HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-04 Transcription Page 1
Council Present: Alter,Bergus,Dunn,Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas
Staff Present: From,Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling,Knoche,Havel, Sovers,Van Dyke,
Liston, Sitzman,Laverman
Others Present: Zeimet,USG Liaison,LeFevre,USG Alternate Liaison
1. Call to Order:
Teague: All right. Well, welcome everyone. And to everyone that is,uh, look- looking on
virtually welcome to you as well. We are taking some precautions due to the weather.
Pending weather warnings and we just wanted to make sure that we kept everyone as safe
as possible.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular
formal meeting of April 4,2023.
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2. Proclomations
2.a. Arab American Heritage Month
2.b. Fair Housing Month
2.c. National Community Development Week
Teague: We're going to move on to item number 2,proclamations, and I just wanted to na-note
that,uh,we're going to defer 2a,um,until April 18th meeting. We're going to,um,meet
with 2b and 2c at a later date to accept those proclamations.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular
formal meeting of April 4,2023.
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3.-8. Consent Calendar
Teague: Can I get a motion to approve the consent calendar items 3 through 8.
Dunn: So moved,Dunn.
Teague: And we're going to rem- and we're going to do a separate consideration for item number
6d. Can I get a motion,please?
Alter: So moved,Alter.
Dunn: Second Dunn.
Teague: Moved by Alter, second by Dunn. Anyone from the public like to discuss this topic?
And if you are online,please raise your hand and I will acknowledge you. And this is for
any item that is on our consent agenda.There is one. All right. Welcome,please state your
name and city you live in.
Fruehling: It's Taylor Caton.
Teague: Welcome, Taylor. Taylor, can you hear us?You can speak at this time. Okay. We just
want to make sure that we can try to navigate the opportunity for the public to actually
chime in [inaudible]. Got it. Welcome, Taylor. Sorry. We can't hear Taylor, but I can tell
that the mic,um,her-their mic is on. So we're just going to take a minute to deal with
some technical challenges. So please hold on, Taylor. I'll let you know when we think
we're good to go.Try again. All right, Taylor we're going to have you try again.
Welcome.
Caton: Hello. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes,we can hear you now.
Caton: Hi. My name is Taylor Caton and,uh, I am a student at the University of Iowa City, or I
am a student at the University of Iowa. Um, I live in Iowa City and I would love to talk
about,uh, Councilor Bergus' motion to amend the budget.
Teague: Yeah, Taylor,um,that-that item will come up a little later, and I-you'll have that
opportunity at that point.Now is an opportunity to talk about any,um, item that is in our
consent agenda with a con- separate consideration for 6d. Welcome,Noah. I see Noah's
hand raised,welcome.
Petersen: Hello, can you hear me?
Teague: Yes we can hear you.
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Petersen: I just want to let you know that you're having some really bad audio problems. Like
your voice is echoing over and over and over again. So I don't know if you all are aware
of that and there's no chat enabled so I couldn't let you know on here, I just want to let
you know that you're having audio problems still.
Teague: Thank you. I think what we're going to do is take a little break and we're going to come
back and make sure that we can get this fixed. So we're going to take a quick recess.
Goers: We should probably say how long it'll be so folks can,uh, log back in or- or- or Zoom
back in. Do we want to say 10 minutes or what's your-what's your thought,Mr. Mayor?
Teague: Um,we can- let's do 10, so that will allow staff time to run around.
Goers: All right. Excellent. Thank you.
Teague: All right. So let's- so we'll- let's say 6:15. That'd be,um,nine minutes 6:15.
Teague: So I just want to restate that we'll be continuing to try to figure out our technical
difficulties and hopefully by-we-we'll check in at 6:25. So I think we are good to resume
our meeting. It is 6:25, and we had just had a motion to approve the consent calendar and
we were getting public comments from anyone that wanted to speak on any item that is
within our consent calendar. So if you are present,please raise your hand if you want to
make any comments about our consent calendar at this time. Seeing no hands raised
online, Council discussion. [Roll Call]. Motion passes 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular
formal meeting of April 4,2023.
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6.d. Loan Agreement and Downtown District- Resolution approving a loan
agreement with the Iowa City Downtown District to improve an alley.
Teague: We're going to allow councilor Bergus to excuse herself. Can I get a motion to approve
consent agenda Item 6d?
Taylor: So moved, Taylor.
Dunn: Second. Dunn.
Teague: All right, and anyone from the public like to address this topic, 6d? I wanted to just
clarify, or just note that 6d is the loan agreement with the Downtown District. Anyone
from the public like to address this topic? Seeing no hands raised--and if you are on,um,
if you are not on Zoom and you're on a- on a dial-in phone,you would press star nine to
raise your hand. And I don't see anyone on a dial-in phone at this time. Council
discussion?Roll-call,please. [Roll Call] All right. Motion passes 6-0 with one recusal
from Bergus.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular
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9. Community Comment
Teague: We're gonna,um,move on to item number 8,which is,um- I'm sorry, item number 9,
which is our Community Comment. This is an opportunity for anyone in the community
that wishes to speak on an item that is not on our agenda at all. And individuals will be
allowed up to three minutes to speak. And if you raise your hand at this time, I will call
upon you. And I'm gonna welcome,uh, and sorry if I pronounce the name wrong,uh,
Suhi. Welcome.
Heller: Hi. Are you talking to me?
Teague: Yes.
Heller: Okay. My name is Sophie Benegas.
Teague: Welcome. And what city are you from?
Heller: I'm from Iowa City.
Teague: Welcome.
Heller: Thank you. Um, I wanted to speak with you all about,uh, Councilwoman Bergus'
amendment to the general budget?
Teague: Yes. And actually,that is-that is coming up on our agenda. That is an item on our
agenda and that'll be l lb. And so I'll invite you back at that time to speak on that item.
Heller: Okay. Thank you.
Teague: You're welcome. Seeing no other hands raised for speaking on items that are not- I'm
sorry, I see two now. I'm gonna welcome Noah, followed by Dan. Welcome.
Petersen: Hello. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes.
Petersen: Hello. My name is Noah [inaudible]. I do have a question for you,Bruce. Bruce do you
recall at the Capitol Building where I spoke to you and asked-
Teague: [OVERLAPPING] What city are you from,please?
Petersen: What city am I from?
Teague: Yes.
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Petersen: Uh, I'm from Newton originally since you asked.
Teague: Great.
Petersen: So my question for you is, so you remember meeting me at the [inaudible] meeting,but
seeing you at the Capitol building and I asked you what you would do to [inaudible]
housing?And you told me nothing. I just wanna know if you still stand by that statement.
Thi- This is a question to you,Bruce.
Teague: This is an opportunity for you to speak to the Council on items that are not on the
agenda.
Petersen: Right. I just wanted to know if you stand by your statement that you will do nothing to
ensure [inaudible] housing. Any response or you just- okay. Seeing no response in all of
this. I just wanna reiterate that we have now gone at least three winters in a row without
having- at the start of winter without having emergency shelter available for- for the
houseless community. I think that's really sad and the the City should actively do
something about that to ensure people have housing, especially the marginalized. And I'm
done with this section.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Dan.
Katalinich: Can you hear me now?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Katalinich: Oh,thank you for- for providing a safe forum, ah, in this fashion, ah, so that we can
contribute if we desire. My name is Dan Katalinich from 418 Fifth Avenue in Iowa City.
I'm here with you tonight speaking in support of the need to preserve the current design,
layout and configuration of our beloved,uh,main pool at- at City Park. um, I'm hoping
that the recent requests for qualifications recently passed by Council will bring the third
iteration of,uh,highly paid consultants who will actually be able to-to solve the riddle of
our pool leak. Um,And I hope, ah, even more strongly that leadership will listen to the
unanimous recommendation of our own Historic Preservation Commission to, "Pursue
updates and repairs,not an entirely new design" for City Park Pool. A broad spectrum of
the community has spoken loudly in support of City Park Pool and its current design.
Furtive attempts to slow-walk the parks and rec master plan toward a replication of
Coralville's Aquatic Center are unwanted. We have our own identity in Iowa City,the
birthplace of the butterfly stroke and also home to the formerly largest indoor pool in the
world,uh,the soon to be going,uh, out of commission Fieldhouse Pool. If some leaders
wish to cast themselves as entrepreneurs out to compete with North Liberty and
Coralville, let them do so with their own money,not capital, derived from the citizens of
Iowa City. Lastly, I would like to remind you all that it was a tragic death of a little boy
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in the Iowa River, in, uh- in the eyesight of upper City Park that catalyzed the citizens to
construct City Park Pool, the fust pool constructed by the citizens of Iowa City. And it
was driven by a desire for water safety and that has to continue to be our passion and our
mission. Yet, in spite of direction from former Coach Don Spellman of our city, excuse
me, city affiliates, Iowa City Eels Swim Club,uh that the USA Swimming Foundation
had renewable grants for swim lessons for minority communities. Uh, leadership failed to
act on that information and bring those funds to the City for the purpose of providing
lessons for vulnerable populations. Our city has become more diverse and this more
diverse population drowns at a rate three times the general population. The essential
format of City Park Pool has served Iowa City well-
Teague: [OVERLAPPING] Thank you. Your time has expired. [OVERLAPPING] Thank you.
Thank you. Anyone else like to give a comment during public comment time on items
that are not on our agenda. Please raise your hand at this time. Welcome,Harry.
Manaligod: Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes. Please state your name and the city you're from. Welcome.
Manaligod: My name is Harry Monaligod and I'm from Iowa City, Iowa. I'm calling on Mayor
Bruce Teague and all City Councilors to not use the Iowa City Police Department to
enforce Senate File 482,the bathroom bill, or Senate File 538,which prohibits gender
affirming care for minors. Flying a trans flag outside City Hall is not enough for young
trans people in Iowa City. With ICPD under your discretion,you all have the power to
either affirm and support trans youth in our town, or to criminalized and traumatize them
in a time when their lives are truly at risk, whether due to violence or suicide. Many of
you cited social justice as a reason you wanted to represent on Council. You believed that
Council was an effective tool to create social change and protect depressed people in our
community. This is a vital time to protect trans and gender nonconforming residents. And
you each currently have more power than any of us here. Use that power to protect and
keep ICPD away from trans youth. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address an item that is not on our agenda. Please raise
your hand. Seeing no one.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular
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10. Planning& Zoning Items
10.a.Rezoning-JJR Davis Second Addition and JJR Davis Fourth Addition
Subdivisions located between Mormon Trek Blvd. and Dane Rd. SE - Ordinance
rezoning approximately 13.00 acres of property located within the JJR Davis
Second Addition and JJR Davis Fourth Addition Subdivisions and between
Mormon Trek Blvd. and Dane Rd. SE from Commercial Office Zone(CO-1)to
Intensive Commercial Zone(CI-1) (REZ23-0002).
Teague: We're gonna move on to Item number 10a,Planning and Zoning Matters. 10a is JJR
Davis Second Addition and JJR Davis Fourth Addition Subdivisions located between
Mormon Trek Boulevard and Dane Road Southeast. And I'm gonna open up the public
hearing and we're gonna get comments from our staff,Danielle. Welcome.
1. Public Hearing
Sitzman: Thank you,Mayor. This is Danielle Sitzman. I do need the ability to share a screen if
you'd like me to use the slides tonight. Uh,host is disabled at the moment.
Fruehling: Upgrading her [inaudible]
Teague: We're gonna transition you over to a panelist, so just one second.
Sitzman: Great. It looks like I have the ability now, let me get this shared-
Teague: Great.
Sitzman: -and started and available to me. Okay. I think we're ready. Can everyone hear me
okay?
Bergus: Yes.
Sitzman: Okay. Great. So the fust agenda item tonight,uh, is 10a, a rezoning. As the Mayor
stated,this is a rezoning for an area located here on this slide, outlined in white. The area
is southeast of Highway 1, east of Mormon Trek, and west of Dane S.E. The request is
coming tonight from MMS Consultants on behalf of Billion Auto and the property
owners listed in the staff report. The request is to rezone the property from Commercial
Office Zone (CO-1)to Intensive Commercial(CI-1). It's approximately 13 acres in- in
size. The proposed rezoning does not,uh,because there's an eminent development
proposal at this time as part of this rezoning. This shows the current zoning of the land,
uh,the pink is the (CO-1). On the next slide you can see a little bit larger view of the
neighborhood showing,uh, surrounding (CI-1) in gray as well. To the north,there's a
blue area,that's P1 zone,that's the City of Iowa City's Airport. And then if you look a
little further to the east where you don't see a color overlay,those are areas that are not
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located in the City of Iowa City. So that is Johnson County,uh,unincorporated and
would be a- a county zoning at this time. So there are parts of this neighborhood that are
in the City and-but it is contiguous, or touching,uh,the county unincorporated area. A
little bit of background. Um, I'll bring in this next slide which overlays on top of all of
that,the subdivision process that's occurred, and labels for the subdivision in this
neighborhood and just give you a little bit of background on the history of this land,um,
over time. So originally there was an annexation request by John Dane for land,uh,to be
annexed into the City. That was in 2001. That annexation was deferred at the time
because the land was not touching,uh, a border with the City of Iowa City and therefore
cannot be rezoned. Um,there was a comprehensive [inaudible] to include,um, intensive
commercial office uses to the future land use map for this area in 2003, and then a
subsequent annexation re-request and the City zoning. The Dane proposal from 2001 was
included in that 2003 annexation and rezoning, along with a lot more land.
Approximately 150 acres was annexed in that 2003 annexation and that included a lot of
the land,uh,north and south of Highway 1 in this area,west of the airport, including the
Hargrave-Mceleney property,the Berg Auto Sales property,Rocks Roadhouse, if anyone
remembers that,um,the John Dane and Davis properties and the western portion of the
Iowa City Airport which was not in the city limits at that time. Following that 2003
annexation and rezoning,there was a preliminary plat,which is the JJR Davis Second
Addition shown here that was conducted in 2005. That was for four commercial lots and
an Outlet A for future redevelopment and stormwater control. Then there was a special
exception to allow PIP Printing to expand. PIP Printing is at 2650 here on this map at
Mormon Trek, allowing them to expand the square footage of their light manufacturing
above the--at the tune—a limit of 5,000 square feet. There was a site plan for PIP and a
building permit for PIP issued in 2005 and 2006 for their construction. Um, subsequent to
that, Iowa City did purchase land on the west end of the east-west runway. So what's now
shown in that blue was purchased by the City of Iowa City. Iowa City also invested
approximately $7 million in 2000- sometime between 2003 and 2006. I don't have the
exact date,but for the extension of Mormon Trek Boulevard. City invested in the
extention of Mormon Trek Boulevard in this neighborhood. The City also did change the
zoning code to remove office uses-uses as being allowable in the (CI-1)zone. That was
done in 2006. Then there was a final plat to sub-divide Outlet A JRR Davis second into
four more lots, and that's what's labeled here as JRR Fourth Addition. Then there was a
rezoning request in 2007 to rezone the (CI-1)zone back to (CO-1). Um,that was actually
instead of the original request,that was the outcome of that re-rezoning,but the original
request was actually to rezone it to um,uh, another commercial district, (CC-2).
Unfortunately,that request when it came in for(CC-2),would have made PIP printing
non-conforming. So through that rezoning process,the determination was that(CO-1)
was actually a more appropriate zone at that time to allow for, um,the owner of the land
to,uh, look into additional possible development but not make PIP Printing non-
conforming. PIP printing was also designated a personal service use in 2007. Then again,
in 2013 and bear with me, I'm almost done,the City of Iowa City again changed their
zoning code,which happens periodically. You see zoning code changes come before you.
In 2013,the City's zoning code added office uses back into (CI-1)zones. Rather than-
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and that was done at the advice of an ad hoc committee that was convened,uh, a group of
development professionals in response to the uh, circumstances that were happening to
cause a lot of properties to flip back and forth between (CC-2), and (CI-1). The Ad Hoc
Committee recommended changing the mix of uses allowed to (CI-1) so that those
rezonings would not be required. So a little bit of history,back history on this property.
This is included in the slide, so I'll come back up at the end of my presentation again. So
if anybody needs a refresher, on that slide is the history of this property. So before you
tonight is a rezoning. The request is to go from the existing commercial office (CO-1)to
an intensive commercial. So similar to what was shown in gray in the other areas of the
map earlier. The (CO-1) is intended to provide specific areas were office functions and
compatible businesses with offices and some residential uses are allowed. The (CI-1)
zone currently, as is formulated, is more to provide areas for sales and service functions
that may include outdoor display and storage of merchandise,but not necessarily only
that. As I mentioned,we've amended our zoning code to allow more uses and (CI-1) like
office. This is a table comparing them side-by-side. The yellow highlighted sections of
this table show where they differ most prominently. Um,there are some things that are
just simply not allowed in commercial office and that are allowed in (CI-1). Vice versa,
the residential uses that are allowed in commercial office are largely not allowed in
intensive commercial. So this highlights the differences between those two districts. And
as you can see,the largest section of this table,um,really focuses the more intensive
manufacturing uses, as well as kind of the outdoor,uh, display and storage type uses to
being what's allowed in intensive commercial,but there are many areas of overlap.Um-
There are some differences. In the waste site development standards address uses in these
different uh zoning districts. This is a list of site development standards that are reviewed
at the time of site plan. So things like on-street parking,what kinds of signs are allowed
in each - in each district, access management,meaning driveways, intersection visibility
is reviewed, landscaping and trees, screening and buffering, outdoor lighting standards,
performance standards for things like noise or odor,vibration. The City's sensitive areas,
uh floodplain management and open space requirements are all parts of a site
development review that are conducted at that staff review of a site plan. These standards
don't necessarily uh align with zoning districts. They are more about the actual specific
use. So zoning district might allow many uses, like you can see in this table,but only
some of the uses in that zone would have specific, say, screening or lighting codes
applied to them. Or they might apply differently depending on the actual development of
the site. So that's to say that, for example, in outdoor lighting,that one does align with
zoning districts. So you can see the difference between The maximum allowed lighting
levels in those two zoning districts. But when it comes to other standards in those site
developments uh section like screening,they have to do with the actual use. So if you're
in (CI-1)zone,but you don't actually have any outdoor storage as part of your use,the
screening requirements section wouldn't be triggered. So screening would be specific to
the actual physical layout of your site where your building-you choose to lay out your
building if you have outdoor storage where you're placing that on your lot in relation to-
to your building. And then the appropriate use of screening is does - is described in those
in those site development standards. So that's separate from zoning,but somewhat
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related. So back to this rezoning request,we have two standards that we always do
review for rezonings. The fust being consistency with the comprehensive plan. The
proposed zoning is consistent with the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan
points to the South District - South Central District plan. And the South District Central
Plan was developed to really support the airport as a key feature of the City and to ensure
that there's appropriate mix of commercial office and intensive uses around the airport.
Also looking at compatibility with existing neighborhood character. The neighborhood
character, again, as expressed in the South Central District plan was really for a mix of uh
commercial uses. Over time Highway 1 has seen different pressures or interests for
development, depending on strip development, or office development or large outdoor
development, and a suspension. There's no specific development proposed at this time.
This would just be allowing for the mix of uses that the Comprehensive Plan does say are
appropriate for this future land - in the future land-use map for this area. So as far as the
next steps, again,this is a slide showing the key moments of the history of this property.
Highlighted in blue is this rezoning, as I mentioned,rezoning it back to a zoning district
which are just held before,which -which now does allow a slightly different mix of uses
than at the time that it was previously zoned in the early 2000s. The Planning and Zoning
Commission didn't review this and based on the relevant staff-relevant criteria, staff did
recommend approval. That approval was upheld by the Planning and Zoning
Commission. They were recommending approval tonight. There was a condition at the
Planning and Zoning Commission described for this property. However, further research
into the land records revealed that the -that the dedication of right-of-way was not
needed. So there is no condition on this rezoning as it comes before you tonight. And that
concludes my staff report and I'm happy to answer questions.
Teague: Any questions for Danielle? Hearing none,we're going to open up opportunities for the
public to discuss this topic. So please raise your hand if you want to comment on this
topic.Welcome William. Followed by Dennis. Welcome. And I'm gonna request that
before we actually uh open up public comment, everyone that wants to address this topic,
if you can raise your hand at this time so that I can take a count. I see 13 individuals who
wish to talk on this topic. We're gonna, I see 14, 16, 17. Anyone else wish to raise their
hand to talk on this topic? I'm gonna allow for two minutes from each individual to talk
on this topic. And I'm gonna ask that you state your,um,your name and the city you're
from. And I'm going to welcome William, followed by Dennis. Welcome.
Kohler: Hello. My name is William Kohler and I'm from Iowa City. I also represent the Iowa
Natural Heritage Foundation. If you don't know who we are-we're a non-profit land trust
in Iowa that focuses on helping to conserve Iowa's land,water, and wildlife. One of the
adjacent properties landowner, George Dane, approached us about 20 years ago with a
vision of using his land to create a park, eventually for the City of Iowa City, for people
to be able to recreate -recreate and we were excited to become partners on that idea. This
plan was supposed to be quite far into the future with his family being able to use that
property for a while. But as you know,that area has grown up considerably. And our
organization is realizing that we need to be able to work with the City of Iowa City Parks
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and Recreation Department and the Planning Department to be able to work on future
plans for a potential park in that area as well as other areas in the city. We would prefer
the zoning status would stay commercial rather than industrial because it's more
compatible with the idea of a future park in that area. We feel like that would be
beneficial for the public and for people to recreate. And at the same time,we'd like the
City Council to give direction to Parks-the Parks Department and the Planning staff to
work with Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation regarding this property and potentially
other parks within the City for opportunities in the short term and hopefully the long term
for better uh recreation within Iowa City.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Dennis, followed by David.
Mitchell: Good evening,Mayor Teague, and members of the City Council. My name is Dennis
Mitchell. I am a trust officer at MidWestOne Bank which is located in Iowa City. The
bank is trustee of the George R. Dane Family Trust, and one of the assets owned by the
trust is approximately 17.5 acres of land,uh, located at 4120 Dane Road,which is just
east of the property,uh,proposed to be rezoned from commercial office to intensive
commercial. This parcel of land has- is up on the top of a hill,has just absolutely
gorgeous views,they overlook the City. George Dane,when he drafted this trust, felt
strongly that the community should have the opportunity to use and enjoy this land that
he and his family felt so fortunate to own. Uh, for this reason,he irrevocably provided in
his trust for this land to be donated for a park and recreation area. Uh,the 17.5 acres,uh,
will be a parks and recreation area at a future date. The terms of the trust do allow certain
children and grandchildren of George's,uh,to lease,the 17.5 acres,under specified
conditions. Uh,but once there are no longer qualified family members that are leasing
this property,the trust provides that it shall be donated for a park and recreation area and
for what- for what it's worth,uh, I would share that when the current person occupying
the premises,um, leaves the property or no longer leases it, odds are that there likely are
not going to be any other family members that will want to lease it. And so at that point
in time is when it would be donated for parks and recreation use. So although the land
will initially be donated...
Teague: Thank you-thank you. We'll move on to David, followed by Rod. Welcome,David.
Fruehling: Mayor,David is part of the development team.
Teague: Okay. Alright. So David is a part of the development team. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that
he was going to speak earlier, so David,you will not have a time clock. Welcome.
Larson: Uh,thank you very much. I'm David Larson at 277 Hickory Street, Kalona, Iowa. I live
out in the country and just wanted to, on the behalf of PIP Printing. I think they're
probably-they're on here too, and will say something in regard to-to uh,what their
feelings are in regard to this. I'm speaking on behalf of the Davis family who are
currently out of town and are definitely in approval and have a part of this land that's
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currently,we're talking about. I'm also talking in regard to the Shottenkirk Company who
had purchased this property and uh- and now feel the need to uh, sell it. Also, I'm talking
on behalf of the John Dane family,which is George Dane's brother,who is passed-who
has passed away. And John Dane as well. And their family has approved, and their house,
John's house, is straight uh, east of the land that we're talking about. So they, uh, actually
are in a probably more direct path to their view than the George Dane family. So they are
in approval of this as well. So we did originally, as I think was said,was it was originally
(CI-1)zoned. and then when PIP came,uh, at that time, uh,the City staff thought it
would be better if they took office zone. So then we went back and changed the zone for
PIP to go in there. Well,now, since the other rezoning that had taken place in 2013, I
believe somebody said,uh,PIP does qualify to be in the (CI-1)zone. And it offers a
tremendous amount of more opportunity,uh,there with restaurants,banks, so forth and
so on. And you can read, in some of the information that was given to you by the staff. So
I also have an interest in the development. I was originally part of the development team
and do have an interest in it as well. So, uh,that's basically it. Any questions that you
might have? One of the problems with the (CO)zone currently,the market for,uh, office
buildings is not as great as- as the (CI-1)zone would be. People aren't building the offices
like they used to,people are working out at their homes, so it makes a little more
difficult. The marketability of a (CO)zone is not as great as the (CI)zone. So I think
that's it. If anybody has any questions, I'll be glad to- glad to answer them.
Teague: David, is there anyone else from the development team that wanted to speak before we
continue with public comment?
Larson: Um, I don't believe so other than PIP, but there-they would be part of the public. MMS,
I'm here in their stead.
Teague: Okay. Once we end this opportunity with any of the development team,then we will
not,um,have any more comments by the development team unless the Council asks
questions within their deliberations.
Larson: Sure- sure. What- am I off?
Teague: Any- any questions by Councilors?Hearing none. Thank you,David.
Larson: Okay.
Teague: We're going to reopen the public comment. Sorry. I wasn't aware that we had a
development representative here today,but we're going to continue with public comment.
We're going to welcome Rod, followed by Timothy. Please give your name and the City
you're from. Welcome.
Zeitler: Hi. This is Rob Zeitler. I'm from Iowa City. Um, Mayor Teague and City Council, thank
you for the opportunity to speak before you. I would like to voice my opposition to the
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rezoning application before you today. The Dane Family park will be a treasure for the
Iowa City community,providing gorgeous 360-degree view and large open spaces. The
future park is set in stone and the City will have the opportunity to run it as a city park.
The City Council should absolutely take this future park in consideration as it considers
the rezoning application before it today. The current(CO-1)zoning is more compatible
with the adjacent future park and provides buffer between the future park and intensive
commercial use further to the west and south. Buffers between different types of land
uses are paramount for good planning and zoning. The comprehensive and district plans
also emphasize the importance of such buffers. The City Council should deny the
rezoning application so that the buffer is not lost. Otherwise, the future park will be
negatively impacted by increased light and noise pollution, as well as litter and traffic.
Furthermore,both the comprehensive plan and the 2017's arts master plan emphasize the
need to proactively guide development around parks and open spaces and to ensure
lower-income areas have access to parks,preserving and protecting the future park will
be-will further these aspirations set forth in both plans. But the Planning and Zoning
Commission did not have the benefit of all this information now presented to you. And if
it did, it may have reached a different decision. I want to thank you for allowing me to
speak to the Council.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Timothy. Followed by Steve,please state your name and city
you're from.
Huey: Hi, I'm Timothy Huey. I live in Davenport,but I'm from the Quad Cities. Um, I'm retired
from Scott County as planning director there for 25 years,but I have,um,more than 30
years experience as a land-use planner. So I'm very familiar with this process, and I speak
on behalf of the Dane Family Trust. Zoning can accomplish many things,but the essence
of zoning is the separation of incompatible land uses,which I would point out is just what
you are faced with in this case. Zoning is also a balancing act of competing interest.
When does the public interest outweigh private property interest?What if what is good
for the community is not the best for the property owner? That is the decision you are
faced with here. Here we have a 17.5-acre future park currently outside the city limits,
adjacent to a developing commercial area and in the vicinity of a whole spectrum of land
uses, agricultural land,parks, a timber preserve,residential development,public facilities
such as the airport and the fairgrounds, intensive commercial and even some industrial.
This is obviously an area where the separation and buffering of incompatible land uses
should be carefully considered. The current pattern of development in this vicinity of this
rezoning already impacts this future park property. Bright lighting, congested on-street
parking and traffic are obvious negative impacts on a park use. The current zoning of the
subject property would allow an office use and such an office building would be a better
buffer between the park property and the car dealerships on the other side of Mormon
Trek Boulevard. Careful reading of the -both the Iowa City 2030 Cmp Plan and your
South Central District Plan show many provisions applicable to the current request and
all the future development in this area. Specific language of the district plan states buffer
areas-
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Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Steve. Followed by Emily.
Ballard: Good evening,Mayor Teague and Council members. My name is Steve Ballard. I live in
unincorporated Johnson County and I along with a colleague of mine,Alp Zora, lawyers
at the Leff Law Firm here in town,represent the George R. Dane Family Trust. We've
submitted written materials, and I won't attempt to summarize them all here, but I do
invite you to review those as carefully as you can. This particular 17.5 acres of land is
unique, and we-we strongly urge you to visit the property if you haven't done so. I knew
George for 30 years,mostly through church,been out to his property several times. And
what I'm saying is you really can't get a full flavor by driving by on Highway 1 or even
on Mormon Trek Boulevard. Uh,you stand out there and,you know,you think of the lay
of the land with the city and the airport being kind of depressed, I mean, in a lower- lower
elevation. But this hill gives you a remarkable-remarkable views. And it's- it's those
views, among other reasons,that made George Dane and Marjorie Dane great community
members, as were their brother and sister-in-law,John Dane and- and Allie Dane. But
anyway,that's what motivated George to-to want to commit this property in perpetuity
forever as a park. George Dane's commitment to the community,his-his involvement on
behalf of our country,we-we pointed those out in the materials. And I want to stress that
the reason we pointed those out is to give you a flavor of his background. George was a
lawyer,he was a trust officer, and he knew if he gave the property directly to the City,the
City could use it as a park, and if the City decided it didn't want to use it for a park
anymore, it didn't have to. That's why George elected the route that he elected to give it to
the Natural Heritage Foundation in perpetuity to be used as a park,with the fust criterion
being that this fust foundation has to-
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Emily. Followed by Larry. Please state your name,Emily, and
the city you're from.
Dane-Staple: Thank you very much. My name is Dr. Emily Dane-Staples and I'm currently a
resident of Fairport,New York, and I am the granddaughter of George Dane and a
member of his trust. I still consider Iowa City as a very important place in my life and a
place of significance to my entire family. Growing up, I learned the legacy of my
grandfather,what he has done for the city and its residents. I'm asking the Council today
to consider and to continue to honor his legacy and vote against the rezoning. Research
has consistently shown that employers and employees wish to be located near high-
quality park and recreation amenities. According to a 2022 survey of business executives,
82 percent indicated that quality of life is an important factor when they consider making
new facility expansion or relocation plans. A 2020 publication of The Journal of Leisure
Research found that mid-size companies prioritize quality of life and cultural amenities.
Rezoning to allow for more intensive commercial use would create a less desirable area
than what these individuals are seeking. If we want to keep Iowa City as a top choice for
new business and not just the current proposal from Billion,we need to be mindful of the
preferences of these key decin- decision-makers. These preferences encourage and desire
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green space to be part of the local comprehensive plans. Support for parks is something
that benefits all of us. From clean water to healthier air, trees and vegetation, it reduces
air pollen by removing pollutants. Given the proximity to other intensive commercial
sites,rezoning this land would significantly reduce the effectiveness of these explicit
health benefits to those working and who patronize these business areas. Parks promote
positive mental health, and by providing access to nature and encouraging physical
activity, it happens. Positive mental health is critical for a positive of quality of life. And
healthy residents help communities thrive. Preserving this park and the ability of
individuals to enjoy the park should matter to you because it matters to your constituents.
Ninety percent of US adults say that providing for parks and recreation is an important
government service. While I understand the attractiveness of the immediate influx of tax
revenue,this has made at the expense of the long-term quality for the entire county and
[OVERLAP] Iowa City.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Larry. Followed by Karen. Please state your name,Larry, and the
City you're from. You're on mute,Larry.
Ellingson: On mute. I'm sorry. Can you hear me now?
Yes. Welcome.
Ellingson: Yes. This is Larry Ellingson and I'm from Iowa City. Just recently,my wife and I had
the privilege of going up to this property and actually driving up to the Dane property and
observing exactly where this park was designed to be by him and what its purpose was.
And also from up on top there when you look around,you can see the encroachment,
significant encroachment of the auto industry and their lighting. And the philosophy is
when I-when I fust moved here at Iowa City, I moved by City Park and my daughter
loved that park. Even though it was near the University, it wasn't encumbered with a lot
of highly commercial properties,which is what the (Cl)rating does. I'd like to keep it
like it is. Danes- George Dane's whole purpose was to have this be used by all of us in
perpetuity. In other words, for generations and generations and generations. And I would
love to take my grandchildren to this property when it is a park and not have it be
surrounded by other facilities that aren't congenital with having a park. And that's what
I'd like to try and do. And I would really highly recommend everyone that is involved in
this decision-making process to go up to this park and look and observe and see what can
be versus what may be if- if you allow this to happen. I'm definitely opposed to this
change in-you know, changing it to the (Cl)And I would like to keep it like it is. And I
appreciate you listening to me. Thank you very much.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, George followed- oh sorry,Karen dropped away. We're going to
welcome George. And if Karen is there,please come back. Welcome, George.
Rickey: Good evening Mayor. My name is George Rickey. I'm from Iowa City. I'm going to hit
you fust with my two closing remarks and double back and get my point. One of them is-
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it's in Latin. It's called primum non nocere. And when you translate it,that is fust do no
harm. And that this is what we're asking you to do,no harm. And finally, from the old
Joni Mitchell song,Big Yellow Taxi, "don't it always seem to go that you don't know
what you got till it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." George Dane
provided the property in hopes that this would be a park enjoyed by generations of Iowa
City residents and visitors. I would ask that his wishes be honored and that this rezoning
request be denied. If the request is granted, it would greatly reduce the scenic nature of
the area and potentially replace it with a commercial enterprise with a lot of noise,bright
lights, and other detriments. There are many pleasant uses this land could provide when
featured as a port. So again, I ask that you deny this application. Thank you very much,
Mr. Mayor.
Teague: Thank you. And I just wanted to make sure that Karen Kubby or Emily Dane Young--if
you all wanted to speak,now would be the time. Once I close the public hearing,we will
not reopen it. I saw their hands raised and they are now gone. So I'm going to close the
public hearing. And we're going to go to- sorry about that. All right. Can I get a motion to
give fust consideration?
Alter: So moved Alter.
Bergus: Second Bergus.
Goers: I'm sorry,Mr. Mayor, if we can back up for just a moment. I think it is required that you
inquire whether there is a consensus. Yeah. Sorry about that before we close the public
hearing. Thank you.
Teague: Well, I've already closed the public hearing.
Goers: But you-you could reopen it at this point. That would be fine and then get that informal
consensus.
Teague: Okay. All right. I'm going to reopen the public hearing.Now since I've reopened the
public hearing, are any of those two individuals wanting to speak or anyone else? So,
David,you've already spoken,um, as the developer team. So,um,we're not going to go
back to allow that opportunity at this point. Anyone else from the public like to speak?
Seeing no one, and before I close the public hearing, I- I do see Emerson. I'm going to
allow Emerson to speak at this time. Welcome, give your name and the city you're from.
Klever: Hello,my name is Emerson Klever. I live in Iowa City. Um, I was just hearing, ah,that,
um, lots of our community members here want to keep a park open. Um, and, ah, I'd like
to,um, say that, ah,providing green space to communities,um, is, ah,hugely important,
um, for, ah, environmental justice in our community. I think if Iowa City wants to assert
itself,um, and align itself with sustainability and,um,resilience to climate change,that
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keeping green space is open would be hugely important. Um, and,um, I think that's all I
have to say. Thank you for, ah, giving me the opportunity to speak.
Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic before I close the public hearing?
Seeing no one,just want to ask the Councilors if they're inclined to support P&Z's
decision on this.
Alter: And their- in their recommendation just to make sure, so to clarify is to rezone it. That's
their...
2. Consider an Ordinance(First Consideration)
Teague: Correct. So yeah. So P&Z voted six to zero,um,to rezone this property. And so if we
are not,um, inclined to support P&Z, then, ah,just by a showing of majority not
supporting P&Z decision to approve this,then what we typically do is,um, not close the
public hearing. We allow for P&Z an opportunity to come before the Council and have a
joint discussion. At this time, I'm seeing that there's not enough support,um,to,um to-to
match P&Z's decision. So I'm going to ask for a motion to defer until,um, our next
meeting,which is April,um, 18th.
Dunn: So moved Dunn.
Taylor: Second Taylor.
Teague: Alright. Moved by Dunn, seconded by Taylor. Or, ah, and then we'll do a,um, a.
Goers: Roll call vote.
Teague: We're gonna do a roll call vote and roll call,please.
Alter: What-what is the vote? To defer?
Goers: Just to defer.
[OVERLAPPING] This is the vote to defer Council.
Teague: [ROLL CALL]. Motion passes 7-0. Can I get a motion to accept correspondence?
Dunn: So moved Dunn.
Taylor: Second, Taylor.
Teague: All in favor say aye.
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[OVERLAPPING] Aye.
Teague: Any opposed?Motion passes 7-0.
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10.b. Vacation and Conveyance of Right-of-Way - Ordinance vacating approximately
5,129 square feet of the Grand Avenue Court public right-of-way and authorizing
conveyance to the Board of Regents State of Iowa for the Use& Benefit of the
University of Iowa. (VAC23-00001)
Teague: Item number 10b is vacation and conveyance of right-of-way. Ordinance vacating
approximately 5,129 square feet of the Grand Avenue Court public right-of-way, and
authorizing conveyance to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa for the use and benefit of
the University of Iowa. I'm going to open up the public hearing, and I'm going to
welcome Danielle again.
1. Public Hearing
Sitzman: Thank you,Mayor. Ah,this is a request for vacation and conveyance of right-of-way
on Grand Avenue Court, shown here on the outline in white. Um,the application is for
approximately 5,000 square feet of the remainder of Grand Avenue Court, ah,to be, ah,
vacated and incorporated into the University of Iowa's planned redevelopment of this
area. The southern portion of Grand Area- Grand Avenue Court has already previously
been vacated. Ah,this shows the surrounding zoning, ah,which is largely public because
it is land owned by the Iowa State Board of Regents and use for the University of Iowa.
When we review a vacation, ah,there are several criteria that we do look at to make sure
that the impact of the vacation is, ah,not significant to the city and the land can be, ah,
released for other uses. In this case,we reviewed what is remaining on Grand Avenue
Court and what the City's interest in what that would be I have found that there's no
reason to continue to own, ah,this right-of-way for that purpose. Um,the impact to the
neighborhood would be minimal and there are alternate, ah, circulation, ah, ah,
circulation ways for pedestrians regardless of what,um,redevelopment may occur. Um,
there are some, ah, conditions, ah, associated with this, ah,vacation to ensure that until
such time as redevelopment occurs that there can be, ah, safe maintenance of, ah,things
that the city does provide, such as fire service. So those were incorporated into the, ah,
proposed, ah, approval that was, ah, ah,brought forward to Planning and Zoning
Commission. So as I said, I've mentioned,based on that-the review of relevant criteria,
cre- staff did recommend vacation. Ah,the Planning and Zoning Commission at their
March 1st meeting also concurred with that and voted 6-0 to, ah, ah, support the vacation,
retaining the access easements for fire and emergency protection and utilities as all- are
all things that can be done outside of this approval. So, for example, if the University's
plans for demolition were to progress to the point where we no longer needed to secure
those easements,that can be negotiated outside of this agreement. So,um,that is it for
staff report, and I believe the applicant, ah, is available on, ah,this evenings Zoom call,
and may want to address you as well.
Teague: Great. Thank you. Any questions for, ah, staff? So now,we're gonna invite David, ah,
who is representing the U of I who was the applicant and developer. Welcome,David.
You're on mute.
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Kieft: Ah, good evening,Mayor Teague, and Council members. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Kieft: Thank you very much, ah,David Kieft,University Business Manager and Director of Real
Estate for the University. Um,the University has been working closely with the City
Planning,Engineering,Public Works, and Fire Department on the street vacation and
conveyance for the past several months as part of a new major academic building that
will occur in this block. And the-the-the map that-that Danielle showed,there's-there's
surface parking lot on the south west corner of this, sort of,block that will become a- a
large academic building. It's a 225 plus million dollar investment in a new academic
building that will house three major programs for the University. The top rated,um, ah,
Speech and Communication Disorder Program,the top rated Physical Therapy Program,
and our Health and Human Physiology Program,to 200,000 plus square foot building
that will begin construction this summer. This is one of a number of major enabling
projects to make way for a new, ah, inpatient bed and surgical tower for- for UIHC that
we've been working on,um, a 10-year master plan to get to this point. I'm happy to, ah,
answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Any questions for David? Thank you,David. Um,we're going to open up
the public comment opportunity at this time, and please raise your hand if you want to
speak on this item,which is the vaca-vacation and conveyance of right-of-way.
Welcome, Olivia. Please state your name and city you're from.
Fruehling: Mayor, and what are we doing with the time limit?
Teague: We're gonna,um,move the time limits to three minutes. Welcome. Olivia,we can't hear
you.
Fruehling: I'm working on the timer.
Teague: All right.
Manaligod: Hi. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Manaligod: So I worked at the Pride Alliance Center,which was on the Grand Avenue Court.
Um, it doesn't fall under that little box that was shown on the map.
Teague: Would you give us your-your name and the city you're from please?
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Manaligod: Oh, sorry. Sorry. Um,my name is Olivia Manaligod and I am from Iowa City. Um, I
worked at the Pride Alliance Center at the University of Iowa when I was in college,uh,
which is on Grand Avenue Court. But it's not in that zone that must be vacated. But from
what I know,um,they are not operating probably due to this. I'm wondering how once
everything is built,how this will affect,um, functions for the Pride Alliance Center.
That's it.
Teague: Thank you. Anyone else who wanted to make comment?And,uh,David sorry, I've
already allowed the applicant to speak it at this time. Anyone else wanna make comment
from the public? Seeing no one, I'm gonna ask Council if they're inclined to vote with
P&Z.
Fruin: That one is not needed for this item. Thank you,Mayor.
Teague: Okay. All right. Even though they voted 6-0. All right. Uh, I'm gonna close the public
hearing.
2. Consider an Ordinance(First Consideration)
Teague: And can I get a motion to give fust consideration?
Dunn: So moved,Dunn.
Thomas: Second, Thomas.
Teague: All right. And Council discussion.
Alter: I am curious myself. Um, so that would be something that I would like to-to follow up
with. Perhaps the business manager could email us. Um, I would just be interested in- in,
uh,what the-the situation is with the Pride Alliance Center. I wasn't quite sure from the
public comment about whether it just means that it's not being used, is it going
somewhere else?Um, so if there can be any,um, explanation on that,that would be
fantastic. So email is wonderful. Thank you.
Teague: Any other comments from Council?Hearing none,roll call please. [ROLL CALL]
Motion passes 7-0.
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11.Regular Formal Agenda
ll.a. FY23 Budget Amendment Public Hearing-Resolution amending the current
budget for Fiscal Year ending June 2023.
Teague: Item number 11 is- l la is our fiscal year 2023 budget amendment public hearing, and
this is our current budget that we're already actively in. This is a resolution amending the
current budget for fiscal year ending June 2023. And I'm gonna open the public hearing,
and I'm gonna welcome our City Manager, Geoff From.
1. Public Hearing
From: Thank you,Mayor and Council. This is the fust of three budget related items that we'll be
talking about tonight. Um, I see we have a number of people on Zoom that are
presumably here to speak about the fiscal year'24 budget. So just for clarity, the fust
item is fiscal year'23. That's the current year that we're in. We have a couple of
amendments that I'll discuss and then we'll go the fiscal year'24. And the last item is that,
uh, a three-year financial plan and the,uh, five-year capital improvement plan. Uh,the
fiscal year'23 amendment,you should be used to seeing these items on your,uh, agenda.
Uh,we do,uh, fiscal year amendments throughout the year. Obviously, circumstances
changed throughout the year from when a budget is set, and the State allows budget
amendments,uh,uh,to occur within certain parameters. The-the biggest one being that
we cannot raise additional ta-property tax throughout the year to pay for those
amendments. So,um, it's generally a shifting of funds or transfer of funds,uh,type of
situation. Um,you have a staff report in,uh,the packet and,um,the fiscal-the second
fiscal year'23 amendment is before you. We will likely have one more fiscal year'23
amendment before we close the books on this later in the calendar year. Happy to try to
answer any questions you have.
Bergus: I did have a question. Um, so relating to the reasons for this kind of amendment,um,the
memo from Nicole sets forth,uh,kind of what you were just explaining Geoff,the
different sort of purposes of truing up the-the budget, if that is a correct way to put it--
like an emergency situation, a transfer from contingency. Um, if you've got more revenue
and then expended more because more revenue came in, or carrying over from a prior
approved budget,right? So can you just explain if that is the same or different than
amending a budget that hasn't yet been approved?
From: Uh,maybe I can ask you to restate that. I'm sorry, I'm not following that question.
Bergus: Yeah. So- okay. Are- and- and,um,Eric,maybe you can-
Goers: Right, I think I may be able to jump in. So, um,this- this item, the '23, fiscal year'23
budget amendment,um, is a process by which,uh, cities can amend their budgets for a
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specific and delineated list of reasons that are,uh, listed by statute. Um, that is not
limitless, um,that is the reasons for making the change of transfer of funds and- and so
forth. Um,whereas the kind of amendment one would offer for a- as yet unapproved
budget, i.e., the next item, ah, is not limited. You folks can do what you want for that
with one caveat about,uh,the State requirements or the State's,uh,position on needing
to,uh,republish notice on the budget,um, if,uh,there was to be a change that would
increase,uh, any budget line. Is that responsive to your question, Councilor Bergus?
Bergus: It is. Let me just kind of play that out. So if,um, an unapproved budget had a reduction
in a particular line that then increase the fund balance down the road,we could transfer
from that fund balance, is that right?
Goers: Yes,that's absolutely correct.
Bergus: Okay. And sort of to flip it the other way, if we didn't reduce a fund balance,would one
of these reasons be allowed to later reduce,uh, a particular line in an already approved
budget?
Goers: Sorry, I lost you in that last part. Give me the-the beginning of that premise.
Bergus: Sorry.
Alter: Sorry, I just have to say for once I understood that.
Bergus: Okay. So,um,they already approved the budget.
Goers: Right.
Bergus: Okay? Could we come back and amend the already approved budget to reduce a
particular line, a particular category,hypothetically,public safety. Could we reduce that
line after the budget is approved if it wasn't for one of these reasons?
Goers: Oh. Uh,no, if I'm understanding your question correctly. Again,to amend an already
approved budget,there is a specific, ah, statutory list of reasons and- and things you can
amend, is that your question?
Bergus: Right.
Goers: And your hypothetical is that the amendment Council wishes to make is not among that
list?
Bergus: If that were the case,we couldn't come in and amend an already approved budget for any
reason other than the four that are listed.
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Goers: Uh, I don't- I think, I don't remember that there are four. I'll trust you if you've written
them.
Goers: In the memo there's-there's four.
Goers: Oh, okay. Well,uh,maybe the four that are present in this budget amendment, I'm not
sure I would call the statute and I will quickly do that,uh,here so that I know. But if the,
uh,node of the question is, can we lower it after the fact, if it's not on one of those,uh,
statutory items,then the answer, of course is no. I'll,um, see if I can pull that statute here
quickly while you continue to discuss,to see if I think the amendment you are discussing
is one that would have to be done now before the approval of the next budget-next item,
is that.
Bergus: Well, and in- once we get to the next item, it's just we're taking these items together as
far as Geoffs presentation so I was-that we can talk about it at the next item if that's
more appropriate.
Goers: Sure,that'll give me a good amount of time. Thank you.
Bergus: Okay. Thank you.
Teague: Any other questions for staff?Hearing none, I'm gonna welcome the public to speak at
this time. And I just wanted to clarify again that this is for our current budget which ends
June 30th. And I know the majority of people are not,um,here for this item they're here
for the next item. But if anyone wishes to talk on this,please raise your hand at this time.
Seeing no one in the public wanting to talk on this item, I'm gonna close the public
hearing.
2. Consider a Reolution
Teague: Can I get a motion to approve,please?
Harmsen: So moved,Harmsen.
Thomas: Second, Thomas.
Teague: Moved by Harmsen and seconded by Thomas. Council discussion. Roll call, please.
[ROLL CALL]. Motion passes 6-1.
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1 L FY24 Budget Public Hearing- Resolution adopting the annual budget for the
fiscal year ending June 30,2024.
Teague: Item number l lb,Fiscal year'24,budget public hearing. And this is a resolution
adopting the annual budget for the fiscal year ending June 20- 30th, 2024. And I'm gonna
open up the public hearing, and I'm gonna welcome our Geoff- our staff Geoff Fruin.
Welcome.
1. Public Hearing
Fruin: Thank you,Mayor. I'm gonna ask,uh,Kellie if she can enable screen-sharing. I have a
presentation I'd like to provide to you. Okay. Mayor and Council,members of the public,
it's my privilege to be able to speak to you tonight about the fiscal year 24 budget. Um,
I've got about 20 slides to go through. We'll try to go through them quickly. I know
there's a lot of folks that want to share some thoughts. We're going to start with the
budget review and adoption schedule. In reality,there is not a fixed,uh, schedule for the
budget. It's very fluid process. I feel like every meeting we have,we are considering new
plans. We're getting feedback from residents and all those interactions that we have both
in and out of this room end up influencing the budget in some way, shape, or form. That
said,we have outlined some of the key dates that you have with this-this particular
budget. So back in September of six, I'm sorry. September 6th of last year, 2022, is when
we fust engaged the City Council about this fiscal year `24 budget. At that time,we
asked for your budget priorities and we asked that any big initiatives be shared with us at
that time so we could consider that in developing the proposal. Obviously much easier to-
to change things early in the process than-than later. We released our budget to the-to
the public on December 21st, and the Council had their full day operating budget review
work session on Saturday,January 7th,where you heard from all of the department
directors about their particular budgets. We followed that up the next week on January
11th with an overview of our capital projects. And we also had the operating budget
review on the work session as well,that same day. Two more budget work sessions
followed,January 24th and February 7th. Also on February 7th,there was the setting of
the public hearing for the maximum property tax which you held on February 21st. And
now we are here on April 4th after you set the public hearing on March 21st. So you can
see quite a bit of budget activity over the last couple of,um, last several months. So we
spent considerable time in those meetings talking about some of our financial challenges.
In reality,those weren't new to you. We talked about those and strategic planning. They'd
been forecasted to you in- in previous budget presentations as well. Some of those are
highlighted here. We did go in more depth,uh,uh, in our budget review sessions,but we
obviously have the phase-out of the `23 state commercial and industrial backfill. That
was about 1.5 million at its peak and that is being phased out. That's State support that
we will no longer get for their- from their tax reform about a decade ago. They also
recently,they being the State of Iowa, introduced a new property tax credit backfill that
we expect to be phased out over the next several years. Again,just,revenue that is fading
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from,uh, from- from our tax base. One of the bigger impacts from the 2013 legislation
was how multi-residential properties are taxed. We've talked about that quite a bit,but
multi residential property used to be taxed at a commercial level,which is much higher
than the residential level that it is now taxed at. And that has certainly eroded millions of
dollars from our tax revenue over the years. Um,we had a surprise rollback legislation
introduced this year that we didn't anticipate. That came out after we released our budget
to the public and that resulted in a drop of revenues, a little over 1.7 million.
[OVERLAPPING]
Fruehling: Sorry, Geoff. Kevin just said we're off the air.
Fruin: Oh, Okay. We'll press pause.
Teague: If the public can hear us. We're going to just take a little break and come back as soon as
we can. We understand that we are not on social media at this time.
Crawley: It looks like I lost power. Where everything goes out. So right now we got nothing.
Fruehling: Okay.Nicole says we're still live on Zoom.
Fruin: We're still live on Zoom for everybody here.
Crawley: Are we live on Zoom?
Fruin: That's what we're hearing,we're live on Zoom.
Crawley: Okay. But we've lost YouTube and we've lost Channel 4. And we've lost Facebook.
I'm going to run over there real quick and see if I can bring it back.
Fruin: Okay.
Teague: Okay.
Fruin: Take a pause.
Teague: I think what we'll do is we'll go ahead and take a 10-minute break.
Alter: Okay.
Teague: We're going to come back at-we'll come back at 07:50. So it'd be more like a 13 minute
break to allow staff to figure out other social media outlets. We are connected to Zoom
but we do want to try to get the other social media outlets up and running. Sorry for this
inconvenience will be back at 07:50.
[BREAK]
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ll.b FY 2024 Budget Public Hearing(Continuted)
Teague: It is now 7:50 and we're going to convene our April 4, 2023 meeting and we're on item
number l lb,which is our fiscal year 2024 budget public hearing. And we were having
our staff Geoff, give us a report. But right before he comes on, I'm going to introduce
our- our City Attorney just to give clarification to a question asked by Councilor Bergus.
Goers: Thank you. Mr. Mayor, I was able to find the statute in question. That being Iowa code
section 384.18. And I apologize that there is probably a little bit of confusion because the
statute gives four reasons that budgets can be amended. But I've received word from our
fina- finance director that they are separately and apparently referenced in the memo for
policy considerations for making changes and so forth. And so apologies to Councilor
Bergus for the conflation of those two and for the confusion that,that may have caused.
In more direct response to Councilor Bergus' question about whether,uh,money can be,
um,moved from one fund to another or,you know, increased or decreased after the
budget is finally adopted,the answer is yes. That is one of the four reasons listed in the
statute. That is 384.18 Id,to permit transfers between programs within the general fund.
So I believe that that is something that could be done.
Bergus: Thank you.
Teague: All right. Thank you. And we're going to invite our City Manager Geoff From to
continue his discussion.
Fruin: Okay. Thank you,Mayor. I did go back a slide and I apologize to those on Zoom that- that
have heard this before,but I'm- I'm told that we cut out on some of the social media in the
middle of this slide. So bear with me as I repeat a couple of things here. We started our
budget works in September of 2022 with a work session to identify any Council
initiatives that should be considered as we developed the budget that fall. We did develop
the budget that fall and we released that on December 21st. We then had a full day
operating budget review work session with the City Council on Saturday,January 7th.
We followed that up with a capital improvement plan review January 11th with an
additional operating budget review work session item and then had subsequent budget
discussions on our work session agenda on January 24th and February 7th.We did
complete the State required public hearing on the proposed maximum property tax in
February. We set that for February 7th and that hearing on the 21st. And we are here
tonight on April 4th for the public hearing and adoption of the fiscal year `24 budget,
which this year must be certified with the County Auditor by the end of April. In most
years,that is the end of March. So ag- again,we spent considerable time,not only in the
budget process,but also in strategic planning and- and other conversations,talking about
our financial challenges. These,many stem back to the 2013 State Property Tax Reform.
We had a commercial and industrial backfill that was created with that reform.
Essentially, it was the State reimbursing us for lost property tax revenue, about 1.5
million. That is being phased out now over five years. And so incrementally we are
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seeing revenues decrease due to that change. The State also created a new commercial
property tax,uh,backfill,um,that we're expecting to impact our budget in about fiscal
year 28, 29. So something that we're just preparing for as we move forward.We talked
about multi residential properties and how the 2013 State Reform changed how
apartments essentially are taxed. They used to be taxed as commercial properties. But
now they are taxed as residential properties. This wiped tens of millions of property tax
base off of our, out of the city, and as a result has,um, lowered our property tax revenues
considerably as well. We had,uh, a surprise in the State Legislation this year that reduced
the rollback on residential property by about two percent. The State publishes a rollback
every October,which we use to finalize our budget. In this case, in February,the State
lowered that an additional 2%, approximately,which resulted in a little bit more than
$1.7 million in lost revenue for the City that was not anticipated when we released our
budget. On the,um,that- those are all on the revenue side. On the expense side, as- as I'm
sure many people can relate to in their own businesses or their own households,we've
seen some volatility and key expense lines. Cost of insurance, cost of fuel, chemicals, and
supplies are pushing those numbers up pretty high on the expense side. And then kind of
starting with the COVID year in 2020,uh,we look at just the taxable value growth and
we've had two years of negative property,negative,uh,taxable value growth. I'll have a
chart on that in just a minute. All those things are converging at the same time creating
some significant pressures on us. Thankfully,we enter that era in very strong position.
But we also know that is also considering additional property tax reform that continues to
be a high-level the State priority of the State legislature and we don't know how future
legislation will impact us,but we do expect future property tax reform legislation. So
after we released the budget in fiscal year 21, one of the more significant changes.
Council may recall that in your work sessions that I outlined on that second slide,you
decided to increase two-and-a-half positions. Uh,that is a half-time outreach and
engagement specialist, a full-time human rights engagement specialist, and a full-time
grant coordinator that were above and beyond the staff requests. That's about $265,000 in
new expenses. And then I mentioned that rollback number. Uh,you can see the specific
percentages on the slide there and,uh,when we got the final valuations from the county
that pushed the,um,revenue loss number, or the difference there,to about 1.9 million. So
a- a little more than two million dollar impact from when we released the budget in
December to where we stand here with the budget adoption. I talked about our property
tax base and some of those challenges. So this slide looks a little busy. I'm going to try to,
um,uh, focus your attention on- on the green bars. You can think of the green bars as our
tax base. Uh,you can see that from fiscal year 14 up through 22,we were growing at a
pretty good clip and then the last few years have been status quo and if you look at the
red box,you'll see,uh,the percentages,the negative percentages,uh,there. That is the
actual negative,um,tax growth. And essentially what you're seeing there is that our
community has not grown,the tax base has not grown enough to eclipse the drag that
state tax reform has had on us. So in all those previous years,we were still- we were
essentially outgrowing the tax reform,uh,that was handed to us by the State of Iowa.
Um, in the last two years we just haven't been able to do that and we have negative,uh,
tax growth. That is- is about the biggest red flag I can fly for you. Um,property taxes are
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two-thirds of our- our revenue to support our core operations. Um,we cannot continue to
offer status quo services,uh, if we do not,uh, see increases in our tax base. So this is
certain- certainly something, a trend,that we need to be able to turn around. The blue bar
is our tax rate. So, as you would like to see,when your tax base grows,you don't have to
tax at that same high rate and you saw us lower our tax rate for 11 straight years as we
were experiencing good growth in the community. Unfortunately, fiscal year 24 is the
fust year,uh, after those 11,where we,um,have held that rate steady because we have
not had that tax-base increase,we have to keep that tax rate. If the-the tax base does not
increase,the tax rate has to stay the same. Other changes in the fiscal year 24 budget,um,
largely due to some of those inflationary pressures that I talked about,we're making a
number of smaller adjustments to utility rates. Our water rate is projected to increase 4%,
our wastewater 2%. We are increasing our refuse and recycling pickup at two dollars per
month and our storm water,um fee at .50 cents a month. Again,this is really just
reflecting,um, increased expenses, in all of these operations. Whether it's chemicals,uh,
on- on the water,wastewater side, labor, fuel, insurance, all those items are- are
outpacing revenue growth at this time. And these adjustments are intended to,um,help
those operations,uh,without providing a- a significant burden to our- our ratepayers. We
also have other user fee changes. So these would be changes,uh,to fees that,uh, don't
apply necessarily to everybody,but those that take advantage of these services will see
increase in fees. Those are monthly parking permit fee increases in our decks and in our
parking lots. If you have special pick-ups from our Refuse Department, if you have large
appliances and those types of things that you'd like to have picked up at your-uh, at your
curbside,um,those costs will go up. That's the bulky rate pick-up. The 24-hour tag rate is
for those and those are charges to people that put out those types of things without
scheduling the pickup. If you just put stuff at your curb, and we notice that it's been
sitting there for a while and we have to pick it up,uh,that's an additional cost that we
charge to the property. Landfill fees are going up. If you access,uh, landfill,you'll pay a
higher tipping fee,whether you are a resident of Iowa City or resident of Johnson
County, and then we're making some smaller changes to the rental rates at the Eastside
Recycling Center Education Center education room that we have out there for rent.
Those-those rents had not been increased since we opened that,uh, approximately 10
years ago. We'd like to share this graph. This is,uh,just the annual financial impact to
residential households that basically takes the property tax component and- and those rate
increases,those utility rate increases I talked about. Overall, it's about a 3% increase year
over year,uh,which is a,um, I think is a good number considering all the pressures that
we're having on our expense side in those operations. But you can see that over the
previous six or seven years,we've been able to keep that number at a much lower rate and
we hope to be able to get back to that,um,with future budgets. So on the positive side of
things,wha-what does this budget invest in? Clearly, I can't cover all 200 or more
million dollars that's covered in the budget,uh,but some things that I think are- are
related to your strategic plan that I'd like to call out. We reported to you that since fiscal
year 18,we've spent more than 10.7 million on affordable housing efforts. That does not
include our- our voucher programs that we run,that is separate from those. And this
budget continues,uh,to build on that effort. At your work session,you talked a lot about
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the comprehensive plan,uh redoing that, and with one of those goals being to try to
create more affordable housing opportunities. We have the consultant dollars to start that
process in the fiscal year 24 budget. When we look at the mobility,this budget invests in
roadway maintenance,road diets,bike lanes, trails, and pedestrian accessibility projects.
It also sets the stage for a conversation we hope to have it to you very soon about a pilot
for zero-fare transit. And,uh,hopefully will give us the ability to add additional electric
buses to our fleet. It utilizes the ARPA funds to bolster the economy through intentional
building of support systems for underestimated small businesses. You're aware of the
four million dollar grant program that was recently announced and then,uh,you've been
talking quite a bit about,uh, significant child care investments and you've already made
some significant child care investments in the past couple of years. It does increase the
annual investment in social service funding and helps build new service capacity in the
non-profit sector. We continue,uh, a very aggressive and effective climate action
programming and we're all still also bolstering human rights programming,primarily
through the new,uh,position that you directed us to add in the budget process. Lastly,
but very importantly, as a growing city,we-we are continuing to prepare for future
critical facility needs. Um,you know that in most of our city facilities we are-we are
jam-packed. We were,um,kind of no room for expansion and as our community grows,
we need to modernize our work environments for our staff and also provide room to-to
serve a- a growing community. So in anticipation of the Police Department amendment, I
wanted to spend some time talking about,uh,the-the Police Department and what I view
are- are the impacts of the amendment you'll be considering. Again,normally,we will
have budget amendments come up in,uh,the-January-February timeframe. I'm able to
then,uh,work with staff to provide you memos that serve as background. You may recall
we did that with the-the positions where you indicated that you wanted to invest in more
engagement. When we went back with staff, and we provided you background memos
on- on how that would work. So in- in lieu of that opportunity, I'm just going to take a
few moments to talk about the Iowa City Police Department and, again,the proposed
budget amendment that will surface later tonight. So this is data that I shared with the
Council and the public back in 2020, and it is still the most current data that we have
right now. Iowa City has 1.12 sworn positions per 1,000 residents. That's the most
common metric used to compare the size of- of- of sworn police officers. And sworn is a-
a- an employee of the Police Department that has a badge,right? That doesn't count the
civilian employees, like the Animal Services staff that we have. This is information
collected by the federal government and accessible on their,uh, datasets. The US average
is 2.3. That can be largely skewed by,uh,major cities. So we- we try to drill down and
get a little bit more comparable communities. If we look at Midwestern cities with a
population between 50,000 and 100,000,that average is about 1.5 sworn positions per
1,000 residents. If we look at just the four larger cities in Iowa,their numbers are 1.52-
1.66. And I'd personally like to look at other college communities because oftentimes
college communities will have a campus police agency that is also there to serve the-the
community. And so when we compare ourselves to our Big Ten peers,that average is just
slightly lower than that midwestern city number,that 1.48. So,um, again, I share this
with you for context. If Iowa- Iowa City were to be at that 1.5 officer ratio per 1,000,we
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would need to add 29 positions. So it's not-we're not knocking on the door and- and
we're not striving to get there either. Uh,you know,that we have not recommended
major position adds,uh, certainly in- in my time with the City. But again, I think that's
important context,uh, for the Council and the public to understand. There's been-um, I've
seen some of the communication with concerns about the percent of the general fund that
we spend on the Police Department. As you know,we report public safety expenditures
to the State like all other cities. Uh, Iowa State University, uh, compiles these and issues
reports every year comparing cities, so I thought I'd share some of this data. This is
public safety expenditures. So this is not only police,this is fire and- and operations like
building inspections, animal control,things like that. So it's- it's not just Police
Department,but Police Department is going to be the major driver of public safety
expenses in just about any,uh, community. So across the State of Iowa on average, cities
spend 44% of general fund expenditures on public safety. If we just look at similar-sized
communities in Iowa,the Iowa State University reports that the,uh,percentage goes up
to 51%. In Iowa City,uh,we currently sit at 39%, and that's again, our,uh, FY23-Um,
our FY23 budget. Uh, I personally believe we provide fantastic public safety operations
to the community, and I think we do so very efficiently. And we also do it at minimum
staffing levels. And that goes for both Police and Fire, and I'd throw Building Inspections
in that mix- and Animal Services in that mix as well. Uh,there has been some,um,
obviously focus on the Police Department budget,um, and,uh, steep or sharp increases in
the budget. I thought we'd just look at a four- I'm sorry, a seven-year history of the Police
Department budget, and you can see those listed out there. Again,that 24 number is a
proposed number and that's what you're considering tonight. You can see that,uh,we
range from 1.5% increase,which was the fiscal year 23 increase,up to the highest,which
is what you're considering that 5.8% increase. I would like to point out that the Police
Department has ended each one of these years,uh,under budget and has not required any
supplemental funding from contingency reserves or other sources. They have historically
been very good stewards of the dollars, and,um,uh, and- and spend what they need to
provide the services,uh,to this community. Uh,the average across those is just under
4%. If you're- if you're trying to-to do some- some math there, it's just under 4% average
annual increase. I personally don't believe that's a sharp increase, especially when you
look at the cost drivers,um, in our budgets. In the Police Department budget, like many
city services,we are about 85.5%personnel. Just track those expenses. It's wages and its
benefits like insurance. So look at those key expenditure drivers. From 2018-2025,the
approved collective bargaining wage increase has been 2.44%. Uh, and then there's
eligible steps. If you hit certain employment milestones,you may get an additional merit
step. Um, across that same time period,the average health insurance rate increase is
8.75%. And that's not because of plan enhancements. That's the same plan, it's just the
cost of healthcare and our utilization. Other big drivers in the budget over this span of
time,uh,video record storage is a big one. If you think of body cameras and- and in-car
cameras and just the cost of storage,uh, and- and information technology support, in
general,helps push those numbers up to that 3 or 4% or 5.8% in this fiscal year that we're
proposing. And then I think we can all relate to just the last year and just the increase in
fuel and- and vehicle cost,replacement costs. These aren't new vehicles,this is just
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replacing squad cars as they hit,uh,you know,what we're experiencing now is 100,000
miles or more before we're,um, able to get replacements in. Um, a quick snapshot of
where we are current staffing. This just focuses on the sworn, and again, does not include
the civilian positions. We have 84 sworn,that's what we're authorized at. Once we are at
full strength,we assign 49 of those individuals to patrol. That's what most people
associate with the police. That's going to be,uh,the-the men and women driving around
and- and responding to calls,uh,uh, in the community. We have 13 in our investigations
unit. We have five specialty community policing. This is the area where police staffing
has been expanded the last few years as these community- I'm sorry,the last decade. Um,
it has been in the community policing realm. This is like your downtown patrol officer,
neighborhood response officer, community outreach officer, and,um, some of our crime
analyst,uh,work happens in this area too. We have 17 supervisory positions. So where
do we stand right now?We have 79 sworn officers right now. We also have five seats
reserved in the summer police academy and are working to get recruits to enlist in that
academy. You're Civil Service Commission just approved a list of,uh, eligible hires this
morning at their meeting. Uh,when we are not able to be at full strength, and we have not
been since 2020 when we had,uh,when COVID hit, and we had to put a pause on- on
hiring. Um,what you see are,uh,those specialty community policing positions go
unfilled. And if that's not enough to cover the patrol,which is that foundational service
that we offer the community,then we'll start to see investigation positions,uh,move into
that,uh,patrol realm. Um, over the last couple of years,we've been down in the low '70s
at our low point, and,uh,uh,typically in the mid to upper,uh, '70s, and we're,uh, again,
hopeful,to-to get consistent in the- in the '80s,uh,moving forward. Uh,we had over
18,500 hours of non-contract overtime in 2022. That's more than two hours of overtime
for every hour of the day. That's a startling number. It's not sustainable, it's not healthy,
we don't want to do that,but we feel like that is what-what is needed to provide those
foundational services to the community. A lot of that are mandatory callbacks to serve in
a patrol reahn when we don't have,um,minimum,uh, staffing,uh, for the community.
This is what we need to get past. We need to be able to-to-to have enough staff to where
we don't have to rely on overtime to fill our shifts. The fiscal year'24 budget proposal, I'd
like to talk about a little bit. It's a 5.8 percent increase as we've talked about,uh, and that
is,uh,roughly $955,000--$794,000 of that 955 or 83 percent are wages and benefits.Not
surprisingly,uh,because 85 percent of the budget is wages and benefits,but other
significant drivers include the exact same things I talked about earlier. Information
technology support, fuel and vehicle replacements. It's a labor driven operation and any
significant changes to the budget will result in changes to our- our labor rates. So, what is
driving those labor,uh, costs?Um,we have the halftime accreditation manager,uh,
position,which was new in fiscal year 23. We asked for early higher on that as we did
with the reclassification to create the internal affairs lieutenant position. Those are both,
uh,um,positions that Council previously approved,uh,that are driving up that expense.
We also have proposed an 85th sworn officer position that would be assigned as a sexual
assault investigator position. You had Chief Liston talk to you on that Saturday here in
this room about the current caseload that ouir sexual assault investigator is managing. Its
averaging 19 cases at any one given time. We feel like we need to provide a greater level
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of service to-to the community, and we need to reduce that case-load by adding a second
investigator position. Uh, smaller expense,but still significant is a 31 percent wage
increase for crossing guards and that's really just to help us recruit and retain,uh, our
crossing guard positions. So is 5.8 percent,uh, considerably out of line with, uh, other
budgets?Uh, listed below are the four budgets that are equal that increase or exceed it. It
includes the City Council budget,the Fire budget,the Library budget, and the Senior
Center budget. If you look outside of the general fund at budgets that increased more than
5.83 percent Airport,Neighborhood and Development Services,Public Works and
Transportation Services all grew,uh, again outside of the general fund but at a- at a- at a
clip higher than 5.83 percent. I want to go back,uh,to,uh, late 2020. Uh, in 2020,the
Council asked me to do a deep dive into our police operations and provide a report to
accelerate community policing. Uh,that was published it has a lot of great background
information. Some of you are on Council at that time, others were not. I encourage you to
read it,um, I think it is still very relevant. Um, the Council didn't spend a whole lot of
time debating that plan or formally considering changes to it but as staff,we continue to
do the best we can to-to implement those recommendations. The continuum that you see
at the bottom was,uh,kinda the foundation of many of the recommendations,uh, and I'll
take a minute just to explain that. We wanted to maximize opportunities to prevent calls
for service. That's-that's-we have to be committed to preventing those calls for service.
When they do come,we want to look for opportunities to divert it. We ask that question,
are police officers the best responders to this particular type of call?And if the answer is
no,then let's try to do our best to divert those calls. If we do need to assist, can we assist
in a co-response? Can we- can we have somebody paired with the police officer that can
offer,uh, a higher level of service, such as our mental health liaison positions that we've
created since this time. And then if we are the primary response,how can we stabilize the
situation safely and get people connected with services that they need? That was again,
the foundation of that plan and many of the recommendations. I would like to point out
the number one recommendation in that plan which was geared towards prevention was
pursue a local option sales tax so that we can have resources to support our non-profit
communities whether it's,uh,bolstering operating dollars or making strategic onetime
investments. The plan talks not only about local option sales tax,but it talks about
increasing property tax, it talks about increasing utility tax, and then I've added at the
bottom,uh,uh, other options that the Council could consider to in the short and long
term,which includes ARPA dollars. We are doing this with our ARPA dollars. You
could choose to reevaluate how our future ARPA dollars. You could do it with CDBG
dollars and you can do it with the reserves that you have. Please bear with me. I'm going
to read,um, a section of the plan that I think is very relevant and as I was reviewing that
in preparation for this meeting, I just thought it would be better for me to-to read this
position because I still firmly believe in this position. Perhaps even more strongly than I
did back in 2020. It's two slides I'll try to get through it quickly. Across the country there
have been calls for defunding Police Departments and diverting allocation of funds to
non police related causes such as social service efforts. As previously noted in this
document, approximately 86 percent of the Police Department's budget is tied to wages
and benefits of both sworn and civilian positions. As with most city departments,the
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Police Department is inherently a very labor-intensive oper- operation. Thus, in any
scenario, a significant reduction of the department budget will necessarily require the
elimination of sworn and/or civilian positions. As the staffing numbers in this document
illustrate, the Iowa City Police Department is already a comparatively lean operation.No
regular patrol officer positions have been added since 2010, despite robust community
growth and increases in calls for service. Specialty community policing, investigative and
civilian positions,have been added in moderation to further the Council's strategic plan
goals and improve core services such as animal services to the community. Those
positions have paid great dividends,but again,have not translated to increase patrol
operations on the street of Iowa City over the past decade. With additional community
growth expected, and in recognition of increasing calls for service and crimes involving
weapons,the City should be extremely cautious- cautious when considering any type of
immediate defunding scenario. The ramifications on our ability to carry out core public
safety responsibilities as a local government could be significant and have negative
consequences for our residents and community. Instead,the City should commit to the
recommendations in this plan with the goal of reducing the occurrence of calls for
service. With success of this approach,the City should be able to slower stem the need to
add additional patrol officers-patrol staff over the long term. Any new financial
resources,whether through new revenue sources or through property tax base growth, can
then responsibly be diverted to other needs in the community. This is essentially been the
City's practice over the last decade and intentional budget commitments to social services
and community-building have been prioritized over expanding Iowa City's patrol
operations. While overall city budget resources have increased with tax-based growth,the
Police Department budget has remained fairly status quo with an average annual increase
of 3.6 percent. Meanwhile, increases in the budget capacity have resulted in millions of
dollars being deployed for Council initiatives such as the creation of the affordable
housing fund,the creation of the climate accident- action division, increasing our
minimum wage, increasing aid to non-profit, funding new bike and park master plan
projects, launching a Book Mobile service, and important onetime capital investments
such as the $2.5 million GuideLink Center contribution. So I'm going to walk through
some of these,um,because I- I think we are living up to this commitment to invest in,uh,
prevention and diversion measures, like I called for in that 2020 plan. I'm proud of what
we're doing. I think we're far ahead of most other cities with this commitment. The
GuideLink was previously mentioned. Our fust ARPA grant of the 18 million we got
from the federal government was to expand mobile crisis. We've invested or pledged
more than 1 million for the new DVIP shelter. Council recently just pledged 1 million for
the free medical clinic service expansion and 2 million for a new location for
Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County. We invested 1.8 million in the 16 duplex units
for affordable home ownership opportunities in the South District. Through our
affordable housing efforts,we've impacted projects like CrossPark Place, 501,multiple
low-income housing tax credit projects. We've created down payment assistance
programs. We've done rental rehabilitation and property acquisitions for non-profit
agencies and down. We've,uh, stood up, eviction prevention programs, launched risk
mitigation pilots and more. Uh,we recently announced $4 million of support for under-
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underestimated business investments. We provided over 2 million in direct support to
residents through our ARPA programming. We've given millions to local non-profits to-
through federal and local sources, including more than doubling our Aid to Agency
program a few years ago. We've expanded our social justice and racial equity grants, and
those are on your agenda later tonight. And we've improved services to our homeless
population through addition of street outreach partnerships through winter shelter funding
and through building improvements to the shelter house,uh, and their Housing First
projects. We've invested in mental health liaison partnerships with the community mobile
crisis team and then we've added 3.5 civilian outreach positions and communication staff
in- in our public safety operations. You're familiar with our CIP. You see a lot of those
projects on your agenda with nearly every meeting. We've invested tens of millions of
dollars in neighborhood infrastructure,parks and open space, trails, and neighborhood
improvements over the last,uh, few years. When it comes to,uh, our Strategic Plan,um,
Council spent a better part of the year talking about the strategic plan,uh,uh, in 2022 that
was adopted in December of 2022. Um, I do want to point out a few, um,um, clauses in
the visions that I think are relevant for your decision-making tonight. In the safety and
well-being section,uh, it talks about community- community division includes
community members receiving emergency response services promptly, and welcoming
fust responders as pro- Bust responders as problem-solvers. That will be impacted by a
significant cut. Uh,we will not have timely services as- as- as much as we do today and
we will not have that opportunity to be problem-solvers like we do with our community
policing positions. The resources in the people section talks about,uh, leadership and
elected officials ensuring sufficient staff levels to maintain baseline services,whether
vacancies or emergencies, and protect against employee burnout and add capacity to
special assignments and strategic long-term initiatives. Again, I think it will be impacted.
1.6 million is a significant reduction in the budget, as I mentioned, 85% is personnel. It
will undoubtedly result in- in the reduction of staff positions in the Police Department. I
don't think there's another way around to cut $1.6 million without cutting staff. And you
need to know that while I can't sit here and tell you today how that will play out,how
many positions,what positions,probably need your guidance on some of that,um, it will
result in positions,uh,being eliminated from the Police Department. Uh,here's what I
believe for the short and long-term impacts. Uh, some of these will take time to play out,
but I- I do think it's important that you understand these,uh,potential risks of- of going
down that defunding path. We're going to lose those community policing positions,the
ones that the Council has strategically added over the last decade to build relationships
and be problem-solvers. Those are the positions that walk the downtown beat. Those are
the positions that spent their time off the streets dedicated to doing the data research that
helped enable CrossPark Place or helped enable the GuideLink Center. Uh, we will have
a reduction in investigations capacity. That's not only service to our victims and families,
but that's prevention efforts. You know,uh,the-the Council is very well aware of the
attention we put on trying to get weapons off the streets,particularly guns off the streets,
in the last few years. That happens in that investigation. That's because we have
investigators that have time to troubleshoot those issues. We will not have that same
luxury,uh,with reduced staff. We will have to rely more on the County and the State for-
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for those investigations and,um,uh, lean on them in certain cases, shift more of those
cases to them. We probably will have to reduce intergovernmental,um,uh,type of work
that we do,whether that's,um,uh,tobacco, alcohol,um, traffic and OWI that we do
through the State. That will probably have to be reduced because we can't continue to
offer that type of voluntary overtime when we probably will have to rely on overtime
more for our operations. Um,we already saw an impact of this in COVID. We weren't
able to provide the same level of support to the school district. We weren't able to provide
the same level of support to the University for sporting events in our community. Um,we
won't have the ability to offer-to-to really innovate. And I talked a lot about this in the
strategic plan,not with police,but with all our services. When you operate at a very lean
level,you lose the ability to innovate,to create. And we won't be able to do that. We
hired Chief Liston in- in- in,uh,uh, late uh, 2020. He came on just as that restructuring
plan was-was coming out. Um,he has not had a chance to operate full staff. I would
argue you need to give your police chief a chance to innovate. He has not had that chance
and I think he's got some exciting,uh, ideas,but he can't do that when we can't just basic-
fill the basic patrol positions. I think there will be service reductions we have to consider.
Again,these are possibilities that-that would have to be exploring more,might have to
shift to mandatory online reporting for certain low-level crimes,meaning an officer won't
come out and speak to you about maybe vandalism in your yard,uh,uh, or- or a stolen
bike or something like that. Um,we probably will have to reconsider responding to
private property accidents. That's something we do as as- as a courtesy,but we're not
required to. Uh,we'd have to look at staffing that front desk and whether we want to
continue to be able to do that 24n for the public and then special event staffing. We'd
like to try to have presence at,uh, at- at major festivals and- and community events,but
again,we may not be able to do that if we,um, don't have the-the luxury of being at full
staff. Uh, diminished emer- emergency response. This-this hit home just a few days ago
as we were,um,preparing for the-the high winds and the tornadoes and- and when there
was reports of damage on neighboring communities,we were able to send officers out
there to support them right away. Um, as I think about floods that we've encountered and
other,um, dread shows and things like that, it's often your police officers that are out
there fust trying to,uh, assist with the,um,uh,with the immediate dangers at hand. Um,
uh, obviously major public safety incidents. And then,uh,the one thing that probably
worries me the most on all of this is this last section, and that's the heavy overtime
reliance. Um, it- it is already burning out your staff. Uh, it's going to increase injury rates.
It will increase turnover rates. It will lead to be,uh,um, uh,more challenges with
employee recruitment and retention. And I think you're gonna have a- a tougher time with
retention for top leadership positions in the City in- in the Police Department. I think
that's-that's,um, a reality of- of,uh,uh,uh, the considerations that you-that you have in
front of you. So I don't share- I- I honestly, I don't share this. I'm not trying to scare you.
It is a legitimate question,uh, and deserves the debate that it's going to have tonight,but I
wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't share my-my perspectives with you. Um,whatever
you decide,we're going to work hard to-to implement,um,but I would- I would end by
saying,um,when I re-when I read the emails,when I've talked to Councilor Bergus,we
share the same goals. We want to get to that same spot and Chief Liston wants to get to
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that same spot. The men and women are the Iowa City Police Department want to get to
that spot where we're preventing as many calls as possible,when we're diverting uh,uh,
calls to,uh,to- to other agencies that may be better equipped to handle that,but I don't
think that defund approach is the way to get there. We- doesn't have to be a one or the
other choice. We can do that through additional revenue. Um,that's what's laid out in the
2020 plan. We are doing that now with ABPA. We've made a ton of progress. If you
want to accelerate that, I'm here to help you accelerate that through additional revenue
opportunities. I just think if you go down this path and you start taking away from that
core public safety function,you're going to be cre-you're going to create a whole another
set of challenges down the road,um,that a future Council and a future staff are going to
have a hard time,uh,building back out of So I think you- I know I took a lot of time,
um, and I appreciate your willingness to hear me out. Happy to answer questions.
Teague: So I'll open it up to Council to ask any questions and just want to remind Council that
we will have opportunity to do our debate after the public speaks. And even with
questions as to our City Manager,um, it should be kind of a question and answer and uh,
save your debates for,uh,when we get to our Council discussion. So questions for Geoff.
Dunn: Can I borrow a copy of that presentation at some point?
Fruin: : Yeah. I'm happy to-
Dunn: Or just email it to me.
Fruin: Yeah, I'll send it out to everybody.
Dunn: [inaudible] Thank you.
Alter: Can you remind me, Geoff, I didn't, um, catch all of the names in the the general fund?
You said there were four departments higher than ICPD,uh, in terms of the budget
increase. And I know that Council is one,Library, Senior Center, and then what was
third?
Fruin: City Council,which I think has the exact same percentage, 5.83. And then Fire,Library
and Senior Center all higher.
Teague: Okay. Thank you. I'm hearing no other questions. We're gonna go to,um,the public that
wishes to speak on this topic. And I'm gonna ask for everyone that wants to speak, if you
will raise your hand at this time and we will- I will,uh, let you know how many people.
I'm seeing 25 individuals wanna speak,um, 38 individuals want to speak,42-43
individuals want to speak. So I think what we're gonna do,um, is I'm gonna allow for- so
what I know is that we've heard from a lot of the public and this is not me trying to,um,
simmer you down. Um,we certainly want to hear from the public. And if someone has
already mentioned or talked a lot about what you want to say,um,then I'm gonna ask that
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if you feel comfortable,to lower your hand so that we can hear as many individuals as
possible. Um, and- and if you've written,um,you know, certainly this Council has also,
uh, seen and wri- in, er,your letters that have been submitted. So right now there are 44
individuals that wish to speak,um,43. Um,we are online and so I'm going to do what's
not very common and ask,uh, individuals to take one minute to share with the Council
their thoughts. Um, so we're going to start with Chandler followed by Noah.And we ask
people to give their name and the City they're from. And,uh, Chandler, followed by
Noah.Noah,uh,welcome.
Farquhar: Hello, Council. I just wanted to register my deep opposition to the increase in the
budget, and also say that I think the phrasing and framing of the objections to the budget
increase as a cut is very dishonest to me. The budget has not been approved,so it's not a
cut. Um, and furthermore, I don't believe that Iowa City Police Department is providing
exceptional service. I recently had my car stolen. I was not satisfied. I don't- I don't think
that the police are doing the maximum to reduce,uh, crime here. And I think that the
money would be better used in addressing the root causes of crime. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Noah. Followed by Merric.
LeFevre: Hi, Council. Uh, I'm here on behalf of USG today as we just recently passed a
resolution in support of reallocating this,um, approximate one million dollars towards,
um,more,uh,mental health and so- social services here in Iowa City. Uh, I don't have
enough time to read through it all and I'll probably send it through correspondence later.
Um,but USG did pass this resolution through the Senate and it was compacted- er,
comprised mainly of GR and,uh,justice and equity representatives. Um,yeah,that's
basically it. You will be getting it soon,here in a bit. And just heavy emphasis on taking
that money over to,um,places such as,um the Shelter House,um,more social services,
and so on. So thank you so much Senate,uh, Council.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Merric, followed by Mandi. Please state your name and city
you're from.
Bower: I'm Merric from Iowa City.
Teague: Thank you.
Bower: I would like to point out looking at a study from the Journal of Experimental
Criminology, a 40 years of studies over police force size and crime have found that the
overall size of a police force-the overall sizes effect on crime is small and not
statistically significant. And so rather than being worried about the size of our police
force, I would rather be worried about what we could be funding towards prevention
instead, as some of the people before me have said, focusing on prevention. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Mandi. Followed by David.
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Remington: Mandi Remington from Iowa City. As a longtime resident of Iowa City, a domestic
violence survivor who has worked with DVIP and ICPD, a Council candidate who has
delved deeply into the budget proposal and a member and former Chair of the
Community Police Review Board who's watched countless hours of body and dash cam
my lens is wide. And in an incredibly difficult fiscal year, it is particularly important this
year that the choices made while allocating funding reflect the City's values. As
Councilor Dunn said every dollar we put into prevention lowers the amount of taxpayer
money spent on most costly emergency care,that applies to safety as well. We could fund
the 4C's request,we could fund Zoom accessibility. We could almost fully fund the
recovery house with the affordable housing project requests with the million dollar
increase that the police are asking for. And that is an increase,we're asking for a freeze,
not a cut. This is not a defund request. I'm in support of Councilor Bergus' amendment.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,David. Followed by Hannah and Vance.
Sterling: Greetings. I'm David Sterling from Iowa City. I just wanted to share my thanks to City
Manager Geoff Fruin for showing those slides displaying that the City Police budget has
actually gone under budget for a number of years, demonstrating a complete lack of any
need for funding increase. The police don't produce anything. They are a complete drain
on our resources. As Merric said, there was a study shared by Reuters showing that police
force size does not relate to crime solving and it's pretty obvious because we have no
cops here apparently, and yet the City is also not on fire. I also want to say thank you to
Mayor Teague for showing concern for people's ability to participate in this. I agree. I
believe the severe weather and the technical difficulties have limited the public's ability
to a comment on this. I support Councilor Bergus' proposal. Please don't make
everything worse some more,bringing us back to 2020. I really rather you just stop.
Thank you.
Teague:Thank you. Welcome,Hannah and Vance.
Davis: Hey,there. Uh,this is Vance Davis. I'm here with my partner Hannah Olsson. Uh,we're
from Iowa City. We've lived here combined total of 10 years. Uh, and we would also like
to just express our support for Bergus' amendment. Uh,noting in that slide show that 1%
of the budget is going to help the social services, I would ask that we adjust the scope and
ideology around our Police Department. Uh, I applaud Geoffls outlining of that,uh,
flowchart starting with prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,uh,
and I would ask that we truly commit to that. In light of the litany of projects that have
been put forward with the additional funding, I would ask the Council why those are
additional funding projects instead of core programs. Uh, and the sheer number of them is
indicative of just how many more opportunities are out there. Uh, ask yourself,what
would you do with a million dollars? That's what's possible with this in a year. Think
about that amount of money and what it can do. Thank you.
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Teague: Thank you. I did at least want to acknowledge and ask Hannah, if,um,they wanted to
respond within a minute.
Olsson: Um,yes. I would like to say,um,just a small thing. Um, I think that,uh,we are not,um,
asking for a this or that choice. Um,what we're asking for is rather to allocate that
amount of money to services that can better support our community. Um, as a person
who has siblings,um,with mental health concerns, as an individual who has mental
health concerns,um, and as a person who has volunteered with,um,the domestic
violence centers,um, I believe that those are the resources that we should,um, allocate
all of these funds too,um,rather than investing in,um,more of our,uh,police force.
Thank you so much.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Sean, followed by Abinadi, and please correct my,um,
pronunciation. Welcome Sean,please state,uh,your name and city.
McRoberts: Hey. This is Sean McRoberts in Iowa City. We have a common approach in our
society when we feel unsafe to seek to control the situation, control the people around us,
sometimes using violence if we deem it necessary. The choice before you today is not
just a decision about a department of the City or a staffing model, it is an expression of a
philosophy. A philosophy that says our neighbors are dangerous,that they cannot be
trusted,that they need to be controlled. There is a deadly irony here because this
philosophy,power and control does not make us collectively safer. It leads to anti-trans
laws like the ones our state just passed. It leads to suspicion about our neighbors,
especially black neighbors. It leads to people getting killed in the name of public safety.
We need a better civic philosophy, a better ethic of community. We need each other
showing up in real relationships that build trust. Increased investments in policing don't
get us there but funding neighborhood level collaboration does.
Teague: Thank you. Um,Ab-Abinadi. Followed by Sean. Welcome-welcome.
Rivera-Aguirre: Hi. I'm Abinadi. Can you guys hear me well?
Teague: Yes-Yes.
Rivera-Aguirre: Okay perfect. I'm Abinadi Rivera-Auirre, I'm from Iowa City,um, and I'm the
President of the Multicultural Greek Council, as well as a sister of Lambda Theta Nu
Soriety Incorporated. I represent seven organizations on campus that pertain to
multicultural like in culturally diverse organizations, and I just wanted to stand here and
support Bergus' amendment. Um, I do not feel safe with the police like presence on our
campus. We have almost like three police forces and we definitely don't need more
funding into them. Uh, I just want to make a quick point that,um, it was made,uh, as a
point several times at most of the funding went to insurance and wages. But I think in
some of the ways that we can defund it is disarming the police and getting rid of services,
um, like the Johnson County like MRAP the mine resistant ambush protected vehicle,
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um, and just to let it be known, like if we reduce and divert these funds, it's going to go
into programs that will support our communities, and I think we need to recognize that
our schools need more funding and we need to pu- like push away from criminalizing
homelessness and just not funding the police. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Sean, followed by Daniel.
Conrad: Other Council,my name is Sean Conrad and I'm a second year law student here at the
University. I'm also represented for Prairie Lion's Freedom Fund,which the non-profit
community bail fund here in Iowa city. Uh,together,me and my fellow volunteers have
paid,uh, almost a million dollars worth of, uh,pre-trial, uh,bond for incarcerated
individuals. I don't say that not to put on airs but just to say that we are well-situated to
understand,uh, firsthand needs of incarcerated and recently freed individuals in our
community. Uh, I say that because,uh,most of these individuals, almost invariably we
talk to them every day. Uh,they voiced their,uh, support for what we- as soon as they are
free they normally-they're top concerns of finding employment,um, and other,uh,non-
punitive,uh,mental and physical health support, substance abuse support, so I think we
should continue to,uh, focus on what our community is asking for. This means putting
funding in a proactive programs and continuing that directly combat the system-
systemic-systemic conditions that lead to incarceration and recidivism. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Daniel, followed by Olivia.
Mills: Hi. My name is Daniel Mills. I'm a resident of North Liberty and a graduate student at the
University of Iowa. I believe limiting our public comment period to one-minute each
when you've allowed a 40 minute presentation against this proposal is a deeply anti-
democratic and against the public interests move. This Council needs to set aside a
special session to address this issue and allow proper time for public comment. You're
public servants so act like it. Serve the public by giving this issue the time that it
deserves. I'm speaking today because I'd benefit from unearned privilege and systems of
racial hierarchy that make black, indigenous and other people of color scared to voice
their concerns in front of this Council. Today's vote and today's discussion is about racial
justice in Iowa City. I will read a short statement on behalf of someone who's afraid to
speak in front of this Council. A.D. is a white male in his early 20s and a University of
Iowa student. In November 2022 A.D. was leaving the bars around 11:00 PM to head
home. Like most college-aged kids,he popped in AirPods and started to make his way
back home. It was cooler, so A.D. started to turn into a casual jog. An incident happened
downtown,that a suspect was evading on foot. Two officers yelled for A.D. to stop but
he couldn't hear them because of the AirPods in. A.D. didn't know what was wrong and
he felt his cheeks and nose...
Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Olivia followed by Lori-Lori [inaudible]. I'm sorry. I know I
pronounced that wrong. Welcome. Olivia,please state your name and city,please.
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Manaligod: Hi. I'm Olivia. I'm from Iowa City. As mentioned before,the Police has always
stayed under budget in Iowa City for the last few years, so I don't think we need to give
them any more money, especially not a million dollars. Every day I see unhoused people
ask me for help on the street. Think about how one million dollars can help all of the
unhoused homeless people in Iowa City, and there are probably so much more leftover.
Police have been shown to dispo- disproportionately harm black,brown indigenous
communities and LGBTQ plus communities. Considering all of the hate towards trans
individuals across the country and in Iowa right now, I think giving money to the police
is absolutely not what we need right now. I understand that police officers have many
responsibilities. Reduce the load on the police force by delegating some of those
responsibilities to organizations,those who are better qualified and more effective. Give
those organizations the funding,the opportunity to help our community. We are not
cutting their budget,we're rejecting their $1,000,000 increase. I support Council member
Bergus' proposal.
Teague: Thank you. Um,we're going to have Lorelei followed by Justin.
Coffin: Hi. My name is Lorelei Coffin. I'm a resident of Coralville. Sometimes you need
someone with the authority to use force to get you out of the street where you could get
yourself killed and immediately into a safe, secure hospital to get the help you need when
you're in an episode of psychosis. Iowa City Police are serving this function, and they do
it right because they have special training in mental health,which takes money. Please
increase police funding so police can continue training in mental health. I know this from
lived experience with psychosis. That's all.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Justin, followed by Brandon.
Comer: Hey, am I audible now?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Comer: Hello. This is Justin Comer. I'm a member of the Iowa City community calling you from
my residence in Coralville. If as Mr. Fruin told us everybody involved shares the goal of
minimizing police response to situations in which they are not well-suited to respond and
instead diverting those calls to other organizations which are better equipped to handle
those situations. I think a great way to make that happen would be to divert those funds
from the Police Department to those other organizations. I'm sure you've all read
Councilor Bergus' well-researched proposals and uh, I call on you to do the right thing
tonight. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Brandon followed by Brian.
Engmark: Hello. Am I coming in?
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Teague: Yes,welcome.
Engmark: Hello. I'm Brandon Engmark. The proposed amendment is a reasonable request to
redirect a police budget increase to other social services proved to reduce crime and
increase wellness and happiness. It is not a defend motion despite what Geoff wants to
imply. It would be neat to see this reasonable proposal be accepted by the City Council to
show some interest in actually supporting other means of crisis intervention,social
support, and criminal response. It would also be neat if you listen to orgs like our RVAP,
the Crisis Center, DVIP or the Library about how they think the City should approach
public safety. Please show some minimal sign that you can prioritize other aspects of city
governing besides policing and property protection. Thank you.
Teague: And what city are you from?
Engmark: I am from Iowa City.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Brian followed by Michael.
Nilles: Hello. Can you hear me well?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Nilles: All right. I'm Brian Nilles. I'm a college student here at Iowa City and a resident for the
past four years here. I'm coming in uh, support of,uh,Laura Bergus' proposal. We do not
need more money for the Police Department because, as you said, as I believe Geoff had
said earlier, it's been,uh,under budget consistently and the City is also taking on many,
uh,responsibilities to uh, in their own words from Resolution 20-159, "the reduction of
publics reliance on police in non-violent situations through the the use of unarmed
professionals."We do not need to be treating our communities like a whack-a-mole with
police to bludgeon down problems that we have uh, solutions readily available through
housing,through mental health services and various other community and neighborhood
oriented programs. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Michael, followed by Emerson.
Eckhardt: Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Eckhardt: I am Michael. I live in Iowa City uh, and I'm here to support the amendment. When we
are alienated from the social problems around us that lead to tension it is easy to look to
more enforcement,the police as a solution. This is not a solution.No amount of policing
can enforce a civiliza- can enforce civilization where the normal casual enforcement of
this broken down. It makes sense in this context why police budgets here and across the
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country have continually sored. There's no budget we could ever give them that will
allow them to tackle the problems we expect them to solve. On the contrary their growing
presence in our communities continues to reinforce many of the root causes of our
systemic problems. To be pouring more money into the system year after year at the
expense of other services puts us in a death spiral that it's hard to pull out of The only-
the only tenable solution is to redirect. We desperately need to do the hard work to
rebuild our communities, strengthened solidarity, and meet the needs of all our residents.
In the long term this must mean rebuilding how we approach housing, transportation,
health, education, child care, and much more. But today we can start down that road by-
to solve these problems.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Emerson, followed by Anthony.
Klever: Hi, I'm Emerson. I've lived in Iowa City for 10 years and I support the amendment. In
the summer of 2020 I heard many BIPOC Iowa City residents share their stories of how
they were harassed and brutalized by ICPD. Since then the ICPD budget has significantly
increased. The proposed budget continues this trend thereby aligning itself with an
organization that increases systemic violence and harm. By giving more money to the
police this Council is resisting the pleas of BIPOC, LGBTQ+,people with disabilities
and low-income people who desperately need public safety resources that will support
them rather than harass, incarcerate, and fine them. Remember the pledge you made in
your strategic plan to serve racial equality, social justice and human rights. Freeze the
ICPD budget and allocate the proposed budgetary increase organizations that will support
disenfranchised communities and prevent crime. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Anthony, followed by Tommy.
Haughton: Good evening Council and community members. My name is Anthony Alexander
Haughton the second. I'm a Tiffin resident but I am employed in Iowa City and had been
a longtime resident of Iowa City as well. I believe that the topics of police being
overburdened and a budget increase can be addressed independently. We must assess the
effectiveness of existing positions and the necessity of current response types before we
commit additional funding to the status quo. City Manager Fruin's proposal assumes that
public safety is not achievable without police. I believe that we can change the practices
and culture of our community to both alleviate pressure on the Police Department and
allocate funds in such a way to prevent community harm from occurring to begin with. I
urge the Council to consider Laura Bergus' proposal and not add any additional funding
to UIPD. I would also like to point out as previously mentioned, City Manager Fruin got
almost as much time as the entire public comment, and I believe that this is a disservice
to our community. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Tommy, followed by Christie.
Stevens: Hi. This is Tommy Stevens from Iowa City. I- can you hear me?
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Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Stevens: Um. Yeah, I was- I was born and raised in Iowa City and,um, even after that
presentation, I still support,uh, Councilor Bergus' amendment. Um, I meant I think we
should focus more on prevention,um, and,um, community health. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Christie followed by Ingrid. Please state your name and city.
Cellman: Hi. My name is Christie and I'm from Iowa City. I am a Master of Social Work student
and a disabled individual. And if I could stand from this wheelchair, I would stand for
this amendment and against the Iowa City Police Department. Thank you. That is all.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Ingrid, followed by Annie.
Gronstal: Hello. My name is Ingrid Gronstal. I am a resident of Iowa City. I've lived here off and
on,uh, for the last 20 years. Um, and I just wanted to voice my support for Councilor
Bergus' amendment. Um, a lot of folks have already mentioned,uh,reasons to support it.
Um,you know,there are a lot of ways in which organizations are already doing this
work. And I have previously worked for a non-profit and they do work on shoestring
budgets and small investment in those organization can have really impactful results. I
just wanted to also note that,um, it seems a little disingenuous that the fust positions cut
would be community policing positions. That sort of indicates that that is,uh,not really,
uh, an ethos of police-policing,but a nice to have if there's enough money. Uh, and I
just,um,would like to note that this does seem undemocratic to only give the public one
minute each,uh, on such an important topic. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Annie, followed by Audrey.
Gudenkauf: My name is Annie and I live in Iowa City. I think this one minute limit to speak is
garbage. I'm asking you all to vote yes to Councilor Bergus' amendment to shift $1.6
million from policing to more life-affirming services. Looking at our data over the past
10 years,the ICPD budget has increased over 40%while the Iowa City population has
only grown about 10%. We don't need to add to this already bloated budget. Instead,we
have a great opportunity to invest this massive amount of money into police free
resources like our water quality, our library and local non-profits that provide preventive
services. Another reason to vote yes, on this amendment is that there's less need for
policing in our community. In 2021,45% of 911 calls were made by police officers
instead of those calling for help. Only 10% of all calls required a police presence. To
increase the budget when there's a decrease in need is to take away from Iowa City
dwellers that have high needs. Instead,we can shift this funding to substance use disorder
prevention and intervention, counseling and material support for the trans community and
food support after our government has vastly reduced SNAP benefits for Islands. Uh, I'm
out of time. Thank you.
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Teague: Thank you. Welcome Audrey, followed by Jenna.
Keith: Hello. My name is Audrey Keith. I live in Iowa City and um, I'm in favor of Laura
Bergus' amendment and I am actually reading a comment on behalf of someone else who
did not feel comfortable speaking tonight. Um, so I'm speaking on behalf of KL, a white
male mid-20s University grad student. Fall of 2019,KL was relaxing at home after a
walk back from downtown. He was hanging out with two of his friends getting ready to
wind down for the night. Someone knocked on the door. KL answered the door and finds
two police officers questioning him about stuff that happened at some bar that he wasn't
even at. He was agitated and didn't want to have to deal with this conversation anymore
so KL asked if there's anything else that the officers needed from him since he couldn't
answer their questions um, and the officers continued to ask questions about KL's
evening eventually getting him to step outside of his home effectively allowing the police
to arrest KL for a public intoxication which would be a case of like misuse of power and
why we should have less police force in general. Thanks.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Jenna, followed by Lydia. State your name and city you're from.
Yang: Hi,my name is Jenna Yang and I'm a current resident of Iowa City and I'm here to speak
in support Councilor Bergus' amendment and more generally on the push to sort of shift
away from Iowa City Police Departments. You've cited funding into services like shelters
for on-house neighbors and food donation centers while those systems are still severely
lacking and often function exclusively on donations from our community members not
from the City. You also spoke so heavily on how we compare to other cities that the end
of the day this is Iowa City and not the rest of the Midwest. In my experience is living in
Iowa City, I have not always had access to community resources that we could be
funding that's actually save lives, such as harm reduction and nighttime safe spaces, and
more safe spaces for our on-housed community. I've had- I had however while living in
Iowa City had to care for loved ones who've been harassed, assaulted, and teargassed by
the Iowa City Police Department. I also find it important to note that the million dollars
that the counsel promised and allocated for social justice initiatives in the City following
events of 2021 has sat untouched. Would a million dollar increase to Iowa City Police
Department also sit untouched or does the City only care when it serves to harm our
community?
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Lydia. Followed by Yasmina.
Lavrova: Oh,hi everyone. I'm Lydia and I live in Iowa City. I just wanted to chime in and say
that I also oppose the police budget increase. In fact, I believe the budget should be
decreased which as multiple people have pointed out is actually not something that's on
the table today despite the presenters statements to the contrary. Um, I am concerned
about the heavy dependency on overtime in the Iowa City Police Department, I believe
that kind of stress and police officers does have the potential to make police encounters
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more dangerous for citizens. But I think we must adjust overtime problem through more
creative measures the decrease overall reliance on police services. Thanks.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Yasmina-Yasmina uh, followed by Harley.
Sahir: Hi. Sorry,just give me one second. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Sahir: Hi. My name is Yasmina and I'm a resident of Iowa City. I'd like to address the
performative activism happening within Iowa City City Council tonight and its relation to
the proposed increased police budget. Today's meeting agenda includes recognition of
April as Arab American History Month. As a North African American belonging to the
Southwest Asian,North African Arab community I question the purpose of celebrating
contributions of SWAN Americans in Iowa City if those with power do not actively work
to improve the daily experiences of this community. Police budgets are used to target,
monitor, and discriminate against people like me around the US as is what happened to
me by ICPD officers for my engagement abolitionists community organizing efforts in
2021. The exact specifics of this incident- of this incident is not something I can cover in
my allocated minute. Justice and equity takes more than a proclamation or recognized
history months. I ask Council members to support Councilor Bergus to freeze the ICPD
budget and invest these funds in community resources that would make the City safe for
everyone. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Harley, followed by-by V.
Upshaw: [inaudable]
Teague: Yes,welcome. Please state your name and city.
Upshaw: I'm Harley Upshaw speaking on behalf of Kathryn Dorsey and we're both residents of
Iowa City. I just want to point out that her husband was arrested for essentially having a
bipolar episode. They called to get them mental help but the police decided that it was a
domestic violence call instead despite there being no indications of it being one. This is
just proof that these people are not trained in mental health and that they need to be uh,
directed to people who are trained to do this kind of work. Um, I am not in support of
increasing the police budget. I am in support of Laura Bergus' proposal. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome V followed by Riley.
Fixmer-Oraiz: Hi. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes,welcome.
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Fixmer-Oraiz: Thank you. Hi. V Fixmer Oraiz, Iowa City resident and I'm here tonight as my
capacity as the CEO and founder of Vestige Planning. I know there were some national
studies that were talked about earlier but you really actually don't have to look nationally.
Um, closer to home I was actually a part of a plan with the University of Iowa called Re-
imagining Campus Safety Action Plan and my firm helped with uh putting together focus
groups,town halls, campus surveys in response to the murder of George Floyd and some
of the action that the campus knew that they needed to take to reconcile what was
happening with their campus police. And the University of Iowa has faculty and
researchers that are really steeped in the impacts of policing. And what I wanted to point
out was that the outcome of that was a holistic approach to campus safety with the
number 1 recommendation being that moving to public safety toward a person-fust
model that centers the mental health and physical safety of underestimated individuals.
So I just wanted to say my support for Councilor Bergus' amendment. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Riley. Followed by Tristain.
Eynon-Lynch: Hi, I'm Riley. I've lived in Iowa City for 13 years. It's just bewildering to hear
Geoff present a safety strategy that depends on budgetary increases in the same
presentation with certain projections that are overall tax revenues going down. It seems
self-contradictory. He acknowledged that we can't keep offering status quo services at our
current tax revenue and the fears he listed might be addressed in new and more efficient
ways. But only if we invest in finding them while we still have financial flexibility. So
many of our neighbors worked so hard to bring patterns of police violence to our broader
attention in 2020. And if you vote to increase the police budget for the third time since
then knowing even from its own presentation that it's financially unsustainable your
message will be that even though hundreds of us have gotten together to build alternative
plans like the inclusive EDP,we're still a town that would pass on the chance to make a
pragmatic systemic change because of a 30 minute list of fears.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Tristian followed by Michael.
Bracewell: Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes,welcome. Please state your name and city.
Bracewell: Hi, my name is Tristan Bracewell, and I live in Iowa City, um, and I am also here to
speak in support of Laura Bergus' amendment. Um, I also want to say I'm in support of
holding a special session to discuss this as I think,uh, due to technical difficulties and the
weather, it's entirely unfair,um, to limit people's speaking, especially when so many
other issues got more time and,uh, Geoff Fruin was able to give his long presentation.
Um, I do also want to thank Geoff because I was going to try and get into the weeds
about numbers and stuff here,but I think Geoff kinda made that point moot by,uh,
admitting that the police are consistently under budget year after year. Um, so I don't
even know why we need to have this discussion. It seems obvious to me that they don't
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need an increase in budget. Uh, I would also like to say that I am on the record in favor of
defunding the police,but this is not a demand to defund as others have mentioned, it's
asking you to increase their budget by less,which is a very bare minimum demand that
you should be able to meet. I also want to say similar things Geoff tried to scare us with
are things cops should be doing anyway,um, so that doesn't really matter.
Teague: Thank you. Thank you. Welcome,Michael. Followed by Hannah.
Eynon-Lynch: Hello. I'm Michal Eynon-Lynch. I live in Iowa City and I echo a lot of the
sentiments I've heard here today. And I'm proud to be a part of this engagement of well-
spoken community. Uh, I think the Council has done a remarkable job in creating the
latest strategic plan. What I think is notable about it is that for each of the four impact
areas; economy,mobility,housing and neighborhoods, and safety and well-being there's
a clear vision of what we want our community to become. Underneath each of those
narrative visions,there are strategies identified to attain these visions.None of those
strategies are aimed at increasing police officers,while many of the strategies are aimed
at creating a thriving community that proactively reduces harm. Shifting funding from the
police budget does not mean ignoring public safety, and I'm a bit shocked at the fear-
mongering about it tonight. Shifting funding means intentionally investing and other
public safety measures that are proven to work. This is a rare and tangible opportunity to
align our vision, our strategic plan, our budget, and our community values.And I hope
you'll vote with Councilor Woman Bergus. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Hannah, followed by Taylor.
Zadeh: Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes,welcome. Please state your name and city.
Zadeh: Uh,my name is Hannah Zadeh and I'm a resident of Iowa City. I'm also asking that
Council members vote yes to the Councilor Laura Bergus' amendment. In City Manager
Fruin's presentation,he asked us,uh,when are police officers the best responders for a
call?Um, as people have been saying all night,the answer is never. Um,when I was
working as a crisis Councilor talking to folks who are experiencing crisis, it was regular
for folks to start the call by begging me not to call the police because of the trauma they
had experienced at the hands of police. Uh,when we listen to the most marginalized
people in our community,we know that the answer is never,uh,the police. Um,the City
Manager's presentation was honestly so eerie because it was painting an imaginary
picture of what the police are. And I want you to note that while Kim Reynold's
government is waging war on working people in unions,there is one type of union that
she always supports police. She always supports police unions. Why does she protect
police unions?Because police are critical to carrying out violence,repressing regular
people, and to protecting property and people in power.
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Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Taylor, followed by Felicia.
Caton: Hi,my name is Taylor Caton and I'm from Cedar Rapids originally,but I'm an
engineering student at the University of Iowa. So I'm in Iowa City almost every day. Can
you hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Caton: Okay. Thank you. Uh, I support Councilor Bergus' motion to amend the budget because I
think it'll improve safety in our community and help me personally. I live in an apartment
complex and have neighbors that have logged fights every two weeks. My neighbors are
great people on every time I hear them fighting, I want to help,but I feel like I only have
two options, calling the police or getting involved personally,but I don't feel comfortable
doing either one. This motion to amend the budget would give me a third option to help
my neighbors. Where someone trained in de-escalation,mental health could check in on
my neighbors and help them and maybe give them tools to resolve the fights on their
own. I think this third option is a good middle ground and will help a lot of people
involved in tense situations like these. It will allow an opportunity for compassionate
mental health care and smaller issues that are still very important to be resolved without
police involvement. This could ease the 18,500-hour overtime burden that the current
police have acquired and save taxpayer money, as well as allow the current Police to do a
better job with their current duties because they aren't stretched so thin. Defending the
police without any other support and place is a bad idea,but that's not what we're doing
with this motion. This is why I support Councilor Bergus' motion to amend the budget.
Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Felicia, followed by Siri.
Pieper: Hi, can you hear me?
Teague: Yes,welcome. Please state your name and city.
Pieper: Hi. Uh,my name is Felicia. I live in Iowa City. Um, I support Councilor Bergus'
amendment to not increase the police budget and allocate that money to life-affirming
services. Police don't prevent crime. They punish traumatized and harm. We live in a
community with a robust set of social services, so much so that vulnerable folks relocate
here to receive services. While our network is bigger than a lot of communities, it's
lacking and it's failing our most vulnerable neighbors. The American Journal of Public
Health has identified policing and prisons as a public health crisis. And the fust step, the
most bare minimum step is to not increase the budget further. Policing is historically and
currently a racist system which is used to uphold white supremacy. Policing chews up
and spits out are most vulnerable neighbors and makes us all more unsafe in the process.
To speak to GeofPs presentation,he listed a bunch of projects and services that the City
has funded since 2020. It's not enough,we need more services,we need more funding for
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the community. Geoff also listed off a bunch of services that police will not be able to do
if the amendment goes through;police can and should not be providing these services.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Siri. Followed by Yuewon.
Felker: Hi there. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes,welcome.
Felker: Alright, thank you for this opportunity to speak. Um, I think frankly,the perception that
public safety depends on the Police Department funding is not only short-sighted,but it's
also predominantly a white perspective. I echo the need to address the concerns of an
overburdened Police Department,but that needs to be done through decreasing their
reliance on police services in the fust place. Um, I don't know how many of you know
this,but I'm an educator. I teach 150 kids here in Iowa City each day. And I simply ask
you to recognize the power of providing people with resources. That's what I see myself
as doing each day when I engage with my students, and I try to help prepare them to
engage in this community in healthy and in empathetic ways. Please support Council
member Bergus' amendment to spend our city's money providing people with resources.
These groups that you-you,uh,note as projects,they shouldn't be projects,they should
be the core components of our system in this city. So let's provide for our community and
not try to control it. Thank you for your time.
Teague: Please state your name and city.
Felker: Um, Siri Felker, Iowa City.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Yuewon, followed by Karen.
Teague: Welcome Yuewon. I see that your mic is unmuted,but we don't have any volume here.
I'll have you raise your hand again. I'm gonna go to Karen, followed by Harry.
Kubby: Good evening Council members. My name is Karen Kubby. I live in Iowa City, and
what we're really talking about, it seems to me, is a big cultural shifts. And cultural shifts
are really hard to do. Um,but it's not an unknown. We know that more emphasis on
social services and different ways of providing community safety work. And I really hope
that you will take some bold action tonight to live out the promise of the resolution that
was crafted by former Council members Weiner and- and Council member Bergus,uh,to
really help us through this cultural shift. Um we-um, I'm sorry, I've lost my train of
thought. Um, so what I-what I hope will happen is that if one amendment doesn't
happen,that you will work with each other tonight on further amendments and on another
issue, I'm so happy that you're looking at no-fare transit. This is another part of
community safety.
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Teague: Welcoming Harry, followed by Will.
Manaligod: Hello. Can you hear me?
Teague:Yes,welcome.
Manaligod: My name is Harry Manaligod. I'm here to ask every member of this Council to vote
in support of Councilwoman Laura Bergus' amendment to reallocate money from the
police budget to investing in caring about our community. I'm here to denounce
increasing the police budget and to advocate for- for decreasing that budget in order to
spend money on things that actually help the people of the City. In 2020,the people of
the city rose among unfathomable odds to ask Iowa City Police to begin the process of
defunding the police. And the City Council has responded by increasing the police
consistently. Instead of spending $1.6 million on an already over-inflated police budget,
we should be subsidizing affordable housing, giving funding to help families escape
domestic violence situations. We should be giving funding to help increase resources for
mental health for students in the K-12 school district. We- it isn't uncommon for police to
be called an brutalize students. But instead we should be helping them go through the
trauma that they are going through about such an unstable and-
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Will follow by Keaton. State your name and city you're from,
please.
Kapp: Uh,my name is Will and I live in Iowa City. Um, can you all hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Kapp: Thank you. There are a lot of comments about shuttling money elsewhere for preventative
measures that will lead to a lower incidence of crime. While I support these efforts,but to
echo some other previous commenters, I also think it is important to think about the roles
that police officers play in our community, especially in light of City Manager Fruin's
comments. There are many things that police officers do. Some of the things that he
named--security at events,meeting people in person for grievances that do not need a gun
that can take a life and a badge that can put one away. The proposed shift in the budget
does not mean that these things do not happen. It just means that the-we do them in a
different way. I encourage the Councilors to think about things that police officers are
currently doing that could be better done by a person who is truly there to serve them
without the ever-present threat of death and imprisonment. In spite of City Manager
Fruin's comments, I urge the Council to support Councilor Bergus' proposal to reallocate
the 1.6 million and to echo the words of a previous commenter,please do the right thing
tonight. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Keaton, followed by Zoe. Please state your name and city,yes
welcome.
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Zeimet: Uh,my name is Keaton and- and I live in Iowa City. I'm speaking on my own personal
experience as a student. Uh, I'd like to remind City Council events that ha-had transpired
during the 2020 George Floyd protests and the police brutality to citizens. We still have
chemical weapons,we still have social issues, and we still have exponentially-we are
still exponentially funneling the police. We're going to continue to see protests, especially
more frequently with-with legislation occurring at the State level. I don't find it
appropriate that we increase funding knowing more protests will result in violence as
seen in 2020. That's why I support Councilor Bergus' amendment to the budget. I would
also like to recommend the Council to call a special meeting to give more time to the
community to voi-uh,voice their concerns, especially with the one-minute limit and
we've seen the Council do it before. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Zoe follow by Oliver.
Swinton: Yeah. My name is Zoe Swinton. I live in Iowa City and I'll be speaking on behalf of
AM,who's a black woman. While hanging out at a white woman's house,AM was
having a good time when a miscommunication lead to AM being told she was gonna get
robbed. A fight ensued. AM defending herself against three others, ending in her,AM,
being knocked unconscious and held down while one female called the cops. When AM
regained consciousness,unable to understand or hear anything, she was charged with
assaulting a peace officer when she tripped over the curb while trying to regain agency of
her own body. Eventually AM was forcibly placed on the gurney face down, flat arms
tied behind her back,bleeding excessively from nobody knows where. This is unethical
and extremely dangerous. We have literally seen black people die like this in ambulances.
After being discharged from a hospital, ICPD notified AM of a warrant against her. You
serve us as public servants. So it wasn't too what we're asking for despite not having
adequate time to discuss it. I support Laura Bergus' amendment and not doing so is
embarrassing and shameful.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Oliver, and we're going to go back to Yuewon, following.
Welcome Oliver. Please state your name and city.
Weilein: Hello. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes,Welcome.
Weilein: Thank you. Um, I'm Oliver. I live in Iowa City, Iowa. So um, I'll just start. Geoff Fruin
spent his 40-minute presentation clearly co-written by ICPD,warning of the risks of not
funding our police,but why do we not hear about the risks of not funding the commu-the
essential community services that this money could go towards, such as housing, food,
security, crisis intervention, etc. As someone who has spent 10 years working with
individuals with intellectual disabilities and maladaptive behaviors, it has consistently
been my biggest fear to encounter a police officer while a client is in crisis due to the
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numerous cases of individuals like I serve, as well as staff like myself being injured or
killed by them. We need to invest in professional non-law enforcement responses to
crises and we're doing a good job with places like the community response team. But
they are desperately in need of more funding and more continuity. Geoff also complains
of police using too much overtime and that is unsus- of police using too much overtime
and that that is unsustainable. I agree that bloated police budgets are unsustainable,which
is why we need to forcibly reduce their role and invest in alternatives that don't result in
death and incarceration. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Yuewon, followed by Elly. Please state your name and city you
are from. Welcome.
Lee: Hi. This is Yuewon. This- I live in Iowa City. I think everyone else before me has done an
amazing job of speaking on the moral and ethical reasons on why the police budget
should not be raised. Instead,what I'm trying to figure out is if the City is under a tight
budget and other departments in the City is making do with what they have,why the
police aren't able to do this too? Other departments aren't able to offer valuable service
that would actually improve residents lives. The Senior Center still isn't open for
weekends and nights. The Rec Center's clos-talk about closing the community pool.
Public transit still doesn't offer Sunday service despite the City promising to provide this.
When we talk about working overtime, Iowa City Transit drivers are also overworked
and burned out. When I talk to people in the community,they don't say things like we
need more officers. They talk about how the buses here that aren't working for them,how
the shelters here are always full and inadequate,how their employees are exploiting
them. Adding more police will not help with any of these. Budgets are moral documents
and what you are showing here, if you don't support Laura Bergus' proposal, is that you
are not prioritizing actual core services that people want. Thank you so much.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Elly followed by Reyna
Hofmaier: Hi,my name is Elly. I live in Iowa City, um, and I just want to voice my support for
Councilor Bergus' initiative to decrease the ICPD budget and invest in alternative
resources for community safety and support. Thank you. That's all.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Reyna, followed by Nathaniel.
Roach: Hello. My name is Reyna. I am a resident of Iowa City. I am 17-years-old, so I'm a
youth. And therefore the future that you as adults and as Councilors are building is the
future that I have to live with and continue to build upon. I would please ask you to
support Councillor Bergus' proposal to invest in communities and preventative measures
and divest from band-aid solutions that are not providing the resources we need. As a
trans-indigenous person, I'm intimately familiar with the harm that the State of Iowa is
perpetuating in our communities and our schools. And for Iowa City to be a safe space
for queer people, for trans people, for indigenous people, for all racially marginalized
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people,we need to provide support for them in tangible fiscal ways. Councillor Bergus'
proposal does that and I ask that you support it. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Nathaniel, followed by Peris. Please state your name and city.
LeSage: Hello,my name is Nathaniel Le Sage and I am not in favor of increasing the police
budget. Um, and so I simply want to say that I support Councillor Bergus' motion to
amend the budget. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Paras followed by Angie.
Bassuk: Hi,my name is Paras Bassuk and I have lived in Iowa City for 16 years. As Mr. Fruin's
presentation, exemplifying the police are not a well-equipped source to provide the types
of support we need in this community. Threatening the loss of community policing
positions and officer benefits is a straw man argument that simply shows ICPD's lack of
investment in community support. Stress on the Police Department should be solved by
diversion of burden to more capable, less fatal, less (inaudiable)resources in the City. As
a trans person, I must say that Police Departments in this country have historically acted
as instruments of oppression of my community. In light of antitrans movements in this
state, armed police officers taking on social support roles in this community is a threat to
the wellbeing of trans people and other minorities. I urge this Council to take advantage
of this opportunity to make change and accept Councillor Bergus' amendment.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome,Angie, followed by Annie.
Jordan: Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Jordan: My name is Angie Jordan. I'm a resident in the South District, Iowa City and an Iowa
City native. I'm so proud to live in this community and so proud of the strategic plan that
you all and City staff have put together. I know it's a lot of work and,um, I just hope that
whatever happens with the budget,the City will continue to commit to serving in a way
that is aligned with our shared values,building a resilient community,while also building
a new way or new ways and or evolving current ways to hold actions accountable. So we
can get through them and go together. Community building in my mind grows
relationships and trust. It operates in love, curiosity,vulnerability. I have so much more
to say,um,but I just want to say that I'm grateful to be in this community and,uh,that
we have a City staff and so many folks and residents who speak up and speak out. And I
want to continue to urge those out there,um,that are looking to support neighborhood
efforts,to empower neighborhoods. So they have tools, equipment,knowledge, funding
skills to maintain us it so we can continue being creative. I know there's lots of different
ways to do that. Thank you for this time to speak.
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Teague: Thank you. Welcome Annie followed by Grace.Welcome,Annie.We can't hear you.
Please state your name and city. Your mic is muted. There you go.
Tucker: Are you hearing me now?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Tucker: Great. Thanks Bruce. Um,my name is Annie Tucker and I live in Iowa City and I
strongly support Council member Bergus' amendment. Um, and I really appreciate the
comments that I'm hearing from other community members that support the amendment.
Um, I think it's really important again to say this vote is not too- is to not increase the
police budget. It's not a cut. Um, it's about investing in community safety by increasing
resiliency for individuals and the community and supporting the work of organizations
who can do that and do that better than the police can. The-they have some roles and
other roles are also needed. So,um, so a few things that I think are important. I think it's
important to support mental health and social services, including the community mobile
crisis response and other services as reported as provided by CommUnity. I encourage
the increase-the continued increase.
Teague:Thank you. We will have our last two speakers,which would be craze- Grace then
followed by Katie. Welcome.
Merritt: Hi. I would just like to voice my support for Council member Bergus' amendment to,
uh,not increase the police budget. I do,uh, firmly believe that most situations, if not all
of them,probably all of them can be solved without the use of a lethal weapon. Um, I
think we should continue to empower members of our community,um,to,uh, create a
safe space and not continue to allow police to bring life threatening objects into the
spaces that are supposed to be ours. Uh, so I just want to voice my support for her
amendment. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. And we'll have our last speaker, Cady,welcome. Please state your name and
city.
Gerlach: Hi,this is Cady Gerlach and I'm in Iowa City, Iowa. I'm the Executive Director of
Better Together 2030. And I'm here tonight to,um, share with the Council the Better
Together 2030,All In Vision continues to support and promote community well-being.
And as you consider your budget amendments and budget as a whole,uh, I just
encourage the Council to continue to support those strategic initiatives that you've taken
great efforts to begin and will continue to support and undertake, including an affordable
housing. And looking at the strategic plan initiatives funded and upcoming,um,
incredibly supportive of those and hope that I our- community continues to grow and to
support each other. And- and also, I'd like to say show up in the way that our community
has tonight. And I hope that the community members that are so active and engaged
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tonight can continue to be active and engaged in the community process because we need
all of these voices at the table. And I appreciate your time.
Teague: Thank you and thanks to everyone that has shared on this topic. I am going to close the
public hearing.
2. Consider a Resolution
Teague: Can I get a motion to approve,please?
Thomas: So moved to Thomas.
Alter: Second Alter.
Teague: All right. Council discussion?
Bergus: Well, Mayor,just to front-load it, then I would make a motion that we shift $1.6 from
the bottom line of the Police Department budget into,uh,the general fund reserve.
Dunn: Second.
Teague: We have a motion and a second it in now Council discussion. And this is a motion to
amend the budget,uh,with a shift of$1.6 million,um,to where did you state?
Bergus: General fund reserve.
Teague: To general fund reserve.
Bergus: Correct.
Teague: Thank you.
Bergus: Do you mind if I start?
Teague: Oh, sure. Go right ahead.
Bergus: Um, I wasn't expecting a 40 minute,uh,run down in all the horrific things that could
happen if we shift,um, less than 10% of the police budget,um,to ways of providing
community safety other than policing. Um, so I do want to address some of the items that
were-that were raised in our City Manager's presentation as well as talk through,um,
really where I'm coming from with this proposal. Um, I do think it's important to think
about why now and why this, and how we could achieve what,um, Geoff himself said,
we're-we're aligned on wanting to achieve. So starting off with why now,we heard in the
budget presentation that,um,the budget process really like never ends. It- it goes all year
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round. And,um,what's different about this year is the fact that we adopted a really
fantastic strategic plan that I think we're all very excited about. Um, and that didn't occur
until December 6th of 2020, and,uh,two weeks later, on the 21st of December was
when,um,the budget document that we're considering tonight was released to the public
and released to us. So that was really the fust opportunity that we had to see the budget
that was crafted under our prior strategic plan,which there's of course a lot of similarities
and alignments from,uh,that prior plan,but that was really our fust opportunity to say
how does this proposal for fiscal year'24 align with what we've now sort of codified in
this new strategic plan. And,um,just a couple of weeks after we received that more than
700-page document,we had our fust opportunity to discuss it as a team. So among
ourselves on that Saturday,we had that fust,um,budget presentation from staff. We
didn't receive any public input,um, at any of the work sessions. Tonight is the fust time
that we've had a public hearing on this budget. And so,that,um,that is the why now,
right?And starting back in January, I fust raised the premise of,uh, shift in the funding.
I've heard- I want to be really clear about,uh,what this proposal is and kind of what it
isn't just to step back for a minute because a number of speakers tonight have said,we're
not looking for a decrease. Um,just a non-increase. So where did I get the $1.6 million
and what does that represent? The proposed increase from fiscal year'23 to fiscal year'24
was $955,336. At the time that we were considering that proposed increase for the fust
time in- at our January 7th work session--and I think you all know I've been working with
Geoff and Dustin prior to that as well--um,we had six patrol positions open.And you
may recall we discussed the six patrol positions being open at the time,um, in January at
that presentation. And so I asked Geoff to provide me with the value of those six open
positions because at the time that we were considering this, okay,there's this increase of
almost a million dollars, and then there's this unused money,which as he mentioned,um,
the Police Department hasn't been using all of its budget primarily due to unfilled
positions since so much of the budget is in personnel. And he provided me with that
number,uh,just on Monday of last week, and that's- I wasn't- I'm not trying to say that he
delayed in getting that to me. I'm just saying that's-that's the time in which I received that
information,which was a range from about $580,000-$810,000, I think or $820,000.
Because it depends on who would have filled those positions and what step,um, in our
pay scale they would come in at. So the $955,336 proposed increase and the money that
was sitting there in that approved 2023 budget that hadn't been used for those positions is
how I got to the 1.6. So that's sort of at the lower end of what would be the proposed
increase plus those six positions. So I just want to be really-really clear about that
number, okay?Because it is less than the approved FY2023 because it takes into account
the funds that were sitting unused. I think,you know,um,the facts and the statistics that-
that Geoff provided are important to think about in the context of where we are now and
what all of this could mean. Um, and I just want to be really clear that, you know, I,um- I
hope you-all had an opportunity to look at- at the information that I had provided back in
February,um, and have talked with each of you about because my numbers aren't wrong.
Um, Geoff took a very different timescale, and so when we're talking about what,um,
departments have increased, for example, in comparison to the Police Department, I took
a 10-year view. I'm saying,what has the City been investing in over that period of time?
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So from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year proposed 2024,that-that time span. And so you
heard, for example, someone say the Police Department budget has increased 40 percent
in that time. That is correct. And so yes,there have been smaller increases more recently,
um, and we haven't filled positions recently. You've heard our Police Chief say that we
have a really hard time recruiting now. I was speaking with a former Iowa City police
officer a couple of weeks ago who said that when he joined the force,probably 15 or 16
years ago,um,he was in an applicant pool of 400. And now we have applicant pools of a
couple of dozen, and we've started trying to hire year round because we can't-we just
can't fill those positions when we're hiring in the ways that we have in the past. So when
we look at,you know,what this investment is and what the scope and scale of it is, I
think it's just be thinking about the fact that the argument you heard tonight from our City
Manager, and what you've heard from our Police Chief is for the status quo. The status
quo that we know is getting harder and harder to maintain because we're having a harder
and harder time finding people to do these jobs. And the status quo that says, it's okay to
have officers spending 18,500 hours of overtime,which is incredibly expensive to our
bottom line and harmful to those employees, let alone how someone is presenting to the
public when they're overworked in that way. That the solution to that is just fill the
positions,more of the same. That's what I heard tonight. And that's just so disappointing
because that is not in line with our visions,that is not in line with the changes that have to
happen in order for us to think systemically,to think holistically,to be a resilient
community who can address the challenges of this moment as we're going to have
continuing climate crisis. Goeff talked about how police are often the fust to respond
after a natural disaster. That's true because they're the people who we have,they're the
people who are on call 24/7. And every time an officer interacts with the public,
regardless of their intentions,regardless of the situation,they bring a firearm,they bring
legal immunity so that if something goes wrong and they harm someone,there can be
almost zero accountability, and they bring the legal authority to seize people and
property. And in this moment,particularly in this State,the idea of enhancing, as public
servants,the arm of our government that can do those things should be terrifying. That
should not be what we're investing in right now. And I think we can talk about,you
know,what-what are the opportunities for making sure that some of those functions that
Geoff said would go away will be filled. And we know from the statistics that we have
based on what Geoff has provided, 10 percent of calls for service resolve as requiring an
officer, 10 percent of calls. Officers respond to many-many-many more calls than-than
require a police officer because they are the people who are in those roles. And we've
seen in just the last few years how we have other options like mobile crisis response. And
in the last couple of months, I've had some amazing opportunities to meet with the people
who are leading those programs and to understand that they want to be fust responders.
They want to be more proactive,they want to be more present. And we heard from
organizations who provide care to some of the most vulnerable people in our community
just recently about the youth mental health crisis. And we know that Community Crisis
Services,Mobile Crisis Response to our schools has increased dramatically. They need
more resources. We want those professionals responding to those kinds of calls. We want
people who don't bring everything that a police officer might mean to someone who has
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had a harmful interaction in the past or has just watched what has gone in- on in our
country in the last few years,we want response that is tailored to the need. And I
absolutely appreciate Geoffls um, indication that we can and should emphasize
prevention, and we know that the proposal that's in front of us is not doing that. The
proposal that is in front of us for the Police Department is the status quo. It is saying the
calls for service that we have for police need to be met by police, and they're overworked
right now, so we need to be able to staff up completely so that we can respond to those
calls for service in the ways that we have. We need to do something different, and we
have those opportunities,we have those tools directly in front of us. What can we do with
$1.6 million, okay?And I want to really emphasize that if we- at the point where staffing
is 100 percent,right? These are union employees,they're paid very well. All public
servants should be paid very well, all public servants should have good pensions,but
these particularly employee-particular employees cost more than many others. And- and
once they are in those positions,we're pretty locked in. And if we invest at the same time,
what-what-what Geoff was suggesting, if we,you know, are- are finding other revenue
sources and somehow in this worst budget situation that we've seen in a very-very long
time,with decreasing revenue and starting out in the hole, if somehow we invest still in
prevention and police at the same level that it is now,that calls for service go down,we
still have the officers,we still have that investment, and we still-they will continue to be
in those roles. I'm not in favor of firing people, and I don't think any of you are either. I
appreciate what our City Manager is saying that he thinks this proposal would result in all
of the things that he listed,but I think the key is we just have to invest in those alternative
ways. And at this moment,we have those opportunities in front of us. And this is not a-
it's- it's really about taking the chance to craft a future that we want to live in together that
is not based in fear,but is based in hope and community and strengthening our
neighborhoods, and finding and modeling ways as public servants,which armed officers,
unfortunately, often cannot do because of their uniform,because of their firearm,to
model ways for us to show up and care for each other. I think a status quo budget,will
mean status quo policing. We've heard from the community,not just tonight,but over the
last several years and the result of planning,not just our own,not just the strategic plan,
but the better together 2030 plan,the inclusive economic development plan,the ECICOG
Envision East Central Iowa plan. All of these plans came from processes with a lot of
public input and a lot of people responding to like,wow,we're dealing with a lot of crap
and we really need to figure out what we're going to prioritize now. And so all of those
plans point to solving problems and preventing harm in creative ways that are about
collaboration, and if we just continue to turn towards punishment, I don't see how we find
that path to the future that we've committed to in those documents. I appreciate you all
giving me time. I- I have many other points from,uh,what our City Manager said. And I-
I just- I just have a couple of other things that I want to highlight at the beginning of this
discussion. But,you know, Geoff said that with the expenditurea going up, inflation,
labor, fuel, insurance, and being in revenue trouble,that that was the biggest red flag.
Okay. So we know that our resources are limited and we have to prioritize the limited
resources that we have. And when Geoff gave a very compelling list of all the things that
we've invested in, I tried to total them up while he was-while he was going,but since
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2020, I don't think we hit even one year of the Police Department budget. I don't think we
even hit 17.3 million with the things that he mentioned. And I- and I just say that because
what-what we're talking about, if we agree on the end goal or the vision,what we're
talking about is, is the proportionality of investment,right?What do we want to
prioritize?How much are we willing to really put forward the kinds of solutions that we
think are going to solve these problems?And it breaks my heart that it has to be this kind
of adversarial thing. Because I think what it shows is an unwillingness to consider that
those services that are provided can be provided in other ways in the vast majority of the
time. And we have an opportunity to be creative,we have an opportunity to work with
our partners who already doing this work. We have an opportunity to respond to what
we're hearing tonight, as well as really what we committed to in terms of unarmed
professionals responding to need in our community. And I think we need to do that at
scale. I also just wanted to point out that, as Geoff said,we have a lower number of
sworn officers per capita than many cities. We also have a much lower crime rate than
most cities. And I think that really raises an interesting question as to,um,what are we
trying to achieve then if we just continue on the status quo path and increase the police
budget?Because I don't think that,um,the data shows, as other people have said tonight,
that increasing,uh,police force leads to a reduction in crime. If we had that data,you
would have heard it from our City Manager. You also heard Geoff talk about the need for
innovation in the Police Department and I just would really,really challenge you to think
about what that could look like. The thing that makes police,police are those three things
that I mentioned,right?Having-being a sworn officer,which in Iowa we cannot tell
them not to carry a gun,right? That's something we can't do. Um,having that legal
immunity if something goes wrong, so there's a lack of accountability, and having the
authority to take you into custody or seize your property in a lot of situations, and also
having an obligation to enforce laws even if we up here don't agree with them,right? I
mean,you remember that other amendment that,uh,recently to the State code that said,
um,we cannot impose non-enforcement as a policy of any particular law. And so the
more officers we have whose job it is to enforce,yes,they can also,um, exercise
discretion. But that is- puts our residents in a terrible situation when they're faced with
someone who just has to make a personal choice in that moment as to whether or not
they're going to carry out enforcement of the law that we believe is wrong. I think one of
our commenters said it best that wha-what really is at issue here is, is the philosophy,
right? That we can choose a better ethic of community. That we can have a philosophy
that's really oriented around empowering neighborhoods, empowering people,modeling
care for each other in ways that we know other communities are doing. This is not like
some,you know, imaginary fairy of tale. This is like investing in the kinds of things that
we see in the South District,the kinds of things that we've talked about with the,um,
community outreach in our Communications Department. And it's not,um, it's not
something,you know,radical and crazy. It really is about living out the values that we've
set forth in the strategic plan. And I guess the other thing I just really wanted to make,
make clear is that I hope you all know me enough to know that I trust our City Manager. I
am a big proponent of staff, I know that they are the experts. I trust our police chief and
what they're providing to you and what they are recommending to you is what's in line
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with the status quo and- and what I would expect them to provide. If we want to shift
that, if we want to fundamentally consider a change to orient around harm prevention and
care instead of punishment that has to come from us,that can only come from us. That is
a policy decision that I would never expect to come from staff. And that's why this is a
very unusual,very uncomfortable moment where we are in opposition on this idea.
Because I don't want the status quo and I hope that you all don't either. I really appreciate
that amount of time,Mayor.
Teague: Thank you. Well,we can ha- certainly have,uh, comments by Councilors at this time.
Well, I'll jump right in there. Well,you know I think the,uh,what is- what we're talking
about now,the motion that's been on-that's on the floor is really the amendment for the
1.6 million from the police budget to move it to the general fund reserve. And so I'm
going to try to keep my comments related to that because we have you know,
$260,000,000 budget that we're really talking about,which I'll talk about that at some
point. There's a lot of gratitude that I think,um,we can give to our staff for their work
there. But while we're on this topic,um, I think there's a lot to be said. The one thing that,
um,that I do want to say is we have, ah, as Councilor Bergus has mentioned um, a desire
that I believe our, ah, our City Manager's Office has, our police chief has and this
Council has you know to say that we're want to make changes to more of a community,
ah,to something that has more right for our community when it comes down to policing.
I believe that we have that. We have a lot of tools that we have been, ah, initiating over
the years. We- as our City Manager noted,we've shifted um,to some mental health
outreach,um,mental health liaisons and some other things. The one thing that I heard
was we need a systemic change and I believe that we need a systemic change. But in this
moment right now,the-the terminology of status quo, if we approve this current budget
with the increase, I- I don't know that I attest to this being the status quo. What is being
asked of this Council is to increase,um, some,wha-what has been classified as um, or I
classify it more as community specialist positions, ah,by our officers. We have the crim-
crime analysis,the community outreach officers, ah,neighborhood response officer. This
in my mind is not increasing any of the, ah,patrol individuals that will be on the street
going out in the community. But this it would be professionalizing to a greater degree, ah,
on some levels,the operations that we already have. Ah, as I see it this is an opportunity
to allow our police chief to navigate um, some of th-the services that the police are
already providing and try to make it better.Now, I would agree that um,we have to move
um, swiftly on this, ah,to make sure that we are getting what this community wants, ah,
what this Council wants,what ah, I believe that our staff here wants. But we-we also
have another problem on the other end where we're having our officers work 18,um,um,
18.5 thousand ah, overtime hours. Yes, I- I know that if we,you know, do this bold
movement and say,hey stop,we're gonna decrease your new-we're not gonna increase
your staff. You're gonna have to figure it out um. I think they will figure out a way to
navigate this. But if we're talking about a really,really a bold change, I would rather ah,
take a step back. We get all a lot of interested parties on board and have this conversation
so that we can be ah,really intentional about what we want. Right now. I,you know, I
love you Councilor Bergus. That's not ah, a secret between you and I, and even people in
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the community. They know that um, I- I appreciate you bringing this to us and but in my
opinion,we have a bunch of departments and within this community,within this, ah,
within the City. If we want to look at how can we a- assess all of our budgets right now in
this moment to get to $1.6 million, I think is what you said,then we should be looking at
all of the budget. Singling out the Police Department, in my opinion,has a lot of elements
to it. Um, I mean,you went on record to say that you are abolitionist if I'm not correct.
Um,this to me feels a little bit inappropriate to single out one department. I know that
there are other departments that, ah,we can talk about right now in this meeting that we
can probably um,you know, say how can we rearrange that department to get us um,
maybe a greater service for our community.Not to say that there's other departments that
are doing anything that we don't um, agree with. But I think with any organization you
can re-imagine, ah,how you operate and um, and save some dollars. I'm gonna kinda just
stop there. Certainly there are so many things that I can talk about,but I think the overall,
ah,message that I want to go into because I'm going to go into stats and all that other
stuff which I prepared. But,um,this- I don't believe that this is status quo and I don't
believe that um,we are at a, at the point of being intentional in how we want to re-
imagine our Police Department right now in this moment. Um, I hear, if we give the
monies then you know that it'd be ah,hard to re-retract it. I do believe that your question
about if we, ah,you know approve this budget and you know further down the line, if we
decided to transfer money from one department to another, I believe that was answered
that we could do that. Ah, so for anyone that's wondering if we approve this current
budget and we decided to, ah, once we're in our, ah fiscal year 2024, ah, and we want to
make some changes after we've done some in-depth conversations for the systemic
change that we're talking about,we can amend that budget and that process will look very
similar to what it does now. We'll set a public hearing,we'll give pub-public notice for
that public hearing, ah,which outlines the changes and the amounts that we would have.
We would hold that public hearing and adopt that certificate and then have that certificate
filed with the County and the State,just like we're doing this process. I-I do feel that the-
the current positions you know,tha-that we're talking about,these are some um,
professional enhancements on some level. Um, I know that there are some people that
don't believe that um,we should have police at all. But we're not talking about in our
Police Department today. That's not the discussion that we're um,that you are stating. I'm
sure there are some individuals that would like that,but that's not what we're talking
about,we're talking about,um,not allowing this and for my,um, assessment, I hear that
there needs to be a more holistic approach um, at how we move forward and I really do
think that this Council um, and our community deserves an opportunity to come together
and have that discussion.
Harmsen: Thank you,Mayor. I'll go ahead and jump in. Uh,unless somebody else go fust?Um,
fust of all, I- I- I agree with so much of what you're talking about. Um,the idea that this
is one of,uh- I- I agree,policing is- and how we deal with that and we deal with the
systemic and historical issues with policing is one of the most important things the City
can tackle. Um, it's incredibly important to figure out and- and,you know, I think as
many of,us,uh,you know,uh,that are on this Council and in this community,they have
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given some time,they have done a lot of reading, and stuff like that. And we try and- and
figure out how do we-how do we get our hooks into this issue,because it is huge, it is
complex, it is systemic, and it is absolutely crucial and- and- and vital and important. And
so for me, as I try to make sense of it, and how do you grapple with something so big and
how do you break it down into component parts you can deal with. I think there's a
couple of core questions that-that bear some thought and some,uh-uh, some, eh,way to
get at this. One of them is,um, the idea of two kind of parts the component of what
makes a decent,um, and the best possible,uh,public safety response overall, including
the police,but certainly not limited to that, but talking about quality and quantity. So
there- seems like there's two aspects of it. Um, and let me start with the quality aspect
first. Because I think that's the one where the-the-the 2020 proposal really gets at that
part of the puzzle,um,the restructuring plan.Now, I do have to admit that I, um, an error
on my own part when I was running and when it was my election year in 2021, I,uh,had
somehow, going through and reading all the materials and trying to get up to speed on
everything,had erroneous- erroneously believed,um, it's my own mistake,nobody else
put this in my head but myself,that the 2020-December 2020 report had actually had
some action taken on it already,but it was sort of like kind of adopted or- or sort of given
some direction to staff. Because indeed,what staff has done, and this is something I've
been happy to learn about,um, in my time here on Council is look at some of those
quality issues that were in the restructuring plan in the 2020,um,the 2020 report, ah,
such as,um,you know,moving towards these community partnerships, changing and
shifting the ways that police officers,when they are called to respond to different kinds of
crises, it's not this- doesn't look the same, ah, all the time as it did 5, 6, 7, and more years
ago. So that part of it is important, and I think that's something that we should
acknowledge is- is un-underway and needs to continue. I think that what we're talking
about now is more to the quantity. What's the proper quantity of the Police Department?
How many police officers should a community the size of Iowa City have?Um,the size
of Iowa City,the makeup of Iowa City,the needs of this community,um,that are unique
to us,but also- and sometimes will share some aspects with other cities. So I think the-
the city-by city comparison is actually something I do find is- is a very important,but not
the only data point that I would wanna look at. So I think that's all of that I agree with. I
think answering those questions, I-you know, I don't think that the-the right answer is
ever going to be zero,but I think I'm completely open to a process that is less than what
we have now. I think to be-to enter this process- a process like that fairly, everything
needs to be on the table, and all options have to be,you know, at least weighed and
considered. Um, if we start the process with the pre- dec- deciding where we're going to
end,then it's not a process, it's just an exercise in justification. And so,um, and so I think
we get the- some of the-by the way, eh, compliments on the,uh,the,uh,passion and the
ability to express some of these ideas. As a communications professor and rhetoric
professor,um,you know,the-this sweeping oratory is- is inspirational. And I think a
couple of things that really resonated with me is the idea,um, something you said I want
to take,um, I want- take a chance to craft a future. And I think that is- is exactly what we
should be doing,but I wanna add to that. I wanna take the time to craft it carefully. And I
don't think this is the one- one problem I have and why I can't support this, ah,
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amendment is because of the-we haven't had time to do that work. And this is so
incredibly important. Um, it's important to me, it's important to other people,but,you
know,we've had,um,you know, and- and the budget process does start. We,you know,
and-but never ends,you know. Um, I was gonna say it starts from the first one,budget
is- is approved,but really it starts before that as we set the priorities. Uh,we did spend all
of last year-two-thirds of last year,working on,um, our strategic plan. A number of
special work sessions where we talked about all of these strategic goals, including the
public safety kind of thing. That to me is representative of what it would take if we want
to talk about serious systemic change in answering questions where we're bringing in all
of the stakeholders,uh,bringing in the different da- data points,um, and considering
those so that we can get the quantity and quality right,um, eh, and do it well so that it
sticks and- and that we make that systemic change. I don't see that possible from, I think,
late February kind of really entering into this-this proposed idea,um,to now is- and
then, of course,because it's part of the budget process,we're stuck with this timeline. We
have to make an up or down vote. Um, and so that's something that I absolutely feel is
does a disservice to the importance of this topic,uh,because it doesn't allow for things
like even moving this hearing to tomorrow night so we could be in person because we're
not allowed by state law because of the two weeks of- I mean, so I actually shared some
of the same frustrations that,uh, several of the people that-that chimed in or- or called in,
um,you know,that we had to change this on the fly because we had the threat of severe
weather. Um,you know, and especially after what happened just a few days ago, it's not a
threat we could ignore. Um,you know, and so anyway. All that is to say, I think this is
incredibly important. I agree that we should,uh,um,uh,be looking at both the issues of
quantity and quality in terms of our policing in particular,but also the public safety in
general. I think we can point to some big strides. I think we do have a police chief,um,
that has been, I've been very,you know,um,pleased,um,maybe shouldn't say surprise
because it's probably not completely fair to our current chief,but just in general,
surprised in terms of, like,the broader expectation of- of that role. Um,very pleased to
see that willing to push the envelope on some of these things. And as we move forward,
like I said, on the table, and let's be- let's be honest. This proposal cuts positions, and I
think having it on the table as part of our discussion,hey, as one of the options, I think
that's fair. I think it's unfair to push it through in this way with this speed and then to tell
everybody, like, after the fact, figure it out. I think it's up to us to be thoughtful, figure it
out, and then make the change. And so I like kind of the principal, I agree with some of
the direction,but I think this is just the wrong way to do it. So- so that's why I- I'm gonna
have to not support this amendment.
Dunn: So I'm going to,uh, acknowledge a couple of things. Uh,the bulk of my comments,um,
are more focused on a different amendment,um,that I believe will potentially be
proposed,um, following this one, so I wanna take that into account. Um, I do agree with
a number of the folks that,uh, commented today,uh,that the budget should be frozen.
Um, so that means that I will not be supporting this particular amendment,but I would
support,uh, an amendment to freeze the budget, and that is for,uh, a variety of reasons.
Um, one, I think the fust goal of community policing is just, as we've spoken about
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immensely today,uh,prevention and minimization of resident interaction with armed
officers when at all possible. Um,this is detailed on page 42 of our preliminary plan to
restructure the police,uh, and accelerate community policing. Uh,you can see the handy
little graphic with that title that,uh, Geoff did provide in his, ah,his presentation. Um, I
wanna read a quo- a paragraph from that,uh,plan that Geoff produced,uh,that I think is
particularly important and- and points to what we're talking about,uh, in- in a type of
program that we're wanting to start today,uh,with the passage of this amendment.
"Instead,the core component of the plan to restructure the police should be a
commitment to a crisis, calls for service continuum with various response strategies
targeted at different points along the continuum. This continuum is illustrated in the
following graphic and generally focused on; one,preventing as many calls as for crisis as
possible. Two,maximizing the number of calls that can be safely diverted away from law
enforcement to civilian responders. Three, enabling police to safely correspond with
civilian crisis professionals when safety concerns are present. And four, ensuring that a
police response-that when a police response is needed,the officers are fully equipped to
de-escalate, stabilize the situation, and conduct a safe handoff to the appropriate aftercare
options. It is important to keep in mind that when considering the continuum that
individual calls can shift between points in that continuum throughout the span of the
response, for example, a call is- if a call is diverted away from law enforcement initially,
it could be,uh, it could escalate to a point where later law enforcement is necessary. The
fluidity calls,uh, of calls underscores the need for focus,preparation, and coordination at
all points along the continuum."Further detailed in that plan, Item 4.1 of this plan is
invest in social services. Item 4.2 is divert, responding without law enforcement. Item 4.3
is correspond. Item 4.4 is stabilizing connect with law enforcement if necessary. Um, I
certainly understand,uh,the concerns that pe-that folks have both on this Council in the
commit- in the- in the community,uh, and on staff with making sure that these types of
things are not rushed. It has been three years. So my question is now,uh,how much of
our preliminary plan to restructure the police has been completed,uh, if that is known.
Um, and,um,how far along the pre-yeah. Um, so that is I think an open-ended question
that I'm not sure we have a complete, ah, answer to if that is correct. We have not done an
assessment on that?
Fruin: I'm not prepared to give you an assessment tonight.
Dunn: Oh, I'm not- I'm not asking for one.
Fruin: The plan is- is something we work on consistently with the Police Department and- and I
hope that the Council is seeing those recommendations being enacted on every year.
We're making progress,whether it's higher in a second mental health liaison,uh whether
it's promoting the 988 service. I mean,we can go down the line. We're not 36 for 36 on it,
but we're making good progress.
Dunn: Sure. Thank you. Um, and so from there, I think that another important question is,uh,
you know when will the time be to start? Is the starting point for us--we have this pot of
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money. We would like to start to make systemic changes. We would like to bring in
experts with a price point that we can tell them this is how much that we can spend on it.
Uh, if we need to spend more,we can have discussion about that. But this is what we
have to work with. How can we make transformative change in the community? That is
where I'm at, at this point with-with this discussion. Second, another important point,uh
that I think that we should address is what will happen to the department if we pass a
budget freeze amendment? I'm not referring to the $1.6 million. I'm referring to just
under a million dollars here. So in this way, we're not eliminating any positions from the
department. Everyone is going to keep their jobs at an operational capacity. Uh,that does
not change. Uh,wages will not be cut. We have contractual obligations with-with union
workers to ensure that those wages are delivered by our-by our city. Uh,the number of
open budgeted positions will not change. We're not defunding department-the
department at this point. Um and if all goes well,the job will get easier for our law
enforcement professionals. I think that the goal of this money, again,talking about about
a million dollars, should be to exclusively make sure that preventative measures are taken
in our community. That law enforcement interactions are reduced so that we have less
traffic stops, so that we have more people that are going to get mental health care rather
than being locked up in our county jail. I had a conversation with a number of law
enforcement officials during my campaign for State House and the conversation went to,
where do you think the most-the highest number of beds in this county is for mental
health right now?And it was in the building that I was in. It was the county jail. Um, I
think that that is something that is deeply troubling,uh, and that these dollars can directly
go towards making sure that that does not happen. Harm reduction in our community, and
also easing the burden on our law enforcement. If they're not having to deal with those
crisis calls, if they- if we have an efficient system for making sure that the people who
have needs that do not require armed law enforcement are transitioning to-to the people
who can properly address their concerns. And we have good systems that ensure that
when escalation occurs, law enforcement can then get involved,their lives get easier. I
can easily see that translating to lower amounts of burnout. I can easily see that
translating to lower-to fewer hours wasted. Pardon me,not wasted,used,uh, for- for
overtime, I mean that is ah,misspoken. So apologies for that. Any characterization that
that may have meant. So these dollars should go towards reducing overtime,they should
go towards reducing burnout on our law enforcement officers. They should go towards
increasing the mental health capacity that we have in our community and in-increasing
the services that we're able to render and ensure that people in our community are safe in
every way and regardless of- of what condition that they are dealing with. Uh, even
poverty,poverty should not be criminalized in our community. Finally, I think another
important consideration I should say finally,this was a subsection of my comments. An
important consideration in this proposal, again,referring to a potential subsequent
amendment to freeze the budget at current levels is reversibility. Uh, there has been a lot
of conversation about it is going to be difficult to do this to-to undo this, or we can come
back and we can change the budget in the future. The same can be said for if we pass this
amendment today,we can decide, oh,this is not working. We need to shift funds
somewhere to make sure that our needs are being met in the community. Um, and so I
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find that to be somewhat of a moot point. Uh, if it's going to be difficult to budget and
move around funds in the future or to take away funds however you want to look at it, I
don't see that difficulty changing in any way. And I think if we are concerned, if this
doesn't work, if we can't find the right solutions,then that is still an option available to us.
So I don't think the people should be looking to the fact that, oh,we can change this or
we can do this in the future as a good reason for not voting for this amendment.Next, I
guess I'll talk a little bit more about what the focus of these funds should be,in my
opinion. Again, fust and foremost,these dollars need to be working towards reducing the
workload of our Police Department, addressing that burnout,making sure that those
hours are spent with their families, ah, in the communities that they live in, uh, in living
lives.None of us want to have any of our public service workers or public servants, ah,to
be burned out and on-the-job 24n. That's not an ideal situation. That is not something
that I think anyone up here advocates. Additionally, I think it's important to look at some
of the options for these funds, aside from just general social service programs,what are
some options that could make a huge difference in prevention rather than, er,reactionary
policing and community safety. It can be- it could look like a variety of things. A
deployable contingent of union registered nurses or other medical professionals that are
able to render comprehensive aid in the moment and to the person acknowledging their
specific safety issues. It could look like a deployable contingent of mental health
professionals trained to respond to the-to people in crisis and work to connect
community members to resources that prevent crisis, like suicide,which is something that
is extremely problematic in our community and across the State. Uh,rather than just
respond to a suicide happening in our community. It could also be a team of social
workers that can help folks navigate public assistance programs, get off the street and get
the kind of help that they need with whatever community partners that we have. To me,
that prevention component is absolutely necessary. This is not a conversation of
defunding the police. And again, in the context that I'm talking about in terms of a budget
freeze. This is taking a unique and innovative perspective to making sure that our officers
are not getting burned out. To make sure that the needs of our community are met and
make sure that people feel safe. It's about putting real dollars towards preventative action,
reducing burnout,building a community that is cohesive, inclusive,healthy, and safe for
all of us,no matter the color of your skin, status of your mental health,the status of your
physical health, or your financial standing. It is not a retaliation towards the Iowa City-
the Iowa City Police Department, does not defund the police and allows us to take the
biggest step possible in this moment towards building a community that works for all of
us, for working people, for the poor,the unhoused, and people of color. Um,to further
bolster that conclusionm I think that one of the comments,uh, one of the e-mails that
we've received in the last number of weeks,uh, is important to highlight. Also to note
that I've received over 120 e-mails at this point. Letters from former officer Chris Lyons.
And it reads, dear Iowa City Council, I have a unique personal experience with law
enforcement that few others can claim. I've been a police officer, supervisor,and Chief of
Police will also having worked for the American Civil Liberties Union. I currently work
for the State public defenders office as an investigator and a community Crisis Center as
a crisis Councilor, I've written police budgets per-purchased and outfitted patrol cars,
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written department policy manuals, trained officers, and held armed sus- suspects at
gunpoint. In my current capacity, I've been in countless prisons and jails across Iowa
talking to defendants. At the Crisis Center I've been called to take over for people for-
takeover for police who do not have sufficient time nor the proper approach or attire to
engage effectively with clients in crisis. At the public defenders office, I frequently watch
body cam footage from the Iowa City Police Department that few in the public ever see.
From my countless experiences with law enforcement,unhoused persons, crisis response,
and counseling in Iowa City, it is clear to me that more funding-that more funding,more
police officers and more state power is the opposite of a solution to the problem that we
face. We need more support for resources like community crisis services,more housing
and shelter house,more diversion crisis and pardon me,more diversion to crisis response
services,not more force and more guns. Police officers can all have compassion and can
have all the compassion and good intent in the world, and still not be the solution to
systemic problems of poverty,housing shortages, extreme economic equality, substance
abuse, and other ongoing stresses of our world. Many well-intentioned officers work in
the Iowa City Police Department. But I've been in their shoes. I've been through the same
training while also experiencing the influences of their power from the outside. In Law
Enforcement Academy,we were told that we were becoming part of the greatest street
gang in the world. We were constantly told that officer safety is number one priority. We
were taught to fear,no matter the intent of individual officers, ICPD's policies or the size
of the police budget,this will not- this will be the approach of the ICPD is inevitable
without a complete restructuring,more money is not the answer.Now again,these are
Chris's words. I'm not claiming any of the characterizations that he has made,but I still
think that is an important thing to bring up. Someone who is deeply embedded in law
enforcement in this state, in our community, and for fighting for people that need,uh
assistance in the here and now and in the past,believes that it is important that we invest
in these types of systems that are going to take away the interactions,that are going to
work to prevent,you know the-the negative interactions in our community that we
frequently find ourselves dealing with. Um, so it is at that point that I request support for
a budget freeze should the time come for that. Um, I just think that it was important for
me to speak not to try to undercut Councilor Burgesse's proposed amendment. I'm still,
uh, anxious to see how that comes out,but I still wanted to make sure that my comments,
which are still in many ways applicable,we're able to be shared at this point. Um,really,
I want to emphasize prevention reduces the burden on the Police Department. It does not
eliminate positions. And- and it works again to serve in the public interests of cultivating
community safety in a different and innovative way. And I believe that we just have to
have the will to do it. So I would ask you to-to join in support of some type of an
amendment today.
"Thomas: So just-just to be clear, are you suggesting-the freeze translates to what?
Dunn: Would be the-.
Thomas: -what figure are you-
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Dunn: So again,this is if Councilor Bergus' proposal does not,uh,prevail,um,my advocacy and
which I- I believe Laura would-would propose,uh,would be to keep the budget at its
current level and allocate those dollars that are requested. So this is not even cutting the
budget at all. Um, allocate those towards,uh, efforts to specifically prevent and
specifically take away,uh, incidents- specifically divert law enforcement officers from
situations that they're not particularly needed, investing in mental health resources,
investing in systems that allow us to have that type of communication deeply integrated
into our- our responses. Um, and,um,yeah I think that-that covers it.
Teague: One more point of clarification. So I- I think I understand that you're wanting to
ultimately decrease the 18,500 overtime hours,um,that would also keep the-the current
84 authorised-
Dunn: Correct.
Teague: -um, officers. But what it will not do is bring on the five,kinda,the-the newer
positions,the five specialty community positions,um,which on one level, or my
interpretation,what,um,better educate,better provide services within this community?
Dunn: I think that that really does depend,right? I mean,um, could those people serve better
than absolutely nothing?Yes. But at the point at which we're investing approximately $1
million into other preventative measures,rather than again, I want to acknowledge that
the-the services that the-the department has requested here are reactionary policies. A
sexual assault investigator is not going to do anything towards preventing sexual assault
in our community. But-
Teague: And crime analysis?
Dunn: In crime analysis, I mean,you know,that-that could help us better identify things.
Alter: It did.
Dunn: What did you say?
Alter: It did.
Dunn: Okay.
Alter: It gave us GuideLink.
Dunn: Yeah, and- and that's fine-that's fine,right?But I-what-what I believe is that the-the
level of funding that we have right now,the level of service that we have right now, in
addition to more emphasis on- on public services,preventative measures is going to free
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up folks in the department, is going to potentially free up other dollars for these types of
things in the future and is- and is worth at least pursuing.
Teague: Thanks for the clarifications.
Taylor: If people can,um,remember what the mayor's comments where, I started to trying to
keep note here. But I believe if I understood you,um,you talked about the need for
continued public involvement in this- our discussion about this, and- and I'm totally
believe that that's necessary even if- if we approve the budget the way it is, I think that
and- and it's been said that we can do amendments after the fact,uh,that we need to have
that discussion,perhaps a work session,perhaps a work session to-to-to hear ideas and
they need to be concrete ideas,they need to be realistic and understandable,really valid
solutions. It can't just be that we don't like the police or we don't need the police or those
kinds of things. But- so those are-those are just additional comments. I- I had some
prepared thoughts and start- starting out with-with all due respect to-to Councilor
Bergus, and the numerous,uh, individuals that we've heard from about this, including the
young woman I- I heard from this morning and we had a very excellent conversation
about this, and I believe she spoke tonight,um, and a number of persons and you know
who you are,who I've known for many years and have always valued your opinion, I
respectfully have to differ from you on this amendment. Uh, I find it interesting that the
University of Iowa Safety and Security Department refers to themselves not as the police,
uh,but as the Public Safety Department and I think people have to get away from that
negative connotation of police. I was telling someone today that I remember as a child,
the kids joked about calling them pigs. Uh,they had such a negative connotation to them.
And I think what we are- are concerned about and what we should be concerning
ourselves with is the safety and well-being of the public. Our strategic plan includes a
category calling for actions for safety and well-being. And I don't think we should be
considering any actions,uh,that could potentially be a risk to public safety or jeopardize
the important work of our Police Department. I have-,um, I talked about this before. I've
had many interactions over my 50 years here in this community with the Police
Department in one way or another, and I've got nothing but respect for these officers.
There are many areas of the Police Department that people are not even aware of and
we've talked about some of them so far,uh, and these need to be continued to be funded,
such as the animal control unit,uh, and the school crossing guards. I was shocked to hear
that there is not enough funding or not enough people to man every,uh, school- every
elementary school crossing to cover all of these. And that's a safety concern-a big safety
concern. Uh,there have been an increasing number of sightings of wild animals, coyotes,
foxes, as possible rabid animals roaming residential neighborhoods, and these are
handled by animal control. And the overtime has been mentioned several times. And as a
labor organizer, I'm concerned about the large number of overtime hours our officers are
having to work. This does need to be looked at and solutions made for this. I'm also
concerned about the data shared with us on,uh, staff up- situations,um,relating to crimes
in our city. Especially concerning is the high increased percentage of sexual assault cases.
And you mentioned that that's not going to stop the sexual assaults,that they're going to
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happen,but it- it would be helpful to have persons that are responsible to investigate
these cases and perhaps put a stop to anypredator that's continuing these. Uh,not that
that's the case,but it could be. I think I watched too much crime TV,but those sometimes
are based on very real situations. And there's also an increase in, from what I've heard,
car break-ins and- and bicycle thefts.Now,um, do these crimes require an armed officer?
No,not necessarily. I agree with that,uh,but they do fall into the category of public
safety. Uh, emails mentioned affordable housing,health care,mental health,and child
care, and -and I have to stand proudly to say that we, as a City Council,uh, have these
same concerns for the health of our community and have focused on funding a lot of
these areas. Uh, for example we recently approved funding- increased funding for the
free medical clinic. That falls into the health care aspect. And we very freely and- and
wholeheartedly approved this. So I- I hear your concerns and share your same goals for
the community,um,but I don't believe it's appropriate for us to focus on one department,
uh,to freeze funding for a necessary part of our community and it's- it's not the way to
get there. And- and in regards to mental health, as a health care professional and the
mother of a mental health provider here in this community,that is a major concern of
mine. But we all know,we keep talking about preventative things. We can't really
prevent that. People are very good about hiding their mental health. I mean,how- I don't-
I haven't heard good, I mean-what how do you prevent that?You-you can't although I
have to say that I was the Council member that requested of City Council or a City
Manager to have mental health practitioners present to our- our Council about what's
going on out there,what could we do?What are- are the things that-that could be done to
help this?Because I am concerned. The suicide rate that was mentioned,that-that is very
concerning. But it's- it's kind of an invisible thing. How do you-how do you know that?
How do you prevent that?And- and also how do you-how do we increase the number of
mental health providers out there?We talked about the teacher's not being very well-paid
well,mental health providers are not compensated very well either. Uh, so that that is a
major concern of mine,but,uh,not funding the Police Department or not increasing their
funding, I don't believe is- is the answer to this. So I would not be in favor of this
amendment. Sony.
Alter: So normally I jump right out,but I wanted to sort of sit, and- and I had some thoughts,um,
initially and was trying to,um, save on the amount of oxygen that I use up,um, as you all
know, I can speak quite a lot. Um, but of course, in listening to everyone, and listening to
the public and to all of you, and the presentation I've been making a mess of,uh,what I
had prepared before. However,uh, I'm going to try and muster through. So, um, fust and
foremost,honestly, I- I really want to thank everyone who has written to us, as Andrew
mentioned,um,those e-mails,there have been over 100 of them. Um, and then also to the
people who have reached out personally to have conversations with me, and I'm sure with
all the other Councilors,um, I really appreciate your time and your care it shows that we
have an amazing community engaged in our local political process, and I am incredibly
grateful for your obvious care. Um, and for the time that you've taken to talk to me and to
other Councilors. Like you, I am committed to finding paths and ways to build up our
community and to keep us all safe and healthy in myriad ways. Um, I've heard this
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refrain a couple of times--that we need to understand what public safety is,perhaps
differently,have multiple definitions for it, and I am, I agree with that. Um, I think
additionally, I know in my core that ways to keep us all so- safe and healthy in the
communities,um, as part of Councils charge is to fund affordable housing solutions to
support essential services and programming of direct aid non-profits by empowering, and
including underestimated entrepreneurs, and business owners,by working with partners
to make quality affordable childcare more accessible,by improving our parks, trails, and
recreation facilities,to name a few. All of these initiatives are accounted for in our budget
and in our ARPA dollars, and these are not things that will go away. We have a
commitment because we understand these are the types of things that will make a healthy
community. And these things could- should continue to get attention. We on Council
should continue to focus on how to expand our support of them. These are in our strategic
plan, and that's what the budget represents. Um, I believe staff actually has done a
commendable job in putting forward a budget that reflects our values. So I've laid all this
out to demonstrate that I believe in addressing root causes and I think that this Council
does as well in terms of how to create change, and improvements. But in one significant
way I differ from Council Bergus'. How we get there in FY24. The budget represents as,
um,the dates showed,um, as Councilor Bergus and all of us have talked. Um, countless
hours of work,months of conversations, and a realistic perspective about capacity and
departmental needs. I'm not willing to divert funds from the police budget for an
undetermined project, and in a way that is well intended but rushed. And here's one of the
strange things that I never thought would come into play,um, so much as a Councilor.
But my job-my day job,um, as increasingly a business manager at ACT has shown me
time, and time again, as well as in projects here at City Council,that you can have the
best of intentions but if you do not have a-you can have ideation,you can have
discussions, listening post's,work sessions,but you need to have a plan in place. And we
have heard so many good ideas from community comments, from e-mails,um, from
conversations,but I also know that it takes time per Councilor Harmsen, and the Mayor
and Councilor Taylor. Taylor. Thank you. These things take some time and I am not
saying that we wouldn't be able to work quickly,but it does take time to stand something
up, and I am incredibly concerned; and I spoke with,um, a couple of community
members about the ability at this point to do that ideation to draw in as many people, as
many stakeholders in the community that we need to have at the table to bring their
expertise as well as the public sentiment. And there are many more than just the 45 that
spoke. We need to get the feedback, and not rest on assumptions about what's needed,
and I'm not saying that the projects that have been said,that have been proposed are not
good ones. But we need to know best where this money should go,what kinds of
programs specifically,what kinds of deliberate plans are needed. And that includes things
like,what is the capacity that's needed?Who are the partners who will actually do this?
What is the relationship between the City and these other partnerships?How does this fit
in?How can other,um, entities like Better Together 2030, the County, etc. I know these
are boring in the weed details,but these are the things that are going to make a project
successful. And my commitment is, is I want something that we can do that isn't a God,
well,we tried and it didn't work. I want to set us up for success so that the impact is not
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well. Council, and we've all heard this before. Things that we thought would work ended
up kind of falling short. This is too important. The hol-holistic and systemic changes that
we're talking about, as Shawn said, deserve thought, deliberation, intentionality, and
figure out a plan so that then we can budget the dollars for it and sustain it beyond FY24.
We're talking about one year, and I recognize that this is I think what would,um, Council
Bergus and perhaps,um, Councilor Dunn and maybe others in the community would
hope would be a ground swell and that this would continue,um, and this would be a
place where we could continue to look at diverting police dollars because in these other
areas,that's where the funding need would be. And maybe that might be it. But I don't
want to say, let's cease this now without having a plan in place. And we need to do that
work. And I'm not saying that we take years to do this. I'm saying let's start the
conversations so that by the time,yes rolling budget,we're always thinking about it,but
in terms of when it actually comes to Council to really start deliberating on this about
here's what's proposed, staff knows what our priority-not just what our priorities are,but
what we say very specifically,we want you to find ways to do this. So I went totally off
my script there. Um, at any rate,what I do propose is this, I am not willing to- as I said,
I'm not willing to divert funds for an undetermined project no matter how well intended
but-but it is rushed in terms of its execution. So what I am proposing is that upcoming
work sessions,not just one work sessions, Council evaluates and assesses the preliminary
plan to restructure the police so we can focus on what still needs to be done, and I do
recognize that staff has these conversations among their department right?We just-we
need to know more about it so that we can move in accord with community wishes and to
keep the community safe. These do not,nor should they be at odds, and for those who
haven't been here since 4:00 uh, I propose this during our work session to talk about
pending work topics, so that was agreed upon. Additionally, as I just said,beginning in
adva- advance of budget season,um, let's invite direct aid agencies, community
associations, community members, and other stakeholders in for ideation and work
sessions with Council and staff to discuss what community safety is and how it
specifically can be achieved, and I should say how the many ways it can be achieved.
That way when FY25 begins,the pieces and resources are in place. This will be a
community collaboration that is set up for sustainable success. And I do want to actually
give some credit out,um, I had a conversation with Mandi Remington who I had this
general idea,but she's helped solidify and it proposed it in fact,um, to say there really
should be that kind of,um, intense workshopping, and I just- I want to give her credit for
that. Um, again, I share many of your perspectives Laura, about addressing and in fact, all
Councils perspectives about addressing root causes that hinder a safe and healthy city.
And because I want whatever initiatives and supports we put in place to succeed,there
must be a more specific and deliberate plan to proceed. I do not believe that we will
achieve these ends by amending this year's budget.
Thomas: Well, I- I've kind of viewed this what we're-what we've had tonight as,you know,
we're picking up a discussion that started about two years ago when we were
experiencing Black Lives Matter. And you know, I-I really appreciate Laura,that you've
sort of brought our attention back to this issue. And I think we can see from the response
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we've had that it is still in with-there's still a real concern with how we-how we structure
our Police Department. You know two years ago, I- I took a fair amount of time going
through, as we all did,the restructuring document. I was really taken with that continuum
and particularly with the emphasis on prevention,which I think we all understand is the
answer. That,that is how we move forward. I also was appreciative of the reports,
documentation of the calls for service because I felt that's where the interface is, is if
we're trying to reduce the engagement of our police force, our Police Department with the
public, it's at those calls for service where that takes place. And I appreciated how you
know,the numbers were pretty revealing. And I- I know many of you have, at least who
have been on Council, are following our work. I've been emphasizing this and if you look
at the report, 25 percent of our calls for service are traffic and motor vehicle collision
related. Another major contributor to our calls for service is alcohol and tobacco
compliance. Those are two incredibly significant aspects of what our police are- our
Police Department does. That I feel there are other remedies,there are other ways of
approaching that and I've,you know, articulated them. I won't go into that-that level of
detail. But it's clear to me certainly with the traffic law enforcement, as I've emphasized,
there are other ways of trying to reduce our calls for service in that area and I would be
interested. It's not something I pursued as- as deeply as I did the traffic related issues,but
that our- our compliance with alcohol and tobacco use is something I think that I would
be interested in seeing what alternative approaches to that problem is because it is- it's a
public health problem. And we're treating it in a way where it's criminalizing the behavior
of people who have-you know,public health issue. So I do appreciate that we're picking
this up again as a- as a topic. I also do not-you know,this notion of understanding our-
our levels of policing, our police officers, are we at the right level, looking atthat in terms
of the,you know,number of sworn officers per thousand residents, I don't find that a
useful metric. And it's not- I don't- I'm not opposed to it,but it seems to me they're trying
to better understand the- and assessing our workload and where the actual activity and
efforts of our Police Department are focused is what we should be paying attention to and
trying to understand what other means of providing those services could be developed. I,
I, I was intrigued with and interested in the work that the University of Iowa did that was
mentioned that-you know it's- it's trying to look at an alternative way of understanding,
you know,what public safety and policing are in our city. And I also agree with Council
that this-this is a very complex issue that will require,you know, a fair amount of time to
sort through and come up with a,you know,vision of what that means. And so I'm not
really personally looking at our approval of this budget as sort of being the critical
moment in this process. I know I appreciate how it's been used as a- a vehicle to bring our
attention to it. But if we are truly committed to a systemic response to how we truly
restructure our police officer, our Police Department, and the work that they do that's
going to take effort by the community as a whole and by the staff,perhaps with the
assistance of those who are familiar. And you know,there was mention of- of skill sets
within the University who would understand what assessing our Police Department from
a workload standpoint translates to. But-but that's the kind of effort. along with, as has
been noted,the fact that we are- I think we're also in a site aside from all the focus and-
and concern with the needs in our-those communities that work with those who are
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struggling in whatever way they are,that there are others who are very interested in just
building community again, and I find that to be very gratifying to see,particularly with
an emphasis on neighborhood,because I think that's a social structure that we can hang
those-those programs on. And emphasize, as I've- I've been trying to do recently,the
notion of Iowa City as being a- a child-friendly place. As a way of that's a metric I'm
enjoying using. If we succeed in making the lives of our children and youth more
meaningful and safe, I think we will all be experiencing that-that quality. So- so my
feeling is that I'm not personally committed to the idea of addressing this that is, as a
budget item right now, I hope it will translate to that. And I'd like to view it as something.
I, I feel like I want to put a timeframe on this because at least-you know, on a- on a fust
phase of the work give us some sense of when we might be able to reach some level of-
of,you know,reaching our goals. But I would hope certainly by this time next year,we
would have a pretty strong sense of what kinds of how we addressed this from a budget
standpoint,how we address this in terms of community engagement. But I'm- I'm not
ready at this point, I think as others have mentioned, addressing the budget right now, I'd-
I'd really like to have a better understanding of what the vision is before I look at it as a-
you know assigning a number to our budget. But I would certainly hope that the-the
outcome of this would be a reduction in the funds necessary for us to be a safe- in the
funds necessary for us to be a safe community.
Teague: Well,thanks to the Council for their deliberation on this proposed amendment. I'm
gonna respectfully ask that we call into question on this uh,motion to amend 1.6 million
to general fund reserve. And I'm going to ask for a roll call,please. [Roll Call] Okay.
Motion fails, um.
Bergus: Mr. Mayor, could I just ask given the way the conversation has gone,um?
Teague: I'm just going to say motion fails 6-1.
Bergus: Oh, I'm sorry.
Teague: Yeah.
Bergus: We're learning so much about procedure.
Teague: Yeah.No worries.
Bergus: I'm proud of us. Um, I would move to shift $955,336,which would keep us at the fiscal
year 2023 budget level.
Dunn: Second.
Teague: Move by Bergus, seconded by Dunn. Council discussion.
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Bergus: I do just want to note, I mean, thank you all, fust of all, for having this conversation. The
Mayor asked me a few weeks ago, like,what do you hope to get from this exercise?And
I said have the conversation. So here we are. And I'm really-really-really grateful for
that. I appreciate very much the desire to have more concrete plans. And I'm also a little
terrified of the idea of okay,we as this Council in this moment,um,you know, don't want
to make uh changes unless we've holistically-holistically reviewed everything and come
up with a plan. And I think our capacity to do that is- is um limited. So I do just want to
note that I think there are some specific things that-that could emerge very-very quickly
that I just want to throw out there so you understand kind of the work that-um,that
people are already doing and what we-what we may be able to achieve. Um, if we call
back to 2020,uh you remember how people were asking for CAHOOTS, which was this
um Eugene, Oregon model of a response out in the community to crisis situations,um,
that is not dispatched through 911,but has uh,you know, some collaboration with the
police,which I think was why the name also, CAHOOTS, although it is an acronym. And
what we have right now with mobile crisis response,which has ramped up just over these
last few years, already provides response times much better than CAHOOTS,which,
according to a report last year, still often had response times with 60 minutes, and mobile
crisis response here is saying for Iowa City, it's about 15 minutes. Um and we're doing
that 911 integration. So we're gonna be direct dispatching plain clothes mental health
workers when people call 911 or 988. And that training is happening right now. So I just
think,you know uh when we're looking at what could we shift towards in terms of
prevention,that actual service we could say,what will it take in order to have a response
level of X number of calls that we know would be have the coverage to be able to prevent
that those go to police and have them go directly to a mobile crisis response. They just
need-they could handle a whole lot more calls if they correspond with paramedics, if
they have paramedics who go with them,which could happen through our Johnson
County Ambulance Service and their community paramedic um program,which there-
they have now certified staffing. Or it could be that community crisis services starts
hiring paramedics. That would be fully within our reach with this smaller amendment.
Another program that we've talked specifically about what the downtown district is
having um mobile crisis responders who are proactive and who are stationed downtown
on weekend nights to be able to respond immediately to issues that arise in the normal
sort of downtown weekend nights that don't rise to the level of needing police. And that is
within our reach with the smaller amendment. So I- I think there are readily available
very specific things that could prevent calls for service and relieve that pressure as
Councilor Dunn was talking about that we could accomplish with this.
Teague: I appreciate you sharing that piece and believe it or not, I'm excited about this reviving
of this conversation to both the Council and to the general public because um we have
some opportunities as- as you mentioned. And while I think I still hear that, um you
know,now we should do this,we still have the opportunity to do this because our City
Attorney clarified that if we want to move money,you know, from one position or from
one department to another,we can still do that. And I also believe that we're gonna have
not only the buy-in from our community and from this Council,but we've heard from our
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police chief and our City Manager's Office that this is something that they want to be a
part of and they want to not have their officers doing things that can be performed in
another way. And so I don t think that this is a vote to not support the idea,but it is
certainly a vote that uh says,hey, it may happen sooner than you think,right?Potentially
before the next budget that starts July 1. And so although I won't be supporting this, I do
support the idea that we have those conversations for the systemic and the holistic
approach,which I hear that uh this Council wants to have.
Goers: May I interject for just a moment Mr. Mayor, I want to clarify the motion if I may. It's my
understanding that this motion tracks the original motion to the extent that it removes uh
funds from public safety or the Police Department specifically and puts it in the general
fund reserves.
Teague:No.
Goers:No. I'm sorry.
Teague: So this motion would read-
Bergus: Yes,that was my motion.
Goers: Okay. That's why I wanted to double-check. The other thing that was mentioned was that
it was $955,000,but also mentioned that it was freezing the budget. It's my
understanding, and I'll look to the City Manager to confirm this, that this Council
approved-that was the original budget approved at this time last year,but this Council
approved a motion to amend the police budget to increase it. So if we were to remove
$955,000 from the proposed budget for fiscal year 24 that would actually be less money
than they have now,but I'll look to Geoff to make sure that I have that correct.
Fruin: Yes, I believe Councilwoman Bergus' motion is- is the difference between the original
adopted budget of the Police Departments. So what you adopted in March of last year
versus today.
Bergus: Correct.
Fruin: Correct. So it does- it does not take into account the amendment that was approved earlier
or the earlier of fiscal year 23 amendment.
Teague: I want to make sure that I,um, so the current motion on the floor um that uh was out
there, I think I heard 953,but it was a 955.
Bergus: $955,336 just to match the FY2023.
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Teague: Okay. So that is somewhere around what we would be reducing the overall budget by or
even that line item by,would be somewhere in the 64- 6,400-wait, $645,000 somewhere
around there. We'll be reducing the police overall budget by somewhere around
$645,000.
Fruin:No. I think its's a- it's an expenditure reduction of$955,336 over what I have
recommended to you-uh,tonight.
Teague: Okay, so the $955,336 is not-um maintaining the budget.
Bergus: It's- it's taking it to be the same as it was approved by this Council in fiscal year 2023.
Teague: I got it.
Bergus: Yep.
Teague: If we take that amount away.
Bergus: Correct.
Teague: Got it.
Bergus: Yep.
Teague: All right.
Bergus: Yeah.
Teague: So the motion on the floor is to,uh,reduce-um,that,uh, item by 955
[OVERLAPPING] 336. So that's what we'll be,uh, discussing. So any other comments?
Alter: Um, I just want to comment a little bit on that and I- I love the concreteness of what you
described by saying this money could go towards bolstering community mobile crisis.
Um, I would want to talk to them. I would want to find out what they are-what they think
their timeline is,what capacity they need,how much training,what kind of dollar
amounts would that? I want all of that,because not too long ago,we had in front of us a
proposal from the school board that was similar and had they had spent a lot of time and
effort thinking it through and pretty uniformly, and I lead the charge and I campaigned on
childcare. And I love that this could happen, and it was not thought out enough for me at
that time to approve it. I'm in the same boat here. I wanna- I wanna hear from mobile
crisis about what their needs are. And with all due respect, I know that you actually have
an incredibly tight relationship-um, a great working relationship, a lot of respect,but I
want to hear it from them,not from you. So I- I'm a no.
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Taylor: I did appreciate Council Bergus here. I'd mentioned,uh,when I was speaking earlier
about needing valid solutions. Uh, ones that are realistic and achievable and believable,
understandable, and- and you did present a couple of those, although as Councilor Alter
is saying,we maybe need to hear from those folks,you know the paramedics,how do
they feel they would fit in and would they be under the Police Department then and those
mobile crisis folks. As I've said, I- I know that, especially downtown, and perhaps,you
know,the-there are going to be these folks that are-that are in a crisis- sorry, I keep
forgetting the microphone, in a crisis situation and that would be helpful. But again,
hearing from them and- and understanding,uh,how they feel as they could play into that,
but-but thank you for that, for actually providing some- some valid solutions that would
be possible.
Harmsen: I think it's kinda the same thing,um,uh, still the time issue. You know, I mean,these-
these are again,more concrete,that's great. I mean, it's real easy to come up with lots of
ideas that could work,um,but you know at the end of the day, especially if we're talking
about a sum of like a million or million 6. Um, I know that sounds like a lot,but we know
from our position up here how far that doesn't go. And because the needs are so big,
right? That's not it. You know when we have all kinds of you know every Council
meeting where we're doing a million here and two million there for these kinds of exact
services, for social services,which I think is outstanding. Um, again,just not enough time
to not only weigh these are-these are great ideas,but we also don't know what other
ideas,you know could have as valid a thing or- or you know walk out of here. And you
know I got a card- I got admit it it's seven hours into this. I'm not really in a place where I
can- I can-uh, come up with-uh,what those other things could be,yeah. oh- oh,to be
that again. So,uh,but yeah, so I will be voting against this for the same kinds of reasons,
with the same kinds of-kinds of caveat that again,really fine with going into this process
and looking at these kinds of things. And I think you've provided more fodder for where
that convert- some of the places that conversation can start.
Teague: So I'm going to go ahead and call to question-um, for us to-uh, do a roll call for the
motion that is-um,that was currently therefore an amendment to reduce,uh,the police
budget by $955,336. Roll call,please? [ROLL CALL]. Motion fails 5-2. Our current
motion on the floor,we go back to the original motion on the floor and that is to approve
the fiscal year 2024 budget,um, as proposed,uh,with,no changes. And so I do want to
open up the floor to Council to make some comments, and I'm going to ask that you
make your comments based on the current budget, if we can.
Taylor: I think it was mentioned earlier,um,thanking each of the departments, I think that,uh,
they really deserve a lot of thanks and in the Financial Department too for,uh,very well
prepared and thought-out document, and- and so I would like to thank them for that and
I- I appreciate the document.
Bergus: I agree with that, even though I- I will not be supporting this budget for all the reasons
that we fleshed out over the last seven hours,um,but I- I really am grateful to our staff
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for being willing to have so many-um,to put in so much time and energy to try to come
up with a budget that would meet the values that we've articulated and,um, also to be
willing to engage in all of the really hard work and conversations that kinda led up to the
other discussion we had tonight. Really,thank you, staff.
Teague: I want to say thanks to the staff as well. There's a lot of hours and thoughts that go into
doing the budget. And certainly we started that process on a early Saturday morning,um,
and here we are today,uh,just continuing that process. One thing, I- of course,wanted to
notice,um,you know,when we think about our budget,we have,um, our AAA bond
rating,uh,which I think that helps us a lot. We save tens or not- or hundreds of thousands
of dollars because of that AAA bond rating. And so that is something that I really do
appreciate this staff being very intentional on trying to make sure that we maximize our,
uh,budget where possible. Of course, it's not-uh, it goes without saying that we will be
having some challenging years in the future,uh, and that yet has-uh,that's yet to be seen
based on what happens in Des Moines. Um, it was mentioned that for the past 11
consecutive years,um, our-kind of our property tax levy rate remained-uh, continued to,
uh,be reduced. And just this year,um,that levy rate, uh,we-we had to virtually keep it
at the same level. And so,um,there will be hard decisions to make in the future,uh,but I
know that this Council, and this community,will work hard to,um, do what is best, live
out our values through how we present our budget. And I'm looking forward to,um,more
discussions and on how we'll survive as a community and really trying to do it in unity.
Alter: I just have a very brief,um, echo to,um,thank staff for being such excellent stewards of,
um, our values and of our communities dollars,um, and to give an extra shout out to the
fact that you've been responsible for so many of the more innovative programs,um,that-
that we've come up with that actually have helped the community. I'm thinking of the
South District Homeownership Program, of many of the climate action initiatives. Those
have all been staff-generated and I know that it's- it- as I sit here feeling like my brain is
falling out of my head,um it's really tough to be creative,thoughtful, deliberate,um,
when you're stretched thin and you're doing a lot of hard work and you do that every day,
and it shows in a remarkable way. Um, so thank you to staff for doing that and it shows
in this budget.
Harmsen: Just a quick thank you as well. Um, I won't go too much longer as I know- don't even
think we're done with our agenda yet after this item. Um, I did want them to say this- say
this now,but I meant to say this earlier. Uh, thanks to all the people that emailed,uh, and
called in and participated on all the different budget issues because they weren't all about
the police,um, issue. And so thank you that. uh, I did try and get back to as many of you
as I could before the meeting started today. I can guarantee you, I won't be replying to
anymore me emails tonight. But I will- I will try and get back to you if you have
questions so.
Dunn: I would just like to echo the same. Brain falling out of head is a great way to describe the
feeling, but,uh,nonetheless,thanks is certainly-uh, due for- for our staff for working
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through $200 million worth of budget. So,you know that is-uh,that is no small feat and,
uh,your efforts have been,uh, commendable and,uh, I will not go without appreciation.
Fruin:Next,may can I just offer, closing statements?
Teague: Sure.
Fruin: I promise no more PowerPoints to 40-minutes presentations.
[inaudible] PowerPoint.
Fruin: You know just kind of summing up this budget. We-we may have status quo resources,
and we've had status quo resources for a long time. But you-you're absolutely right as a
Council and you should not expect status quo service delivery from staff. You should be
pushing us to-to innovate and to,um, continuing to try to offer the best services that we
can. I hope you see that happening. I appreciate the positive comments as we- as we wrap
up here,but,um,part of what attracted me to Iowa City many years ago is that drive to
continually improve and it really starts at- at this table. So I just want to reinforce that as
we move past this budget item tonight.
Dunn: Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. All right. Roll call, please. [ROLL CALL]
Motion passes 6-1.
Teague: Can I get a motion to accept correspondence?
Dunn: So moved,Dunn.
Harmsen: Second Harmsen.
Teague: Move by Dunn, seconded by Harmsen. All in favor say aye. Any oppose?Motion passes
6-1.
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I I.e. Three Year Financial Plan and Five Year Capital Improvement Plan -Resolution
approving the three-year Financial Plan for the City of Iowa City,Iowa, and the
rive-year Capital Improvement Plan.
Teague: Item number l lc is three-year financial plan and five-year capital improvement plan.
This is a resolution approving the three-year financial plan for the City of Iowa City and
the five-year capital improvement plan. Can I get a motion to approve?
Harmsen: So moved,Harmsen.
Alter: Second Alter.
Teague: All right. And we're going to ask our staff, Geoff just to give us a little update.
From: Yeah. Just so you-the-the State requirement is that we certify the fiscal year 24 budget
with the county. We're not required,uh,to certify years beyond that. We do that for
planning purposes only so that three-year plan,the five-year CIP, it is just that it as a plan
and you will have a chance next year to refine that as we move to fiscal year 25. So
happy to answer questions,but,uh,this is just the plan component.
Teague: Hearing no questions from Council to staff, I'm going to ask if anyone from the public
would like to address this topic? If so,please raise your hand. Welcome,Noah.
Peterson: Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes and,uh,yep. And I see that you're the only one with the hand raised. So you have
three minutes.
Peterson: Okay. Bruce,you're right,that you-you did show the Iowa City values lasts- on your
just last vote. You really amplify the Iowa City phrasing, Iowa City,we see-
Teague: This is a-we're on item number l lc now.
Peterson: It is abo- it is about the funding the budget. Obviously the values of we see you,we
hear you,but fuck you,we're gonna give more money to the pigs. And yes,Pauline, cops
are pigs. We call the white supremacist gangs are cops pigs because they act like pigs.
They kill white people like pigs. They kill brown people like pigs. Fuck,they kill
everybody like pigs. That's why we call them pigs. And the reason you-you get upset at
people calling pigs pigs because you love white supremacism so much that you care more
about what people call the violent agents white supremacy over the fact that the people,
you get about million dollars-more-million more dollars to are white supremacists pigs.
Also, abolish Geoff From.
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Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address the three-year financial plan and five-year
capital improvement plan? So I'd- I'd- it must remain on this topic. Seeing no one with
their hands raised, I'm going to close the public discussion, Council discussion. Roll call,
please. [ROLL CALL] Motion passes 6-1.
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II.d. 2023 Water Pavement Patching- Resolution approving project manual and estimate
of cost for the construction of the 2023 Water Pavement Patching Project,
establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to
post notice to bidders,and fixing time and place for receipt of bids.
Teague: Item number l l.d is 2023 water pavement patching. This is a resolution improving
project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the 2023 water pavement
patching project, establishing amount of bids security to accompany each bid, directing
City Clerk to post notice to bidders and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. I'm
going to open up the public hearing. And do we have staff presenting on this.
1. Public Hearing
Van Dyke: Good evening. Um, I need to share my screen. So it's Marri Van Dyke with the
Engineering Division.
Teague: Welcome and we're giving you access to share,bear with us.
Van Dyke: Okay. And I'll just again say thanks to all the community members that are on Zoom
and,uh, and also in other social media outlets. And we really appreciate your patience
while we're navigating,um, a system that's not working so easily tonight.
Van Dyke: Okay. Can you see my presentation?
Teague: Yes,we can.
Van Dyke: Okay. So this is an annual project,uh,where we repair water pavement that was
damaged by water main breaks. Uh, so when there is a water main break the Water
Division will go out and repair the water main. And when they're done they'll put back
rock or temporary asphalt. And then with this project,we hire a contractor to go back and
install permanent pavement at each location. And then the contract lasts until the end of
the year so that as we have new water main breaks those can get added to the project as
well. Uh, so these are the starting locations we have for this year. Um, so these all had a
water main break between the end of last November and the beginning of this March. Uh,
we already have a few more locations that will need to add once we have a contractor on
board. I would estimate that by the end of the year we'll probably have about 30 locations
total. So the estimated construction cost is $215,000 and that's just for the 14 locations
that were on the previous slide. For schedule we would open bids April 25th, award the
contract May 2nd, and then construction would be from May to November this year. So
are there any questions?
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Teague:Not hearing any here. All right. Anyone from the public want to address this topic? If
so,please raise your hand and I'll call upon you. And this is for the 2023 water pavement
patching. Seeing no one with their hands raised, I'm going to close the public hearing.
2. Consider a Resolution
Teague: Can I get a motion to approve,please?
Bergus: So move,Bergus.
Taylor: Second Taylor.
Teague: Council discussion. Roll-call,please. [ROLL CALL] Motion passes 7-0.
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ILe.Riverside Drive Pedestrial Improvements -Resolution approving project manual and
estimate of cost for the construction of the Riverside Drive Pedestrian
Improvements Project,establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid,
directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders, and fixing time and place for receipt
of bids.
Teague: Item number l le is Riverside Drive Pedestrian Improvements. Resolution approving
project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the Riverside Drive Pedestrian
Improvement Project, establishing amount of bids security to accompany each bid,
directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders and fixing time and place for receipt of bids.
I'm going to open up the public hearing.
1. Public Hearing
Sovers: Good evening,Mayor and Council.
Teague: Good evening. Welcome.
Sovers: I have a brief presentation for you. This is Scott Sovers,Assistant City Engineer. Kellie,
can you-you want me to share my screen?All right. Can you see my presentation?
Teague: Yes.
Sovers: Awesome. Um, like I said, I just have a brief presentation for you, a brief overview of
the Riverside Drive Improvements Project. Starting off, uh,this project is generally
located on the west side of Riverside Drive between Benton Street and the Iowa Interstate
Railroad Bridge as shown on the-the aerial. Some background information on the
project. In 2016,the City completed a streetscape master plan for the South Riverside
Drive from Highway 1 to Highway 6 intersection to Myrtle Avenue. One of the main
guiding principles that came from the plan was prioritizing pedestrian circulation within
the corridor. From this guiding principle, a number of specific corridor objectives were
developed. Among this list was a pedestrian underpass along the west side of Riverside
Drive at the Interstate,uh, Railroad. With-with this objective in mind, staff preceded
with a project to install a pedestrian tunnel through the Iowa Interstate Railroad
embankment. During design development, Iowa Interstate Railroad determined they were
not supportive of the project due to concerns,uh,that the tunnel installation may cause
track settlement. Given the importance of the sidewalk installation,the City, Iowa DOT
and the Iowa Interstate Railroad collectively developed an alternative design that will
eliminate the need for the tunnel by narrowing up Riverside Drive street pavement. This
will allow a sidewalk to be installed between the Riverside Drive west curb line and the
railroad bridge abutment. A graphic of this- of the- a graphic depiction of this design is
shown on the right. Uh,this project generally includes the installation of sidewalk on the
west side of Riverside Drive under the Iowa Interstate Railroad Bridge, as well as the
installation of street [inaudible], excuse me,pedestrian level lighting and street trees from
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Benton Street to the Iowa Interstate Railroad. The project also includes upgrades to the
Riverside Drive storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems between the Iowa Interstate
Railroad and Myrtle Avenue as necessary to support the Riverfront West Development.
The-the aforementioned storm sewer and sanitary sewer grades will be re-reimbursed by
the Riverfront West Developers, Scannell Properties. It's also important to note the
sidewalk from the Railroad to Myrtle Avenue will be constructed as a part of the
Riverfront West Development. In review of the City's Strategic Plan,the impact area that
this project falls within is mobility as it expands our complete street network, as well as
grows and prioritizes bike and pedestrian accommodations. The sidewalk ex- extension
essentially eliminates a barrier that is preventing non-vehicle modes of travel from
utilizing the corridor on the west side of Riverside Drive. The estimated construction
costs of the project is $520,000. Uh,the schedule,we're hosting the public hearing
tonight,April 4th, 2023- 23. Uh,we have a bid letting scheduled for April 25th, 2023.
Uh,we're going to-we're gonna bring this project back to you for award at the May 2
meeting, and then construction would be from June to December of this year. That
concludes my presentation. I'll be happy to answer any questions any of you may have.
Thomas: Uh, Scott, this is John Thomas. Do you have,uh,the cost differential between this
solution of,um,you know,providing that pedestrian connection at the railroad trestle and
the,uh,having the-the original approach which was,you know,boring through the,uh,
support?
Sovers: Yeah. I don't have an exact number,uh,handy right at the moment,but I know this is
considerably cheaper of- of the construction costs,um,the- of the $520,000, 160 of it,
roughly 170, is going to be reimbursed for the,uh, storm sewer and sanitary sewer
improvements. Um, so you're,you know,well below, like in the $300,000-300 upper
$300,000 range. Um, I believe the pedestrian tunnel was,you know, like almost a million
dollars. So it's a pretty significant,um, savings.
Thomas: Thank you.
Taylor: Uh, Scott,this is Pauline. Um, I just have a question. It's a little hard to visualize here
about,uh,how that walkway is going to actually be on Riverside Drive then. Is- is that
the idea and how-how does that affect the street line?Are you going to redesign that
street line around that bridge area? Or how exactly is that going to happen?
Sovers: Yeah. So essentially we're narrowing up the street. So the lanes underneath the railroad
bridge,um,will be 11 foot lanes instead of, I think they're 12 or- or greater in some- in
that location. And so that gives us enough space to be able to fit a- a sidewalk in-between
the bridge pier and the back of curve line of the street.
Taylor: Okay. Thank you.
Sovers: Good questions. Any other questions for me?
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Teague: Hearing none. Thank you, Scott.
Sovers: Yeah,thank you.
Teague: Anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so,please raise your hand. And if
you're on the phone please dial star nine, if you wanna raise your hand. Seeing no one,
I'm going to close the public hearing.
2. Consider a Resolution
Teague: Can I get a motion to approve,please?
Taylor: So moved Taylor.
Alter: Second,Alter.
Teague: Council discussion.
Taylor: Um, I asked that question about the streetscape because,uh,we've been talking about
this for a couple of years and it's been in the budget and- and this, of course I don't
believe is the ideal from a safety standpoint,but-but it's necessary because,um,
especially with the increase in the number of student apartments in that area,uh,people
are- are trying to walk on that west side of Riverside Drive. And I- I don't fault the
railroad company. Um, as we've heard in the news recently,there have been some
derailments. There- so there is a concern,not in Iowa,but across the country. Uh, so- and
as we've talked about earlier, stability of soil. Uh, that-that is a concern and a question,
it's- it's very valid concern. So,um, I'm- I'm fine with this and- and we'll be voting for it.
Thomas: Well fortunately we had a little bit of, uh, travel lane that we could play with and it
provided what we needed. would have been nice to have a maybe a couple of more feet,
but sufficient.
Teague: Roll call,please. [ROLL CALL] Motion passes 7-0.
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111. FY23 Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant Allocations - Resolution Adopting the
Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant Allocations for Fiscal Year 2023.
Teague: Item number l if fiscal year 2023,racial equity and social justice grant allocations. This
is a resolution adopting the racial, equity, and social justice grant allocations for fiscal
year 2023. Can I get a motion to approve,please?
Alter: So moved to Alter.
Taylor: Second, Taylor.
Teague: All right. And I believe we have comm-Human Rights Commissioner Chair Roger
Lusala on. Yes,welcome.
Lusala: Good evening Council and Mr Mayor and staff. Yes. I'm Roger Lusala. I'm the current
Chair of the Human Right Commission. I'm here tonight to present to you the
recommendations from the Human Rights Commission for the racial equity and social
justice grant for the 2023. This is a great opportunity for the- it's available to Iowa City
based organization for both non-profit and for-profit with the purpose of encouraging,
empowering and engaging racial equity and social justice initiative to program activity or
services that help eliminate inequities in Iowa City community -program that addresses
one or more of the six priority services area will receive preference such as building
community, criminal justice, education, employment, and housing. Grant requirements
are as follows. The organization must be physically located in Iowa City. The proposal
should seek to eliminate inequity in the community based on individual's institutional or
structural. The proposal must be new or based on exception that it can be a same proposal
from the same organization coming in for a second year. Government,public school and
college or university cannot be a primary resident,but it can be a secondary applicant. An
applicant can't request no more than $25,000. And this year,thank you to the City
Council,you approved us for $100,000. I would take this chance to always ask you for
more because these grants go a long way in our community. This year we had 20
organizations apply for funding which amounted just a little over $330,000. The
applications were available from Thursday,December 1st through Friday,January 6th.
Applicantions were received from December 1st to January 6th, 20 submission were
received. Based on a 20 applicant that we got,we came up with the following
recommendation. I want to bring up to your attention that only five commissioners were
able to, ah,process these grants because of some conflict that we had with the remaining
commissioners. Ah,the-the following organization are the organization that we selected
and recommending to you. Great Plain Action Society, which puts in a truth giving event
in either of truth-telling-truth-telling,music and laughter, celebrating indigenous culture
in Israel uplifting the good in Thanksgiving,which is about family being thankful and
celebrating the harvest season. It's also a celebration of indigenous culture and- and- and
history. We had a- I- I- I had a chance to attend one of those celebration last year, and it
was a- a- a great event. They got recommended for $6,000. The second organization, its
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Wright House of Fashion. Right House of Fashion will put together a social justice,racial
equity fashion experience called the Big Dream Fashion Festival. The Big Dream
Fashion Festival will offer an entertaining, family friendly, fun, and diverse community
experience. The festival will be an opportunity to foster healthy and relationship in a
diverse community and promote overall community solidarity. The festival will highlight
BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ youth as future leaders in our community. They were
recommended for a full funding of 25,000. The total organization is the Neighborhood
Center of Johnson County. Johnson-the Neighborhood Center of Johnson County will
launch a community university at the Pheasant Ridge Neighborhood Center,where six,
five-week cohorts learning experience that utilize element of truth,racial healing,
transformation, framework for participant to heal from wounds of the past to build a
mutually respectful relationship across racial and ethnic lines that honors and value each
person's humanity and to build trusting, inter-generational and diverse community
relationships that better reflects common humanity. The fourth organization—The
Neighborhood Center were were recommended for $15,500. The fourth organization
were Community Service Center,recommended for $14,500. And the Community-the
Community Crisis Center will purchase culturally appropriate foods, such as [inaudiable]
dry rice, dried beans, fresh fruits and vegetables which can help sustain health by
maintaining a more familiar traditional diet and also help immigrants and descendants of
immigrant maintain their cultural identities. Community Crisi Center will partner with
some local grocery stores. One of them is Acapulco Mexican Bakery and Grocery store
and the second one is in Madina African Markets to acquire the food.Number 5, it's
Natural Music-Natural Talent Music will uncover and nurture artistic talent and
expression within the South District area in Iowa City, especially focusing on people of
color and international origins. This project tries to expand the diversity of performance,
style of music and venues in which entertainment is presented in Iowa City. They were
recommended for-they were recommended for $14,500.Number 6 is Al-Iman Center of
Iowa. The 1,000 [inaudiable] Project aims to offer an alternative narrative for children in
our community. This childrens mini library at Iman Center will serve our young children,
five to 14 years of age throughout the year at no cost to them. Fiction,non-fiction, and
bilingual books will be carefully selected to provide our children with the opportunity to
read and learn about characters and stories that are similar to themselves. They were
recommended for $7,500. Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa-they were
recommended for $7,000. This is the sec- a third year, ah, ah, C- CWJ getting this
funding because it is the same project that it's going over the year. As part of the
community technology and education improvement initiatives, CWJ will purchase a
Smart Board for the newly built computer lab and hire an instructor to host free
educational workshop for Iowa City community members. The Smart Board will play an
essential role in many of the CWJ's educational initiatives. CWJ will use the Smart Board
in English as a second language workshop tutoring program and most workshop,
including entrepreneurship and computer literacy workshop. And the final organization,
Houses to Home, it's a youth volunteer academy, division of the Youth Volunteer
Academies to foster social justice center leaders and the academy will end-will end with
this student driving their personal mission,vision statement. The curriculum also visits
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important topics connected to social justice starting with truth, trust-building, and the
examination of identity. Other topic are stereotype,prejudice,racist,historical system of
oppression,the power of language, [inaudiable] poverty, eviction, domestic violence,
privileges, equity, inequity,microaggression, and implicit bias. This is all the
organizations that we are recommending for you guys. I want to state the five
commission that voted and process the grants were Commissioner Paul Shantz,
Commissioner Kollasch, Commissioner Jons, Commissioner Channon, and myself
Commissioner Lusala. And we received $329,000 in requested funds and we were able to
award on the $100,000. So we ask for your recommendation for approval.
Teague: Thank you so much. Are there any questions for Commissioner Lusala?Hearing no
questions,thank you. We're gonna ask,um,that if anyone wants to address this topic that
they raise their hand at this time. And if you're on a-um, if you're calling in by phone,
press star six-
Goers: Mr Mayor
Teague: - star nine.
Goers: Sorry. If I can interject while you're waiting to see if there's public comment, I just want
to reflect, ah, or allow the-the record to reflect that Councilor Dunn is continuing to
recuse himself from any matters in which the Center for Worker Justice is an applicant,
and that's why he had stepped out at the beginning of this item.
Teague: Appreciate that. Anyone want to talk on this topic,please raise your hand. Seeing no
one in the public, Council discussion.
Harmsen: Quick thank you to Roger and his commission for doing this work. It's- it's arduous
and not off- it's-to go through many good applications and make judgment calls. So
thank you to them.
Alter: It's just- it's incredibly invigorating to see fust of all,the number of applications that came
through and then the range of projects that were awarded. Um, again, great work by the,
um, commission,but also just kudos to the community groups that are doing this work
because I know often, even if you're not funded,you're still going-you're finding a way
to get through. So,um,thank you for all of your efforts and congratulations to those who
were chosen.
Teague: And I do appreciate all of the applicants,the 20 applicants that reached out and went
through this process of filling out applications, getting it in, ah, for it to be considered.
And while we know that there is more, ah,need in our community and work to be done,
um, I also want to just,um, give some gratitude for the ones that were awarded. I know
that you're gonna do some great work with tho-with those funds. Roll call, please.
[ROLL CALL]
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Teague: Yes. Motion passes 6-1 with one recusal by Councilor Dunn.
Uh, 6-0. right?Yeah.
Teague: 6-0. Yes. And we're waiting for Councilor Dunn to return.
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I I.g.Nuisance Property—320 N. Govvernor St. - Resolution authorizing the acquisition of
property locally known as 320 N. Governor Street,which is a public nuisance,for
the purpose of abating the nuisance.
Teague: We're on to item number l Ig,nuisance property, 320 North Governor Street. This is a
resolution authorizing the acquisition of property locally known as 320 North Governor
Street,which is a public nuisance for the purpose of abating the nuisance. Can I get a
motion to approve,please?
Bergus: So moved Bergus.
Dunn: Second Dunn.
Teague: All right. And we're going to ask for staff on this. I'm not sure who's going to present.
Laverman: Uh, good evening, Council and- and Mayor, Stan Laverman, senior housing
inspector. Uh,you have before you a property,uh, on Governor Street,uh,that has been
on our radar since,uh-uh, 2018. Uh, in the last five years,we've issued,uh, 25 different
notices for nuisance violations,uh, and then took the property owner to court four
different times. Um, the issue is that the property owner is not very responsive,uh, and
the property continues to fall into decay. And while we've had,um,many conversations
with them,we have not,uh, come up with a way to have him address the issues that,uh,
are very evident on the property. Um,this process of condemnation is not something that
we go to often. Uh, I believe the last property that,uh-uh,the City condemned,uh,
because of these reasons was a- a little over 15 years ago. Uh, so again,this isn't a tool
that we use often,but,um,based on the-the property owners inaction,we feel this is the
appropriate step to take.
Teague: Any [OVERLAPPING] questions?
Alter: This is just for-um, sorry, this is, uh,Megan Alter. Uh,just for clarification, it's in our
comments,but can you,um, describe,um,why it is that, uh,we-we can acquire it
through condemnation,um,but that we-wha-what steps we must abide by,uh, once
we've acquired it? Can you answer that?
Laverman: Right. The City can't,uh, gain from, uh,the condemnation. So the City will be
required to sell the property for the cost that we have invested in the property,uh, and we
can't take ownership of it. So,uh, I feel that,uh,you know,we'll have to make a
determination of if the property is salvageable. Uh,there may be some additional
expenses related to,uh,removing,um, debris from the property or even the demolition of
the property if we discover it's unsafe. Uh, and at that point that,we'll have to-we'll
dispose off the property,um,to someone outside of the City.Not outside of the City,but
outside of our control.
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Teague: Thank you. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so,please raise
your hand. If you're on phone,please dial star nine. Seeing no one. Council discussion.
Bergus: Just thanks to staff for the presentation, and also for the memo on our packet. This is a
pretty extreme,um,you know, action for us to take. So it's helpful to see the five years of
trying to,um, get this mitigated before we're here.
Teague: Roll call,please. [ROLL CALL]. Motion passes 7-0.
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I I.h.Nuisance Property—3351 Wintergreen Dr. - Resolution authorizing the acquisition of
property locally known as 3351 Wintergreen Drive,which is a public nuisance,for
the purpose of abating the nuisance.
Teague: Item l Lh is nuisance property 3-uh, 3351 Wintergreen Drive. Resolution authorizing
the acquisition of property loc- locally known as 3351 Wintergreen Drive,which is a
public nuisance for the purpose of abating the nuisance. Could I get a motion to approve,
please?
Harmsen: So moved Harmsen.
Alter: Second,Alter.
Teague: All right. And I think Stan is still standing by. Welcome.
Laverman: Hello there,yeah. Um, so yes-um, similar in that we're condemning the property,but
for different reasons. Uh, it is a nuisance property. It hasn't been a nuisance for that long.
Uh,the property owner,uh, is deceased, died sometime in August of 2022, and the house
has been vacant. Um,the,uh-her family has indicated they have no interest in the
property and would not set up an estate to take control of the property. Uh, it has some
unique property ownerships with-uh, coming from the-the land is in a land trust in and
the house,um, is owned by her,uh, and there's a mortgage on the property. The City is in
a unique position to move forward quickly to resolve this,uh, and it's in our best interest
to resolve this quickly. Um,there are some hoarding issues involved and there's a severe
pest infestation. So,uh, if we can resolve this quicker through this action,um, it will
allow us to hopefully,uh,preserve this property,uh, for,um,rehabilitation and- and for
sale.
Teague: Any questions for Stan? Seeing none. Thank you, Stan. And anyone from the public like
to address this topic? If so,please raise your hand. If you're on f-by phone,press star
nine. Seeing no one with their hand raised, Council discussion. [ROLL CALL]. Motion
passes 7-0.
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13. City Council Information
Teague: Item number 13,uh, City Council information.
Taylor: Since it was some time ago since we talked about this,though I mentioned it in our
Council information earlier,just want to remind folks because it does deserve a reminder
of the,uh, accessibility focused listening post tomorrow from 4:00 till 5:30 at the Iowa
City Library public room A. Hope to see you there.
Alter: I just wanted to give a shout out to MidWestOne Bank because they,um, are holding a
kid's art open house on Thursday from 5:30 to 7:00, I believe,um,where there's different
art selection or art work that's been done by kids throughout the school district. And,uh,
they held a contest and then the winners have their art framed, or in other cases,um,
actually are going to be included in the calendar. But it's a really cool event and,uh, it's
neat to see the kids work. And they actually then are also showing it. They put-they
leave it up in,uh,the downtown MidWestOne Bank,um, for a couple of months so
people can then watch it,but that's on Thursday.
Dunn: Uh, I attended the Refugees Alliance meeting,uh, for the Mayor and then later the Mayor
Pro Tem on the 27th of March. Uh, the meeting was mostly centered around the
presentation of the idea of,uh, communities in Johnson County-uh Johnson County
working together to host,uh,you know, a comprehensive immigrant welcome week-uh,
immigrant and refugee welcome week. Uh, it was a fantastic meeting,uh, that had a lot of
members of our staff present,uh, as well as representative of a-representatives of a
number,uh, of other municipalities in the area. Um, and I think it would be great if we
were to participate in that. There was discussions about,uh,holding, during that week,
one large eventon some day to celebrate the diversity,uh, in- in all of our communities.
And then kind of interspersing different events out all throughout the week in different
communities so that we could have,uh, either people who wanted to travel around and
get to the communities and see our various,uh, diversity of immigrant communities in- in
different towns, as well as give people who have,uh, transportation difficulties,uh,
access to something that's much more closer to home in their relevant communities. So,
um, excellent meeting. Uh, I would highly recommend that we-we get involved and- and
we have our- our staff continue to engage. But,uh,yeah,that's just about the report.
Thank you to,uh,the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem for allowing me to attend.
Teague: Thank you. All right.
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15.Adjourn
Teague: So we're at item number 15. And again, I want to say thanks to everyone that attended
the meeting tonight. And,uh,we did a virtual option just for safety because of the
weather that was pending and we had technical difficulties. So thanks for,uh,bearing
with us through that process and now we are at a motion to adjourn. Could I get one,
please?
Harmsen: Moved. [OVERLAPPING]
Bergus: So moved.
Teague: All right. Moved by Harmsen and I think I heard Councilor Bergus second that before
you. All right. All in favor say aye? [OVERLAPPING] Aye. Aye. Any oppose?We are
adjourned.
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