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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-11-18 Public HearingNOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that a public headng will be held by the City Council of Iowa City, Iowa, at 7:00 p.m. on the 21st day of October, 1997, in the Civic Center Council Chambers, 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City, Iowa; at which hearing the Council will consider the following item: 1. A resolution adopting to 1997 Comprehensive Plan as a statement of the goals and policies of the community. The proposed Comprehensive Plan also includes the Iowa City Historic Preservation Plan, the JCCOG Arterial Street Plan, the Iowa City Economic Develo13~nt Policies and the South District Plan. The South District Plan contains policies specific to the area south of Highway 6, east of the Iowa River and the unincorporated area within Iowa City's long range growth boundaries. Copies of the proposed resolution and Plan are on file for public examination in the office of the City Cleft(, Civic Center, Iowa City, Iowa. Persons wishing to make their views known for Council consideration are encouraged to appear at the above-mentioned time and place. MARIAN K. KARR, CITY CLERK NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that public hearings will be held by the City Council of Iowa City, Iowa, at 7:00 p.m. on the 11th day of November, 1997, in the Civic Center Council Chambers, 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City, Iowa; at which hearing the Council will consider the following items: 1. An ordinance to amend the approved Sensitive Areas Development Plan for Walden Hills to allow the development of Lot 53, containing 8.66 acres and located within the OSA-8, Sensitive Areas Overlay Zone, at the northwest corner of Rohret Road and Shannon Drive. 2. A resolution approving the annexation of a 2.81 acre tract located southeast of the intersection of Iowa Highway 1 and Naples Avenue. An ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance by changing the land use regulations of a 2.81 acre tract, located southeast of the intersection of Iowa Highway 1 and Naples Avenue, from County CP-1, Planned Commercial, to C1-1, Intensive Commercial. 4. An ordinance amending the zoning ordinance by changing the land use regulations of a 0.87 acre tract, located on the east side of West Side Drive and south of Earl Road, from RM-12, Low Density Multi-Family Residential and C1-1, Intensive Commercial, to CO-1, Commercial Office. Copies of the proposed ordinances and resolutions are on file for public examination in the office of the City Clerk, Civic Center, Iowa City, Iowa. Persons wishing to make their views known for Council consideration are encouraged to appear at the above-mentioned time and place. MARIAN K. KARR, CITY CLERK NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held by the City Council of Iowa City, Iowa, at 7:00 p.m. on the 18th day of November, 1997, in the Civic Center Council Chambers, 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City, Iowa; at which hearing the Council will consider: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 2 OF THE CITY CODE, THE HUMAN RIGHTS ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA, TO ALLOW FOR ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSURES OF HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINTS THAT DO NOT WARRANT FURTHER INVESTIGATION. Copies of the proposed ordinance are on file for public examination in the office of the City Clerk, Civic Center, Iowa City, Iowa. Persons wishing to make their views known for Council consideration are encouraged to appear at the above-mentioned time and place. MARIAN K. KARR, CITY CLERK ~a~.e~e~'~:x ~ trtte 2 City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM 7 To: Iowa Cits.' Cib' Council From: Heather L. Shank Human Rights Coordinator Re: Ordinance Amending Title 2, of the City Code. The Human Rights Ordinance of the CiD' of Iowa City. Iowa, to allow for Administrative Closures of Human Rights Complaints that do not warrant further investigation. Section 2-4-9(G) of the Iowa City Human Rights Ordinance states that all complaints must be screened during the first sixty days. The screening process determines whether a person is stating a claim that involves an incident that occurred in Iowa City. and whether the claim is one that is covered under the Iowa City Human Rights Ordinance. If a person alleges that he was treated differently because his supervisor did not like him. this would not be covered under the Human Rights Ordinance. With this fact pattern. a complaint would not be drafted or investigated. If a complainant alleges she has been discriminated against at an Iowa City business based on her national origin. the complainant would meet the jurisdictional and subject matter criteria. Her complaint would be drafted and investigated. After an indi``'idual signs a complaint, detailed questionnaire/document requests pertaining to the allegations set forth in the complaint are sent to the parties. Upon the receipt and filing of the requested information. the complaint is investigated in the order in which it was received. Depending upon the backlog. the dela``' could be as long as one to two years. The Iox,.'a City' Human Rights Commission. on occasion, has recei``'ed complaints that did not ,.,,'arrant investigation beyond the receipt of a response to the questionnaire/document request. Although the Human Rights Ordinance does mention administrative closure in Section 2-4-9(G), it does not include statutory language that sets out the procedure. As a result. the Iowa City Human Rights Commission has not had the discretion to close a case that it believes does not warrant a full investigation. Each complaint that is not mediated or closed due to the lack of complainant cooperation requires a full investigation. A full investigation requires interviews with both the complainant and respondent as well as other relevant parties. It generally takes staff a minimum of three weeks to complete the investigative summaries of the interviews and several days to consolidate the information and ,,,,-rite the staff probable cause recommendation. The complaint then is reviewed by the Assistant City Attome3' and the Human Rights Commission Team. The Commission Team then submits its formal probable cause determination. The entire process can extend over one to three months. The addition of statutory language permitting administrative closure of complaints that do not warrant further investigation 4411 save the Human Rights Commission time and money. The Commission receives approximately two to three complaints a )'ear that do not warrant further investigation. Hypothetical situations in which administrative closure might be used could include: When the Respondent business has closed/dissolved, and there are no remaining business assets. In this situation, there is no available remedy even if the Human Rights Commission were to find probable cause. If the business no longer exists, there can be no policy change or job reinstatement. and if there are no assets. there is no possibility of satis~'ing a monetary judgment. If the questionnaire responses reveal that the Complainant has failed to disclose pertinent facts which contradict his/her claim. or has misrepresented essential facts. For instance: the Complainant alleges that he/she has been fired due to race. When asked, Complainant says there is no other valid reason--he/she has received no disciplines or warnings about job performance, attendance, etc. Respondent produces documents that show a series of disciplinary actions-- perhaps even including a final warning which indicates that an), future infractions will result in termination. (Please note that this is a different situation from one in which the Complainant claims that he/she is receiving these disciplines for engaging in behavior that non-minority co-workers also engage in but for which the)' are not disciplined.) "Vengeance" complaints. Complainant alleges discrimination. Questionnaire responses reveal that the adverse action was a result of a legitimate, non- discriminatory reason. Questionnaire responses, document production. and additional interviews with Complainant indicate that the complaint as alleged is a result of Complainant's animosity and a desire to get back at the Respondent for some non-discriminatory action taken against Complainant. The Iowa CiD' Human Rights Commission takes the responsibili~, of eradicating discrimination and protecting respondents from unfounded charges of discrimination very seriousl'.-. It is not the Commission's intent to use the Administrative Closure provision to cut down on the backlog. The intent is to close complaints that do not ,,,,'arrant further investigation in a timely fashion. while still allowing the Complainant the opportunity to proceed to district court if the complainant continues to believe discrimination has occurred. The Iowa City Human Rights Commission believes the Ordinance revision as drafted includes safeguards to prevent the closure of a complaint that has unresolved legal issues or warrants a full investigation. Therefore. the Iowa City Human Rights Commission respectfully requests that the Iowa City City Council approve the revisions to the Iowa City Human Rights Ordinance to permit administrative closure as proposed.