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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-05-21 Transcription Page 1 Council Present: Alter,Bergus,Dunn,Harmsen, Moe, Salih, Teague Staff Present: From, Goers, Platz, Knoche,Davies,Nagle-Gamm, Seydell Johnson Others Present: Monsivais,USG 1. Special Presentation—American Public Works Association Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year Award Presentaton Teague: All right. We are back to May 21st, 2024,uh, Iowa City Works session. I'm gonna call this to order. And the fust item is the special presentation American Public Works Association,top 10 Public Works leaders of the year award presentation. And I'm going to ask that our city manager Geoff From start us off. From: I'm even more excited than you,Mayor. Teague: Okay. From: To find-this-this is really a special- special evening for us and a special recognition for Ron Knoche who was recently named at 2024,top 10 Public Works leader of the year by the American Public Works Association. So a little bit- a little bit about Ron here. Um, Ron,uh,has served with the city for 25 years. He joined the city as a civil engineer. In 1999,was promoted to senior engineer in 2001 and to city engineer in 2003.And in 2015,uh,Ron was promoted to Public Works Director,where he oversees engineering equipment,resource management streets,wastewater, and water. That's a lot. That's- that's a- a- a lot of oversight there. And,uh,um,while those are his,uh, official duties, Ron does so much more for this,uh, organization. He's a trusted advisor to many of us known for,uh, cahn demeanor,rational thinking, and analysis,no matter what the circumstances are,no matter how contentious something may be or controversial, can always count on Ron,uh,to help you navigate that. He's always respectful in dialogue and is,uh, grounded in public service and is doing what-uh, doing what is best for,uh, this community. So Ron was a graduate of the University of Iowa,with civil engineering degree, and just this past year,uh,he also won the Alumni Service Award from the College of Engineering,uh,which is another,uh, amazing honor for Ron. At any given time,Ron and the staff are balancing well over 100 projects in this community, and at the same time,they're dealing-uh,they're delivering exceptionally high level services,uh,to our residents and businesses. But Ron is much more than a- a project manager or someone that delivers,uh,uh, services. Uh,he's a dynamic leader that we are so fortunate to have here in Iowa City. And I just want to m-mention one thing about Ron that above all other,uh,things that I really admire about him, and that's how much he cares for his staff. Uh,when I talk to Ron,he is, uh, frequently,um,uh,bragging about his staff and- and proud of the accomplishments. He's,uh,uh, constantly having conversations about professional development,uh, o- of his staff and improving the work environment for his staff and the resources that they have to do their job. Um, example number 1,just last weekend,we had a public work open house at our wastewater. This is an annual event This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 2 that Ron really brought to the city to highlight a lot of the unseen work done by,uh,the great employees,uh, on our team. So we were out at wastewater, celebrating,uh,that facility and all the employees that deliver those services to the community. Another great example. Ron has been a huge champion of investing in municipal facilities to improve work environments and capacity,uh, for our staff. And you have one of those projects on your agenda tonight with our,uh, landfill equipment building project. Those things would not happen without Ron championing those and,uh,pushing those forward,uh, in collaboration with-with many of his peers. So as you can see,Ron has a lot of support here, family, friends,uh,professional colleagues,uh, staff,both uh, former and current. Um,uh,he's admired by,uh,many, and we couldn't be more proud to have,uh,Ron on our team and have him recognized for his efforts here tonight. So I would like to ask that Keith Pugh from American Public,uh,Works Association to-to come up and tell us a little bit more about this,uh, award. And,uh,Keith, thanks for joining us all the way from Greenville, Tennessee. I appreciate you being here. Teague: Well,welcome and good to see you. Pugh: Thank you. Yes. So a funny thing happened on the way. Uh, it's always good to start off with this kind of conversation. I was working on this presentation on the plane without realizing that without Internet connection, anything I tried to save was not gonna save. Uh, so I wrapped up my comments and I was pleased with that, closed my computer up. When I got back into hotel room, I opened it up, and the old version of my comments was sitting there. So I've tried to recreate this the best I can and kind of like public works,we- we kind of have to be resilient. We have to adapt and- and change. Uh, good afternoon. Uh, certainly a privilege to be with you today. Uh, I have had the privilege of spending some time in Iowa over the past couple of years. And I must say that all my travels here, uh, I have been,uh,pleasantly greeted and welcomed, and my stays here have always been- I- I felt like I'm home when I come here. So it's- it's always a pleasure to come here. My name is Keith Pugh. I am the immediate past president of the American Public Works Association, and that is the National Association. APWA is made up of more than 32,000 Public Works professionals from across North America,uh,US, Canada, and indeed,uh, from around the world. Uh, it is no coincidence that I am with you today during National Public Works Week. The theme for this year is advancing quality of life for all, or as we affectionately call it AQOLFA boy, isn't that catchy,Advancing quality of life for all. And that is what we strive to do every day. An integral part of APWA's celebration of National Public Works Week is the announcement of the top 10 Public Works leaders of the year. The Top Ten program began in 1960. So we're 64 years into this,uh,the purpose of the top 10 Public Works leader of the year award is to inspire excellence and dedication in public service by recognizing the outstanding achievements of Public Works professionals. This award was established, again, over 60 years ago, and it provides an opportunity for APWA to single out ten individuals each year who represent the absolute finest in the Public Works profession. You do not have to be an APWA member to win this award. So 32,000 membership,but we draw from the entire population. The top ten are selected by five past top ten recipients. Um,the top ten award is given for exemplary Public Works performance,not for service to the association or This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 3 the chapters. Since its founding in 1937,APWA has had 88 different national presidents, 45 of them have been top 10 Public Works leaders of the year. The top ten is also a lifetime achievement award. It is not for a specific year. It is for a career dedicated to public service. And it's those folks who have spent years of dedicated exemplary service to both the profession and to their communities. You know, I woke up- I woke up this morning in Maryville, Tennessee,uh, and this recognition is certainly important enough for me to travel here to recognize,uh,Ron today personally. Friends and colleagues of Ron Knoche describe him with few words,uh,but let me tell you what some of those words are;perseverance, integrity, strength,resolve,vision,passion,honesty,mentor, caring, collaborative, approachable,respected, dedicated, loyal. All of which are great qualities to have in any andi- any individual and,uh,have all of those wrapped up into one,uh, is truly special. You know, I read through Ron's nomination package for this award and this recognition, and his personal accomplishments are far too many for me to even begin to summarize,uh, I would encourage you to go back and take a look at that nomination package,uh, it's- it's quite impressive. Uh,his contributions to the industry, his dedication to his family,his tireless efforts to improve the quality of life for everyone in the community. And what that does,uh, is it brings me to a realization,uh,that Ron's father,uh,probably instilled in him the same values that my father instilled in me. Uh, my dad was always about public service, service to his community,trying to leave things better than he found them. And he and my mother modeled that out and everything they did in their life, and,uh,they left very big shoes for me to try to fill. And apparently, I believe Ron has done the entire thing throughout his service here in Iowa City and with the county where he was previously. So it is with great pleasure that I get to recognize Mr. Ron Knoche as an APWA top 10 Public Works leader of the year. Teague: Please share some words. Knoche: I will. Jeff and Keith, thank you for the kind words and taking time out of your busy schedules today to-to be with us. And there are many people that I must thank for helping me achieve this prestigious award. I'd like to start with the individuals that have had the greatest impact on my professional career. My journey in public work started by working summers on a survey crew in Cedar County, Secondary Roads Department. Bonnie Sawyer encouraged me to apply, and Mark Dara took a chance on a chemical engineering student. This grew into a full time position after graduation. Carol Lash,Jerry Doll, and Jack Gaert helped me develop into the leader that I am today. My predecessors Rick Foss and Chuck Schmedky who laid the ground work for the Public Works Department,the 160 members of the Public Works team,your professionalism is second to none. Thanks to the Public Works management team, Tony Davis,Jason Hovell, Scott Silvers,Dan Strigel, Bill Zbonic,Brock Halb,Dave Gillham,Jennifer Jordan,Mike Edwards,Jason Eckrich,Jonathan Durst,Michael Willis, Tim Wilkie, and Stephen Flake. You make my job easy. Your dedication to Iowa City is greatly appreciated. Thank you to Tom Marcus and Jeff Ruin for your support and trusted me as your public works director. The city management team,there is no one else that I would want to be on this journey with. To my public work family across the state of Iowa,thank you for your support and allowing me to represent you at the national level. And none of this would be possible without the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 4 love and support of my family. Thank you to my mother and father,Pam Stoltenberg and Ben Knoche. My brother, Tom,my stepfather,Rick Stoltenberg,my mother in law,Deb Peterson, and my late father in law,Dennis Peterson. These are people who taught me the value of service to family and community. My daughters Emily,Anna, and Olivia,who have been,have given me opportunities to get back to the community through their involvement, and most importantly,my wife,Danelle. Without her love and support, I would not be in front of you today. Mr. Mayor, Counsel, is truly my honor and privilege to serve you and the Iowa City Community as your public works director. Although it's my name on the award,this has been a group effort many years in the making. I am humbled to represent this community,the State of Iowa, and the Public Works profession at the national level as a member of the 2024,top ten Public Works leaders. Happy National Public Works Week. Teague: Great. Thank you. Pugh: And Mr. Mayor, I don't know what's in the water in Iowa. But I do feel compelled to share this with you as well. I think Iowa has had 12 top ten public works leaders of the year in the last 12 years. I think you've had one each year. So whatever good is happening here,keep it going. Teague: All right. Thank you. And congratulations again for all of your work- from the Council, we really do appreciate and we see all that you do. So thank you so much. Yes. So you guys can go celebrate. Yes. It is celebration time. So feel free to just exit at this time. Yes. It'll be half of our audience. [Council takes picture with PW Director] This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 5 2. Ad Hoc Truth & Reconciliation Commission Presentation Teague: All right. And we're going to move on to item number two,which is the Ad-hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission presentation, and we have the chair joining us Chasity. Welcome. Dillard: Hi. Teague: Hello. Dillard: Thank you all for having me. I guess I fust- I should so probably bring up our item fust. Okay. Here we go. Hi again. Again,thank you so much for having me here. My name is Chastity Dillard. I'm serving as the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I'm joined by my fellow commissioners who are going to join-join me in this conversation as well. I'm excited to be here again. I know we spoke a month ago finishing up our seven months with our facilitators,but now we're back to talk about the next steps and our plans for the future. So- and I'm just going to take a breath because I'm just breathing really hard right now. Okay. So again, I'm here to talk about our updates, and also to talk about, and continue our partnership with the City Council. As you may know,we did send a request in January, asking for additional funds so that we can complete our mission to serve this community. And right now,we're going to just share with you what our plans are. So just to back up why we are here. We're here to talk about how to eradicate systemic racism in our community and,you know,the wider community as well. So just to remind us,the definition of systemic racism is institutional racism, also known as systemic racism is defined as policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people in unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race or ethnic groups. As we spent the last ten months just learning more about what it means to develop a truth and reconciliation commission and group for this community,we have learned so much about what needs to happen moving forward. So for the next few months,this month through September,we have several different areas we wanted to focus on. For this first instance,we have been focusing on social justice,which was the law enforcement. We've identified affordable housing, economic development, and education as areas of interest. We do, as we said before,understand that there's tons of different areas of interest that we could focus on,but there's not enough time to focus on all of those. But we have heard from the community, and these are the ones that were expressed as the higher point of interest. With these areas of interest,we are hoping to, in the next four months, sit down with the community and do community projects that could be a public-those could be public presentations,working with groups like in educators,work group,housing work group, social justice work group, small business groups, anything that our community members have already identified and will identify in the coming- coming months. Also, during this time,we've learned that we can't do anything correctly if we don't continue to gain knowledge on what the issues are in this community. So using those same four areas,we want to and we will engage with experts in this community to come in and give us-give us more information about what's going on in these different areas, as well as This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 6 educate the public as well. So we want to consult with experts to better understand how these four systems work and identify changes to city goals,policies, and procedures that increase community engagement. The next part of that is community engagement projects. Still in those same areas, developing projects that look and work different ways with Iowa City citizens to help solve community problems. Those could be meetings, symposiums, conferences,work groups,just diving in and really being led by the community, and having people join us on this endeavor. And then after we've done all those items, step-phase 4,which is September through December,we will have finally solidified our model,which is developing our story. You'll see on this slide that we go from learning from experts, doing fact finding,using the subject matter experts and some more truth telling from that,but also inviting the community in to tell their truths, whether that's in person or in the public forum that we made an example of in March. And from those testimonials and all those other activities, doing some reconciliation work,whether that could be another strategic doing session,the healing circles or other projects that come up as we continue working with the community, and then review. And then we have the arrows because you have to rent and repeat,because we won't be done with this because we're going to learn and grow as people become more and more comfortable with the process. And then by the end of December,we will have our final reports with our final recommendations to-to hand over to you all. I'm going to invite my fellow commissioners to come and introduce themselves and just share their experience. But before I do that, I want to just say that as we are city officials,but we're also citizens fust here. And just remind you that we truly believe in this project and this idea,not as something that ends in December,but something that needs to live on for decades to come. This is the foundation that we're building and we need your help to make sure that we can continue doing the work that you all decided in 2020 that this needed to be done. So I hope that you will hear our- our plea for partnership, implore that you eventually come to a decision to help us move forward. Sir. Teague: Thank you. Dillard: Thank you. Teague: Welcome, Commissioner. Kiche: Thank you very much,Mayor and the other council members, all of you. I'm excited to be here, especially when we learned that you could allow to hear from us on a short notice. "That made me very happy. Because we are struggling in some areas,but we are very positive because we are moving in the right direction according to the mandate that you gave us. My name is M, Sorry- I'm sorry, Commissioner Amos Kiche. So I just wanted to add to what my fellow commissioner has said. We have reached a point where all that you gave us,we have chewed on and has produced good results to us. We have a lot of information right now with us that we want to work on,but we have limitations. All the consultants are gone right now. So we're just hanging on our own struggling with the training that they gave us,which we really appreciated for you to have funded their training. They made us learn what sorts of information we need,how to collect the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 7 information. They also trade on how to-the community can talk to us in the form of truth telling,hearing different voices. And the commission really appreciates that. We have been able to listen to a lot of people. There are still a lot of voices that we want to hear, especially on the area of public safety and law enforcement. But we believe we've really collected enough information that can help us help the city,help our community and ourselves as community members to move ahead. We are really excited we have good information. What we now is a facilitator. And this one, I'm going to be very blunt because ourselves,we can't do this on our own. You allocate us $10,000 to usually use on our daily operations;renting, food, and other things,that cannot cover a facilitator. So the budget we're going to present to you very soon,which we think we'll talk about that-talk about the need for that. And we'll also talk about the need for some seed money on top of the 10,000 that you should give us. And the- it's going to be some amount there that is probably, I think you're aware of And it's going to help us hire somebody who can help us other facilities, especially in data analysis,report writing,processing the information. We are not- all the commissioners here are trained in different areas,but we have other things to do. We can't do it very well when we don't have all these facilities. I- I can even ask now,we might need an office, somewhere where I can work in as a commissioner, talk to another commissioner, let's work on these documents and something like that. So these are just things that we're going to show up in the- our budget. The other area that I think is- I want to talk about is on the budgeting process,the philosophy budgeting process that you are usually used to. You are usu-usually used to hard numbers explain to the last dollar. The task you gave us is kind of very difficult, complex fluid. Sometimes you think it's going to be like this but it's never like that. Most of the things, the voices with things we want to work on,we learn as we go. So is-we- we are always handicapped in terms of writing that nice business, cool budget plan that you guys are used to. So we're just asking you to be a little bit accommodative when we present our budget and things don't look like they are fitting your-what you used to daily. But we'll try our best. We are learning,there's no theory about this that we can learn from any book anyway. Yeah,this is something that we never learned in school,but we learn as a group, the whole team. Yeah. So that's an area we want you to be accommodating on. And then the third area I want to talk to is when we reach the budget,the implementation stage, Seed grants for doing some of the community projects,we do not have a framework. The mandate you gave us did not talk about any framework. Maybe that is to our advantage, but I'm not sure. We might reach a problem where we reach conflicts in the commission, like how do we locate this money? Those ones probably according to me as a commissioner,but I think other commissioners we will talk about this,we'll want to know whether our hands are tied in certain areas in allocating the funds in the budgets and all the process that you want us to go through. And thank you very much. That's what I can talk about right now. Thank you. I really appreciate. Teague: Thank you. All right. Great. Welcome. Tassinari: Welcome,Lou Tassinari, I'm going to talk a little bit more from the 30,000 foot level. And what I want to express is I was struggling with why is this whole process so important?We know it's difficult. We know we've all spent a lot of effort on this. And This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 8 why is it so important?And as I was struggling with that, I was reminded that about 35 years ago, I was here in Iowa City finishing up at the University of Iowa as a research scientist, and a movie came out,Do The Right Thing. It changed my life watching that movie, it was an incredible movie. It was in- particularly inspired by the Howard Beach incident three years earlier and the untimely death of Michael Griffith. Fast forward to 2020,we have the tragic deaths of Breona Taylor and George Floyd, and it motivates everybody. Everyone has the right instincts here in Iowa City, and you all have the right instincts. You see, let's do the TRC. And as I worked at that analogy, I was thinking, what is it about the title of that movie?Because- and I looked around and people struggle with that. What does that title mean? The one thing that struck-that stuck with me was that without discussion,we can never overcome social issues and divides. So I want to unpack that even a little further specifically with the context of the TRC. That without systematic and ongoing difficult dialogues enabled by critical thinking and informing actual policy,there will be no real progress. We will fast forward again 35 years and they'll be more tragic killings. So what we're doing here is really important. I know you all recognize that. And in order for us to continue,we need support to do that. You've given us some support and it's worked out great with the consultants and all the rest,but to move forward to really do this and to solidify it and to have it be something that is part and parcel of city government moving forward,how do we, as Chastity put up there,how do we change policies to prevent the continuation of systemic racism and allow the community to trust again? It takes time, it takes effort, it takes money, and we're all here to do that. Thanks. Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Commissioner. Simmons: Good evening. All right, my name is Chad Simmons, and I appreciate that you all giving us time to be able to talk. A couple of questions I'd like to ask before I start giving my presentation. I'd like for this to really be a conversation from citizen to citizen and would prefer to be able to use your fust name versus to be able to use your formal name. If that's acceptable, I don't want to offend. But to me,this is important. Teague: I'll just let you know that my ancestors just-they are excited in the grave when they can hear that I'm addressed as Mayor Teague. So I'd like to be addressed as Mayor Teague. Simmons: Understand,Mayor. Teague: Yes. Simmons: Then I would address you accordingly. Teague: Thank you. Simmons: Mayor Teague,May 25 is coming up. What is your plans for May 25? Teague: It's my mother's birthday.No,not May 25. Sorry. But no, go right ahead. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 9 Simmons: Well, it's also the day four years from this Saturday was when or four years from the Saturday was when Mr. Floyd was murdered and lost his life, four years. He lost his life for many reasons. One was that his fellow officers were not willing to step in and tell him that he was doing wrong and they should be accountable for that. But what I was really more interested in at the time was the people that were watching the police officer do what he did to this young man,putting his knee and foot on his neck and his back and taking his life. And Sean,there may be the question that you would ask was why is that interesting?And the reason why it's interesting to me is- is that only thing that someone had to do was go to the police officer and push him off. But the reason why it didn't happen,Andrew, it didn't happen because they knew that if they were to applau- approach the police that they would have to give up their life for his life. That the decision that they had to make was whether their life was more valuable to their family versus his. And they made a decision that instead of them dying that he had to die. And for the whole-the rest of their lives,they will have to question whether that really made sense. And that's a very deep burden to bear-to carry when you watch a man die. Those things are very challenging. But one of the things that they learned is that spectators never win. You can sit on the sidelines and you can do absolutely nothing, and then you have to deal with the consequences of doing nothing. But what happened?All across the country,people raised up and raised up to address the issue about systemic racism, about being in situations where they have more control. And in Iowa City, they were willing to give up their freedoms. They were willing to give up their lives by doing things that were crazy like going out into the highway and stopping traffic because they would prefer to die free than to live in a life where they were fearful for their whole life. They made a decision that they were going to focus on doing what was right for the community even if it meant that it wasn't going to be right for them. In essence,what they learned was the reason of what do the right thing was all about. But now we're here. In January,we asked you for $250,000. We did that because we knew that there was community things that we needed to do. And you all were silent. You said nothing to us. We continued to be able to do the work while you all watched. We appreciate the investment of the $400,000 that you have put into this project. We believe that the time of all of the-the commissioners that we put in. We believe all of that time was worth more than 400,000. So we're even there. But it gets to a point that you have to understand that the work you're doing is not in that sense to focus on paying commissioners. It's to focus again on community. What we can do in that sense to achieve our goal with the community. We have approximately seven months to continue the work. But this is now in your hands. This is a decision Josh that you have to make. And we know you weren't on the council when the decision was made,but this is a decision that you have to make,which is what's more important. Is community mission more important or consultants and money more important?You can stand in the bleachers and watch the commission die,but not approving the requests that we gave you. You can easily do that. For me, it would mean that you're giving up on the community that you swore that you would be here to support. But what we're asking US fellow citizens that we're coming up with a model that allows community to help community solve problems versus to help city solve problems for us. And that's where we need your help. Remember, spectators never win. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 10 Teague: Okay. Okay. That's all. Okay. All right. Alter: Is it possible for us to ask questions? Teague: Absolutely. Alter: And this can be for any commissioner. Um,thank you very much for,um,you know,the- the presentation, as well as sort of the vision that you have and- and a road map for the next seven months. Um, I perhaps erroneously didn't understand the-the work session topic today. Um, and so I just want to ask a-a few questions,um,that have to do with the work that you've been doing. Um, in multiple sections,um, there's been references to we have collected a lot of information, and we are ready to move on it. I would dearly love to know what some of the specifics are.What-what have you learned? I- I have to admit that I thought that this would be sort of a report out on now that we have done this work,these are the elements. And I do understand the high level of,um,housing and social justice and economic development,um, education, as well as then the form that moving forward can take. So I- I greatly appreciate that the work that you've been doing now is moving forward. But I would love to know, especially tied to talking about the definition of institutional racism in order that we as policymakers, can- can-can start to chew on some of the information that you have gathered already to help us be able to-to understand the next steps better. Simmons: So the-the money that you gave us was not for the actual project. The money you gave us was for the vehicle. So let's just say we've taken a trip and we're going to take a trip to Florida. Right? Alter: I- I just want to know some of the-the specific takeaways that-that you have had from the learning that you have. Simmons: Right. I was just trying to explain it. Alter: Okay. Simmons: I'm sorry. If you-you want me to get more directly to the point? Alter: Take whatever path you want. Simmons: I appreciate that. Thank you. So the-the goal was is that we had-we were working on the vehicle. We're working on ways of how we can engage with the community. And all the consultants were around what the vehicle should look like,whether we should be able to-to do things by strategic doing. The purpose of strategic doing is- is how do you get people together to figure out what a master problem is, and then how would they, in essence,work on figuring out that problem. So we had meetings. We spent a lot of time really trying to be strategic around how we could leverage and use that tool, in essence, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 11 so that we could once we got into the topics,that we could, in essence,be able to address the topics. We learned a lot about,uh, fact finding. And what we found out about fact finding was is that within fact finding that unless you're very specific about a problem you're trying to solve,that the person who's doing fact finding will give you a whole bunch of information, some of that could be a value, and some of it is not-will not be a value. Because it doesn't address the overall system. It simply gives you information about the environment in which people are operating in. So, for example,we knew that, uh,we got findings about how the city police operate in comparison to how other communities,how their police operate,the numbers of police that are there,how they address different communities. We got that information. But we didn't get enough information to get to the specifics. But that was fine. We learned about fact finding, and we learned the value in essence of fact finding. Then we got into things around how to make sure that we took care of the people that we were trying to work with. We knew that when you put people in situations that there's going to be some trauma, and you want them to be able to share their truth,um,within that sharing that trauma,but you want to do it in such a way that, in essence, it safe for them. We found out that many of the systems that the city has does not allow there to be safety for individuals, does not give them the ability to be able to share, in essence,their truth in the way that the structure is set up, and that we needed to make sure that we found other ways of being able to gather information so we could gain that information, and then we could then put something from a public perspective that would then be able to share, again,what holistically what is-what is going on. So we knew that was- that needed to again happen, and we were still kind of work through that. But what we did-what we were able to do, again, as related to things around trauma,was it s we were allowed one of our partners to really talk and walk us through a process that allowed us to heal as individuals and heal collectively together. So what we learned from this is-what we learned from the vehicle that we put together is that we need a vehicle that requires that allows people to have a level of trust, have a level of confide- confidentiality that they-that they expect,that we needed to have people involved as relates to be able to gather information,And we needed to make sure that we created that in such a way that we could communicate it to the public so that they could truly understand what some of the overall issues and the-the challenges were. That's what our goal was based on what we were able to do around the vehicle. Our challenge was we were never able to fully control, in essence, every part- every aspect of the vehicle. Alter: Thank you. Teague: Thanks. Any other questions by counsel. Bergus: I just have a quick follow-up. Commissioner Kitch, it sounded like from your comments that there would be maybe a budget forthcoming that is something different than just the request for 250,000. Do I understand that correctly? Or what-what is the Commission's intention as far as the use of those funds? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 12 Simmons: What we're doing is- is we kind of listed holistically what the funds will be used for. What we're doing is we're asking for there to be commitment that their funds are going to be available to us so that we can then fully develop a plan. We cannot-, ah,we can we don't feel comfortable right now in developing a plan if we don't understand what resources we have, and that's where right now we don't have any resources available to us. Teague: So- so I think I understood the areas of interest that you all are going to be working on, um, affordable housing, economic development, education, and social justice. There still could be some things coming from there. I guess,um, as far as a budget, like, I don't- I- in this moment, I don't know what the moneys would be used for. Even though I know the areas of interest,there has not been any discussion in this meeting today as to what you would do with the money. Simmons: So you're absolutely right. But what we tried to do is just show you the-the broader areas. And again,we're more than willing to give you more of the specifics,where we're looking for, again, assistance on is telling us again,what money that we have available to us so that we can then try to develop our plan within that. Teague: Okay. I could appreciate that although I feel like we would have to know some-we would have to know activities that's going to be done,you know, during this time. So what I would suggest is, at least from my perspective,but,you know, all of counsel is here, is for you all to have some of those,um,brainstorming sessions as to what you all would like to do with the funds so that the council has some earmarks,we're going to, you know, spend funds for this,this and this. In this moment right now, I just don't know what that is. Simmons: So Mayor,the- if we just talk just a little bit about the process,right?Anytime that there's money that has to be spent, it ultimately comes to you all. You all have to approve whatever money it's being spent. So when they-when we were having the consultants, you all were the ones who signed the letter of that. So the agreement was put together by the city,the council or its representative ultimately signed it.Nothing that will come through; is something that if you don't sign it,then it doesn't happen. So you continue to have the right to be able to approve whatever moneys that we use. You have the ability to do that. We're asking for a show of faith that you allow us to be able to do this investment. And here's the other thing,Mayor, and- and here's our challenge. The time is running out. Teague: Sure. Simmons: We've been diligent,we worked hard,we put our effort in. You're going to-you all are going to see everything and approve everything that we do. It's a part of the-that's one of the things we learned in the process; is how things actually get done. They don't get done the way we thought they would get done. They get done a totally different way. But understanding the way the city has it happen is that the-the city manager and the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 13 staff are ones to review and- and look at everything. They're the ones to put together the agreements. And then they may consult us, and then they come to you in essence, for signature. So we're just simply saying we're not asking that. We-we're not going to have the ability to just spend crazy. You have to approve everything that we asked to do. And any time that you and- and the Council when you review it, if you do not believe that it makes sense, I think you have every right to-to either turn it down or to- to again to ask us for more questions. Okay. Dunn: May I ask a clarifying question. So the-the budget request that is going to be or is pending,right? Submit it to us. In this conversation, I'm just wondering if I have things correct in my head. Are you guys,um, intending to propose some broad programs or ideas,um,with-with a dollar amount and request in that way, or are you more so looking for how much can we spend?How much will you authorize for us to spend and then kind of go from there to determine the programming? Simmons: So what we've been asking for is the approval to-to be able to spend the $250,000. What we understand that the process is, is that we ask for the approval,you will say yes or no, and give it to the approval,but anything that comes through that requires an expenditure,has to ultimately still be approved to you. Okay. You give us a big budget. We have to send everything else directly to you, all the line items and how-what our plan is to use, and then you all then approve it. And then once you approve it,we move forward. If you don't approve it, and let's say for example,we want to do a housing conference. We want to do a housing conference,we want to do a housing conference, let's say it's in August. We want to invite several people to come and be a part of it. Some of are going to be local, some are going to be from other places. We come up with a budget,how we want to-to work out,what we think it is. Even if you agree to the $250,000, it still has to come to you as far as the ability to approve the contract or the agreement. So we still don't have the ability. Even once you do that,you've just given us your promise that we have the ability to use it, but not your promise that-that we can spend it any way we want to spend it. We're just asking for the ability to be able to use it. Dunn: So again,just to clarify, and I think that-that all makes sense. I just want to make sure that what I'm saying and thinking is meshing up,right?You're asking for $1 amount that we would entertain,that you could then see, okay,this is what we could be potentially working with, and then that you could then bring proposals-more detailed proposals for funding in the future. Correct? Simmons: The last part would be accurate. The fust part is we made a request for $250,000. Dunn: Yeah. And so that's the number. That's the number that you're specifically requesting that we say this is what we will entertain. Like,you have a specific amount for what you would like us to entertain,um,not necessarily a specific budget allocation in- in- in a technical sense until we actually get what you're actually proposing in terms of programming and all that stuff, correct? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 14 Simmons: That is accurate. Dunn: Okay. Thank you. Harmsen: One thing I'm wondering is, if you don't know what you want to spend the money on specifically yet,how did you get to the quarter million budget ask?Like,where did that- where did that number come from? Simmons: Well,we knew what we wanted to spend. When we did our presentation in November, we listed several projects in which we wanted. Those projects ran up to approximately around $150,000. But there was-there was some additional projects that we went to,but we didn't get a chance to scope out. And there were also projects, again,that were on that list that we weren't-we weren't committed yet as a group that we wanted those specific projects, in essence,to be able to work. So what we were informed,we had $1 million that was part of a fund that we would be able to leverage. We used $400,000 of that fund, and we still had available monies to be able to use in that- in that fund. That was what we-we were informed. But we do, like I said,we do understand everything has to come through you all. That you all can approve any given project that we put in place. You can say yes or no for this expenditure and then we will have to follow those rules. But we don't know what to build unless you give us the parameters of what we can build? Bergus: What would-what would staff need from counsel to-to follow a path like this in terms of if there's money still in the Black Lives Matter fund that has been carrying over from year to year since that summer of 2020. What would staff need if counsel was wanting to entertain this request? Fruin: Yeah,the Black Lives Matter fund is not directly tied to the TRC. That's the first thing to be important to recognize, and that's-that's in the TRC resolution itself. So you're not- you're not committed. You have never committed. This Council has never committed to- to give the TRC $1 million. What you committed to in that resolution was to provide facilitation services. And using those funds,which you did,um, staff is not authorized to spend out of that Black Lives Matter fund. So whatever is not spent on the facilitators would require City Council direction, so we would need some type of resolution from you to indicate how you would like to allocate those dollars. Um, as you know,not all expenditures come before you. Our purchasing manual specifies whether a department director or I can sign off on an item or whether it has to come to you. So if you want to deviate from that process and say, every expenditure that the TRC wants to make needs to come to you, I would caution against that, first of all, um,but you could direct that, right? If you wanted to alter the purchasing rules for a specific purpose,um,you could assume more responsibility and oversight of those funds. But we would need a resolution essentially to allocate those funds, and,um,we would want to make sure on anything that we sign off on as staff, it's consistent with what you are thinking. So I'll use the housing conference example. If the housing conference budget is going to be $7,500,that's not normally something that you would have to sign off on. That would be an expenditure level that-that could be approved by staff. Um,you could allocate the $250,000 for This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 15 general purposes, and then you could specify that we bring that back to you even though I normally wouldn't. Or you'd give us essentially the authority or the discretion to-to follow through on- on that. Bergus: So as someone who's been watching this commission since its inception. I know there's been challenges and, like,we want T-shirts, and then they were told we can't buy T-shirts because there's not a budget that's approved by the city council. I wanna avoid that kind of thing. So I guess my question was more like if,you know, I don't even know what the temperature of the council is right now,but if- if we're inclined to say, continue your work and we wanna provide resources, I understand it doesn't necessarily have to be from that one fund. But what does staff need to hear that direction to be able to carry forward when they come with a request for $7,500. So that it doesn't have to be sort of negotiated every single time. Fruin: Well, I think we wanna know what that-what that level is because you could have,you know,ten $7,500 projects, and that adds up a lot. And I want you all to, you know,know that and be aware of that. What we did with some of the expenses to date that have been outside of the facilitators contracts was we developed a very general budget,you know, marketing, food supplies, and we put general numbers to those, and we've been using our, essentially our human rights budget to pay for those. So we have discretionary funds in our human rights budget that we use,uh, for all things,not just TRC. Uh, as long as it's within those budget parameters that we have spent,then,uh, staff will use discretion on how to do that. But again, I wouldn't want to go into that without a common understanding. If the TRC thinks that they're going to have a couple $100,000. We don't have that kind of discretionary budget at the staff level level, even though we could authorize a number of smaller purchases. So we tried to I think we said $10,000, $10,000 was that food and beverage and supplies for some of the meetings and things like that. And,you know,that typically never came to council. That was just that was just our own expenses. So we could do something similar to say,you know,we'll continue to support, and we can do T-shirts, and promotional materials, and social media boosts and things like that. At a not to exceed of 10 or 15,whatever,you know,we're comfortable in setting. And I think that'll continue to work as it has. It's the bigger item that I think you need to focus on whether you wanna entertain the 200. Alter: And certainly,without wanting to sort of nickel and dime projects. As you've said, it can carry on with these smaller things,but understanding that you want to do more substantive work, I get that. I would definitely- I'm just going to be very transparent as you have been as well. I would need to know some sense of scope of what the project is. What would-what would a conference look like,right? It could be something that can be put together on a shoestring or it can be large and,um, or it can bring in a nationally renowned. I mean, actually, I'll put education. You could bring in a Jennifer Randall,who talks about anti racist high stakes assessment,right?And she commands a large price. But simply to say, I'm in favor of a large scale project. I really would want to have some contours around it to know what the scope of it is. Otherwise,we are not being good stewards of money for the city. And for the community,that, in fact, I think of the many This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 16 ways in which some of these entities that we have been in other names, in other fashions, been supporting. And I would hate for there to be a large plan that either doesn't come to fruition, or things become more expensive as things add on without having considered them fust,right? To kind of scope it out to plan it. To do some budget management or project management, even. I mean, I wouldn't have to be down to the line item. But I would definitely need for me to be comfortable to say,you want to do something bigger and in- in this second phase,third phase, fourth phase,right? This larger phase to say, here's where we're leading to for me to feel comfortable to say, Okay,here's $75,000 here's $100,000 for this particular project. I need to have some sense of what it is and who you might be entertaining. And so I just have to be transparent about that. Otherwise,this is- I can,you know,we learn from mistakes and perhaps the way of the facilitators before. I know that there's- it was very complicated. And I want you to be able to use the money in the best way possible and to allow you to have a larger runway to be able to plan it. So I understand it's sort of chicken and egg. But I'm uncomfortable simply saying,here is a large amount of money without knowing any sense of,has there been discussion about what an affordable housing conference would look like?What scope would it be?And it does not need to be down to the nats eyelash. But simply to say this is what we are planning on. We've talked to even like where it might be held and what they're rental fees are. Something general,just to show that there's some homework that's been done. So I just had to be- I had to be very transparent since you have, as well. Dillard: I just wanted to address what you were saying and then turn it back over to my fellow commissioner. But I think- I think I hear what you're saying. Councilwoman Alter. Um, I think as a person, a professional who works in events and planning, it is very difficult to plan or even do the homework as you're saying without knowing what the budget is. Without knowing what you can reach-what you can reach. I mean,we have done homework. We've thrown out lots of ideas. We've had people look into things,but it gets down to, like you said, are we going to hire someone that it's $15,000 or someone local is $500. And so,really,what I think we're all saying is we just need to know what is the dollar amount that is reasonable for us to come to you, and- so we can do the work. There's a big difference between saying we can do 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, $250,000. Alter: Absolutly. Dillard: So we just need to know what can we work with. And then we can tell you what we can do with that. Is what I'm saying? Alter: Yeah. So I just- Moe: I just- we'll pickup maybe on some of your thinking and combine some of Councilor Harmsen and councilor Alters thinking there's- I would love if there was a scenario where all of the truth telling activities that you guys have done came up with a recommendation for something like an event. I don't think that us sort of throwing a number amount at the wall and then saying, Okay,now, invent an event to fill that money doesn't make sense to me as much as you have data that you've been collecting by going to these listening posts. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 17 And I think we all want to know what that information you've collected exactly is leading towards a specific policy recommendation or a specific investment in a specific group of people, and then we can build around that. But it really feels like we're just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks, is- is how it feels right now sitting here. Simmons: So I'd like to address your issue, and I'm going to address Megan's issue. Then after that, I want to give you my personal thoughts and feelings about this. But from a commission perspective, everything that you say makes sense. The money that we invested is not the money that we necessarily should have invested the way we did to invest it. We tried to get out of it. But we found it very difficult to work in essence with the city staff, as well as with the city council to get everyone aligned around what we wanted to do. Every time we asked for something,the answer is no. So we can work through that.Now that will become a part of our report if there's a possibility of doing a report. What you're saying makes a lot of sense if we have the time. As we start having only seven months,we lose less of the time. Especially during the election time. We even lose more of that because November is pretty much dead,right?And is anyone to listen to us during Christmas while they're eating turkey? So December is pretty much dead. So really our goal is we have to get this done in a very short period of time to do all of that. So we understand everything that you're saying makes sense. It is reasonable to say,Hey, put a plan together, and then a plan that we'll approve it, and then we'll move forward. That's reasonable. Teague: I did want- go right ahead. Simmons: But here's my personal thought. We asked you in January, crickets. We heard nothing. We went and I talked to several of you crickets. And what I'm saying is is that we're just citizens who are trying to help citizens. We don't get paid for this or- or anytime. We don't get any benefits unless you talk about the beam burrito,we get a chance to eat. We're doing this just simply out of the love. It's just what we're doing. Our time has now come. The process that you are having are having an impact on us. And as I told you, as she showed you at the beginning,when it comes to systems,there are four ways that you can get impacted by a system. Time,talent, treasure, and temperature. If you can kill a person's will,then no longer will a project in essence work. That's temperature. It's killing their will. If you do not have the resources or the right people in place,which you all have experience about not having the right people in place,you can delay almost anything from happening,right?Money is the one thing that allows you to-to achieve everything even if you don't have everything you need because you can buy it. That's where the money becomes really important to us. You all have the ability to manage and do whatever you want. I'm here because of my love for Iowa City,but the reality is and I'm saying this. The reality is, I don't live in Iowa City. I do this because I love Iowa City. I'd love to move my business to Iowa City. But this is you all's responsibility. This is on you. And whatever decision you make, I am going to be fine with the decision. If you believe that in essence, it should come to an end, I am going to be fine that you make that. I would just simply say this is about the citizens, and the process that you're asking This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 18 us to go through would have been great in January. In May, it almost kills the project. Actually, in May it will kill it. Teague: Okay. We only have maybe just a minute or two to-before we need to take a break, before,uh, 6:00 P.M. Um, I guess I want to just say, one,thank you all for coming. And then two, even though I hear the comments from my fellow Council and the one that I stated myself,um, one, I want to say,your work is very important. I think you all showed,um,that in your presentation today. That systemic- systemic racism is what we wanted to address in 2020, and find those,um,recommendations through this process. That still holds true,uh, for us today. So thank you for doing the work. I know that it's not easy. Um,there's been a lot of challenges along the way but here-here we are today. The other thing that I would say is, even though,you know, it's been stated we need to know something about the budget,that was not a no. I don't want you to walk away and think that this Council, I heard no one say no. I do believe that we want to- I- I know for certain,we want to support you in ways to advance this work so that you all can complete the work. So that is not what I heard fro- from today, so I don't want you all to walk away and think that we said no. The other thing,um, is if I would encourage you all to go back and have a discussion, feel free to come back to Council,um, and or send a memo or whatever the case may be, if you have some clarification. Um, again, I think at this moment,um,we weren't supposed to have a decision for you anyway. It was a presentation, and you wanted feedback. And so that's what we gave you at this time. And we look for- and again,personally,you know,Mayor's hat off, I really do admire every one of you and recognize the sacrifices you all are making. It's not easy. This has been, um,you know, a commission that has had a lot of light. And I- I recognize that you all are doing some work that is,um,heartfelt. Um, and I'm looking forward to the recommendations that you all give to us,uh, at the end of this time. So with that,we'll, uh,probably need to end our work session, for it-we're going to actually-yeah,we're just going to- Goers: Recess. Teague: We're going to do a recess and then come back after our 6:00 P.M meeting. So the Council is recessed until after the formal meeting. [RECESS] This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 19 8. University of Iowa Student Government(USG) udpates Teague: It is May 21st, 2024. We are returning back to our work session for the city of Iowa City. Um, I do want to make a motion,uh,well, I do want to defer Items 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. And then if- if people are okay with that, I will just make that deferment. Dunn: Yes. Teague: Okay. And we're going to move on to item number 8,which is the University of Iowa Student Government,but their updates. Welcome, and you're still bright-eyed. Thank you. Monsivais: I've had a lazy summer. I roll out of bed at 12:00. Teague: Okay [OVERLAPPING] Well deserved. Monsivais: I'm still taking a summer class, so I didn't- I didn't get off the hook. Anyways. Hi, everyone. I hope you all well. Uh, Renter's guide survey has been released to,uh,the university students through mass email. Um,this survey does go to undergraduates, graduates, international students alike, so we collect different demographics on that. I plan on being a little more expeditious with the data analysis to hopefully present it by November and not during fust-semester£mals week. Um, our threshold is hopefully about 600 responses, and we redesign the survey to take on-campus participants to the end of the survey upon choosing that option so that we hopefully do not have to admit so many observations from the later data. Um,platform committee information will be sent out by our leadership soon. This is a temporary selective committee that works in depth to form our official platform for the administration. My goal is for Ava or I to hopefully apply and then be selected for the committee. So that way, once I have my meeting with Jeff,hopefully,um, I can work to include more of the city-wide legislative initiatives into our official platform. That's kind of my-my route going into that. The US G Textbook drive has wrapped up. This drive was re-ignited by our former director of Academic Affairs and has continued with our current one. The drive allows students to donate books that they do not have to return,um,to US G where we catalog them and offer them to students based on our inventory. The lease CAP application will be pushed out on June 3rd. Lease CAP is a program where US G helps to subsidize rooms in the Iowa House Hotel for about a week during the summer,when students will be in the transition period between leases,which helps to alleviate the pressure of finding a place to stay in Iowa City for one week. We obtain 30 rooms that will be available from July 20th to August 3rd of this year, along with free parking available at Hauser Auditorium. Due to renovations of the MIU, the House Hotel will not be retained in the building. So one of the upcoming projects for the liaisons this year is to find a different stakeholder or city partner to be able to continue the program. And then also, I recently discovered Deluxe Bakery, and it is full of change life. Teague: Oh,nice. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024 Page 20 Dunn: Recently? Monsivais: I don't know how I've been here for two years, and I didn't discover it,but one-on- ones are not happening yet. But when they do start, I'm opening- I'm open to proposing that as a location for any one of us. So fust and fust server, if we all want to do it at Deluxe, I'm totally okay with that because I've been there twice within the past three days. So yeah. That's all I have for tonight. Thanks, guys. Teague: Thank you. Alter: It's amazing on the hotel. Teague: All right. Item number 9 is Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Hearing none. We're adjourned. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of May 21,2024