HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-19-2019 Human Rights CommissionAGENDA
Human Rights Commission (HRC)
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
5:30 P.M.
City Hall, Helling Conference Room
410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City
1. Call Meeting to Order and Roll Call.
2. Approval of the February 19, 2019 minutes.
3. Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda. (Commentators shall address the
Commission for no more than 5 minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion
with the public concerning said items).
4. Items to be discussed:
a. Funding Request: Archibald Alexander Elementary PTO.
b. Accepting Proclamation for Marriage Equality Anniversary (City Council meeting
of April 2).
c. Accepting Proclamation for National Fair Housing Month (City Council meeting of
April 2).
d. Committees: Public Safety (Hate Speech); Education; Community Outreach;
Housing.
e. Correspondence.
5. Updates/Reports:
a. Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant Work Session to be held on May 15 at
5:30.
b. Night of 1000 Dinners 2019 Report.
c. Youth Awards (May 8).
6. Staff/Commission Comment. (Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one
another concerning said reports).
7. Comments of Staff.
8. Adjournment.
If you will need disability -related accommodations to participate in this meeting please contact
the Equity Director, Stefanie Bowers, at 319-356-5022 or at stefanie-bowers&owa-city.org.
Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs.
Draft Minutes
Human Rights Commission
February 19, 2019
Helling Conference Room, City Hall
Members Present: Jeff Falk, Cathy McGinnis, Bijou Maliabo, Jessica Ferdig, Barbara
Kutzko, Noemi Ford, Adil Adams, Jonathon Munoz.
Members Absent: Tahuanty Pena.
Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers.
Recommendation to Council: No.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM.
Approval of January 24, 2019 Meeting Minutes: McGinnis moved to approve the
minutes with amendments; the motion was seconded by Falk. A vote was taken, and
the motion passed 5-0. (Adams, Maliabo, Munoz not present).
Funding Request for Night of 1000 Dinners: The Johnson County United Nations
Association requested $250.00 for its annual Night of 1000 Dinners. At the event that
celebrates International Women's Day, three organizations, Legal Aid of Southeast
Iowa, 100 Grannies for a Sustainable World, and the Center for Worker Justice of
Eastern Iowa will be recognized for their contributions to advancing human rights and
the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Sponsorship of this event comes
with three complimentary tickets. This is an event the Commission has sponsored for
several years.
To date, the Commission has supported community funding in the amount of $856.00
for fiscal year 2019. Kutzko moved to approve the request at $250.00; the motion was
seconded by McGinnis. A vote was taken, and the motion passed 7-0. (Maliabo not
present). Falk and Ferdig will represent the Commission at this event being held on
March 13.
Strategic Plan and Committee Updates: There are four committees that assist in
advancing the strategic plan. The four committees are Housing ('Falk, Adams, Pena);
Public Safety ('McGinnis, Maliabo); Education (Falk, Kutzko); and Community Outreach
('Adams, Falk, Munoz). Asterisks designates chairs of the committees.
Housing has not been active aside from a couple of affordable housing advocates that
came to talk to the Commission about area programs.
Public Safety is discussing and talking about hate speech and disproportionate arrests.
They do not meet every month but have been meeting more recently about hate speech
that has been occurring on the University of Iowa's campus. As a committee they work
on how to respond to hate speech while also looking at what has already been done.
Draft Minutes
Human Rights Commission
February 19, 2019
Helling Conference Room, City Hall
They hope to be able to eventually teach people how to respond to hateful rhetoric
when it happens to them.
There was a brief mention of fliers that were posted in downtown Iowa City that read
"Be Iowa Nice and Call Ice". The public safety committee plans on following up with law
enforcement to see if there are any options re: the fliers and to take note of the
occurrence of such incidents.
Education has attended several meetings with the Iowa City Community School District.
There appears to be a lot of misinformation between students, parents, teachers, and
administrators. The committee actively works cooperatively with other organizations to
assist in putting accurate information out to the community.
Former chair Willis thought that the Commission could serve as an intermediate to see
what issues people are concerned about and work to gather information on those issues
so that things would not be anecdotal.
Community Outreach has primarily done outreach to the community on the vast array of
services available here in Iowa City. The committee also reminds community members
of their rights and what the Human Rights Commission does. The committee admittingly
has not been that active but did highlight the "Know Your Rights" program at the
Broadway Neighborhood Center that included information on the Community ID
program.
Committees should plan on meeting to determine next steps, reevaluate goals that were
set up in 2018 and to see the path that should be taken in 2019.
Correspondence: Pride Con is on February 23 at Tate High School. If any
Commissioners are available to sit at the vendor table. it is from 10-2.
Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant: The City Council will make the decision on
the Social Justice Racial Equity Grant (SJRE) recommendation at its meeting of
February 19.
Commissioners received correspondence from Successful Living. Its authors Carla
Phelps and Roger Goedken wrote that "And then you SKIPPED OVER OUR 7th
RANKED APPLICATION/AGENCY in favor of two lesser ranked organizations. YOU
IGNORED YOUR OWN RANKINGS. At least two members appeared very pleased at
that, so as to be able to fund personal favorites, ranked highly by one or two individuals
but not by all. We found this offensive".
Both Phelps and Goedken were present at the meeting of January 24 when the
Commission made its grant allocation recommendations.
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Draft Minutes
Human Rights Commission
February 19, 2019
Helling Conference Room, City Hall
McGinnis said that if she had participated in the grant allocations, she would have been
in support of funding Successful Living at half the requested amount. She understands
their frustration and the concerns they are raising but is not sure what the Commission
can do to address them at this point.
Ferdig mentioned that it might not be realized by others how much they
(Commissioners) must review and get every detail in reference to grant applications.
Ferdig thinks that their concern needs to be thought of in the future in terms of how the
Commission does its rankings. She would like it to be discussed when they meet to talk
about the grant process for fiscal year 2020.
Kutzko asked if the letter needs to be responded to and Falk said that is why he wants
the Commission to read and then talk about the letter.
McGinnis pointed out that the Commission does a lot of cooperative events with
Successful Living. For example, the City's annual job fair.
Ford asked what would make the Commission not want to respond. Ferdig was not sure
what responding would do at this point.
Staff noted that Ford and McGinnis should not participate in any formal action on the
letter because they were unable to participate in the grant process due to conflicts of
interests with applicants for this year's grant cycle.
Ford believes that not responding to the letter is like not acknowledging them. Ford is
not suggesting the content but the gesture. That the Commission should acknowledge
the email which was appropriately addressed, signed, and verbally explained their
(Successful Living) view.
Staff did acknowledged receipt of the correspondence to Phelps and Goedken in an
email and let them know it would be handed out at the Commission meeting being held
that evening.
McGinnis asked what the protocol is for applicants that are not recommended for
funding. Staff reported that emails are sent out to all applicants letting them know of the
day and time the Commission will review the applications and make recommendations.
They are also kept up to date on the recommendation and City Council's decision on
the recommendation through email.
Munoz's only concern about responding to the letter is due to the fact that the
Commission only makes a recommendation to the City Council, Successful Living still
can go to City Council. They can voice this concern to City Council, the Commission
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February 19, 2019
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does not have the final say and so, it is missing a step for the Commission to respond to
the letter.
Munoz went on to point out that there are other organizations that did not get funding
and he does not think the Commission should establish a precedence of responding to
all organizations that send a letter because all the Commission is doing is making a
recommendation as opposed to any final decision.
McGinnis asked about an organization that wrote a letter last year that was unhappy
with the process. Munoz remembered that it was not an organization but a Commission
member who wrote the letter. Staff explained that the Commissioner had a conflict of
interest and could not participate in the grant process. They voiced concerns about the
process and selection of grantees.
Munoz believes that the rankings are just that, a ranking, and they are not something
the Commission needs to follow. When he ranks an application there is a 1 to 2 point
range between applications and so they mean a lot less than what standing alone they
may seem to be.
Ford feels a lot of hurt feelings can be prevented if the process was more transparent.
Staff mentioned that two informational sessions were held to explain the grant process
to potential applicants. Ford asked whether they knew the rankings didn't mean
anything, staff replied that the rankings were discussed at the sessions but cannot make
assumptions on what attendees took from the information provided.
Staff also mentioned that the Commission Chair asks at the meeting where applications
are discussed, and recommendations are made whether any Commissioner would like
to change their ranking. The Commission is not swearing off on the rankings. The
rankings can be adjusted at any point in the process. McGinnis added that attendees to
the informational sessions could ask questions on the process. Staff said the
presentation from the informational sessions is made available to attendees and placed
on the City's website.
Falk feels that the confusion may be due to public meetings that (by law) require
everything to be relevant to the agenda. You just can't bring things up at a public
meeting and a lot of people do not understand that and that there are reasons for this. I
assume in the letter (from Successful Living) in one of the things they referred to that is
on the agenda, is that you can address for 5 minutes but no one has to pay attention to
you and there is no discussion about what you say. I think that can be better explained
to the public.
McGinnis said maybe they can lay that out at the beginning of the meeting. Staff noted
that in the email sent out to applicants it was stated that comments pertaining to the
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Human Rights Commission
February 19, 2019
Helling Conference Room, City Hall
grant would not be taken based on the decision of the Commission at its January 8
meeting. Chair Pena also noted this at the beginning of the meeting held on January 24.
Munoz mentioned that every year we discover flaws in the process. Last year we got
dinged because we over -funded, we recommended fully funding one organization that
we should not have.
Ford wants to know the reason the Commission would choose not to respond to the
letter. Munoz responded that the reason the Commission is not responding is that they
(applicants) have the ability to address the City Council directly and it is the City Council
who ultimately makes the final decision and for precedential reasons.
Ford asked for clarification of Munoz's comments. Maliabo, responded that if we
respond to one then we have to respond to all. Ford believes the Commission is here to
serve the community and if people have misinformation it is the Commission's job to
correct it and promote growth.
Ford, personally, would not mind answering 10 people if 10 people were hurt or
confused. Ford is happy she wasn't involved in this decision -making process because it
made her uncomfortable even just being present at the first meeting. Listening and
feeling confused and not knowing how she could decide without feeling bad or biased.
Ford wondered who she is to make this decision when all the organizations can benefit
from the funding.
Ford also wondered why, if there was money left over, not fund a partial use to
Successful Living. Ferdig replied that there was only $500.00 left.
Munoz provided that the Commission is a deliberative body and its reasoning is not
singular. So, he does not know how to respond properly to the letter without each
Commissioner having to describe why they individually chose a certain action. But he is
open to vote on it, if there is a motion.
Ford feels there is something dishonest about not replying to the letter. If the
Commission is certain they followed the procedures and did what they could, then why
couldn't the Commission just say we're sorry for how you feel we followed our
procedures, if you have grievances design other ways to address them. Ford is
nervous about next year if she has to be a decision maker in this process.
McGinnis wonders if maybe in the next month or so it would be a good time to have a
meeting about the grant. About how the process should be adapted for next year.
Staff has sent out a survey to each Commissioner to gather all the comments and get
feedback and this should make the meeting on the grant process more productive.
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Draft Minutes
Human Rights Commission
February 19, 2019
Helling Conference Room, City Hall
Staff also created a survey for SJRE Grant applicants to fill out to get feedback on their
thoughts about the process.
Munoz would like to table this discussion until after the work session is held on the
grant.
Ford wants to know how the City would have them do it because they're our boss. Staff
responded that she believes the City Council would defer to the Commission on how it
feels it should respond. But that the City Council makes the final decision on the
recommendation and that the Commission is advisory to them.
Falk moved for the Commission to respond by acknowledging the letter and thanking
them for letting them know their thoughts and to ask them to attend the next
Commission meeting to have a discussion about the process and allow non -
Commission members to participate in that meeting.
Falk thinks a survey will be fine and informative, but he feels that if the Commission gets
a letter like this, they should respond some kind of way even if the response is kind of
nebulous —we just say thanks for your input and add we're going to have a discussion
about this and the time and place for such discussions.
Maliabo wonders if a response is sent to this letter, will that then require the
Commission to respond to other letters, if more should come. Falk thinks the
Commission does not have to respond individually but could have a general response.
Falk noted that the Commission would be responding but not to the actual criticism.
Ferdig had concerns with the last part of Falk's motion to invite them in. She does not
feel it would be constructive to invite them to a meeting. This is assuming they are
aware of the fact that that the meetings are open to the public.
Ferdig and McGinnis think the survey will allow applicants to note any criticism or
concerns with the grant process. Falk accepted a friendly amendment to remove the
last part of his motion. Adams seconded. Falk asked if he can respond to the letter as
an individual. Staff reported that Falk can do as he chooses as an individual.
Falk withdrew his motion and will reach out to Successful Living as an individual. Ford
thinks there should be a stock letter that is available to send to organizations when
there is this concern.
Staff will email out the presentation from the informational sessions to Commissioners
who had not already received it.
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Draft Minutes
Human Rights Commission
February 19, 2019
Helling Conference Room, City Hall
Black History Proclamation: Munoz was acknowledged for accepting the
proclamation from the City Council and in doing so reminding the community that Martin
Luther King, Jr. advocated for work equality as a matter of social justice.
BlackKKlansmen:
Ford thought the discussion, held at The Englert, was really good. She was able to sit in
the front row. It was a full house and the speaker, Ron Stallworth, was mind-blowing. He
went through the whole story in the presentation. He took comments and questions from
the audience. Very encouraging. It was wonderful.
Youth Awards:
Save the date, May 8th at The Englert.
Reports of Commissioners:
Malibo has attended meetings with the University of Iowa's Public Health to discuss
ways in which the medical community can create better outcomes for Congolese
maternal health.
McGinnis went to hear Adam J. Foss; a former Boston prosecutor and criminal justice
reform advocate speak at Coe College. Very good talk and very interesting.
Ford has been asked to give a talk on the effects of separating families at the border
has on children and parents. The talk is part of a non-profit agency fundraiser. More
details are forthcoming.
Adams, spoke on a recent demonstration held in DC in support of freedom and justice
in Sudan.
Adjournment: Motion to adjourn at 6:41 PM.
7
Successful
"L,ivil�g
To: The Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 19, 2019
From: Successful Living
Subject: SIRE Grant awards
On the evening of January 24, 2019, Successful Living's Executive Director, Roger Goedken, and
our Director of Grants & Development, Carla Phelps, attended your evening meeting at City Hall
where you voted on recommendations for who would receive SIRE grant funds. We had applied
and came to the meeting to learn if we would succeed in getting some much -needed funding.
We pored over previous SJRE applications as we'd been advised, and wrote, proofed and re-
wrote our proposal with high expectations.
Prior to the meeting the commission ranked the applications/agencies. Our agency was ranked
#7. The first 6 in rank all received full funding. After that you had around $8k left. Our
application was for $16k and was to pay for tickets for our mentally ill clients, all disabled, to be
able to attend events they otherwise are unable to ever attend. We clearly stated this in the
narrative and on our spread sheet/budget. Our application also made clear, as one
commissioner stated, that partial funding could be readily utilized in lieu of full funding.
Yet we heard commissioners say they did not understand or perhaps did not believe how we
would spend the money (except for one: she said she was at that moment looking at our
spreadsheet and believed she did know how we would spend the money; no one much listened
to her or responded).
We witnessed commissioners admit that they did not actually remember the content of
applications. One said there were no reference to disabilities from applicants!
Meanwhile those of us observing were required to sit silently since we were given to
understand in advance that our comments or questions would be unwelcome.
And then you SKIPPED OVER OUR 7t1 RANKED APPLICATION/AGENCY in favor of two lesser
ranked organizations. YOU IGNORED YOUR OWN RANKINGS. At least two members appeared
very pleased at that, so as to be able to fund personal favorites, ranked highly by one or two
individuals but not by all.
We found this offensive.
Our clients have nothing. And face ugly stigma and discrimination every day. We are used to
that at our humble little agency (small but mighty — we've survived for 20 years) - but we never
expected it from the Human Rights Commission. That $8k would have gone a long way toward
concretely improving the lives of the people we help. They would have only been able to attend
half as many events (unless we received additional funding elsewhere), but that would be so
much better than none at all
It appeared that your logic was that you only want to fund 100% of any proposal and refuse to
partially fund any proposal. This is very hard to understand, especially when a program like we
described lends itself to partial funding. And especially since your application asked what we
would do if only partially funded. It is just all very hard to understand and feel that the
commission's decision lacked basic fairness and follow-through of established protocol.
We feel Social Justice particularly was sorely missing the evening of January 24, 2019, and an
adherence to the developed ranking protocol would have resulted in improved impartiality.
Kiinno reg�r
CarIkJ. ehelps, BBA, Grad Dip -Counseling, MS-Psy.
Director, Grants & Development
Successful Living
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Cell: (319) 471-1809
Email: cphelps@icsuccess.org
Web: https://www.icsuccess.org/
Roger Goedken, BA, BS
Executive Director
Successful Living
2406 Towncrest Drive
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
W: (319) 358-6800 x105
F: 319-358-6807
Email: rgoedken(@icsuccess.ora
Web: http://wwyhicsuccess.org/
Member Attendance Sheet
Member
Term
Ex .
1/8
1/24
2119
3/19
4/16
5/21
6/18
7/16
8/20
9/17
10/15
11/19
12/10
Maliabo
1/2021
Present
Present
Present
McGinnis
1/2021
Present
Present
Present
Munoz
1/2021
Excused
Present
Present
Kutzko
1/2020
Present
Present
Present
Falk
1/2020
Present
Present
Present
Pena
1/2020
Present
Present
Excused
Adams
1/2022
Excused
Present
Present
Ferdi
1/2022
Present
Present
Present
Ford
1/2022
Present
Excused
I Present
KEY: X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting
--- = Not a Member
Agenda Item 4a
Cover Letter (required reading)
Thank you for your interest in seeking sponsorship from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission, The Commission
provides funding to organizations and agencies to offset the costs of organizing, planning, and facilitating educational
public forums or programs and activities that are designed to eliminate racial, religious, cultural, and other intergroup
tensions, including but not limited to, sex, color, creed, disability, gender Identity, sexual orientation, marital status, age,
and national origin.
To process your request for sponsorship, we need you to take a few minutes to fill out the attached application form.
Please note sponsorship requests are due by 5 p.m. on the second Monday of each month. The Iowa City Human Rights
Commission will review the request at their monthly meeting and staff will contact you to let you know whether the
request has been approved. If you are awarded funding, you will be required to submit a full (one page) summary of
funding impact, including but not limited to, number of persons involved in your project, anecdotal stories to share with
the team about the event, frequency of the event, and other essential information. Reporting instructions for full
reimbursement of funds are attached to this document.
If you have any questions aboutthe application process, please do not hesitate to contact Equity Director Stefanie Bowers
at 319-356-5022 or Stefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org.
Please sign here to verifyyou have read the cover letter to this form.*
Application
Date *
2/17/2019
Group/Organizaton Name
Archibald Alexander Elementary PTO
Contact person
Angie Jordan
Phone number*
319-47-0181
Email *
alemnderelementaryPTO@gniaii.com
Date of activitylevent/program*
4/12/2019-
If your event occurs on multiple dates, list here
Event location and address*
Alexander Elementary School, 3571 Sycamore St
Is the event wheelchair accessible?*
G Yes
r No
lathe event accessible to individuals with visual impairments?*
r Yes
r No
Describe the activity/event/program and how it contributes to Human Rights.*
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. Pi Delta Zeta Chapter, Alexander Elementary PTO and South
District Neighborhood Association are collaborating to host the first annual Father -
Daughter, Mother -Son Night at Alexander Elementary School. This event is open to the
entire community to increase positive community engagement by creating a tradition that
provides an opportunity for different populations of people to mix and mingle through
dance, face painting, a photo booth, a mini fashion shoe and more!
Amount of funds requested. Attach an itemized budget (field below).*
$ 500.00
Attach itemized budget.*
Daddy -Daughter & Mommy-Son Night 2019Budget - Sheetl.pdf 57.43KB
List other funders below:
Has this organization applied for any other City of Iowa Cityfunding for this activity/event/program?
G Yes
r No
If yes, what department were the funds requested through?
Neighborhood Events Grant for South District
How much funding was requested?
$ 500.00
Was this request granted?
O Yes
C No
Has the organization received anyfunding from the City of Iowa City in the last year?*
O Yes
C No
If yes, what department were the funds requested through?
How much funding was requested?
How will this activity/event/program be marketed?
Nextdoor.com; facebook social media account of South District Neighborhood Association;
District Parents' Organization facebook post; sharing with Neighborhood Centers of
Johnson County to promote to families; newsletters home to families at Alexander
Elementary school.
Will sponsors be mentioned and/or logos be used in the marketing of the activity/eventlprogram?
C Yes
O No
Is the activity/eventlprogram a fundraiser?*
C Yes
0 No
If yes, explain:*
it will not cost to attend this event, and there will be a table
with a space to donate to create a sustainable budget for
this event for next year. People DO NOT need to make a
donation to attend or partake in any of the activities at this
event.
tat Annual Zeta Phi Beta Sorority_, Pi Delta Zeta
I
Daddy -Daughter& Mommy-Son Night
j
Ages- Pre-K-6th graders
Co -Sponsor (): Alexander Elementary PTO and South District Neighborhood Association
Funding Sources: PDZ, Alexander PTO. Neighborhood Services, Donations,
etc
Location: Alexander Elementary (Gym)
Time: 6'.00-8:00 P.M.
Data: Friday, April 121h or Saturday, April 13th
.Attire -dresses; button up, slacks
_ .... _ _ . ...
Cost
Vendor Notes ... ',.
_...
Entertainment. DJ
$200.
-..
arts and craft activity- build your own picture frame
$1.00 each
Michaels will determine total based on ticket sale
photo booth
$300
Hawkeye Photob Looking at other vendors
Portraits of couples Photgrapher
$200 _
couples can take picture home
Dance Contest
free'
_
fashion show
free
Mini make -over: eye shawdow/ lip gloss
free
- !.
hula -hoop contest for dads and moms
free
_
face painting
TBA
__.. 'Total
$700
Food Cookie decorating table Cookies, sprinkles, frosting
..... ..
Hy-vee ..
Punch
Pizza, chips, popcorn
paper products Total
$150.00
Decorations Table Cloths
Aero Rental/Party City/Dollar Tree!
Me will need hel Rediblue carpet
Ballons
Back drop for pictures
Prizes and Candy bags $150.00
Estimated Total $1,000
Agenda Item 5a
Page 22
14. SJRE Grant Allocation for FY19 — Resolution adopting the Social Justice
and Racial Equity Grant Allocations for fiscal year 2019
Salih: I just wanna ask the ... if I, you know, my .... my organization is one of the people
who apply for this and even though they are not one of the recommended
organization for this, I still .... do I still need to recuse myself"?
Throgmorton: Okay, this is a resolution adopting the Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant
allocations for fiscal year 2019. Could I have a motion to approve please?
Thomas: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Cole. Stefanie!
Bowers: This is, um, a resolution to approve the recommendations from the Human Rights
Commission for the Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant for FY19, and the
Human Rights Commission is recommending that eight of the 26 applicants, uh,
be funded at the, uh, full amount that they requested in their applications. And
those organizations are the Iowa Harm Reduction, the Refugee and Immigrant
Association, the University of Iowa Labor Center, Inside Out Re -Entry, the
University of Iowa Mood Disorder Center, Shelter House, Access to
Independence, and then Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County in a
collaboration with the South District Neighborhood Association.
Throgmorton: Okay. Uh, does anyone want to ask Stefanie any questions?
Teague: So out of the total it seemed like it was, um, probably some great applicants that
had submitted, um, and I can only imagine the difficulties of trying to, you know,
uh.... narrow it down to who would be awarded. Um,the agencies that you've
selected, um, just because I know a lot of them and the work that they do, um,
seem like there, you know, will be great applicants, uh, to really move forward the
mission of the, uh, social justice and racial, uh, equity grant. Um .... I guess my
question would be to you, like overall, you know, with this experience, um .... um,
can you give us a little insight of the process that was taken, um, to get down to
this, to this group.
Bowers: Sure. So, um, the Commission met in early, um, January and that's when the
applications were distributed to the individual members. They then had, I would
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of February 19, 2019.
Page 23
say 10 to 14 days to read all of the grant applications that were received. They
were then asked to rank them on a scale of 1 to 26 because there were 26, um,
applications received, with 1 being the highest. They then sent their, um, rankings
to ... to staff, and then we averaged those amongst the seven Commissioners who
participated. We had two that had conflicts, and then the rankings.... there should
be a graph in the handout, but the rankings were, um, switched so that 26 kind of
became the .... the number one, and if you received a score of 1, then that would be
the lowest ranking that an organization, um, could receive. So, um, the
Commission met in this space on January 24a' and they discussed the .... the
applications and they, um, discussed the .... the rankings, and there was some
adjustment that they did do, um, because they did want to fully fund organizations
versus partially or half -funding organizations. Um, and so they .... they voted and
this is what we have in front of us this evening.
Teague: Thank you. (both talking)
Bowers: That answer your question?
Throgmorton: Sounds like a daunting challenge to go through 59 applications. (several talking)
Twenty-six, well 59....I thought I read somewhere 59 organizations applied for a
total of $399,000.
Bowers: So I think that's probably how they're numbered in the system when they apply.
The system never starts back at 1. So .... so each year we start where we left off
the prior year. So the 59 is probably, um, start .... I think we had 28 applications
last year, so we started at 29 and that probably went into the 50s, if not the 60s.
Throgmorton: Okay, so I wanna correct my own notes. So it's like 28 you said? (several
talking)
Bowers: Twenty-six this year. Yep.
Throgmorton: And ... and do you remember, maybe you already said this, but was the total
amount of money they applied for?
Bowers: So it would be $74,421 (both talking)
Throgmorton:... that's the limit, I mean (both talking) we were allocating 75.
Bowers: Oh, you want the ... the total (both talking)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of February 19, 2019.
Page 24
Throgmorton: Yeah, if you know it. If you don't (both talking)
Bowers: No, I do! I have it.
Teague: 387,612 (several talking) Is that the number you're wanting?
Throgmorton: 388.
Bowers: (several talking) 387,612.60.
Throgmorton: Okay, thank .... yeah, perfect. Thank you!
Mims: One of the things I would like to do, and not tonight, but... and maybe, and I'm not
sure the best way to do this, between you, Stefanie, and Geoff and whoever, but
there was obviously some .... pretty serious discussion within the Committee, with
the Commission, um, about the allocations, things like, you know, should....
should an organization get money two years in a row, and some people felt they
shouldn't, some people felt, well, it's a totally different program, so you know,
that's just fine. Um, some individuals were concerned about the diversity of the
Board of Directors, whereas me personally I don't care about the Board of
Directors. I warm know about the diversity of the people who are being
impacted by the grant. But there's just .... there was a number of things like that
that I got the sense, and I think some people even said it directly, the way it was
put in the minutes, that ... either they needed more direction or they needed more...
either they needed more direction from us or they needed to have more discussion
before the next time as to how they were going through this. So .... I guess I
would like from staffs perspective whether we need to have more discussion at
Council to give them more direction, um, or whether you feel .... you know, they
can handle it with their discussion, I mean I just....I.....I read some things in there
that concerned me. And so....
Bowers: So the Commission actually meet this evening and so they're, um, each
participating in a survey where they're giving feedback on the process and their
thoughts for this allocation period, and then they'll hold a work session, um, later
this ... in the springtime.
Mims: Okay.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of February 19, 2019.
Page 25
Bowers: Um, well their... they'll discuss, you know, some of the concerns that you saw in
the minutes.
Mims: Okay.
Bowers: Um, and I think, urn .... that they obviously wanted to fund everyone, but they
can't, and it's.... it's not an easy process, and there were a lot of discussions about,
um, who has been funded in the past and who should be funded moving forward,
and this is only the .... the third year that the Commission has been working on
making the recommendation to City Council. So...so I .... I think from the first
year to this year was a .... a big improvement, and I think you'll continue to see
those improvements, and I think it's just a .... a matter of them, you know, coming
together, um.....you know, each year they learn and .... and the application has
changed, the process has changed over the years to reflect, um, some of the .... the
difficulties or challenges they've had. So the .... the work session minutes would
definitely be shared with the City Council, and you know, obviously it's your
prerogative, but you could wait to elect ... to take a look at those minutes to see if
there may be more in the ballpark of where you're wanting them to be. You know,
that's' an option.
Cole: One of the things that jumped out at to me is it seems like there were some
organizations that are already getting funds through out block grant process, like
so for example I think we already have funding for Shelter House. Um, did... did
that come up as an issue, as far as that goes, and then the other thing with the
block grant discussion we've had, we've always had this discussion of, sort of
legacy funds or more institutional versus sort of start-ups, for lack of a better
term. How did that play out? It seems like most of the grants that occurred in this
case were more sort of institutional, um, recipients. Would that be a fair
characterization in the sense that they're sort of full-time non -profits, as opposed
to someone wanting to hold a community banquet that may benefit certain
communities?
Bowers: So the application does ask whether they've received funding from the City in the
past five years. Um, it asks for, if they've received funding from the City for any
program, and then it asks specifically for the program that they're applying for, for
the grant, and my understanding from listening to the Commission, um, speak,
they evaluate them based upon whether it's a new program, um, or a new initiative
for a particular organization, versus looking at the other things that the
organization may be doing (both talking)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of February 19, 2019.
Page 26
Cole: Okay!
Bowers: So ... so it was part of the discussion and it's just kind of an individual, um,
evaluation as to how they rank it, based upon, um, that information.
Cole: Thank you.
Throgmorton: So thanks, Stefanie. I ... I'm not inclined to second-guess the Commission on their
recommendations. I ... they put a lot of work into it and I appreciate that greatly.
Sol...I don't wanna second-guess that. I think it might be very helpful, pickin' up
on what Susan said, I think it might be very helpful if they could identify specific
questions they think we should as ... answer for them. You know, they've
experienced the process. They have insight into it. Okay, so .... what do you need
clarity about (laughs) from the Council? It'd be very helpful if they could provide
that. I noticed too, and again I'm not going to second-guess the Commission, I
noticed that the ... that Shelter House requested funds to "revitalize the clinic and
replenish needed supplies," and when I was looking at the, um .... uh, criteria for
the grants, uh, I noticed that funding requests for operational costs are not covered
by the grant. So .... that, it puzzles me, you know, uh.... needed supplies sounds
like operational funds to me. That said, I'm not gonna question it. I just observed
that. So maybe the Commission can come to us with questions that we need to
answer.
Cole: I would agree, Jim.
Teague: I wanna also say there might be some things that we have that we could offer to
the Commission, or even discuss amongst ourselves. One of the things that I
noticed, and I ... this is what, um, Rockne talked about, uh, the ... many of the
organizations are not -for -profit. They've been granted funds before. When I look
at some of the organizations that, um, applied, one of the things that I've noticed,
um, is that some of these organizations actually don't have, uh, routine funding
sources. Um, whereas they don't have a service where they can get, uh, like grant
from something, or it's not a service (mumbled) that they can get funding for, and
so that, you know, for me would, um, just let me know that there might be some
things that Councilors might want to, you know, just throw out there, um, about,
you know, what can potentially be some of the criteria for selectin' some of these
individuals.
Throgmorton: (mumbled) do that later on, after (several talking)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of February 19, 2019.
Page 27
Cole: ...later on, and I think to Susan's point, you know, in terms of further discussions,
I think it'd be fun to have a, um, an Orville Townsend -type conversation that we'd
had with the Community Police Review Board. If they select a couple of their
members and come to us, and have that sort of same collaborative process, so
there's a little bit of real-time feedback, to the extent people are interested. I felt
that went really well and um, you know, we're gonna... agenda item 16, gonna
discuss one of the improvements made with other community members, so that'd
be my suggestion.
Throgmorton: That makes sense to me! Okay, any other questions for Stefanie? Thank you so
much! Okay, anybody else want to address this topic? Okay, uh, seeing no one
else, so uh, how bout Council discussion? All right, we already had it. Okay,
so .... all right. Roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. Um, Salih recusing herself.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of February 19, 2019.
Agenda Item 5c
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Do you know a student who has:
Given back to the community in an impactfuIway?
Created an initiative that had a local or global impact?
Volunteers their time to help others?
Nominate them for a 2019 Youth Human Rights Award!
Nominations Close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, 2019.
Late nominations will not be considered.
To nominate, go to www.icgov.org/humanrightsyouthawards
Nominations will be considered for work that has taken place since June 2018.
Recipients will be honored at the Youth Awards Program at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8, at the EngIertTheatre, 221 E. Wash. St.
Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton will deliver brief remarks. Each awardee will be presented with a certificate forth eIrwork.
For more information, contact Equity Director Stefanie Bowers at 319-356-5022,
or email stefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org.
CITY OF IOW/ CITY
UNESCO CITY OF LITERATURE
March Correspondence
April 20, 2019
Grand Entry 1 pm & 7pm
Doors open at 1 lam
UI Field House
225 South Grand Avenue
Iowa City, Iowa
Dance Specials, s,
American Indian
Arts & Crafts, and
Food Vendors, NASA
Graduation Recognition
a
FREEADMISSION'."'�r.
ALL ARE WELCE!
Q
MORE INFOR N
powwowiowa,.eLclu
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all 4
University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person
with a disability who requires a reasonable
accommodation in orderto participate in this program, ,
please contact NASA in advance at 319-335-8298.
y, F NASA
�� _ D _ 1 . NAIJDFN AM RATI N
IA
COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
The Community Police Review Board will be holding a Community
Forum for the purpose of hearing views on the policies, practices
and procedures of the Iowa City Police Department.
Meet Iowa City's first female Captain
Denise Brotherton
QUESTIONS & COMMENTS:
Send your questions or comments you'd like addressed at the
forum to the following by Monday, April 15, 2019:
Please include full name and address. (All correspondence is public)
L81=1 3
City of Iowa City
410 E Washington St, 52240
DATE
Or e-mail to CPRB staff:
christine-olney@iowa-city.org
6:00 p.m.
The following documents were handed
out during the meeting.
S.
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SPONSORED BY:
ALEXANDER ELEMENTARY PTO, BICYCLISTS OF IOWA CITY, ICPL, MIOWESTONE, THINK BICYCLES,
SOUTH DISTRICT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, STATE FARM-BOYD MURRAY, & UI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
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fhinkbicycles.org
IKE RODEO &
BOOKMOBILE
THURSDAY, APRIL 18TH
3:30PM - 5:30PM
WEATHER MAKE-UP MAY 2
ALEXANDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
3571 SYCAMORE ST.
IOWA CITY, IA. 52240
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For more information:
Southdistrictneighborhood@gmaii.com
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