HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-17 Transcription Page 1
Council Present: Alter,Bergus,Dunn,Harmsen Taylor, Teague, Thomas
Staff Present: From, Goers, Grace, Platz, Sitzmann,Russett,Lehmann,Hightshoe,
Ralston,Havel, Sovers,Knoche,Lyon
Others Present: LeFevre,USG Liasion, Monsivais,Alternate
1. Call to Order
Teague: We want to welcome everyone into your City Hall. So please come on in. It is 6:00 PM.
All right. Well,uh,welcome to City Hall. Today is October 17, 2023 and it's 6:00 PM
and I'm going to call the,um,meeting for the City of Iowa-well,before I do that, I
actually wanted to,um,maybe just make,uh, a quick statement here while people are
gathering in. Um, it's been,uh, a sobering last 10 days as we've,uh, continued to see
reports of the war between Israel and Hamas with all its complexities that has affected
Israelis,Palestinians and many more people across the globe. The loss of life,the
violence,the terror is too much to comprehend. Our hearts go out to all of those who are
impacted. We together assert that all targeted violence is harmful and that we long for the
cessation of violence, for a shared and expansive community of hope, and for the
attainment of true peace. To all those in and around Iowa City that are impacted more
directly we stand with you. I invite you all to join me in a moment of silence. Thank you.
We're going to go onto our agenda item, agenda Item 1. It's roll call,please? (Roll Call)
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8. Community Comment( items not on the agendas)
Teague: Motion passes 7-0. We're on to Item number 8,which is our community comment. This
is an opportunity for individuals to come and speak on items that is not on our regular
agenda. Um, so if you are wanting to speak on items that are not on our regular agenda,
will you please raise your hand at this time. And if you are online,please raise your hand
as well. Seeing no one in person or online.
Teague: Yes. Welcome,Matthew North, and you'll be given three minutes.
North: Good evening.
Teague: Welcome.
North: Can you hear me?Hello?
Teague: Yes,we can hear you.
North: Oh, okay. Well, fust I'd like to start by saying you mentioned the crisis over in Gaza.
Teague: I'm- I'm going to have you-,uh,hold on for one second,Matthew. We're going to try to
get the volume a little higher.
North: Perfect. Is this better?
Teague: Um, one second. We had a little adjustment with our system earlier. Now-now, if you
can speak.
North: Yes. Can you hear me better now?
Teague: Yes,we can. Welcome. And your three minutes starts now.
North: Okay. Thanks for having me. I'll keep this pretty brief. With the stuff going on over in
Palestine I'd like- in Israel, I'd like to say,uh,what that calls to my mind is that
multiculturalism does not work. You see it firsthand over there with the chaos that's
going on, and Iowa City is getting drastically more different every day,um,whenever I
walk around it's just- I don't even know what country I'm in anymore. And it's- it's really
sad because when I look at the City Council's website,there's more stuff on there about
black lives matter and racist this. And it's like,you know, Iowa. This is a farm
community, and um, it's a bunch of whites whi- of European descent, and um,we don't
have a European heritage,um, acknowledgment. And really I just, it's- it's so sad that
we're getting replaced in our own countries. Um, and I'm just really tired of what the
Jews have done to our communities here. You know,they own the media and they're the
ones pushing to say that Israel is such a victim right now. And the beheaded babies, even
though that's all bullshit,uh, excuse my language on,that's all nonsense. Uh, it was just a
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girl with a press jacket on saying it. There's absolutely no sources for it. And even if there
are images,you know AI is so powerful,now you can make whatever kind of image. But
these people are known liars. And I'm going to read some of their Talmud because it says
right in there in Yebamoth 98 A. All non-Jew children are animals. Sanhedrin 57 A,
when a Jew murders a non Jew,there will be no death penalty. Ketubot 11 B, a man who
engaged in intercourse with a girl less than three years old of age has done nothing.
Shabbat 116 A,Jews must destroy books of the Christians i.e the New Testament. Baba
Mezia 114 B,the non-Jews are not human,they are beasts. And you know,this goes on
and on and on, and this is their Holy book,the Talmud. It's in every synagogue across the
planet. And the worst one is Libra David 37. To communicate anything to a non-Jew
about our religions relations,the killing of all Jews, for if the non-Jew knew what we
teach about them,they would kill us openly. You know, I've seen something called the
Metzitzah B'peh,which is an oral circumcision followed by oral suction where a Rabbi
cuts three quarters of the fore skin and then puts his mouth on the wound and bites the
rest of the skin off, and then sucks it off,you know if- if any- sucks the blood from it. If
any other grown man puts his mouth on a baby in that way,he goes to prison. But yet,
these Rabbis are allowed to do, and I just don't understand when somebody's going to
stand up to the Jews in this country and when we're going to take our country back. So
that's all I really have to say. Um, I hope you guys take this serious and start thinking
about who owns this-who's running the media,who runs our government,who is
pushing all this LGBT stuff on us. And all this- talk about,you can call any white man
racist,but as soon as the white guy says that blacks make up 13% of the population,but
commit 60% of the crimes, and one in 22 black men will commit a murder at some point
in their life, you know,you can't talk about that stuff openly. I appreciate it.
Teague: Your time is up and we welcome Justin Comer.
Comer: Hello. Can you hear me?
Teague: Ican.
Comer: Okay. Thank you. I was not planning on speaking,but after the previous public comment
from Matthew North, I just wanted to say that that was some,uh,pretty out there racist
stuff. Uh, and I would appreciate Iowa City remaining and making progress on becoming
a more inclusive community,uh,people from all backgrounds, from all over the world
should be more than welcome here. They should be celebrated for being part of this
community. Um,the anti-Semitic stuff was also pretty outrageous, and anyone who has
those beliefs in their heads should,uh,probably just keep them to themselves and,uh,
rethink your life. All right. That concludes my comment. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. We welcome Anna, followed by Mohel.
Gudenkauf: Hi, can you hear me?
Teague:Yes. Welcome.
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Gudenkauf: Hello. Um, I also wasn't planning on speaking during public comment,but I would
also like to comment on Matthew North's comments. Uh, sounds like he's a freak white
supremacist that's online too much and anyone with those views is not welcomed in Iowa
City. I'm happy to live in such a diverse community myself,uh, and I hope all Councilors
publicly denounces racism and anti-Semitic language. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Mohel, followed by Rudy.
Mohel: Can you guys hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Mohel: Wonderful. I just wanted to talk- I wanted to say- say I- I agree with everything that Mr.
North said. Um, I don't have anything prepared tonight,uh,but,uh,racism- racism
doesn't exist. Uh,to the extent that it is pushed,uh,white nationalism is the truth and is
the only way we'll save this country. Thank you.
Teague: Rudy. Welcome.
Hess: Can you guys hear me.
Teague: Yes,we can.
Hess: Perfect. I would just like to take this time for everyone to remember the tragic events that
happened on June 8th in 1967,when Israeli forces attacked the USS Liberty, killing 34
US Navy personnel by air and sea attacks, and injured 174 additional service members.
Israel claims that their intelligence agency identified it as an Egyptian ship, but Major
[inaudible] knew that the USS Liberty was an unarmed US Navy intel operation. The
Israeli Air Force and Navy bombed and torpedoed the ship anyway,making sure to
specifically target the light bolts to prevent any Americans from escaping.Now with the
current global situation and the USS Gerald Ford out in the area, again,what's to stop
Israel from attacking our Navy ships again in order to provoke an attack on Hamas like
they did during 9/11 with a false flag attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in order
to get us to invade Iraq for them. I mean, 96% of the American media is owned by six
Jewish corporations, six Jewish families and I feel that they have way too much control
over the media in general. That's why our current media reporting on the situation in
Gaza, in Israel, is very biased. And we just get to hear about this fake news about Hamas
beheading babies. But we don't hear about the Israeli soldiers in the IDF killing,raping,
and maiming every man,woman and child they can get within their sights. They've made
a game of shooting the genitals of children, and I say children, I mean children under 12,
they high five each other when one of them shoots somebody in the genitals, and they
placed bets as to who can do it fastest. And I think it's despicable that our current
administration is sending soldiers in to facilitate the act of these terrorists. It's terrorists
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fighting terrorists over there, and we should have nothing to do with these desert people.
Thank you.
Teague: Would anyone else like to address a topic that is not on our agenda?Please state your
name and there is a sign in at the desk. There's also stickers in the back for anyone that
wants to speak now or even later,where you can sign your name and state your city
where you're from. Welcome.
Ross: Thank you. Uh, I just would like to first of all say that people in Palestine and Israel both
going through things. Um,Palestine has been there for 4,000 years. Jewish people and
Muslim people had lived together for thousands of years,without problem until it was
made into a state. And then since it was made into a state, about a million Palestinians
have been-have been killed. So people do live together well. But when something else
happened there, I think that that's the problem. In 1986,Joseph Biden,1986 said that
Israel, if there was no Israel,that the US would have to create an Israel in order to protect
US interests in the Middle East. That Israel has really been, it's not really Jewish versus
Muslim or Jewish versus non Jewish. It's a state, it's a military outpost, and we give
billions of dollars every year in military arms to Israel. Um,we give billions of dollars in
arms to a lot of countries. We're going up to maybe 200 billions of dollars to go to
Ukraine. Instead of calling the United States of America, sometimes we should just call
ourselves Bombs-R-Us. Instead of sending weapons to Israel,the US should be helping
negotiations. And I ask people here all over Iowa City to call your representatives,your
congress to demand negotiations and no weapons. And the same thing with Ukraine. The
US had multiple times to negotiate with Russia in 2021, early 2022, and refused uh the
Kremlin and Ukraine is Zelensky's government,both we're going to negotiate,but the
US,what did they do? They send bombs. And how has that helped? It hasn't helped. And
in fact,Hamas's attack,they found what we're supposed to be Ukrainian weapons in the
hands of Hamas. So those weapons came from the US. So we're basically a bombs
grocery store. Just come and buy bombs and we'll-we'll make business that way. Please,
people in Iowa City,people who can hear this,please call your congress people in the
White House and say,no more bombs,that's enough. Let's use our words. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Phil, online. Welcome Phil.
Barber: Hi. Thank you. Uh, let me just get what I wrote pulled up. Oh,here it is. Oh,where is it?
How long do I have to speak tonight?
Teague: You have up to three minutes. Please state your name and city you're from.
Barber: Oh,hello. My name is Phil Barber. I'm from Iowa City. Um,well, sorry. I'm really
unprepared. Okay. I have it here,thank you. Uh,you know,to be honest,we have a lot of
problems in our county. And I don't want to put the blame on anybody,but you know, I
actually do want to put the blame on someone. It's always the Jews who think they can
run the world and hoard the money. But,you know,when I go to the grocery store, I'm
not scared at getting stabbed in the back by a Jew because they're already stabbing me in
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the back. I'm scared of the black people. And I don't like them. These people try to buy
KFC without any money. These people are trash. That's why they're the color of shit. And
they smell like it too. Like someone sculpted my feces, gave the breath of life, and now
it's white people who have to deal with them. They're nothing but monkeys, 911 missing
links.com,watch Europa.com, flyers.com Thank you for your time.
Teague: Jim. You're next. Welcome.
Conley: Hello, can you guys hear me?
Teague: Yes,we can.
Conley: Thank you for your time. Um, I'll be brief.
Teague: Please state your name and city you're from.
Conley: Sorry. Jim Conley, Iowa City. I uh like to comment on what the in-person speaker was
speaking about, about the conflict in the Middle East. It is most definitely Jews versus
Muslims. And I'd like to point out to all the Christians listening. The Muslim Quran
speaks very highly of Jesus Christ. And the Jewish Talmud in Gittin 57A, says that Jesus
Christ is boiling in feces. So which side should Christians pick? Thank you.
Teague: Would anyone else like to address a topic that is not on our agenda? Seeing no one in
person or online. I'm going to close the public comment.
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9.Planning& Zoning Matters
9.a. 8.a. Zoning Code Amendment—Housing Choice, Supply,and Affordability—
Ordinance amending Title 14,Zoning Code,to improve housing choice, increase
housing supply, and encouirage housing affordability (REZ23-0001) (Second
Consideration)
Teague: We're going to move on to item Number 9,which is Planning and Zoning Matters, 9A
zoning code amendment,housing choice supply and affordability, ordinance, amending
Title 14,zoning code to improve housing choice, increase housing supply, and encourage
housing affordability. This is the second consideration. And I- could I get a motion to
give a second consideration,please?
Bergus: So moved.
Alter: Second.
Teague: All right. And this is an opportunity for for the public to speak on this matter. And we'll
allow for three minutes. Uh maybe- let me get a show of hands fust of everyone that
wants to speak on this matter, on the zoning code amendment? Okay. Yeah. We're going
to allow three minutes for those that need additional time for language. We'll double the
time to six. Welcome at this time, anyone that wants to come up. There also is a sign in at
this desk,uh but we also ask and invite people to go to the back to get stickers that they
can pre fill out their name and drop it in the basket. Welcome, and we'll ask everyone to
state their name and the city they're from.
Dimambu: Hello,my name is Clinton Dimambu, I am member of St. Mary Iowa City. I am from
Iowa City. I am a college student and a refugee from Democratic Republic of Congo. I
am here with my people Escucha Mi Voz. We support you to family zoning.We demand
if this zoning change can come with some grant to help like a refugee or immigrant to
execute this change. As an immigrant and refugee,we are facing problems. I think all
those problems the solution are in your hands. Housing is one of major problems we are
facing as a refugee here in Iowa City. I have a couple of examples right now in Broadway
and Keokuk apartment,the prices increase,but the landlord,they don't check how to fix
if there is some problems. They- can you imagine how high density zoning will help us.
The sky did not fall when Lakeside was re-rebuilt. So why not downtown? Immigrant
workers need more affordable housing in city where we work,we ask that you let us live
with our families in the heart of the city,we for housing for all family. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome.
Campos (via translater): Good afternoon. My name is Ninoska Campos and I live in the trailers
of Modern Manor. You may know this topic of accessible units. It's a topic that affects all
of us. You know,perhaps that immigrants without Social Security numbers,uh,they
don't rent to them. As well as if you don't have a good credit or you don't have co-signers.
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As well as workers such as farm workers or construction workers. When they don't have
a lot of work because of the weather, such as raining,they cannot receive certain benefits
for rental assistance because they don't have the trailers or the apartments in their names.
The programs-the transportation programs,they're not always working for immigrants,
especially when we are working Sundays. It's very unjust how they're raising the cost of
living in trailers as much as $600 a month. That's almost as much as an apartment. The
trailers lie outside of the city. We do pay taxes and our work where we work our jobs is
inside in Iowa City in downtown area. These private developers should be paying and
contributing to affordable housing as well as the government. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome.
Dias (Via translater): My name is Tania Dias. I work in cleaning three days a week. I'm here with
Escucha Mi Voz. I just arrived three months ago to this city. I've been through a very
difficult situation in immigration. They didn't let my husband come through with me. I
came to this country with five month old baby, 18 month old baby and 11 year old
daughter who goes to school. I had to confront this city all alone and it's been very
difficult to find a place to live. It's very hard to find an apartment with any new project in
the city. We would like to be included in this. Immigrants and refugees we would like the
opportunity to find an accessible place to live that's dignified as well.Near the city. With
only three days of work and the rent so expensive, it's really hard to afford anything. We
need to have more places-more opportunities for places to live so that we can for our
children. I am just one voice of a lot of single mothers that experience the same thing. As
we start out here as immigrants or refugees,we need more support. Things are far away.
Things like medical care, etc. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Please state your name and city you're from.
Hadi Osodio (via tanslater): Hi. Good evening. My name is Hadi Osodio. I come from
Guatemala. I live here in Iowa City and I work in a bakery. Um, I come on behalf of part
of Escucha Mi Voz to use my voice. To say what our needs are as immigrants in this city.
Uh,just like, uh,the lady also said,um, single mothers, families,they need more
opportunities,um,more accessible units such as duplexes and things that are- are near the
city. Um, I live under the support of,uh,uh, an organization now, and I would like that
other people would have this kind of support and that we have more opportunity to build
more programs. Our works are far away. Um, it's hard. We have to walk to work. And
especially with the snow coming,um, it just is a lot to get there. We need,um,more
places to live that are more supportive. Uh,the truth is we don't earn a lot of money
where we work and we ask that you let us live in the heart of,um, this city as well. Thank
you.
Teague: Thank you and welcome. Welcome. And please state the name and-your name and the
city you're from.
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Tuhoumgno (via translator): I'm called Victor Tuhoumgno. I am a Cameroonian. I'm here with
my daughter,Ang. I want to first of all,thank,uh,the Association Escucha Mi Voz for
the support they've been giving us and the opportunity. We are from Cameroon,my
daughter and my,uh, and I. The situation in Cameroon is,uh hostile,that's why we are
here in the United States of America. We came to the State and we got,uh, support from
Escucha Mi Voz. We are in need of help and of course,the association is also in need of
help to continue patting our backs in this journey. Our journey was very difficult and with
a daughter like mine, in a state like Iowa,we definitely need more help. Socially it's
difficult, especially now housing issues are a very big problem to us. Especially me and
my documents are still being processed, so it's not easy, so we're hoping that the
government can do something about this so that we can at least be comfortable- at least
be comfortable. That's why we are here to plead with you guys that you people should do
something to the immigrants because we are actually suffering a lot. It's not easy. Thank
you so much.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome.
Soseman: Hello. Thank you. Um, I am Heather Soseman,which I am writing now,Heather
Soseman. Uh, City of Iowa city resident. I actually grew up here, go Little Hawks. Um,
my husband and I just bought a home in,um, 2020 and had our fust child the following
year. We were super excited to buy a home in this town and we're conce- I'm here today,
we're concerned about the rising number of developers in the area turning single family
homes into college rentals. Um,we are not- I mean we're past governor we're-we're-
we're entering,you know,the east side of Iowa City. And it's just, um, concerning the
number of college rentals that have popped up in the two years surrounding us. And now
the plans to potentially allow developers to come in and charge,um, college students
really the cost of a mortgage,uh, in rent. So you have these college students paying
essentially the mortgages for the few to continue to,um, get rich. Um, so that is the
reason I'm here today and,um, it's just concerning. I'd like to see certain areas of Iowa
City continue to be family neighborhoods. And so I'm asking you guys to really evaluate
that and,um, and limit the expansion on where develops- developers are allowed to come
in and turn these family neighborhoods into,um,just more college housing with turnover
and trash, et cetera, et cetera. Thank you so much for your time.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome.
DeGraw: Hi,my name is Sharon DeGraw and I live in the north side neighborhood, and while
the zoning codes have been proposed,we've been keeping an eye on the side of the north
side neighborhood that's close to Goosetown and College Hill, and I guess it's the south
end of the north side. And homes are relatively affordable there if they go on the market
and can be purchased. I'm keeping- I'm thinking about this in terms of the duplex housing
that we're interested in creating. I'm a little concerned that we're in-we're essentially
almost like cannibalizing the affordable housing that people could buy if it gets
purchased by speculative people, landlords,who will either make it into college rental or,
um,maybe it would be for slightly affordable housing, I don't know, and I don't know
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how long it would be mandatory affordable housing. So I'm asking that you keep a
careful eye on how you treat the central neighborhoods in terms of the zoning code
changes and the University program has helped so many people. So if you could do that
again that would be great. And if there's any kind of grant that people come into at the
city, I would like it so much more if some of the folks who have spoken tonight that are
really in need of housing could work with nonprofits or some entity to have a down
payment so that they can actually buy a home and earn equity that will transform their
lives so much more than just being able to pay a landlord some affordable rent. Thank
you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome.
Slonneger: Uh,Mayor Teague and Council. I'm Mary Beth Slonneger and I've spoken to you
before on several occasions.
Teague: What city are you from?
Slonneger: Pardon.
Teague: What city are you from?
Slonneger: Iowa City, Goosetown, sorry. Uh, so, I've,uh,had occasion to talk to new voices
from Goosetown as people are being informed about the changes that are about to happen
around us. And while letters from the city are regularly sent to us regarding the cracks in
our sidewalks,weed control alerts and snowy walkways needing to be shoveled, a letter
has not arrived to tell us of the development planned by the city for lots next door. I can
just say from the people that I've canvassed that they are emotionally charged about what
is being planned across the street or down the block. We were a neighborhood of
immigrants, and if you look at the names of homeowners here today,you will find we
still are, nor are we against low income housing, in fact,we are low income housing,the
most vulnerable neighborhood in the city,we just don't want our houses to be removed
and replaced by projects that will hugely exceed in price and scale what is here now. Uh,
I mentioned the $540,000 what I call a boondoggle on Bloomington Street last time, it
replaced a simple cottage with a lot left over for the developer's pocket. As an individual,
I've been going out with others to determine how much of our neighborhood is in the
hands of rental agencies and investment companies, especially those with known histories
of demolishing homes. And this investigation shows that we are more heavily in the
rental development column than I reported to you last time. I've been told that the city's
website is not current with rental permits, so this tedious quest had to be done on foot. It
is my belief that there should be a way that Goosetown single family homeowners can
survive in an area that is being bought out by investors to the lessening of our quality of
life. We are a diverse community of artists, cooks,bakers, florists, gardeners, eccentrics.
We-you will be sni- snuffing out the life of this neighborhood if you permit unleashed,
uh, development to occur here. At bottom,we agree with the north side that if a duplex is
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being considered,half should be overseen by a nonprofit agency for low income entities
and half for the investor. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. And did you sign in or put a card in there?
Slonneger:No. I got this. Do I need to sign in? Sorry.
Teague: Uh, if you can put that in-yeah,just fold it together so it doesn't stick.
Slonneger: All right.
Teague: Thank you. Thank you.
Slonneger: Thank you.
Teague: Welcome.
Stipe: Welcome. She's my neighbor.
Teague: All right.
Stipe: She dragged me here.
Teague: Yeah. And I see you have a sticker in your hand so you can put it in that basket. Great.
Please state your name and city you're from.
Stipe: My name is Linda Stipe and I live in Goosetown. I'm a professionally trained hospital
chaplain and I worked at Mercy Hospital for many years. My career is focused on
addressing quality of life issues and that is underpinning what I have to say today about
having a triplex built on Fairchild Street. Pardon the artwork. This is Fairchild Street and
Church Street. I've lived in the last house on Fairchild since 1987,right here. I have a lot
of firsthand experience about what goes on at the end of Fairchild,where you are
considering tearing a single family house down and allowing a triplex to be built.
Fairchild ends in a T, Church Street ends in a T. At this T, the end of Fairchild is a very
large daycare. Its capacity is 50 children. Their parents start delivering them at 06:30 AM
and pick them up at five o'clock. The parents drive to the daycare but they also bike and
walk. We have heavy traffic and congestion five days a week and a great deal of foot
traffic. They have 12 employees who all park on the street.Next to the daycare is a city
park where people have birthday parties, family reunions, and the city has festivals and
celebrations. This is just put up at the city park,there's going to be a big Bratfest. It has a
large play area and many families bring their children to play during the day. It also has
30 garden plots, and these gardeners drive to their plots across the day for six months.
The park also hosts a Tai Chi class that meets twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday, and
the participants are driving to the class. All of this park and daycare activity is bringing
large numbers of cars and people-
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Teague: Thank you.
Stipe: -to the end of Fairchild.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,please state your name and city you're from. Welcome.
Serafm (via translator): Good afternoon. My name is Raul Serafm and I'm Mexican. I live in
Iowa City. The question of this-this- what we're talking about tonight,well, I recently
arrived to Iowa City, I left Florida because of the law,you know,that they're going to
detain us. So we had to leave our homes in Florida. I arrived in this, uh, city, but I had to
start all over. The problem is,we don't have the papers or the requirements to get an
apartment or rent. Also, it's far away from where we have to work. And if there is an
opportunity for,um,to live near our work. And if we could rent an apartment,that the
prices would be reasonable or ac- accessible. Also,the trans-the transportation is really
hard for men and for women, for all of us,uh,to get where we need to go. Okay. Thank
you. Thank you.
Teague: Welcome,please state your name and city you're from.
Hidalgo (via translator): Uh, good evening. Uh,how are you?My name is Alexander Hidalgo.
Colombia. I'm from Colombia. What we want and the meaning maybe of this meeting is
that you can collaborate with us so that we can get ahead,you know,we left our
countries. It's very difficult, like,um,the other gentlemen said, it's very difficult for us to
find a place to rent, a place to live because of the requirements that they ask for. We-we
come to this country,uh this place to uh you know, get ahead,uh to work and we also
want to-to make this place a better place. So you could collaborate with us so that we
can get ahead,that we can find a place to live,um a work permit um so that we can all be
well. I really appreciate your time for your collaboration and have a good evening.
Teague: Thank you.
Hidalgo: Thank you.
Teague: Welcome. Please state your name and city you're from.
Barnett: My name is Andy Barnett. I'm from Iowa City. I actually live in Goosetown. Um, I'm all
for affordable housing,but there's not that many old houses left in this town. And we're
going to let them get torn down by one or two gentlemen that wanna basically,they're
being greedy. I mean,they're gonna take one place. Why can't we just fix these houses
up?Um I don't plan on moving this area- from the area, and I don't understand why we-
fust of all, I didn't even know anything until this lady knocked on my door telling me that
they're gonna tear these houses down and- and build whatever. I don't even know. So
maybe you can elaborate what we're gonna build in the places,which would be at least 2
- 3 unit places. So if they're gonna file 1,000 bucks a month for this houses there,they're
gonna end up getting $3,000 a month for these big lots. And I don't understand why we
can't really think about this before we go ahead and just allow this to happen. Um, I love
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the neighborhood,but to- and there's not- like I said,there's not that many old houses.
And if you drive around anywhere in the Goosetown towards downtown North side,you
can see these just random duplexes built that look like shit there, excuse my language,but
they don't-they don't belong. And so I'm trying to, ah, support all of these Goosetown
people with let's just figure out a way to maybe fix these houses up and make them
affordable for people to buy with some grants or whatever we got to do to do that. So I'm
just-whatever I can do to support the Goosetown and to stop this would be great. I'm all
for- I'm all about affordable housing, so don't take that wrong. It's not about that. This is
about keeping the structure of what Goosetown really is. There's not that many small,
little cool houses.
Teague: Please sign in.
Barnett: I left my sticker.
Teague: Oh,thank you. Welcome.
Norbeck: Thank you.
Teague: Please state your name and city you're from.
Norbeck: Sticker situation is a little complicated.
Teague: You can-you can throw the entire sticker in there.
Norbeck: Okay,here we go. My name is Martha Norbeck. Uh, I live on the East side of Iowa
City. I am a local architect,uh, specifically specializing in green architecture. Um, so, uh,
one of the things, ah,that I- I enjoy about City Council meetings is you get to hear about
all sorts of things that may or may not directly pertain to the topic at hand. Um, so I want
to kind of circle things back. I think these issues being raised are very valid,um,but they
aren't really the question at hand. The question at hand is related to zoning.Uh,zoning is
a crude tool. It is not intended to provide funding support. It's not intended to dictate who
buys properties. Um, it is a- it is a crude tool that has some control over development.
Uh,there's nothing about the zoning proposals that will change the current circumstance.
The current circumstance is that some houses have been torn down in Goosetown,um,
which is very sad,uh, for me as someone who likes older homes. But that's happening
now. That's happening under the current rules. It's not like they-we're gonna pass the
zoning and there's gonna be some rash change of the rules in- in leading to,uh,tearing
down all the houses in Goosetown. I want to commend the staff who did an amazing job.
So if you can remember back to when they presented to you,they were showing maps of
the entire community. This is affecting the entire community. It's not just these older
neighborhoods. There's a lot of developments that have gone up on large lots where we
could make-be making better use of that land,um, and also providing a supplemental
income to people who already own those properties. Um,by- and we can also be building
more units per subdivision. We are keep doing these single family home subdivisions.
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Which actually decreases the opportunity for affordable housing. So when you zoom out
and look at the entire community, and remember back to that presentation by staff,this is
going to have a small impact on the existing neighborhoods. There probably are measures
you could adopt to expand the University Impact zone,but that's a different topic. That is
not the topic in front of you. The topic in front of you is affecting the entire community
of Iowa City. Um, and- and the assumption that owning a home is somehow superior than
renting ignores the fact that coming up with a down payment with 8% interest is a very
untenable option for many-many people. Um, I believe Mandi is running for Council
with the concept that she's been working for 20 years and still can't afford a down
payment because she has a family to support. So these issues of affordable housing are
real and being a renter does not necessarily make you lesser than and being a property
owner doesn't make you better.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome.
Arriaga(via translator): Uh, good afternoon. My name is Maria Arriaga. Uh, here with Escucha
Mi Voz. . We would like your support. It's really hard for us to rent a place with our
name. Buying credit to get apartment. All of this is very beautiful. . We would like your
help. Also the buses, it's difficult. It's very hard also with our kids,um,with the buses,
getting them where they need to go. Maybe just our husbands are working,we don't
drive. It's very hard for us to pay our rent. We just want you to listen. All of us that come
and talk to you,talk in front of you,we talk from our heart. Thank you for listening. We
hope and pray to God that you can hear us. And I hope you have a good evening.
Teague: Thank you. Is there anyone else that want to address this topic?
Moguel(via translator): Good evening to everyone. My name is Teresa. It's really hard for us as
immigrants to find a place to live with our children. They asked for papers to get to
place. At the Catholic worker they help me. It's very hard to be away from your kids. As
parents,we look for,uh,the best for our children. But it's really hard when they close the
doors on us because we don't have papers. To rent houses or apartments,they asked for a
Social Security number. We don't have this. We are not all bad, all- the immigrants. We
just want stability for our children. If there would be an opportunity for you to help us,
that would be great. We can help you. You can help us. Immigrants,Mexicans, all
immigrants. We also can help you. We just want a stable place for our kids. As a single
mother, I think it would be great if you would help any of any immigrant. We're not
looking for anything else. We just want our kids to be,uh, safe and stable. Closing- close
doors- doors on a lot- a lot of us. If we can't get apartments without papers,what does it
matter to drive if we can't have a driver's license? I know that the bus is free, but the bus
does not come when we have to go to work. We hope that you would help us, for myself,
for all of us that are here, and that you would hear our voice. And thank you so much.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome.
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Goodner: Hello. Thank you. Um, good afternoon. My name is Dave Goodner, a co director of
Escucha Mi Voz Iowa. I want to start by thanking the city of Iowa City and its longtime
non-profit partners for your commitment to affordable, supportive housing. We are better
off as a community today because of your work and the progress we will make together
tomorrow will only build on the strong foundation you have already helped lay. High
density rezoning of Iowa City's single family neighborhoods is the only effective way to
scale up our supply of affordable housing to-to meet the acute crisis that we're in. That's
because multifamily neighborhoods are the only places black and brown workers can
afford to live,but 80% of the city they work in is zoned out of reach for them. For more
information on racial segregation in Iowa City, I encourage the city and neighborhood
associations to read our report attached in the public record, organizational comments to
the pro-housing grant application. Single family zoning is a kind of citywide racially
restrictive neighborhood covenant. But today I want to talk to you from the perspective of
someone who was born and raised on the southeast side. I've spent the last 42 years
watching tragedy slowly unfold as historic homes downtown were bulldozed and
replaced by apartment buildings one after another, over and over again. I say this because
no one is more sympathetic to historic preservation or the concerns of the neighborhood
associations than I am. Emily and I started the Catholic Worker Community Land Trust
in order to preserve historic Victorian homes, and transform who gets to live in them.
Nationwide civil rights experts and affordable housing advocates are trying to remove all
of the same barriers to increase the supply of affordable housing, and nationwide they are
met with the same opposition from the same single family neighborhood associations.
We have to be honest with ourselves and put the proposals before the council tonight in
the proper context.Not just affordable housing,but the framework of fair,just, and
equitable housing that opens up the city to the workers who keep it running. Instead of
standing in the way of what must be done,we should support what the city is trying to do
and demand both the government and the developers put real money on the line to
guarantee the affordable housing they promise. Two, family zoning is the missing metal
we need and the stepping stone we have to have to get to where we want to go. If we lose
sight of that,then we only care about affordable housing if it's on the south side and
down by the river,just like we always have, and nothing has really changed since Iowa
City was fust settled in 1839. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. And thanks to-thanks to everyone that has shared today. Okay. And this
will be our last speaker?Yes. Welcome. Welcome.
Hector(via translator): Goodnight,uh, good evening. My name is Hector. I'm from Nicaragua.
Uh,today, I come before you to not tell you a story,but to tell you about something that's
very real that we live today. We came fleeing our country, getting away from the
authority from there. Looking for a new hope, a new life. We went to rent over some
trailers,Navajo drive. Paying $300 a month plus the bills $400 a month. Living with rats,
cockroaches,bed bugs. In the winter,the pipes freeze,we have to get snow outside in a
bucket to do our needs and-these things, and these places don't work,they're not
appropriate. I think you should do something, or you could do something about this. The
owners,they don't allow us to park outside, or they don't allow us to have family or
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friends over,they'll call the police. Actually, I was,um, I was kicked out of there. I'm
living in my car right now. That's my home.We don't have papers to get an apartment.
They ask a lot of money, $4,000. So what we're asking you all is to try to find places that
are accessible for us to live. That's what we're asking and we're willing to pay we just
need a more reasonable price.Not just me,there's a lot of Nicaraguans living in these
kinds of situations that they're still there with,uh, cockroaches,bed bugs. I think it would
be good to go check it out what the-the conditions are. We have trailers that have been
abandoned and they're still functioning. That's all that I'm asking is that you would
support us and help us. And Thank you. Have a good night.
Teague: Thank you-thank you. All right. So I did close public comment,but if someone raised
their hand at the beginning, I will allow them to come at this time, otherwise, I'm going to
close public comment. So,you raise your hand at the beginning,then I will allow that.
And who all raise their hand at the beginning that have not spoken?We have three that
we're going to. We're going to-no we want to hear from you,but we-we have three that
we're going to hear from at this time. Welcome.
Buford: My name is Helen Burford and I live at 528 East College Street in the College Green
neighborhood. And as you know,the College Green neighborhood is already very
diverse, including my neighbors,who Catholic Workers house, and numerous rentals
accepting vouchers or low income households. And all I want to say is for the future of
our neighborhood that I ask you to amend the proposed zoning changes to only allow
additional duplexes that are committed to affordable housing provided by non-profit
entities. As evidenced by the Catholic Workers House non prop is focused on providing
affordable housing,provides stability to a neighborhood. College Green is already
densely populated with few single family residences remaining. I hope you take into
consideration the efforts which this neighborhood has made to be inclusive and choose to
amend the zoning proposal you're reviewing to be truly committed to affordable housing.
Teague: Thank you. And please state the city you're from and place your name on this sign in
sheet,please. Will you?
Buford: I wrote. Do you want me to write it down again?
Teague: Did you?You already wrote it?
Buford: I wrote.
Teague: Oh, great. I didn't notice that. Thank you.
Carlson: Hi, I'm Nancy Carlson from Iowa City and I'm just going to stick.
Teague: Welcome.
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Carlson: Welcome. You know, I think we are all here for the same purpose tonight. We are all
concerned about affordable housing. You up on the stage have control over what the city
does to help us,we people out here who are speaking to you,but we are all concerned
about affordable housing. And we all have our problems in dealing with living in our
various houses, in our various areas. I have lived in my house for 40 years. I have listened
to a lot of affordable housing ideas. I read the proposal that the staff made, and it sounds
like rehash things that I have heard for 40 years that have not worked very well.
Basically,we attempt to make developers who are in business for profit bear a large
amount of the cost of providing affordable housing. It has not worked very well in the
past. I do not think it will ever work very well. I think it's time to look outside the box. I
commend Councilor Thomas for the suggestion of trying duplexes in the university area
where one unit is market valued and the other one is a low rent thing that can-that non-
profits can use. Somehow or another we need to open the door so that non-profits can get
in and to provide the affordable housing that our city needs on a continuing basis and not
have it changed every 20 years. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. And we'll bring up our last speaker at this time. Yeah. Welcome.
Patrick-Ferree: Thank you. I'm Kelsey Patrick-Ferree, I live in Iowa City. Um, I want to share
with you that when I moved back to the area 11 years ago,uh, I got a job offer in the fust
week of August, and I knew that was going to be a problem. Uh,we wanted to rent in
Iowa City for a while. We wanted to try to get a three bedroom for our family of four. We
were not able to find anything. We wound up in a two bedroom in Coralville that I was
allergic to. Was not a great year. When we bought our house,we bought in the South
district. And in the South district we have a lot of renters. We have renters who have been
in their houses for longer than I have owned my house, for longer than a decade. Um,
there are our neighbors,they're our friends,they're involved,they're wonderful people.
Iowa City has been economically segregated for- since founding. I've seen a lot of
progress,but this is the fust time I've seen a systemic solution that finds a way to make it
possible on an infill basis to make sure that it is possible to build all housing types
throughout the city. So I'm urging you to vote in favor of that and to finally get it so that
people who get job offers in the fust week of August can find somewhere to live in Iowa
City. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you.Now, I did. I don't know how long this hand has been raised online. So I
will allow this one hand that is raised online which is Marianne Dennis welcome. And
then we will,um, go into council deliberations.
Dennis: Thank you. Um,hello. I'm Marianne Dennis, I live in Iowa City and,um, I really believe
that your staff has provided all of the information that you need-need to make an
informed decision to pass this rezoning. Thank you for your time.
Teague: Thank you. At this time we are going to close the public,um, opportunity to speak and
going to go into council deliberations.
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Thomas: Well,perhaps I'll start since I'm not sure how many here in- in the audience are- are
familiar with a little bit of the background with where we are at this moment. We, at our
last meeting two weeks ago, asked for a deferral on the second vote with the idea being
that we would try to seek ways to advance the goal of increasing the supply of income
restricted affordable housing as a part of this amendment in addition to increasing
housing supply and choice. So that was the goal there,which-which I'm hearing tonight
is certainly a concern, as Nancy mentioned,we're all here, among other things, speaking
to the issue of affordable housing, and what-what I was particularly interested in in terms
of this amendment,was how can we create- create an opportunity with this amendment to
address the-the supply of income restricted affordable housing,which is a much higher
standard for affordable housing. During these discussions,the word affordable housing
has been used a lot,but it's never been precisely defined, and it's- it's that income
restricted affordable housing,which I think speaks to those who are truly in need of
housing which they can afford. So that was two weeks ago when over the last two weeks
there have been a lot of discussions in the neighborhood,uh and the neighborhoods in-
within that University Impact area,that-that would include areas of the Bowery, College
Green, Goosetown,Northside,Miller Orchard, and portions of Longfellow and Manville
Heights. So it's basically the center of town,which I'm hearing,many of the people who
spoke tonight spoke about wanting to live in the center. How do-how do we get that
done? That's a challenging assignment, so to speak. So over the last couple of weeks,
we've been talking about that, and what I would like to ask the council to consider is that
we establish on a voluntary basis a density bonus in the univ-what we refer to as the
University Impact area. The density bonus would apply to the sort- sort of the technical
language here,uh,would apply to the residential single family five zones,the RS5 and
the residential single family eight zones,RS8. In those areas, any- any additional
duplexes other than not the block corners shall have one income restricted affordable
unit. So briefly, I'd like to try to describe what I kind of envision with the current
amendment and how I could envision the proposed revision playing out. I view the-the
current proposal essentially incentivizes for profit investors in the University Impact area
to replace inexpensive existing housing with higher density duplexes charging higher
rents.Neighborhoods in that process will lose existing inexpensive homes and gain little,
if any, income restricted affordable housing for the people who need it most. I would
argue that this proposal is inconsistent with the 2008 Central Districts- Cen- Central
Districts Plan goals of promoting housing affordability and neighborhood stability. How
would the proposed revision play out? I would argue that it incentivizes nonprofit
affordable housing providers to produce income restricted affordable housing while
taking into account the unique housing market conditions in the University Impact area.
The revision would be consistent with the Central District-District's plan regarding
housing and quality of life goals by providing affordable housing opportunities while
achieving a healthy demographic diversity. So- so the proposal that I'm suggesting, as I
said, is limited to the University Impact area. The rest of Iowa City, there would be no
change to the proposed amendment. So the only area affected by this proposal would be
that area of the University Impact area. Its purpose, as I said, is to try through the-the
density bonus,what we're doing here is acknowledging that there is an increase in density
that the amendment is providing, and we'd like to see some portion of that density bonus,
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or density increase, applied to the creation of income restricted affordable housing, and
we've seen- seen some, in addition to the testimony tonight, some letters and support the
council has of this idea,which in some ways is- is I think in the spirit of the university
program,which also was income restricted and provided some opportunities for families
who might otherwise not be able to live in the core of Iowa City. There was a- a recent
letter in the late handouts from Elise Slaughter who spoke to this I thought quite
beautifully. So in my view,this is really a- a relatively minor change. Most of the
proposal remains as- as it is now. But it attempts to acknowledge the special conditions,
you know,that have applied within the center of town,the University Impact area for
decades, and it attempts to address the pressures there,the character of the
neighborhoods, and the need for creating affordable income restricted housing in an area
where it makes, in some ways,the most sense. Because it's central to the city,you have
better transit,more access to job opportunities and destinations. So a low income
household can perhaps,you know,not require a car for every adult, excuse me, adults
residents or member of a household and live more within one's means in that regard. So-
so that's the-the idea that um,you know, developed over the last two weeks and was
discussed with housing- affordable housing providers as well as advocates. I spoke with
Jerry Anthony,who is a professor of urban planning,public policy at the University of
Iowa, and,you know,there was kind of a consistent concern about how can we create
opportunities in the center of Iowa City through this kind of strategy. The last two weeks
have been very useful to-to this effort in trying to articulate that goal. And so- in terms of
process,this would entail would be voting no on the current proposal and uh, sending it
back to P&Z and then eventually coming back to council with that amendment in mind.
So thank you.
Dunn: Just clarification. Are you- are you asking the council to say no today then?
Thomas: The sooner we say no,the sooner it can go back to P&Z. Uh,with this what I consider
to be a relatively minor change,but a positive change um, for the reasons I described.
Yeah.
Alter: I have a lot jumbling around in my head, so I'm just going to leap in. And this may be
almost like in bullet points and kinda of all over it. So forgive me in advance,um, I
applaud the efforts and the thinking that you have done,John. But I think that Martha
Norbeck actually really pointed out a very-very important piece. Zoning doesn't say who
develops the land, it- it doesn't. Additionally and granted, I don't live in the core,but I do
live near duplexes and I live in near- I live in the south side,uh, southeast side, and I live
among a lot of renters, I live among a lot of group homes. And we all get along, and the
character of their neighborhood is actually wonderful for its variety. So I actually will go
out on my own limb to say that I do not believe duplexes are high density. What I am
struck by is the number of families who came here tonight to ask for better housing. And
honestly it is true. Student housing chunked up so that individuals live in a particular way
and at a particular time in their lives is not the same as the need for families- for families
to live duplexes do increase that opportunity. So I'm voting yes for this. Um, I go back to
a couple of core truths. I went back read the Affordable Housing Steering Committee that
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was convened among multiple stakeholders and experts to talk about what needs to
happen in the city. And there's a summary of it says, increase the allowable number and
type of dwelling unit in single family zoning districts by right in more locations.
Examples include ADUs duplexes and lot zero line structures. Increase the allowable
number of bedrooms in duplex and zero line structures in single family zoning districts
outside of the University Impact area facilitate multifamily development by purchasing
land to be developed, conduct a city initiated rezoning to allow multifamily housing or
mixed use in areas supported by the comprehensive plan it goes on. These are all things
that are contained within staffs recommendations. And I recognize this is not perfect, and
I would also put the caveat out to everyone who is listening,this is not the solution. It is
part of a tool kit. Affordable housing is incredibly difficult. It is a national crisis, and it is
a crisis here at home. But if we keep looking to say,how can we make this this little bit
better, so let's strike down the whole then we are in fact where we've been for 40 years.
These things haven't been put into place. We've talked about them and they've never
passed. So I do believe that this is what we need to do. We are government, it is
incremental. We are working on multiple facets. But this is one important piece that we
need. And I appreciate people who love their neighborhood,but I guarantee you your
neighborhood will still be wonderful. I was so struck by the woman who is speaking
about living near the daycare center and the park. And then there was another speaker
directly before, directly after,who was talking about having children of different ages
and how wonderful it would be for her to live. I believe in the triplex,to be one of those
families that could live in a triplex that had access to that. So,um, I just want to mention
also Catholic Worker House had a very comprehensive letter. I do recommend folks read
that. I appreciate Martha Norbek's comments. The Affordable Housing Coalition of
Johnson County is also weighing on this, and so they too, are supporting these
amendments. It is not going to solve everything,but I do believe it is not going to turn the
north side to hell in a hand-basket. There's a comprehensive plan in place that allows only
for the types of development that is in character of the neighborhood. It may be more
dense than you want,but putting in different types of housing that could actually allow
families to get in there is incredibly important and so I will be voting for this.
Dunn: Do we have a staff opinion or input on John's proposed amendment?
Fruin: I think- I think the late handout from your last meeting is still relevant in addressing that
and um, in short, I think if you were to put an income restriction on a one half of a
duplex,you're effectively not going to get any duplexes built. I think if the intention is to
increase income restricted permanent affordable housing,that's more of a budget matter
than a zoning matter.
Goers: The other thing I would add is I believe when they were writing their memo,the
understanding was that there was going to be a motion to amend this evening to make the
changes that Councilor Thomas has envisioned. I understood his request now to be that
you vote no for the entire thing. Um, I don't think that was anticipated by staff. This is a
33, I believe,page bill with changes in paragraphs A through FF inclusive. There are a lot
of things in this bill that I'm sorry, in this ordinance amendment that I think council or,
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I'm sorry, staff would like to see move forward. Uh, I think this is one important,but
certainly not encompassing,topic within that. And so I suspect I would be speaking,um,
safely on behalf of staff, saying that they would not prefer to have to go back and start
from scratch.
Bergus: I appreciate everyone coming and speaking tonight. Uh,the engagement that we have
here on this topic is- is phenomenal and I'm incredibly grateful for it. Um, I really like
hearing from faces and voices who we've seen before as well as those who we're just
meeting tonight. Um, I think what's really important to remember is that what we're
talking about are very modest changes. What we're talking about are incremental small
changes to enable a small piece of this very complex nuanced problem,which is the lack
of supply of housing and the lack of flexibility in the types of housing. In particular areas
where we don't have the capacity,we don't currently have the rules that would enable that
kind of supplier,that kind of flexibility. We will have a comprehensive plan review that I
hope will come forward with even bolder, less incremental, less modest
recommendations for inclusive zoning in our community. But the idea that tonight we
would stop the process, send it back to planning and zoning, and start this all over again,
uh feels to me like the intent is to ensure that the change can't happen. And that-that may
not be your intent, Councilor Thomas. Um,but it- it flies in the face of something that I
think we've committed to,which is working urgently on equity. And I hope everyone has
seen that really, I always go back to that,really basic graphic of like three people who are
trying to look over a fence,right?And there are different sizes or abilities and people
need different levels of numbers of boxes or numbers of stairs to be able to see over the
fence. And our obligation and our commitment to equity is to balance a lot of
complicated, difficult things and say,hey,we have said housing is a human right. We
have said affordable housing and the availability of housing for people to live in whatever
neighborhood they wish to live in, is fundamental in our evaluation of what is equitable
in this community. So I- I really think what that means is we have to be willing to
prioritize those who don't have the opportunity for a home or don't have the opportunity
for a home in a particular neighborhood. We have to prioritize that over other very valid
concerns about the potential future character changes of a neighborhood. I don't- I don't
know that I can make it any plainer than that,but I really think that we have to be willing
to take a small incremental step to increase supply and flexibility in housing types
throughout the entire community. So I do support the amendment still.
Harmsen: Thank you. I um, I probably won't speak as long because I think Councilor Bergus and
Councilor Alter have-have captured many of the things that I've been thinking. Um and
just kind of-just kind of put my own just emphasis on that. I do think this is a time that,
you know,the city has been working on this for a long time. So this hasn't been
something that has come up in just a short amount of time. And,you know,maybe it's
because I didn't get to do a lot of fishing this summer,but I'm kind of missing it. But
there does come a time when you have to fish or cut bait, and I think- I it's time to move
forward on this.Now that said, I think Councilor Thomas raises some interesting ideas
that we can deal with on their own. Um, so it's not in either or,but a yes, and which is
another one of Councilor Alter's favorite phrases. And so I'm going to steal that
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shamelessly. Uh,but yes, I too will be voting in support of this because I think it's- I
think it is at the end of the day,um an important step forward. Um, and it is a modest step
forward. I mean it's,you know,we'll be looking at stuff in the comprehensive plan next
year,which I think,you know, excited to look at that and to dig into bigger and- and
hopefully more impactful things.
Dunn: I- I just kind of got a question for Eric. Um,you know, one of the reasons why I was so
supportive of moving us to-moving this forward with a deferral uh,was to kind of
explore and expand Council's knowledge of of the whole situation with bonuses. Um, I
think it's valuable for us to do so and to know our ability to do that either now or
potentially in the future. My question that relates to that is,you know, I don't know if this
is something that we would do now,but it is just something that popped into my head as
we're talking about um,you know, doing these types of voluntary arrangements, as well
as you know,the situation that we're dealing with housing choice vouchers. With your
understanding of the passage of SF 252,that was the housing choice voucher ban,um,
that changes to those code, do you think that that would preclude Council from either
now or in the future from entering into a voluntary agreement for a bonus to density,um
but require that one of those units or something like that, like make sure that they don't
discriminate based on,you know,the usage of a housing choice voucher?
Goers: I'd have to look at the language of that statute again. But as a general matter, anytime
you've got a voluntary agreement by which property owners, or landlords,to use your
example,um, are getting something in exchange for something in agreement not to
discriminate against those who are using housing choice vouchers in your example,those
are usually quite defensible. The only caveat I'll add to that because I'm a lawyer and I
have to say it depends as part of my job description, is if it is such that,you know, one is
compelled really,you know, if a property owner has no practical choice but to accept our
offer. And I'm not hearing that in what you're describing.
Dunn:No. Yeah. And I- I guess like just for the even more clarity, I have the-the bill pulled up
in front of me now. It says, a city shall not adopt or enforce an ordinance or regulation
that prohibits an owner, lesser, sub lesser,managing agent, or other person having the
right to lease, sub lease, or rent out a dwelling unit from refusing to lease or rent out the
dwelling unit to a person. Because of the person's use of a federal choice voucher issued
by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. And then it, of
course, gets rid of it. Um,with a clarification on that language,would you-would you
still say this probably-probably okay?
Goers: Yes. If I understand your question, it could the city offer an incentive to property owners.
So in exchange for them agreeing not to discriminate. I think the answer is yes. The city
could do that.
Dun: Okay. That's pretty cool. Um,yeah I'm going to go with that for right now. I have a lot of
thoughts that I still need to organize. So if someone else has to -wants to talk.
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Teague: That's more to me.
Taylor: I'll take- I'll take my turn. Um,this has been a difficult one because we've been talking
about affordable housing for many,many years now and trying to come up with solutions
to that. And somebody had mentioned the University program uh,that started many years
ago. Uh,but found to be as they built these single family homes,they got more and more
expensive. So then we broadened out to the uh, South District Program,which has
provided home ownership for folks. They've been able to move from rental uh,to home
ownership,which is really good. Uh, I'd like to see that broadened out to the entire city.
Have those types of programs throughout the city. And I do uh, appreciate the time and
the effort the staff put into this document,but I still have the question. I think Councilor
Thomas mentioned that too. I mean,how can we truly create a supply of, as he termed it,
income restricted rather than affordable but call it income restricted? These folks that we
heard these stories from, I appreciate you coming and speaking. It's not easy to come and-
and speak before the council. Uh,they're very heart warming stories. But,you know,how
indeed can we help you?And I don't know that, I'm just not really reading into this as
many pages as there are into it. And somebody mentioned it's the fundamental right of
persons uh,to have housing and that they should be able to live where they want to live.
But how-how do we do that?But I think that uh,with Councilor Thomas' proposal to
amend it, I think that gives a better idea of where we could indeed have this housing
developed. Which I don't read into the rest of the document. Um, and the Goosetown
folks, I appreciate your comments. We've seen that happen. We saw a single family home
demolished. And gigantic home that's five bedroom,three bath, I think just-just in the
middle of an older neighborhood. So it is happening and I think with this plan, it would
maybe,perhaps continue to happen. So I would go along with an including having P&Z
take a look at uh Councilor Thomas' proposal for the amendment so that hopefully we
could narrow it down a little bit and actually actually create some areas for- for income
risrict-not affordable. I'm going to say income restricted housing.
Dunn: I think that leaves me before you-
Teague: your choice.
Dunn: Yeah. So um,you know,this is a very difficult question before us for a lot of different
reasons. And,you know,the more and more I've thought about this,the more and more
I've come to terms with the fact that my comments are not going to be organized. Um, so
a few things that I'm personally thinking about is this whole concept of,you know,what
can affordable housing look like in the community?Um, and you know, a related
question of,you know, if new development in our community, can or is or can be, or is
affordable to a lot of the folks that are in the room. That is-that is a real real struggle.
Um, I think that- that we deal with. Um, I think that supply does have an effect on the
market um, and and can affect housing rates. Um,but I think that the idea that um,you
know, a brand new duplex is going to be something that is, especially in the current
market,with materials and labor um, initially going to be affordable. Like I- I don't think
anyone up here is- is disillusioned to the fact that that's probably not going to be the case.
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Um,that being said,um, similar to my comments in the- in the fust um,hearing of this, I
don't think it's- I don't think that that means that it's not worth trying to put a dent in our
um,you know, 3,000 plus uh, deficit of- of housing units in this community. Um, and
you know-Yeah, I- I think in- in many other ways, like my-my feelings would echo
those of the other folks that are supporting this,um, in so far as- I- I think this is better
than nothing. Uh, and I think to the point where,you know,the professionals that we
have here,uh,who do this every day,uh, and I don't necessarily think that that means that
they know everything,but they certainly know more than me,um, are saying that it's
likely to not happen,um, coupled with the fact that,you know, I was also caught off
guard that in the discussion of this,um, amendment is really just a request to restart. Uh, I
was not prepared for that. I mean, I was- I was prepared for,uh, a hardened discussion
about,um, different amendments that we could look over and this whole concept of,uh,
voluntary bonuses. Uh,but in terms of just doing an outright failure and sending it back
to P&Z and that taking many months,uh,ultimately, I- I'm not sure,uh,what the-what
the impact on the market is going to be. Uh, I don't think it's going to be significant,um,
but it's going to make something. Um, I don't think as well though,that the
neighborhoods that are,uh,reasonably concerned about what's going on in town,uh, are
going to be as much affected. I very much agree with Councilor Alter,uh,who is- I
believe it was Councilor Alter or Councilor Bergus who was,um,talking about how we
have,you know, comprehensive plans and standards for how those things ought to look
when they are developed. I- I think that those things can provide major checks for a lot of
the concerns that we have. Additionally, a lot of the problems that folks are, uh,raising as
concerns,uh, are social. Um, if there's a problem with your neighbors,you should talk
with them. Uh, I really do think that that's an important thing,uh, if someone's parking
inconsiderately, if they're leaving trash out or,you know, something like that,have a
conversation. Um, it can be hard at times. And I recognize that,uh,but I don't necessarily
think people avoiding that conversation is worth not taking this step. I think it's a very
complicated situation that we're dealing with. Um, like I said, I didn't think that my
comments would be particularly organized,um,but I will say that I'm glad that we've had
this conversation particularly about the amendment, and I'm thankful to the council for,
uh, affording the-the as the deferral to,kind of look into the,uh,voluntary,uh,
agreements for density bonuses because a- at least very much I'm- I'm glad that I know
more about that and- and hopefully that can inform the decisions that we make in the
future as well. Uh,but, you know,when I'm weighing, doing something that for one
particular part of the community by our experts is not going to really do anything versus
something that could do something that has safeguards in place,uh, and can be managed
by social relationships. Um,you know, I-I'm inclined to-to vote for the latter, so I think I
will be supporting today.
Teague: I wanna thank- I wanna thank everybody for coming out that spoke today. Uh,really
touching to see so many individuals,um, love their city that much to come and spend
some time to share their thoughts no matter what side of the coin you're on. As I look at
this, I go back to miss and middle. Uh,that's something we've talked about when I fust
came on council. Uh,there are some people that have-that championed,uh,that-that
concept into my brain. And when I look at this,um, I see miss and middle. I see,you
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know,uh, diverse housing choices. I see,you know, design standards,uh,that will be
really conducive to an existing neighborhood. Uh, I see really that equity and inclusion
opportunity throughout the entire city. And so for me,because I'm not going to belabor
the point, I think my colleagues that are,uh, signing- signal- signaling,they gone-they're
going to support this, I mean, I have really said a lot of things that I will share tonight and
so I will be supporting this. I do believe that,yes, and is still a possibility because this is
only one,two. I mean,we have a few tools in our tool box,this will be adding to that. Uh,
I- I long for the day that we have lots of affordable housing funds that we can spread
throughout the city. There are individuals,we talked about the nonprofits that would want
to increase affordable housing,but there are, I believe, some private sector individuals
that will come to the table,uh,to help us with this effort as well. So I will be supporting
this tonight. And again, I do want to stress my appreciation for everybody coming out
and sharing your voices with us tonight. If there is nothing else,we are going to have roll
call at this time. (Roll Call)
Teague: Motion passes, 5-2. Could I get a motion to accept correspondence?
Alter: So moved.
Bergus: Second.
Teague: Move by Alter, seconded by Bergus. All in favor say aye. Any oppose?Motion passes
7-0.
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10.Regular Formal Agenda
10.a Dodge Street School Speed Zone
Ordinance,amending Title 9,entitled "Motor Vehicles and Traffic," Chapter 3,
entitled "Rules of the Road", Section 6,entitled,"Speed Restrictions," Subsection
C,entitled"School Speed Zones,"to modify the 20 MPH speed zone for Dodge
Street. (First Consideration)
Teague: Item 10.a is Dodge Street School Speed Zone. Ordinance, amending Title 9, entitled
Motor Vehicles and Traffic, Chapter 3, entitled Rules of the Road. Section 6, entitled,
Speed Restrictions, Subsection C, entitled School Speed Zones to modify the 20 miles
per hour school speed zone for Dodge Street. This is first consideration. Could I get a
motion,please?
Thomas: So move.
Taylor: Second.
Teague: All right. And welcome.
Ralston: Thank you,mayor and council. Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. Uh, as the mayor
mentioned,the ordinance before you is to modify the existing 20-mile-per-hour school
speed zone for Dodge Street and this is adjacent to Mann Elementary School. Uh,we
worked with the school's principal over the summer. Uh, children are now entering and
exiting the school,primarily through the south end of the school rather than the north end
of the school. What the result of that was, was us establishing a crosswalk at Fairchild
Street,uh,rather than Church Street,which is where the existing,uh, school crossing was
and still remains. Uh,but we added a new school crossing at Fairchild Street. It just so
happens that the existing ordinance,the 20-mile-per-hour school speed zone, ends right
about where the new crossing is. And what this would do is shift that 20-mile-per-hour
zone about 200, 250 feet to the south so that folks are traveling at a slower speed through
the newly established crosswalk. And I'm happy to answer any questions that you might
have.
Teague: Thank you.
Ralston: Thank you.
Teague: I didn't realize we had a missing Councilor.
Goers: Still in the lobby. Uh,maybe we can-maybe I'll go retrieve him.
Teague: Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? Seeing non-council discussion.
Bergus: It seems like a good, straightforward,reasonable change. Thank you.
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Taylor: Makes sense.
Alter: That's how I get home every day and I am very aware of the-the zone and I'm-yeah, it
makes a lot of sense to extend it.
Teague: Roll call,please. (Roll Call) Motion passes 7-0.
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10C.Approval of the PRO Housing Grant Application
Resolution approving Iowa City's Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing
(PRO Housing) grant application to help address barriers leading to acute scarcity
of affordable housing in Iowa City.
Teague: Item IOC. Approval of the pro-housing grant application resolution, approving Iowa
City's pathways to removing obstacles to housing. Grant application to help address
barriers leading to acute scarcity of affordable housing in Iowa City. Can I get a motion
to approve,please?
Bergus: So moved.
Dunn: Second.
Teague: All right. Move by Bergus Seconded by Dunn. And welcome.
Russett: Thank you,Mayor. Ann Russett with Neighborhood Development Services. Um, as the
Mayor mentioned,this item is related to staffs draft application to the US Department of
Housing and Urban Development for funds to help further affordable housing efforts in
our community. Staff is requesting City Council's approval of submission of this
application, as well as authorization to use $2.85 million and city funds to act uh, as
leverage for this application. A little bit of background on the grant itself. Er, as I
mentioned,this is through HUD. They have $85,000,000 in competitive grant funding.
And it's intended to help identify and remove barriers to affordable housing production
and preservation. The minimum grant award would be one million dollars and the
maximum is 10 million. HUD expects to give approximately 20,uh, 20 grants to 20
communities. The application consists of several topic areas. It outlines the barriers to
affordable housing. The city's ongoing efforts to address those barriers, as well as
proposed activities to further the city's efforts in addressing the housing crisis. HUD is
really focused on funding communities that have already made progress towards
addressing barriers. You'll see in our application that we've highlighted the zoning code
text amendments that you were just discussing tonight. And we hope that by highlighting
these reset efforts, it will help to make our application even more competitive since it
demonstrates the city's commitment to addressing housing issues,not only through the
provision of financial incentives,but also through supply side reforms that address
regulatory barriers to housing. In terms of the budget,we're requesting 5.6 million in
grant funds, and again,um, 2.85 million will come from the city's funds to act as leverage
to ensure a competitive application. In terms of the proposed activities,there are several.
This slide outlines the planning related activities,which include a parking study,which
would be followed by revisions to the zoning code parking standards, a regional housing
needs assessment or regional housing study,which would help to provide a holistic
regional understanding of the area's housing market. Um, also, it could help fund our
comprehensive plan update. Specifically the land use and housing elements of the
comprehensive plan. And following that comprehensive plan update,we're proposing
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city, city initiated rezoning to higher density housing to align with the new land use
policy vision outlined in the updated comprehensive plan. And lastly,we're proposing to
study the feasibility for the Iowa City Housing Authority to create a Housing
Development Division. Other activities include an Accessory Dwelling Unit Incentive
Program. This would be a program providing funds to- for the construction of accessory
dwelling units. Also, funds for housing counseling and immediate housing assistance,
which could go to help support those who are facing a potential to be unhoused. And an
actual construction project is the last item. And this is connected to the feasibility study
for creating a development arm of the Housing Authority. And the city would use these
funds to jump start a pilot affordable housing development project. Um,there's also
administrative funds. This is about 10% of the total request,um,that would go towards
administration. During the public comment period,the city did receive one piece of
correspondence from the Catholic Worker House. And based on these comments, staff
plans to revise the application to better reflect ways the application will affirmatively
further fair housing. In terms of the,the timeline and the next steps,the public meeting is
tonight. Um,the end of the comment period is also tonight. And the application is due
October 30th. And the estimated start date should we receive funding, it'd be early 2024.
And that concludes my presentation.
Teague: Right. As a question. Sure.
Alter: Hi. Um, I actually did read the response from staff,uh,that addressed some of the
concerns from the Catholic Worker House. Could you just hit some of the highlights just
for helping refresh my memory?
Russett: Yeah. I think the-they had several concerns. And I think what we're committed to
changing in our application is more discussion on how,um,this grant application and
how this city,through the comprehensive planning process,through housing counseling,
through housing assistance, could help directly impact specific populations like
immigrants and refugees. And,um, also there's a language that we can add that kind of
speaks to educational points as part of the,the funding. If we receive funding,we can use
some of that funds to educate the community on options that they have. Whether it's the
housing counseling that would become available or,um, immediate assistance that would
also be opportunities through the,the grant. Um, and just with the comprehensive plan
update,we really do want an inclusive outreach process. We,we need to identify what
that looks like. Um,but we need- as part of that process,we will need to identify groups
that we need to coordinate with, like the Catholic Worker House and others that have
connections to those specific populations in our community.
Alter: Was there any discussion? I know this awkward question,um, some of the logic or some
of the recommendations had to do with increasing funding. And I also know that some of
that's not possible based on where money is. The current pots that they're in dedicated to
the Riverfront Crossings, for example. Was there any discussion at all about being able to
up that amount at all from the- from the city thing?
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Russett: Yeah, increase the leverage.
Alter: Um.
Russett: Um,we could certainly request more money. There's not a minimum amount of match
that needs to be provided. But I think if we did increase the request,we'd want to increase
that leverage. I don't know if-.
Alter: I guess that was part of what 1 was kind of getting at and I'm not.
Russett: Geoff if you could.
Alter: I'm fishing. I'm not angling.
Fruin: Yeah. It's one of those balancing acts. You know,the,the,the grant amount is fairly small.
When you think it's a nationwide grant,there's only 20 cities, so it's, it's a bit of a
balancing act. Do you want to be aggressive and show your intent that,that you're,you're
committed to making meaningful change?But you also have to recognize that there's
going to be,what would you say, 20 expected awards, so there's going to be roughly 19
others competing for this 80 plus million dollar.
Alter: Yeah.
Fruin: So it's really just trying to find that balance. Um, if, if we're fortunate enough to be
selected and we feel like we can add additional local dollars to make projects even better,
we,we certainly obviously would have that ability to do so at that time. Right now, it's
just finding what we think is that balance on, on what will make a competitive
application.
Alter: Yeah, and that makes perfect sense. And I appreciate that,that doors left open for- should
we win it? Thank you.
Teague:No other questions. Thank you. Anyone from the public like to address this topic? If
you're online,please raise your hand and we see one person in the audience.
McCabe: Ellen Mccabe, Iowa City Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County. I'm here to support
the pathways to removing obstacles to housing proposal. As someone in the literal
affordable housing trench, I assure you that we need to increase local development
capacity for affordable housing projects. In addition, a regional housing study to define
the critical shortage of housing that is affordable is needed. The problem is referred to as
a regional problem. However,most of the solutions are being developed within Iowa
City. In the past two years, for example,the Trust Fund has funded 12 projects in Iowa
city and one in Coralville and one in North Liberty,that's your visual. Coralville and
North Liberty have committed American Rescue Plan dollars totaling $600,000 to
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affordable housing. That's admirable. However, a regional housing study will help
illuminate what is needed and where it is needed to support community and economic
development throughout the region. I applaud the city of Iowa City for taking the lead on
this overdue housing study. And I can't believe the room's not filled with people moving
the needle. This is where the work is going to be. Thank you. Thank you for your support
of the Trust Fund. Thank you for all you're doing to make housing more affordable.
Teague: Great. Anyone else like to address this topic?
Harmsen: I had to laugh because I had a similar thought.
Teague: Yes. Seeing no one in-person or online council discussion.
Bergus: I realize this is maybe a staff question. Sorry,um,the regionality of this- of that study,
that is the component of that is that intended to cover the Iowa City Housing Authority
area? I wasn't entirely sure on that.
Russett: I don't know if we have a specific boundary.
Bergus: Okay.
Russett: Identified,but it would include North Liberty, Coralville, Tiffin,um, some of these
surrounding communities. It may include Johnson County as a whole.
Bergus: Excellent. Thank you.
Teague: Any other discussion by Council? I think it's a great opportunity and hope we get the,
the funding to do this.
Harmsen: Yeah. Thank you for putting this together. And I think kind of to your point, like this
is like-just- it speaks so well. And hopefully the public will recognize,um, you know, all
the different people and all the different members of council, city staff,members of other
organizations that are attacking this problem from so many different angles. And so this
is like,you know, it couldn't have come up probably on a more appropriate night.
Bergus: I guess I'd just say one other thing,mayor, about the regionality of it,knowing that that
housing study is just one piece. But I think this is a great opportunity for us as elected
officials to make sure that we're engaging our colleagues in the municipalities that will
also be benefiting from this if we receive the funds.
Teague: It takes a village. So here we are. If no other comments,roll call,please? (Roll Call)
Motion passes seven to zero. Could I get a motion to accept correspondence?
Dunn: So move.
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Bergus: Second.
Teague: All in favor say aye. Any oppose. Motion passes 7-0.
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11. Council Appointments.
ll.a. Housing and Community Development Commission -One vacancy to fill an
unexpired term upon appointment through June 30th, 2025. There is no gender
balance requirement.
ll.b.Human Rights Commission -Human Rights Commission,one vacancy to fill
the unexpired term upon appointment through December 31st,2025.
Teague: Item Number 11 is Council Appointments. I IA is Housing and Community
Development Commission one vacancy to fill an unexpired term upon appointment
through June 30th, 2025. There is no gender balance requirement. I'm going to go ahead
and do the second one at the same time,which is 1113,the Human Rights Commission.
Human Rights Commission, one vacancy to fill the unexpired term upon appointment
through December 31st, 2025. So we'll take the fust one,um, and talk about that fust,
and then we'll quickly transition over to the next one.
Alter: Um, I was struck by Denise. And I'm going purely by her phonetics. I believe it's Szecsei.
Dunn: I also support Denise.
Harmsen: That was on my list as well.
Teague: Yeah, and I can support Denise as well. We do have a majority there. Any other
discussion on Housing and Community Development Commission?We're going to move
on to the Human Rights Commission.
Dunn: I enjoyed correspondence with Viana Qadoura um, I- I think she would offer a really good
perspective to the Commission.
Bergus: She was on my list as well.
Teague: Any other nominations?Yeah. Again,we have lots of great applicants,um,Viana I can
support as well. Do we have a fourth?
Harmsen: Yeah-yes, it works well. Sorry.
Teague: Okay, great.
Harmsen: All right. I didn't rattle my head.
Teague: Uh,yeah. I was looking down. All right. So we have our appointees. So um- so could I
get a motion to appoint to our Housing and Community Development Commission,
Denise Szecsei, and for our Human Rights Commission,Viana Qadoura.
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Dunn: So moved.
Alter: Second.
Teague: All in favor say aye. (Voice Vote)Any opposed?Motion passes 7-0
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14. City Council Information
Teague: We're on to item Number 14,which is City Council information.
Bergus: Mayor, I just want to,um, say a little bit about our- our community and where I know
that we stand as a community. And when I think about what this council has committed
to in terms of racial equity, social justice, and human rights, some harm happened here
tonight with some words that we heard at the beginning of our meeting. And I think it's
important to just remember that as leaders,we have made commitments to upholding and
promoting racial equity, social justice and human rights. That we prioritize our decision
making through that lens. Um,that and in this moment when we are,um, at the state
government level,um,banning curriculum for what our children can learn, and denying
health care to children, and reducing bodily autonomy that what we heard was
unexpected,but not maybe surprising. And just to acknowledge that,um, fascism and
authoritarianism,um, are real, and that the people being emboldened to exercise their
right to say those kinds of things,um, directed towards members of our community is,
um,really troubling. And that the multi cultural and multiracial community that we saw
later in the meeting this evening is Iowa City. And that I hope that we all stand up for
that.
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