Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-08-16 TranscriptionPage 1 Council Present: Staff Present: Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas, Weiner Fruin, Jones, Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling, Platz, Knoche, Havel, Hightshoe, Kubly Others Present: Miglin (USG Liasion), Ziemet (Alternate) Regular Formal Meeting, August 16, 2022 — 6:00 PM Teague: It is now 6:00 PM on August 16th, 2022 and this is the City of Iowa City formal meeting. And we're gonna open it up with roll call please. [Roll Call] 2. Special Presentations 2.a. Monkeypox Update — Johnson County Public Health Teague: All right, I want to welcome everyone to your City Hall, um, and we're gonna start with our first our second agenda item, which is a spes- special presentation 2.a. is Monkeypox Update, and this will be, um, given by Johnson County Public Health, Sam Jarvis. Welcome. Jarvis: Good evening to the City of Iowa City Council. And as always, I appreciate the opportunity to provide updates. Talking about a different disease tonight. But as always, um, it's wonderful to be able to share information with our community. So thank you. Uh, we can imagine that uh, throughout the past several weeks, um, from what we've seen in the local, state, and even national news that there's probably a lot of questions and concerns about monkeypox and what is going on in the state of Iowa and within Johnson County. They know that uh, as of I believe mid July, we had released, uh, that we had identified our first case locally here. So, happy to provide updates. Uh, but I do you wanna cover just a few kind of uh, foundational uh, information about monkeypox and really what that is just to help, uh, clarify the situation that we're in so- so as not to conflate or confuse with COVID-19 because we've been talking about that for so very long. Uh, for the most part, monkeypox is a rare disease and- and many have probably heard uh, by now that it causes a pretty characteristic rash. Uh, and that is a virus that is similar to the smallpox uh virus family, but, uh, notably that it is typically less severe. And so that's good news to hear. And certainly it is, uh, a different mode of transmission than what we've been talking about with COVID-19 and being more of a respiratory and airborne virus. But really uh, due to a person being ill, developing, uh, that characteristic rash and it's certainly the -the close uh, skin to skin contact that typically, uh, occurs with transmission. So uh, I do you want to uh, lay that down as the baseline foundation just for, uh, everyone's awareness so we can distinguish this from other- other viruses. But overall, uh, across the state, I believe that there is still less than 20 cases within Iowa, and so that we know that, uh, there are other larger cities that are experiencing, uh, a little bit more of a severe outbreak, uh, some within hundreds and thousands of cases, uh, across their community. Uh, I believe as of this week the US has reported roughly about 10,000 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 2 plus cases so far. So, uh, we do continue to see this transmit. So at this point in time, one of our best tools is to raise awareness about this and spread the information, uh, so that folks can make an informed decision and so that they can know that uh, should they be exposed or should they have questions or concerns, one to reach out to their health care provider or local health departments so that they can discuss those circumstances or situations and then certainly, uh, look to link folks too, uh, quick, uh, readily available testing, which is one of the key pieces on our part, uh, for disease investigations. It is a similar process that we've talked about with COVID-19, where a person presents ill, they go to their health care provider or get tested at a clinic or otherwise and those reports uh, get- or those test results get reported to the state and local public health, where we do our portion of the investigation and contact tracing. And so that process will very much be very similar to what folks are familiar with. Uh, but certainly uh, we recognize that there are some nuances and differences between um, this virus or any other communical disease that our staff, uh, diligently follow up on. The other portion to note is, uh, the states vaccine strategy that we're, uh, continuing to learn about as this rapidly changes so that we can be responsive as- as possible. And so as we've seen, uh, the federal government, uh, declare a public health emergency and begin to put those um, support mo- pieces in motion. We continue to see the JYNNEOS vaccine be, uh, distributed across the nation, across the state. And through our wonderful partnership with Linn County Public Health, we were able to this past weekend to support their, uh, collective mission to vaccinate folks who are at high risk. And so as time goes on, we hope to continue to receive more vaccine, uh, in partnership with Linn County as our regional depot. Um, there are five sites across the state that have been selected. Uh, and I believe we've heard that that's by federal design at this point. Uh, we hope to learn more and that we're, uh, site ourselves in the future. But can imagine that much of this is due to, uh, supply of the vaccine at the moment. So the JYNNEOS vaccine, uh, is for smallpox and monkeypox. It is a two dose series. Uh, two doses are required. Uh, and certainly, uh, many folks are familiar with that process as well too. So we're continuing to, uh, share an interest form for folks who- who are at high risk. Uh, specifically try to promote that with our partners so that we can begin gaining interest. Uh, so we need planning estimates essentially, uh, so that we can plan clinics going forward. Uh, we hope to be able to expand access with other health care partners as well too. But as always, time will tell and we're really waiting to hear more about the- the supply of vaccine. I believe that covers most of the things I did want to mention, uh, uh, as priority. But other than I'm happy to answer any questions. I must have cover everything really well. Harmsen: Just real quick question. Um, do you foresee, especially once we, uh, know about the vaccine, uh, availability, uh, any sort of a public information push or anything like that. I know that's, uh -. Jarvis: Yes, that's absolutely. Right now the state is within the- what they're referring to as PEP++ or post -exposure prophylaxis plus strategy. Where it really identifies those at high risk are those who are in circumstances that they are likely at high risk, uh, for vaccination. And so it does limit eligibility at this point and it does distinguish it from pre -exposure prophylaxis where, um, the majority of members of the public who might This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 3 have interests would be eligible. So as soon as that changes, we will be absolutely sharing that information. We also hope that's a situation where, uh, there are a lot more providers to provide vaccine access too. We know, especially from going through many tiers and criteria for COVID-19 vaccine eligibility that, uh, folks have varying schedules, work -life schedules, travel, etc. So we really do want to be sure that we're, uh, meeting folks as best as possible. Harmsen: Thank you. Teague: Thank you so much. All right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 4 3-8 Consent Calendar Teague: We are at our -our consent calendars. Our Calendar items are three through eight. Can I get a motion to approve the consent calendar, please? Taylor: So moved Taylor. Weiner: Second Weiner. Teague: Moved by Taylor, seconded by Weiner. Would anyone like to, um, make public comment on any of our consent agenda items? Teague: No. Yeah. We'll get to that. yeah. But thank you for that- that question. Welcome. Petersen: Hello. Uh, my name is Noah. Um, see which item exactly it is I'm speaking on just so you know. Oh, yes. Uh, 6.e, the Police Department fees for records and false alarms. So I'm just going to ask that you -all, um, amend this so that you like make the fees so it's - you only charge public for information that should be public, um, for if the request takes not- not the half-hour, but like an actually a substantial amount of time like, I don't know, 50 hours, 40 hours. Like something like an actual- like something that could cause burd- like a burdensome even like some people requesting public information if they're requesting how many hours, that that doesn't necessarily mean they're trying to like, cause burdensome problems, but like it's more reasonable than the half-hour. So it gives you like a window period where this information is public, legally like public information. But currently to make that information public, people have to pay large amounts of money. I've been given various uh, sums, not necessarily from Iowa City but from other places as well. I've been like asked for six thousand dollars for public information, which is ridiculous when you- when governments choose to hide to paywall information that should be public behind. Some- somebody I cannot afford, like that kind of thing, just for information that should be public. And the people and I'd recently asked for requests to the Police Department. That's probably going to be maybe 40- I don't know how many hours. I just requested it right before this meeting, so I don't know, but it's going to be several hours, but it is information that should be pub -public information. I'm not trying to cause burden on the police department. I want this information to be public. And currently I'm- I'm assuming I'm going to be asked to pay a large amount of money that I should not have to, I can't frankly, afford to pay, because I have rent, I have you know, other that I'm working plus, I don't have money. And so this is saying that only wealthy people get to have information that should be public to everybody. So I'm just asking you all to reconsider the amount of- like effort, not just the half hour- because the current is- changing into a half-hour. That's- that means anything after a half-hour, you either charge, I can't remember the exact what it is like 20 something an hour. If I- so when you asked for- just- please change that. Teague: Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 5 Petersen: Thanks. Teague: Would anyone else like to address an item that is on our consent agenda? And seeing no one online raise their hand, we're gonna move towards council comments. Weiner: Mayor I was just looking at, um, at 6.e it does not appear to address things like public records requests. It's very, very limited. Um, I don't- I don't think that the- that the fees in here are of concern. That's separate, I think from for requests. Teague: Any other comments? Roll Call please. [Roll Call] Motion passes 7-0, we're at item number 9, which is Community Comment. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 6 9. Community Comment (items not on the agenda) [UNTIL 7 PM] Teague: This is a time for any item that is not listed on our agenda. [NOISE] So if there is an item listed on the agenda, we'll have public comment when we present that item. All right. We, uh, ask that you give your name, and, um, uh, state your city, there's a sign -in here. There are also sign -ins at the back. If you're online, we're gonna ask that you raise your hand. Um, I wanna just get a count of how many people wanna speak during this time. Okay. We're gonna allow three minutes. Welcome. Miller: Thank you. My name is Deb Scott Miller and I live on Rochester Court in Iowa City and I'm here to talk about the Rochester Avenue reconstruction project. All of you on the council except for Mr. Harmsen and Ms. Alter were here on January 21st, 2020, when a group of neighbors on Rochester Court gave a presentation to the Council about the city's plans to build a sidewalk and retaining wall on the south side of Rochester street. After our presentation, and for a number of reasons, including the unique topography of Rochester Avenue embankment and the threat to our many mature overhanging trees, the Council voted unanimously against the proposed sidewalk. The Council resolution did not mention a retaining wall because everybody in the room at that time knew that, uh, retaining wall was only necessary if the sidewalk was built. We learned by accident a couple of weeks ago that the city engineer's are now operating with a new plan that essentially does everything the unanimous council vote told them not to do. It has a five - and -a -half foot -wide pseudo -sidewalk, with a retaining wall from 2-6 feet high along almost the whole distance, about a quarter of a mile from Rochester Court to Ashwood. As one of the engineers told us, "The Council said we couldn't build a sidewalk, they didn't tell us that we couldn't build a retaining wall." When we asked the engineer how a five -and -a -half fo-foot-wide concrete slab wasn't a sidewalk, he replied that it wasn't a sidewalk because it stopped just short of connecting with Rochester Court on one end, and Ashwood on the other end. Are you okay with this? In the two -and -a -half years, si- since the council meeting, there had been no presentations by the city to the neighborhood about this new plan, and no opportunities for comment. It feels very secretive and is non -transparent, and it doesn't feel like responsive government at all. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Jones: Hi. Teague: Hello Jones: My name is Nancy Jones. Um, I live in Iowa City. We have seen changing requirements and rationales for the work on Rochester Avenue. In 2020, the city engineers told us the sidewalk was required by the complete streets plan. Now, the engineers tell us the pseudo -sidewalk and the retaining wall are required because of uniform design standards, even though the engineers never brought up such standards in any previous neighborhood meeting, nor did they cite these standards to push back on the 2020 council decision. In a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 7 recent email, a city official said the retaining wall is required because "state uniform design standards call for a three -to -one slope design." We wanted to check the accuracy of that. We lat asked a local civil engineer to examine the topography and proposed retaining wall. He told us that in fact, there is no such uniform slope requirement applicable to this project, given that the existing ba- embankment has been there for decades, is stable and fully vegetated. Further, he told us contractors need only a 4-5 foot workspace beyond the curb to expand an existing roadway. He said the contractors could make this workspace without requiring a concrete slab or retaining wall. In other words, the necessary work could be accomplished with very little disruption to the existing topography, landscaping and trees. We understand that city councilors and administrators try to support their engineers. Indeed, my husband and I both lead teams at the University, and we understand the importance of leaders supporting their staff. However, there is much about this proposed project that is troubling and open to question. We think there is room and time for debate because once the project on the bank is started, there is no way to undo the damage it will cause. Are the sidewalk and retaining wall required and necessary? This is an objective question and we have time to get an answer, though not much time. Work along our properties is scheduled to begin very soon. And as many as 20 trees may come down this fall. We hope you will choose to turn your attention quickly to these matters, and we have a proposal, Mayor Teague and Councilors, that we believe makes sense. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Hovland: Thank you. My name is Michael Hovland and I live here in Iowa city. Given the troubling nature of the proposed work on Rochester, we asked the Council to direct the Engineering Department to engage one civil engineer from each of two different firms in Cedar Rapids who do not work with Iowa City, to answer one simple question. Rochester Avenue is to be widened only 18 inches to the south. Eighteen inches. [NOISE] Can the contractors find an adequate workspace to expand the road 18 inches with no concrete slab, no retaining wall, and very little disruption to existing trees? Local engineers have told us such an assessment would cost about 6 to $8,000 in total, a fraction of the cost of the proposed work, which was estimated by city engineers in 2020 at well over $300,000. This issue was a political rather than a legal matter, which is why we came to the Council in the first place. The proposed work with- is within the city right-of-way. The city can do whatever it wants, whether sensible or ill-advised. However, just because the city can do something, does not mean that it should. There is room here for judgment and common sense. Nothing has changed since the unanimous council vote in 2020. If the project was too expensive then, it's too expensive now. If a sidewalk and retaining wall were unnecessary then, they are unnecessary now. If the destruction of trees was unacceptable then, it is unacceptable now. A five -and -a -half foot -wide concrete slab for almost a quarter mile in a retaining wall up to six -feet high to widen the road 18 inches? The math just doesn't add up. Get a second opinion, and you'll fmd that neither is required nor necessary. If I were in your position, I would want to know how this has come to pass, and how it can be remedied. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 8 Teague: Thank you. [NOISE] Welcome. Please state your name and your city. Fishbaugh: Hello. My name is Jill Fishbaugh. I live in Iowa City. There are discrepancies in the way people are counted at the Robert A. Lee Pool. We sent you a letter on August 8th outlining the hundreds of users who are being omitted in the counts. In the latest master plan regarding indoor pool use released last week, it appears the report equates lap swimming to pool use. [NOISE] And while lap swimming is an important part of RAL pool use, it's only one part of the pool's use, and a lot of activity is largely being ignored. Parks and Rec don't have an accurate way to record how many people use the RAL pool. So staff watched security camera footage at several one hour intervals to count people, but we have recently learned at the Parks and Rec Commission meeting that the cameras don't capture the entire pool. Think about that. They can't see the entire pool, but this is the method they are using to count people. For example, on June 6th at 8:15 AM, they record three in the condition of the pools report lap lane chart. I happened to be at Robert A. Lee Pool on June 6th at 8:15 AM. It's when I happened to take the photo for my Save the Robert A. Lee Pool poster, which clearly shows more than three people in the pool, there's actually 23 people in the pool. It- the users aren't being captured and there's no way to know how many users are using the pool at that time in the Condition of the Pools report. This method of counting users is misleading and this incomplete data is being used as rationale to close a pool that the community uses and highly values. I would urge you to think carefully about what you consider to be pool use. I am speaking on behalf of the Friends of Save the Robert A. Lee Pool, which consists of 600 Iowa Citians who have signed onto our letter and signed petitions in support of our work to save the Robert A. Lee Pool. We hope you will listen to our voices and continue to fund this important public facility. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Kretkowski: Thank you. My name's Amy Kretkowski and I'm from Iowa City and I'm here also to express my support for keeping the Robert A. Lee Pool open and also for rejecting the recommended design- the recommended redesign of the City Park Pool. I sent a letter to the City Council outlining some of the inconsistencies in the recommendation versus what's in the report. I have hard copies. I sent that on August 12th on Friday. I've got hard copies here that if I can hand to you. I just want to make sure that you all have them. Um, and so this was written on behalf of nine signatories and we now have- there's a change to this letter. It started out with, at that point we had nearly 400, now, we have well over 400 moving into 500, ah, people who want to keep the current design, character, aesthetic, and footprint of the existing City Park Pool. The City Park Pool is an absolute classic. It was built after World War II, came out of a tragedy, actually of a young boy, ah, drowning in City Park, in the lower City Park area that had flooded because he didn't know how to swim and so the Daily Iowan sort of took up the cause to promote this and to get the City Council to pay to build a pool. And the City Council agreed, and they put a- they did a bond issue was put on the ballot. It passed. It cost back then a $130,000 to build the City Park Pool, in today's dollars, that's over one -and -a -half million dollars. Um, the pool draws visitors from all over. Ah, just a couple of weeks ago, I met a guy This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 9 named Jeff. His grandfather was Max Hawkins, who was one of the original City Council members who voted to- to- to build this pool and he lives up in northern Iowa. He comes down here every summer to swim at what he thinks is his family's pool. I met a woman just this weekend who lives in Missouri. She has a place in North Liberty. She comes here every summer to swim at the pool because her parents had their first date there in 1951. So there's tons of stories like this about City Park Pool. This pool is a huge part of Iowa City's history, means so much to so- very many people. Please, please, repair it, maintain it, add onto it if you like, but don't turn it into a water park, please. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. [APPLAUSE] Welcome. State your name and your city. Purdy: My name is Joseph Purdy, Iowa City. I've been here since 1978. I'm here under trespassing order. I'm expecting to get arrested at any moment. I don't understand this. I have an apprentice that I knew from 1978 and we decided to try the farmers market once again. I was in violently assaulted at the farmers market and I asked for police protection. I asked to be moved closer to the police department and they said, well, since your apprentice is who he is, you'll have that. And the next week I didn't know about it, but they moved me to 86 and that's the farthest away from the police department. So I was misbehaving the next week because I didn't want to get beat up. I'm a- I'm a- I'm a peace activist. I believe in nonviolence. Martin Luther King has a great code, ah, nonviolence or nonexistence, we all have to have a conversation about things. So when I asked Geoff Fruin, can we talk about the emails that you sent me? Why are you- why are you putting an order of no trespass on civic property? Today, you signed the order for me to be arrested if I come to the City meeting, this is unacceptable. Can I talk, is it okay, Geoff? I'd like my civil rights back, please and I would like to be back in the farmers market and I would like to be closer to the police department. I can forget everything else, but let's just stop this. I want to have a conversation. I don't want to talk to armed police officers who are also being sent to my grandmother's house in Williamsburg, my mom's house in Williamsburg. You sent a deputy to my mom's house in Williamsburg. My mom has a pain pump her side and if she falls over and that pain pump, that's it. I'm not there to give epsom salts to her to- to- to save her from the overdose of morphine going to her legs, but- but yet she has to answer the door for a deputy. [OVERLAPPING] Teague: Thank you. Purdy: People, I'm looking out for everybody's rights here. Teague: Please, speak into the mic, and to the Council. Thank you. Okay. Would anyone else like to address this topic or any topic that is not on our agenda? Seeing no one. We're going to move to- um, before we move on, can I get a motion to accept correspondence? Weiner: So moved. Taylor: Second, Taylor. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 10 Teague: Moved by Weiner, seconded by Taylor. All in favor say aye. Teague: Any opposed? Motion passes 7 to 0. Was there another item just submitted. Fruehling: Is this is the same as theirs or is it different? Fishbaugh: It's the same. It's still- it's just a printed copy of the letter from August. Teague: Okay. It was another- okay. It's the same thing. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 11 11. Sale of 724 Ronalds St. — Resolution authorizing conveyance of property at 724 Ronalds Street. Teague: We're on to item Number 11, which is sell of 724 Ronalds Street. This is a resolution authorizing conveyance of the property at 724 Ronalds Street. And I'm gonna open the public hearing and we're gonna welcome our staff, Tracy Hightshoe. Hightshoe: Hi, I'm Ms. Tracy Hightshoe, Neighborhood and Development Services Director. Um, we're gonna continue the conversation we had about 724 Ronalds that we started at the last work session. As you recall, we've owned the property since 2016. We purchased the process- property due to- um, we're looking at doing a missing middle housing demonstration that incorporates some type of affordable housing. Um, we purchased the property due to a history of nuisance and deferred maintenance and different issues we're having with the property. We've demolished that, so now it is, uh, an empty lot. Recently the housing- the Housing Fellowship submitted a purchase offer for this property in order to create a partnership with the Iowa City Community School District and the Home Builders Association for a student -built house. The program provides an opportunity for students to get experience and exposure to the- the construction trades and will build up, up to two homes that will provide affordable housing. The lot is 80x150, so due to zoning and alley that's in the back of the lot, it's possible to split the lot into two homes for single-family homes. Um, it is hoped that they'll build the first one in the '23-'24 school year and then if you can build that second lot, it'd be for the following year. Simon Andrew, The Housing Fellowship's Director went to the last Historic Preservation Commission meeting to answer questions. They plan to have a Good Neighbor meeting um, with the Northside neighbors at before they submit for a certificate of appropriateness and a building permit through the Historic Preservation Commission. Um, in your next item, they have requested grant funds for the lot acquisition. The lot would be there in their inventory. They are a community housing development organization which we call a CHODO. That means they're recognized by HUD as they're mission was to- to provide affordable housing to income qualified home- to people so that it'd be permanently in their uh, inventory. Our agreement will specify that it has to be used for affordable housing for 10 years um, because we have to provide a- uh, a number of year benefit um, and then it is written- the agreement is written that if the project doesn't proceed, if a memorandum of understanding does not entered with the School District and the Home Builders, and a house is not built then they have to repay the funds and the land is conveyed back to us. And then I'm here um, both GT Karr Homebuilders and Simon Andrew from Housing Fellowship are also here for- to answer any questions that you might have. Alter: Can I ask for a point of clarification. The agreement is from the City's perspective, 10 years for value. However, with the Housing Fellowship, it will be permanent because it will stay, I know you said inventory. I'm [OVERLAPPING] thinking of it just like portfolio. It's- it's part of their- Hightshoe: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 12 Alter: Okay. Thank you. Teague: Any other questions for staff or any of their partners? Thank you. Harmsen: No questions. Just a thank you to all the people that have worked together to make this uh, come before us, so. Taylor: I agree. Everything about this is positive including, you know, they're being able to uh, work with the school district for children to learn building trades. It's great. Teague: Yeah, and we'll get to council deliberations soon. Thank you. All right. Wo- wo- would anyone from the public like to address this topic? And no one online raised their hand. Seeing no one. I'm gonna close the public hearing. [NOISE] Can I get a motion to approve, please? Weiner: So moved. Taylor: Second, Taylor. Teague: Moved by Weiner and seconded by Taylor. Council discussion. Weiner: Yeah, it's a great- it's a great project. Um, and I really hope that it- that it comes to fruition so- in so many ways, affordable housing, getting the students involved, having the community see students involved in this, getting- getting- getting a pathway into the trees which are so just desperately needed, a whole variety of positives. Bergus: Well said. Thank you. I agree. Teague: Yeah, well said. Alter: I think it's worth noting as well that um, the Affordable Housing Coalition of Johnson County, uh, the Executive Director also provided us with a thank you um, precisely for those benefits. I know that this is not when the City bought this property, it wasn't necessarily the intention um, but I think that the benefits and the multiple ways um, that this layers um, things to benefit the community and in particular, in an area that um, desperately wants to figure out some solutions for affordable housing, the fact that there is permanent housing urn, planned to go in as- uh, permanent affordable housing is fantastic. Teague: All right. Roll Call, please. [Roll call]. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 13 12. The Housing Fellowship Grant Agreement — Resolution approving a $75,400 funding request from The Housing Fellowship to acquire 724 Ronalds Street for affordable housing. Teague: Item Number 12 is the fu- Housing Fellowship Grant Agreement resolution approving $75,400 funding request from The Housing Fellowship to acquire 724 Ronalds Street for affordable housing. Can I get a motion to approve, please. Bergus: So moved, Bergus. Alter: Second, Alter. Teague: All right. And anymore staff comments? I- I think we understand. Uh, anyone from the public like to address this topic? I'm seeing no one in person or online. Roll call please. [Roll call] Goers: Bergus. Bergus: Yeah. Teague: I'm sorry. Teague: Council discussion. Did I say that? Weiner: You know, and I- I just wanted to add what briefly that- that it I'm very happy that the - the head of the Housing Fellowship um, went to the Historic Preservation Commission to start that conversation as well. Teague: Any other uh, council comments? Roll call, please? [Roll call] Teague: Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 14 14. FY21 Annual Action Plan Amendment — Resolution approving Substantial Amendment #1 to Iowa City's FY21 Annual Action Plan and allocations of HOME - ARP funds. Teague: Item Number 14 is fiscal year 21, Annual Action Plan Amendment. This is a resolution approving Substantial Amendment #1 to the Iowa City's Fiscal Year 21 Annual Action Plan and allocations of HOME -ARP funds. And can I get a motion to approve, please? Bergus: So moved, Bergus. Weiner: Second, Weiner. Teague: All right. And welcome Erika Kubly Kubly: Hi. Erika Kubly with Neighborhood Services. Iowa City re- received $1,789,981 in HOME -ARP funding through the American Rescue Plan Act to provide housing services and shelter to individuals experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations. In order to receive this funding from HUD, we are required to develop and submit a HOME - ARP allocation plan which outlines housing needs and how we will spend the HOME - ARP funds to address those needs. Eligible activities that may be funded with HOME - ARP include development and support of affordable housing, tenant base rental assistance, ah, provision of supportive services, and acquisition or development of non - congregate shelter units, which would be private individual rooms rather than congregate shelter. HOME -ARP beneficiaries must be part of a qualifying population, which are those experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human- human trafficking, um, and other populations with high risk of housing instability, such as high cost, highly cost burden, low-income households, households who have moved two or more times in the last 60 days, and households living in a hotel. Um, compared to our regular home funding, we're- where we're looking at, uh, beneficiaries' income specifically to determine their eligibility, um, the HOME -ARP program is based on these qualifying populations that were just mentioned. So our first step to the allocation plan process was consultation with homeless and domestic violence shelter service providers, veterans groups, um, our public housing agency, the local Continuum of Care and other organizations that address the needs of qualifying populations. For this process, we got feedback from the Local Homeless Coordinating Board whose membership hits just about all of those providers. We distributed an electronic surveyed agencies and organizations that address the needs of the qualifying populations, and had one-on-one meetings with a number of organizations. Next, we conducted a needs assessment and gap analysis using HUD data and data from our local agencies to identify current resources and gaps within the current service delivery system and use that information to prioritize needs of the qualifying populations for the use of the funds. Um, some of the things that were identified were emergency shelter for families with children and families from- fleeing domestic violence. Additional options for homeless youth. Um, there's a gap in permanent supportive housing for all populations, but particularly family housing, assistance for cost This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 15 burden renters who are at risk of instability. Uh where we have some opportunities for limited or onetime emergency assistance available in the community, this may not be enough to stabilize households long-term, and then various supportive services for the qualifying populations. Um, I mentioned we had, um, over 1.7 million available, we can use up to 15 percent of the funds for administrative costs, which is staffing to administer the program. Uh, the remaining funds, which are just over 1.5 million, were made available in a competitive funding round earlier this summer. We received four applications and they were scored to formulate a funding recommendation which is incorporated into the plan. We did a staff recommendation, took this to HCDC m July for a recommendation as well. Shelter House requested funds for supportive services to individuals and families m permanent supportive housing through single and scattered site locations. We are recommending the project be fully funded at $517,742. Iowa Legal Aid was recommended to receive $157,500 to provide ongoing legal services to increase housing stability. And then DVIP requested $750,000 for construction of their new non - congregate shelter that will serve victims of domestic violence. Five hundred thousand was recommended for this project, and we had previously committed $425,000 in FY23 CDBG funds for this project as well. United Action for Youth was our fourth applicant and they are applying to expand their transitional living program for youth experiencing homelessness. Staff initially awarded this application 30,000, which is half of their request. However, HCDC recommended that they receive 45,000 and staff is agreeable to that revision. So that's what we're presenting today. Uh, we have about 300,000 m unallocated funds because as we're going through our funding process, we learned that the state will also have HOME -ARP funds available, but they are likely going to require that those- that projects receive local HOME -ARP funds first, and then the state would supplement those funds. After speaking with agencies interested in state funding, we decided to set aside this amount of funding to ensure that we can leverage those state funds. Uh, once we learn more about the state's process, we can proceed with allocating those remaining dollars. So we're currently in our public comment period for the allocation plan which began on July 21st. Um, to my knowledge, we have not received any comments on the plan to date. HCDC recommended approval of the plan at their July 28th meeting and our next steps would be to submit the allocation plan to HUD as an attachment to our FY21, um, annual action plan. Thank you. Teague: All right. Thank you. Any questions? Bergus: Um, Erika, how soon do you expect or do you know when the state may have its program, sort of, rolled out? Kubly: I believe they were thinking this winter, they would roll it out. Bergus: Okay. Thank you. Alter: And will that go through HCDC as well or is that through staff? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 16 Kubly: Um, if we do another competitive funding round, we would take that through HCDC again Alter: Okay. Teague: Thank you. All right. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? Welcome, please state your name and city. Petersen: Hello, my name is Noah. Um, so as you all should be familiar with, um, last year during the winter, um, the emergency winter shelter was not open until, like, a week or two into January, and we had the winter derecho happen on December 14th or 15th, I can't remember the exact date. And you all should be familiar with it. Well, Sean and, uh, Megan, you would maybe- assuming you are, but the rest of you were on Council as I filibustered this meeting mostly- at that meeting mostly because the winter derecho was coming and there was no- there was no shelter for many of the houseless people in this community. So I want to know what the hell is the City going to do to make sure that never- this doesn't happen, that is unacceptable. If that happens again this year, that'd be three years in a row that we've gone weeks into winter and there has been no emergency shelter for people. So what is the City going to do to make sure that does not happen again this winter? And you can answer under state code because this is relevent to this agenda item so you can answer. Teague: This is an opportunity for you to speak to Council. Petersen: Yes. And you can answer my questions about what the City is going to do to make sure people have shelter. Because last winter you forced people to live outside because you chose to not act and provide shelter for people. So I want to know what are you going to do this year so that doesn't happen again? And you can answer my question, state code allows you to answer that question because that is about this agenda item. So you not answering our question is you choosing to ignore state code. [NOISE] You're just choosing to pretty much say that you're going to force the houseless community to be outside in the winter once again because you're not gonna do anything about it, because you won't answer my questions now, is that- that's not acce- acceptable at all. Are you going to let it go on three years running now? The Shelter House keeps dropping the ball and is apparently incapable of properly running the shelter. Because, I mean, we were into January, weeks, and weeks into winter, and there was no shelter available to those people. The shelter house has- they're full- the- they can only accept so many people when there's no other shelter for people available, that means people are forced to live outside, and when you don't act, that means people are forced to live outside through your action of inaction. And that's not acceptable, and you're choosing to be silent on this, not address it when you can address it. I really wish you would address it. I- I- it just makes me so mad what you do to my friends. I- I don't- if I had the means, I really wish I could, but I- I barely can like afford, housing for myself. You have the means and ability, the power to do somethng, please do something about it. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 17 Teague: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address this topic? Seeing, no one in person or online, council discussion. Roll Call, please, [Roll call] Teague: And Councilor Thomas, was that a yes? Thomas: Yes Teague: Okay. Thank you. Motion passes 7-0. Item number 15, with the masks sometimes, things are a little muffled. Thomas: I'm a little dry throat for some reason. Teague: Okay.Great. Goers: Yeah. I missheard it too, sorry about that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 18 15. Johnson County Direct Assistance Program — Resolution authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an amendment to the State and Local Fioscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) grant agreement with Johnson County to provide additional funding to administer the Direct Assistance program targeting Iowa City residents who experienced a negative economic impact caused by the COVED -19 pandemic. Teague: Item number 15 is Johnson County Direct Assistance Program. This is a resolution authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an amendment to the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund grant agreement with Johnson County to provide additional funding to administer the Direct Assistance program targeting Iowa City residents who experienced a negative economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. And could I get a motion to approve. Taylor: So moved Taylor. Alter: Second Alter. Teague: All right. And there was a correspondence in our information packet. The Council had this discussion earlier today, but for those that weren't here, I'll kind of give a recap of where we are with this item. So the County- the Johnson County Supervisors and I met last Tuesday just to talk about the Johnson County Direct Assistance Program. And at this point, the County has said to Iowa City, there are 319 remaining and this council can fund 319 of Iowa City residents, kind of backfill them. This council had approached Johnson County with 50 percent kind of agreements between us where Iowa City will give 50 percent and the County will give 50 percent. But that wasn't accepted. And so at this point, we are looking at either funding 50 percent, if that's the will of the council or looking at the recommendation of 100 percent. If we fund it at 100 percent, that will be a total of $456,032.83, 319 individuals times $1,400 checks each would equal $446,600 and the fees for check processing would be $9,432.83. So at this time we're going to open this up to the public and then after which the council will be able to have their deliberations. Welcome. Please state your name and your number- please state your name and your- and where you live sorry about that. Campos (via translator): Hello. Good evening. Ninoska Campos, Escucha Mi Voz. Today Iowa City agreed to fully fund the last 319 people waiting. Those waiting for their check from the Johnson County Direct Assistance Program. This is a victory for community organizing. We applaud and thank Iowa City and Johnson County for modeling a good government that puts people and the common good first . We call on the City and the County to immediately process the final relief checks so the last 319 people negatively - negatively impacted can receive their household stabilization payment as soon as possible. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 19 Poses: Okay. My name is Daniela Poses and I'm here not only representing these lovely folks, but also representing my mom Justilla Poses. We live over- live over in Iowa City and in Johnson County. Again, I am here to support the 319 people that your know they did not get the stimulus check for the pandemic. I'm very thankful for- for your guy's help and for their help as well, that we are able to get this amount of money. And sorry I just think that you guys opened your ears and fmally saw the wrong and managed to fix it. So thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Rosales (via translator) : Good afternoon. My name is Nancy Rosales. I live on the- in the trailers off Scott Boulevard . I'm one of the 319 people that was affected . I'm here to thank the City for taking the appropriate measures for the last 319 people. Because as you know, we need this money as well. I'll be using this money to buy different things, bottles and about to have a baby so things for the baby. We're here to thank the City and the County for supporting us in this fight . Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Garcia (via translator): Hi Good afternoon. My name is Brisney Garcia. I live in the Scott Boulevard trailers. I'm here to thank the City, um, for finding a solution to this problem. It's been a week where we've been trying to talk to you and vice versa, and we're just thankful that you've responded. I'm one of the people that wasn't benefited from the check as well as my husband. The truth is this money is going to be very helpful. I have two children. One of them goes to Hoover. This is going to help a lot, especially since my son's entering school, I can buy school supplies. It will also help with paying some bills. I want to thank you, thank God, Escucha Mi Voz for making this happen. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Rivas (via translator) Good afternoon- good evening. My name is Santo Rivas. Uh, it's a great honor to be here in front of you all. First, I thank you all for what you're doing for the 319 people who were left out from the direct uh, checks. And- and I'm specifically um, I want to say from my part, this is going to help me a lot. I have three children.Um, I work here in Iowa City and I just want to thank you for the City- for supporting us on this.Thank you again for listening to part of the city, which is us. Uh, this is uh, great work on behalf of all of you uh, officials. Um, thank you so much and may God bless you and the City uh, for help supporting everyone that's a part of the City and the County. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic? Seeing no one, council discussion. Taylor: I uh, expressed my feelings uh, during the work session, so I'll kind of condense it now and -and- and just, um, say that I'm in favor of a resolution to do whatever it takes to fund those 319 individuals and that we need- we do need to do it as soon as possible. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 20 Teague: What I would say is um, I- I think uh, funding the- you know, the remaining 319 by using um, back filling the payments that the County made for City of Iowa City um, at this juncture does make 100 percent sense. Um, as we had our, um, conversation during our work session today, we um, one of our remaining ARPA funds that as for our entire community, we get 18.3 million dollars um, and as we were looking at um, kind of the overall request or the need within our community, a- a portion of the need in our community, um that 18.3 million was um, very small because the need was right at 35- 34 million dollars on what, kind of, has been identified so far. Um, so I'm going to certainly uh, fund you know the remaining 319 um, but I also will say to the Johnson County Supervisors and to any of the 11 or uh, there's 11 jurisdictions within Johnson County. I would say that any of you still have opportunity to be a part of this um, we are using our residents money to do this program. Um, as I just mentioned, the need in our community that we have for our ARPA funds is 34 million. Uh, Johnson County, we are a part of Iowa City, our residents are a part of Iowa City. I think there's no denying that. Uh, the lottery was held according to their agreement of our contract which Iowa City was funded, um, rightfully so. And we no longer want to keep the uh, individuals that need funds in limbo. So Iowa City, um, from what I understand my colleagues uh, earlier today, we said we're going to fund it 100 percent because we know people need this money. And I just ask uh, Johnson County and the 10 other jurisdictions in the county that you also have opportunities still to participate. Alter: As others have already indicated and as was actually talked about in the work session, the real focus was on those who were excluded and excluded again and again. And we want to say thank you for community activism, um, and for pointing out that ultimately, to be a whole community and county and city, we need to fund the 319 and Iowa City is willing to do it. I had hoped that we could end where we began which was collaboratively, and I do not want to dismiss the fact that the County and the City and Coralville, um, we worked together and a lot a lot of people got funded and that's fantastic. Um, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I was disappointed that the way in which this kind of, has unfolded since the program ended in July to now, um, has been something where uh, it's become a political football and that's not fair to those who needed the money. Um, but I am glad that ultimately we do have the funds that we can provide that um, money to them. And also that we recognize that though funds are you know, allotted, we went through a summary of where projects are, where we hope to have them, but there's fluidity to it. And so uh, I want to thank staff for the work that you've done, um, to allocate and to sort of, put those things forward for us, but also to recognize that we have the um, flexibility to be able to say that we need to use this money, some money in -in ways that we didn't actually um intend. So thank you very much uh, for staff and for those who have been working and uh, so I'll end there. Weiner: I will summarize what I- what I said earlier very briefly in saying this is overall a positive. I wish it hadn't taken this long. I wish it hadn't been this complicated. But the City and Johnson County have together accomplished something important and shown that- that- that all the people here matter. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 21 Teague: All right. So the, urn, I wanted to be clear on the roll call that we're going to be doing right now. And I'll give it over to our City Attorney, please. Goers: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So presently, you have before you a motion and a second for the resolution that was included in your packet as you are already well aware. The resolution uh, contains a blank as to how much money uh, the City would be contributing to the Direct Assistance Program. Um, I think if it is the will of the council to uh, contribute all the funds that are required to fund the remaining 319 eligible applicants who have yet to be funded, I would uh, suggest a council member making motion to amend the resolution to allow for $446,600 in direct assistance payments plus $9,432.83 in check processing fees for a contribution of up to $456,032.83, and that would be followed by a second and a voice vote. And then after that, assuming that motion is successful, you could have a roll call. Teague: Can I get a motion? Weiner: So moved. Taylor: Second. Teague: So moved by Weiner, seconded by- seconded by Taylor. And we can do a voice vote. All in favor? Goers: Yes. Teague: All in favor say aye. Aye [OVERLAPPING] Teague: Any oppose? Motion passes 7-0. We are on to roll call, please. [Roll Call] Teague: Motion passes 7-0. Could I get a motion to accept correspondence? Taylor: So moved Taylor. Bergus: Second Bergus. Teague: All in favor say aye. [Overlapping] Aye. Teague: Any oppose? Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 22 16. Removal of Commission Member — Motion to remove Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission member Amel Ali from the commission. Teague: We're on to item number 16, which is a removal of commission member. Can I get a motion? I'm sorry. Uh, this is a motion to remove Ad hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission member, Amel Ali from the commission. Can I get a motion to approve, please? Alter: So moved. Taylor: Second Taylor. Teague: Moved by Alter seconded by Taylor. All right. I'll give- I'll give uh, kind of a brief recap. I- I- we're well aware that this is a sensitive uh, topic. Um, so prior to the- uh, so prior to the council meeting on August 4th meeting, there were conversations uh, in the community and amongst um, the council about TRC member Amel Ali. Uh, they were surrounding a podcast that she participated in. Before this council meeting on April on August 4th, Amel said and I quote, I'm sorry- during our council meeting on August 4th Amel said and I quote, "My words and comments contained in the released recordings were wrong. They were ill considered, and most of all they were hurtful." Um, and then what I will say as prior to Amel comments at our council meeting, I had asked this council in our work session if there was an interest in meeting- in me putting it in an agenda item for the removal of Amel Ali on our next regular council meeting, which will be on August 16t. This council signaled significant interest. I'm gonna fast forward to where I called a special meeting that took place on August 6th. I called the special meeting because Amel stated to council during our August 4th meeting, um, and I quote, um, "Despite the call by the Mayor and others to have me resign, I can't walk away and turn my back on the trust, hope, and responsibilities entrusted to all of us on this commission." These were the words that persuaded me to call this special meeting. I consider this now a matter for the council to deal with. And two weeks was too long to have that discussion." The Council hed- held a special meeting in August 6th. And after hearing from the public during public comments and Council deliberations, the Council passed a vote to defer this agenda item until today, August 16th. I will add that members of the council did um, kinda state that the delay would allow the Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission to have a discussion as a body which took place later that evening on August 6th. So we're back here today to continue this agenda item. Um before we move to the public comment, I'm gonna have um, ah, ah just a small part of the podcast played. Um, and then during our public comment, um I will- after which we'll go to public comment and we'll ask people- invite people up to speak at that time. So we'll play this podcast. It's two minutes and 27 seconds, if I recall correctly. Ali: Because this all makes sense. So all of that shit happened. Ifyou guys know, Raneem, who was a very prominent person in IFR, was also a part of the Commission. Um, that was the one person in IFR that was in the commission. The one IFR representative, they let be on it, which Royceann and the rest of like the black elders in Iowa City have such an This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 23 insane hatred for IFR. They hate them so much. Like there's a group called the Black Voices Project. It's 75 percent white people . I'm not kidding. Podcast Host: Yeah. Ali: Like more than 75 percent white people. And like in 2020, like all of their meetings were about like they use IFR. Like they just are so like offended by like everything that IFR did and how they went about it and the disrespect to the elders and like all of this shit. And they bring- they say, and like they're obviously old farts. And like they use like the 60s in Iowa City like as like their excuse, well, it's not as bad as it was when we are here like there's a person named, ah, Speedy. I always fucking forget, Townsend. He used to play for the Hawks. Podcast Host: Yeah. Orville Speedy Townsend. Ali: Yeah. Orville, Orville Podcast Host: Yeah. Ali: Yes. I was gonna say the popcorn named guy, but I could not remember . Um and like bless his heart. But if I have to fucking hear the story about how he went to like Mississippi or - or the week before, fucking Emmett Till was killed one more time, like it's just like, what do you want me to do? Like, I don't get it. He was the same age, like- but he like, what - what does that have to do with anything? Like I don't understand. Why isn't he advocating for the fucking woman who lied about Emmett Till to like be fucking charged then? Like that has nothing to do with like the issues that the youth are facing now. And that's like the disrespectful thing to me is like you think that we're being disrespectful in the way that we are engaging in our activism. But you are all telling us that you had it worse. So we need to shut the fuck up and learn how to like do things your way. And l- and I just like don't- I don t think that that's fucking fair and like they all suck. Teague: At this time. I'm gonna, um, just ask for hands to be raised on who all wants to, ah, give comment. Okay. And I see the hands online. Um, we will start open comment if you can start a line here and we'll go online. And we're going to start with three minutes. And, um, the hope is that well be able to get everybody in to give comments. Um, if you've already spoke before, just realize there are some individuals that haven't spoke at all. Um, so maybe allow- allow some, um, time for others to speak. So welcome at this time. And please state your name and your city where you reside. Townsend: I'm Billy Townsend, here in Iowa City. Ah, and one of the people that, um, ah, that, ah, Amel spoke about is my husband, who number 1, has never met Emmett Till and never- never talked about any of the things that happened with Emmett Till, at least not with her. Um, this clip that you gave was okay. But there were actually two podcasts. One where she spoke about a Supervisor Porter and her family, and how she looks. And another where she spoke about herself and the things that she does in her private life. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 24 Now, I don't have a problem with what people do in their private life. But when you say this in your own words, and you are supposed to be representing the City of Iowa City as a chair, you should be very careful what you say about what you're doing. Um, those are the things that people will respect about you. How you carry yourself, how you handle yourself, and how you represent this community. Ah, I've been here almost 30- well, over 30 years. And I found this to be my home. And I really want people that represent me to have the same values, at least for this community that I have. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. We're gonna go online. We're gonna welcome Sikowis and the next time we're on line will go to Natalie. Welcome. Your mic is muted. Nobiss: Hello? Teague: Yes, welcome. Nobiss: Hi. Thank you. Um, I don't know what was said in any of these other meetings and- or sorry, podcasts. Or I don't know what was said, period, besides this little clip that I've heard. And I'm a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Um and I- I just have been very upset this whole time because we have not been provided with any evidence that any of this was said. And so I don't know how we can or the City Council can vote on these other allegations without any proof, especially, um, without giving any of that proof to the, ah, Commission so that we can also have a say in what's happening. Um, I find this to be, um, quite confusing, um, and upsetting, actually, uh, and almost disrespectful that we would, um, allow for allegations that are this serious to come forth in this public setting without providing the proof for them. Um, and so I'm saying that all these other, um, [NOISE] things that are being said shouldn't be discussed and shouldn't be allowed for discussion without any, ah, proof to back them up. Also, um, I- I- I think that what Amel had said, um, in this clip, is worthy of discussion, ah, considering the lateral oppression that BIPOC folks, black, indigenous, Latino, Latina, um, folks face, um, all the time. Um, you know, ah, also, ah, considering what youth face, um, in terms of lateral oppression from older folks as well when they're trying to make change. So, uh, you know, it's- it's not like what Amel said, um, was not unwarranted after a very long period of time of, um, ah, lateral oppression that was occurring in the community. And so I would really appreciate, uh, the Truth and Reconciliation, ah, Commission's, ah, abilities to, ah, take this on and deal with this in a restorative justice, ah, manner. Ah, and I mean, if- if these recordings are provided and they do, ah, prove that these things did - were said, yes, let's have that conversation. But until then, uh, I- I think they should be disregarded because there is no proof. Um, and I've- that's- that's all I'm saying. Ah, thank you so much for your time. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Comer: Hello. My name is Justin Comer. I'm a Coraville resident and producer of Rock Hard Caucus, the podcast in question. At the August 2nd City Council meeting, Supervisor Royceann Porter claimed to have received an anonymous letter and USB drive containing This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 25 episodes of our podcast. However, in a text message retrieved via a public records request to the Johnson County Sheriffs Office, Supervisor Porter wrote the following to Sheriff Brad Kunkel, on the morning of July 28th. "Yes. I paid $1.06 and listened to both podcasts. Outrageous. Do you have time to meet with me after the formal meeting this morning? Mayor Meghann Foster sent me the clip." I personally believe these two claims are contradictory and therefore at least one of them is likely a lie. So my question for the council is, would it be appropriate, ethical, or even wise from a public relations standpoint to proceed with this vote given the knowledge that supervisor Porter was likely lying to you and the public when she brought this matter to your attention? Thank you. Teague: Welcome, Natalie. Online. You're muted. Harwood: Are you able to hear me now? Teague: Yes, welcome. Harwood: Hi. My name is Natalie and I'm a host on Rock Hard Caucus. Our goal in starting the show was attempt to make local politics accessible to our friends. When it's so often intentionally confusing, and intimidating, and part of that is casual language and jokes. I was present for this recording. Everything else she said was as mild as what is in the clip. I asked Amel to share her story because everyone here knows she's a powerhouse of organizing, well-spoken and brilliant. Losing her on the TRC would be a massive loss. I ask that you, as a council, reconsider the vote for removal of Amel. I also ask you to consider the optics of removing her based on a story about a USB that FOIA request has shown to be false. And what that says about powerful people in Johnson County, and how they're allowed to behave. If Supervisor Porter is untruthful about that, and her recollection of what was said is all anyone has, which it must be if you keep playing the same clip, why would you believe her characterizations of Amel's words? I was there, you could ask. This is the highest elected official in Johnson County lying to get someone fired. How does that make you look as a council? Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Weilein: Hello. My name is Oliver, I'm- and I'm gonna try to keep this brief everybody here, and I think everybody watching knows that this entire thing is a result of someone who is in power, having their feelings hurt, and wanting to use that power to assassinate the character, and life of an individual in an act of revenge. The words said by Amel are being intentionally interpreted in the worst possible faith, and it is clear to everyone with ears and eyes that this is an attempt to kneecap, also an attempt to kneecap the TRC by County Supervisor Royceann Porter who has a history of conflict with the commission, as well as a history of acting in an extremely unprofessional manner putting petty grievances over the work the TRC is attempting to do. The entire council saw such behavior. Using the words of the TRC themselves during their meeting earlier this month, Amel does the most work out of all the commissioners. Voting to take her off the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 26 commission would not only be giving into the wishes of a bully, who not only seemingly lied to this council about how she obtained at the recordings in question, as well as the contents of the recordings as someone who knows what was said, they are being completely misinterpreted, and it is actually the opposite of the truth and no one here has heard the entire recordings. But it would greatly interpret the work that the commission is trying to do, and take the most energetic and hardworking commissioner out of the equation, at the very least -at the very least allow the TRC to act with a sliver of autonomy and work the situation out themselves. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. I'm going to welcome Mohamed online. [NOISE] When we come back at a Chastity, following Mohamed. Um, we'll go to Chastity online and then we'll, I don't know how Mohamed got to the bottom. We'll go to Chastity online. Welcome, Chastity. Dillard: Hi. Can you hear me? Teague: Yes, welcome. Dillard: Thank you. Hi, everyone. My name is Chastity Dillard, and I am the current chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And first off, I just want to thank all of you on the council for your consideration and taking our work seriously. I also want to keep this short, and just take this opportunity to implore you all to allow us the opportunity to do the work that you've tasked us to do as a commission. Restorative justice is a process that must be taken at its own pace. I, as an appointed commission member, am committed to this process and the mission of the TRC. We have shown our commitment through our last -minute -our last meeting's decision of suspension, and have plans to move forward with the restorative justice process that involves all parties affected. What we need from City Council is the autonomy to move forward and help our communities learn from this process. This is what we were appointed to do, help bring healing to our communities. I'm sure as you all watched our most recent meeting, you were able to witness the beginnings of the healing process on all sides. So what we're aiming to do, and what you have tasked us to do is and will be hard, important historical work. I am very hopeful, and excited about this process of restorative justice that we can bring to this community, and for everything that we've been working so hard to do up until this moment. I hope that decade from now that we can all look back and still be proud of this. So with that, thank you very much. Teague: Thank you. I'm going to move in person. Welcome. Townsend: Orville Townsend, Iowa City. I'm one of the persons that this young lady attacked on her podcast. I thought about this and how do I want to approach it. I can deal with anger. Obvioiusly I'm disappointed. I could even go at the young lady. But my biggest problem with this is that she was appointed by the City of Iowa City to represent the citizens of Iowa City, and I think it's very inappropriate and unfortunate for a person to attack the population that she's sworn to protect, and do everything she can to help move forward. So I've decided that my way of dealing with this, is to come before you and make a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 27 suggestion. I don't know if you already have it in place, but I think it would be very fair and highly advantageous if you were to adopt a code of behavior that goes along, with your procedure for appointing individuals to committees and commissions to represent the City of Iowa City. If we had something like that in place, it would be a lot easier for you to do what you want to do, and not have to deal with all of the backlash that you're going to get. If you have something in place, fine, I'm wasting my breath. But if you don't, instead of corning up being ridiculous , irate, and pleading a case, I want to do what's best for the City of Iowa City. I've always done that, and I refuse to let any individual drag me to the point that I change my feelings about my home. So I come to before you tonight to make that request. Thank you very much. Teague: Thank you. We're going to move to Mohamed online if we can, is it possible to. Okay. Welcome. After Mohamed we'll go to Taylor online when we return. Welcome. Traore: Thank you. So, after hearing more about these documents and open records requests, my feelings on this are essentially that I don't know that this needs to be a public affair. This seems to be something between one member of the commission, to other members of the community. I would have liked when this process had began, if they could have come to the commission, where she could have come to the commission, that we could have dealt with it privately first and if needed, go to the public stage. My worry here is that we're setting a precedent that the commission is going to be completely undermined, And also that when it comes to any decisions that we do make, or look to make, that the City Council is ultimately going to undermine us. I don't know how many people listening now have heard most of our meetings over the last year. [NOISE] But I've said time and time and time and time again, that I believe that the commission needed to be separated from the City to have true autonomy. Things like this pretty much proved my fear of the fact that we were going to be undermined, and that we were going to look completely foolish in the sense that I've had a lot of community members come up to me and also say that while they may not agree with the things that were said and the allegations themselves, they also think that it completely undermines our work if we're not allowed to make the decisions ourselves, and it may also affect their desire to even engage with the commission. There are people that have mindsets on both sides, and I'm not here to disparage one person or the other on either side. I just think that if it comes down to just kicking a commission member off, is there a true promise that a restorative justice process will happen? [NOISE] Is there a true promise that the commission will ever really be able to fulfill its mandate? Is there a true promise that even on the one basis of the Commission being able to choose its own facilitator, which there has been a lot of meddeling, is that even going to be a reality. It's been a lot of time put into this works by everyone on the commission and by Amel herself, and you've all heard me say this in the past, but I don't think that something like this should be a reason someone should be tossed to the wayside and we should act like they can never be something in this community again. 27, some people may think his young, some people may think is older. But to me, it's an age where you still have time to become a person that can learn from this lesson and be better. So to barr someone or to kick them off, and to act like this This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 28 commission itself cannot do what it was tasked to do. It's disheartening for me. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Please state your name and your city. Bakhit: My name is Bakhit Bakhit I'm a resident of Iowa City since 2008. I want to be to the point. I think the issue here is the commission, commission for reconciliation, and the truth. The precise issue is that we want to take the method of removal as a way to solve problems. Maybe that good in medical practice, but not in issues like this. Very complicated. And I think if we do that, the next day, problems will start to pile up. So we better take inspiration from the commission mission, and need reconciliation, truth, and I will add healing. That is the best way to go. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. We're going to go online to Taylor, after- when we come back to online, it'll be Adam. Welcome, Taylor. Kohn: Hey there. Can you hear me okay? Teague: Yes, welcome. Kohn: Hey. So, um, I just wanted to say, um, I'm alarmed that the Chair of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, Royceann Porter, seems to have been untruthful with council and the public a few weeks ago when she said she received the podcast on a USB stick with an anonymous note from a BDP member. Um, when her text messages to Sheriff Kunkel say she was actually tipped off by the Mayor of Coralville, Meghann Foster. Um, I'm alarmed that Supervisor Porter would mislead the public and wield the power she holds to punish Amel, and unpaid commissioner, to make personal matters into agenda items, to try to put a stop to that commissioners advocacy, ostensibly for talking about Supervisor Porter on a paywalled podcast. This is a way bigger problem for Iowa City and Johnson County, that a county supervisor would do all of that than it is for an unpaid commissioner to talk about Supervisor Porter on a paywalled podcast. And that problem compounds with every additional public official who was part of this, the Sheriff, the Mayor of Coralville, and several members of this council. This is a misuse of power and for council to intervene in this is inappropriate. It is not appropriate for you to use the elected office your constituents have trusted you with to single out and punish one of them at Porter's request. I think council should listen to the other members of the TRC who've spoken about this and respect them in the way they want to move forward. I don't think this ever should have been the City Council's business, but since you have brought it this far, please now vote no on removing Amel. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Samel: Thank you. My name is Amar Samel, Iowa City resident. Ah, I would like to let you know that this TRC commission has had so many members have resigned already or forced to resign. So this is a clear point that we have to check what's going on with the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 29 TRC because I was following this TRC since its first day one. Second thing if there is anything happening between one of the members, I think it's should to be solved by you guys instead of going to public and try to remove someone like Amel Ali. I think Amel Ali she represented me and she represented all the American immigrants. And just imagine if you take an action to remove her, what will be the impact on us immigrants here. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Adam. And when we return back online, it'll be David. Callanan: Hello, my name is Adam. I use he/him pronouns and I'm calling from Des Moines. This vote even being considered by council is wildly inappropriate. It shows the council is willing to interfere with the TRC's work and even their membership and specifically concerning, um, members speech, a member of the TRC like speech in a private venue. Um, it's also alarming that the text messages that were recently released by a records request, it appears that Supervisor Porter initially chose to involve the police in response to a podcast. This all just feels wildly inappropriate to me. Um, and I'm just not sure if these are standards that are applied to anybody else that's volunteering with the City on any sort of comissions or other public body. But I'd sure hope that the City doesn't routinely, uh, try to involve the police and go to the City Council for removal over things like podcasts. Um, the Iowa City Council, with a non -black majority has no place policing a black womans speech, Supervisor Royceann Porter holds the highest elected position in Johnson County. Porter is using that power to engage in personal attacks and slander on Amel, going as far as the slut shame her on the public record. She consistently gives public comment by introducing herself as supervisor and has made big threats to council that if they do not remove Amel, action will be taken, suggesting possibly that she would use her power as supervisor to retaliate against Iowa City if Amel doesn't get removed. Um, just want to reiterate that slut shaming is unacceptable. Amel was called a prostitute by Supervisor Porter and others in public meetings. It's wildly inappropriate. And another reason why this whole like having a public hearing about one black woman's like personal life is just bizarre and really harmful and dangerous. [INAUDIABLE] chair, the TRC was recently dismanted- suspended, so the restorative justice process could begin. The council should let the TRC do its work with that process rather than disrupting it now. Um, also want to mention that council member Sean Harmsen was Royceann's campaign manager and Mayor Bruce Teague and council member Megan Alter are a part of the Black Voices Project, they should recuise themselves for a vote that's going to potentially punish someone who's critical of Royceann and the Black Voices Project. Councils inserting itself into a personal dispute between two black people, escalating harms and opening up space in a public meeting for harassment of Amel while threatening her work and her reputation and her livelihood. Other commissions, as far as I know, are not held to these harmful standards. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Again, when we return online, we'll go to David. Welcome, in person. McGovern: Hello. Uh, Tara McGovern, Coralville. I have the transcript from the TRC meeting that took place, the last TRC meeting. Um, and I've outlined I've underlined and, um, all This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 30 of the places that the various commissioners stated that they had no wish for Amel to be removed. Every single one of the commissioners repeatedly stated that how are we supposed to make a decision without hearing the tapes? How can I make a decision without being able to hear the full podcast? A suspension may be in order to gather facts over just repeatedly over and over. None of the commissioners that you chose for this commission because of their experience, because of their, um, dedication to the various communities that they represent, none of them want this. It seems that only Mayor Teague wants this. I don't understand why this is even on- your agenda today. Even the commissioners who repeatedly made demeaning ableist statements at the meeting about Amel's choice to not attend because of having to deal with all of you that morning. Even those commissioners who didn't always support Amel in that setting repeatedly would say, all throughout this document, nobody is asking for this removal. And so I would ask for you all to consider that you chose those commissioners for a reason and that the people on that commission have far more experience about anything surrounding restorative justice than any of you do. And they're asking that you allow them to do the work that you elect - that you chose them to do. That's all. Teague: Thank you. We're going to go to David online and when we come back online, it'll be Angie. Welcome, David. Sterling: Hello. Can you hear me? Teague: Yes. Sterling: Ah, hi, David Sterling. I use they/them pronouns, I'm an Iowa City resident. Um, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a compromise between young activists who marched in disconnect- discontent for the City's actions, um and it's a compromise. There's a narrative against the young activists in town that they cannot compromise, that they are too impatient. And yet this commission is a compromise. Uh, the fact that the City is allowed to control who is appointed to the commission is a compromise. That the City approved the people on the commission because these are people who wanted to get engaged and these are people who are trusted community members, there was no protest to them being elected. I don't find it appropriate for the - for the City Council to intervene in the matters of a citizen driven commission. If people have issues with how the commission is behaving, it feels more appropriate for them to discuss these things with the commissioners. Historically, the only information that is circulated that has been available has been that this community of activists has been repeatedly harassed, interrogated, defamed, and their work demeaned by existing power structures and people at the top of them, such as Royceann Porter. Uh, I feel like it is really inappropriate to dissect a person's individual life and their speech, especially when they're an unpaid volunteer. Ah, I recall when the protests started that drove this commission to be formed, uh, City Manager Geoff Fruin penned a very moving letter about the ways that the City of Iowa City failed to connect with the interests and needs of the population and how that resulted in the protests that happened. So if this commission exists under the recognition that people who are demeaned, harassed, and marginalized, naturally become angry and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 31 that anger is valid and to be recognized, I think it stands to reason that Amel's words and actions in response to being harassed and marginalized, not specifically by, uh, uh, Mr. Townsend, uh, I don't believe her words were citing any relationship with him, but, uh, it - it creates a double standard of behavior against these activists, against Amel. It goes against the commitment the City made to representing and respecting those interests. And again, I just want to reiterate that this commission is citizen driven, people are free to participate and the very small minority of folks participating in this dialogue to remove Amel, have not participated in the commission since they themselves left out of petty grievances that they have shown repeatedly that they're willing to continue and promote. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Elkamil: Ahmed Elkamil. I'm a resident of Iowa City. Uh, I have, uh, a big issue with, uh, um, with making this type of, uh, commission, uh, that's supposed to represent a- a diverse community, and then, um, somewhat arbitrarily removing one member, that's, ah, not to the liking of someone in power. Um, second, um, ah, I don't know how much work goes into being a County Supervisor, uh, and it might be somewhat embarrassing to say that you were name searching or, uh, trying to find a specific podcast where you were mentioned and use, ah, that personal, ah, uh, to bring a personal grievance against, uh, a political rival. But if that's the case, it should be said. Ah, they seem to be unnecessary, ah, like invented salacious element to this idea that, uh, this information was sent by an anonymous person, but if that's not the case. It should be said, and it should be said on the record. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. We're online with Angie. And when we come back online, we'll go to Stephanie. Welcome, Angie. Jordan: Hello. Can you hear me? Teague: Yes. Welcome. Jordan: Hi. I'm Angie Jordan in Iowa City. And, um, I'm gonna read a little thing that Annie Tucker, also from Iowa City, she and I put together. We are writing to encourage you to table the vote on the TRC matter on your agenda in order to slow down the process. We believe it is critical for the TRC to work out its own solution authentically. Recently, we've heard from a person very experienced in TRCs, that a TRC needs to had a monochrome of independence in order to conduct its work properly. We asked that we all take that to heart, especially in these moments where we feel a sense of urgency is necessary and expected. This is uncharted territory for our community. As you all well know, and leaning into this discomfort, it's essential in my opinion. The commissioners have begun their own process of dealing with this situation by suspending Amel as chair at the last TRC meeting. We encourage you to listen to their conversations if you were not there or haven't already. It's near the last part of the meeting, and there was a wide spectrum of concerns expressed. We do recognize that the council is the body with the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 32 power to remove or add commissioners, and tabling the matter will provide another opportunity for the TRC to handle this as a city commission with its own agency. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity for the council to be supportive of legitimizing the commission's work instead of exerting control over it. It affords a chance for the City Council to directly support the commission it created to do the work. And finally, within this pause, and I'll say it again, pause. In this pause, councilors may gain more insight on possible next steps that could help bring about more truth and more reconciliation within our community. Thank you so much. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Petersen: Hello. My name is Noah. Ah, first, I just wanna say that Amel is, uh, incredibly important, vital, powerful, necessary voice, both in our community and on the TRC. And if this council moves forward with removing that, how is the broader community who overwhelmingly have voiced support for keeping Amel on the TRC. Every single member of the TRC is saying they do not want her removed and for the council to completely reject what the overwhelming majority of the community and the TRC itself, all of them unanimously, the TRC is saying to let them solve it, let the TRC solve their own, and actually allow to have a restorative justice process. And, uh, I- I don't want to dwell on this too much, but um, I think it's really sad that this council decided to prioritize the feelings of those in power, specifically Royceann Porter, who has um, sim- seemingly misled, lied about how she got this information, uh, by saying getting it from the top official and another in Coralville. Sorry, I've got- I've kind of- got jumbled there, um, but- so you were able to call for a special meeting 48- with less than 48 hours because essentially someone's feelings got hurt. Yet, when winter was here, there were dozens- a 100 people forced to live outside, and there is no action whatsoever. There's no urgency. You had no urgency to provide shelter for people who vitally need it. You put those people's lives in danger. You- you're just showing what your priorities are in- if you go forward with moving this, rather than helping those marginalized people who need your help the most, you do nothing for those. But when someone in power, the highest elected official in this county gets their feelings hurt, you can act immediately. But when the most marginalized, the poorest people need help, need assistance, needs shelter, you can do nothing. So if- if you vote, you just- yeah. You know what you're doing. I just want- that's clear. I think everyone here knows if he felt some room for that you're just showing what your actual values are. And it's not protecting the most marginalized people in our community, and you should do better than that. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Online, we're gonna welcome Stephanie now. And when we re- and when we return to online, we'll, uh, hear from Daphne. Welcome, Stephanie. Hoffelt: Hello. Uh, it's been awhile since I've attended a city council meeting even virtually. And, um- wow, I'm a little bit shook. I had something to say, and then I heard about the Freedom of Information Act. I'm biased, uh, in this situation. My daughters grew up with Amel. They went to high school with her. I am very fond of Amel. She has done so much good work in this community and it's silly, and I shouldn't even be able to say it because This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 33 it's silly, but I'm proud of her to see how far she is progressed since her he- the times the kids were in school. Because I am biased and because I have that relationship with Amel, I would not, if I were in your place, I would recuse myself from this vote, I would table it. I would not have anything to do with this situation. And I am sure some of you have similar relationships with Supervisor Porter and have worked with her on her campaign or in Black Voices Project. And because of that, are somewhat biased in your support of her situation. And wow, that note, if that note is a fabrication, if that's true and it is not - was not delivered to Supervisor Porter, but- but- but was written by Supervisor Porter or somebody else, that is something that the City Council has to investigate before they go forward with this vote or removing Amel from this position. That's not okay, regardless of the other allegations. And- and of course, you know, it is so important as everybody else has said, to support the autonomy of the TRC. That's what they're there for. They're here to heal this community. And if City Council steps in with their biases and doesn't allow that to happen, what's the point of even having the commission if you're not going to support their autonomy? Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Taylor: Hi. I'm Angel. Um, I just wanna say I hear a lot of bias, a lot of, um, dismissiveness, and this is a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And, you know, I- I'm hearing a lot of people say well, Amel has done a lot of work, and I think that's true. I also think that Royceann has done a lot of work as well in the community. The- the focus here is not about how she, you know, got the- the information, the podcast, or whatever, it's- and Amel, if I'm not mistaken, if I read correctly, she has taken accountability for that. She admitted to saying those things. I think the only way for you guys to make a neutral decision is to request that those podcasts are released to the public. I wanna know as a, you know, as a constituent, I wanna know what was said. All right? Because I would not feel comfortable if those things were- I- I just wanna know what was said, and I think everybody here probably wants to know what said. And I think that Justin, they have the tapes, and I think the only way again, just to make a neutral, um, decision is just release it to the public. Request for her to do that. If you guys can make a motion tonight to do that, that's what I would do. Um, I'd like to know. That way, we're not going off he say she say. That way, we know exactly what was said and those, you know, I think it was June 6th and June 16th, and I think that's the only way for you guys to make an honest, neutral decision. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Daphney, online. Daniel: Ah- [NOISE] Hello? Good evening. Teague: Yeah. Daniel: Hello. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 34 Teague: After Daphney we'll go to Jennifer. And then there's also Mohammed online and we'll end in person here. So welcome Daphney. Daniel: Hi. Good evening, everyone. Um, I had- I- I wanted to talk about reconciliation and trans- and transformative and restorative justice. Um, but I think some of the- some of the people who spoke this evening has- urn, provided new evidence and brought in some really, um, shocking information. And so I don't- I don't even think we're at the point of transformative justice because if we don't know how a private podcast that is behind a paywall, so it is not something that kids can access and it's something that less than 100 people access, If we don't know how that podcast got into the hands of the people who claimed to have received it anonymously, I think that is- that is the question- that- that should be resolved. Like, how did this actually happen? What- how did we get to this point? Because I, for one, especially after the recent events in national politics, I think I speak for a lot of people in the Iowa City community who are tired of politicians using their office, u- abusing the public trust to fight their petty, petty grievances. That's not why we elected you. So I really hope the City Council considers putting- like walking the walk, and enc- encouraging and facilitating transformative justice here, reconciliation. Um, like we did at the TRC meeting. The TRC is already setting an example, it's just for the City Council to pick up what we're dropping because what we did at the last TRC meeting was beautiful. Um, I had my issues with Royceann, I had my issues with the people in her entourage, but we were able to talk and we forgave each other. And that was beautiful and I was able to go home that night for the first time in many nights and sleep well because in my heart, I had forgiven everything and I just hope whatever I did, they forgave me because that is the value I would- I- I thought Iowa City believed in. We are not a community who rushes to judgment, who's so willing to disgrace someone based off of what really sounds like suspicious rumors, side -eye worthy rumors. We are not that community. We're a community about forgiveness. Little black kids are in Iowa City schools getting called the N word. And what are we showing them? Are we showing them well, you know, it's okay, except when it's about someone who's in public. Teague: Thank you Daphney. Thank you. We're gonna move to Jennifer online. Lee: Good evening, everyone. How is everyone? Teague: Awesome. Welcome. Lee: Good. Okay. So uh, my name is Jen Lee and a longtime Iowa Citian. I've, uh, spoken before with, um, the Council on matters related to racial- racial injustices and other challenges we faced, uh, regarding civil liberties, uh, a large task force that we have throughout the state. And- so I have been fortunate to work with Council and Amel on a lot of different concerns that have happened in our community that probably 90 percent of Iowa Citians don't even know that happens. Um, and so I'm, uh, the number -one proponent of having the truth being out and open and having this truth and reconciliation. That was after all, uh, the point of the commission, but clearly, it's not being run as it was, uh, said to be intended. I want to state that Amel is not the problem. Uh, Amel is one of the few people This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 35 in our community who has opened up dialogue about challenging issues of longstanding political problems in our town. Especially with the way the City is run with City Council and the City Manager and anyone who's involved in City work knows exactly what I'm talking about. Um, and- and I can, uh, elaborate individually if anyone ever wants to hear, uh, information or- or save data on what goes on behind the scenes. Uh, indeed, when the IFR activities were being discussed and resolutions were proposed by the City, City Manager Fruin stated that the City would take a number of steps to improve race relations and dynamics in Iowa City, including the IFR. I would love to see that list and what work has been done and the people who are affected, I would love to see their impression of what work has been done and whether they've benefited or not. Instead of City leaders determining for them what they need and whether they've benefited or not. Uh, that is some of the most racial and racist and prejudicial behavior I've ever seen and it goes on weekly in Iowa City. I wanna know where Amel's First Amendment rights are and where's due process in the City procedure. There are no policies or procedures in place, so there is literally no unbiased way to proceed except for this subject of reactive suggestion by Roy- Royceann. There has to be a due process. If not, it is illegal unethical behavior. I wanna state that Amel is a victim. She has been traumatized by the poor policing and other problems we've had in our city. So what I wanna know is when will Royceann's behavior be called to attention. I wanna know when she will be put on leave. She has had inappropriate, dishonest and unethical behavior. So she's the one we- we should be voting on and deciding, um, what should happen with her role because she's the one that's going against her job. I just also wanted to say that this is a pattern of behavior where the City says certain things in public and then goes against what they said they were gonna vote for and what they stood by. [OVERLAPPING] Teague: Thank you. Thank you. We're gonna move to Mohammed Magzoob online. And that'll be the last commenter online. Welcome. Platz: He's muted. Teague: You're muted. If you can unmute yourself, that'd be great. Mohamed. You're mu- you're on mute, and we can't seem to unmute. Okay, we'll go in person. Welcome, and then we'll go back to Mohamed. Johnson: Good afternoon. Uh, my name is Cliff Johnson. I am, uh, one of the commissioners on, uh, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. First, I would like to state that I'm giving my opinion, my opinion only. I think this is silly, there's a lot of drama that's being played out that shouldn't be played out. We have important things to do. We've had opportunities to clarify things about a million times. I don't understand why my fellow Commissioner did not step up and actually speak her truth. I don't understand that at all. I feel like this is only dragging things out more and it's taken away from the important things that we have to take care of. And yes, I do- I've said- I'm going to repeat a lot of things I might have said time and time again. I came on this commission, uh, because I wanted to try to get something done, uh, at the same time, create a better community for all of us. And with that being said, I don't see how this drama between people is helping This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 36 out the whole at all. I feel like we have other avenues that we could go about this. I feel like, uh, going onto a podcast personally and saying a bunch of things that could possibly be drama, I feel like that is a problem. I, I, I have a major issue that right now instead of us talking about the things that we should and congratulating the people who actually have done things that make a difference, we're still discussing this and I feel like that's - it's just a waste of time. I, I really hope that we can move on beyond this and every opportunity to listen. I do- I'm not sure exactly how it goes when it comes down at this podcasts, everybody saying they heard or didn't hear. But at the end of the day, I know that this has taken up more time and space than it needs to, and at any point in time shouldn't the people who were involved in that podcast be able to step forth and say here, here it is, you can listen to everything you want. And then from there all the problems are solved and then we move on with more important issues. I, I, I am very much so tired of wasting time on things that don't matter. And this is like high school, but we're all grown adults, well over the age. We should know better and the things that we do, and there's consequences to the things that we do. We all know that, okay? At the end of the day, I really hope that we can move further past this. This is not a personal thing or shouldn't be a personal thing. It should be more of if there's issues between a couple of people, let those couple of people go and deal with it on their own. When it comes down to everything else we got business to attend to. And that constantly keep drawing it back to some game. It's ridiculous, it really is. Uh, truth can be told at any point in time. If somebody wants to step up and say, hey, here's the- here's the podcast, you can listen to it all. I mean, I personally wouldn't- I wouldn't apologize for things that I didn't see. Teague: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. And, um, Mohamed is no longer with his hand raised, so we'll just remain here. Welcome. Porter: Yes. I am Supervisor Royceann Porter. I keep throughout this whole thing, I keep hearing people say I'm in high power. I am not God, I am not God, I did not ask for this. I did not ask for anybody to confront- go on the podcast. You keep hollaring, I have not heard the compe- I ha- I ha- I have not heard the podcast. The person who is responsible for the podcast, who deleted it, took it down is this person right here. He knows what was said. So you're going to get up here in front of these people, and talk about the dates on how I got it on my phone and who se- sent it to me anonymous. You all are more worried about who sent it to me, you deleted it. Put it backup so these people can hear it. We wouldn't even be going through none of this because if people heard what Amel said she does not represent the community that is sitting in here. It is hurting me right now to see the Black community, the Muslim community, the people I have stood up for, with the Centers for Workers Justice. Anything that had to do with a hate crime, anything that had to do with, uh, race stuff, I'm there. I have been there for everybody in this community when it comes to, uh, our Muslim community and our Black community working together. So I didn't ask for this. Show them, give them the podcast. Nobody has to do anything but listen to what you put on there. And one of the podcasts you put it on there, you said it was so explicit you couldn't even play it. Where is that? Stop lying. You're all sitting here putting this on me. It's not about me. I'm about my community. Mazahir knows. Amel- if she wanted- she didn't have to do this. She went on that podcast, whether 50 people heard This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 37 it or 100, it don't matter. She went on there and she said it. Black leaders in our community, she called us coons. A coon is a ... I have stood up for this community every time we have had hate crime in our community. When Mazahir called me, when Muna calls me, when the girls had trouble over at West High, we established Students Against Hate. Teague: Please speak to the Council. Porter: We fought that. Now fm being ridiculed for the same thing? Oh, it happened to me, fm not human? Yes. I apologize for the wrong that I've done and I've forgiven Amel because I cannot go forward without, I cannot continue the work in this community if I don't forgive her. I forgive you Amel. I'm sick of this and it needs to stop. But you did this. I didn't do this, and I have been here. Look at our Black community, they here. I have represented them the whole time I have been in Iowa City. And to get here and listen to white people get up here and tell me who I am, no, they won't know. No, they won't tell me who I am because I know who I am. I am a beautiful black woman. Teague: Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Purdy: Well, I guess the cops didn't come to arrest me, but I should have been arrested by now, maybe Geoff s got an extra pair. Teague: Are you on this topic? Please this is[OVERLAPPING]. Purdy: Yeah. I understand the topic. The topic is nonviolence. [OVERLAPPING] Teague: This is a sensitive matter, this is a sensitive matter. Purdy: Nonviolence is a [OVERLAPPING achieved through— nonviolence means like commu- Teague: This is a sensitive matter. Purdy: Everybody else needs to communicate nonviolence. Teague: This is a sensitive matter. Please take your seat. Purdy: Can I ask Geoff to help me out? Teague: I respectfully ask that you take your seat. I respectfully ask that you take your seat. Thank you. Thank you. [OVERLAPPING] Thank you for taking your seat. Please. Welcome, welcome, welcome the next speaker. Purdy: I want to have a conversation. Teague: Welcome. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 38 Purdy: You are sending me violence. Shame on you, Geoff Fruin. Master can I have my civil rights, please? Salih: Good evening, Council. Tegaue: Good evening, welcome. Salih: My name is Mazahir Salih, I'm the Executive Director of the Center for Worker Justice. I'm here just as an Iowa City resident. So I just came from my country, and I don't know what's- a lot -what's going on on this topic. But I think this is very ugly. This is not good. So I'm not here to defend Amel by any means. She- that -whatever she said against Royceann and also, you know Oliver is not right. It's not right completely. And I think she- what I hear she apologized publicly, she admitted that she made a mistake. And this is I guess is very good from her part to admit that she made a mistake. You know, she is also doing like really good job in the TRC. I'm going to talk about the TRC in general. This is an historical Commission that we should be proud of. And as one- somebody said earlier, and instead of just like talking about this mess, let us just move forward. I will invite Royceann Porter to come and we sit down as a Black community and solve this. I don't want the Council to intervene by any means because you're creating division in the community. I don't want this suddenly to become bla- Black American against immigrants bl- like black. All of us are black together, we sit down and we will solve this together. Give us a chance. I will invite Royceann Porter, she has been helping the community in general, so we can do this, we can solve this together. And you know, Amel, she will continue apologize publicly about what- about this. But give them the chance, let the TRC also solve this problem. Please don't act on this even if you postponed it, don't act on this today. Give us the chance to solve it as Black community together. Don't create more division, if you like says- remove Amel from this commission, is that means you think the commission will go move forward as, you know the goal for it? No. Because maybe the- you know some people will just- now it's divided. Who are going to work with the commission? You created this commission to work with every Black community, every member of the Black community, so don't create that division. I'm very scared now. I wasn't want to talk at all. But I saw that I need to say this to alarm you, don't do anything, let us handle it together, you know. We go back as Black communities, we'll bring like, you know, uh, Black Voices bring all of us together, Royceann Porter, we will sit down and we will solve this. Give us this chance, please. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. I want to also acknowledge that this will be our last speaker that's standing up right now. So welcome. Elshazali: Um, my name is Hanadi Elshazali. Um, uh, I saw the news all the way from Africa. And I have known Royceann since 2008 or nine, and like such like beautiful projects for like Black people, like defending, helping all of her Black community, and she like- I just admit that she is one- she's, she's the one -of people who does a lot to her community. I This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 39 have known Amel as like a Sudanese young lady and I know her since she was like five or six year- years old and I think we're just here to work together as Mazahir said. We're not here to fight or to like you know, like have public hearing regarding our own issues. Like Black from Africa or from the US, we are all black. We have the same issues, we have the same concern. And I would love to see all of us as black, Muslims or Christian one unit. This is all I want to say, thank you. Teague: Thank you. The last speaker will be Amel, so welcome. Ali: Do you need me to write my name on this? Teague: Yes, please. Thank you. Ali: Long time no see friends. Um, so since the last time we spoke I've kind of taken a lot of time, um, to sit back and think about ways in which I can help, um, figure out ways to solve the cri- or the harm that I've caused. Um, and I've worked closely with folks who have lots of experience in restorative justice practices. Um, and I'm going to start it off with two couple things because I think it's important that we all have the same understanding of what restorative justice is and what it might look like, um, because it's very different for every single situation depending on what the offense was, whether it's criminal or just community problems and things like that. Um, but retribution says, you've broken our rules and until you pay us back by being punished you're not welcome in our community. And as we know, even once debts to society have been paid and the person is still labeled bad. But restoration says, you're one of our own and we've not given up on you but this behavior is unacceptable because it harms us all, including you. We will hold you accountable while you repair the harm and under- and restore our community fabric. And, um, I think those two definitions are really, really integral, um, in, um kind of giving you the baseline of what my vision of restorative justice is. So it's a response to a harmful incident that seeks the inclusion of all involved. Um, so the effort is to meaningfully address the harm and restore the relationship both personal and maybe like community relationships that might have been, um, might have been harmed in this process as well. Um, so the difference between kind of, um, these questions that we generally ask, um, when we're in criminal justice versus restorative justice. So in criminal justice, you'd ask what laws have been broken, um, in restorative asked- in restorative justice, you're asked who has been hurt? Criminal justice says who did it, restorative justice says what are their needs? Criminal justice says, what do they deserve? Restorative justice says, who's obligations are these? Um, and so like I've mentioned, it can look really different for a lot of different communities, um, and I know that I have talked to folks, um, who have expressed the willingness and being able to bring that to the table for Royceann and I, um, and I'm extremely grateful for that. I'm coming up with- so in my process, there's two phases. Because of the situation and how it is right now. I don't think that it's like maybe super healthy to meet face-to-face for the first time for our first session. I don t think that maybe it's on our best interest to have that first restorative justice session, four hours of sitting face-to-face. Annie Tucker who happens to be, uh, the mediator for the Jo- for Johnson County, uh, had mentioned this process in This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 40 which she would be the mediator for this, but we would be speaking directly with her, um, and she would be interpreting what our, for lack of a better term, complaints. So, Amel, when you say this, it sounds like you're really hurt that this happened actually. Um, and she reads those points to me, um, and then takes that to- to the other person and kind of lets that person decompress, writes their points and then reads them my points, and then let them respond with their answers and then back and forth for a little bit. Annie believes that that is probably the best way to start. Um, my only thing that I really think I will need your guys assistance in, um, I spoke to you about this, Sean, is, um. I am very serious about restorative justice so that I know this third party needs to be neutral, um, and that is going to be hard to find around here. Um, I've got a couple of different options and, um, I'm still speaking to folks at Ohio State, but we also have our native partners from the TRC, which were already part of the contract, um, but we just want to make sure that whoever is the mediator is neutral and isn't privy to the information. Uh, and so that's just kind of been a little bit difficult. Um, so in a perfect world where we found this person to then mediate, um, a face-to-face situation, we would bring in- so I would bring in people who I felt safest to or others who are harmed, which could be like Mr. Townsend, Royceann could bring her daughter, um, whatever that may be, and it doesn't start off heavy. Um, what they do is just ask questions and I said this, for lack of a better term, to humanize each other. So you ask questions like, you know, what- what are your inspirations? What do you do for, you know, relaxation time? Who was your favorite person growing up? Things like that. There's a talking piece involved and it's very calming and, um, that's how it kind of works at first before you dive in to the heavy stuff. So it is, and it can be quite a little bit of a long process depending on who the mediator is that's chosen, um, and the route that is suggested that we go. Um, and so I have a process that was suggested, um, with Think Peace. Uh, so what they want- what they think would be perfect is a community conference. So have us discuss the areas of harm, pre -conversation which we- mediation with each party separately. Um, and then returning to community conference with feedback from pre -conversations, healing/peace- making circles. Um, but which would include various community members sharing their experiences, background on harm and what they think should happen. And then there is a follow-up circle as well. Um, and this is just one way to do this restorative justice process. There's tons of different ways that you could do it. Um, but in order for this to work out I will have to collaborate, um, with some council members, um, regarding on the consultant, um, or, the mediator, sorry, not the consultant. Um, because I do think that that is really important, that it is a neutral third party, um, who is not privy to the situation at all. I think that's gonna be, um, really integral to that part. Um, one last thing, um, I've been asked a lot about what the TRC looks like going forward. Um, if I was voted to be kept on, um, and what my role would look like and how would- how would that be for me? Like would you go back to the chair immediately or you gonna, you know, and all of these questions. Um and I really genuinely believe that I have to set the example. Um, those of you that know me better than others know that, um, when I believe in something, I believe in it wholeheartedly. Um, I believe in, uh, restorative justice so much so that it's the path that I'm taking for my sexual assault case. Um, I want to be given the opportunity to show you that this can work in this community. Um, as we can see and as we've been told by many people, obviously there's a generational divide. Um, but there's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 41 also immigrants and black people and it's just a lot deeper. I don't think my situation, um, you know, was like the go that made things seem obvious. Um, but I do think my situation is one that could really pave the way for using restorative justice practices more frequently going forward. And that is all I have to say. Teague: Thank you. We're going to start with, um, [APPLAUSE] we're going to start with council deliberations. Ali: You guys don't have questions for me, do you? Teague: Nope- no. Thank you. I guess I- I think I'll start this if that's okay with, um, everyone. This is not an easy topic at all. It is a very sensitive topic. Um, I'm fully aware of all the hardships that this has, um, caused, everybody in this room and beyond. I've had a lot of conversation since we've, you know, had this last meeting. Um, I've even talked to Amel Ali, we had a conversation on Thursday or Friday. Days, kind of run together. There has been a lot said here today and, you know, the list goes on and on, and I don t know that I'll be able to, you know, touch- touch base on all of this and give it, um, the attention that it needs. Um, but there's- there's a few troubling things that I, that I felt like I have to address and I wanna touch base. And, sir, I'm gonna ask you to please be respectful. This - this is a very sensitive matter. Purdy: Better call the police then. Teague: Please be respectful. Purdy: Geoff, you wanna call the police. Teague: Please be respectful. Um, so we -so- you know, I've heard a lot of things here and- I don't even know it's- it wasn't anything that was planning to address, but I'm going to address some things. So, you know, the black imm- the blacks and the immigrants, one we -re - we're all black. The immigrants and the- and the African-American community we're all black. And so while I've heard some- some comments about maybe this is related to that, I don't believe that this is- we have to rightfully divide conversations. And so this isn't that- this isn't that, it just isn't. So that's my belief. So this isn't that. When it comes down to the work of the TRC, their work is crucial. This community and the council back then voted for the TRC to, uh, do some charges and to do some work. Part of that charge is really to make sure that I mean, it is to have people to come forth until their truths and be a part of the process. And I think when we hear, you know, the one thing that I played, and just so people know, that's enough for me. Like I really don't even want the other stuff to come out, I- I just don't. I think, um and I've had conversations with Amel. I think where Amel is positioned during this moment in time is crucial. Where she's positioned in this moment in time it's crucial. When- and I understand the term removal. It- it doesn't- it doesn't rub me the right way. I don't like using that word. I'd like to, you know, use the term where she's positioned. Where she's positioned is crucial. We're- we're talking about restorative justice and- and, you know, there can be a lot of ways that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 42 restorative justice can take place and I know that. And I think the parties, you know, all the parties involved, I really believe that it will take place. I think it's already started. Um when I left our meeting on that Thursday morning, the special meeting, um, as ugly- as ugly as it looked and it looked ugly. It looked very ugly. I- I- I really thought about it. I said, man, you know that there are truths happening and people are talking. I saw the TRC meeting and as ugly as that looked, there was forgiveness happening. There was people talking. The greatest way to keep people apart is not to have them talk. Do you want to keep a feud going? Don't put them in the room together, don't have them talk. And that's exactly what- and that exactly is what happened. And so- um, so restorative justice, it is already happening. And the one thing that I, you know, said was, you know, we've got to make sure that Amel is in the mix of these conversations for restorative justice to be fully inclusive of on this matter. And so- and that is something that I do think will still happen. I think these parties will come together and have some discussions, but I think we're- we're- we're being blind -sided that restorative justice and where she's positioned on the TRC are mutually exclusive and they're not. Her being on the TRC, I really believe that TRC has a place where people feel welcomed, where they feel like they can come and share their truths. And I think that that has been damaged by her ability or her acts of feeling so comfortable to go on a podcast and talk about a group of people as bad as this may sound. And I had to be, you know, tried to work my words correctly. As bad as this may sound, the words, you know, that has been mentioned about Amel saying against...and I'll always call people by their, uh, titles. And I'll tell you why. My grandparents, our forefathers, set on auction blocks to be called mayor, and to be called supervisors. So I'll always use that terminology. So Supervisor Royceann Porter...what she- what Amel said about Supervisor Royceann Porter as- as- as horrible as this may sound, I've- I've drawn numb to those comments. Like it- I was sad to hear it. I feel for Royceann who is my friend. I also will say Amel is my friend. I felt sad, but that didn't raise to the- you know, to my level of she needs to be removed from this commission because I've drawn- I've become numb to it. We've heard it from various people in the- in the community, I've heard it personally, you know, it's something that did not move me to this level, but what did move me to this level was there's a group of people and- that she talked about. How do we get to the point where people actually feel like they can be a part of this process. And Amel, you- I- I met with you and I've heard people talk about being tossed away. You're not being tossed away. Being off this commission does not mean that you're being tossed away. We met and we had- we have a great relationship. And I think we said this at the- and she's shaking her head. We have- Amel and I have a great relationship. And no matter what happens here today, I think we said we're going to continue our relationship. This for me, where Amel is positioned in this moment is critical. I do not believe contrary to, you know, I don't believe that her being positioned on this TRC in this moment is appropriate. That's what I don't believe. You know, she'd certainly had the opportunity to- um, to step down- to resign. So this isn't a vote about not supporting Amel Ali. I absolutely love Amel Ali. Amel Ali is awesome and amazing. I've told her that in the past and I believe that of her now. She is a leader- she absolutely is a leader in some for whatever reason. And I've said this, I don't know. This is a lesson. This is a process that at least for me, if it- regardless of how it's vote, she- she has to go through she has a great heart, but there are some things that she This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 43 knows she has to work on and this is a part of it. And so for me, it is- this is a vote for where she is positioned. I do not believe that it's appropriate for her to remain on council - on the commission at this time. And I do believe that restorative justice is going to work and is going to happen. So I appreciate everybody coming here today. I know this is a hard thing to sit through. I absolutely know it. And we're gonna make sure that those meetings- those restorative justice meetings happen. I'll do what I can, but also know that neutrality is also important throughout this process. And I really thank all of you for coming today. I know this is hard. So just know that my vote is really where Amel is positioned at this time. I just don't believe that it's appropriate for her to be on the TRC. Taylor: We're probably hesitant to speak. It's a little hard- hard to follow that and to know really how to deal with this as the Mayor said, it- it's very emotional and it's been a very difficult decision to make, it's overwrought with a lot of emotion- a lot of emotion. The council, of course, as people know, are responsible for making appointments to various City boards and commissions. We don't tell the boards or commissions who to have as their chair. That's done with a unanimous vote by their members. The council, however, can ask that a board or commission member stepped down from their appointment and this has on occasion been done, so this isn't a precedent -setting event, it has happened. An appointment to a commission by the council is regarded by members of the public with a sense of respect. This brings with it a responsibility to carry yourself in a positive manner. I believe that the podcast made by Miss Ali was far from positive. In fact, I found the content which included a profanity and insults to be very offensive. The First Amendment regarding free speech does not protect the use of offensive language. Miss Ali's comments were very disrespectful, including not only the personal attack on one community member but also the use of offensive comments regarding older members of our community. Making these types of inappropriate and insensitive comments is not helpful to the community or the commission and causes an atmosphere that many people fmd to be uncomfortable. I think the mayor touched on that a bit that some of these older folks may not- they may have some truth that they want to speak to when they might not feel comfortable coming before the commission now. It has caused distractions with negative attention- very negative attention being placed on the commission. And I believe it's essential for the success of TRC's mission, that it's members are all able to work well together towards achieving that mission. They have a lot of work to do and they are on the right track, which I'm really pleased to see to fmally get these things done. And I don t think it's helpful to the commission to have distractions and actions by Miss Ali has caused a major distraction. I do appreciate the time and effort that Miss Ali has put into the TRC, and I also appreciate the many e-mails and public comments from individuals regarding this. But we'll just have to see how it plays out with our decisions and our vote. Weiner: So, um, I talked a lot last time I'm not gonna- I'm not gonna keep you all for long this evening. Essentially, I don't really- and I'm not sure that we belong here. We tabled this the last time. We've seen some really positive work in the interim, both by the TRC itself, um, and by some TRC members participating in a Black Voices Project meeting. I'd like to see that continue. Uh, a restorative justice process has begun. It's at the very beginning. It takes time - it takes time to do it, it takes time to heal. I don't personally believe that a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 44 punitive approach is constructive. We've seen over and over again in our community, our state and our country that it's destructive rather than constructive. And I believe that this can be, that using restorative justice here can be a model for the greater community. Um, I'd love for us to allow adults to adults, um, and, um, and- and allow them some allow them as much independence as we can and not intervene. As a legal nerd and someone who went to law school as I- I, um, I looked up some First Amendment stuff and I don't really think that we're qualified to be arbiters on that. And I would refer to the US Supreme Court decision, the case Cohen v. California, which was decided in 1971. It had to do with in fact, profanity and so forth in the public domain. Um, and obviously the- the government can regulate some speech, but, um, what they ended up looking at was that one of the main questions in the case was whether a distasteful or profane mode of expression that was thrust upon unwilling or unsuspecting viewers, uh, if it was thrust upon them, if the state had a legitimate act to protect the sensitive from unavoidable exposure. The majority opinion was written by Justice Harlan. And he said a couple of thing, wrote a couple of things. One, that "the air may at times seem filled with verbal cacophony. Uh, that this is not a sign of weakness, but of strength and while the particular four-letter word being litigated here is perhaps more distasteful than most others of its genre, it's nevertheless often true that one mans vulgarity is anothers lyric indeed." And here's the point that I think is really important. Um, and this is the law of the land. "We think it is largely because governmental officials cannot make principal distinctions in this area, that the Constitution leaves matters of taste and style so largely to the individual. Indeed, he continued as Mr. Justice Frankfurter has said, 'One of the prerogatives of- of American citizenship is the right to criticize public men and measures. And that means not only informed and responsible criticism, but the freedom to speak foolishly and without moderation," end quote. So I'll be voting no, and I urge my fellow councilors to do so as well and allow the TRC and others to continue their work. Things have moved forward really positively it seemed to me in the last 10 days, um, I think we should step back and allow them to do so. [APPLAUSE] Alter: So, um, there has been a huge amount to think about and to listen to. And, um, I am incredibly mindful of how painful this is for everyone who has been involved in this. Um, and I also thank council as well. Um, excuse me, sir. Please sit down- please sit down. Teague: Sir. Alter: I'm speaking now. You're disrupting. So I will, um, just- I have some thoughts that are a little bit more order, um, than in times past. So I wrote them down and it's, um, there have been many- many perspectives put into play. Um, and I think that so there's validity in all of them, I would like to add some more. So first, I do want to thank everyone for speaking your thoughts and especially to the TRC commissioners who are able to come to our emergency meeting last Thursday. You passionately and pragmatically spoke to the importance of letting the TRC work through the issues surrounding Commissioner Ali for yourselves. I had a vote in mind walking into Thursday session and I voted differently at the end of it. Your perspectives mattered. And then you dove even deeper that night to work through your reactions, possible actions, and your responsibilities as individuals This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 45 and as a commission. TRC did its work, and now we're here to do ours. Over the course of learning about the events that brought us here, I've been thinking about several key premises brought up by the public, the commission and councilors. So many of them, punishment, forgiveness, responsibility, power, restoration, distinctions between public and private discourse, distinctions between dominant and intersectional discourses, intention and action. What I ultimately am focusing on right now is on respect and accountability. The and is important because of what all I listed above has been put into public conversation and comment as binaries, which effectively leave very little space for the complexity of the situation, and it casts people in clear cut roles. It's what feels natural to us. Who's the villain? Who's the victim? And it's so much more complex. It feels far more murky than that. And so ultimately, I go back to some truths about public life. We on council are called on by the public daily to be accountable for our actions and decisions. The creation of the TRC came from a resounding call for accountability by the public. It was also a call for respect and recognition of the issues faced by so many in the community. From watching and listening before I was on council and now eight months in on the council, what I'm acutely aware of is leaders must be consistent in their purpose. And they must be accountable for their actions because they impact further or hinder the work they are charged to do. Leadership is about stepping up and putting greater good at the forefront. Every single one of us in some kind of position of leadership, or even just in our daily lives, where trust and authority is invested in us. At some point, we get frustrated, we feel hurt, we feel angry, and we want to have our perspectives out there. We want to feel seen, we want to be felt. But as leaders, we also must decide what to do with those feelings and who we entrust with them. Purdy: We are not your servants. Could you be any more condescending and arrogant. Male: Shut up, loser. Purdy: You're a servant, not a leader. Alter: We cannot disregard what. Purdy: We hired you. Alter: We cannot disregard what Amel Ali said, not when the purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is what we're talking about right now, is to speak to truth, to come to truth, to manifest respect of others, and to foster reconciliation. In order to do any of that work, there must be trust in the leadership. And yes, as leaders we are. There's a model of servant leadership which is putting others in front. [BACKGROUND] Sir, please let me finish. I'm not done yet. Purdy: We're not your servants. You're ours. Alter: There must be trust in the leadership which must be consistent in its focus and purpose. When Amel Ali's words, spoken from frustration or not dismissed a group of people who This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 46 are in as need and legitimate in terms of speaking their truth about systemic racist trauma, this imperils the work of the entire TRC. No group in the community should feel mistrust in the process that the TRC and Amel Ali have fought so hard to create. I know there are differing opinions about Commissioner Ali's presence on the TRC and here on council about that. But I am struck by these comments from a TRC member last Thursday. Quote, "A position of leadership is not something to be thrown around." And also from this meeting, ultimately, a leader asks herself, do I make this about me or do I look at the bigger picture? We are here because this entire situation became about individuals and this has hurt the greater good. I know that some restorative work is already beginning, and I know there must also be accountability. I do not at this point feel that the TRC is best served by a Amel Ali remaining on the commission at this time. Thomas: I'm gonna be very brief, that this has been truly an extraordinary outpouring of emotion and concerns. [BACKGROUND] My focus. Teague: If we can continue this- if we can continue this sensitive meeting, this is a very sensitive matter. I respectfully ask everyone in the public to allow this to continue. [BACKGROUND] Teague: If we can- if we can continue, I respectfully ask everybody to allow that. Thank you for allowing us. Please continue. Thomas: My- my focus has been primarily on the functioning of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. So I'm particularly keen on the- the observations and comments by the commissioners in their emphasis, which we heard repeatedly tonight on allowing them on those on the commission to do their work and their work which kind of pertains to the matter at hand here has to do with the notion of truth and reconciliation. So I was encouraged that since our last meeting, the- the commission had it- had their meeting last Thursday. It was a productive meeting. The work appears to be moving in a positive direction. And I would like that- that process to continue. I would like the Commission to be given the independence to decide among themselves what role Amel will have on that commission. But I think it's important that they have, as was mentioned, this notion of independence, a modicum of independence, is really critical to the function of the TRC with the emphasis on this particular matter, consistent with their own mission, which is a restorative justice. So that's kind of where I am with this. The outpouring of emotion was, actually made it harder for all of us, certainly for me to kind of process the personal aspects of this which I think are not really the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is the functioning of the TRC. And it has to model the actions pertaining to its you know its ability to meet its mission. So those are my thoughts. Amel: I just want to confirm something real quick. Teague: I'm sorry. This is for the council to have our deliberations respectfully. Amel: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 47 Teague: Thank you- thank you. All right. Council, please continue. Bergus: I've had conversations with most of you in the few days since the emergency meeting that was called on this topic. And John, I'm really grateful for what you just said that the larger issue is the functioning of this commission and it shouldn't be personal. Unfortunately, in this moment, we're here to make a again binary decision on removing a particular person from public service. I think it's very telling and all of the comments that I've heard tonight from my colleagues, the one-person has used the title Commissioner for Commissioner Amel Ali. And I've talked to you all in the last 10 days about the standard that we are applying, the standards that we hold people to when they are in the position of being a commissioner in this- in this community. The TRC has operated under more scrutiny than probably any other commission that's ever functioned in this city, particularly scrutiny from us. You all know, I care very much about process. I care about consistency. I care about people being able to watch what this body does and to know what to expect. And there's nothing about this that leaves me with those feelings. But I do think we have to very carefully consider the standards that we're applying here. It is- the subject matter of this commission is unprecedented for our community. It is so difficult and it is so serious and it is so heavy. And when I think about, well, what- how can processes or other commissions you know help inform my decision-making in this? I think, gosh, it would be really nice to have a recommendation from the commission itself as to what it thinks is appropriate in this situation. We do not have before us a recommendation for removal. And in fact, we have heard loud and clear from the TRC members that they want to address this. They took swift action after a very long day where many of them were here in the morning and then at their lengthy meeting that evening to remove Amel as chair, to remove that chair title and delegate her to sorry, relegate her to Commissioner. And I think that's impactful and serious and something we're not acknowledging in the context of the decision that we have in front of us today. We're talking about removing someone from public service who we all have said nice things about. We're talking about removing someone from public service who appears to have strong leadership skills despite the honestly tragic misstep of this- this podcast. And I just- I think about the harm that we're trying to address. There's the harm that that she has caused, and then there's the harm that we will cause. [BACKGROUND] I've heard some speculation from my colleagues this evening that they're worried about people feeling comfortable to come before the commission if she stays on the commission. I don't- that's not a concern that I've heard from anyone here. In fact, I've heard the opposite. I've heard the concern that if we take our battering ram to this personal issue and remove this person from public service, there are folks who will feel unsafe. They will feel unheard, they will feel unrepresented and that it will not be- it will cause a cascade of harm. The- the process that needs to be undertaken for the harm that that Amel has caused is not I mean, compare that to the harm that we will cause and what the reconciliation process that would be necessary to address the fact that we chose to exercise our power in a punitive way in the context of a commission that was appointed. And that has the mission and the purpose of restorative justice and transformative healing. In this very short time since our last meeting, very short time, we have seen the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 48 beginning. We heard that just now from the chair of the Commission Chastity Dillard on the beginning of this process and what can be healing. And if we step in now and we just say punishment is the only option, we will not allow that process to continue. And we have a choice, again, I've said this, I think publicly as well as to my colleagues here. I don't condone what was said on the podcast. It was immature, it was stupid. That doesn't mean she should be excised from public service. And voting no would be the morally right and only justifiable course of action. It doesn't mean we're saying that what she did was okay. It doesn't mean that we're saying people that who are harmed don't have really valid concerns. And I was so grateful to hear last Thursday evening, Chair Porter, your - your comments to the Commission and your willingness to be open and vulnerable there. And I think that kind of thing can continue. But we don't need to just say you're not worthy in the context of that process. Harmsen: [NOISE] I like decorum. Thank you to all of the people that reached out in one form or another via email, phone messages, speaking in these- in these meetings- series of meetings. Those of you that I've read all the emails, I have not had time to respond to them, there's just been too many and this timing has been too short, but thank you. Thank you to my- my fellow councilors for- for their words here tonight. When I came in, um, I was absolutely dedicated the idea of corning in with- with an open mind. I think it is- it is incumbent upon a public official to enter into this kind of a deliberation, um, and hear it from everybody before- before coming to a decision. So all of the voices here tonight have been so incredibly important. A couple of things I want to- I think I want to address, and- and what I'm about to say is not a criticism of, uh, the earlier council because it is- is fraught as the last few weeks have been, I'm very mindful of- of- of what it was like two years ago. But we are- I think there's a question of responsibility. Some people have mentioned like, do you guys want to be here sitting in judgment on this and it's not a matter of want or desire or wish, it's a matter of responsibility. This was designed as a city commission. Uh, we do have some responsibility for what goes on there, [NOISE] and we will be asked to fund initiatives and recommendations coming out of this commission. So I don't think we can- I don't think we can- we can absolve ourselves from that responsibility. I- I think that's something that I take personally, very- very important, and I'm sure that everybody else up here does too, if I could risk speaking for others up here. I think as we- I think too, with that, I think that some other points that may appear tonight about the- the desire to try and do something a little different with this commission to give it some more autonomy. Um, you know, I'm still- I have not reached a complete conclusion on- on- on that. But that's not really the question that we're here to decide tonight. I think one of the things that I too have been impressed by, I know when - when we were here less than two weeks ago, I had mentioned that my concern then and remains today the same concern, what is the mission of the TRC and what moves that forward as some of my other fellow council members have mentioned. And it seems pretty obvious that we're faced with bad choices, right? No matter what we do, uh, it is going to cause more harm. There's the ripple effect from the podcast is going to continue. However, having listened to the TRC meeting, uh, and seen some of the - and heard about some of the actions that have happened, I've been out of town while I was gone and coming back and- and hearing from the TRC members that they want a chance to address This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 49 this, uh, among themselves. And I think they have shown that they- in their actions the last meeting that they did- they are taking this seriously. So I think we actually have responsibility to deal with this as a council, I find myself thinking that maybe we need to see if they can- if they're going to give them a chance in some room to do it themselves. I would actually be considering even to leave- to sort of leave this idea, this question in advance, uh, because I think it's still needs to be answered. I would be willing and to accept some more time for the TRC and the community to see if this process actually can move forward, and if the TRC were to send us a recommendation as- as the Councilor had said too, that the TRC is asking us because they don't have the ability to remove somebody, I would take that very seriously as well. Uh, I would be- I would like to make a motion to table this, uh, give this process some time to work out, and if in a certain amount of time, I don't know if we want to set one of my council- fellow council members had an idea and its amount of time this hasn't moved forward, then we have to come back and deal with this. I don't think we can just give it an up or down vote and - and walk away. I think giving it space to happen. So- so I'd like to make a motion to table. Weiner: Second. Teague: [NOISE] The motion to table has been moved by Harmsen seconded by Weiner. Um, council discussion. Fruin: Mayor, I think the- the motion will need to have a duration or it can be indefinite and indefmite would mean that the council can direct it back at a certain time, but wouldn't have to. So either specify a- a duration of the deferral or an indefmite deferral. Weiner: Just an indefinite, but and then we have a choice if it. Teague: It is- well, and maybe we can- well, I think we need to have that at the start of the motion, so you - Alter: Sorry. I was going to comment. Harmsen: Sorry, Mr. Bruce. Teague: What is- what would be the duration of this motion? Alter: May I make a comment or no? Harmsen: Can I ask for an input? I mean, I'd be- I'd be willing to hear. Thomas: It seems indefinite to me. I think it will be hard for me. Teague: So maybe we'll go with comments and then we'll get the- where we're going to be. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 50 Harmsen: Is- is that appropriate to do? Goers: Sure. No, it's your motion. Teague: Okay. So w&11 do comments at this point. [NOISE] Alter: I just think that this is- I mean- I'm honestly I'm fine with this. Let's- let it play out as has been requested. I am extremely mindful of the fact that if we put a timeline on this, if we put a date, then that's going to feel very difficult, and, you know, and as has been mentioned, you know, you can't lay it out neatly and say on this week we do this and then everything's better and then we move to the next step. I do recognize that, but I also recognize that, um, I don't know, if we go indefinitely, I think that there just has to be a sense that- I'm concerned that we- we're going to get snake bit on that too. So as with many, many things in all of this, I don't see a very good solution, but I guess the lesser of them would be indefinite as opposed to a- a neat and square timeline. But I think that - there's a whole pitfall of us. How do we- how do we know that there's been healing, how do, you know, and then it becomes metrics and all these things that are not good to restorative progress. So anyway, I just wanted to put my concerns out there, but certainly I- I yield to- to sort of how the council's thinking is. Teague: So one of the questions, you know, I continue to ask myself is, you know, the restorative justice as a part of what the TRC plans to do. But that is not mutually exclusive and I think, I- you know, that's been a little entangled here. Uh, I think where, you know, if this should go forward, I really think that, uh, this Council should make a decision, um, wherever they feel that they should be, um, because we can always come back to this if we- I guess if we wanted to, but, um, where Amel Ali or Commissioner Amel Ali, thank you for that, and, um, is positioned is key. Um, and so if this was- if- if this is to pass with this Council, then, you know, the- the- what's been decided by the TRC members, we know they can't, um, vote to remove her, um, they voted to suspend her where she is still a TRC members. She's just not- she's suspended as chair and Chastity is acting as chair. But she is- she's still chair and she's just suspended. So how will she be interacting with the TRC commission? It- so- I- I just have a issue with how she's positioned. We can't- if we have the ability to suspend her, then I would have suggested that a long time ago, but we don't. Um, so I'm- I'm having issues with why we won't, you know, make a decision, whatever that will be, and then- and one last thing that I'll say is that I- I keep hearing, you know, that the TRC members, um, have- I think I didn't hear any TRC member that didn't say I would, you know, continue working with Amel, but I did hear some TRC members two specifically that said that, um, the essentially restorative justice does not say that someone cannot be removed from power. Um, there's two, I'll name them so that, uh, anybody can- can correct me if I'm wrong, Mohamed- commissioner Mohamed said it, as well as Commissioner Kevo Rivera said it. Um, and so I'm just confused as to, um, you know, why this Council don't think that, you know, this decision has been before us. We delayed it so that the TRC can have their deliberations and they did, they don't, you know, I think they did tell us that they're willing to work with her so as a commission. But I also heard them, you know, say, you- you know, kind of whatever This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 51 will be- some of them say whatever will be will be, we need to, you know, we- we will move on. I'm- I'm kind of bringing A to Z for some of the comments that I heard, but I- I really suggest that we, you know, make a decision today, and then, you know, we- we will definitely do the restorative process. It's already began, so that's where I am. Bergus: I think the motion that we're discussing is regarding tabling for or as far as having a set duration versus indefinite. Teague: Correct. Bergus: If we are going to table, it needs to be indefmite to allow the process to proceed as it will to unfold in the way that it can because healing has no timetable that- that we could dictate. Harmsen: I appreciate that. I do think there has to be some sort of like, okay, we do need to move forward with the TRC and with everything else. So I think one of the questions or things I would put forward to the members of the commission direction from at least my opinion, um, is, you know, we still want them to move forward with the other work of the TRC. This cannot take the center stage. Um, you know, they got proposals that they're working on and phases to come back to us, and that's, you know, that's gotta be key. Uh, again - and I- and I think the mayor brings up excellent points. Um, uh, you know, I find myself, uh, you know, from s- so many different perspectives. I mean, I, you know, I don't come into this thinking that the process is absolutely going to work, um, but I think I've been persuaded to let them try, um, if that makes any sense. So, um, we've heard a lot about the effects of restorative justice and what it can do. Um, I would like to see it actually do that, um, in this case. And I think giving them the breathing space to do that is what I think my intention is, um, but I think having it completely open-ended, um, you know, could- could be a problem too, because that- that gets back to questions of, you know, accountability and things like that. Just as a procedural question, if we were to say six months, could we not say, okay, we've seen signs of progress, but this is not finished yet, we still don't have enough to make a decision and extend past that or is that a, I mean, what's the? Goers: No. Uh, certainly Councilor to do that and it's your motions so that's, you know, it - assuming that Councilor Weiner agrees as I believe she was your second, uh, then you can certainly do that. I was just checking to see how far in advance we have council meetings scheduled. I see it's only through December 6th, so I'm not able to provide a specific date, which really would have been my preference, but if you were to say, uh, you know, the first meeting past six months, uh, we can certainly set it up in that fashion as well. Alter: I guess, Councilor Harmsen, that- that gets to sort of- it's like we're saying yes, we want you to do the process. I mean, either we're in for going on the process or we're not. And I feel like that's a little bit towards what Councilor Teague or Mayor Teague has said, as well as Councilor Bergus. If we actually say even six months, it seems like it's a long This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 52 time, but given the riffs and the work that actually now goes back years, to say how you do it, we're going to check in with you in six months to me feels actually like it's- it's contrary to the very thing in which we've finally arrived at this place to say, okay, we're gonna listen to the TRC members, we will table this so that they can work through this and then to say but check with us in six months. That's- that's actually where I was kind of stymied and feeling like we're asking two different things. We're asking for them to- to work within other commissions and whatnot to work within those kind of parameters where Council directs and says and then we need some check-in. But as has been pointed out, we're in uncharted waters here. So I guess like if we're gonna table it, let's end up letting them work through the process, but what I would also want absolutely as far as any kind of accountability is to see that there's progress on the work of the TRC. This is where I feel out- where I feel strongly that the work of the TRC cannot simply be internal and I realize that in order to be outward facing, it has to be- that work has to happen and it can serve as a model, but it cannot be the only thing that they do because then this is - yeah, so I'll just end there. But that's- that's where I see the problems in that. Taylor: I agree with Councilor Alter. I- I was sitting here wondering what- what kind of matrix are you going to look for in six months or nine months? What are we looking for? And I- I know we just received that document from them that they were also going to continue looking at. Weiner: You need to please stop. Taylor: Could you please be quiet? Weiner: You're done. You need to respect the body and staff. Taylor: You're just annoying. But anyway, okay all right, I'm going to get back to what I'm saying. [OVERLAPPING] Teague: If I can. Taylor: That the document that they gave us, uh, and- and Commissioner Ali and- and the other members of the TRC, uh, I was very impressed with it. It really showed progress in a lot of thought in- in your plans for continuing in the future. And I- I think are we going to use that as the matrix. And if they're going to bring us the final document on that, and is that what we would use it in six months If they haven't progressed towards that document or? Teague: Respectfully, this is Council. Thank you. Harmsen: Mr. Mayor, is this- is this appropriate time to- to pause for a second and reflect on the new council rules put into place. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 53 Teague: Yeah, so we can- we can- we can- we can do that. Um, what I would tell you is that in past council rules, uh, what I've chosen to do is to kinda just state what I've done, but we can't- um, this Council has stated that police involvement in- in our meetings will not take place, so all we can do is ignore at this point. Um, I can certainly ask at this point, I've given you plenty of warning, sir, to leave the meeting. Um, I've asked you several times to stop. So at this point, I will ask you to leave the meeting because you've been - you've did- you've been inappropriate during this time, okay? So what I would advise is just us to continue and- and try to do our best at continuing the discussion. Harmsen: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Pauline. You were still speaking. Taylor: Yeah. Harmsen: I didn't mean. Taylor: So I don't know whether people were able to hear what I was requesting is- is what kind of guidelines are we gonna follow then if we do that and if it's six months, is the progress along that- uh, that new form that they've provided us with and, you know, doing the community meetings and- and those kinds of things? So I mean, what- I don't understand what waiting six months or nine months would. Bergus: I don't know that it would be fair to- to kind of benchmark the whole commission's progress on this question of removing one person due to their speech. That seems like inappropriate kind of conflation to me. Taylor: That's what I was wondering. Weiner: And I guess I appreciate what you're saying. I sort of think the- in an odd way that we'll know it when we see- see it. Um, we- we've already seen include the- the commission talked about the details of moving forward on the budget at their last meeting. They- they explicitly addressed that in addition to other things. I have every confidence that they'll continue to address that and- and if we- if we table indefinitely, we do retain the ability to go back and say, hey, you haven't made any progress. However, I would argue that it's in there given the duration- the remaining duration of this ad hoc commission, I would argue that it's in, um, their own self -interests to continue expeditiously with the work that they have- they have detailed, present to us, come back to us again and present it, um, and- and continue with that because otherwise, it would- without further, um, extension, it would end next- mid the next June. So I would- I would just say that- that they're - they're responsible adults and I think they will continue this work and that we will see it before us again quite soon. Alter: So it sounds like. Harmsen: I think indefinitely, it sounds like and we could- if some new development happened, we can certainly come ask for that to be placed on the agenda at anytime, correct? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 54 Goers: Yes, that's correct. And, uh, Councilor Weiner, are you okay since you were the second with the indefmite one? Weiner: Yes. Goers: Okay. Harmsen: Thank you for that discussion. Teague: So along with that discussion, I- I just want to know, um, like, how do you envision Commissioner Ali positioned? Teague: The commissioner. Alter: Yeah. She's on the commission. Teague: So there is no limitations. There's no, I mean, I know that, right? She- there's. Teague: She's- she's like. [OVERLAPPING] She's not a commissioner yet until the TRC actually, uh, do their come together again. She- she's only been suspended as chair. Weiner: Right. Bergus: Yeah, she's still a commissioner. Weiner: Looks like Council were- were seven equals, right? Bergus: Yeah. Ali: I will never go back to my chair position until the restoration and process has finished. Teague: Okay, thank you- thank you. Ali: Um, I won't be assuming any leadership role until that process has been completed. Teague: Thank you- thank you. Weiner: I mean, as- as Councilor Harmsen said if the commission wish to come to council and say, we're at a point where we believe that- that- that- that Commissioner Ali cannot - cannot serve on this commission or cannot, and we would like Council to remove her, then I think we should consider it. Teague: Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 55 Weiner: And that to me would be the- the role of the commission. No, they can't remove people, but they could come to a conclusion on their own if things don't work, that- that it's- that it's not a productive relationship. Teague: I wanted to give a little clarification on the TRC meeting. I know that you were present in- in attendance and there was two things that were essentially discussed. One was, um, I'll use the word removal of, uh, Commissioner Ali, the chair- from chair. And then it was later suggested that it's suspended. So in their terminal- in- in their terminology suspension was only temporary. It- until they got back together. So, um, she's suspended as chair. The- the- the role of chair duties fall to, uh, the vice chair. I understand she introduced herself as chair, but the content, you know, the- the- the discussion that they had, it was- it went from removal as chair to suspension as chair. So I'm not sure what - what was stated that night, was suspension and so regardless, I- I think that's the side - that's a side issue at this point. We just heard, um, there won't be any um, uh, roles, but I do think that the- the commission need to- you know amongst themselves just make that distinction clarification amongst themselves. Um, if suspension meant that she's no longer chair, then I- I don't know that, um, that that was clear amongst what they were voting on in that moment. Um, again, um, I- I- I don't know that we should be coming back to this. Um, in the future, six months seems, um, or indefmite, seems indefinite. Um, but whatever the will of this, uh, Council is, I will be in line with I think all of you know that, so. So we- any further discussion? Harmsen: And again, I want to make clear I'm doing this because I no longer feel we're letting or- or- or- or, um, pushing our responsibilities onto the TRC. Um, you know, one of the things that I find- one of the things that I found to be very compelling were the members of the TRC that approached me and asked to do this as opposed to us saying we want to avoid this controversy and- and that was always one of the things that I- I would not- I would not agree with, you know, putting our responsibilities on somebody else and the TRC- the members that have spoken to me had made it very clear that they want to do this process. Uh, again, I don't have a presupposition it will succeed or it will fail. But I- I think they've convinced me to give them- let them have a shot at it so - Teague: Okay. Harmsen: -that's where I'm coming from, so - Teague: Any other comments? Bergus: Just to be clear, the motion on the floor is to table indefinitely. So we're voting on. Goers: That is my understanding of the ta- motion on the floor. Normally that'd be a voice vote, but if the mayor wishes to have a roll call that will - Teague: We'll do roll call This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 56 Goers: Are you ready for the vote, Mr. Mayor? Teague: Um, if no other comments, then roll call, please. [Roll Call] Motion passes 6-1. Um, any other- I- I wanna say thanks to everybody for being here, um, on this matter. I know that it's a- a very sensitive topic. Weiner: You need to accept correspondence or anything here we flipped on. Teague: Yeah, let's see. Can I get a motion to accept correspondence? Alter: So moved. Taylor: Second. Taylor. Teague: Moved by Alter, seconded by Taylor. All in favor say aye. Teague: Any oppose? Alter: Can we do something. Teague: Hearing nothing. Motion passes 7-0. Pierce: You're gonna avoid civil rights lawsuits, if it is coming. And you know that we have all the evidence that we were discriminated against. Teague: We're given just a moment for people to continue. [OVERLAPPING] Pierce: Just stop that shit. Purdy: Well, you put a restraining order on me going downtown, now too, I can't go downtown? What next? No trespassing etc, no bread. Teague: So we're gonna continue with our meeting we're- we're at Item Number 19, announcements of vacancies. Pierce: You know we have the evidence. Goers: Seventeen, I think Mr. Mayor? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 57 17. Council Appointments 17.a. Public Art Advisory Committee Teague: Yeah. Oh, wait a minute- wait a minute. I went too far. Yes. All right. We're at Item Number 17 which is council appointments. Applicants must reside in Iowa City and be 18 years of age, unless specific qualifications are stated. 17.a is Public Art Advisory Committee. Public Art Advisory Committee: One vacancy to fill an expired term, effective upon appointment through December 31st, 2023. And we can go ahead and have, um, we'll have discussions at this point. Taylor: I think this is kind of a no-brainer. There's, uh, no gender preference on this and there was one application and- and she, uh, fit the, uh, art design at at large position. Um, I think I need a young, uh, so I would, uh, move that we appoint her. Weiner: She looked qualified. Teague: All right. I'm seeing heads shaking. So, um, could I get a motion to appoint Anita Young to the Public Art Advisory Committee? Taylor: So moved. . Teague: For the at -large position. Mob - Alter: Second. Teague: All right. So moved by Taylor, seconded by Alter [OVERLAPPING]. Bergus: I don't think- I'm so sorry. I don't know that that was the application we had in the packet, Harmsen: But- Sorry, [OVERLAPPING] I couldn't hear. What name did you say? Bergus: I heard Anita Young. Taylor: I don't have my packet open here to on my paper and - Goers: Jenny Gringer appears to be the only applicant for this position. Fruehling: Yeah, [OVERLAPPING] Anita Young was mentioned in the comment, that was the previous applicant you had appointed for an at -large position, but she also qualifies for an art- art or design professional. So we're kind of flipping her into that position since we had someone who could fill the at -large. And we had had a hard time getting applicants for this. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 58 Taylor: Okay. I'm sorry. I apologize. I read the wrong email [OVERLAPPING]. Fruehling: Yeah. Anita Young was mentioned in the comment. Weiner: It's Jenny Gringer. Taylor: Je- oh, yeah. Okay. Bergus: Thank you for that clarification. Taylor: I withdraw my motion and change it to - Teague: So you want to change your motion? Taylor: Yes. What's her name again? Weiner: Jenny Gringer. Taylor: Jenny Gringer as the at -large. Taylor: Moved by Taylor. Weiner: Second. Teague: Second by Weiner. Any further discussion [OVERLAPPING]? All in favor say aye. Teague: Any oppose motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 59 20. City Council Information: Harmsen: Yes, Mr. Mayor, I actually do want to share. Um, we talked earlier in this -earlier this year about the documentary, A Decent Home, which was about the, um, the issue with investors, uh, predatory investors buying up mobile home courts, something that we've become all too familiar in our community. The Decent Home is actually gonna have some additional screenings in Iowa. Um, there was some at the FilrScene here back in June, I believe. Just to kind of- to just run through these real- real quickly. There'll be one, uh, in North Liberty this Saturday on August 20th, um, at the library, the North Li - Liberty Library at 1:00 PM. There'll be- this other local there'll be some local one. There's some in Dubuque, some out in other parts of the state, will also be another one back here in Iowa City again, on Tuesday, August 23rd. So I think that's a week from today. If I- I'm still capable of doing that math in my head um, at 5:30 PM at the U of I Center for Human Rights in the Boyd Law Building. Um, and then there'll be one on August 26th, Friday, August 26th at the UI- Iowa State Extension Building. That should be two showings at 1:00 PM and at 7:00 PM,um, here in Iowa City. So people that didn't get a chance to this is -these are free. Um, people that did not get a chance to see this documentary before, additional opportunities to do so. I highly encourage anyone who hasn't seen it, uh, to take some time to see that because I think it really does lend itself to a deeper understanding of the issues that not only the residents of these mobile home courts face, but also the- the challenges and the way that it hurts the entire community. Not only do we have loved ones, uh, who might be directly affected, but that's an important part of the affordable housing mix of any community. And when somebody comes in and makes that unaffordable for their own profit, it hurts all of us, uh, you know, in a very real way. So- so hopefully, um, people get a chance to,uh, take a look at some of those times and see that film. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022. Page 60 21. Report on Items from City Staff: Teague: All right, we're gonna go to Item 21, which is reports on items from City staff, we'll start with our City Manager's office. Fruin: Nothing tonight. Thank you. Teague: City Attorney? Goers: I will shamelessly plug a job opening in my office. As I've- I think indicated previously, our dear Administrative Secretary, to our great chagrin, is retiring, which she well deserves. Uh, we just posted today that position which will be open for applications until the 26th, 10 days from today. So I hope that if anyone is interested, they apply through IC gov or contact our office so they can find out more. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. City Clerk? Fruehling: Nothing from me. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 16, 2022.