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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-07 TranscriptionIowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:/Icitychannel4.com/city-council.htmi) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:00:00] [MUSIC] It is four o'clock, and we're going to start a work session. Okay. First item is clarification of agenda item. [00:00:36] 1 do have one on the formal agenda. It will be Item 9A. I'm going to recuse myself. [00:00:42] And we are four. We still going to be Corey, right? [00:00:45] I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. [00:00:46] Is that possible? Sorry. 9A, it's planning and zoning. It's the rezoning of ACT. I was planning to recuse myself. [00:00:52] Recon would be appropriate, yes. [00:00:54] And we're going to be fine because we are four, right? [00:00:56] Yes. [00:00:57] Yes. If, like, everybody would like to vote for it. [00:01:011 Yeah. [00:01:01] Yeah. [00:01:02] Now, to be clear, ordinances and resolutions require a majority of the entire council four votes, whereas motions require a majority of those present three votes. [00:01:15] Oh, okay. Page 1 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:llcitychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:01:16] Just FYI for tonight's meeting when we're a little short. [00:01:20] Yes. All right. Thank. All right. Then any- another clarification of agenda item? Okay, second, information back discussion. Like I1312- December 12, 1 mean? Anything? If none, December 19. Okay, December 26. January 2nd. [00:01:59] Yeah, um, just clarification that I133, the Charter Review Commission, there's no substantive changes between the packet and the supplemental. It's just a signature. There's no differences at all. [00:02:12] Yes, that's correct. We had to have the chair sign it, yeah. [00:02:16] Yeah. [00:02:19] Okay. Okay for- also, we have IP1. I think USG have a town hall event planning on Tuesday February 11th, and I would like to know if somebody's, like, available to go to that one. You can. [00:02:39] With the time? [00:02:41] Uh, do you have the time? [00:02:44] 1 don't think they gave us a time. I think past years, it's been, I want to say 7:00- or 6:00 or 7:00, sorry. [00:02:53] Okay. [00:02:54] 1 can attend. [00:02:55] That's good. [00:02:56] Okay. Page 2 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:llcitychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:02:56] Yep. [00:02:58] Great. And also just reminding you that we have a joint entity meeting on the 13th after our work session- the budget meeting, I think, yeah. (00:03:11] And also, are there any items that you want me to submit for that agenda? [00:03:17] Yeah. Any item? [00:03:28] Was it childcare? All right. Rather than talking aside conversation, I was just asking Councilor Bergus, and I'll open it up to everybody, didn't we have a potential topic that we wanted to have in front of joint entities in January? I'm completely blanking, and I don't have it in my notes. [00:03:50] 1 think we've discussed the Crandik- going through the Crandik proposals. Um, and then, I- I believe food insecurity was one that was mentioned in the past, and- and the available- the presenters weren't available for that. [00:04:08] That's right. Thank you. [00:04:09] So we can add one or both of those, if you want, subject to the availability of the presenters. [00:04:18] 1 was sort of counting on Cora Bell to say the cranti thing. So I guess if they haven't yet, that would be one if my colleagues agree. Yeah. [00:04:30] Yeah. Yes. [00:04:31] Okay. Oh. Alright. Item 3, 1 think we don't have the USG today, right? So, going to Item number 4, and now is gone, Molly, they will present to us about the carrier, okay. [00:04:52] Page 3 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,//citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. You'd probably like me to sign in, I presume, correct? [00:04:54] Yes, please. [00:05:09] Well, madam mayor and members of the council, I am John Balmer, 10 Princeton Court. I've had the privilege of being the chair of the Charter Review Commission, and tonight with me is Molly Cuchera, the vice chair, Matt Hayek, who was also a part of our nine person commission. First of all, I want to thank the council for appointing us to this very important position. We all took it very seriously, and I think we did due diligence to- to a very fine city charter. Just a couple of comments I'd like to make before I answer your questions. Uh, certainly want to thank city clerk Kelly Grace, City Attorney Eric Gores for their very fine assistance. We couldn't have made it without them. They did an outstanding job, and we're- we're thankful for that. Also, um, this is a special time for me. This year is the 50th anniversary of the charter and the 50th anniversary when I had the privilege of running for the council when the first seven person council was voted on. So, I must say I'm going down memory lane here a little bit, and- but allow me to do that because it is very special to me, and I do appreciate the opportunity to come back never left necessarily, but certainly have remained a part of this community, but wanted to thank all of you. And we certainly- you have the document. Uh, you've been probably reading our deliberations. We've had robust discussions, good public input, and I think we've given you hopefully a final product that you will feel comfortable with and will endorse. So with that, is there any specific questions you have? I know there were two areas that you might wish me to comment on, that being the district representation and the direct election of mayor. We had very healthy discussion on those, and we had a vote. It was six to three in both cases, to- to maintain what we presently have. Like I said, there was a very strong discussion. It was very- we had a very civil group, to be quite honest with you, and it was- was nice and refreshing. But I think in the final analysis, uh, the majority determined that the present system has worked very well for the city of Iowa City, and we would hope to continue at least for another 10 years. So do you have any specific questions relative to those two areas that I might try to answer for you? [00:07:50] You know, I know you said then, you know, the current systems working. Can you just, like, for the verbose of the like the public, can you just explain what those are? [00:08:02] Sure. As you know, well, just a little history, the first seven person council, everybody was elected. And then the top two vote getters and at large got four year terms, and then two of the districts got four years. And then after that, every two years, it was every other election cycle. The district candidates, the district representatives are voted on by the whole community if there is not a primary. And if there's three- three or more candidates, then there's a primary and only the district voters vote for those. I, for one, wanted to maintain the current system because personally, as a taxpayer and a citizen, I wanted to have the opportunity to weigh in on those representatives who are making major decisions for me. And I Page 4 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. think in our community of our size, you know, we're kind of, you know, we're a small- we're a big city but a small city. We still, you know, everybody knows everybody, I think, for the most part. So I think that has worked very well for us. And as you will see in our packet, at the end, our concern, and we voiced it was the lack of participation that we're seeing in council elections, too many council elections going unopposed. We're not getting very good media coverage, and I can delve into that, too. I can certainly remember my time on the council. Every informal meeting, we had a person from the press citizen, every formal meeting. We even had the radio stations here. So we're not being well served in this community. I realize everybody's social media crazy, except me. I'm kind of a dinosaur on that stuff, but I would prefer to be able to look at somebody and talk to them. So that's been- I think it's been a real problem, and I think people are disengaged from the community unless you're very active or an activist. So this is something at the end of the report, we talk about maybe facilitating with the county and a broad section- cross section of the community, some way to encourage participation in our city because, you know, if we don't do that, we'll just, you know, your city is going to go lacking. We have good people in this community, and we need to encourage those people to participate. So as far as the direct election of mayor, uh, again, I was one who felt that we should continue the present system. I think it's worked very well. I was fortunate to be mayor in 1980 and 81. And I can tell you that if I hadn't served on the council for four years, I would have- if I'd tried to run for mayor and without any experience, I'd have been lost. I think a person needs that experience. You need- the mayor needs to be a facilitator, needs to have the council working together and I think working best with the city staff and city manager. So I think it's served this community very well. I know there's another- there's another perspective that feels that the direct election of mayor would have more accountability, and I frankly personally question that as I've watched elections over the course of time. But I think- I think we've been well served by it, ladies and gentlemen, I really do. So any- any questions relative to that? I would just- I would say that one other small piece is that that the overall commission unanimously sent this report to you. Even though those that voted against two of the areas, they all- we all came together, and I think that speaks volumes for the process. So I would hope you would take that into account, also. And we hope you'll endorse it and pass it. So thank you. [00:11:54] May I ask, actually, excuse me. Along those lines, because I was able to attend a few meetings, and I know that people were incredibly engaged and would state robust opinions. Can you speak a little bit about what the logic was for sending a unanimous recommendation, even though there were a few who voted against? [00:12:18] 1 think people felt that yes, we had aired- aired our differences, but that in the final analysis, this particular- this particular charter, overall, was a good- was a good product and that we should all get behind it. And so I don't think there was that much dissension per se. If there had been, I'd have been very concerned. But I thought we were- I thought we had very civil discussions about it, and people were able to express their opinions. We had good public input. Uh, you've probably saw some of our public input. And I was pleased with hearing from former officials who weighed in, people who still care deeply about this community, like all of us do. So I just- I felt very good about that aspect of it. Page 5 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:13:10] Thank you. Great. [00:13:11] Anything else? [00:13:131 Any question? [00:13:15] Just to follow on, I would encourage, and I think those of us here would be very interested in working with county representatives, community, other community groups. I partnership. I think we need to get more engagement with people. It's just that goes without saying. And I'm not gonna let that one lay as long as I've got a breath in my body and [LAUGHTER] I can still get around. But again, thank you for allowing us the opportunity. I was personally very pleased and thankful. [00:13:50] 1 just want to say, thank you. I don't have a question, but just thank you very much for leading a very well organized commission. I think many of us did pay attention to a lot of this. And I really appreciate the results, I think, are good, but the process was just wonderful to see civil dialogue, to see disagreement in a way that was constructive, to see people at the end, say, yes, the process was fair. We'll support this, even though it wasn't everything that wasn't everyone's wish list. I just thought it was so well done. So thank you so much. I look forward to supporting this. [00:14:23] Thank you and we had a great commission. [00:14:251 Yes. Yeah, I'll just say (00:14:28] Molly Cuchera I'm at 9:09 Tam Rc trail in Iowa City. And I agree. You know, we really tasked our commission with being professional and being leaders and being kind to each other, even though we would disagree at times on things, and I really think we did a good job with that. Most importantly, we did seek- our job was to seek community input on what the community felt was best for our town. Aside from our own feelings. And so I think that is what is important to remember, too. As you guys look at this document, we did seek community feedback, and my own personal votes were based on what the community felt, not maybe personally what I felt as an individual should be done. So I think it's important that when we look at this, we think about it like that, too. So and I know that John wrote it in here, too, but, you know, we can't say enough about Eric and Kelly. They really kept us on track, told us really what to do, what not to do. And, you know, that really helped for some of us that haven't been on Page 6 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:.Z/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. formal commissions before, and they did not pay us to say this. So [LAUGHTER] because they keep telling us, oh, that's okay. You don't need to put that in there. We're like, yeah. [00:15:35] Will be there. [00:15:36] We need to, because they're fantastic, and, you know, we would ask about, is that really the law, Eric, and he'd be like, oh, go look and see, and then we'd come back, or is that the right way to write that? Should we be looking at that a little bit further and he'd go back and check for us and help us out. So I think it's important that helps with the success of a review of a charter to make it so that it's clean and accurate for the next people that are looking at it, so. [00:16:03] And speaking about engaging the community, how did you do that? [00:16:07] We had two public comments. We always had time at the end of each meeting for public comment. Unfortunately, we just did not have much attendance at our meetings. We did have some good attendance at our public not as many as we would like. We tried having one here, and then during Farmers' market, and then we had one down at the Iowa City Public Library. So and we did get a lot of letters from people, and, you know, Kelly did a good job of getting a little OR code for us on our website, so people could just go really look at it, see what our draft looks like with red lines just like you guys are being presented today so people could get input. [00:16:42] 1 personally solicited a lot of individual comments myself from people. Just to- and I wanted to hear. And it's interesting. We probably weren't on the radar of a lot of people when you think about it, but, you know, we weren't controversial or anything like that. So I think we did due diligence for everybody, and feel good about that, like Molly said. [00:17:04] Yeah. [00:17:04] Okay. [00:17:05] It seemed it was really hard work, but you guys was on top of it. Thank you so much for doing that. This is really important, you know, thing that being, like, so it will lay the framework for the next 10 years for us to work on. This is amazing. Thank you so much for your hard work. And thank you for everyone who was in the commission doing this. I appreciate your help there. Page 7 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:17:27] Thank you. [00:17:27] Thank you. [00:17:32] And let's come on this. [00:17:34] Just like to know next steps. Um. Oh, yeah. [00:17:38] Well, so there will be an item,um, on your formal agenda for the next meeting to adopt, uh, the changes proposed by the Charter Review Commission. Um, absent guidance, otherwise, that would be, uh, what's put forth, uh, for you. It needs to be adopted, uh, by ordinance, same as any other ordinance. So three readings, um, moving forward, and I think that's it. I'd be happy to answer any other procedural questions, um, if you'd like. [00:18:051 Uh, that was my question. Just normal three reading. [00:18:09] Yeah. [00:18:09] Yeah. Okay. [00:18:10] Right. [00:18:11] Thanks. [00:18:11] Would you want one of us here at those meetings or not? I'm just- good question. Yeah. [00:18:16] Yeah. It's maybe not for me to answer, but yes. [00:18:19] Page 8 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at.https:-Z.Zcitychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. I think will be great because I want just have, you know, right now we are- [00:18:24] Sure I'm happy to do that Moe and I both or you- I'm happy to do that. So just give me a heads up when it is, and I'll be happy to do it. [00:18:30] Next meeting, right? [00:18:32] Yeah. [00:18:32] Yeah, this will be next council meeting. So two weeks, 21st. [00:18:36] Send me a reminder, Kelly. [00:18:38] Sure. [00:18:39] Yeah. We will, thank you. All right. And now we can go to Item Number 5, National Community Survey results presen- presentation. And this will be by the Assistant City Manager Clerk. [00:18:56] Thank you. And if you can hear me speak, I'm wearing a mask because I have a bit of a sore throat, so my throat is a little off, if there's anything that I say that you can't understand, just let me know. I'll try to do my best so that, uh, you get the results. So thanks for having me Kirk Lehmann Assistant City Manager, uh, talking about the results from the Iowa Community Survey that we just completed this last fall. So in terms of background, this should sound familiar. It came to you in- in July 2024 when you approved the contract, and it really stems out of a desire to have more data informed decision making within the strategic plan that was updated in December, uh, specifically prioritizing data informed decision making throughout all city operations and improving the use of metrics and reporting service delivery outcomes to the public. So what we really saw this as is a really valuable way to gauge the public's opinion, um, not only on our services, but also on the aspects of livability within Iowa City. Uh, and we were also very interested in how those views changed over time. So we completed one of these in 2017, and then also how we compare to other communities. And when we're looking at other communities, um, we looked at both national comparisons, as well as benchmarking against college towns. So, uh, with the Community Survey, it's conducted by the National Research Center, which is part of Polco, uh, and they provide these statistically valid community wide assessments. And they've been working with a bunch of different communities, more than 500 communities across the country, uh, and Page 9 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:llcitychannel4.com/city-council.htmi) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. it's also endorsed by the National League of Cities. So, uh, that- that is why we're looking at this. Uh, we see it as a really valuable tool, like I said, uh, and this also happened to be the tool that we used in 2017, as well as 2013. So this is one of the only tools that we could use that would provide that longitudinal or long-term perspective, uh, of how things have changed over time. So that was why we did it. And the way that we did it was by conducting kind of two component surveys, uh, as part of this process. Um, and really what we're looking at is a snapshot of the 10 facets of livability, like I mentioned. And you can see those on the screen. I'll go through those individually, so I don't feel I need to do those upfront. But the first component is really, uh, one of the more valuable components, which is the statistically valid survey. So this is randomly selecting households throughout the city, uh, based on addresses from our Postal Service listings, uh, and we mailed it out to 3,500 residents. Uh,it included languages, uh, of English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and, uh, Mandarin, and we collected responses from September 19 to November of- November 8th of last year. In total, we had an 8% response rate, so we got 200- 277 responses. Uh, 270 of those were in English, but we got a couple in Spanish, we got one in French, one in, uh, the Chinese, and then also three in Arabic. So we did have folks using the different languages, which was positive. Uh, again, they are randomly selected. Um, and then the second component is an open survey where anyone who wants to participate can participate. Um, we again invited folks in multiple languages and collected responses over a shorter time frame, so that was, uh, a month from October 11th to November 8th, and we received almost another 200 responses on top of that. So with these responses, uh, we wanted to make sure that we did have a statistically valid sample again, uh, and then also, that we weighted to Iowa City's demographic profile. So in a lot of cases, what you'll get is, uh, folks will self respond based on their past experiences with surveys. Uh, in the case of our statistically valid sample, uh, we tended to see respondents who were older, who tended to be wider, and who tended to be more likely to own properties. So with the responses that we received, they were then weighted based on the demographic characteristics of the city. So it really amplifies some of those voices that were less likely to respond. So those who did, uh, are- are- are weighted to reflect the demographics of the community. Uh, we also, like I said, compared against national and college town benchmarks, and then also against Iowa City's 2017 survey. So those are kind of gonna be the comparison points that I use as I start to go through some of these results, uh, and I am happy to- to answer any questions as things come up, so feel free to just jump in. This is a pretty informal, uh, sort of presentation. I did also wanna mention- mention that in terms of the number of towns that we talked about, um, the national comparisons range anywhere from comparing to 200-400 communities based on Polco's samples. Uh, it varies question to question, so there's not- I can't give you an exact answer as to how many communities we compared against because, uh, every community answers slightly different questions or some questions aren't answered and they all use different surveys. So where there's comparables, those- those are included. And then in terms of college towns, we have comparisons from anywhere from around the mid 30s to the mid 50s in terms of comparisons. Uh, I did also wanna say a caveat before we start to dig into these results, um, that many of these topics are things that go far beyond Council's control, beyond the city's control. Um, you'll see trends in here that - that reflects national trends that- that are complicated and difficult. Uh, and so sometimes seeing some results can be really disheartening. Sometimes seeing them can be really positive. So, uh, just keep that in mind in terms of, as you see results, not all of them are things that- that unfortunately we can just fix like that, but it's really important for us to be aware of these trends and to try to address them where Page 10 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. we can and how we can. So, uh, I just wanted to say that upfront because it does help guide city policy and our focus areas that we look at in the future. [00:24:44] Kirk I do have a question about the response rate, 8% seems pretty abysmal. Um, how does that compare to the 2017 and 2013 as far as response rate, do you know? [00:24:55] Offhand, I do not know. I- I could get back to you on that. [00:24:59] I'm just mostly curious going along with maybe some of the comments earlier of, like, people seem less engaged. That's my sense, as well, but it'd be interesting to know how that [OVERLAPPING] [00:25:08] Yeah. That's a great question. I know that nationally, we do see less engagement. Some of that is reflected in the survey. And often mailed surveys have pretty low response rates. [00:25:24] Okay. [00:25:25] Um, we were able to collect enough to have a statistically valid sample. So that- that's really one of the most important parts, but it- it's always difficult to get people to respond, and it is a relatively lengthy survey. So that also poses a challenge where maybe someone starts it and gets halfway through and says, I'm done. And you never really know how many of those folks there are out there. But- yeah, it's a challenge, for sure. We do our best. [00:25:58] Yeah. [00:25:58] Any other questions on the methodology before I start to dig into results? Okay, so first, before digging into the livability results, I kind of wanted to go over general quality of lives- life and governance, since those questions are asked as part of this. Uh, what we do see as- as may be a surprise to none of you, we have a relatively high quality of life in Iowa City. We get pretty good ratings in terms of that. Uh, when I am talking about ratings, like 84%, what that means is 84% positive ratings. So 84%, uh, either called it excellent or good. The other ratings that were available are fair or poor. And note that these exclude non -responses, uh, to the question as well. But overall, we have a pretty high quality of life. Like said, this may surprise none of you. Um, most people that live here would recommend living here, which is always a positive sign. And generally, we do have a higher comparative image or reputation than other college towns, and, uh, so that- that's a really positive thing to see, especially since using the Page 11 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. college town benchmark is probably one of the better comparison points, the national because there is so much variation in what you see in cities. But a lot of college towns deal with very specific issues. Uh, so making that those comparisons are- are especially valuable to us. Uh, in terms of governance, you see a more middling answer where 56% say, uh, that- that we have a positive rating, either good or excellent. Um, in general, it- it's not tied to the quality of services. We generally get pretty good ratings on the quality of services that we do provide, uh, but there- there has been a decrease in trust in government, as you're aware of. Uh, and we have seen, uh, declines in how people are rating, uh, quality of services since 2017. So we are still 75% positive. It's still pretty good, but we have seen decline. One place where we seem to excel is our welcoming of resident involvement, which is a really positive point for the way that we try to govern here in Iowa City. And as we get to the factors of livability, before I- I dive into each individual factor, one thing I wanted to point out was the difference between the quality of services as they're rated through this survey and the importance that people say that those services have. So on the left, you'll see quality. Um, generally, they're ranked from- from high to low. Uh, places that we really excel, education, arts, and culture, um, 92% give that a positive rating, and comparatively, we also rate very- very well in mobility at 69%. Um, it- it's really positive to see that all of these categories are also above 50%. 1 mean, our lowest is community, uh, design, but they're still all positively rated. So that really reflects into that general livability of Iowa City. Uh, and we are either similar to benchmarks or higher. We don't have any that are rating lower than benchmarks. Now, on the other side of that is importance because it- it is important to know what services residents see as- as being things that the city should really focus on. And- and some of the most important ones are kind of those core services that we see. You see utilities, you see mobility, uh, and you see economy. Those are all the ones- and safety. Those are all the ones that are 80% or higher. Um, generally, the larger gaps that we see are in economy first, and then mobility. So those are areas where, you know, we should continue to strive to- to see improvement based on the importance that- that folks place on those services. Uh, but again, generally, uh, we do have high levels of service, and that's- that's viewed accordingly. So coincidentally, the first two facets of livability that I'm gonna dive into are those two most important that people rank, which is the economy and mobility. So with regards to economy, which has the largest gap between importance and our rating, we're showing up as 66% positive ratings of our economic health. And you'll see that most of those on this bar chart are in the good category. So it- it's good. [00:30:06] Uh, it doesn't quite rate as excellence- excellent. [00:30:09] But you do see a general pessimism, uh, in looking at the future. So, uh, looking at the [00:30:15] future improvement of income for folks, [00:30:17] Page 12 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. people rate that at 23% positive. That's pretty low. And- and our lowest rating for that- that also poses a challenge for the eco- economy of Iowa City is the cost of living, which is only 31% positive. Again, that should surprise no one, and that- those cost of living factors, uh, you'll see mirrored throughout these results. Uh, affordability of services is a major concern, and it's becoming more of a major concern, which reflects natural trends. Uh, in terms of the way that we compare to other communities, we do have similar ratings to other co- college towns, but we tend to have higher ratings for the vibrancy of our downtown and the shopping opportunities that are available, uh, as they compare to national benchmarks. So that does really reflect well on the focus that we've put on our urban core and the way that we've tried to make that a- a thriving business district for us. Uh, the other changes that we've seen since 2017 are a decrease in overall economic health, which kind of reflects that- that general pessimism, uh, and we've also seen decreases in Iowa City as a place to work and in employment opportunities. So one thing that is a weakness of this survey is, it is a snapshot. So it's a frozen point in time, uh, which makes it important to- to do these on a regular basis to make these comparisons. But one things that we don't or can't do with it is say, why would you rate it this way? We can only make inferences and use this to kind of- to help us guide. So if you do have specific questions about, well, why do you think that they rated it this way? I might have some thoughts. You might have some inferences, uh, but unfortunately, there's nothing that we can say for certain. So I do also wanna say that as something to keep in mind as we look through these. Then next is mobility, which tends to get higher rankings and tends to be viewed more favorably than other communities. So we get a 69% overall positive rating, and we do have pretty high ratings for most categories, especially those that are related to active transportation and transit. And we have seen transit- uh, perspectives on transit, ease of- ease of travel, the usage, and the quality increase since fare free has been implemented, uh, since 2017. Uh, our lowest categories tend to be more tied towards ease of public parking and street repair. Those are both at 38% positive, so less than half of the respondents say that. Uh, that being said, street repair is similar to what you see in other communities. So you often have, uh, negative views of street repair throughout- throughout cities. Uh, most people don't think that cities are doing enough, but that ease of public parking is one of the areas where we are lower than national benchmarks. Uh, we have very few categories where we rate as lower. This is one of them. [00:33:00] Uh, that being said, [00:33:011 we are similar to other college towns. [00:33:03] And so this is one of those places where college towns do have unique challenges and unique things that they face. And so you can take it with a grain of salt in that, uh, as it compares to college towns, we are similar. [00:33:17] Page 13 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at.https://citychannel4.com/city-councit.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. Again, I already noted transit. I- I see this as a really positive, uh, a really positive uplifting view on our transit program that we've had in the ways that we've been able to improve it, as well as those active transportation investments that we've made in trails, that we've made in bike lanes, and- and other services and infrastructure that have caused a lot of those things to increase. So I see mobility as being a bright spot within- within this survey. [00:33:45] It is- is it true that ease of parking- public parking is this category that drags us down in that- in that group, looking at the IP packet, like that that's what's causing this mobility metric to sort of be disparate between what people expect and want- and what we're getting. [00:34:03] So. [00:34:031 I- I- I don't know that I fully understand how to read all of the data that's in here, but as I read through, it looks like that is we have two things where we're underperforming really and ease of parking is apparently high. Is- is that- am I reading that correctly? [00:34:17] So, I- I would say the gaps in perception are tied. To- to some extent it's based on larger views of what is important in your community. And the things that are important are your job, how you get around, and trying to public safety, kind of those bread and butter core service items. A lot of folks tend to be pretty negative on mobility natio- nationwide, it appears, especially in college towns. I- I wouldn't look at these sub items within the category as dragging it down necessarily. I- I see it more as the ideal image of mobility for someone is you can get where you want, when you want, how you want as easily as possible. So I personally don't know that you can ever achieve the importance ranking that people give it. I would look at it more as thinking of, okay, these are the important categories that folks have. How - how are people rating individual services within those? And you use those to try to guide your investment. That's how I would look at it. So, ease of parking is an aspect of it. Um, I mean, depending on who you talk to, there are lots of people that say that it's difficult. And there are lots of people that say, on the flip side, we've made it easier to use trains that we've made it easier to use active transportation. And those are the things that the city have prioritized for climate action reasons and other reasons. So I- I- I don't know that there's an easy answer to that, unfortunately, but I- yeah, Jeff, if you have any? [00:35:57] Yeah, just it's sometimes when you look at these, you confuse the percentages with percentiles. Like, we're at the 69th percentile. Don't- don't- don't do that. And I think that's what Kirk was trying to stress is 69% may seem low, but it's actually performing very well compared to your- your benchmarks in here. So, um, to- to- to achieve, you know, he mentions on here, street repair. You know, we're 38%. We're not gonna get to, you know, 75% or 80% on street repair. So, um, you have to look at it in the context. Page 14 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. That's why uh„ you know, these benchmark comparisons are so valuable to us. Uh, but don't confuse them with percentiles. Yeah. Makes sense, yeah. [00:36:51] Community design is one of those aspects that folks rated of lower importance, and it- it tends to be one of our lower scores as well. Sixty percent gave that aspect positive ratings. One of the lowest scores that was in this where only 18% of people give it a positive rating is affordable quality housing. Again, probably not a surprise to anyone. Um, one thing that is interesting is that all of our comparisons within this category are similar to national and to college town benchmarks. So people tend to view this pretty comparably or our views of it are comparable to other communities throughout the area. And the places where we've seen decreases in- in our perspectives within Iowa City since 2017, our overall appearance in code enforcement. And then also we've seen a decrease in the quality of new development and public places where people want to spend time. So affordable housing has actually been low within Iowa City for a long time. Uh, in this case, our low scores, um, are more indicative of those broader trends that we see throughout the nation with the housing crisis. Uh, it's not just an issue that we see in Iowa City. It's an issue that's gained prominence elsewhere, and, um, will- will continue to be a prominent aspect of something that needs to be addressed. Uh, we- we also do see relatively low scores for variety of housing options as well. That's one of our lower rated categories at 43%. But again, similar to national and college town benchmarks. So- so it is a broader societal issue that- that is a challenge. So for utilities, this is, uh, the category that's rated highest in importance within the city. So again, one of those core service aspects that is so critical for- for what we can provide to our residents. Uh, and generally, we score pretty high overall. We're anywhere from 70%-90% for most of these items. Uh, the lowest category that we have is at 60% positive, and that's for affordable high speed Internet access. Uh, again, it ties into that affordability aspect where- where that- that's a challenge for a lot of folks. Uh, in compared to benchmarks, we're generally similar to national college benchmarks again. And in this, uh, group, we've only seen one change in- since 2017, and that's been an increase in our perceptions of stormwater management. So as we focus more on that, we have seen that increase, which is a positive view of the work that we do. [00:39:251 It's kind of a pop question, um, available to anyone who may have the answer, but is the state still considering broadband solutions? I know that or is that sort of fallen by the wayside as far as increasing broadband. And I know that that's in rural areas, but I'm just thinking, in general, are they looking to strengthen the internal structure? [00:39:47] Yeah. I think they- I think they infused quite a bit of recovery dollars into particularly rural broadband. (00:39:52] Where? [00:39:53] Page 15 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at.https:,/.Icitychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. I'm not aware of any continuing initiatives. Maybe- maybe still in some rural areas, but not in metropolitan areas that I'm aware of. [00:40:01] Yeah, I'm also not aware of anything. But with regards to public safety, another important category, think it's ranked as 80%. Uh, generally, we get high marks, especially for feelings of safety and a lot of our services, including fire services, medical services, and emergency services. Uh, the lowest category that you see, again, is relatively positively ranked. It's 59% positive, and that is crime prevention. Um, but we compare favorably in benchmarks, uh, or at least similarly in benchmarks, uh, and we've seen generally stable perceptions with the exception of the decline in views on police and sheriff services. However, again, that's still 67% positive. So two thirds of residents that responded to this survey do see that as good or excellent service. So, uh, and it's similar to larger benchmarks, so it's likely, uh, a change in views on what, you know, what services should be provided and how they should be provided rather than the quality that we're providing. [00:41:01] I'm going to borrow Laura's question from earlier. Do you have a sense of, um, how much that's decreased from the 2014? [00:41:09] Uh,2017. Oh, 2017- oh sorry, 2017? Yeah, I did write that down. I believe it was at 77% before. So for something to change, um, it has to change by at least six plus percent or 7%. [00:41:30] Just because of the margin. [00:41:31] Just because of the margin of error. [00:41:31] Okay. [00:41:32] Yeah. So if there's a change, it has to be a relatively large change to- to make sure that it's statistically valid. [00:41:38] Okay. [00:41:38] And in this case, that- that one was large enough to be statistically valid. But obviously, a lot has happened since 2017 in the world generally. And, uh, that's also something where it's important to have Page 16 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. regular check ins with the public to make sure that you can better pinpoint causes and effects. Uh, another relatively high aspect is our natural environment. So we get 73% positive ratings. Most of our categories are in the 60-70%. Uh, the exception in this case is water resources where we only have 42% positive. Uh, again, when I talk about categories where, um, you really have larger issues at play here, water resources are a situation where it's really tied to watersheds and kind of broader geopolitical areas. So- so it is something that's challenging to address. This does happen to be one of the only categories where we compare lower to both national and college town benchmarks. Uh, it's the only category where that's the case. But, you know, even with that in mind, we do try to do our most, uh, to - to address this issue. So, you know, we've tried to improve access to our rivers, to our creeks. We tried to improve water quality through our stormwater management practices and through features that you see, such as the Riverfront Crossings Park where we try to slow water and make sure that it infiltrates in a positive manner. But it- it is one of those larger issues that's- that's really hard to address at a local level, and we try to do the best that we can. Uh, on the flip side, we compare very favorably to the quality of our yard waste pickup, which makes complete sense because we provide a very high level of service here with our, uh, curbside composting. Uh, we have our leaf pickup services that we provide free of charge. A lot of those things are things that you don't see in other cities, so that totally makes sense. In terms of changes over time, again, most perceptions are stable with the exception of the preservation of natural areas has actually increased. So we've been doing a good job of trying to make sure that those areas are preserved. [00:43:51] 1 know you kind of said this, but just to sort of re emphasize, especially for people who are listening in, we're talking water resources. We're not talking drinking water resources. We're talking about recreation and beauty and aesthetic and, you know, our rivers and stuff. [00:44:05] Yeah. I know you mentioned that too, but- [00:44:06] Yeah, that's a great point. [00:44:07] And now to mention, like, we talk about, like, local beaches and how often during the summer, are they closed because of E. coli due to decisions that are made at the regulatory level that are nothing that we have control of as a city. [00:44:21] Yes. Thank you for bringing that up. Our water utility- our- our water services- public water services are part of that utility category. So those have a 71% positive rating, but much more favorable than a 42%. So yeah, thank you for highlighting that. [00:44:36] Page 17 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https: [/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. I'm also just following along on the IP January 2 because it has all of the data in, and it- it looks like water resources is one of the few categories that doesn't have trend lines in it. Is that because this is the first time we've actually asked that question? [00:44:49] Correct. So- so there are certain questions that are new and we don't have trend lines for them. You'll kind of see that throughout it- its piecemeal as to which categories they're in, but that is one that we do not have past data on. [00:45:02] Yeah, well, I'm personally excited to follow through with our strategic plan and do a Iowa River master plan because I think that's part of that. It's connected, so. [00:45:13] Absolutely. Parks and rec, another relatively high one, 79% po- positive with most ratings in the 70s- 80%. No- not a lot to highlight here, other than we've consistently shown up well that we compare similarly to other communities, and most perceptions have been stable over time. The only place where we have seen a decline is in the quality of recreation centers and facilities. Some of that could be due to natural aging. But again, it's hard to- to really dig into these and say why these are happening, but it's important to know those trends are appearing. And health and wellness is another positive category for us, 80% positive. One of the more interesting things about this one is that, uh, we see across the board decreases in the availability of affordable items, so affordable quality food, affordable quality healthcare, uh, affordable quality mental healthcare, that one actually dipped below 50% for the first time. Uh, and then also preventative health services is something else that we've seen decline. Um, but we are, again, similar to national and college benchmarks, so a lot of these are probably part of those broader trends that you're seeing across the nation where affordability is just becoming ever more challenging for folks. Um, and we have seen a decrease in the quality of health services that showed up since 2017. But again, that's a situation where we're still 77% positive. So we used to have an even higher rating. Um, obviously, in this case, Iowa City is blessed to have, uh, University of Iowa healthcare and really high access to services. So even though some of the individual subcategories show up as lower, um, you still see our generally overall high rating of 80%. So that's just something to highlight. Some- some trends are challenging to address. [00:47:06] 1 would suggest or not suggest. I'd also say that again, you're saying we can make inferences, and this may well reflect the fact that within our own community, you know, we had some interesting situations with Mercy, you know, having their troubles. And, you know, so in terms of people feeling that they have access to, you know, what they're used to, what they want. [00:47:30] Yeah. Page 18 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:/.Icitychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:47:31] That some of those choices had been taken away. So again, it's not definitive, but I'm just thinking about there's you've been talking really, well, about the way in which there are national trends, but it's like it's also pointing out some of the stuff. Like, again, we don't necessarily have control over it, but it is a particular circumstance that has occurred that might indicate some of the chan- changes in the question. [00:47:54] Yeah, absolutely. And then, kind of the- the other place where Iowa City really excels is education, arts and culture. So this is our highest rated category, 92% positive. And we get really high ratings overall. This is the only category or the overarching facet of livability, where we have no poor ratings. So it- it's a really positive aspect of livability within Iowa City. Uh, we do still have a low rating that's 40%, which is affordable quality childcare in preschool. Again, it's tied to that affordability question. But in terms of most scores, they're higher than the national benchmarks. Uh, the majority are higher than national benchmarks, and many of them, I think, half are higher than college town benchmarks, as well. So we compare really favorably. I especially want to point out that the public library has near unanimous support, 96% positive ratings. And that's been consistent. It's one of those situations where we invest in a service and we do a good job providing it, and it shows up in these scores. And even where we do have lower scores, it is similar to those- to those other benchmarks as well. So we have seen decreased views in that child care category as it ties to affordability, and then also in K-12 education and adult educational opportunities. However, those ones are still overall positive at 70%. [00:49:20] And then finally, inclusivity and engagement, uh, is 70%. It's that final facet of livability. We do have generally high, uh, levels, uh, but we are seeing declining public trust to some extent as a national trend in perceptions of neighborliness of residents and folks campaigning for issues. Uh, but that being said, Iowa City compares pretty favorably overall, especially as it, uh, is tied to attracting folks from diverse backgrounds, uh, and opportunities to participate in social events or volunteering or community matters. All of those things, uh, compare favorably for Iowa City. And then we did have two custom questions that we included as well. One is tied to local option sales tax. Uh, in this one, we looked at, you know, what would you support, uh, for a potential public purpose for a local option sales tax? Is that something that council wanted to, to investigate further? Uh, the top one was investment in streets, bridges and sidewalks, probably ties to that- those views on, um, the maintenance of public streets. We also see strong support for investment in affordable housing and parks trails and natural areas. (- ironically, the lowest one property tax relief, we're only 26%, uh, support it. Uh, that is one that has actually required that 50% of loss from state local to that category. Um, so that's important to keep in mind, uh, i- if you do pursue this in the future, but this can help guide, uh, decisions, uh, a- as you continue those discussions. And then finally, averaged over a year, how many times per week do you travel by various modes of transportation? We really wanted to incorporate this category because census does provide some indication, but it's focused on a single point in time, whereas this is generalized over the year. Uh, the place where this is really gonna be valuable for us is over time. If we continue to ask this question, we can use this to help gauge, uh, the success of some of our efforts. So, Page 19 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 202S (audio and video recordings can be found at https:llcitychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. um, I mean, as you might expect, most people drive a vehicle five or more times a week, but you can see that walking is a positive, uh, method of transportation as a bike and bus and riding with others. So hopefully we'll see some change over time. So the- the final thing I wanted to cover is just some general takeaways. Uh, a- again, you do see that there are overarching trends that are hard to combat, uh, but you also do see the impacts of council policies, er, in this presentation or in the- the survey results. You see increasing views of public transportation since fair freeze been enacted, uh, and you see that our continued investment in core services really does yield some results and tha- that's viewed, uh, as a high priority for the City. So 75% overall rating for quality services by the City. Uh, there are various, uh, services that the City provides that could be improved. Um, but overall, it's pretty positive. And then finally, our- our embracing of arts and culture within the community, uh, has really yielded positive results, as well. So whether that be the public library, whether that be supporting the arts through Summer of the Arts or our various economic development strategies, uh, that- that really has, uh, created some positive outcomes. Uh, second, is that affordability and availability of services is an issue and will continue to be an issue. Um, they do appear to be tied to more national trends or larger trends, but those perceptions of- of affordability have decreased since 2017, uh, a- and remain a large challenge, especially affordable housing, where only 18% view it positively. And then finally, overall, Iowa City compares very favorably to other communities. There are really only two categories where we view less, uh, or are less than our benchmarks. And that's, again, the ease of parking in the water resources. In most cases, we- we compare very favorably, especially as it relates to our education system and our transportation system, and then our culture, uh, and the arts and community involvement in those sorts of categories as well. So really positive results from the survey. Uh, I really encourage you to dig into them. Uh, it's pretty thick. Uh, and if- if you have any questions about it, I'm happy to do my best to answer or I can always return and provide more feedback as well. [00:53:25] 1 think this is really great work. I just want to- yes, I see that even though you mail it to a lot of people, but the latest ban was 272, you said, or 27 something like that? [00:53:35] Yes, its 77, 1 think. [00:53:36] Seventy-seven. Uh, is this, like, has been mailed by the mail or how did you reach out to the people? [00:53:42] Yeah, it, it was mailed. There was a postcard mail and then there's a follow up postcard. And the postcard had- and we also advertised it through our various City channels. So, uh, press releases, putting it in newspapers and stuff. Um, social media we used, and then the postcard was sent, and then there was also a follow up postcard, as well. [00:54:04] Page 20 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. And is there- is there- there was a way for the people to do it online like QR code, for example, go there and fill out? [00:54:10] Yep, exactly. So there was a QR code, uh, and on it in different languages were said to participate in the survey, you- you basically follow this code. Uh, if you want to request a hard copy version, contact the City. So we did have some folks take up hard copy versions where they would fill out the hard copy, send it back to us, and then we- we would- would send it in for them. [00:54:31] Yeah, I guess we- I would like to encourage you next time, especially when reaching out to the folks who doesn't speak English and you- you already did an amazing job of translating it to Arabic to all this language. So if we can work with organizations like the, you know, immigrants or for example Center for Walk, I guess if we give it to them, their client while they're coming, they can- they can ask them to fill out that. So while they sitting there for something else, waiting, they can do that. Maybe you can work with those kind of, like, also like maybe organizations like for the Congolse community organizations, Sudanese. You know, so we just can get more people involved. And, uh, who- who are Iowa City resident, and because we need to see, like, many people, like, decide about the thing for Iowa City, not only a few people decide for everyone. So mayb- maybe next time we can do this, too, and I'm willing to help on that, too, so. [00:55:27] 1 think that's a good point for the non random sample. [00:55:31] Yeah. [00:55:31] I'm wondering with the random sample. Uh, and then I'm looking at through the same thing that was in the packet, um, with these different trend lines, are these including the random and non random or just the random sample in this data you've been sharing with us? [00:55:451 So that's a great question. Most of the data that I've pointed out is the random sample since that's the one that's statistically valid. [00:55:51] Yes. Thank you. [00:55:51] Yeah. Page 21 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https: [/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:55:52] Yeah. That's- that's what I was hoping. Yeah. That's -that's appropriate. [00:55:55] And we did- we did provide the non random results in the back as well. [00:55:58] Good. [00:55:58] Generally, what we see is that the non random sample tends to be people that are more plugged into the community. So they're basically twice as likely to have watched or attended a public meeting, for example. A- as you might expect, a lot of the folks that are very interested in taking a survey are folks that. [00:56:13] And I did notice, and it was interesting, too, just because Mr. Balmer's comments earlier in the last item, talking about, uh, public participation, and there's several indications in this of a drop off in attending meetings. [00:56:25] Yeah. [00:56:26] Advocating, working, you know, for- for a local issue cause or candidate, uh, quite dramatically, uh, it looks like since 2017, which- which really surprises me considering all of the- of the various turmoil and everything else that we've had, uh, in those intervening years. Um, and one of the things that occurs to me, too is, like, it's been since 2017, so I know this is you talked a little bit about next time. So I think, uh, I was already thinking of this just what we should probably talk about, like on what frequency we'd like to do this because it would be- it would have been, you know, hindsight is 2020, but having, you know, something a little bit- a little more frequent than like, you know, seven, eight year gap, uh, would probably be a lot, you know, pretty helpful. Uh, and I know that everything costs money, but- but I think that's one of the things that we've talked about, and- and I don't know if you might want to do because. [00:57:14] Yeah. We're- we're currently thinking we do this every two years. And in the intervening years, we're going to focus on an internal employee survey. Um but every two years would be good. So long as you're finding value in it. Really- really, the value is if you allow this data to guide your decision making, because if its- if it doesn't provide that value, it- it is expensive. This is probably a $20,000 survey effort, uh, when it's all said and done. So we want to make sure that- that you find utility with it. And that's, frankly, why we backed off a little in 2017, after 2017 is we just didn't see it, um, uh, being used in a decision making capacity. Um, so a lot of that might depend on just, uh, you know, the feedback that we Page 22 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at httl2s://citychannel4.com/cif-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. get, uh, from you all, but I do think seven years or eight years is too long. Uh, every two years seems reasonable. Uh, we could probably go every three, but, uh, right now, we're planning every two. [00:58:13] Right. And of course, being kind of- kind of nerding out a little bit. I love the idea of the longitudinal data. So that's, you know, whether it's a value in this particular- like in one particular year or the next particular year, having it to go back on, like, you know, it's sort of once you've got the data, it's there and the trend lines really start to be valuable in perpetuity. So yeah, I'm supportive of- of what you're talking about. [00:58:33] Yeah. I mean, I- I- I just take that one step further. In a couple of weeks, you're going to be talking about our budget, right? And you have to make some decisions on whether you want to continue to fund fair free transit. You've got some good data here to suggest that, uh, the public sentiment on our -on transit system is changing, and it's changing for the better. Now, you've got to make that decision on the value proposition there. Is that worth continuing to invest and, uh, add additional revenue sources to continue that service? But that's the type of thing that -that can be really valuable. [00:59:05] Also the- the sale tax, also, like what you wanna- you wanna see investing on. I think that's really great to reach out, like, from time to time to do this, because that will guide our decision for what the people want. That's why I'm still saying, like, reach out to most of the community. For- of course, for the intentional survey, not like the random selected one. And- and I believe that I remember the county was doing it for public health where they sent an actual you investing $20,000, maybe, like, I saw the county did like create job for the public health. After the COVID 19, they have an iPad and they have somebody actually go there and sit down and take, like, people, you know, answer, which is, anyway, you're went far and beyond then translate it and spend a lot of money on it. So we just need, you know, the outcome to be more than 200 something. So yeah. [00:59:58] I- I personally find this very valuable information and would support continuing to collect it so that we see not just the moment time, but a trend over time. Um, I will use this in decision making moving forward alongside with our strategic plan. And I guess my follow up to that is between you guys. We are the- the- the either connections or disconnects between our strategic plan and the survey data. I mean, I have some notes that I'm starting to develop, but I'm curious if you're seeing things that we have placed in our strategic plan that maybe don't perfectly align with or things that we're saying, Yeah, our strategic plan aligns well with this data. The last thing I'd say is, it'd be great to have this before the next time we do the strategic plan. [01:00:40] Uh, yeah, it's a good question, and I probably can't do it justice on the fly here. Um, Kirk mentioned the affordability piece. Anywhere that we saw declines and or- or underperforming tends to be related. Page 23 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:llcitychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. There's an affordability aspect. Housing, food, uh, healthcare. Those are a lot of the things that are showing up in your strategic plan. Um, I'm not sure, you know, frankly, that we have the- the ability at our scale to necessarily change those. So I couldn't tell you- I couldn't sit here and say that, Hey, if we double our investment in- in, um, uh, the supporting our local food pantries, that we could, you know, see that number increase. The economic forces are- are- are pretty, you know, there's some pretty strong headwinds there and some of those things. But I- I think the issues align well, and probably a next step for us is to- is to take this data and figure out which one's directly aligned to the specific actions in your strategic plan and start to map it out that way. That's a good logical next step. [01:01:50] Okay. [01:01:50] 1 was just going to add sort of the fish tale to that, um, is that I love the pieces of the data driven work that's happening to really show us what the community is thinking, given, especially the- in the moment at perhaps public comment, there are very specific issues that people come to us with or when they give us a call or what have you. And so this gives us a broader scope. One of the things also that I like to keep in mind along with this data driven is that these are these are people's thoughts and impressions in a snapshot moment. And so one of the coolest things is the way in which we can understand data as something that is, yes, analyzed, but it's also interpreted, and it can be used to- to tailor how we're doing. I just- I guess my one caveat is more of a humanist is- is that we don't just say, er, there's the answer. We must do this because the data tells us it's always in concert with what the more organic whole of our community is. So I think that, you know, looking at it in- in relief of, um, our strategic plan and allowing I'm 100% on board with saying, Let's really look at where the priorities are because I think that broad sweep is really, really clear in here. But then it's like, and so, okay, what does affordable childcare look like, right? We've had opportunities before us before, but they weren't necessarily the right ones for the community. So I guess I just sort of throw that as a balancing comment to saying, it's data driven along with the- the insights that we have knowing the community and- and- and what the needs in a more particular way are. So it's just to add a yes and. [01:03:35] Yeah, I think the alignment with the strategic plan will be wonderful to see. And my ask for staff is just to make sure this keeps coming in front of us. And I see it as a feedback loop. I mean, Kirk, just on the slide here, you indicate how the impacts of our policies are apparent in the data. And the- right, then the data informs our policy decision. And I think alignment with the strategic plan because of the pretty robust process we've had around that. And I'm thinking also of the comprehensive plan, and as we're, you know, heading into that big, um, sort of land use oriented evaluation of the community that I hope we just keep tying these all together, maybe too much to ask, but I imagine a world in which maybe next time around after the survey, we can also have some indication in the budget presentations, like, actually tying, you know, the survey data, just like we do the strategic plan alignment. Like, which-, you know, how does this align with the strategy plan? How does the- how is this reflected in the data, or did Page 24 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:Ilcitychannel4.com/cif-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. the data tell us this is why we need to make these investments? I think that sounds like in a couple of years, we might be able to do that? [01:04:45] Yeah. That's a good idea. [01:04:46] Very good. Thank you. [01:04:48] Sure. [01:04:50] Kirk, that was amazing. I know how much raw data you had to deal with to then provide us this. It was amazing. [01:04:57] Well, it- it will be available online. It's not online yet, but if- if you go to it'll be under the city manager's tab in the website. So we- we encourage you to look at it. There's also a really nice page summary that covers that in significantly less detail than I did. But I figure it's good to go through every aspect, so appreciate the times. Thank you. [01:05:16] Thank you too have you well, okay. [01:05:19] Okay, then Item Number 6, counsel update on any assigned board, commission or and committee. Council Harmson and I attended the, uh, JEC annual meeting. I think that was- that was since our last meeting, right? [01:05:36] 1 was trying to think because the holiday my sense of time is all screwed up. But yes. [01:05:411 Yeah. [01:05:42] The last JEC meeting was in between. [01:05:44] And they just presented their annual report, and, um, you know, it's really interesting seeing, like, trends over time. They had, uh, reported that overall calls for service to the JEC were down about 10%, and Page 25 Iowa City City Council Work Session of January 7, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https://citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. they associated that most notably to a lack of natural disasters or fewer natural disasters than we have in other years. So that- that was an interesting data point. Yeah, knock on wood, um, that meeting. [01:06:11] Yes. Anyone else? It's very early, huh? Okay. Well, you're the work session then. Yeah.[MUSIC] Page 26