep up the good work."
Photo credit: Suzan Rohrig
President Nuzhat also described the meeting last week on her Facebook post: "What a day! 74 club members, visiting Rotarians and guests came out to QLI to bring the #Rotary meeting to Kent Templien today. It was an emotional meeting for all of us. Thank you to QLI for the amazing work they do as a non profit, providing rehabilitation services for those with spinal cord and brain injuries. How lucky we are in #Omaha to have Madonna Hospital and a place like QLI right in our hometown. Best of luck and heartfelt prayers for our brave and strong Rotarian, Kent, and to his family, in the journey towards full recovery."
Kent being interviewed by Mike Kelly of the Omaha World Herald
We are announcing our New Member proposals, as follows:
Laura Thomas is Consultant-CEO of LaMancha Ventures. Laura's proposer is Bill Sutton. Laura is a Rotarian transferring to our club from the eClub of the Carolinas.
Shonna Dorsey is Vice President of Sales at AIM Institute, a non-profit tech company. Shonna's proposer is Deb Neary.
Any objections to these proposals must be in writing to the Board of Directors at boardofdirectors@omahawestrotary.org by March 31st.
The Rotary Information Committee is now in its final stages of saving the rich history of Omaha West Rotary. The committee is in need of volunteers to finish scanning and saving electronically West Rotary's documents from the storage. John Morey volunteered but he needs help. Yes, you can help! Please contact Suzan at skrohrig@skr-aia.com or John at John.Morey@RaymondJames.com.
Join us to plant trees and sustain the urban forest in Miller Park/Minne Lusa Neighborhood and Boulevard on April 28, 2018 at 08:30 AM - 12:00 PM. Sign up here.
We will be planting shade trees along the Minne Lusa Boulevard and Florence neighborhood right-of-way parkland.
Meet at the Minne Lusa Elementary School located at 2728 Ida Street (East side of school).
We will plant shade trees and lay mulch.
Although shovels will be provided, volunteers are encouraged to bring their own shovel and gloves.
Tree holes will be pre-dug to ease volunteer labor.
Spread the News! It's a great time to join Omaha West Rotary!
Please spread the news, the fee for joining West Omaha Rotary has been discounted from $540 ($340 plus $200 application fee) to $113 from now till June 30th. Because of the generous “new member” contributions from Nizar Mamdani, Dwayne Brown and John Morey, the application fee has been waived and the membership fee has been supplemented for all new members. This is a great opportunity to encourage prospects to test out our club and join at a reduced rate. For more information please reach out to Jill Slupe at Jslupe@verdemartin.com or 917-416-7498.
Southwest Omaha West Rotary meets at DJ's Dugout at 176th & Q Streets from 5:15 - 6:15 on Tuesday evenings. The club has two upcoming exciting speakers that you will want to listen to, as follows:
April 10, 2018 Michelle Kaiser
Omaha Bakery, Shark Tank Contestant, & Contestant on the Food Network "Spring Baking Championship"
To find out about speakers at other Rotary Clubs in the area, you can conveniently see the list of Club websites here. Then click on the home icon to the left of the club name. The list of speakers are listed on their Homepage.
Understanding the value of The Rotary Foundation . . .
When asked what participants want to get out of Rotary training and meetings, we hear things like the statements above.
Meeting all of those needs is a challenge - but there is an answer – the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI).
RLI has been available in District 5650 since 2006. The curriculum and format were improved in 2009 and we expanded to partner with District 6000 in Iowa in 2012. There have been nearly 275 Rotarians participate in our local program.
Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) was designed to provide discussion and activity-based programs. There is time to go into detail on many topics. It is not focused on a particular Rotary position but allows an opportunity for participants to truly discover Rotary.
All Rotary members benefit from the RLI experience. Rotary Club leadership can be more effective because of their expanded knowledge and connections made during RLI sessions.
RLI is a three-part program. Each RLI participant attends three one-day sessions. Our goal is to offer each Part with every meeting date (pending a sufficient number of registrations).
Upcoming session dates:
March 3, 2018 - Hosted by District 6000 in Iowa City
April 21, 2018 - Hosted by District 5650 likely in Omaha
October 6, 2018 - Hosted by District 5650 likely in Omaha
November 3, 2018 - Hosted by District 6000 likely in Des Moines
We are now offering 10 punch lunch tickets ($160) and 10 punch meeting-only tickets ($70) for sale at the meetings. Get one and don't worry about having cash or getting out your credit card! For sale at check-in.
MONDAY BELLEVUE 12:00 PM (DJ's Dugout, 10308 S. 23rd St.) NORTH 12:00 PM (Omaha Eppley Airport Conference Room) MILLARD 12:00 PM (German American Society, 3717 South 120th Street) - NO MEETING on Oct 9
TUESDAY MORNING 7:00 AM (Happy Hollow Country Club, 1701 S. 105th St.)
NORTHWEST 12:00 PM ( Effective August 15th Northwest Rotary will meet Tuesday's at noon at Jerico's, 11732 W Dodge Rd, Omaha, NE 68154.)
SOUTHWEST NIGHT 5:15 PM (DJ's Dugout at 17666 Welch Plaza, northeast corner of 180th & Q streets)
WEDNESDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS CENTENNIAL 1st Wed 7:00 AM; 3rd Wed floating event; no meeting other weeks (Hy-Vee in Mall of the Bluffs, I-80 Exit 5) DOWNTOWN 12:00 PM (Field Club, 3615 Woolworth Ave.)
THURSDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS NOON 12:00 PM (The Center, 714 S. Main St.)
SUBURBAN 12:00 PM (Anthony's, 7220 F St.)
WESTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY 7:00 AM (Elkhorn Common Ground Community Center, 1701 Veteran's Drive)
FRIDAY WEST 12:00 PM (Champions Run, 13800 Eagle Run Drive)
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