HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-06-17 Charter Review CommissionCHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION
Monday, June 17, 2024
5:30 PM
Emma J. Harvat Hall, City Hall
410 East Washington Street
1. Call to Order and Roll Call
2. Adopt Draft Minutes as Presented or Amended
• Draft minutes for 05/23/2024
3. Motion to Accept correspondence (if any)
4. Continue discussion of Review of City Charter: Preamble
5. Continue discussion of Review of City Charter: Article II — City Council
6. Tentative Meeting Schedule — 2nd Tuesday and 41h Thursday @5:30pm, upcoming tentative
meeting dates as follows:
• Thursday, June 27
• Tuesday, July 30
• Tuesday, August 13
• Thursday, August 27 (Harvat Hall reserved by HRC)
7. Community Comment
Charter Review Commissioners cannot engage in discussion or debate in accordance with
open meeting laws.
Individuals will be provided 3 minutes to speak. The Community Comment period will last
no more than 15 minutes. The Chair reserves the right to reduce the 3-minute period based
on the number of individuals desiring to speak.
Additional comments can be sent to the Charter Review Commission via ICCharter@iowa-
city.org .
8. Adjournment
If you will need disability -related accommodations to participate in this program/event, please
contact Kellie Grace at 319-356-5041, kgrace@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly
encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs.
DRAFT
MINUTES
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION
May 23, 2024 — 5:30 P.M.
EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL
Members Present: John Balmer, Susan Craig, John Deeth, Makenzie DeRoo, Matt Hayek,
Molly Kucera, Bijou Maliabo
Members Absent: Gerene Denning, Jennifer Patel
Staff Present: City Attorney Goers, Deputy City Clerk Platz
(Videos of the meetings are available at citychannel4.com typically within 48 hours)
►100TIV
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
2. MOTION TO ADOPT DRAFT MINUTES AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED
Moved by Craig, seconded by Deeth to approve the April 25, 2024, draft minutes as
amended. Commissioner Hayek noted a typo in the last page, last paragraph, 4th line
down. Motion carried 7-0, Denning and Patel absent.
3. Motion to Accept Correspondence
Moved by Deeth, seconded by Maliabo to accept correspondence from Rod Sullivan
and Commissioner Hayek. Motion carried 7-0, Denning and Patel absent.
4. Review of City Charter: Article II — City Council
Section 2.06 Mayor
Chair Balmer introduced item 4, Article II - City Council, starting with Section 2.06 relating to
the Mayor and advised commissioners there would only be discussion at this time and they
would not take any action. Commissioner Hayek started the discussion noting his memo to
the commission which was included the meeting packet stating the thoughts mentioned
came from his background serving on Council appointed commissions, City Council as a
Councilor, and as Mayor. Hayek stated he was advocating for maintenance of what is
already in place, noting that the system in place makes sense and creates a stronger
Council as a whole. Hayek stated true representation of the public should come via a
majority of the Council which is best for the entire public and less power vested in a single
individual.
Chair Balmer mentioned his experiences as Mayor and wanting to lead the Council but also
have the body working together. Hayek also added that in many of the communities where
the Mayor is elected, they are also non -voting. Hayek stated having a voting Mayor was
good for accountability and equalizes the Council if all members have an equal vote on a
measure.
Charter Review Commission
May 23, 2024
Page 2
Commissioner Craig shared feedback from the public who want to vote for the Mayor and
understands those views but also sees that the public votes on all seven positions knowing
that one of them will be elected Mayor. Craig advised she didn't want a four-year term Mayor
and preferred 2-year terms because a change could be made in the elected Mayor if one
was needed.
Commissioner Maliabo agreed with Craig as her preference was a two-year Mayor, stating it
gives someone else an opportunity to serve.
Commissioner Deeth felt that the choice of Mayor should go to the public rather than the
Council and liked the two-year term for Mayor and the Mayor to be a voting member of
Council.
Commissioner DeRoo stated she agreed with most of the views already stated and there did
not seem to be a strong desire to change how the Mayor functions or to create a more
powerful Mayor but to retain a two-year Mayor that is a consensus builder and can
effectively run the meetings. DeRoo noted that the current structure has seemed to cultivate
that type of person and she would have a high bar for changing the structure, not that she
couldn't as conversations or public input comes in.
Vice Chair Kucera stated that it's the commission's duty to think about what is best for the
City. Also saying they need to think about if it is best to have a City -elected Mayor, noting
that even if the Mayor did not have a vote, they would still have a voice and that may be
better for the City. Kucera mentioned the Mayor has many roles where it does become a
full-time job and not everyone has the ability to do that when they are elected by the Council
and would like the commission to look into it more.
Chair Balmer stated he believed the Mayor should have a vote and with a Council -Manager
system it does not have to be a full-time job, and with a professional staff that is given
direction by Council it has functioned very well. Balmer noted the term for Mayor is currently
two -years and is comfortable with those terms.
Commissioner Deeth reviewed the Iowa City Council election history and historically the
Council has elected the candidate who received the most community votes as Mayor.
Balmer stated that may be true noting he would not have run for Mayor if it was City -elected
but after serving on Council and gaining some experience for a couple of years was
comfortable being elected Mayor by the Council. Commissioners discussed the additional
duties and time commitment by the Mayor. Vice Chair Kucera urged the commission to
continue to receive input from the community to get their views. Commissioner Craig gave
the example of two Councilors running against each other for Mayor, noting that if the Mayor
is City -elected one of those Council candidates running is going to lose. If the Mayor is
Council -elected, both could still be on Council if elected and possibly be Mayor.
Section 2.12 Prohibitions
City Attorney Goers wanted to highlight the nature of the prohibitions in B and C noting City
Council cannot intervene or micromanage staff that are hired by the City Manager. Goers
wondered if the offices of the City attorney and City clerk should also apply to this. Chair
Balmer agreed and asked the City attorney to draft language for the commission to review.
Charter Review Commission
May 23, 2024
Page 3
Vice Chair Kucera mentioned Commissioner Denning's submittal included in the May 14th
meeting stating Denning had added a Section 2.12(D) regarding the library director and
airport director. City Attorney Goers pointed out that the airport director is the only
employee at the airport and is appointed by the Airport Commission. Goers also added that
the library already had some statutory protections preventing Council from interfering with
library staff and stated he would prepare language for the commission to review.
Commissioner Craig expressed the language in sections B and C should also reflect the
library director.
Section 2.08 Appointments (E)
Commissioner Maliabo asked for clarification on Section 2.08(E). City Attorney Goers
advised that City Council appoints the City Manager, City Clerk, and City Attorney and sets
the compensation for those employees.
5. Discuss Summer Schedule
Chair Balmer suggested taking the month of August off and hold public input sessions in
September on a proposed document. Balmer felt the Commission would be able to submit
a preliminary proposal to Council for feedback by the first of the year. The Commission
moved to item 6 to discuss the tentative schedule.
6. TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE
Due to scheduling conflicts, the Commission agreed to cancel July 9'h and July 25th and
scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, July 30th. It was also agreed to move the August 22nd
meeting to Thursday, August 27th Deputy Clerk Platz will check on room availability for the
meeting changes.
7. COMMUNITY COMMENT:
The following individual appeared: Dean Abel.
8. ADJOURNMENT:
Moved by Malabo, seconded by DeRoo to adjourn the meeting at 6:43 P.M. Motion
carried 7-0, Denning and Patel absent.
Charter Review Commission
May 23, 2024
Page 4
Charter Review Commission - 2024
ATTENDANCE RECORD
NAME
TERM
EXP.
o
O
A
0
O
m
A
0
N
N
A
0
N
Oh
A
0
Cn
A
John Balmer
4/1125
X
X
X
X
X
Susan Craig
4/1/25
X
X
O/E
X
X
John Death
4/1/25
X
X
X
X
X
Gerene Denning
4/1/25
X
X
X
O/E
O/E
Mackenzie DeRoo
4/1/25
X
X
O/E
X
X
Matt Hayek
4/1/25
X
X
X
X
X
Molly Kucera
4/1/25
X
X
X
X
X
Bijou Maliabo
4/1/25
X
X
X
O/E
X
Jennifer Patel
4/1/25
X
X
X
X
O/E
Key:
X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting
--- = Not a member
CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
Date: 4 Chart
To: Charter Review Commission
From: Eric R. Goers, City Attorney
RE: Responses to May 23, 2024 meeting discussions
As part of your discussions at your May 23rd meeting, you asked that I draft proposed changes
to Charter section 2.12(B) and (C) to provide the same non-interference protections to the staff
of the City Clerk and City Attorney as provided to the staff of the City Manager. You also asked
that I draft language accounting for the Library Director and Airport Manager, both of whom are
appointed directly by the Library Board of Trustees and Airport Commission, respectively.
Below I have copied the present language, along with proposed changes.
Section 2.12. Prohibitions.
A. A councilmember may not hold any other city office or be a city employee or
elected county official while serving on the council nor hold any remunerated city office
or employment for at least one year after leaving the council.
B. With the exception of the appointment of the chief of the police department and
chief of the fire department, which are subject to approval of the city council, neither the
council nor its members may dictate, in any manner, the appointment or removal of any
person appointed by the city manager, city attorney, city clerk. However, the council may
express its views to the city manager, city attorney, or city clerk pertaining to the
appointment or removal of such employee.
C. A councilmember may not interfere with the supervision or direction of any person
appointed by or under the control of the city manager, city attorney, or city clerk.
If you also wish to provide similar protection to the Library Executive Director and Airport
Manager, and their respective supervisory bodies, I would put forth the following draft:
Section Z12. Prohibitions.
A. A councilmember may not hold any other city office or be a city employee or
elected county official while serving on the council nor hold any remunerated city office
or employment for at least one year after leaving the council.
B. With the exception of the appointment of the chief of the police department and
chief of the fire department, which are subject to approval of the city council, neither the
council nor its members may dictate, in any manner, the appointment or removal of any
City employee other than the city manager, city attorney, or city
clerk. However, the council may express its views to the Library Board of Trustees,
Airport Commission, city manager, city attorney, or city clerk, as appropriate, pertaining
to the appointment or removal of such employee.
Page 1 of 2
C. A councilmember may not interfere with the supervision or direction of any Citv
employee other tha Pei Gf the city manager, city
attorney, or city clerk.
As I mentioned in your last meeting, the Library already enjoys some degree of protection under
both Iowa Code and Iowa City Code that the City Manager, City Clerk, and City Attorney lack,
but for this Charter language. That said, there is some advantage in the simplicity and breadth
of that version. The protections I mentioned come from the following Codes, starting with the
Library.
Iowa Code § 336. B.
The board of library trustees shall have and exercise the following powers:
2. To direct and control all affairs of the library district, as well as to have charge and
supervision of the library and its rooms, appurtenances, and fixtures.
3. To employ a librarian and authorize the librarian to employ such assistants and
employees as may be necessary for the proper management of the library district. The
board shall fix the compensation of such employees. Prior to such employment, the
compensation of the librarian, assistants, and employees shall be fixed by a majority of
the members of the board voting.
Iowa City Code 11-1-2(E):
E. Powers And Duties Generally. The board shall have and exercise the following
powers and duties:
3. To direct and control all the activities and operations of the library.
4. To employ a librarian and authorize the librarian to employ such assistants and
employees as may be necessary for the proper management of the library and fix their
compensation; provided, however, that prior to such employment, the compensation of
the librarian, assistants and employees shall have been fixed and approved by a
majority of the members of the board voting in favor thereof.
Likewise, the Airport Commission presently enjoys exclusive control over the airport (other than
the ability to sell the airport), and its employees, of which there is only one — the Airport
Manager.
13-1-5: POWERS AND DUTIES:
A. The airport commission shall have and exercise all the powers granted to cities
under the code of Iowa, as amended, except the power to sell the airport_ The
commission shall annually certify the amount of taxes, within the limitations of the
statutes of the state, to be levied for airport purposes, and upon such certification, the
city council may include all or a portion of such amount in its budget.
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