HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-06-04 Bd Comm minutes Item Number: 4.a.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 4, 2024
Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission: May 2
Attachments: Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission: May 2
May 2, 2024
Approved Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) Minutes
Emma Harvat Hall,City Hall
Commissioners present: Amos Kiche, Cliff Johnson,Louis Tassinary, Lauren Merritt, Chad
Simmons, Chastity Dillard.
Commissioners on Zoom: None.
Commissioners not present: Wangui Gathua.
Staff present: Redmond Jones, Stefanie Bowers.
Recommendation to City Council: No.
Meeting called to order: 7:02 PM.
Reading of Land Acknowledgement: Merritt read the Land Acknowledgement.
Approval of minutes from April 4,2024: Merritt moved, and Kiche seconded. Motion passed 5-
0.
Debrief from presentation to City Council: Commissioner Dillard stated the presentation went
well and there is work to do moving forward.
Facilitators final report: Facilitator Annie Tucker stated there was a lot of effort put into the
report in hopes it would be an important resource in the future. Tucker recommended that it be put
on the website. V Fixmer-Oraiz shared that the intent was for the report to be accessible and
helpful Dillard suggested putting the report on a fixture agenda for discussion to give time to
commissioners to review the report.
TRC budget& request for additional funds: Tucker said she will provide a job description and
tasks for an assistant to the TRC. Redmond Jones provided an overview of the funds the TRC has
spent to date, including the cost for facilitators and the TRC costs for events,rentals, and
incidentals. Once all spending is processed there will be a final report that will be given to City
Council. Commissioner Tassinary clarified that the budget reports$320,000 spent with a remaining
$80,000. Commissioner Dillard clarified the additional $80,000 is in relation to the outstanding
contract obligations of the facilitators including the final report.
Next steps for phase three and four: Commissioner Kiche asked how many public events are
planned and how much they may cost. Kiche also brought up collecting data from events like the
education work group and social justice group in order to add information to the TRC's final
report. Commissioner Dillard asked what the commission wants the end goal to be. Commissioner
Simmons suggested to expand truth telling services to the community in October. This would
allow the four months leading up to the event to be used as time to work and collect information.
The months after October until the end of the year would then be used for organizing the
information to be presented to City Council at the end of the year. Commissioner Tassinary
suggested prioritizing areas of interest to allow for top priority projects to be scheduled and
reported on first.
Priority topics were discussed with the order being:
1. Social Justice
2. Affordable Housing
3. Economic Development
4. Education
The concern of time was brought up with the suggestion of choosing one topic to really focus and
report on.The idea of hiring someone to help with outreach/project organization was discussed.
The responsibilities of an assistant were discussed along with other possible uses of the additional
funds being requested. The TRC sent a request in January of 2024 to the City Council asking for an
additional$250,000 to fulfill its duties. Jones provided an overview of how the TRC can request to
be considered for a future City Council agenda. Councilmember Laura$ergus weighed in on the
protocol it takes to get on a City Council's agenda.
Commissioners will work in subcommittees to determine who reaches out to which City Council
members to ask for their request for the additional$250,000 to be placed on a future agenda.
Announcements of commissioners: None.
Announcements of staff: Jones clarified that the remaining budget of about$80,000 includes
payments to facilitators that have yet to be paid for their services.
The meeting adjourned at 8:56 PM.
The full meeting video can be viewed at this link.
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Item Number: 4.b.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 4, 2024
Airport Commission: April 11
Attachments: Airport Commission: April 11
i
MINUTES FINAL
IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION
April 11, 2024—6:00 P.M.
AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING
Members Present: Judy Pfohl, Ryan Story, Chris Lawrence
Members Absent: Hellecktra Orozco, Warren Bishop
Staff'Present: Michael Tharp, Jennifer Schwickerath
Others Present: Carl Byers, Travis Strait
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL:
None
I
DETERMINE QUORUM
A quorum was determined at 6:00 pm and Lawrence called the meeting to order.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Pfohl moved to approve the minutes from March 14, 2024 as amended, seconded by Story.
Motion carried 3-0
PUBLIC COMMENT -
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION
Lawrence moved that Story serve as acting Secretary for the meeting,
seconded by Pfohl. Motion carried 3.0 (Bishop, Orozco absent)
a. Airport Construction Projects:
1. FAA grant projects
1. Runway 12/30 Displaced Threshold/Relocation — Tharp stated
that the contractor has started work. Tharp noted that they had
several days of rain at the start. Otherwise, it appeared the project
was going well so far. Byers noted that some electrical conduit i
would be able to reused.
2. Terminal Area Study — Tharp noted that Byers was putting the
final version of the study together for FAA.
3, Solar Power Project — Tharp stated that they opened bids on
Monday and that they had 2 bids. Tharp noted that they were
working with the low bidder to submit the necessary Buy-American
waiver requests. Tharp noted that because of that he was
recommending the Commission defer the award of the bid until they
were further along in that process. Strait noted that the bid
documents stated the Commission can hold bids for 90 days.
I
I
Airport Commission
Ap ri1 11,2024
Page 2 of 4
a. Consider a resolution accepting bids and awarding
contract — Lawrence moved to defer to next meeting,
seconded by Story. Motion carried 3.0 (Orozco, Bishop
absent)
b. Consider a resolution approving interconnection
agreement with MidAmerican Energy Tharp noted that the
two contracts in the packet are the interconnection
agreements with MidAmerican Energy. Tharp noted these
contract are how MidAmerican gives permission to the Airport
to connect to the grid with the solar array so that they can
resell excess power back to the company. Tharp noted that
there were two contracts because there are two meters,
Pfohl moved resolution A24.08, seconded by Story.
Motion carried 3-0 (Orozco, Bishop absent)
c. Consider a resolution approving interconnection
agreement with MidAmerican Energy — Pfohl moved
resolution A24-09, seconded by Story. Motion carried 3-
0(Orozco, Bishop absent)
1I. Iowa DOT grant projects
1. FY23 Program
a. Terminal Building Improvements — Tharp stated that the
week after next the contractor was planning to complete the
terminal wall project.
2. FY 25 application —Tharp noted that Balton R Menk did send an
estimate for some concrete in the box hangar area to fill in. Tharp
stated that it would require $25,000 or so to match for a grant
application. Tharp noted that he was still deciding if it would be best
to hold off on grant applications until the terminal building results are
known because of the large costs associated with that. Wolford
asked about going even further with the concrete to which Tharp
responded that they're still constrained by the possible terminal
environmental study which would require$70,000 of matching funds
for the year.
b. Airport"Operations"
1. Budget—Tharp noted that they still had a couple of months left of the budget
and still needed to collect the farm rent. Tharp stated the budget was going
to be really close for the rest of the year. Pfohl asked if the basketball season
hadanimpact. Tharp noted that they did see traffic for some games towards
the end of the season and the first round of playoffs.
III. Management—
1. Consider a resolution approving pay step increase for Airport
Manager—Tharp stated that he and Orozco had met and finished
the evaluation which has been submitted to Human Resources for
the personnel file. Tharp stated he was eligible for a step increase
if the Commission chose to approve it. Tharp also stated that his
request was for the change to be effective when his evaluation was
due. Story moved resolution A24.10, seconded by Lawrence.
Motion carried 3-0 (Orozco, Bishop absent).
Airport Commission
April 11, 2024
Page 3of4
iii. Events—Tharp stated that the event calendar was completed for what they
were planning. Tharp noted that the autocross group was going to be at the
airport this weekend. Pfohl asked about room usage and Tharp noted
people are still using the room. Tharp also stated that they would be hosting
a luncheon event in October with the Think Iowa City group.
1. Autocross: April 14, June 9, Sept 15, Sept 29
2. Drive-In Movie: July 13 (Barbie)
3. Young Eagles: May 11
4. Pancake Breakfast(expected Aug 25)
c. FBO( Flight Training Reports
i. Jet Air — Wolford stated that there hadn't been a lot for Jet Air stuff. He
noted that they took off the plows and got them put away. Wolford stated
that he thought they only used the deicer material once during the season
so they had a nearly full stock left over for the next season. Wolford stated
they took 62 passengers to Indiana for the championship weekend.
d. Commission Members' Reports
e. Staff Report — Tharp reminded members that the Aviation conference was next
week and that he would be out of the office. Tharp stated that Bishop and Orozco
were scheduled to attend as well.
SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING— Members set the next meeting for May 9th, 2024 at 6:OOpm.
Pfohl stated that she would be absent for the meeting.
ADJOURN
Story moved to adjourn, seconded by Pfohl. Motion carried 3-0 (Bishop, Orozco absent). Meeting
adjourned at 6:25pm.
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CHAIRPERSON DATE
Airport Commission
April 11,2024
Page 4of4
Airport Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2023-2024
TERM
O i N O N O O
2;
EXP. w to o w a m m
NAME w w w w ilao N
w w N rt
a a a
Warren 06f30126
Bishop X X X X X X O/E X X O/E X X O/E
Scott Clair 06134123 OlE X/E O/E Not a member
i
Christopher 06/30/25
X X I X X X X X X X X 0/E X X
Lawrence
Hellecktra 06130/24 OlE X X X X X X X X O/E X X O/E
Orozco
Judy Kohl 06/30126 X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Ryan Story 06/30/27 Not a member X O/E X O/E X X X X X X
Key:
X = Present
X/E = Present for Part of Meeting
O = Absent
O/E =Absent/Excused
NM = Not a Member at this time
X/S = Present for subcommittee meeting
O/S =Absent, not a member of the subcommittee
Item Number: 4.c.
CITY OF OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 4, 2024
Charter Review Commission: May 14
Attachments: Charter Review Commission: May 14
FINALIAPPROVED
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION
May 14, 2024—5:30 P.M.
EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL
Members Present: John Balmer, Susan Craig, John Death, Makenzie DeRoo, Matt Hayek,
Molly Kucera, Jennifer Patel
Members Absent: Gerene Denning, Bijou Maliabo
Staff Present: City Attorney Goers, City Clerk Grace
(Videos of the meetings are available at citychannel4.com typically within 48 hours)
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council
action):
None
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
2. MOTION TO ADOPT DRAFT MINUTES AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED
Moved by Death, seconded by Kucera to approve the April 25, 2024, draft minutes as
presented. Motion carried 7-0, Denning and Maliabo absent.
3. REVIEW OF DRAFT PROPOSALS FOR PREAMBLE, DEFINITIONS, ARTICLE I:
POWERS OF THE CITY
City Attorney Goers summarized the proposed changes in the May 9 memorandum which
was included in the meeting packet. Chair Balmer suggested getting a consensus from the
commissioners in attendance and circle back at a later date when everyone is present to
approve.
Commissioner Craig asked for clarification as to why the last few words of the original
proposal for 1.a was left out of the revised proposal which was "in all aspects of life".
Commissioners discussed reasons to include the language. City Attorney Goers noted that
he had removed the language due to the phrase "equal opportunity" earlier in the sentence
as to not suggest everyone will have equal opportunity in all aspects of life and gave
examples. Commissioners discussed options to revise the language. Board members
tentatively agreed on the addition of the following language for item number 1.a of the
Preamble: Each individual shall have an opportunity to participate in the life of the city,
including economic, cultural and intellectual.
Goers reviewed the proposed language by Commissioner Denning which included protected
classes noting that the protected classes in the Model Charter were not the same as the
protected classes in Iowa law and Iowa City Code. Goers stated protected classes are
subject to change and have over time and proposed tracking the language in Title 2 of the
City Code to the following for the addition of item 1.b: Discrimination prohibited by Title 2 of
this Code shall not be tolerated. The Commission tentatively agreed on the proposed
language.
Charter Review Commission
May 14,2024
Page 2
The Commission had asked City Attorney Goers to review the Charter to search for uses of
the term "Qualified Elector" to see if there was a good reason not to collapse that term into
the definition of"Eligible Elector'. Goers noted that the term Qualified Elector appeared in
the Charter eight times and several times in the City Code stating the understanding of the
two different definitions, Qualified Elector as someone who is registered to vote, as opposed
to an Eligible Elector as someone who posses all the qualities to be able to register to vote.
Goers recommended leaving the definition of Qualified Elector in the Charter. Commissioner
Deeth stated his concern for leaving the definition in. There was consensus by the
Commission to leave Qualified Elector in the Charter.
The Commission also asked City Attorney Goers to review the addition of Section 1.04
proposed by Commissioner Denning to reconcile it with Iowa Code Chapter 28E, and to
explore whether the City contracts or otherwise partners with individual states other than
Iowa as follows:
Section 1.04. Intergovernmental Relations.
The City may participate by contract or otherwise with any governmental entity of this state
or any other state or states or the United States in the performance of any activity which one
or more of such entities has the authority to undertake.
Goers stated that Iowa Home Rule, Iowa Chapter 28E, and various federal laws already
provide for the opportunity. Goers proposed to exclude the language due to the limitation it
creates. There was consensus by the Commission to omit the proposed language.
4. REVIEW OF CITY CHARTER: ARTICLE II: CITY COUNCIL
Chair Balmer suggested containing discussion to City Council and leaving Mayor for the
next meeting. Balmer thanked Commissioner Deeth and Commissioner Denning for
submitting their thoughts which were included in the May 141" meeting packet. DeRoo
confirmed that the discussion would focus on Council districts. Commissioner Deeth
summarized his submission and presented his view on district representation noting that if
the representative body of Councilors were to remain at seven, he felt that two of those
positions should be undergrad students from the University of Iowa. Death mentioned that
there was not a good track record for electing students to the City Council, noting the
permanent community will not vote for student candidates. Deeth would like to see smaller
districts where smaller areas are voting on the candidates. Deeth gave an example of a city
Council model in Wisconsin with a 25-member Council that was elected from small wards.
Deeth stated there is a barrier of having to win city-wide to sit on the Council.
Commissioners discussed the following: student districts, and the current University Student
Government Liaison to the City Council. Vice Chair Kucera feels the voting should fall to the
entire City and that if students want to run for City Council they should campaign. Kucera
also stated that trying to elect a student position could become difficult over the years as
they are being asked to vote on city-wide policies that would affect everyone long term.
Kucera also questioned the definition of student as there are many different kinds of
students in Iowa City. The Commission had additional discussion of students and student
focus. Commissioner Craig stated she was not interested in going beyond seven City
Councilors and was not in favor of carving out a seat for a particular group. Commissioner
Patel would like to see candidates elected from the districts and suggested nine members.
Commissioners discussed participation in government based on the number of Councilors,
the student community, and the University student government. Commissioner Hayek
agreed that seven is a good number and when you add to that you expand the logistics and
cost to the community. Hayek disagreed that students are not represented and have the
Charter Review Commission
May 14,2024
Page 3
same right of representation as anyone else if they are living in the City limits. The lack of
participation was also noted unless there is a particular issue of interest. Hayek is
concerned that there are other groups that do not get represented and where do you draw
the line when creating a seat for a group. The consensus among the commissioners present
was not to create seats on Council for the student population.
Commissioner Patel mentioned it is more comfortable to go to a Councilor that you are
familiar with and is from your district rather than going to the entire Council. Chair Balmer
asked the Commission to discuss the proposal to have the district candidates only elected
by the district residents. Balmer stated when there is a primary election the district residents
vote on the district candidates but when it comes to the general election the entire city votes
on all of the candidates. Balmer gave some history of when the city Council went from five to
seven members and having geographic balance is important. Balmer pointed out the last
few elections where candidates went uncontested and questioned how to spread awareness
and increase participation in elections. Deeth reviewed some of the information from the
past election information provided by Chair Balmer in the meeting packet. Commissioner
Patel discussed the lower costs, connections that can be made in district elections, and
concentrated minorities that can be easily overridden by the city-wide voters. Commissioner
DeRoo stated she would have concerns of parochialism if a Councilor only has to answer to
those within the district they were elected. DeRoo also stated there are many issues that
affect the entire city and how does that affect the decision of a district representative if it is
not positive for that district—those issues could be hard to balance. Commissioners
discussed the history of districts, balancing the populations within the districts, and district
mapping using suitable polling places. Commissioner Hayek discussed election participation
and city representatives versus district representatives being responsive to the entire
community. Commissioners discussed the confusion between primary and general elections
for the public, city representation, campaign costs. Individual commissioners expressed their
views. Chair Balmer noted the two absent members and stated that the Commission would
revisit this topic at a later date to finalize opinions. Balmer stated discussion regarding the
Mayor would be held at the next meeting on Thursday, May 23rd
5. TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE
Chair Balmer requested changing the June 11th meeting date to June 171'due to an
absence. Board members in attendance agreed to this change. City Attorney Goers noted
he would be out of town but would send a representative from his office to the meeting.
Commissioner Hayek noted he would be absent for the July 9 meeting and asked if
available meeting dates could be provided to the Commission. City Clerk Grace will check
meeting room availability and bring those dates to the next meeting. Commission Kucera
asked if the summer schedule could be discussed at the next meeting. Grace will add the
item to the agenda.
Chair Balmer noted that the Charter Review Commission is a product of the City Council but
emphasized they are independent and should be making decisions on their own and
suggested not conversing with Councilors until such time as there is a final product. Balmer
noted correspondence received from Councilor Dunn but stated they should be making their
own decisions. City Attorney Goers clarified that correspondence from a Councilor would be
I ust like any correspondence from the public and if they wished to communicate with the
Commission they may do so.
Charter Review Commission
May 14,2024
Page 4
6. COMMUNITY COMMENT:
No one appeared.
Chair Balmer noted he had spoken with the City Clerk and asked how meeting information
was communicated to the media stating there had not been any media coverage. Balmer
asked how they could get the media to report on the meetings, more public participation and
asked for suggestions. Vice Chair Kucera asked if the City would be able to put information
on the website asking for participation and information about the City Charter and
Commission. City Attorney Goers mentioned the City has a Communications Department
that could help with getting the word out if that is what the Commission wanted.
Commissioners discussed suggestions of information to provide. City Attorney Goers asked
commissioners if they were comfortable with staff working with Communications or if they
wanted to review at the next meeting. Commissioners agreed to let staff work with
Communications. Vice Chair Kucera suggested having meetings at the Library once they
have a draft product to solicit feedback from the public. Commissioner noted they are on the
front end and have only had a few meetings suggesting an open house at a later date.
7. ADJOURNMENT:
Moved by Deeth, seconded by Kucera to adjourn the meeting at 6:43 P.M. Motion
carried 7-0, Denning and Maliabo absent.
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Item Number: 4.d.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 4, 2024
Housing & Community Development Commission: April 18
Attachments: Housing & Community Development Commission: April 18
MINUTES FINAL
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
APRIL 18, 2024—6:30 PM
FORMAL MEETING
THE CENTER ASSEMBLY ROOM
MEMBERS PRESENT: Kaleb Beining, Maryann Dennis, James Pierce, Becci Reedus, Denise
Szecsei, Kyle Vogel
MEMBERS ABSENT: Horacio Borgen, Karol Krotz, Kiran Patel
STAFF PRESENT: Erika Kubly, Brianna Thul, Sam Turnbull
OTHERS PRESENT: Genevieve Anglin (UAY), Crissy Canganelli (Shelter House), Emily
Meister(United Way), Nicki Ross (Table to Table), Thuy Nguyen (KW
Legacy Group)
CALL MEETING TO ORDER:
Beining called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.
CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: MARCH 21, 2024:
Dennis moved to approve the minutes of March 21, 2024. Vogel seconded the motion. A vote was taken
and the minutes were approved 6-0.
PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TOPICS NOT ON THE AGENDA:
None.
FINAL PRESENTATION FROM AID TO AGENCIES SUBCOMMITTEE:
Reedus stated this is a crucial step in ensuring that they continue to support the community effectively.
She started out by introducing Nicki Ross, from Table to Table, who was one of the committee members
and Genevieve Anglin, from UAY, is here also. Jenny Schmidt, from the Free Medical Clinic, was really
active on the subcommittee but was not able to be here, Fred Newell, from Dream City, was at some
meetings and they also had participation from United Way.
Moving on to the presentation Ross began with an overview of what the process looked like and who was
involved in that process. They had five committee members, the committee included commissioners and
agency representatives, Iowa City staff and United Way leadership attended most meetings. She stated
that probably the most impactful development of the process was that United Way is fully on board with
updating the application and are embarking on their own process to identify needs of their applications
and move to a two-year cycle. They held nine formal subcommittee meetings, 12 outside work sessions,
had a nonprofit focus group and did a detailed review of the application and the associated rubric. They
intended for this to be an iterative process and if approved they can test these changes in the next
application but would expect they might need to come back and make additional adjustments based on
feedback.
Reedus stated the established goals that they had were to provide clarity in the eligibility and application
process, establish basic funding qualifications and requirements, create an application process which
collects all the information that can be scored equitably, create a plan to educate the Commission and
community on the needs, services and impact, engage the Commission in communicating collective
Housing and Community Development Commission
April 18,2024
Page 2 of 12
impact and determine whether the Commission at HCDC continues to be the right venue for application
review and funds allocation.
Again, goal number one was the eligibility, naming, and funding clarification. It was just seen last month
how there was some confusion over how agencies might be qualified so it's important to get that
clarification of financial documentation and the funding levels. There is a proposal to rename the two
groups of funding with the Legacy Aid to Agencies fund becoming Core City Steps Services Funding and
the Emerging Agency funds would become the Iowa City Auxiliary Human Services funding. The
committee thinks it is important to take away the Emerging name.The Legacy title may be more work for
the Commission down the road, and they may decide that's a next step to talk about with eligibility and
the process of how other organizations can apply but that's more of Commission recommendation.
Next, they discussed aligning the funding guidance with a rubric score and will show the changes they're
recommending. Again, it came up during last month's meeting, a score needs to mean something. If
someone gets a high score what does that mean in terms of funding? The Committee took last year's
Legacy Agency scores and looked at it. The agencies that scored in the area of 91 to 100 would get a
larger increase. That could be something that the committee could determine. Reedus noted that the
Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA)may be the best way to describe it similar to each year when City
Council increases the funding, they do it around 3% which is basically a COLA increase. If they are able
to work out a larger increase,they might be able to afford a 5% increase for agencies that score in that 91
to 100 range. Those that score in the second range would get that standard COLA increase, the third
level 71 to 80 would mean that they wouldn't get any increase but they wouldn't be subject to a decrease
because of their score either.The fourth range 61 to 70 would mean a decrease for their organization and
the fifth range would be that they would receive base minimum funding of$15,000 and anything below
that scoring level means that they would receive nothing.
Vogel asked how they see a situation where somebody's already at base funding. If they fall in that low
score range again, would they put them at no funding? If they're already at a base funding, would they go
down into that next level where they just don't get any funding at all, or would they stay at the base?
Reedus replied that she thinks that's a question for the Commission to answer when they talk about
whether or not they want to change that base funding.The proposal to tie the scoring to the funding is not
a recommendation to be put in place right now-she is just recommending that they take a look at how
they're going to apply the scoring.
Reedus noted that's not unusual in government granting systems or in a competitive grant process that if
they've got one grantor and there's three applicants, it's usually the highest scorer that is going to be
awarded the contract. For those who were here last month when the Commission grappled with some of
the funding recommendations for Emerging funds and even the CDBG funds, one of the concerns she
had was that they need to be consistent. They can't award a higher percentage of funding awards to a
lower scoring applicant because otherwise why even score the applications? The scoring should provide
some guidance in terms of the funding.
Vogel noted that if they have multiple organizations that fall in the higher range, they can't increase
everybody.A 3% increase looks very different for a large organization compared to a small one. He
stated if they happen to have an extra $10,000, that may not make any difference for a large agency but it
could make a huge difference for someone else. He concerned about getting locked into what is being
proposed.
Reedus commented that document that they provided is a first iteration recommendation to be tested. It's
not final and the Commission's next step is to reevaluate. Vogel is concerned about them putting the
Commission in a position where they create any kind of rule. Guidance is one thing, rules are another and
he just wanted to confirm that this is more of a guidance.
Reedus shared a slide showing how this proposal would have affected the last round of Legacy Agency
funding. It shows the five agencies that fell into the top and the recommended funding increase. Also,
depending on the amount of money that they have and the number of agencies at the top, it could be a
5% increase or it may be just a 1% increase. It would have to coincide with the City annual increase. But
2
Housing and Community Development Commission
April 18,2024
Page 3 of 12
if the City gave 3% more funding for the total Aid to Agencies pot, then they would give the high scoring
agencies 3% increases. Regarding those that fell into the zero-increase range, Reedus stated everyone
else would get primarily the same allocation that they got the year before. There was nobody that fell into
the decrease range or had that low of a score.
Anglin stated another scenario that comes from the committee was to emphasize the importance of the
flexible nature of the funding and how important general operating funds are for nonprofits. Writer and
nonprofit advocate Vu Le, writes a nonprofit blog called Nonprofit AF and he talks a lot about multiyear
general operating dollars and how important they are to nonprofits. In the current way that many of these
questions are written they, whether explicitly or inadvertently, restrict funding even if the intent is flexible
operational funding.
Anglin stated as the committee went through the rubric, they noticed several instances of subtle wording
changes and questions that help provide less restrictive guidelines for grantees. So instead of saying,for
example, "tell us what you are going to use these funds for"the question would be something more like
"tell us about what you do and how these funds are important to that". It sounds like a subtle difference
but when they're talking to an auditor, that's an enormous difference. Instead of being restricted, it
becomes unrestricted dollars. There's also a tendency among funders, not here necessarily, but in the
wide world, to give preference to programmatic funds over general operation funds and one of the further
goals of these recommendations is education for Commission members on issues like the importance of
these funds.
Anglin noted the fourth goal, which became the first thing that they looked at because they actually have
to answer it before they can answer anything else, was that the most efficient way to continue this
application process.The grantees like having one place to go, it's very helpful. It was determined that it
would be best if they could just get everybody aligned on times and dates and things.
The next goal was related to who scores the applications—one idea was to have a smaller group of
HCDC score instead of the whole commission. However, when Reedus brought this to the Commission,
the feedback was that the Commission would prefer a similar process to what is happening now with the
whole Commission reviewing applications rather than relying on a few members of HCDC. The question
then became how they can make this process easier and more efficient, not only for grantees, but for
Commissioners and City staff.
Ross stated goal two is to create an application process which collects information that can be scored
equitably. The committee undertook a detailed review of all the application questions, the forms, the
associated rubric and scoring guidelines, and it quickly became clear that making changes would be
complicated. Many of the challenges they identified were symptoms of what they call "frankensteining"the
application. Because it's for joint funders and to cover all the funders needs, there's many changes that
have been made over the years that have affected how the rubric is applied. It also forces the City to align
their goals with the existing question content. Defining a process to even make these recommendations
was challenging and an "aha moment." It gave them a new appreciation for what the staff does during
each cycle and why some Commissioners may have been challenged to review and score the
applications.
Ross reviewed some of the challenges that they identified. First, multi-question rubric scoring.The
current rubric requires reviewers to reference multiple questions to do their assessment. For example,
there might be a section where they had to read information from form B, form C, and see question 11
and question 12 for all applicants. There are 20 some applicants-that is just a lot and is a problem.
The next thing was rubric alignment with the actual content. Some items on the rubric referred to
information not even included in the application, which was requiring reviewers to have an understanding
of past funding and performance history that may not be accessible. Some application questions don't
align with what's being scored or require too much subjectivity in the scoring assignment. In some cases,
none of the questions allowed the applicant to speak to the conditions being scored.
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Dennis asked since this is a joint application, the United Way application, how is the committee going to
convince the United Way to have an application that fits what they want? Ross acknowledged that is a
very pertinent question because one of the barriers in the past has been that it was difficult to make
changes or to get buy-in from other funders. Ross stated she is happy to say that this committee has
accomplished that after years and the new team at United Way is being super open to this idea and
understanding what needs to happen. Reedus acknowledged there may be some differences on
everybody's applications, Iowa City, Coralville, Johnson County, but the City staff have the ability when
they pull information to only pull Iowa City specific information.The Commission won't be reading a
question that was meant for United Way or another municipality.
Ross next wanted to share a high-level summary of the application and scoring recommendations. The
rubric scoring now references fewer questions and forms for each category, making it easier for
applicants to provide clear and applicable content, and it's easier for reviewers to score content provided
in fewer places. Six of the ten scoring sections now use calculations.These are things that the staff often
are doing already, but now the only thing the staff has to do is summarize. Finally, the committee is
recommending some scoring adjustments on content. If they reduce the narrative content to four
questions, they have recommendations around scoring. If there's a question that references how the
projects or organizations meet City Steps guidelines for Iowa City, that should be scored pretty highly as
it's the primary focus of the funding.
Szecsei noted they mentioned fewer narrative questions and asked about an invitation for storytelling.
She liked the idea of actually connecting with the goals of the projects and seeing who's affected in more
of a storytelling and compelling way. Ross replied she feels they will find that in the outcomes and
measurement changes.
Reedus next discussed the community needs and services. One thing they talked about a lot is the
United Way System, which has a profile page for each organization and that profile page can be utilized
for things that don't change much or things that change on an annual basis that can be done outside of
the application process. Some histories and description of services can be updated by agencies on an
annual basis, but not at time of the application. Reedus noted these applications are a beast to write and
takes multiple days and some are spending weeks on it.
Next, they removed the community need question from the scoring, the needs are already established by
the City Steps so they recommended changing the services question to tell how their services to Iowa
City are City Steps priorities and are represented in their operation. If the agency serves a regional area,
then they are asked what percent of the overall clients are Iowa City residents. That is important because
there are agencies that provide services to not just Iowa City specific or not even just Johnson County so
the Commission needs to know how to allocate funds that will benefit Iowa City residents. Agencies will
need to look at the City Steps document and describe how the priorities of City Steps, whether it's
housing or food related, are represented in their operation and programs.
Dennis asked if an applicant provides a percentage of clientele in Iowa City, will they get that percentage
of their total operating budget as funding? Reedus stated whether it is based on their total operating
budget or is program specific, this Commission wants to make sure that the Iowa City funding reaches
Iowa City residents. She acknowledged that's not always black and white but hopefully staff can help with
some of that through service statistics and what kind of residents or services they're funding that are Iowa
City related.
Reedus noted the whole point of the process is for agencies to get clear guidance from this Commission
and City Council. This subcommittee has made some recommendations, staff can take the
recommendations as guidance but then be able to give a scoring recommendation to a specific
component of the application.
Ross stated next in the demographics section, one of the major barriers that they found in feedback from
partners in filling this out is there isn't an opportunity for organizations to provide"not provided by
participant", which means that there's a number there, but they didn't identify themselves in the ways that
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the demographic form does. That would also enable everyone to see a better picture because if they
have to put a number in here, and half of them are unidentified, it looks like a smaller number of services.
Therefore, the committee's recommendation is that each section will allow for that and then that would put
enough information on the demographics form to score the two questions, the racial equity question and
the performance measures question.
Ross reiterated they reduced narrative content because they feel like a calculation gives an answer to
some of those other questions. She shared an example from the form providing information to score
benefits to low-income persons, how many are in each area of AMI. Also to score racial equity inclusivity
in terms of service numbers and persons to benefit, how many people do you they service and what are
the costs of their services?Then it is all right there in calculations, and they don't need to do that
separately.
Ross stated regarding Szecsei's question about more storytelling and hearing more from the partner or
organizations about the work that they're doing and what impact it has, the former question really just
made it difficult to fully get at that so the committee is recommending to allow for agency lead outcomes
and indicator identification. Right now it's a picklist, which had some flexibility to talk about what it could
be, but it was set by United Way. So if part of the process is for the agency to say how they measure the
services they're providing, what they expect the outcome to be, what percentage of that outcome number
will be Iowa City residents, Johnson County or Coralville- it makes it a lot cleaner to just see that and
then gives them an opportunity to explain their rationale for their chosen metrics.
Ross stated the next area is performance measurement with outcomes and indicators they are identifying
this year, but then also tell about what they did last year.That's always been a part of the application and
it always asked for a score on their previous performance, but that information was not in the application,
so this is an opportunity for the applicant to summarize their previous outcomes and give some specific
details. The committee members didn't want to take out the narrative, the applicants like to add extra
things as the numbers don't tell the whole story. This gives the organization the opportunity to get to really
know them and are better poised to tell what their impact is.
Reedus noted with the Free Medical Clinic, one of the things that Jenny Schmidt talked about is it's not
the number of people that they serve, it might be the number of services given to an individual,
maintenance health services on a monthly basis. So the organizations can choose themselves what they
want to measure.
Reedus stated when they went through the old applications, there were a number of organizations that
didn't fit into any kind of demographics so there were no numbers given and then the Commission
couldn't look at an organization and see if it was doing better from one year to the next. Also in some past
instances, organizations were rated low because they couldn't show any numbers because they didn't
have a demographic to put with that number and so they would get a zero on that score and it would pull
their score down and subsequently they get less funding. She thinks this will even that playing field a little
bit as one of the things they tried to do here and in some other parts of the application.
Szecsei stated there is the risk in allowing the applicant to choose a metric that might not be as
appropriate and meaningful and that is why there should be an emphasis on the explanation of why this
metric matters.
Reedus noted if an agency submitted something that's maybe not in City Steps staff could contact them,
or that the agency could contact staff prior to the application asking for feedback. That interactive process
is invaluable information for agencies in writing the application. Szecsei stated additionally there's also an
opportunity, once the Commission reads the drafts or the initial submissions, to be able to follow up with
additional questions.
Ross noted United Way hosts a training every year for applicants but that has been more technical
assistance and the committee talked about United Way's willingness and eagerness to make that more
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than just technical assistance and 1utalk about the different questions, again encourage applicants tn
contact City staff with questions.
Anglin next discussed the topic mfleveraging funding. Currently the question reads"describe the local
funding received by your organization to help leverage other revenue in the past fiscal year, identify and
include specific grant/funding sources and amounts that were awarded using local funding as a match
and include the specific local funds used as match". It's a good question except it's one of those
questions that the wording of it restricts funds so they changed the wording of that question to open up
those funds to less restriction.There is still a leveraging question in the application, but it is no longer
onnnod. It's important information and an important question and people wanted to know this information
but the inclusion of it in the scoring criteria meant that smaller and newer organizations were
automatically at a disadvantage as they haven't had a long time to build those funds or to get a federal
grant, etc.
Szecsei asked then what is the goal of the question.Anglin used UAY as an example. They received
federal funds for their homeless youth services and are required to have about a $30,000 match on a
Q25O,0UOgrant from the federal government. That$3U.000inleveraging the$250,UOO.
Dennis asked if the City uses any CDBG money for this pot of funds used for leveraging. Kub|ynep|iod
they use CD8G toassist two arthree agencies ayear. Dennis noted that the applicant would have b/
know/that the percentage of the money that they're receiving through this process is either from general
funds from the City orCDB/S10say what can baused aaamatch. Thu| explained that the City isn't
necessarily requiring a match for public services projects for CDBG, but the HOME program does have a
match requirement that's usually 25%.
Ross next wanted to give a quick overview of the scoring changes recommendation all together, because
they've just talked about itinquestions. At the beginning, they talked about removing that community
need osascored question, and changing the services provided around City Steps. Then benefit tulow-
income pernonoiothemunow' rmuio|equityand |nu|uaiviLyiuthaaarnm' ou1cnnlmnoaaourement
identification is having agencies submit their past performance so the Commission will have new and
better information. Persons to benefit is the same, collaboration same, agency financials and leveraging
funds, the changes are in the leveraging question and putting more weight on the financials. She stated
the guidance around the rubric for that is a lot clearer based on what information they actually have. For
example, one of the things the Commission was asked to score on the financials was"does it seem like a
reasonable use of funds and how are they paying for supplies, etc." and that's not even available in the
budget so the Commission was being asked to score something that wasn't even on the application. So
all that has been cleaned up. Then |nthe experience and success section, it's about historical
compliance, competencies to do the work, service delivery in the past. That was one the committee
wanted to recommend letting staff make their recommendation to the Commission on, again staff will
have a lot of the history and understanding about what the relationship with the organization is throughout
the year and such.
Szecsei stated it would benefit the agencies to talk about that information as part of their story, rather
than just relying on staff. She would like to hear it from the submission itself. Ross would expect tnsee
that in the services question to allow them to say what's changed and the condition, Things like they are
seeing a 63% increase in visits to food pantries, or that the Free Medical Clinic is not seeing aomany
one-time visitors but more chronic folks with chronic illness, etc. She is unsure how they would provide
this specific information without being able tutell their story.
Ross noted they went back and forth, because one of the things staff has available to them is the reports
and the Commission reads a lot of stuff already. Staff was firm in advocating for the Commission not
having to do all that on top of what they already have to do. However, if the Commission is interested it
could bemade available 1othem.
Reedus feels that would take some of the subjectivity out which is the difficult part of scoring. When they
don't have clear guidelines, they are putting subjectivity and some guesswork into it and that's not fair to
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anybody. She thinks overall what this does is it makes the work easier, not necessarily reducing the work,
but it might reduce some time on it. It still will never be an easy task to score and to recommend funds,
but the committee's recommendations will provide the Commission with some better guidelines and more
concrete guidelines in scoring.
Reedus noted they've had some difficulties in the past with commissioners, like in the last funding round
for Legacy Agencies, getting everybody to get their scores in on time or even scoring at all.That led to
the question in the very beginning of creating a smaller group of HCDC to commit to doing the work,
perhaps having a couple from the Commission, along with City staff and maybe one or two
representatives from City Council. They were thinking that if they had a smaller group, they could get
those scores in on time. However, the Commission didn't like the idea when it was proposed so that's
what led the committee down the path that they went with this whole thing. However, getting the scores in
on time gives adequate feedback at the moment that the agency needs it. They need to what their score
is and it's important to educate applicants and make sure that they know that they can get the feedback
on how they were scored, and maybe having the opportunity to question somebody about that.
Ross stated one of the last recommendations to address they consider to be an ongoing project between
agencies and the Commission. They understand the Commission clearly supports the work they're doing
for residents and the effort to meet the City Steps goals, so the agencies are looking for the Commission
to consider the work together in meeting those goals as a partnership, and that some of these changes to
the application better reflect that they are working together to do that. They did prioritize the application
recommendations, because that timeline was critical, but they do feel an important part of the
Commission's work is engaging and understanding everything that's happening with these services and
helping them communicate those needs and what agencies are doing to address them to the community.
The agencies would love to continue to work with the Commission on that piece.
Finally, Ross addressed the timeline. The joint funders will convene for a discussion and alignment on
some of these recommendations, depending on what the Commission thinks, and at the end of May final
recommendations about is what is needed will go to United Way from all funders by August 1 in order to
implement it for the September 1 application.
Vogel asked about the recommendation to rename the Emerging funds to Auxiliary-are they also making
a recommendation to change the purpose? The purpose is defined as operational funding intended to
help new nonprofit organizations develop. By changing to Auxiliary, does that imply that they're no longer
going to be putting the focus on Emerging organizations? He thought the reason that Emerging label was
put on there was for people to understand that it is for new nonprofit organization development.
Reedus thinks that may have been some of the thought originally, but she couldn't find anything in the
rules that said an agency couldn't apply for it after two years or three years and there's no definition of
what"new" is. Vogel stated that's what it actually says in the purpose. Reedus agreed but noted when
they looked at the last rounds of applicants, Visiting Nurses was an Emerging applicant. Vogel asked is
there going to be a recommendation as part of this, if they're changing the name, to either define what
new name means or to change that wording in the purpose to help nonprofit organizations develop versus
new?
Reedus stated that should be discussed by HCDC at some point.They should discuss it all, the Legacy
Agencies, the City Steps, naming the agencies, the whole process of how to get in that Legacy club and
how agencies exit the club. Vogel's question was because they were changing the name-was the
implication that they're changing this name to get away from the idea that they were going to be focusing
on new agencies only, and it sounds like that's another discussion to have. If the first step is to change
the name that's fine, but the work is not done, the Commission has to answer more questions.
Vogel stated they also mentioned switching from quarterly reports to semiannual, right now quarterly
reports are only for the Legacy Agencies so are they talking about making them do the semiannual
reports the same as Emerging Agencies? Because then it doesn't cover the payments. In addition to
quarterly reports, they get the money in quarterly payments. Is the recommendation to also change that?
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Kubly stated staff looks at the reports before the subsequent payment and they could distribute the grants
intwo payments instead offour.
Vogel stated hahas come into this process never writing ogrant and never having 10request money. He
came in fully from the side of just trying to figure out who deserves it and thinks all of this seems to make
sense for the agency side to simplify that process. In addition, anything that makes it easier for staff and
for the Commission to be able to sit down and make those decisions all makes sense.
Dennis noted over the years, people have always been trying so hard to make this process more
objective and more fair because there's never enough money and it is a lot of work to make it more
objective so she applauds that. She added there's always going to be a little bit of subjectivity.
Szecsei stated if they're not scoring the experience and success, they would be getting a number from
staff, which is fine, along with the justification of any differential differences between applicants,
Reedus stated it is good to have staff provide guidance on how the agencies are doing.
Kubly noted they've been participating in the meetings and from their perspective, they are concerned
about the timing of everything and if they can take this and start implementing in time for the application.
If they are shooting for August for the application to come out, staff need to be getting ready for that
funding cycle. Staff is also going through the consolidated planning process, and that will come to the
Commission probably this summer sometime. That may be an opportunity to answer some of those other
questions that haven't been resolved at this point as the City enter$ into the next five year plan.
Kubly asked about input from the rest of the Agency Impact Coalition and if other agencies that are part of
the Legacy group have provided input onthe recommendations. Ross replied yes and no.The committee
did offer that check-in with AIC where they took input. She also sent the report out toeveryone but only
got a couple of emails back from folks with some grammar stuff to fix or just like"looks good". She was a
little alarmed that nobody answered with specific notes so she would just touch base with folks verbally
and ask for their feedback.
Kubly commented that another thing is the education piece that keeps coming up. That is a really
important part of the Commission and for the agencies. If the Agency Impact Coalition has
recommendations on how they implement that it would be great, because that's really difficult for staff to
represent all ufthe agencies and educate the Commission.
Pierce stated as a relatively new commissioner who went through the scoring process the first time in the
last couple months, he likes a lot of the recommended changes because he was one of the people who
initially voiced the hesitation of taking the scoring away from the whole Commission. He likes having
something that is manageable and that would get them the information they need. It also needs to be
something that somebody who just got appointed to the Commission can still digest and handle,
8winingthanked the subcommittee for their work and the presentation.
UNSUCCESSFUL AND DELAYED PROJECTS UPDATES:
Beining stated the City's policy requires careful management of the Community Development Block Grant
funds and today they'll discuss the status of three projects, the FY22 Shelter House HVAC Improvements,
the FY24 Shelter House Safety Improvements, as well as the FY23 DVIP Shelter Construction.
Vogel stated he saw both the reports in the packet and asked is there any reason to be concerned that
these aren't going to happen as presented, does staff have any concern?Thul explained that when
projects are behind schedule staff review the circumstances and consider making a recommendation to
recapture the funding ifnecessary. Staff are not recommending recapture for the projects noted. Buining
noted that both organizations seem to be doing everything in their power to spend the money that they've
been awarded suienot concerned.
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DISCUSS RECOMMENDATION TO AMEND THE HCDC BY-LAWS AND CHANGE REGULAR
MEETING TIME AND LOCATION:
Beining stated this discussion is on reducing the Commission from nine to seven members which would
subsequently adjust the quorum requirement from five to four. No vote will be taken until the next
meeting.They'll also explore changing the time as well as location of the HCDC meeting.
Vogel doesn't think it's a bad idea, there always seems like two seats that seem impossible to keep filled.
Thul stated technically they do have nine people appointed right now.
Reedus pointed out that when Kubly was answering question about staff concerns regarding the
subcommittee work and upcoming Joint Application - it's April now and by September the applications
are released. The subcommittee was supposed to present to HCDC in January but could not because
there wasn't a quorum so the meeting was canceled. If they could do anything to be able to meet, she is
fine with dropping it down to seven. It's nice to get a whole commission but in the three years she's been
here they've, only had that once or twice.
Vogel stated they absolutely have had numerous meetings where they've had trouble getting enough
people here.
Dennis asked if this change has to go through Council. Reedus replied it will and they may reject it.
Vogel asked if they can nine members but change the quorum requirements. He stated it doesn't have to
be a majority, a quorum can be any number, he has boards and associations where a quorum is 66% of
the members and others where a quorum is 25% and then they just have to have a majority of the
quorum present for something to pass but a quorum can be any number.
Kubly doesn't believe they can do that.
Beining asked where the proposed new location would be. Kubly stated they would really like to get to
the Council chambers, Emma Havat Hall at City Hall, it's set up for meetings like this and they'd have
screens so it won't be difficult to see the one screen. But the issue is a scheduling thing because there's
another commission that meets the third Thursday of the month.
Szecsei likes the number of nine, it gives more community input which is important, but she doesn't mind
the date and the time and the location change.
Thul stated staff also would like nine people, but it's been pretty tough to get people to come to meetings.
As we said earlier, staff know that we are asking a lot of commissioners and we are looking at ways to
make it easier. Reedus asked if the commission has lost more people this month. Thul responded that
there was one person recently appointed that has not attended a meeting yet. Thul continued that nine
people are currently appointed, but the average meeting attendance is about six people which is what we
have tonight as well.
Szecsei asked how many people are on the waiting list.Vogel responded that there isn't one. Thul added
that City Council has deferred appointments in the past to allow for more applicants.
Szecsei asked if someone participate via zoom would that count as present to have a quorum. Thul
replied they have to have a quorum in person. People care participate via zoom but they don't count
towards the quorum.
Dennis encouraged commissioners to talk to people they know and encourage them to apply. Pierce
noted they had a similar issue when serving on the Telecommunications Commission for the City. That
group was only five and they had trouble reaching three of five to have a quorum. Thul agreed and
commented that she does not feel it is a problem unique to HCDC.
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Szecsei asked if it was any better during COVID. Thul confirmed it was. On Zoom in 2021 was one of the
last times they had all nine people attend a meeting.
Commissioners appeared receptive to the idea of reducing the Commission from nine seats to seven and
noted a quorum of four would be helpful given past challenges.The Commission will vote on a
recommendation to amend the bylaws at the May 161h meeting.
Next, discussing moving the date and time of the meeting. Tentative plans are to shift to the fourth
Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm. The Commission will decide officially at the May meeting.
STAFF&COMMISSION UPDATES:
Thul stated the next meeting will be May 16, 2024.
Turnbull introduced herself as a new member of City staff.
Beining stated he had the privilege to join the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition bus tour and
they were able to see a vast array of successful projects ranging all the way from Housing Fellowship
Sabin Townhomes, which provides a 20-year affordability period, all the way to Inside Out Reentry home,
which provides a 15-year affordability period. A couple of key takeaways he learned is the Housing Trust
Fund of Johnson County alone has served 1143 households since 2004 and about 540 of those have
been since 2019. A statewide statistic is there are 27%of Iowa renters who are considered extremely
low income of whom would benefit from the continued pursuit of affordable housing supply. He was also
pleasantly surprised to see many members of the community from vast backgrounds on the bus tour.
There were members from organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Housing Trust Fund, a really vast
array of people. Mayor Bruce Teague was there and Beining was greatly impressed with the
extensiveness of the commitment of Mayor Teague's interest to the pursuit of affordable housing, not only
in the short term development, acquisition, and support, but he seemed to have an immense care for the
longevity of the affordable housing and the impact that they'll have on the community for years to come,
particularly with those affordability periods. They received boatloads of information, but it was a
heartwarming experience to see the level of support and to be reassured that they're not standing alone
in the pursuit to increase the affordable housing accessibility as well as supply.
Dennis stated she was privileged to attend the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County 50 Year Gala
last Friday and just by reading these applications that they receive, it doesn't really scratch the surface of
what these nonprofits are doing in this community because it was an amazing event and she learned a lot
even though it seems like she's been around for a long time.
Szecsei asked if there is a resource or website where say landlords or homeowners, property owners,
can go to find incentives for offering affordable housing to residents. Kubly replied,yes, the City has
affordable housing pages on the website. She doesn't know if it's necessarily for landlords but they have
one for developers and implemented one for seekers of housing.
Szecsei noted as a property owner, she'd be interested because there are not a lot of incentives available
to private landlords. Vogel noted one thing that's become available recently is the risk mitigation fund,
which does allow private landlords to accept someone who is at risk for not being able to be approved
somewhere. It is administered through Shelter House and they have to be denied by three different
property managers, or three different landlords to enroll in the program. Shelter House can use that as an
incentive to get a landlord to go ahead and approve them and if within the first year they move out, or get
kicked out for failure to pay or whatever. The cost involved in that move out is more than their deposit so
the risk mitigation fund will cover those additional amounts up to$3,000. Vogel noted it's been in effect
and he's only had one person they've been able to help because the problem is a lot of times the ones
that they're seeing that do get denied, are getting denied for things that are beyond the risk that he can
take even with risk mitigation-like the risk isn't whether they're going to be able to pay, the risk is they've
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got three or four evictions in the last year and he can't convince his clients that under any circumstance
that's a risk he should take on their behalf.
Szecsei noted it seems like supply and demand. If there's that much demand, then they should be coming
up with some incentives to get landlords or property owners to increase the supply.Vogel stated that the
most recent Cook Appraisal study is coming out and for the first time in history there is a 27%vacancy
rate. Landlords have units available. If the City could give money to private landlords the way 501(c)3's
get money, they can absolutely find houses and places for these people.Szecsei noted it's very hard for
private landlords so that's why having those incentives to offset something to make it affordable for
property owners is necessary.
Vogel acknowledged there was absolutely a time 10-15 years ago where it was an issue of there were not
units and the vacancy rate was less than 1% not many years ago. Many new beds have gone up in Iowa
City and Coralville in the last seven years, all aimed at students at a time when the University of Iowa
enrollment has gone down. So what's happened is the students are picking these new places and leaving
a lot of older properties that were built between 1975 and 1981 empty. Szecsei would like to see more
discussion on landlord incentives.
Thul stated they can add that to a future meeting agenda.
ADJOURNMENT:
Vogel moved to adjourn, a vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0.
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Housing and Community
Development Commission
Attendance Record 2023-2024
Name Terms Exp. 1/19 2116 3/30 4120 5/18 7120 9/21 10119 11/16 3121 4118
Beining, Kaleb 6/30/24 X O/E X X O/E X X X X X X
Dennis, Maryann 6/30/25 X X X O/E X X O/E X X X X
Haylett, Jennifer 6/30125 X X O/E X O/E O/E
Krotz, Karol 6/30/24 X O/E X X X X X X X O/E O/E
Reedus, Becci 6130/24 XX X X X X X X X X X
Vogel, Kyle 6/30/26 O/E X X O/E X X X O/E X X X
Eckhardt, Michael 6130/25 X X X X O/E O/E
Patel, Kiran 6/30/26 — O/E X X X X X O/E X O/E O/E
Pierce,James 6/30126 — — — — — X X X X O/E X
Szecsei, Denise 6130125 — — -- — _ X X X
Bergen, Horacio 6/30/25
• Resigned from Commission
KeY:
X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
= Vacant
12
Item Number: 4.e.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 4, 2024
Human Rights Commission: April 23
Attachments: Human Rights Commission: April 23
Approved Minutes
Human Rights Commission
April 23, 2024
Emma Harvat Hall
Commissioners present: Roger Lusala,Jahnavi Pandya, Doug Kollasch, Idriss Abdullahi, Mark Pries,Vianna
Qaduora.
Commissioners present via Zoom: Elizabeth Mendez-Shannon, Kelsey Paul Shantz.
Commissioners absent:Sylvia Jons.
Staff present:Stefanie Bowers.
Recommendation to City Council: No.
Meeting called to order:5:31 PM.
Native American Land Acknowledgement: Pries read the Land Acknowledgement.
Public comment of items not on the agenda: None.
Approval of meeting minutes of March 4 and 26: Lusala moved; and Pries seconded. Motion passed 7-0.
Pries moved; Pandya seconded. Motion passed 7-0.
Updates on Outreach and Engagement by the Police Department:Tre Hall Community Outreach for the
department provided updates on the group meeting with Georgian citizens on the topic of LGBTQ+
communities. Hall also gave an update on the peanut butter drive.The upcoming EMS Day camp was
discussed and will take place on July 8-9 and July 11-12.
Hall attended Community Intervention Training, which all police officers are required to attend and
reported it was beneficial information/training.There was an update on working with the elderly
population with a focus on scam prevention.There was a Community Violence Intervention (CVI)activity
making door hangers with efforts to reduce gun violence.The final update was to do with the Disability
Health and Safety event at the Rec Center that raised awareness of the loss program and project lifesaver
that is offered by the department.
Support for a Community Transportation Committee: Commission is waiting to hear from the committee.
The committee is not present at this meeting.
Funding request:Coralville Asian Festival:There was a discussion considering the fact that the event is
based in Coralville,which may raise some concern that the commission is using money for Iowa City based
events and groups for something taking place outside of Iowa City.The commissioners then considered the
fact that Iowa City residents are likely to participate, and the commission has funded previous events that
took place in Coralville. Commissioner Pries moved, Lusala seconded. Motion passed 7-0 to fund the event
at$250.00.
1
Youth Awards:The event will take place on Wednesday, May 15. Commissioners should be there no later
than 6:00pm as the dinner will start promptly at 6:30pm with the awards portion of the event starting at
7:00pm. Mayor Teague will deliver brief remarks at the event.
Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant Updates:The Commission discussed the letter from DVIP that
provided an explanation for the reduction in their request for funds.Staff informed the commission that
DVIP received their funds due to a quick turn around from when their request was accepted to the event
they were looking to fund using the grant money received.
Houses into homes also had a letter that discussed the formatting of their youth volunteer academy which
the Commission has funded in the FY23 grant cycle.
Community Crisis Services and Food Bank provided a report to the commission regarding the grant they
received in the FY23 grant cycle.
The Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County also provided a report that staff will include in the May
packet.
Not all organization have submitted their required second quarter reports regarding the FY23 grants.
The Council recently decided the FY24 grant allocations.At the meeting,there were concerns with
organizations not funded.Also, at this Council meeting, Council members took issue with the process,
disagreeing with the organization picked for funding.The Council will hold a work session in the future that
will review the processes used by the commission, HCDC,and Climate Action.
Commissioner Pries suggested keeping in contact with organizations who did not receive funding in FY24
so the commission can support them in other ways, such as marketing, attending events, etc.The
commissioners discussed Pries suggestion, considering the intention behind reaching out and being sure
not to make offers the commission could not fulfill. It was agreed to revisit the proposal at a later meeting
in order to give time for more information/suggestions that will allow the commissioners to come to a
final decision.
Committee Updates:
Building Bridges (Paul Shantz, Kollasch, Pandya)The committee will work with City Council moving forward
with future grants.
Reciprocal Relationships(Lusala, Pries)They will be finalizing how to reach out to organizations who did
not receive a grant and what the commission's role is with those organizations.
Breaking Bread (Dr. Liz.Caduora) Commissioner Mendez-Shannon reported it is the goal to figure out how
to reach out to people/organizations who did not receive a grant.
2
Announcements of Commissioners:
Paul Shantz reminded the commission of upcoming activities throughout the summer regarding
sustainability and violence reduction goals that the community and city may benefit from.
Pries spoke on his involvement in a training called "Why Are They So Loud" that had to do with conflicts in
cultural context. Pries also spoke about his concern with Christian Nationalism in America.
aduora updated the commission on the events held by the Mosque including `Breaking of the Fast"that
occurred throughout the community and resulted in positive impact and feedback from those who
participated. She also reported that the Mosque received AED kit and CPR training. Qaduora finished her
comments by speaking about the April 12`h holiday event at Mercer Park with a turnout of 600+people
and the Coralville Food Pantry meal event with a turnout of 570+people attending.
Pandya updated the commission on the free daily psychotherapy training clinic with student involvement.
Abdullahi updated the commission on his work creating a company that creates engaging content
regarding recycling due to the lack of education and accessibility to recycling efforts.
Kollasch reported on his attendance of the 501h anniversary gala for the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson
County, meeting with delegates from the country of Georgia regarding LGBTQ+rights, and the upcoming
Rainbow Graduation at the University of Iowa.
Announcements of staff: None.
Adjourned: 6:54 PM.
The meeting can be viewed at httos:Hcitychannel4.com/yideo.html?series=Local%2OGovernment.
3
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Item Number: 4.f.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 4, 2024
Library Board of Trustees: April 25
Attachments: Library Board of Trustees: April 25
ICWA CITY
OWPUBLIC LIBRARY
Iowa City Public Library Board of Trustees
Meeting Minutes
April 25, 2024
1st Floor— Meeting Room D
Regular Meeting - 5:00 PM
FINAL
Tom Rocklin - President Joseph Massa John Raeburn
DJ Johnk—Vice President Claire Matthews Dan Stevenson
Hannah Shultz-Secretary Robin Paetzold
Members Present: DJ Johnk, Joseph Massa, Robin Paetzold, John Raeburn, Tom Rocklin, Hannah
Shultz.
Members Absent: Claire Matthews, Dan Stevenson.
Staff Present: Anne Mangano, Angie Pilkington, Katie Roche, Jen Royer.
Guests Present: None.
Call Meeting to Order. Rocklin called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm.
Approval of April 25, 2024 Board Meeting Agenda. Johnk made a motion to approve
the April 25, 2024 Board Meeting Agenda. Rocklin seconded. Motion passed 6/0.
Public Discussion. None.
Helmick entered 5:00 pm.
Items to be Discussed.
Policy Review: 805 Displays. Rocklin asked if passive discussion meant that people could write in
responses. Helmick agreed. Raeburn asked if Trustees were wedded to the term passive discussion.
Helmick clarified they were open to what made sense to the public. Raeburn suggested examination of
the public. Rocklin felt the term wasn't easy to research and suggested using interactive displays as it
could take many forms.
Paulios entered 5:02 pm.
Rocklin proposed, "...to engage the public through interactive displays relevant to society". Helmick
agreed and thanked Rocklin. Paetzold asked for the proposed language to be repeated and Mangano
replied. Johnk made a motion to approve Policy 805 as revised. Shultz seconded. Motion passed 6/0.
t f you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting,please contact Jen Royer,Iowa City
Public Library,at 319-887-6003 or Jennifer-royer@icpl.ora- Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
-A. &4 IOWA CITY
PjW PUBLIC I IBRARY
Policy Review: 706 Outreach and Bookmobile. Raeburn proposed eliminating "strategic partnerships"
from the policy. Helmick appreciated and thanked Raeburn. Raeburn made a motion to approve policy
706 as revised. Johnk seconded. Motion passed 6/0.
Election of Officers. Raeburn, representing the nominating committee, presented a slate of officers for
FY25: President-Tom Rocklin, Vice President-DJ Johnk, Secretary- Hannah Shultz. Raeburn said
overwhelmingly the current officers were requested to continue in their positions for one more year.
Massa made a motion to approve the FY25 slate of officers.Johnk seconded. Motion passed 6/0.
Review Third Quarter Statistics and Financials. Mangano said an internal document was accidentally
included in the statistics portion of the packet. Mangano noted paper copies of the Type and Format
report, which normally goes in the Board packet, was handed out at the meeting. Mangano shared the
Circulation by Location Code report provided in the packet was very detailed and noted the Type and
Format report shows a more holistic view of the statistics.
Johnk asked if the library needed to do anything to budget for bookmobile repair and maintenance,
noting overages. Mangano said the overages were chargebacks from the City of Iowa City. Mangano
shared there have been a few unexpected expenses and noted the bookmobile is now 5 years old with
normal wear and tear. Shultz asked how long bookmobiles usually last. Helmick said the industry
standard suggests 12-15 years, Mangano said there is a replacement vehicle fund to cover a new vehicle
when the time comes. Raeburn asked how many miles per year the bookmobile drives. Helmick said it is
fairly low and estimated 250 miles per year. Helmick requested to confirm the exact mileage per year
and report back. Pilkington said the bookmobile was seven years old. Paetzold said the COVID-1 9 years
were weird in terms of bookmobile mileage. Raeburn asked if you needed a special license to drive the
bookmobile. Helmick said not anymore. Rocklin said the formatting of the financial report was great.
Raeburn said the Finance Committee met. Massa noted the committee didn't see anything out of the
ordinary. Raeburn said the overages were thoroughly explained and things are in good shape. Rocklin
asked if the Finance Committee meetings should be listed in the monthly agendas.
Pilkington said the bookmobile currently has 30,781 miles on it. Helmick said the bookmobile is
somewhere in the ballpark of 4,400 miles per year. Rocklin suspected the bookmobile will likely be
outdated before it is worn out. Raeburn asked who made the bookmobile. Helmick said there are a few
companies who manufacture bookmobiles and new orders typically take 18 months. Helmick said
Summit is the largest of three bookmobile manufacturers right now. Pilkington said Summit made the
Iowa City Public Library's bookmobile.
Mangano shared she attended PLA conference and went to an Urban Library Council collection
development summit. The group talked about developing world language collections, how to pay for
digital materials and keep a robust print collection, and when to get rid of AV collections. Mangano said
what was interesting to her, that though we are down in print circulation, some of the larger libraries
such as San Francisco, New York, and Brooklyn Public Libraries are seeing drastic reduction in use of
print materials. Mangano noted this was probably because of the way people are working now, with less
people going downtown in cities. Mangano noted the Iowa City Public Library is not seeing those trends
in the same way that some of the larger libraries are. Paetzold asked if there was a baseline and noted
if you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting,please contactJen Royer,Iowa City
Public Library,at 379-887-6003 or iennitgr-Mveraicylorg- Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
IOWA CITY
oj'WPUBLIC LIBRARY
that COVID -19 may have affected this. Mangano said libraries were comparing data from the COVID-19
period and noted ICPL has seen circulation bounce back. Mangano said the larger libraries are now
working on a strategic plan that involves bringing people back into the building. Johnk liked the
statistical reports. Mangano noted magazine circulation is up.
Staff Reports.
Director's Report. Mangano said Bonnie Boothroy will be oriented before the next Board meeting.
Departmental Reports: Children's Services. Mangano said during the solar eclipse it was wonderful to
stand in the Ped Mall and see droves of people all wearing the same exact solar glasses that they got
from the library. Paulios said the library eventually ran out of solar glasses. Pilkington said 1,000 glasses
were handed out before the day of the eclipse and an additional 1,000 glasses were handed out the day
of the eclipse.
Collection Services. None.
IT. Johnk was excited about the scavenger hunt. Rocklin said media transfer is important and a heavily
used service.
Development Report. Roche noted book donations were coming in for the June book sale. Roche
discussed a new partnership with the Landfill. Roche said the Landfill was previously recycling books.
The Foundation will begin to take the books from the Landfill and send them to Thrift Books which will
help divert waste and save money for the Landfill. Roche anticipates a passive income of $9,000-$12,000
per year from this partnership. Roche got this idea after attending the City's Climate Ambassador
training.
Miscellaneous: News Articles. None.
President's Report.
President Appoints to Foundation Board. Rocklin requested to move this item to the May agenda.
Rocklin shared he accepted an appointment to the United Way Board of Directors.
Announcements from Members. None.
Committee Reports. None.
Communications. None.
Consent Agenda. Johnk made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Raeburn seconded.
Motion passed 6/0.
Set Agenda Order for May Meeting. Rocklin said at the May meeting Trustees will review the
Event Board policy, Community Relations policy, appoint members to the Foundation, and review
departmental reports.
Adjournment. Rocklin adjourned the meeting at 5:29 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Royer
Ifyou will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting,please contact len Royer,Iowa City
Public Library,of 379-887-6003 oriennifer-rover(olicoLorcL Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
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Item Number: 4.g.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 4, 2024
Senior Center Commission: April 18
Attachments: Senior Center Commission: April 18
Approved Minutes
April 18, 2024
MINUTES
SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION
April 18, 2024
Assembly Room, Iowa City Senior Center
Members Present: Nancy Ostrognai, Angela McConville, Jay Gilchrist, Warren
Paris, Betty Rosse
Members Absent: Tasha Lard, Lee McKnight
Staff Present: Kristin Kromray, LaTasha DeLoach
Others Present: None
CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order by Gilchrist at 4:05 PM.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL:
None.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE MARCH 21, 2024 MEETING:
Motion: To accept the minutes from the March 21, 2024. Motion carried on a
vote of 4/0. Paris/Ostrognai
PUBLIC DISCUSSION:
None.
OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW:
McConville joined the meeting.
The May/June program guide is now available. The Senior Center, along with
Johnson County Livable Communities and TRAIL will receive a proclamation for
Older Americans Month on May 7th. Commissioners are invited to attend.
The Senior Center will have a one-day Underground Railroad Trip on June 8th.
Some of the funds generated from the Black History Ball will be used to help
support the cost of the trip. Ostrognai asked about the accessibility of the trip.
DeLoach noted the transportation would be assessable, but she would check in
at the museum stop and lunch location to confirm accessibility. There will be a
1
Approved Minutes
April 18, 2024
Soul Train Dance on July 20th. The Senior Center will close at 3 PM on Tuesday,
April 23 for the Appreciation Event that will be held at Terry Trueblood Lodge.
The exterior tuckpointing project will be finishing up the end of May. Window
replacement will occur next year as the windows will need to be specially
fabricated for the building. Landscaping will occur after the windows are installed.
Staff is looking at updating the Linn St sign and the Washington St awning.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION:
Gilchrist brought up the items from the Owner Goals in the building master plan
document. He discussed section 7 of the document and brought forward some of
the items that are highlighted. Commissioners discussed what a kitchen remodel
could entail.
Gilchrist went to the open house for the 21 S Linn St feedback session. He
shared how feedback was collected and noted his personal preference. He
stated he understands the piece of property is expensive and will likely need to
be a revenue-producing location.
Rosse had received feedback that some people did not know who was on the
commission. Discussion about putting the names and/or photos of
commissioners on the bulletin board. Rosse noted that many from Ecumenical
Towers are generally not interested in Senior Center activities. The Commission
discussed ways to potentially get more next-door residents interested in the
Senior Center.
Gilchrist requested that programming staff members occasionally attend
commission meetings.
Meeting Adjourned.
2
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