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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-17 Transcription Page 1 Council Present: Alter,Bergus,Dunn,Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas Staff Present: From,Jones, Goers, Grace, Platz, Brotherton,Ralston,Knoche,Hightshoe Others Present: LeFevre,USG Liasion, Monsivais,Alternate Teague: Well it is 4:00 PM, and,uh, I want to say welcome to everyone here on this Tuesday, October 17, 2023. This is the City of Iowa City work session. And we're going to jump right into our agenda with the fust item being work collaboratively with the Johnson County, and other stakeholders to launch a Community Violence Intervention effort, and close cooperation with local law enforcement. And we have a few people here to kind of lead us in this. Um, are we going to start with Cap- Captain Brotherton?All right. We're going to start with our ah, okay. All right. We're going to start with Rachel Zimmerman Smith, our Johnson County attorney. Zimmerman Smith: Ah, good afternoon everyone. Thank you for inviting us. Uh, sorry. Thank you. Um, I am Rachel Zimmerman Smith,the Johnson County Attorney, and I am here with Jess Lang,who is our fust,uh,Johnson County Community Violence Intervention coordinator. So while the agenda item says launch the project as if that will happen in the future,we have already launched. So,um,we're here today just to sort of talk to you about why this started. I think,uh, some of you I've already talked to about it. And Mayor Teague and Councilor Bergus have been involved in our book study, and some planning, and, like,we very much appreciate that. And,uh, so we're just going to kind of tell you what's happened so far,what the impetus for this was,um, and then give you a chance to ask questions if that's allowed. Um, so,why did this start in Johnson County?Um, for those of you who know what I did before I was the county attorney, I was a prosecutor, uh,prosecuting,uh,violent crimes including,uh,multiple homicide, sex assaults, robberies. And over the past,uh, 5-6 years,we just, ah, started seeing too many,uh, gun related,uh, injuries and deaths. Um, and so I'm going to skip ahead to this slide because, this is really why I started talking about it,because from 2017-2022,these are the non- these are the homo- 12 non-vehicle related homicides. Because I think the vehicle related homicides are different. Um, 10 out of the 12 non-vehicle related homicides in the past five years,the manner of death was fatal gunshot wounds. And if you look,those are the names of the victims,those are people who live in our community,who have families, who still live in our community. Um, and it was one of those cases,um, a couple of them, two very young men. Um, I came into the conference room at the Iowa City Police Department, and I saw the young man's picture on the board. And that was somebody that went to school with my kids,that sacked my groceries at the Mormon Trek Fareway,that was, ah, Quincy Rossum. And the next day I went into Janet Linus's office and said, I'm sick of just doing the clean up after this. We need to do something proactive, and we started looking around for what that was. Um, and it turned out that to our north in Cedar Rapids,they were doing a community violence intervention program, and so in April of 2022, I think I tried,um, a murder case,the Kejuan Winters, uh,murder case, ah, in November of 2021. And by spring of 2022,uh,we had gathered,um, I think, 30 community leaders at our office, including,um,members of the Iowa City Police This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 2 Department,um,people from nonprofits,mental health providers,to talk about, ah, steps to take next. And we did that with the help of Rachel Rockwell,who is now the director of the Johnson County Neighborhood Centers. But in those,um, she was leading up,um, those efforts in Cedar Rapids,which is why we used her to help,um, facilitate those meetings and help put us on the right track with an evidence based approach to trying to reduce gun injuries and deaths in Johnson County. And so, gun violence is a growing problem in Iowa in general. And this is just,um, these are from the CDC statistics. So um, I think the- one of the most,um, sort of troubling parts of this, is the disparity for gun related homicides. You can see 17.3 out of 100,000 for African Americans versus 1.1 for Caucasians. Um,that is,um, that is disproportionality,um, and it's something that we,uh, should not accept as reality. Um, gun related weapons charges in Johnson County. This is outside of just Iowa City. Um, we've seen an in- increase in those, and this obviously, um, full disclosure,my office is going through a case management system,um, transition. So these are the statistics that I could get and we did not do a good job of tracking which charges were gun related, and we're actually having to go back and do that. But just to give you an idea,you can see possession of firearms as a felon. Um, in 2019,there were 21 of those charges county wide,those are charges, and by last year there was 52, so that's more than double. Um,that is actually good,um,because that means our law enforcement is,uh, focusing on those folks who are,uh,possessing weapons that are illegal, and they're dangerous. Um, and so this also shows not only that they're increasing,but also that local law enforcement is,uh,working hard to make sure, um,that guns are taken out of those folks hands. Um,this is just a graph of that. So this is specifically Iowa City Police Department Street Crimes units,uh, so shots fired statistics. Um, so that will show you- again what I think is the same,um,the same hypothesis is that in 2020 and 2021,you can see we had a huge number of shots fired in tho—this is Iowa City,uh,numbers and the people struck by gunfire,uh, and the non suicide deaths caused by gunfire. You can see in 2021 there were five. Um,that's a lot, and,um, Captain Brotherton can tell you what the Street Crimes Unit did to do what. I would say it's focused deterrence and make sure that they were focusing on the very few people,that were causing most of the violence. Because this Community Violence Intervention model is based on the reality that,uh, like a very small number of people, I think what's the percentage? 0.06% of the population is responsible for most of the violence in any community so- Dunn: Can you clarify what,um, defines a shots fired incident? Is that,um, you know, a potential crime in progress, is that related to law enforcement?What's a-what's just with the specifics there? Zimmerman Smith: I'll let Captain Brotherton answer that one. Dunn: Thank you. Brotherton: When we look at,um, shots fired,uh,that can be even those when we don't find a suspect. But we find that there was evidence that shots were fired. Because we'll get the calls and sometimes it could be fireworks. So,you know,to-to determine, well, if we This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 3 find shell casings, if we find damage, ah, and then of course,more serious, if we find victims, or they encounter a person,um, in possession of a firearm right around where we heard those. So does that clear up? Dunn:No. I was just looking a little bit of clarity. Thank you. Zimmerman Smith: And so far in 2023, eight people have been struck by gunfire. I think there have been 12. Um,reports 12 or 13. Um, so far I think that was as of July actually. Um, and Captain Brotherton has all these statistics if you want more information. Um, and this is just county wide. I just thought this was interesting because you're seeing,these are all the murder and attempted murder charges in Johnson County. Thankfully,we didn't have very many last year, I'm afraid. We've had a few more attempted murder cases. Ah,this year so far,but no homicides yet. But you can see the number,the percentage of those that involve a firearm has gone up,um, in 10 years. We just didn't see,uh, firearms. That's obviously a result of many things,mostly because,um, our State legislature has made it incredibly easy for people to access firearms. Um, and now we have a new second Amendment in Iowa that is going to make it very hard to have rules,um,to restrict that. So, I'm going to let-just talk a little bit about what Community Violence Intervention actually is now that I've told you why we're doing it. Teague: Welcome,Jess. Lang: Hello, I'm Jess Lang. I am the Community Violence Prevention Coordinator for Johnson County. As Rachel said,this is a new position, and this is a program that,um, I'm building, implementing,um, and bringing to Johnson County to keep our community safe. Um, so what is community violence intervention? This is known as CVI. So if you hear me saying CVI,that's Community Violence Intervention. Um, It's an approach that is evidence based, and it's community centered. Um,we are going off of a model that is nationally implemented, and,um,has great success rates, anywhere from 35%-70% success rates depending on where,um, it's launched. Excuse me. Um,the ultimate goals, and strategies are to keep people alive to save lives. We want to address trauma,provide opportunity, and improve the physical, social, and economic conditions that drive violence. There's a lot involved in that. Um, as Rachel mentioned, it is a focused deterrent. We are able to identify who our high risk individuals are, and go to them with a message of hope- essentially, a message of hope and a message of help. Um,partnered with law enforcement community members and,um, different social service groups. We have an Executive Stakeholders Committee that's already put in place. Uh,that committee is made up of mayors,police chiefs,uh,the county attorney,Brad Kunkel, Johnson County Sheriff, several nonprofit leaders,Board of Supervisors,Health and Human Services, and,uh,Director of Public Health. So it's kind of a broad range of individuals who are helping us,um, go forward with this process. Who's involved in the work of CVI? It's a three prong approach,um, law enforcement, community partners, and what we call credible messengers. Uh, credible messengers are individuals with lived experience. They're individuals who've been affected by gun violence,they've grown up in poverty,um,they have a group mentality,um, and it's our desire to get to them and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 4 intervene and give them an option to take the life or take the path of success, or stay in the life of violence,um,with some pretty stern consequences. We-we let them know. Um, law enforcement is an important part of this work,they're able to give us the authority kind of element. But the research is finding that this approach is helping heal relationships,um, and help undo the harm,uh,between community members and the police,um,because they're going with us in an approach of help. Um,they're saying nobody's in trouble nobody's- I'm not here to arrest anyone, I'm here to tell you we know what you're doing,we need you to stop,the community does not want this violence. And that essentially what follows helps heal those relationships. Um, I'll just read this important,um,paragraph here. Uh, CVI programs serve as a vital way to connect community resources to the people who need them most, addressing root causes of gun violence in a holistic way that cannot be done by law enforcement and community partners alone. So who is the focus of the CVI work? The CVI work focuses on those most affected by gun violence. Um,we identify them as high risk individuals. Um, the CVI program has proved to reduce homicides by 60%where it's implemented throughout the US. Um,the collaborations between government and community stakeholders give CVI programs credibility and make people feel safer and more likely to engage in combating the spread of gun violence. And just some strategies that we have in place, um, some we've already done, some that we're still working to launch, I guess. Um,yeah, uh,we've identified partners, so the executive stakeholders have already,um,been established. Right now, I'm working on a lot of,um,relationship building with the community,with law enforcement,nonprofit agencies,um, social services,public health. Just,um,understanding the resources that are available in the county, and we are very blessed with that here in Johnson County,we have a wealth of resources. So we're trying to help people understand also what this program is educating them,um, as far as what- what our work here is and Uh,why. We are piloting evidence-based initiatives based on this model. Um,we're coordinating public education and engagement through,uh,book studies,we've done one book study so far of the book called Bleeding Out by Thomas Abt. This book is a really good example,um, of a really complex approach.He makes it look very simplistic,he makes it sound as though we can understand it in real words. Um, he compares it to medical terms. Um, if somebody is shot they go to the emergency room,they're triaged,they run all of the testing to figure out what the problem is,what the source of the problem is. They do diagnostics, and then they do prognosis. So that's kind off in short,um,what the book explains and if you have not read it,we do have some copies. I'd be happy to provide one because it really does help you understand the core of what this work is. Uh, we are-they've recruited and hired and are in the process of training a violence prevention coordinator. Um,we are identifying credible messengers and those are the individuals with lived experience. Um,those are harder to find than you would think. They don't just come freely usually. We do have a couple that are really,really awesome and they're going to benefit this program greatly,um,but we're still looking for some more. And,um, law enforcements engage in focused deterrent activities,regular communications across all law- law enforcement agencies in the county,uh, and they collaborate with each other to,um,work and do outreach that affects community members. Um,the goals and outcomes are of course, improved community safety,uh, improved relationships between community members, law enforcement, and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 5 social service groups,um, and that also means acknowledging past harms that have been done. Uh, improved interagency trust and increased sense of hope and belonging and promotion through peace-uh,through grassroots community level engagement of credible messengers and grassroots leaders. Um, I think one thing that's really important to remember in this work is it is not political,this is not about gun rights,this is about saving lives and that is what the focus is, and that's what it needs to remain. Another, um,thing that I'd like to point out is that there's a lot of economic things that go into gun violence that people don't think about. Um,people tend to refer to dangerous neighborhoods or dangerous communities when in fact that's not the case. It might be a household of some individuals who are kind of causing most of the trouble but it's not the neighborhood. The-the neighborhoods that are deemed,you now, dangerous or people will avoid them,parents are afraid to send their kids to school,kids are afraid to go to school. Um,nobody wants to buy homes in that area,businesses suffer. So there's a-the greater picture,you know,the most important thing is saving lives but there's an economic piece to this as well. Um, sorry I have to read, I'm a visual person. So there's a lot of different roles and commitments from community partners. Essentially,we're going to work together to build an anti-violence infrastructure,um, engage the community to establish and maintain peace, collect and share data to refine practices and assess effectiveness,um,build positive relationships with the support,um, and where we support young people at high risk of gun and group violence, interrupt and mediate conflicts and use suppression and enforcement precisely and sparingly. There's a few other things there too,but that's the gist of it. And this is something that it's not just the people involved in the CVI work. As community members, everyone can take part in- in these,um, initiatives. And then finally, oh,this is,um, key values. This is just everything that goes into this program. You know,we're-we're community engaged, evidence- informed,partnership-based, solution-focused and humanity centered. I think all of you probably understand what the definitions of all of those are, and we don't need to go through that but we will talk about what you can do and how you can help partner with us,um, as advocates for the program in the community. Um, invest and support consistent and stable funding for public safety and law enforcement, engage the community, identify credible messengers and other community members who would be assets to this work, and remain open to exploring future opportunities for funding together, either with budgets or grants. Uh, I have one last little thing to read off here, and,um,the Johnson County Community Violence Intervention and the community will work diligently to save lives by reducing community gun violence and cutting the numbers of fatal and non-fatal shootings. At the same time,we will improve trust between government agencies and our most impacted communities as measured by new tools such as surveys, as well as individual and group consultation. Do you guys have any questions? Alter: Thank you so much for this. Sorry. I'm not sick. I'm just trying to protect folks around me. Um, anyway, so just yell if I'm not. You're making sense. Okay. So one of the things I was struck by is because we're just coming up on budget season ourselves to start talking about it. And you talked uh one of the bullets was about consistent and stable funding for public safety and law enforcement. Um, given your experience and perhaps even talking This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 6 about what the county is doing and what have you, is this a line item or is this something that's kind of like bu-put in together as part of public safety and or law enforcement and in what ways? Zimmerman Smith: I think it's a line item. And it can be more. It can be a new line item if you're interested in that. But I think,um,really supporting the police department that you do have making sure that they're-you know,you're supporting their work. I know that. Uh, and I think Captain Brotherton could talk about this more. They've paid out a lot of overtime so that officers could participate in- in this. And they've been amazing, I- I have to say. I know that they are dealing with being shorthanded and not always having the support that they might-that might be optimal. Um,but they have done an amazing job and- and been partners- open partners in some of these meetings where we've had some pretty uncomfortable conversations. Um, and I- I can't thank them enough. So you know, fust is just the basics. Make sure you're-you're funding your police department and giving them the support they need. Um, I think there's opportunities for other positions, perhaps shared positions within all of the law enforcement agencies. Um, I mean,really, we should be thinking about what is possible instead of thinking what's not possible. And hopefully all of those numbers on the graphs would be zero some day. Um, and we can all talk about how we were here talking about it. So in terms of budgeting,uh,you know, I'd be happy to sit down if you have,you know, I have ideas- if you guys have ideas,but I do think that just the-the basic funding to make sure that your police department has what it needs so that they can fully participate in this, and go to trainings and do all the things that they need to participate in this. But I'll let Captain Brotherton talk about that, if you have anything to add. Brotherton: Yeah, one- one thing to know is our Street Crimes Unit is heavily involved in this and a major factor in the success of the program. One thing you see in 2020 and 2021 with those high numbers, one thing that we did have going on at the department is we had to pull our street crimes unit because of staffing COVID initially because we were not as interacting as much, correct,pulling back on our services,uh, and then our staffing went down. We had to pull those detectives off the street. So we really didn't have a fully staffed Street Crimes Unit probably until end of 21 and through 22. You see those numbers drop because they're out there,they're active. This is another way to not only involve them just in enforcement,but also that commu- community outreach. Um aspect that is so important to our department, and when we can pull that into all of our divisions, and this is one of those ways to pull our Street Crime Unit into a community outreach focus also. Alter: I just have one follow up. It may be I'm not sure who to directed to,but sorry. Wait. So you mentioned that there is it sounds like there's fairly extensive training within this program for those police officers who participate. Zimmerman Smith: Yes. So we've had,you know, several sort of community meetings,but there has been a custom notification training which several folks from the Department, from all of our law enforcement agency participated in that Jess organized the custom notification This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 7 training. Custom notification is where you would go visit somebody in their home or neighborhood with a group of people,hopefully community members, law enforcement, perhaps me,whoever. You take a letter from the county attorney,that's probably what would happen and it would say, "Hey,we've noticed that,you know, shots fired in your neighborhood. We've seen you on Facebook with some guns. So we know you were involved in something. We are here to help you. We don't want to see you dead,hurt or in prison. What do you need?What can we help you with?And so that's part of what law enforcement is- is doing, is going to people's houses and doing this proactively. And I have to say,they we've done a couple of practice,uh, custom notifications and the law enforcement officers who've participated have- I mean, some of them were pretty emotionally positive about it. I would say,because they're-they're able to go into somebody's neighborhood where nobody's called 911,nobody's in crisis, and they're having a cahn conversation with folks that they can actually offer help to instead of reacting,which is what-which is what they do, and we need them to do that,but this is just another role for them, and I think it's been really helpful. So that's one of the trainings. There's other trainings,there's national training. And-uh,there was a training at the International Association of Chief Police. Uh,this week on this very model, Thomas AN spoke at it. So, and the more we can do these local trainings,the better. And we have some resources close by that can help us so. Alter: I have one final question, and it might be a rabbit hole. And if that's the case,then you can go. Okay,you're done. Um, is there an overlap or some kind of synergy with the CIT model of crisis intervention work? Zimmerman Smith: I- I think there's definitely an overlap with CIT and that all of our law enforcement officers are trained in CIT, and so the skills that they use through being trained in CIT and intervening in those crisis,they're taught to deal with people who are in trauma. Maybe not in crisis at the moment,but we all know that folks who have had traumatic experiences have that and they learn about that in CIT. So I think there is an overlap and of course the officers who have been through that CIT training and other people in the community who have been through it. Um,that is just going to be a tool to use in this-yeah, in this program. So-. Alter: Thank you. Dunn: I've got,uh. Excuse me. I've got several questions,but I know we've got others. So I'm just going to start with one. Um, I- I think we've talked about it a little bit as part of this presentation,but the prevalence of suicide,uh, and suicide by gun. Um so uh, I just have a broader question about how you see the role of- of suicide prevention in the community as part of this project. Um, and,you know,how we can um utilize data to better inform our decisions both in terms of spending and program planning. Uh, I will say part of that is preface with,um, I've in the past. Excuse me. Uh,requested information surrounding, uh,you know,how many suicides we experience in the community. And it's from various different,uh, agencies and,you know, it's on me for not following up,um,but I was just wondering,you know,what the status of that data is as well. So it's kind of a two parter. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 8 Zimmerman Smith: Yeah. So I guess I would say that is something that is of- of great concern at suicide prevention, especially by gun. And I would suggest if you have questions about that,um, Clayton Schuneman,who's our county medical examiner,uh, can tell you about- about that at great length and as much detail as you'd care to hear. Um,he actually does a presentation about all of,um,the causes of death in Johnson County, it's very interesting. It's really important for a program like this to be laser-focused on what it was designed to prevent it. Um, like Jess said, it's not a gun safety program. It's, you know, maybe it would have the collateral effect of preventing a suicide by just calming a situation down in a home,but that's not the focus of Community Violence Intervention. It's to stop the violence that happens in the community, and that's defined very specifically. Dunn: Thank you for the clarity. Bergus: As you mentioned, I had the opportunity to participate in that book discussion and one of the questions,maybe we've had enough time to answer it by now or can in the future, but about the collecting and sharing of data. So,uh, I know from that group that we get to participate in,that this particular model, like in the bleeding out book itself, is targeting places with really intense,you know, gun violence that thankfully we don't have at a level here. So are there-you know-kind of how can we track the data to see that this is the best fit for our community? Or maybe,what changes have we made to the program to make it fit reality? Zimmerman Smith: I guess I would take a little bit of, uh, issue with saying there's,you know- yes,we're not a large city,but I would say,uh,having 10 people die,uh, from gun violence in five years, in a town of our size,just in a county of our size,um, that's a lot of people,uh, and I have to say,uh, all of those- all of those people are African American, uh, and so to me, I-I don't-we do have gun violence problem in our community and nationally. Uh,while adult gun violence seems to be going down,there's an uptick in juvenile violence. I am also concerned about the data gathering,though. Uh, so I understand that, and I think,uh, one of the ways that you gather data for a program like this is you do impact studies. So you go talk to the folks who you went out and talked to. Uh, if we have zero gun violence, I think that will tell us all we need to know. Uh, and- and- and I would say the Police Department has already done a really good job at responding to it in a way that has reduced it. But we can't only count on them, and we can't only count on providers. So we have,uh, invited,uh,Ethan Rogers from the Public Policy Center at the University. Uh, I've actually applied for some technical assistance money, so that actually have somebody who studies these things,uh,participate and gather data,uh, over the long term. Which I hope it will work and be a long project because I think it- it can only help and save lives so- Bergus: Thank you for that. And I-I didn't mean to minimize the- any- any amount of gun violence is- is too much,just making sure it's tailored to our community. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 9 Dunn: So,uh,my second question is,uh, is about trust. You know- I think in this country,uh, and in many ways in this community,we have,uh,problems with-with trusted institutions. So, uh,Uh, I'm just kind of curious about what the experience in Cedar Rapids has been. Linn County, of course,uh, in- in terms of trying to build that trust with a program like this,uh, as well as, you know,what the experience has been,uh,you know, specifically here,you know, are people trusting when they engaged with,you know,this type of program or,you know,what are the barriers,uh,to-to building trust in this type of program. Zimmerman Smith: I- I think you'd have to ask individuals in Cedar Rapids how they felt about trust. I will say that they did have a drop- a significant drop in gun violence. I can't remember what the statistic was. If Rachel Rockwell was here, she would tell you. Lang: Fifty percent of victimization. Zimmerman Smith: Fifty percent of victimization. Thank you,Jess. Dunn: What was that last word? Zimmerman Smith: Fifty percent of reduction in victimization,uh, I guess I would ask,what specific trust issues are you talking about? Dunn: Just just generally,right. I mean, like we- I think it's very clear in this country that,uh, you know,we have problems with trusting authorities. You know,whether that's Congress,Police,you know,whatever. Uh, and I'm just inquiring as to like how prevalent,uh,that can be seen with this type of program. Is it prevalent? Is it not prevalent?You know, is that not something that you're concerned about,really,you know, so I don't know. So I'm really just,kind of, trying to suss that out. Zimmerman Smith: I guess I would say, I'm not as, I'm not concerned in-mayor, did you have something [OVERLAPPING] Teague: Yeah. So I have been involved with this, and thank you all for coming to do this presentation. I'll just go straight to that question. Uh, so I was a part of, uh,kind of,uh, one of those trials of doing the custom notification. And I really think the trust question comes in relationship to the trust and messengers. So when,uh, for instance, if we were to talk about someone that is a potential,uh,you know,person that cause harm with a gun. Uh, so there's ways that they seek out either a close family member that really absolutely love this individual, and we'll,you know,try to persuade them to come into a meeting where there is going to really just say we love you. We don't want to see you harmed, and we want to try to-we want to keep you from,you know, dead,not have you hurt and out of prison. And how-what can we do to kind of change your trajectories? So I really think your question when it comes down to trust,these are people that have been, uh, identified as being a high risk for causing some gun violence. Uh, and so it's intentional that that team that reach out to that individual to try to bring them into a space This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 10 where we want to let them know. We want to change what's happening in your life and try to get you on- on a path that you would like to,uh, go down. That is one that is more positive. And so I really think that it does rely with that initial customization,uh, and the trusted messenger to get them compelled to come to receive some assistance. Dunn: Thank you. Lang: I want to add on to what Bruce said a little bit. Uh,the credible messengers also continue, it's not just the custom notification. Uh, they establish rapport and essentially kind of become a case manager,uh,making sure that,you know,there's an educational element involved in this. Uh, do they need to finish their education?Do they need to get a high set?Do they want to,uh, do they need something to become employable?Uh,maybe they've never had a job before. Do we need to,uh, find a resource that we can hook them up with that can get them certified to become,whatever, a welder,whatever?Excuse me- there's a mental health component to this,uh,to help them address whatever trauma they have,uh, endured to kind of get them to this place. And,uh,the credible messengers help them along the way, even if it's taking them to their appointments, if it's following up and making sure that they're getting everything they need. Establishing the trust is delivering what we say we're going to deliver and following up with what we promise. Teague: Yeah. I don't know if you have any other questions about it. Dunn:No,that's pretty sure. Teague: Yeah. So I_I just wanted to maybe just,uh, comment that I think that the proactive,uh, measure that is being taken through this county, I think it's positive. We saw the stats of the deaths, and it's,you know, and very disheartening for me,uh,being a black male,uh, in this community. Uh, I really do believe that this program is going to yield great positive results. And actually divert a lot of individuals that might be going down a path that is not in their best interests. And of course their loved ones wouldn't want that,just from what I've seen so far, and we were part of a book study,uh, I was a part of,kind of this,uh,just initiative that kind of tested the waters on this a little bit. Uh, and what I- what I'm finding is,uh, definitely individuals that,uh, I'll switch back to guns. Individuals that are going,uh,that would,uh, do some violent gun activities. There's trauma definitely there. That's without a doubt. Uh, and I really believe that if we support this,not only with our local law enforcement,but,uh, on a larger scale where people are being educated of CVI and their mission, and,uh,the hope that they have for our community, I really think that we will see the decrease,uh,that we hope for within this community. The other thing that I saw,just with what we did as,um, this trial,was word gets around quickly. And so I think even when I heard from Rachel Rockwell,um, she talked about in Cedar Rapids,how when you,um, say to someone and you bring them to a room and you kind of show them,um, like we love you but we want this to change and if you don't change,we're going like,you know,be really strict with the consequences. But,um,when you bring in one person and you show them like we know who your partners are,we know,um,these are the activities that have been happening, and,uh,we This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 11 want that to change. What-what I believe is that- that when that word gets around to individuals,that in itself changes behaviors because people are like, oh,they're serious. And we saw this even with what I was involved in,um,we saw that word get around like wildfire. And honestly,we haven't seen any of that activity to the degree that it reached, um,kind of a level of intervention that needed to be,you know, continued by,um, local authorities. And so this program I really do believe has,um, great hope in changing what we're seeing here in our community. And yes, I believe we can get to zero and stay at zero. And so, I'm very appreciative for the County Attorney just,um,you know,taking a step back because sometimes we're caught up in the day to day and responding,but taking a step back to say,wait a minute, I- I can't see another Quincy,you know, go down this road. Um, and so, I really appreciate this, and- and I believe that this is something really good for our community. Bergus: Just to the mayor's point of needing education. And you talked about community members being involved. Is there a website or how-how-what's a good way to help spread the word? Zimmerman Smith: Uh, we're working on that. Um, we actually,we sort of got a brand, a logo doing all that stuff. Meanwhile,just as you know, it's a lot of grassroots organizing,um, and so we will have a website. Hopefully,we'll have a- a place people can say,hey, I have a friend who's involved in- in something and they shouldn't be. Um, and any ideas that you all have. I feel like, I mean, I am a native Iowa City resident, grew up here,um, and I'm really proud,uh,to be here. And I think our community can do things in a way that will make other communities,uh,want to follow us. Um, I'm glad Cedar Rapids started this,but we can make-make this model using the-using the data we can build on it and make it our own. And I'm really hoping that all of you will, uh, support it. And please contact me or Jess or Captain Brotherton,um, and thank you,uh,Mayor Teague. I've tried to give the book to a couple of people and they're like, oh,the Mayor already left me that book. So you kind of stole my thunder a few times. Alter: I'll take one. Zimmerman Smith: Yeah,you want the book,you can have this copy. Um, and thank you,uh,to Councilor Bergus for being part of the book study. Um, I thought that was really useful for a lot of folks. And hopefully we'll do another one,um, so just spread the word and thank you all for your time. Teague: Thank you. Any other comments by Council? Dunn: I'd like a book too. Yeah. Zimmerman Smith: Yeah. Okay. Well, I'll give this to Megan and then . Dunn: Darn it. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 12 Alter: I just got in there faster. Bergus: It is also at the public library. Alter: It is a loan. Absolutely. Thomas: I just wanted to mention that,you know,my- one of my interests, as I know, Council is aware, is in traffic safety. There's a- a movement that started in Sweden, I believe it's called Vision Zero, and in a way it was the same idea that no violent injuries or deaths are acceptable. And- and that's the breakthrough, I think is acknowledging that we can't live with this. We-we have to come up with ways that in a kind of multifaceted manner address the complexity of the problem. And I just mentioned it in part you might be interested in seeing their structure and,you know,the Vision Zero structure,how it's,you know, is multidisciplinary,trying to understand what the conditions are that result in traffic violence. Because it is violence. Zimmerman Smith: Yeah, I love that Vision Zero, I wish that [OVERLAPPING] Thomas: Yeah,Vision Zero is kinda catchy and I think Oslo in a recent, I forget the year,but they had no traffic deaths in Oslo,Norway. So it too is, if properly employed, is- is very effective. Teague: Thanks. All right,thank you all for coming. Yes. We're gonna move move to Item 2 on our agenda which is clarification of agenda items. We'll move on to item Number 3, which is the information packet. We have October 5th,. Dunn: October 12th, IP so. Teague: Hearing none,no comments we'll move on to October 12th. Dunn: Okay. I- I- I'd like to add,uh, a pending work session item IP4,um,just adding to the list of pending work session topics. Um, I'm working on some,um,potential projects for,uh, City Charter amendments. Um, I don't have anything immediately there and I also don't anticipate this coming up unexpectedly,um,but I do want to be able to have that conversation sometime in the future if Council would entertain it. Goers: Just-just FYI, there is an upcoming City Charter review that will be put together. Maybe that's what you're kind of aiming toward. [OVERLAPPING] Dunn: Before. Before. Goers: Oh well, okay. Fruin: So the-the 10 year review of the City Charter, I think our- our plan was to bring that to the-the newly seated Council in January,February,was that what we discussed?Um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 13 and- and typically, if you're not familiar with that process,the Council,um, is required to appoint a committee to review that charter and offer any recommendations to the group. So I don't want to get too far ahead on this. We can certainly schedule a work session if- if you want to,but I just want to make sure that everybody understands that 2024 is that 10 year review. Alter; So is there, I'm just curious, is there,uh,you said it would be,you would want to bring this before-before that review,before there would be a chance [OVERLAPPING] Dunn: It doesn't necessarily have to be before we start that process. But,you know, I- I would like to do it before the review. Um, you know,just to- and- and it's just the conversation, right? So the conversation could,you know, give ideas to the Commission as to like what we're thinking about particular ideas. So,um, I don't necessarily think that it has to result in amendments to the charter,but it is a discussion that I would like to- [OVERLAPPING] Teague: So yeah, I do think we have three, at least three, Councilors that would have that and will determine,um,when that will be. More than likely it will not happen until 2024. Dunn: Yeah. Teague: Yeah. Okay?Any other,um, items from October 12th information packet. Hearing none,we're gonna move over to item Number 4 which is University of Iowa Student Government USG updates, and welcome. LeFevre: Hi Council. Matthew will be starting off today. Monsivais: Hello. We hope y'all are having a good week so far. So shared governance at Iowa met last Tuesday,uh,between all the four governance, er,that we share,uh, power with the University of Iowa. Um, so Undergraduate Student Government, Graduate Professional Student Government, Staff Council, and Faculty Senate. We had targets of cross collaboration on mental health,philanthropy,um, academic freedom, as well as basic needs. Um, and then in case you missed it,Mercy Hospital was purchased by Preston Hollow Community Capital for an undisclosed amount of money,but they said it intends to stay a hospital. Um, and then we had crossover at Kinnick,uh,which broke attendance records of about 56,000 attendees. And Hawkeye women's basketball victory against the Blue Devils of DePaul University,uh,playing in Kinnick Stadium. LeFevre: Matthew and I did not coordinate this outfit. It was really weird when he showed up. It was really weird. Um, also they're-they are called the Blue Devils. I don't want to seem like I'm like insulting them, that's what they're called,uh, from DePaul. Um, so we have a lot of announcements obviously,um, and this one comes up time and time again. Um,but USG of course, accepts people of all identities,um, especially those,uh, in the transgender community. It's important to note that,um, at most 8%to as low as about 1% do transition. Uh,this is just a general comment, er, in response to Chloe Cole,um, she This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023 Page 14 came to speak for Young Americans for Freedom last night. Um,there were protests that followed as well. So just to keep you guys in the loop. Um, and for candidates up here, um, if you haven't seen my email yet,hopefully you have. Um,there's going to be,uh, a USG Candidate Forum. Uh, it's going to be hosted,uh,this Monday at 06:30-8:00,uh, in the Black Box Theater. Um,there's, of course,the same information already sent out to all the candidates up here, as well as all of the candidates,um,not on Council. Um, so the fust 30 minutes is going to be like one on one time,uh,where it's going to be tabling, talking to students, stuff like that. Then the next hour,we'll have,um, a forum, so it'll be Q&A where students will be able to submit questions. They will be vetted through us, um,just for clarification. There will also be free desserts and cider,uh, I hear they're really good, so we would love to have you all. Uh, and of course, anyone not running again,you are more than welcome to come as well. So thank you guys so much. Um, yeah. That's all we have. So thank you. Teague: Thank you. Moving on to item Number 5,which is Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Hearing none,we are going to adjourn our work session. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 17, 2023