Nebraska Municipal Review, November 2024 by League of Nebraska Municipalities

NEBRASKA MUNICIPAL

Village of Gresham remembers 9/11

Bridgeport recognized for community improvements

Quick-thinking saves life in Waverly

NOVEMBER 2024

NEBRASKA MUNICIPAL REVIEW

Issue No. 1,195

The NEBRASKA MUNICIPAL REVIEW (ISSN 0028–1906) is published monthly and the official publication of the League of Nebraska Municipalities, an association of the cities and villages of Nebraska, published at 1335 L St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68508. Subscription rates are $5 per single copy — $50 plus tax for 12 issues.

Periodicals postage paid at Lincoln, Nebraska. Views of contributors, solicited or unsolicited, are their own and not to be construed as having the endorsement of the League unless specifically and explicitly stated by the publisher

The NEBRASKA MUNICIPAL REVIEW is a nonprofit publication administered and supervised by the League of Nebraska Municipalities. All revenue derived from the publication is used by the association to defray publication costs.

League of NE Municipalities staff 402-476-2829 • www.lonm.org

L. Lynn Rex, Executive Director

Christy Abraham, Legal Counsel

Lash Chaffin, Utilities Section Director

Cherie DeFreece, Admin Assistant/ Membership Services Assistant

Brenda Henning, Membership Services Assistant

Ethan Nguyen, LNM/LARM Information Technology Manager

Shirley Riley, Membership Services Director

Jackson Sash, Utilities Field Representative/Training Coordinator

Ashley Wolfe, Marketing/Communications Director

LARM staff

Dave Bos, Executive Director

Tracy Juranek, Asst. Executive Director, Customer Service Specialist

Diane Becker, Communications/Marketing Director

Kyla Brockevelt, Executive Administrative Assistant

Drew Cook, Customer Service Specialist

John Hobbs, Loss Control Specialist

James Kelley, Loss Control Specialist

Fred Wiebelhaus, Loss Control/Claims Manager

POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO NEBRASKA MUNICIPAL REVIEW, 206 S. 13TH ST., STE 800, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68508.

Have an idea, project or opinion to share? The League welcomes member articles, information, and op-eds.

Want to reach local decision makers? The League can help you get your message out to Nebraska’s 3,500+ municipal officials.To learn more, contact Ashley Wolfe at 402-476-2829 or ashleyw@lonm.org

2024-2025 Executive Board

President Marlin Seeman, Mayor, Aurora

President-Elect Bryan Bequette, Mayor, Nebraska City

Vice President Joey Spellerberg, Mayor, Fremont

Past President Deb VanMatre, Mayor, Gibbon

Directors

Jean Stothert Mayor, Omaha

Leirion Gaylor Baird Mayor, Lincoln

Jordan Colwell Vice Mayor, Scottsbluff

Josh Moenning Mayor, Norfolk

Sharon Powell Village Board President, Utica

David Black Mayor, Papillion

Larry Evans Mayor, Minden

Rod Petersen Mayor, Louisville

David Scott City Manager, Sidney

Janine K. Schmidt CMC/Treasurer, Morrill

Layne Groseth City Administrator/Utilities Manager, North Platte

Affiliated Sections

City Managers

Eric Melcher, Aurora Clerks Kellie Crowell, Ravenna Munic. Accounting & Finance

Brandi Kloepping, Cozad Fire Chiefs Dennis Thompson, North Platte Utilities Duane Hoffman, Oxford

What's inside?

Patriotism in Gresham Patriotism in Gresham 66

Features

In remembrance: Gresham community comes together to remember Sept. 11

Big things in Bridgeport

Nearly $900,000 in Revitalize Rural Nebraska Grants awarded across state

Outstanding Clerk Award nominations open

Ransomware attacks declining, but evolving in government, survey shows

Art from the heart

Nebraska evolving

Quick thinking saves a life in Waverly

NLC: Why does civic engagement matter?

Norfolk Mayor reflects on improvements, what lies ahead in the State of the City report

Columns

The Director's Message - L. Lynn Rex, LNM Executive Director -Please help protect local option sales tax for the purpose intended by your local voters!

CFRA - Center for Rural Affairs moving forward with Solar for All program

The Legal Corner by Tara A. Stingley and Mitchell T. Moylan, Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P. - Workplace harassment: conducting internal investigations under the U.S. EEOC’s recent enforcement guidance

LARM – The modern-day suggestion box

In each issue

A photo of the 2,997 American flags put on display in Gresham in honor of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Photo provided by Melanie Wilkinson of justmelaniew.com.

Larger Cities Legislative Committee

John McGhehey, Mayor, Alliance

Seth Sorensen City Manager, Alliance

Tobias Tempelmeyer City Administrator, Beatrice

Rusty Hike, Mayor, Bellevue

Jim Ristow, City Administrator, Bellevue

Mindy Rump, Mayor, Blair

Phil Green, City Administrator, Blair

Miles Bannon, Council Member, Chadron

Tom Menke, City Manager, Chadron

Jim Bulkley, Mayor, Columbus

Tara Vasicek, City Administrator, Columbus

Dave Bauer, Mayor Crete

Tom Ourada, City Administrator, Crete

Joey Spellerberg, Mayor, Fremont

Jody Sanders, City Administrator, Fremont

Kent Ewing, Mayor, Gering

Pat Heath, City Administrator, Gering

Laura McAloon, City Administrator, Grand Island

Mike Evans, Mayor, Gretna

Paula Dennison, City Administrator, Gretna

Corey Stutte, Mayor, Hastings

Shawn Metcalf, City Administrator, Hastings

James Liffrig, Mayor, Holdrege

Chris Rector, City Administrator, Holdrege

Stan Clouse, Mayor, Kearney

Brenda Jensen, City Manager, Kearney

Doug Kindig, Mayor, La Vista

Pam Buethe, Clerk, La Vista

John Fagot, Mayor, Lexington

Joe Pepplitsch, City Manager, Lexington

Margaret Blatchford, Assistant City Attorney, Lincoln

Riley Slezak, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Lincoln

Linda Taylor, Mayor, McCook

Nate Schneider, City Manager, McCook

Bryan Bequette, Mayor, Nebraska City

Perry Mader, City Administrator, Nebraska City

Josh Moenning, Mayor, Norfolk

Andrew Colvin, City Administrator, Norfolk

Dani Myers-Noelle, City Attorney, Norfolk

Brandon Kelliher, Mayor, North Platte

Layne Groseth, City Admin./Utilities Manager, North Platte

Steve Krajewski, Mayor, Ogallala

Kevin Wilkins, City Manager, Ogallala

Thomas Warren, Chief of Staff, Omaha

David Black, Mayor, Papillion

Amber Powers, City Administrator, Papillion

R. Paul Lambert, Mayor, Plattsmouth

Emily Bausch, City Administrator, Plattsmouth

Don Groesser, Mayor, Ralston

Brian Kavanaugh, Council Member, Ralston

Rick Hoppe, City Administrator, Ralston

William De Roos, City Administrator, Schuyler

Jeanne McKerrigan, Mayor, Scottsbluff

Jordan Colwell, Vice Mayor, Scottsbluff

Kevin Spencer, City Manager/Police Chief, Scottsbluff

Joshua Eickmeier, Mayor, Seward

Greg Butcher, City Administrator, Seward

Brad Sherman, Mayor, Sidney

David Scott, City Manager, Sidney

Carol Schuldt, Council Member, South Sioux City

Lance Hedquist, City Administrator, South Sioux City

Cale Giese, Mayor, Wayne

Jill Brodersen, Council President, Wayne

Wes Blecke, City Administrator, Wayne

Barry Redfern, Mayor, York

Dr. Sue Crawford, City Administrator, York

Smaller Cities Legislative Committee

Jessica Quady City Administrator, Ashland

Marlin Seeman, Mayor, Aurora

Eric Melcher, City Administrator, Aurora

Chris Anderson, City Administrator, Central City

Andrew Lee, Admin/Clerk/Treasurer, Curtis

Alan Michl, Chairperson, Exeter

Becky Erdkamp, Clerk/Treasurer, Exeter

Kyle Svec, City Administrator, Geneva

Deb VanMatre, Mayor, Gibbon

Matt Smallcomb, City Administrator, Gibbon

Gary Greer, City Administrator, Gothenburg

Jana Tietjen, Clerk, Hebron

Barb Straub, Admin/Clerk/Treasurer, Hemingford

Kelly Oelke, City Administrator, Hickman

Janine K. Schmidt, CMC/Treasurer, Morrill

Sandra Schendt, Clerk/Treasurer, Nelson

David Russell, Director of Gov. Affairs, NMPP Energy

Mandy Hansen, Government Affairs Liason, NMPP Energy

Sandy Kruml, Clerk/Treasurer, Ord

Mike Feeken, Mayor, St. Paul

Sandra Foote, Council Member, Superior

Jeff Hofaker, City Administrator, Sutton

Jessica Meyer, City Administrator, Syracuse

Sharon Powell, Village Board President, Utica

Kyle Arganbright, Mayor, Valentine

Melissa Harrell, City Administrator, Wahoo

Desiree Soloman, City Attorney, Waterloo

Stephanie Fisher City Administrator, Waverly

Tom Goulette, City Admin./Utility Superintendent, West Point

Randy Woldt, Utilities Superintendent, Wisner

Robert Costa, Community Engagement Coordinator, Yutan

Municipal Legal Calendar

(All statute citations to Revised Statutes of Nebraska)

JANUARY 2025

CITIES OF THE FIRST CLASS

• Each month - Clerk publishes ordinances passed within 15 days after passage. (16-405)

• Within 10 working days from meeting or before next meeting (whichever is sooner) Clerk to have minutes available for public inspection. (84-1413)

• First Regular Meeting - Mayor and Council appoint member of Park Board. (16-696)

• Within 30 days from Council meeting Clerk publishes official proceedings of meeting. (19-1102)

• Within 20 days after end of month Treasurer files monthly financial report. (16-318)

• On or before January 31- Provide county assessor each new lease or changed preexisting lease which went into effect during the previous year and a listing of previously reported leases that are still in effect. (77-202.11)

• Each Quarter - Report from depository banks due. (16-714)

• Reminder - Notice of automatic renewal of liquor and beer other than Class C licenses must be published between January 10 and January 30 of each year. (53-135.01)

CITIES OF THE SECOND CLASS

• Each month - Clerk publishes ordinances passed within 15 days after passage (17-613)

• Within 10 working days from meeting or before next meeting (whichever is sooner) Clerk to have minutes available for public inspection. (84-1413)

• Within 30 days from Council meeting Clerk publishes official proceedings of meeting. (19-1102)

• Within 20 days after end of month Treasurer files monthly financial report. (17-606)

• Reminder - Notice of automatic renewal of liquor and beer other than Class C licenses must be published between January 10 and January 30 of each year. (53-135.01)

VILLAGES

• Each month - Clerk publishes ordinances passed within 15 days after passage (17-613)

• Within 10 working days from meeting or before next meeting (whichever is sooner) Clerk to have minutes available for public inspection. (84-1413)

• Within 30 days from Trustees’ meeting Clerk publishes official proceedings of meeting. (19-1102)

• Within 20 days after end of month Treasurer files monthly financial report. (17-606)

• Reminder - Notice of automatic renewal of liquor and beer other than Class C licenses must be published between January 10 and January 30 of each year. (53-135.01)

Chaired by Mayor Don Groesser of Ralston

Chaired by Tom Goulette, City Administrator of West Point

Local option sales tax requires approval by local voters and is the single most significant revenue source used by cities and villages to reduce property taxes and fund major projects and programs desired by citizens! Please help educate Senators and others about the importance of honoring the vote of your citizens who approved local option sales tax for their desired projects and programs. Even if your city or village does not yet have local option sales tax, please help preserve this invaluable revenue option for your municipality in the future.

If your city or village has a local option sales tax, please respond to the League’s email requesting information regarding the sales tax rate, date of voter approval, how these funds are used in your municipality, and whether there is a sunset. Many municipalities, like the City of Wahoo, received voter approval for a 1% local option sales tax and subsequently received voter approval for an additional half cent or 1% local option sales tax. Ashley Wolfe, the League’s Marketing/Communications Director, will format your information into a one-page handout like the one on page 5, which she developed after receiving information from Melissa

Please help protect local option sales tax for the purpose intended by your local voters!

BY L. LYNN REX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LNM

Harrell, Wahoo City Administrator/ Treasurer. Please also provide Ashley with photos showing any projects or programs funded all, or in part, by your local option sales tax.

Omaha, the only metropolitan class city, was the first municipality authorized by the Legislature to have a .5% local option sales tax in 1969. Then-Omaha Mayor Gene Leahy urged approval of the .5% local option sales tax “to fulfill the critical needs for continued progress of our city… it is the only avenue presently open to us for obtaining sufficient revenue to meet these needs.” In the late 1960s, the City of Omaha was facing a serious financial crisis which is why the Legislature authorized a city of the metropolitan class to have the authority for a .5% local option sales tax just by passing an ordinance.

In 1978, the Legislature passed LB 394, introduced by Sen. Howard Lamb, requiring a local vote of the people to enact a local option sales tax. Over the years, numerous Leaguesupported bills have passed expanding the permissible sales tax rate and conditions for gaining voter approval for a maximum 2% local option sales tax; all municipalities except Omaha as a metropolitan class city, have the authority to enact up to a maximum

2% rate. In 2012, the Legislature passed LB 357, introduced by Sen. Brad Ashford and others, increasing the maximum rate from 1.5% to 2%, including for the City of Omaha; LB 357 was passed over the Governor’s veto. In 2013, LB 104 was introduced by Sen. Steve Lathrop and others, which passed limiting Omaha to a maximum 1.5% rate.

There are 527 cities and villages in Nebraska. Currently, voters in the following 264 municipalities have local option sales tax: Omaha (metropolitan class); Lincoln (primary class); all 31 cities of the first class; 111 of the 117 cities of the second class; and 120 of the 377 villages. At the November 2024, voters in Minatare, a city of the second class, passed a 1% local option sales tax, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2025.

It is not possible to overstate the importance of honoring the decision by local voters to impose a local option sales tax of .5%, 1%, 1.5%, 1.75%, or the maximum 2% for property tax relief and effective projects and programs. As previously stated, local option sales tax is used in many municipalities to provide property tax relief; fund infrastructure projects like streets, water systems, etc.; LB 840 programs (a local economic development plan);

as well as projects such as libraries, swimming pools, civic centers, etc. Unfortunately, local option sales tax dollars are refunded to the businesses which have met the performance standards of LB 775, the Nebraska Advantage Act, and the ImagiNE Nebraska Act as part of the state’s incentive package. For example, Papillion Mayor David Black informed the League, Senators, and others that the City of Papillion will not receive any local option sales tax dollars for the next 2.5 years due to refunds pursuant to the state’s incentive programs.

On Aug. 12, 2024, it was equally concerning that LB 34 during the Special Session was placed on General File with AM73 as the Standing Committee Amendment with the following Senators voting in the affirmative: Albrecht, Kauth, Linehan, Meyer, von Gillern, and Murman; Sen. Dungan voting no; and Sen. Bostar was present and not voting. LB 34 passed during the 2024 Special Session imposing property tax caps on municipalities and counties and providing an additional 3% of property tax relief. Although AM 73 to LB 34 was not enacted, AM 73 would have amended Section 77-27,144, in part, as follows: (1) The Tax Commissioner shall collect the tax imposed by any incorporated municipality concurrently with collection of a state tax in the same manner as the state tax is collected. The Tax Commissioner shall remit monthly the proceeds of the tax to the incorporated municipalities levying the tax, after deducting the amount of refunds made and fifteen percent

2014-2024: KEY PROJECTS/PROGRAMS FUNDED BY LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX

of the remainder to be credited as follows: (a) Three percent shall be credited to the Municipal Equalization Fund; and (b) twelve percent shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the Education Future Fund. For fiscal year 2024-25, the incorporated municipalities levying the tax shall be guaranteed to receive total net taxable sales equal to the fiscal year 2023-24 net taxable sales amount plus one percent. For each fiscal year thereafter, the guaranteed taxable sales amount shall increase by one percent three percent of the remainder to be credited to the Municipal Equalization Fund.

Please help protect local option sales tax for the purpose intended by your local voters!

In rememberance

Gresham community comes together to remember Sept. 11, 2001

PHOTOS

AND STORY BY

MELANIE WILKINSON, JUSTMELANIEW.COM

The small Village of Gresham, Nebraska got together in a big way in an effort to remember the lives lost on the infamous day of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Gresham Public Library was given 2,997 American flags by the Young Americans Foundation, in honor of those lost on that tragic day.

Tony Cain, representing the village, reached out to JMWNews.com, noting all the flags were placed Tuesday, Sept. 10, by volunteers. Each and every flag was painstakingly placed

and remained in place until later in the evening on Sept. 11. The public was encouraged to drive down Main Street in Gresham to see the amazing display.

The effort was to make sure “we never, ever forget.”

It’s certainly hard to forget when this display of patriotism and respect is shown in a small place in middle America — a place where people went out of their way to remember. 

Reprinted with permission.

Big things in Bridgeport ”

I wanted to take a moment and pass along some of the great things that the community of Bridgeport has been doing to enhance the appearance of the town. These projects were all spearheaded by the Bridgeport Downtown Appearance Committee and have been put into place in the past year. The two veteran honoring projects have been completed just in the past couple of months. The pond clean up was a months-long project and has some ongoing initiatives for tables and benches.

Michelle Coolidge Director, BB Associates

Nearly $900,000 in Revitalize Rural Nebraska Grants awarded across state

Established by the Legislature in 2023, the grant is designed to fund the demolition of dilapidated commercial properties owned by a municipality

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) announced the award of $898,139 in grants to support nine projects that will demolish dilapidated commercial properties across the state.

The funds are provided through the Revitalize Rural Nebraska grant program. NDEE received applications from 15 communities during the application period earlier this year.

“The Revitalize Rural Nebraska program gives these grant recipients a unique opportunity to improve their communities,” NDEE Interim Director Thad Fineran said.

“Removing these damaged and abandoned buildings will give properties a blank slate for redevelopment and provide a benefit to these cities and villages.”

The Revitalize Rural Nebraska Grant Program was established in 2023 by the Nebraska Legislature to fund the demolition of dilapidated commercial properties owned by a village or a city of the first or second class. This was a competitive grant process. To be eligible for funding, properties have

2024 grant awards by municipality

• Bloomfield – $51,315 for the property on 108 South Broadway

• Chester – $39,649 for the property on 522 Thayer Avenue

• David City – $47,250 for the property on 551 E. Street

• Deshler – $200,000 for the property on 618 4th Street

• Falls City – $17,000 for the property on 1817 1/2 Stone Street

• Oxford – $300,000 for the property on 404 West Derby Street

• Tekamah – $137,925 for the property on 141 South 13th Street

• Wakefield – $25,000 for the property on 106-110 West 3rd Street

• Wymore – $80,000 for the property on 207 S. 7th Street

to be owned by the applying municipality, abandoned or vacant for at least six months, and not on or eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recipient communities must also provide a local match. NDEE assessed applications for eligibility and competitive ranking with priority given to applications from villages and second-class cities. 

Source – Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy

GET A QUOTE AND JOIN TODAY!

The League Insurance Government Health Team (LIGHT) helps hundreds of its members throughout Nebraska obtain affordable health insurance coverage.

Plan and Network Choices

With seven plan options and three networks to choose from, you’re sure to find one that meets your group’s coverage and benefit needs.

Affordable Plan Options

Offering your employees much-needed protection against the high cost of medical care:

• Three PPO options

• Four HSA-eligible high deductible options

• Prescription drug coverage

Enrollment Options

Single: Covers the employee only

Employee and spouse: Covers the employee and their spouse

Employee and children: Covers the employee and their eligible dependent children, but does not provide coverage for the spouse

Family: Covers the employee and eligible dependents including a spouse

Available Network Options

With several networks available, you have easy access to quality providers:

• NEtwork BLUE (Statewide)

• Premier Select BlueChoice (Regional)

• Blueprint Health (Regional)

• Out-of-state network availability

LET’S GET STARTED

Contact your current local Agent/Broker Or contact

Dennis Maggart

Executive Vice President P: 913-378-9841 or 816-718-0335

Dennis@McInnesGroup.com

Jane Limbach Account Man ager P: 913-378-9840

Jane@McInnesGroup.com

Ransomware attacks declining, but evolving in government, survey shows Ransomware attacks declining, but evolving in government, survey shows

Ransomware attacks are becoming less common in state and local government, according to new survey results, but successful attacks grow more costly.

BY SOPHIA FOX-SOWELL, STATESCOOP

Despite what feels a constant deluge of cyberattacks on the public sector, ransomware attacks on government organizations are actually down, according to a report published earlier this year by the cybersecurity firm Sophos. The State of Ransomware in State and Local Government report found that state and local governments saw a 51% drop in ransomware attacks in 2024. Chester Wisniewski, global field chief technology officer at Sophos, attributed the drop to fewer governments paying ransoms, making them less attractive targets to cybercriminals looking to make a profit.

“Local governments in particular have been one of the most targeted and often one of the most frequent to actually pay ransoms, and I guess the pretty shocking finding in this year’s results is that it’s been reversed,” Wisniewski told StateScoop in a recent interview.

The report anonymously surveyed 5,000 global government IT and cybersecurity leaders. Researchers explored ransom demands and payments, recovery efforts, types of data targeted and how often state and local government organizations receive support from law enforcement to restore services after attacks.

Wisniewski said more municipalities are also getting help from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to recover from and protect against cyberattacks.

“We don’t hear about the State of Michigan being held ransom, but we do hear about Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Pensacola, Florida, and those municipalities have

Continued on page 11 / See Ransomware

ART

from the HEART

BY ASHLEY WOLFE, MARKETING DIRECTOR, LNM

Recently the League staff was given a very thoughtful gift from Lincoln artist, Gary DeFreece.

Gary lives a few blocks from the location of the longtime League building and it was on his regular walking route. So as the view on L Street started to change, he took notice and wanted to commemorate the history of what had once stood there.

Gary is also the brother-inlaw to Cherie DeFreece who is a member of the League staff. Cherie and Randy were key helping connect

Look at that detail!

Gary with organization and transport the beautiful work of art.

Thank you, Gary for capturing the longtime home of our office. We are excited for

Ransomware

Continued from page 10

also been getting more help from CISA, [which] may be having an improvement as well,” he said of the decrease in ransomware attacks. “Some of it clearly is awareness amongst those mayors and city councils that cybersecurity has been a problem for their peers, but they’re also getting more support from programs at CISA that are looking at protecting critical infrastructure and government defenses.”

CISA is also often involved in recovery efforts, sending their cybersecurity experts to localities that may not have adequate IT staff.

Although the report found that only 20% of state and local governments surveyed paid ransom demands, the average cost of recovery from ransomware attacks rose to $2.83 million in 2024, more than double the $1.21 million reported in 2023.

Wisniewski said recovery costs increased because attacks are becoming more sophisticated, particularly in targeting system backups.

“In the past, the criminals weren’t as sophisticated about going after backups and deleting them,” he said. “And they’re doing this in efforts to find more ways to force

the new space, but look forward to being able to display and remember the building that previously housed the organziation for many, many years.

people to pay. They’re getting more destructive, and that destruction costs money.”

Among state and local governments that reported having been hit by ransomware over the past year, 99% said cybercriminals had attempted to compromise their backup data. Half reported the attempts were successful.

However, 98% of ransomware attacks on state and local governments resulted in data encryption, according to the survey, an increase from the 76% encryption rate reported in 2023. This is the highest rate of data encryption of all sectors Sophos studied in 2024.

Wisniewski worried state and local governments will only focus on the decreasing amount of ransomware attacks on their organizations and lessen their cybersecurity efforts. He said now is the time for continued cybersecurity spending to maintain these improvements.

“I feel like the survey is an entry point to a longer investigation,” he said. “If we think that these investments in cybersecurity that we’ve made have reduced [ransomware attacks] by half, then let’s do it again.” 

Editor’s note: The League appreciates the collaboration of CISA and the training sessions they continue to provide at our various conferences.

Nebraska

Evolving

Items for sale in the Tienda Mexicana Guerrero grocery, Wakefield’s only grocery store. It has been owned and run by Maria Catalan for 24 years, allowing her and other family members to leave manufacturing jobs and put down stakes in Wakefield.

The perception is that Nebraska’s smaller communities are dying. The reality is that many rural Nebraska counties are now growing for one reason. Immigration.

STORY BY NATALIA ALAMDARI & PHOTOS BY JERRY L. MENNENGA FLATWATER FREE PRESS

It’s lunch, and Rosa Brambila rings up an order of enchiladas and rice for a man from Guatemala, here in Wakefield, Nebraska to work. She pours a beer for a woman from Nicaragua, then brings out a burrito for the town’s only newspaper reporter.

On the TV behind the bar, sportscasters run through soccer highlights in rapid Spanish. Taylor Swift blares over the restaurant speakers as Brambila’s gaggle of grandkids sing and dance among empty tables. They spend their summer days with Grandma at “the big yellow house” – their name for La Michoacana, the restaurant Brambila has run in this northeast Nebraska town for the past 25 years.

Brambila has spent a quarter century greeting the town’s old timers when they crave Mexican food, and also meeting newcomers to town, introducing herself in Spanish.

She has rented rooms upstairs to workers from Morocco and Somalia, Paraguay and Mexico. She exchanges recipes with immigrants from Central America and Cubans from Florida newly arrived to work at Michael Foods, the egg processing plant up the street that’s the town’s economic backbone.

These new people have changed Wakefield. They also may have saved it.

Rosa Brambila and husband Eliseo Lopez stand in La Michoacana Restaurant and Lounge, the Mexican restaurant they own and operate in Wakefield. Behind them are several of Rosa’s grandchildren.

In 1990, Wakefield was home to 1,082 people. The census that year recorded the town as being 99.9% white – the remaining .1% was one single person of Asian descent.

Today, Wakefield has jumped to more than 1,500 residents while transforming into a community roughly half white and half Latino. Mexican men came to work at places like Michael Foods. Soon their families joined, keeping the local economy alive, the school bustling, the demand for housing high – and becoming the first wave of immigrants that continue to grow the town.

“There is a reality that a lot of rural communities in Nebraska are shrinking,” said Matt Farup, superintendent of the Wakefield School District. “But that is not true of Wakefield.”

For years, the perception of rural Nebraska is that it’s old, overwhelmingly white and dying.

The reality: 21 Nebraska counties outside the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas actually grew between 2010 and 2020. In 16 of those counties, according to census data, the growth was 100% because of residents of color.

It’s growth driven by first-generation immigrants who moved to Nebraska for work, and also propelled by their children and grandchildren who stay. It’s

growth, experts say, key to the survival of small-town Nebraska, even though it can cause housing shortages, strain school systems and create cultural chasms that may take generations to bridge. “They’re younger, they’re working, they’re going to have families, and then they’re going to grow those communities,” said Josie Gatti Schafer, director of the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “Population growth leads to economic growth, it leads to social growth, it leads to entrepreneurship – all these other important facets of life. So, those counties can say, ‘thank you.’” Continued on page 14 / See Wakefield crs4rec.com

877.896.8442

Tienda Mexicana Guerrero and other storefronts along Wakefield’s Main Street as volunteers set up for WakeFest, the town’s annual celebration.

Wakefield

Continued from page 13

Two giant dogs made of fiberglass guard the entrance to Wakefield’s history museum, their faces painted in the stern likeness of the early 20th century farmers of American Gothic. The male holds a pitchfork.

For 20 years, Barb Stout has given history tours of her hometown. She points out the old pump organ that traveled to Wakefield by covered wagon in the late 1800s. The lace wedding dresses worn by long-ago brides. The 3,000 antique farm wrenches that fill the museum’s basement.

Wakefield began as a community of immigrants, working class people from Germany and Sweden who came to farm in the 1880s, or followed the railroad tracks laid through town, said Stout, co-chair of the Wakefield Heritage Organization.

Her own grandfather came to Wakefield from Sweden, landing here because he had family members who had come before him.

“They would write home, ‘It’s a good place. Get on a boat,’” Stout said.

Starting in the late 19th century, Europeans poured into the Great Plains, people running from economic turmoil, poverty and famine and running toward free or cheap farmland and railroad jobs in the middle of the United States.

Only 30,000 Americans lived in Nebraska in 1860, a figure that ignores the thousands of Native Americans forced off their land by the U.S. government.

Then, in the 1920s alone, more than half a million people moved to Nebraska.

Towns across the state boomed. Irish immigrants found a home in O’Neill; Germans from Russia in Scottsbluff; Czech families in Columbus and Wilber.

That boom proved short-lived. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drove people out in the 1930s. The mechanization of agriculture into the ‘70s and and a crippling ag recession in the 1980s further emptied out farming communities. The descendants of those European immigrants who populated Nebraska’s small towns started moving where the work was – bigger cities.

But that’s only one half of rural Nebraska’s immigration story.

In the 1990s, meatpacking and manufacturing plants in the Midwest, wanting to avoid unions and keep wages low, started moving out of cities and into rural communities like Wakefield.

They also started recruiting immigrant labor to fill jobs.

In 1990, Nebraska’s population was 1.8% foreign born, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Now, Nebraska is 7.2% foreign born. The state’s share of people of color has exploded as well – from 6% in 1980 to nearly a quarter in 2020 – fueled by the immigration of the past 30 years and the extended families that followed. Nebraskans of color are far younger than their white counterparts and more likely to participate in the workforce and have children.

“They’re second- and third-generation Nebraskans,” Schafer said. “The diversity … is today driving the growth.”

This is happening as white Nebraskans leave the state more than other white people move into Nebraska. From 2010 to 2020, out-migration drove a population decline among white Nebraskans.

The result of this new chapter in Nebraska’s immigration story: From 1990 to 2020, Nebraska added 383,110 people. Nebraskans of color were responsible for 93% of that growth.

And if you remove Nebraska’s two biggest cities – pulling Douglas, Lancaster, and Sarpy Counties from the data –diversity’s impact on rural Nebraska becomes clear.

In the state’s other 90 counties, between 2010 and 2020, population shrank by a total of 1,218 residents.

In that same time frame, those counties added 48,438 people of color.

“People will say, ‘How come they’re all coming here?’ And I’ll say, ‘how did your family get here?’” Stout said.

At Tienda Mexicana Guerrero on Main Street, the shelves are stuffed with cans of tomato sauce, peppers and hominy. Bulk bags of dried chilis and powdered spices line the walls. Boxes of sweet plantains sit next to giant onions and ripening mangoes near the entrance.

This Mexican grocery store is the only grocery store in Wakefield. It’s the only place to get fresh produce. And on payday, it’s busy.

Maria Catalan’s family, originally from the Mexican state of Guerrero, moved to Wakefield in 2004 to work at Michael Foods. She and husband Antonio Vasquez bought the grocery store soon after moving to town, her daughter Ashlyn Vazquez Catalan said.

In Wakefield, the family could build their own business after years of working at plants around northeast Nebraska and the Midwest. They could own a house instead of renting a trailer home. Their kids could stay in one place.

Today, Catalan’s store is a one-stop shop for Latin American

“There’s always going to be people who would love Wakefield to be the quiet little town where nothing changed. But that doesn’t happen. You’re either growing and adjusting and making the best of opportunities, or you’re dying …”

- Matt Farup, Superintendent of Wakefield Community School

cooking – and also a community hub. Sundays after church are the busiest days, Vazquez Catalan said. Catalan put in landline phones customers use to transfer money back home.

If you need a room or a job, Catalan can probably hook you up.

“The joke is my mom knows everyone and everything in town,” her daughter said.

The store has also adapted to new customers. When it first opened, Wakefield was primarily home to immigrants from Mexico. Now more people arrive from Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Nebraska has seen a similar shift. Latino immigrants make up about half of the state’s foreign-born residents. In 2012, the census recorded roughly 12,000 Central American immigrants living in the state. In a decade, that number nearly doubled to 23,000. This year, both El Salvador and Guatemala opened consulates in Omaha.

At Wakefield Community School, teachers have felt the shift. The district’s staff of 14 English learner teachers and paraprofessionals knew how to work with Spanish-speaking students. But there are dozens of dialects and indigenous languages spoken throughout Central America. Sometimes, two students, both from Guatemala, can’t understand each other, said Farup, the superintendent. In 2013, English learners – students not proficient in English – made up

12.9% of the student body. Now, they make up about 33%.

The school is booming. It’s also bursting at the seams.

A decade ago, 440 students attended the K-12 school system. Now: 620. By 2033, projections show the district will reach 750 students.

Wakefield now relies on overflow trailers to fit all its students. Last

year, the district tried to pass a $46.8 million bond to build a high school and add an elementary school wing. The bond issue crashed and burned, 513-129.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, Megan Weaver, the local economic development director, says she would hear the occasional comment in town

Continued on page 16 / See Wakefield

Engineering a world where everyone thrives.

Wakefield

Continued from page 15

– “If there weren’t so many Mexicans, then we wouldn’t have to do this.”

To Farup, the melting pot student body should be viewed as an asset. In this small town, students from different backgrounds cross paths daily. It prepares students to go anywhere in the world, he said.

“There’s always going to be people who would love Wakefield to be the quiet little town where nothing changed,” Farup said. “But that doesn’t happen. You’re either growing and adjusting and making the best of opportunities, or you’re dying … the alternative is, this town would be drying up.”

Follow Main Street, and it will lead you directly to the Michael Foods plant at the north end of town, a sprawling facility where employees and semi-trucks come and go at all hours.

Today, the company churns out packaged boiled eggs, dried eggs that go into cake mix, the cooked eggs you eat when you order a Taco Bell breakfast.

In a town of 1,500, it employs about 500 locals. Another 600 or so people travel into Wakefield to work there.

The company started 74 years ago as MG Waldbaum, a place for local farmers to sell their eggs and cream. In the 1970s, the company scaled up production, and needed more employees to process more eggs, said Gerald Muller, who worked at the company for 31 years. Then, in 1988, MG Waldbaum was bought by Michael Foods, which almost immediately started hiring Latino workers.

Lack of workers remains a statewide problem. Nebraska had 49,000 open jobs in June, according to federal numbers. To fill them, Nebraska needs people – and the state needs to look outward, said Michael Johnson, chief operating officer and executive vice president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This is even truer in smaller communities, he said.

“Our population is going to decline unless folks move in from somewhere else,” he said. “What this in-migration is able to do is really just breathe new life into these communities … and that life is economic, it’s cultural. It really is something that can reverse the trend that our birth rates would put us into.”

In Wakefield, you can see the new life on Main Street. There are the longtime fixtures like La Michoacana and the Mexican grocery store. There are also newer businesses, started by people who moved to work at Michael Foods, or their now-grown kids.

Michael Foods, the egg processing plant which sits at the north end of Main Street, is easily Wakefield’s biggest employer. It’s also a major driver of immigration to the northeast Nebraska community. Michael Foods employs 500 of the town’s 1,500 residents, as well as 600 other employees who commute in from nearby towns.

There’s the hair salon where the owner speaks Spanish –before, people would have to drive to West Point or South Sioux City to find a Spanish-speaking hair stylist. There’s a Guatemalan restaurant, recently expanded to neighboring Wayne, a new mechanic, a new coffee shop.

Sidelines, a longtime Main Street restaurant, was bought by a Latino couple, Denise Tello and Jessy Ramirez, this year. Tello moved to Wakefield as a kid in the ’90s, a daughter of one of the first Latino families to move to town.

“Hispanics owning commercial buildings … I’m sure at one point, (my parents) would have never imagined that,” Tello said. “I would have never imagined owning this.”

Across the highway from Main Street are two new apartment buildings. Their 60 units are already entirely full, said Weaver, the economic development director. Developers now want to build a third.

The demand for housing is sky-high, and the two apartment buildings were made possible by Michael Foods, she said, which agreed to pay employees’ security deposits.

Population growth fueled by immigration doesn’t come without its problems, or its prejudice.

In Lexington, white families fled the school district. Fremont made national news by attempting to bar residents living in the country illegally from renting housing.

And, in Crete, things grew violent earlier this year, when a white man shot four Guatemalan children and three

adults. Months before, the family reported he’d told them to go “back where they came from” and to “speak English,” police said.

In Wakefield, tension is present, but generally subtle, residents said. There’s frustration that the school has to play eight-man football –some Hispanic high schoolers prefer soccer, and others work after school. Some white residents tend to blame run-down homes or messy yards on Latino families, sometimes with no knowledge of who lives in the house, Weaver said.

But as the decades have passed, much of the tension and frustration has turned to acceptance, said Muller, the retired Michael Foods operations manager and Wakefield native.

If the community is to survive, he said, many residents realize it must evolve.

“There’s still people that think that we would be better off without Michael Foods and the immigrant population,”

Weaver said. “Without Michael Foods, we’d have an abandoned Main Street. It’d be pretty quiet if we didn’t have our Hispanic-owned businesses.”

Brambila’s mother opened La Michoacana in 1999, when a friend already living in Wakefield gave her a call.

“There are a lot of Latinos moving here,” the friend told her. “And there’s not much to do.”

So, she took her life savings to Nebraska and started the restaurant she named after her home state in Mexico.

Brambila followed when her mother was diagnosed with cancer that same year. She’s been here ever since.

Today, Brambila stocks the entrance to the restaurant with pamphlets from the state’s Migrant Education Program and public health department. She’s let public health officials host events at the restaurant, an easy access place for people working at Michael Foods. Lately, it seems to her that newcomers

to Wakefield have become more transient. Like much of Nebraska, Wakefield has a housing shortage, and it’s harder to move a whole family to town when you can’t find a place to live.

Earlier this summer, Brambila met 13 Cuban men who had just moved from Florida to work at Michael Foods. By August, only four remained.

Still, every day, new people arrive in town, she said. Nearly every day, one or two enter her restaurant.

Brambila was once a newcomer herself. Now, a quarter-century later, she’s a member of this small town’s establishment. She knows most everyone in town. She spots the new face as they walk up to her bar.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you before,” she’ll say. “Where are you from?” 

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. Learn more at flatwaterfreepress.org

Above: People eat lunch and mingle in the downtown area during WakeFest, the town’s annual celebration.

Village of Snyder:

A showcase in manufacturing might

The Village of Snyder has more manufacturing jobs than residents. Locals claim the population more than doubles on any given weekday when morning shifts start. “We have about 300 people at 11:00 p.m. and about 750 by 11:00 a.m.,” said Jeff Hunke, owner of Hunke Manufacturing, which makes water well servicing equipment. Hunke Manufacturing is less than a mile from three other major manufacturers in Snyder: Smeal, Danko Emergency Equipment, and Wonder Meats.

Each October, during Manufacturing Month, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) honors the manufacturing industry and celebrates its success. Aside from agriculture, manufacturing is Nebraska’s largest industry. The bustle of manufacturing activity in Snyder is a great example of Nebraska’s strength as a home to builders, makers, and creators.

This year, manufacturing employment in Nebraska has reached its highest point since 2001. In the second quarter of 2024, Nebraska’s annualized manufacturing GDP reached $21.6 billion—having grown 57% over the past five years.

Sixty years ago, Smeal (now a brand of Spartan Emergency Response, part of REV Group) built its first aerial fire truck, with a 52-foot ladder, for the Snyder Rural Fire District. The company now makes an aerial apparatus that can reach more than twice as high. “We produce 105-foot to 125-foot steel ladders and platforms,” explained Kevin Strudthoff, general manager of the Smeal facility in Snyder. “That is some of the longest reach you’ll see. On average, we produce about 130-140 trucks per year.”

Smeal employs more than 250 people at its facility in Snyder. The company makes pumper and aerial fire trucks used throughout the U.S.—including by the United States military. It sells them to many local volunteer fire departments in Nebraska and to customers as far away as Chile and Bermuda. To grow its manufacturing workforce, Smeal works with area schools, such as Scribner-Snyder, Howells-Dodge, and West Point-Beemer. “We have three interns coming in this year from high schools; we try to get one from each of the local schools,” said Strudthoff. The company participates in the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) Program as part of its strategy to connect students with employment opportunities.

Smeal also coordinates with local community colleges to recruit workers such as welders, painters, and plumbing and electrical assemblers. “We want to offer opportunities to students who enjoy working with their hands so that they can learn, grow, and stay in Nebraska,” said Strudthoff. “Here, you have 19-year-old kids who are pulling in $50,000 a year,” he said. “They have no debt because they came straight from high school or spent only a year or two in community college. It’s a great opportunity from them to get started and establish themselves.”

Danko Emergency Equipment, less than a mile east of Smeal, also produces firefighting vehicles. The family-owned business designs and builds pumpers, pumper tankers, and wildland trucks for off-road and rural firefighting. They’ve sent vehicles to all regions of the United States and have even delivered one to Iceland. Among their current orders, Danko is making a wildland truck with 40-inch wheels for Scribner Volunteer Fire Department—just a ten-minute drive from its facility.

Smeal: creating opportunities to climb the ladder

Danko: 50 Years of Success in Snyder

Danko is celebrating its 50th year in business in 2024 and intends to expand. The company employs over 60 people between its traveling sales team, factory, and offices in downtown Snyder. “When we broke ground on this location back in 2002, we were saying, ‘Man! How are we ever going to fill this 35,000-square-foot building?’ said Mark Kreikemeier, president of Danko. “Now we’re over 40,000 square feet, and the walls are already expanding. We own the property next to us, and our plan is to put up another building on that side that will be for delivery and service.”

Hunke: Overflowing with orders

Hunke Manufacturing grew out of Smeal as well and is located across the street from it. The business employs about 30 people. It produces water well servicing equipment used by ground well service companies and municipalities throughout the United States

“Every town has wells,” said owner Jeff Hunke. “We build the pump hoist, which is primarily used in the ground well service sector,” he explained. “We don’t build the rig that drills the hole. Our rigs come in after the hole is dug and set the point for the well. I have one that’s about ready to go to Alaska, one to Maryland, one to Utah.”

Nebraska has been the right place, with the right people, for Hunke to grow its business. “For one, we’re centrally located,” explained Hunke.

Continued on page 22 / See Manufacturing

Quick thinking saves a life in Waverly

Five lifeguards recently recognized by City Council for their valiant efforts in summer 2024

OnJuly 18, 2024, there was an unfortunate incident at the Waverly Aquatic Center which required staff to jump into action and perform CPR on a young swimmer until emergency responders and staff arrived. Thanks to their quick thinking, the lifeguards saved that young boy's life. According to the City of Waverly, “There are not enough words to express how incredibly proud and thankful we are for them and their efforts.” The boy eventually made a full recovery and even visited the Aquatic Center a couple of times after the incident with his friends and family.

At the Oct. 22 City Council meeting, the five lifeguards were recognized by the City of Waverly for their actions on July 18, 2024. The individuals recognized were Hudson Good, Samantha Hagaman, Maddox Hasenkamp, Anna Mollo, and Camille Waldo. It is always hope that lifeguards would never need to use their emergency training, but the city and many others are extremely grateful and proud of these young men and women for jumping into instinctive action that day. 

The City of Waverly wants to thank everyone who had a part in saving that young boy's life that day including Aquatic Center staff, Lincoln Fire & Rescue, Lancaster County Sheriff, Waverly Fire/Rescue, and anyone else who contributed.

Source – City of Waverly

From left to right: Camille Waldo, Anna Mollo, Samantha Hagaman, Hudson Good, and Maddox Hasenkamp were all recognized by the City of Waverly for saving a drowning child last summer. Photo provided by the City of Waverly.

CFRA moving forward with Solar for All program

BY VAL ANKENY, CENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS

In April, the Center for Rural Affairs announced it has been awarded a $62 million grant under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program. With this grant, the Center will focus on ensuring lowincome and historically disadvantaged households in Nebraska have equitable access to solar power and the means to become owners of solar energy production.

The Solar for All grant will enable the deployment of more than 60 megawatts (MW) of new residential-serving solar energy to more than 9,000 households in Nebraska, increasing the amount of solar energy deployed in Nebraska by more than 60% over the five-year grant period. The initiative will transform the residential solar market, lower energy costs, and reduce pollution in underserved communities across the state.

Nebraska Solar for All includes low-interest loans, grants, and subsidies to support three key areas.

• Community solar: The Center will collaborate with public utilities to develop residential-serving community solar arrays, using virtual net metering, bill credit, or third-party subsidy to deliver savings.

• Multi-family affordable housing solar: The Center

will partner with utilities, housing developers, and low-income housing financing partners to deploy solar for income-qualified multifamily housing units.

• Rooftop solar: The Center will provide behindthe-meter or rooftop solar for qualified households, screening residents for eligibility and site suitability and connecting them to technical service providers and solar installers.

Nebraska Solar for All will be implemented statewide and include rural, urban, suburban, and Tribal communities. In addition, the program will provide resources to help train workers to install and maintain the new equipment. Growing the solar installation workforce in Nebraska is a necessary component for the program’s success.

Community solar projects offer the opportunity to greatly expand access to solar since one project can benefit many households. Community solar projects can be up to five MW, and at least 50% of the power generated must serve residential consumers in the same utility. Solar for All dollars can support only the portion of the project that serves eligible households.

Continued on page 23 / See CFRA

Center for Rural Affairs Solar for All staff Jana Dye, Cliff Mesner, and Daniel Padilla take a walk around the Central City Solar Garden. Photo provided by the Center for Rural Affairs.

NEBRASKA with

D.A. Davidson & Co. is committed to strengthening the infrastructure and enriching the lives of people in our communities throughout Nebraska and across the nation. Our bankers specialize in:

• Bond Anticipation Notes

• Paving Bonds

• Water and Sewer Bonds

• General Obligation Bonds

• Utility System Revenue Bonds

• Lease-Purchase Financing

Call:

(800) 528-5145 I Paul Grieger (866) 809-5596 I Cody Wickham (866) 809-5443 I Andy Forney (866) 466-9368 I Jerry Spethman

Manufacturing

Continued from page 19

“In the last year I’ve driven to Portland (Oregon) and to South Carolina and to Florida.” Being able to reach both coasts within a two-day drive is valuable for a business delivering products in demand in every part of the country.

“The work ethic is good,” he added. “The employees we have are good. Gerald Kassmeier has been here for 63 years. My main assistant has been here over 50 years. Virgil, my dad, has been here over 60 years.”

While Hunke Manufacturing has seasoned workers with decades of longevity, it’s also integrating new talent into its operations. “I’ll hire a kid straight out of high school and train them. We’re teaching them a highly in-demand skill,” said Hunke. With surging demand for their products, the business continues to fill the positions necessary to complete

“Snyder is hopping!” exclaimed Marla Prenzlow, who manages the Wonder Meats plant in town. It’s the newest manufacturer in Snyder. The meat-processing facility opened in the fall of 2023 and has thrived in its first year.

Based in New Jersey, Wonder Meats has six manufacturing locations. Five are on the East Coast, with the Snyder location being the first in the Midwest. The plant produces Philly-steak beef and chicken products, which it wholesales.

Wonder Meats was intentionally looking for a facility in Nebraska because of the state’s central location and logistical advantages. When the meat-processing facility became available in 2023, the business didn’t hesitate to buy it.

orders. “My workboard is right there on the wall,” he motioned to the filing shelf on the wall overflowing with printed orders. “It’s never been so full!”

Wonder Meats: Celebrating first anniversary, eyeing expansion

Location hasn’t been the only advantage, though. Argentina Espinoza and Magdiel Garcia, Jr., managers at the Snyder plant, moved to Nebraska from Pennsylvania to oversee the start of operations. They said Nebraska has a lot to offer, including a great workforce and welcoming culture. “The people are so nice here,” Garcia said. Wonder Meats has grown its workforce as employees have shared their great on-the-job experiences with family and friends. In particular, the manufacturer has had success attracting Latinos to join its team. “[Initially,] I didn’t know how many Hispanics live around here. I thought there weren’t a lot,” said Espinoza, whose family is originally from Nicaragua. She soon learned otherwise after going to Spanish-speaking mass and being amazed at the large number of Latino families in attendance. She explained that the vibrant Latino community in the area is very well-connected and has spread the word quickly about Wonder Meats’ welcoming workplace. This has helped the company grow to 45 people. It plans to expand soon by adding to the current building. As it grows, Wonder Meats is creating opportunities for other Nebraska businesses by developing a more localized supply chain. “We’ve worked with small Nebraska manufacturers when we’ve needed to build our conveyors or things that we’ve recently put in,” said Prenzlow. The company also buys meat from the JBS beef plant in Omaha, seasoning from International Spice Hunke: Overflowing with orders - (continued)

From left to right: Argentina Espinoza, Magdiel Garcia Jr., and Marla Prenzlow at Wonder Meats in Snyder.

in Fremont, and boxes from Liberty Packaging in Omaha. Additionally, they make use of refrigerated warehouses at Nor-Am Cold Storage in Schuyler. Prenzlow comes from a family with deep roots in the food manufacturing industry in Nebraska. Her father-inlaw and grandfather-in-law originally started the processing facility in Snyder. “It was a small, custom-processing plant: butcher, slaughter, cut-up, steaks, sausages, bacon, ham—the whole little butcher shop,” she explained. “My husband’s grandfather started that business out on the farm, then they built the plant. His dad went in, then my husband joined, his brother joined, and they held the business for over 100 years.” The combination of a rich heritage and infusion of new talent have been the right ingredients for Wonder Meats’ rapid success. 

Nebraska Manufacturing:

Abundant career opportunities available

Roughly 1 in 10 Nebraskans work in manufacturing. These great-paying jobs have an average annual compensation of $75,000 (as of 2021). As the state’s manufacturing industry thrives, another generation is being recruited into the workforce.

To see available opportunities, visit the State of Nebraska’s job site at NEworks.nebraska.gov.

Source – Photos and story provided by Nebraska Department of Economic Development

CFRA

Continued from page 20

The Center has been busy setting the groundwork for the program, and three new staff have been hired for the initiative. Daniel Padilla joined as director of the program, Laura Priest as a program associate, and Jana Dye as the compliance and contract manager. The Center has additional roles to fill for those who have industry knowledge and a passion to expand and create solar solutions statewide.

The Center is excited to partner with communities, organizations, utilities, and developers to implement the Solar for All program in Nebraska. Those interested in collaborating on this historic project can submit an intake form at cfra.org/NebraskaSolarForAll. For questions or assistance, contact Laura Priest at laurap@cfra.org.

LEAGUE OF NEBRASKA MUNICIPALITIES

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

UTILITIES/PUBLIC WORKS SECTION ANNUAL CONFERENCE

MIDWINTER CONFERENCE

MUNICIPAL ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE CONFERENCE

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Jan. 8 - 10, 2025

Feb. 24 - 25, 2025

June 18 - 20, 2025

Sept. 24 - 26, 2025

BY TARA A. STINGLEY AND MITCHELL T. MOYLAN, CLINE WILLIAMS WRIGHT JOHNSON & OLDFATHER, L.L.P.

TheU.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“the Commission”) issued enforcement guidance in April 2024 on workplace harassment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). While not binding precedent, the guidance provides insight into the Commission’s analysis of employer liability in workplace harassment claims. An essential component of this analysis is the manner in which an employer conducts an investigation of harassment allegations. Employers who fail to conduct a sufficient investigation into alleged harassment could be subject to liability under Title VII. This article discusses the background on Title VII and harassment claims as well as the Commission’s guidance on conducting effective internal investigations of harassment claims.

A. General Legal Principles

Broadly speaking, Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.i Under precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court, workplace harassment can constitute a Title VII violation where it is based on a legally protected characteristic and where it creates a hostile work environment.ii A hostile work environment exists where the harassment creates a workplace “permeated with ‘discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult’” that is “sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create an abusive working environment[.]”iii Importantly, an employer who fails to take steps to end the harassing behavior may be held liable for discrimination under Title VII.iv The Commission’s guidance instructs that to discharge its duty under Title VII, an employer must take “reasonable corrective action” to prevent the conduct from continuing.v

This “reasonable corrective action” includes conducting an internal investigation of the conduct that is both “prompt

Workplace harassment: conducting internal investigations under the U.S. EEOC’s recent enforcement guidance

and adequate.”vi

B. Promptness of Investigation

According to the Commission, an investigation is “prompt” when it is conducted “reasonably soon” after the employee complains or the employer otherwise has notice of possible harassment. vii Whether the investigation is conducted “reasonably soon” is a fact-sensitive determination that considers the nature and severity of the alleged harassment and the reasons for any delay in launching an investigation. viii There is no uniform timeline for “prompt” investigations. However, the Commission attempts to clarify the timeline through examples.ix Specifically, the Commission states that an employer who learns of allegations of physical touching but does nothing for two weeks has likely not acted promptly, absent some fact that justifies the delay. On the other hand, an employer who opens an investigation one day after the complaint is made has almost certainly acted promptly. In short, the sooner the employer initiates the investigation process, the more likely it is that the employer can satisfy its duty to act promptly upon learning of harassment allegations.

B. Adequacy of Investigation

The Commission instructs that investigations must also be “adequate.” An investigation will be considered adequate if “it is sufficiently thorough to ‘arrive at a reasonably fair estimate of the truth.’”x While this description appears ambiguous at first glance, the Commission provides some parameters. For example, while the investigation needs not entail a “trial-type” inquiry, it should be conducted by an impartial investigator. xi According to the Commission, under no circumstances should the alleged harasser or the complainant have any supervisory authority over the investigator or exercise any control, even indirectly, over the investigation. Given that witnesses might provide conflicting versions

of relevant events, the investigator must also possess the skills necessary to interview witnesses and evaluate their credibility. Appointing an individual familiar with discrimination laws and experienced with harassment investigations is crucial. This conclusion is borne out in the Commission’s guidance to illustrate an inadequate investigation.xii In the Commission’s example, two weeks after learning of potential harassment, a supervisor appoints his friend to investigate. The friend is unfamiliar with harassment law, has never conducted a harassment investigation, spends little time interviewing the witnesses, and produces a single-page memorandum concluding no harassment occurred, without citing facts to support this conclusion. In this scenario, the employer has failed to conduct an adequate investigation. Ultimately, investigations should be structured to show the employer has taken legitimate steps to impartially determine whether the alleged harassment took place. Appointing a knowledgeable, experienced investigator who will reach a well-reasoned conclusion supported by facts and evidence is key in this regard.

C. Additional Considerations

The Commission’s guidance raises additional considerations for employers responding to a harassment complaint. An employer should consider whether to take intermediate steps while the investigation is ongoing, such as making scheduling changes to avoid contact between the parties, temporarily transferring the alleged harasser, or placing the alleged harasser on non-disciplinary leave with pay pending completion of the investigation.

Once an employer has completed its investigation, the employer should inform the complainant and the alleged harasser of its conclusion and any corrective action, subject to applicable privacy laws. The employer should also retain records of the complaint and investigation, even if there was insufficient evidence to support the complaint. Such records may be essential in identifying potential patterns of harassment should future allegations arise. Moreover, these records may help the employer improve its preventive measures.

In addition, the employer should make reasonable efforts to minimize the burden or negative consequences to the complainant both during and after the investigation. Corrective action that leaves the complainant worse off could constitute unlawful retaliation. Therefore, the employer should take sufficient steps to ensure retaliation does not occur, by reminding parties and witnesses of the prohibition against retaliation, encouraging involved parties to report retaliatory behavior, and scrutinizing

future employment decisions to ensure that such decisions are not based on retaliation.

D. Key Takeaways

The Commission’s enforcement guidance offers a helpful framework for employers in dealing with potential discriminatory harassment under Title VII. Conducting a prompt and adequate investigation of the alleged harassment is essential in fulfilling an employer’s obligation to take reasonable corrective action under Title VII.

Although the specifics of each investigation will largely depend on the facts and circumstances of the underlying allegations, employers can glean several key takeaways from the Commission’s guidance. In general, a “prompt and adequate” investigation will almost always have the following characteristics: (1) the employer begins an investigation reasonably soon after learning about the potential harassment; (2) the investigator possesses sufficient knowledge of harassment law and is experienced in investigating harassment claims; (3) the investigator is impartial and free from both direct and indirect control by the complainant or the alleged harasser; (4) the investigation follows a well-defined plan; and (5) the investigator maintains relevant evidence, like testimony, correspondence, and witness interviews. An employer that incorporates these considerations into its investigation procedure can better demonstrate compliance with the Commission’s enforcement guidance.

Editor’s Note: This article is not intended to provide legal advice to its readers. Rather, this article is intended to alert readers to new and developing issues. Readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel or the authors of this article if they wish to obtain a specific legal opinion regarding their particular circumstances. The authors of this article, Tara A. Stingley and Mitchell T. Moylan, can be contacted at Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P., 12910 Pierce Street, Suite 200, Omaha, NE 68144, (402) 397-1700, tstingley@clinewilliams.com, mmoylan@clinewilliams.com, or www.clinewilliams.com

Endnotes

i See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2.

ii See Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986) (holding that workplace harassment can constitute unlawful discrimination under Title VII).

iii Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 21 (1993) (quoting Vinson, 477 U.S. at 65-67).

iv Id.

v EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, No. 915.064, 2024 WL 4563681 at *46 (Apr. 29, 2024), available at https:// www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/enforcement-guidance-harassment-workplace

vi Id. vii Id.

viii Id.

ix Id. (citing Rockymore v. U.S. Postal Serv., EEOC Appeal No. 0120110311, 2012 WL 424237 at *5 (Jan 31. 2012)).

x Id. at *47 (quoting Baldwin v. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Ala., 480 F.3d 1287, 1304 (11th Cir. 2007)).

xi Id.

xii See id., Example 72.

In this article, originally published on NLC.org, former Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, former President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the African American Mayors Association, Stephen Benjamin shared his thoughts about effective constituent communication. This piece originally was published in September 2022, but contains lots of timeless and relevant information. The Mayor shared his thoughts, experiences and recommendations for how to effectively connect constituents to their local government in the digital age.

Why Does Civic Engagement Matter?

Public trust in government may be at its lowest in the United States. While it’s impossible to pin down all the contributing factors to this, Mayor Benjamin attributes the muddling of news and information as one of the toughest challenges to overcome:

“There was a time many moons ago when everyone went to three older gentlemen on the news on ABC, NBC, and CBS and got all the news of the day. Maybe they’d get a little bit more from the shock jock on the way to work in the morning on the radio.

It’s so difficult now with so many different forms of communication. That’s why it’s important that people are able to hear YOUR voice; that they are able to hear directly from you and those you’ve hired, and to make sure you stay in contact with them during what can be some very difficult times.”

The Six Building Blocks

Throughout our discussions, Mayor Benjamin helped us identify the six communication building blocks that every local elected official should be thinking about:

Respect People’s Priorities

“When someone calls you about something that might even seem at first glance to be somewhat pedestrian, I assure you, to them it’s the most important issue of the day.”

One of the greatest benefits of working in local government, compared to the state or federal level, is that you are [by nature] immersed in your community as you go about your dayto-day. Proximity not only makes the role personal, but it also makes your decisions more directly relevant than the average bill in congress. People will email or call the office about anything and everything. It can be easy to brush off complaints about trash collection as unimportant, but if someone took the time to reach out, you can guarantee that it really is important to them and deserves to be taken seriously. Constituents primarily desire their concerns to be acknowledged. More often than not, when you take those angry phone calls and respond to the passive-aggressive emails, people will (perhaps begrudgingly) appreciate the fact that you responded, even if your answer is not what they wanted.

“When it comes to mayor’s offices, city councils, or what have you, it’s amazing how many cities still just rely on email to respond back to constituents and rely on phone calls and systems from the 20th century.”

Many Americans have outpaced the average government office when it comes to the communication technology that they use. Through interactions with private sector corporations, they have also grown to desire similar focuses on accessibility and service from their democratic institutions.

People are communicating through more channels than just snail mail, phone calls, and even email. Elected officials, especially at the local level, need to put systems in place so that you can hear from everyone, not just the demographics that call or write letters.

“We have to be thinking very critically about the ways in which we aggregate these forms [of communication] that allow us to manageably respond.”

Make Yourself Accessible

“You don’t want yourself to be the center of every story, but if there’s an opportunity to draw some parallels to help people see who you are as a person… then it helps them understand that you are human just like them.”

Sometimes you just don’t know what to say or how to say it. In tough times the people who are happy with you can be eerily silent while those who are not happy can be louder than ever.

In those situations, sometimes, the best solution is to shed the aura of mystique surrounding your position and just be vulnerable and honest with your constituency.

Take the opportunity to share some of your own experiences and connect them with their world. It’s not to make it about yourself, but rather to remind people that our democratic society is collaborative. The more voices that actively engage, even in disagreement, the better our shared future can be.

“You know I’d often speak to my constituents about this. The mayor, the city councilperson, the county commissioner, the state representative can only really do so much. In a modern democracy and a healthy civil society, we all have responsibilities.”

Don’t be Afraid to Overshare

“If you give someone a response – and it’s a doggone good response – but you give it six months later, odds are the issue has passed or has become an incredible nuisance to that citizen.”

Respect, authenticity, and accessibility won’t matter to a constituent if they don’t hear back from you in a reasonable amount of time. Between phone calls, snail mail, email, and social media, it can be easy to get behind on incoming messages. If your communications run through legacy systems, or worse, a hodgepodge of spreadsheets and sticky notes, all your good intentions become pointless.

If you pair your passionate team with powerful technology, you’ll be able to stay organized, respond both thoughtfully AND efficiently, and gather authentic feedback directly from the mouths of the people you serve.

“Even in the press conferences, I would share every single line, every bit of detail that I had available to me… I would share it with our citizens and maybe in painful detail to some, but I wanted them to know exactly what I knew in a very transparent and authentic way.”

When times are tough, people crave any amount of information they can get. Oftentimes, federal and even state officials will be careful about what information to share with the public and when to share it. At the local government level, when it comes to the details that directly impact your community, you should never be afraid of oversharing. For every individual who might roll their eyes when you report on the water main repair on the other side of town, you have dozens more who are desperate to know when their tap water will be safe to drink again.

“Transparency and constant communication, being responsive to your citizens, and sometimes giving more information than they even asked for, allowed us to make our way through a very difficult situation.”

Close the Loop with Constituents

“If you serve your citizens and you serve them well and you’re responsive to them, the chances of you serving again go up exponentially. It just does.”

Conversations with constituents allow you to work not only with their interests in mind, but to gather feedback from them along the way. The final step is to share your progress with constituents. Taking the time to proactively reach out to your constituents about a successful effort doesn’t just benefit your personal reputation. It also signals to the community that your office genuinely cares about listening to the public and serving its will. It builds confidence and trust in your elected position, which will result in a more engaged and involved citizenry for the future of your city.

“When you help people realize that you aren’t empowering them but that they already have the power as a citizen to help them make this change… hopefully in a few months or maybe even longer, you’re sharing the success together.”

The modern-day suggestion box

Tips for promoting public accessibility and reporting of safety issues within your municipality

Rememberthe suggestion box? It was a box with a slit in the top that allowed people to write down suggestions for improvement and, often anonymously, leave them for someone else to take care of. Mostly the box has gone away because people didn’t take the time to write their ideas down and/or the messages went unread. Still, there are times when it’s imperative to provide ways for citizens to communicate their concerns –especially if the well-being of an individual or the public is involved. A person may not want to say anything about a city worker mowing without the shield on the lawn mower or not want to mention that there needs to be better street signage near the school. Speaking up takes time and effort and they may not know who to talk to about their concerns or how. Not speaking up could mean someone getting injured or opening up a municipality to liability. It’s in the best interest of any community that people feel free to speak up about safety issues. So how do you promote communicating about safety in your community?

A convenient way for people to report safety issues is to provide them with an email address to answer questions or report concerns. You can use something like safecity@ mycity.org or another email that specifies safety. Put up flyers with the email address, asking people to report safety issues. Make sure you check the email inbox regularly and reply promptly.

If you don’t already have a Facebook page, set one up and post items about safety to show that risk management is a community priority- using the option to monitor the posts before they appear on the page. Check the direct messages often to read concerns that people may send through Facebook.

Allow time at the end of a city or village board meeting for an occasional presentation about safety. Consider setting up a citizen safety committee that looks at safety issues in the city or village. You may think that people will call or make a point to visit with elected and appointed officials, but many do not take that step. They may feel more comfortable attending an organized event like a town hall meeting at the coffee shop, inviting them to discuss city or village safety issues.

Safety should be an ongoing dialogue between city officials, staff, and the community so that different perspectives can be represented, with the message that all are responsible for safety in a community. Last but not least, consider placing a Safety Suggestion Box on the counter at the city office. There just might be a suggestion for safety that no one had ever thought of with the result that an injury in the community was prevented.

DIANE BECKER COMMUNICATIONS/ MARKETING DIRECTOR, LARM

Norfolk Mayor reflects on improvements, what lies ahead in the State of the City report

After years of focusing on making our community open for business and enhancing our quality of life, we can today point to numbers that illustrate positive results. By several measures, the state of our city is strong and Norfolk’s brand is an attractive one.

Since 2018, our population has grown by 1,400 people and nearly $665 million of business, industry, and construction investment has flowed into Norfolk. Since 2016, more than 1,100 new housing units have been built. Most importantly, our community has made visible strides in becoming a hospitable, safe, vibrant, fun, and beautiful place to live. People across the state and nation are taking note. Norfolk was awarded “Community of the Year” in August by the Nebraska Diplomats, the state’s largest economic development organization. In May, Norfolk won runner-up in the international Strongest Town contest. Just last month, our quality of life improvements - restoration of the North Fork, Johnson Park, and downtown revitalization - were featured on the front page of the Sunday Omaha World Herald. Even with such growth and recognition, challenges remain. Like everywhere, everyday living costs are still high and placing strains on family budgets. Wages have not wholly kept pace with inflation. Truly affordable

housing remains elusive. Community development that benefits everyone is unending work.

This year’s budget reflects the city council’s mindfulness of the current uncertain economic environment. The city’s property tax levy was lowered by more than 2 cents. Administrative and discretionary spending was held in check, and city cash reserves, which have been intentionally built up in recent years, were made available for essential needs. Relying less and less on property taxes for revenue has been an ongoing priority. Of the property taxes a Norfolkan pays, only about 15 percent goes to the city, and Norfolk continues to maintain one of the lowest property tax levies amongst cities in the state.

Healthy sales tax receipts make lower property taxes possible. Promoting economic growth and welcoming new business investment have helped boost sales tax revenues to record levels in recent years. As a regional hub of commerce, employment, and entertainment, Norfolk attracts visitors and commuters who contribute significantly to our sales tax base. The formula is not complicated. Business activity increases, elevated sales tax receipts help pay for better public services, and city government’s dependence on property tax lessens. A critical part of the equation is ensuring Norfolk remains an active and thriving marketplace.

File photo of Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning speaking at a ribbon cutting. Photo provided by the City of Norfolk.

After a majority of voters two years ago rejected a new sales tax tied to a bundle of community improvement projects, the city adjusted course. A variety of community surveys were conducted, and a volunteer citizens’ committee was formed to explore ways to address the top two priorities – police station expansion and street repairs. Voters will soon decide on a new proposal focused solely on the police station, with any residual funds dedicated to additional street repairs.

In the meantime, we carried forward Parks and quality of life projects, such as the riverfront, Johnson Park, Liberty Bell, Warren Cook, Ta-Ha-Zouka improvements and others, utilizing grants, partnerships, and donations. By doing so, we’ve built one of the most exceptional, unique qualityof-life ecosystems in the State of Nebraska. We restored the natural resource that gave our community its name in the first place, the North Fork, returning it to its rightful place of harboring community pride and identity. It’s been gratifying to see so many people of all ages and backgrounds enjoying this revitalized space already. The river trail itself has attracted more than 21,000 users since its opening in June.

This year’s budget also prioritizes major infrastructure upgrades, particularly within water and wastewater systems, that will better serve citizens and accommodate new industry

and enterprise. These investments will help Norfolk grow and target emerging economic opportunities of comparative advantage in areas like value-added agriculture, water quality and conservation, and energy. There are nearly 800 jobs open today in Norfolk. We have more jobs than people to work them. That’s why we’ve focused so much on building a community people want to live in and feel proud to call home, a place where individuals are valued as more than just workers, where they are neighbors who feel connected to each other and to the place they live.

Community development is intentional, deliberate, and careful work. It requires vision, partnerships, planning, and patience. It involves much more effort than simplistic sloganeering and political pandering. It’s more rewarding, constructive, and healthy to build up than it is to tear down.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives . . . I like to see a man live in it so that his place will be proud of him.”

We’re building a place of which we can all be proud, Norfolk. It’s been a pleasure and unique honor to have participated in this important work with you. 

Source – City of Norfolk