A native son returned to Kansas City last week to tout the redevelopment that’s transformed downtown Omaha, Neb., giving much of the credit to an assertive philanthropic culture there.
While metro Omaha has less than half the population of the Kansas City area, its private donor community is major league when it comes to money for big civic projects, said Mike Fahey, who recently completed two terms as mayor.
He’s also a product of midtown Kansas City and graduated in 1961 from Bishop Lillis High School.
The Omaha philanthropic tradition goes back generations, to the founders of such major corporate pillars as Peter Kiewit Sons’ construction and Mutual of Omaha — two of the city’s five Fortune 500 companies — and it’s been augmented in recent years by local investors made rich by Warren Buffett.
Fahey was here to participate in a panel on public-private partnerships organized by Park University. He was joined by a couple of other former mayors with some development chops of their own, Kay Barnes and Carol Marinovich.
But Barnes and Marinovich apparently didn’t have the intensity of private financial backing — backed by leadership — that Fahey and other Omaha mayors have enjoyed over the decades.
“The Kansas City philanthropic community is very giving, but maybe not as focused,” said Marinovich, former mayor of the Unified Government. “With the exception of the (Kauffman) performing arts center, it has not been on capital improvements.”
Barnes, a former Kansas City mayor, observed delicately: “That private-sector leadership with focus on philanthropy has been a sustaining force in Omaha. Some would argue we do or don’t have that in Kansas City and it hasn’t been as focused as it could be.”
Fahey said Heritage Services, a private group formed 20 years ago to coordinate donations for major projects, usually asked him “what are we going to do next?” after funding a big request.
When Omaha needed $75 million to help build an arena five years ago, the private help was assembled quickly. Donations of $80 million for a $100 million performing arts center? No problem. An additional $43 million to help build a new downtown ballpark to keep the College World Series for 25 years? Yes.
“In Omaha, the private investment almost has always been philanthropic, seeking no return on investment other than the quality of life,” Fahey said.
The corporate donors also have kept the city on track through changes in leadership at City Hall over the years.
“It started with the Heritage Services guys getting together,” he said. “Some mayors do development, some don’t. It needs to have civic leadership or it won’t get done.”
His toughest battle was the decision to build a new 24,000-seat downtown ballpark in return for a 25-year lock on the College World Series. Since the 1950s, the event had been played in venerable Rosenblatt Stadium, a neighborhood landmark in south Omaha.
“It was very controversial, and it took a lot of leadership,” Fahey said. “This one probably caused me more grief than anything else.”
Marinovich, who discussed the sometimes bitter struggle to develop Kansas Speedway and Village West 10 years ago in western Wyandotte County, could relate.
“If an elected official wants to create dramatic change in a community, you have to take risks, and you can’t allow naysayers to take you away from the vision you have for the betterment of the community,” she said.
Both Fahey and Barnes agreed that bringing the City Council on board from the beginning was essential to creating consensus.
It also helps to project a positive attitude, Barnes said.
“If we are role models, it’s important to communicate being a positive, can-do mayor,” she said.
Fahey did have some kind things to say about his old hometown:
“It’s mind-boggling for me to come home and see all the improvements that have happened, particularly downtown.”
To reach Kevin Collison, call 816-234-4289 or send e-mail to kcollison@kcstar.com.
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