Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen visits North Omaha, speaks to community leaders

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen paid a visit to North Omaha Friday.

Some community leaders in North Omaha labeled Friday’s visit from Pillen as groundbreaking. They’re hoping to open communications between North Omaha and members of state government.

But there are people in the community who say they have heard this song before.

Political, business and community leaders made their way to Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church on North 24th Street. Close to 50 members of the North Omaha community met with the governor.

The meeting was closed to the media but the governor did answer questions after. He talked about this first step in opening the lines of communication.

“The biggest step first thing is building relationships. It’s really really important that we have eyeball-to-eyeball communication, be able to trust each other and get to know who we are and where each other comes from. This morning that was a big step, I got to shake hands with almost everybody here.”

There were many topics of discussion in the meeting, from housing, to education, to economic development.

State senators Justin Wayne and Terrell McKinney say they have worked many hours with the governor on issues concerning North Omaha.

“We might not agree on everything but at least having an open line of communication is the best thing for us going forward,” McKinney said.

“I would tell you I think this is one of the most accessible governors that I’ve been able to deal with,” Wayne said. “This isn’t his first time in North Omaha and won’t be his last time. And he did say he wanted to commit to regular meetings with people in there.”

There are many people in North Omaha who say they have heard this kind of talk before, then the conversation failed to turn into action.

“Come into the community and show us,” said North Omaha business owner Don McPherson. “Don’t come in for a photo op to give a speech. We’ve heard it all before and you can really kind of see where we still are at.”

“He talked about a lot of things and talked about our children and economic development, but what are we actually going to do?” said Pastor Cavitt with Clair Memorial United Methodist Church. “You can just continue to talk but when are we going to put some timeline and some action in place, because we’re not getting any younger.”

Others say this is different and North Omaha has not had this kind of relationship with a governor before.

“I think this is a different feel, again I think he’s open, he really takes seriously of being the governor of all the citizens,” said Pastor Michael T. Williams, the President of the Omaha NAACP.

“I am hoping for a new day with North Omaha and the governor of our state but this was potentially a great beginning,” said Preston Love Jr. with the Omaha NAACP.

Gov. Pillen accepted the invitation of the Omaha NAACP to meet with North Omaha leadership.

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