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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-02-27 CorrespondenceRECEIVED FEB 1 4 1~ 602 E^ST W^S.INGTON OW^ Cm', FAX (319) 337~764 Bebm~ 12, 1996 City Council City of Iowa City Iowa City Civic Center 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear City Council Members: I am writing as a former member of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission to urge you to increase the City's allocation to the Commission so that a full time investigator and full time clerical worker can be added. It is not enough to have laws on the books which require a business not to discriminate. The laws have to be enforced and complaints have to be resolved in a timely manner. It is unfair to both parties of a dispute to have to wait for resolution for more than a year. It also makes the City look as if it really does not care about enforcing the laws that have been adopted. I know that there are many issues and projects which need yore' attention. Human rights is an issue that affects us all. Sincerely, Rab~/Jeff Portman 70' Lt:l ' -- Faith United Church of Christ 1609 DeForest Street *~ Iowa City, Iowa 52240 ** (319) 338-5238 Iowa City City Council Civic Center Iowa City, IA 52240 February 6, 1996 Dear City Council members, In November of 1994 I moved from Minneapolis to Iowa City to pastor Faith United Church of Christ. One of the strongest attractions of Iowa City and a big part of my decision to move here, was your reputation for being a progressive and enlightened community, especially in the area of human rights. I was therefore appalled to learn recently of the serious lack of funding for the commission for human rights. I know that budgets are tight, but to have good and decent legislation without the ability to enforce it, let alone take a more proactive educational and advocacy role, makes for a dangerous neglect of the rights of our citizens and a lack of credibility on the part of the City Council. I hope a way can be found to make human rights and the commission a bigger priority in budgetary considerations. A full-time investigator and a full-time clerical worker seems to me to be a reasonable and minimal expectation for a city of our size. Thank you for your consideration of my views. I look forward to living in a city that takes seriously the rights of all its citizens and expresses that concern in both word and deed. Sincerely, The Rev. Rk~ick~~mategui An Open and Affirming Congregation RECEIVED FEB 0 9 1996 City Council of Iowa City c/o City Clerk Civic Center Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Counciiors: 519 N. Governor Street iowa C~ty, iowa 52245-3034 2/'7196 ~'~!1 ~ Thank you for providing the opportunity to speak ftwice] at the public transit hearing Tuesday even/ng. I appreciate the bind the city is in due to reduction in federal support for everything under the sun, and wish you well in formulating a sound, fair solution. Points made by business people at the hearing persuaded me that seeking to generate additional iunds for transit by increasing downtown parking rates would be unwise. First, transit ls a city-wide service, and a fundina scheme that generates revenue from only one zone of the city is unfair. Second, raising downtown parking rates could well hurt downtown businesses. Although the additional out-of-pocket expense to shoppers would be minimal, the mere act of raising the rates could deter people from shopping downtown. Business owners are surely watchino their bottom lines, but just above those bottom lines is where they pay wages fminlmal though they may be) to a large number of employees who would feel the pinch of declining downtown business even more acutely than the owners. We tend to be penny-wise and pound-foolish about such things as parking fees; all'the sober cost analyses in the world would be wasted on people who don't think twice about driving fifteen miles l-ound- trip to Coralville or sixty miles round-trip to Cedar Rapids in order to save $2 for an afternoon's parking. A city-wide motor vehicle tax seems a reasonable source of revenue ~or supportino public transit. The point Z made in connection with the bus placards, that everybody benefits from mass transit whether they actually ride the bus or not, supports such a fundin~ scheme. Z encourage the council to give serious considerat]on to a city-wide motor vehicle tax as a means of ~eneratino revenue to support mass transit and to relieve street congestion for those who insist on driving. Sincerely, Edwin L. Clopton Iowa City City Council Civic Cmtter Iowa City, Iowa 52245 Bus service to Eastdale Plaza Dear City Council members: Bounie Love 1328 Esther St. Iowa 52240 Iowa City, February 16, 1996 I have not been able to see all lhe debale on lhe transit changes, but I know there are no easy answers. However, I am concerned that the Press Citizen mentions that stopping direct bus service to Eastdale Plaza is under consideration. I would like to point out that several public agencies who serve individuals who are dependent on public transit occupy Eastdale: Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Employment Service branch of Goodwill Industries of Southeast Iowa, LiltSkills and the ARC. The Goodwill program specializes in placement of people in integrated jobs in the cmmnunity, and most are ambulatory. When Vocational Rehabilitation signed our lease, it was with the expectation that we would have bus service. Most consumers who see me as a counselor are able to ride the bus, and I schedule appointments on the half hour to accommodate the bus schedule. 1 would guess some consumm~ might qnalify to switch to SEATS ff the bus did not come to the building. For ~nmpl~, an h~dividual with head injury may have difficulties finding her way fi'om a Sycamore mall bus stop. That could be more expensive. I hope you will remember that several agenci~ ar~ in Eastdale when you make these difficult decisions. Date: Tue, 20 Feb 1996 14:07:55 -0600 From: "Rockne L. Foreman" <Rockne-Foreman@uiowa.edu> To .' mkarr@blue. weeg. uiowa. edu Subject: Transit Problem Dear council members: The more we ponder the Iowa City transit problem/solution, the more upset we become. Raising the rates, and an obvious later step, decreasing service, is a very unintelligent way to serve Iowa City's needs. A more reasonable approach would be to raise parking rates at meters and ramps. For those who worry that this would impact on downtown merchants, it doesn't need to. A more comprehensive park and shop program could be implemented. If you simply acknowledge that Iowa city doesn't need more vehicles cluttering its streets, then you can start working toward an intelligent solution. We might add that several of our colleagues have indicated that, with the rate increase, it is now cheaper to use University parking, and they will now be driving in instead of taking the bus. Obviously, and I mean it, this is obvious, ridership will decline. Please consider these points. Iowa City likes to think of itself as being on the cutting edge - making a decision on transit that is ultimately very environmentally unfriendly is just not the "Iowa City way". Sincerely, Rockne L. Foreman Deborah A. Foreman 1902 Woodridge Ave. Iowa City, Iowa (319-337-4170) Rockne Foreman University of Iowa Information Technology Services Rockne-Foreman@uiowa.edu Voice: 319-335-5218 Fax: 319-335-5505 71! City Council City of Iowa City Dear City Council Members: At the January 31, 1996 meeting of the Melrose Avenue Neighborhood Association several proposals relative to the expansion of Melrose Avenue were discussed, and the consensus of this group has been forwarded under separate cover. The first priority of this group was the addition of pedestrian crosswat~ along the busy Melrose corridor. The purpose of this petition is to request special consideration for the marked crosswalks indicated on Grand Avenue and on Melrose east of Grand Avenue. As most of you know, many of the buildings on Melrose to the east of Grand Avenue are currently used as childcare facilities. The consequence of this is that during weekdays and at peak commuting hours a large number of young children are active in this area, either in transit or participating in outdoor activities. For that reason we are asking that the crosswalks in this area be marked consistent with their actual use as a School Zone, or some equivalent deisgnation. It is our hope that such designation will improve compliance with speed and right-of-way regulations in this area where increased traffic flow may have serious consequences. If there are obstacles to this reqnest we ask that they be specified to the MANA group so that we may work to overcome them. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request. See Attached List of Supporters. Lettr in Support of Crosswalk Designations for Melrose Avenue ~,~Kl,~,,d ~d>' c,~,~ C4,~e' i'~gna~re Name Printed Address/Affiliation ( V I , : What follows is a DRAFT of what was decided at our neighborhood meeting on Jan. 31. We hope we have captured the essence of what was decided at that meeting. We plan to send a final version of this to the City Staff and the City's engineering consultant. Before doing so, we are seeking your input on changes and suggestions. Please call or write us with these before Monday Feb. 12. FYI: The tentative schedule of reconstruction events is as follows: June 1996 City requests ("lets") construction bids on the project; late July or early August construction on Phase 1 begins (bridge through Hawkins Drive intersection); Phase 2 begins construction Feb or March 1997 (east of Hawkins Drive intersection to Law School); anticipated completion of both projects is August 1997 (before football Recommendations of th ~5~- ~'~t Melrose Avenue Neighborhood Association re Melrose Reconstruction Project February $, 1996 The Melrose ~.venuc Neighborhood Association was contacted by City staff and its engineering consultant, NNW Engineering, to provide neighborhood input on selected aspects of the Melrose Reconstruction Project. It is our understanding from City staff that a preliminary design for the street and bridge rcconstruction will be sent to It.wa Department of Transportation by February 19, with City Council scheduled to vote on the proposal in early March. At that time, the City will hold a hearing on the project% design. We appreciate being consulted in this matter and look forward to a continuing working relationship with the city as the project progresses. We see this as a welcome opporturfity to improve both our neighborhood and the community. We have held three publicly-announced neighborhood meetings and have made direct contact with most Melrose Avenue property owners. A neighborhood consensus was reached at our January 31 meeting on a number of recommendations, the majority of which had been made previously by the City's consultants, BRW, Inc., of Minneapolis, in their Environmental Assessment. These recommendations, listed in order of priority from highest to lowest, are as follows: 1. Pedestrian Crosswalks: a. Inclusion of a signalized crosswalk at Melrose Court/Hawkins Drive. Comment: We prefer a signal which would allow pedestrians to cross safely ~n all directions simultaneously--north/south across Melrose Avenue on the east and west sides of the ~ntersection, and east/west across the mouth of Hawkins Drive itself--while al.1 traffic is stopped, as is the case at the Benton Street/Riverside Drive intersection. A push button similar to the one at Clinton Street in front of Old Capitol Mall is the kind of device we would like to see installed. b. Addition of a signalized crosswalk on the west side of the Melrose Court/Melrose Avenue intersection. Comment: Since Melrose Court is the only through street from the Melrose bridge to Riverside Drive, there is heavy pedestrian traffic crossing Melrose Avenue at this point. This traffic is heading towards the University, the downtown area and the Cambus stop immediately across the street. Again, we would like to have installed a push button device, but one that is not connected to a traffic signal, i.e., would stop traffic only when pedestrians want tO cross. c. Addition of two unsignalized crosswalks east and north of the South Grand Avenue intersection adjacent to the University Field House. Comment: We would like these to be installed in a more permanent fashion. If they could be incorporated into the road surface itself instead of being mcrely painted, they would require low-to-no maintenance by the City. Adequate signage at such crossings is needed, especially for young children, as this is an area with 5 day care facilities. We would like to have included signs indicating a "Children at Play" area extending from South Grand Avenue to the Boyd Law School. Page 1 of 2 Reconstruction Project: Melrose Avenue Neighborhood Assn's RecommendationsPage 2 2. Bricking-in of the earth strip between the curb and sidewalk on south Comment: Because of the heavy foot traffic on the 6-7 football Saturdays each fall and also as a result of the heavy sanding and salting in the winter, it is not feasible for property owners on the south side of Melrose Avenue to grow grass in the 4 foot strip between the road and sidewalk. Instead, neighborhood residents would like to have this strip bricked in and be allowed to have input regarding the type of brick selected. Consideration of using the "paver" bricks currently buried beneath the existing road's surface should be given. The University should be consulted on this point in connection with properties they own on the south side of Melrose, i.e., primarily the section from Lucon Avenue to the Boyd Law School. We request that the sidewalks themselves not be increased in w~dth on the south side of the street but instead be maintained at their current width and setback of 4 feet. 3. Landscaping and_ planting. of ornamental trees and shrubs along the south side Cotnment: As was pointed out in the EA, the primary area in need of the softening effect of replanting and landscaping is on the south side of the street from Hawkins Drive to the bridge, with a few isolated properties east of Hawkins Drive. The majority of the other properties along Melrose already exhibit front yard plantings. The section near the bridge is also the only section where the City will be moving sidewalks and underground utilities into what is now the front yards of these properties. We would like the Cit.y to offer landscaping and planting assistance to these landowners to help mitigate the severe impact to the front yards of these properties. The neighborhood association would be willing to work with the City in contacting and negotiating these plans with the six owners along this section. We would also like the City to consider planting trees on other properties where appropriate mid where the property owner is in agreement. Perhaps MidAmerica Energy's "Trees Forever" program would be appropriate for this project. 4. Bus shelters Comment: The addition of bus shelters on the north and south sides of the street near the Field House will afford bus riders much-needed protection from the elements and may encourage the use of public transportation. As such, we believe these would be useful additions to the neighborhood. The owners of the properties at 503 and 511 Melrose have tentatively agreed to allow placing a shelter on the south side, provided the designated spot would accommodate a shelter design. The University would need to be contacted regarding a shelter on the north side of the street and possibly on the south side at Hawkins Drive. The neighborhood association offers its assistance to the City and the bus company in working with property owners whose properties would be affected by the construction of shelters. We would like these shelters to have benches and trash cans, provided they are maintained by the bus company. 5. Adequate street lighting Cotmnent: With the recent further encroachment of the University as a result of the expansion of the University Hospital and their new multistory above-ground parking facility, lightmg has become a more important neighborhood security and safety issue. As was pointed out ~n the EA, street and sidewalk lighting along Melrose is suboptimal at present and shetold be improved. However, until we know what the plans are for lighting on the north side of the street, we are unable to make a recommendation for improving the existing lighting. During the construction of Phase 2, we would like to discuss the moving of utility poles at individual sites, e.g, any poles that would need to be moved to accommodate bus shelters. We are not in l'avor of sidewalk lighting because of the visual clutter that already exists from the numerous south side utihty poles, sign poles, etc. 6. Smping of ~e road's shoulders for bicycle lanes Comment: We would like to n~ake sure that the 7 foot shoulders are adequately marked for bicycle as well as bus use. It has been suggested that roads m Madison, Wisconsin, have dual-purpose shoulders which are well marked, and we would like to have considered a s~milar kind of marking. Page 2 of 2 Ms. Sally Crowe Chair, Penny Bryn Neighborhood Assn. 1126 Teg Drive Iowa City, IA 52246 February 19, 1996 Iowa City City Council Members 410 East Washington St. Iowa City, IA 62240 Dear City Council members, The Penny Bryn Neighborhood Association would like to encourage the Council to approve funding in the budget for traffic calming. Sincerely, Sally Crowe, Chair Penny Bryn Neighborhood Assn. January 29, 1996 RECEJvE[~ F~8 CITY OF I0 WA CITY TO: RE: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council Civil Service Entrance Examination INSPECTOR II - CONSTRUCTION We, the undersigned members of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Construction Inspector II. Robert Dykstra Hired: 1/26/96 IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE Michael W. Kenny, Chair ATTEST: Clerk To: Your Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Regina PTO Subject: Traffic Petition February 26, 1996 We are enclosing a petition asking the City Council to consider installing an all- pedestrian phase button operation at the intersection of First Avenue and Rochester Street. We also would like you to consider extending the school speed limit to the east and south of this intersection. Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter. If you have any questions please contact our PTO co-chairpersons: Phyllis Pirotte-354- 5981, or Linda Merlino-354-9675. We intersection of 1st quite heavy during walkers crossing at Petition , as parents, are concerned possibility of installing walk-only push button operation at this and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this ~ntersectmn. Signed Address about the safety of our :/chi~:~no/gs~ng the Avenue and Rochester. The traffic us ng this area ~s the periods before and after school. '~here are more this intersection. We would like the City to examine the intersection Petition We , as parents, are concerned about the safety of our ~"hild~n using the intersection of 1st Avenue and Rochester. The trafficirt~ing this area is quite heavy during the periods before and after school. There are more walkers crossing at this intersection. We would like the City to examine the possibility of installing walk-only push button operation at this intersection and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this ~ntersectlon. Signed Address . -~"~ ;~'-'~--: 5~ ........~/_ _ _~_ c_ :'~ ~z ~ .......~: :.~ _ _ ..,~.~ , _ ...................~ ........... ~ ~,~;~ ........._q ~ T ~_ .~7~ v6_ _ ~c . ..........~ _ _ _ ................................. ::__..,~_z ..........: ....: .... ===================== :: :_,_:::::: Petition := , We as parents, are concerned about the safety of our chil~n FiT-lai~}?the intersection of 1st Avenue and Rochester. The traffic using ~is aYea is quite heavy during the periods before and after school. Tl~re are more walkers crossing at this intersection. We would like the City to examine the possibility of installing walk-only push button operation at this intersection and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this ~ntersect~on. Signed Address Petition ' ~ the We , as parents, are concerned about the safety of our ch~J~er~..usgg:g intersection of 1st Avenue and Rochester. The traffic usin~is~rea is quite heavy during the periods before and after school. ~.here are more walkers crossing at this intersection. We would like the City to examine the possibility of installing walk-only push button operation at this intersection and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this intersection. Signed Address _ _ ~~ : :~ :~_~ . : : _ _ ~>:_~.,. ~_ _ !~. :_~ ................. ~: ~ ~,~ . :~ ~ c~ ,- ' ~ ........... = ============ = = = = = = = = /~_ _ _: . _n:._ _ :::,~ -,:.-:. ........ - ::~-~:~ :--- ~ ..................... :- :---:-- _~ .............. ...... : ~: ......~ ~ ..................: --: .... ...... ?~-~ ........................................... ..... ___:: ............. Petiti orl -~...o .... .~.-- -~ ..,,-Tt he We as parents, are concerned about the safety ot our cnml~n~sit~ t intersection of 1st Avenue and Rochester. The tralI~c us~n~_.~s~rea is quite heavy during the periods before and after school. 'l~.~ere ~ more walkers crossing at this intersection. We would like the City to examine the possibility of installing walk-only push button operation at this intersection and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this intersection. Signed ,---, Address -:~ ~ (~F' ~7_"~? ::::'zz ...... __ ................... __. ~g ~'.~zZ _~~, ................~ x_ [Lc, ~f'f~_ ~_ '~x~,_, .....~ .....................~.~ ~_~_ ~ ~_._ _ ;_~ .... .... ~'-]~;~d ~ ~;~ ~-~ .................~:~_ x~,_~_Lm~_ ~ ~s_ .................. x~_~r_.__~~.~_~_ __ --_ ..............~____~_ ~_ ~c ...... _ _8~. -~ ~___ _~_ ~ ~ ...... ....... ~._~ .......~. ._ Petition -~e We , as parents, are concerned about the safety of our .ch~no'usm~ the intersection of 1st Avenue and Rochester. The traffic us~n _g~_~s .~:o ~ -'~ re quite heavy during the periods before and after school. T~ a~ mo walkers crossing at this intersection. We would like the Cit~to ~amine the possibility of installing walk-only push button operation a[?this intersection and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this intersection. Si~ned Address - .·~ /20 ~,/I,~,~ ............ ........... ............. :3 vv_ 3~.v~~C~ _ _ -,-..~ .... .............. ........ ............. yv.~_ ~_~ ~.~_. ~_~ ....... We , as parents, are concerned intersection of 1st Avenue and quite heavy during the periods Petition about the safety of our ch~n~smg the Rochester. The traffic usmg~Ms ~rea ~s before and after school. ~here are more walkers crossing at this intersection. possibility of installing walk-only push and to extend the school speed limit to intersection. Signed We would like the City to examine the button operation at this intersection the east and south of this Address We , as parents, are concerned intersection of 1st Avenue and quite heavy during the periods Petition about the safety of our children using the Rochester. The traffic using this area is before and after school. There are more walkers crossing at this intersection· We would like the City to examine the possibility of installing walk-only push button operation at this intersection and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this Intersection. (~,,(/Sign~ Address ......... -. ~- -a,~_ i.i ~ ~,_~_ ~:,~.:_ _ :q.~a_c~ ~_ ...._;.L~_,, .'_ _ :'_>.._ ............... - ~.~- ~_~__'~_2~A .~_a_ ~_~,~. ~__.- ..... ~1-;-.7 ~ .^ .................~ ....(r_-~ ....,.- ....: ............. __ r~. _ ~ _ _,.~_ ....................j..o_'_~_ _~o~_ _ _~ .~_~. Z~.~:~ 1~_~.~,~ .i'3 ~ : .........: ..... _j_':~_~__.:_::: .........:.::::::::::: ........:_::_: ...... We , as parents, are concerned intersection of 1st Avenue and quite heavy during the periods walkers crossing at this intersection. We would possibility of installing walk-only push button and to extend the school speed limit to the east intersection. Signed Address Petition about the safety of our children using the Rochester. The traffic using this area is before and after school. There are more like the City to examine the operation at this intersectio~ and south of this Petition We , as parents, are concerned about the safety of our children using the intersection of 1st Avenue and Rochester. The traffic using this area is quite heavy during the periods before and after school. There are more walkers c~ossing at this intersection. We would like the City to examine the possibility of installing walk-only push button operation at this intersection and to extend the school speed limit to the east and south of this intersection. Signed Address ..... ~_._,.~__p~:__~.~__.__~ .............. to~ t~-8~/_ ~x~ O~__v~.~_ t,~ ~;.~..~,~,,,'o.--r ....._~_ _ _,~_,~_ ~.x_._ :x.. ~. _~_~_ ................... .~ _..~_.. .................................................... ~".:o"~ ..... .................................................... .~._ ~., ............ ~ '~.?_ CRAIG N. WILLIS, Prelldent NANCY B. WILLIS. Vice e udt§ Abstr d Ettablilhed 1898 150 E. COURT ST.. SUITE 201 P.O. BOX 143 IOWA CITY. IOWA 52244-0143 February 26, 1996 TELEPHONE 319-337-9621 FACSIMILE 31 g-337~,581 City Council The City of Iowa City Dear Friends, Nancy and I feel obliged to respond to recent suggestions that it would somehow be in the public interest to revoke the option presently exercised by the City of Iowa City, to employ a professional City Assessor and let that role be filled by the office of the County Assessor. We regret being unable to presen,t our views in person but we will be out of town, in fact out of the country, at the time this discussion will initially take place. It is our view that the elimination of the assessor post would be foolish, in that it rejects an affirmative advantage of the system afforded to cities, would be an exercise in false economy, and would ignore the superior performance of the system as it exists. Allow me to elaborate. We, the citizens of Iowa City, need a specialist who will promptly and accurately assess the property within its city boundaries. if you think about it, no public official is as directly responsible for the maintence of the integrity of the life blood of the city budget as the person who assures that the assessed value is as close to the market value of the properties in Iowa City as our current, somewhat archaic system allows. It has always been my understanding that the option of having the city assessor reflected the fact that urban properties have unique assessment problems which require training, diligence, and thoroughness to assess. One measure that I would suggest that you employ from an economic basis to measure the impact of inaccurate assessment would be to just calculate the impact on our budget of a one percent reduction in the assessed valuation. Compare that reduction to the assessor's proposed budget and you will find, I believe, that the amount spent on a professional specialist assessor seems well worth the expenditure. Further in this regard, I commend your attention to the excellent personal performance rating of our current city assessor in having our total assessed value at a very high percentage of our fair market value. Another point supporting the continuation of the existing specialist city assessor system is the special political responsiveness that's designed into it. I do not have to go into great detail to expand how the decision dynamics of the County Conference Board (if the county assessor were assessing the properties within Iowa City) would be different than the current conference board. Again, I believe that the public interest of the citizens of the City of Iowa City, is directly vindicated by having a professional assessor who is more politically responsive to you, the council. As a check on the validly of the above arguments, I would suggest you would find out how many of the cities of Iowa CiW's size or larger have city assessors. My guess would be that you would find that all of them do, for the reasons above cited. A final point, the economics of the system as it exists is, in my view, it would be false economy to suggest somehow that combining the offices a lot of labor type costs would be saved. A quick review of the facts would show that changing the form of assessment would not change the number of parcels, and would require the same number of assessor's cards, or assessor's data entries, and would require the same number of person-hours to manipulate the data in the form that is called on by the present system. I would suggest that one would find that there would be no labor savings, and that the possible diminution in the assessed value because of the fact that the county assessor would have a broader set of responsibilities would be devastating. I feel I should close on a personal note. As you know, the preparation of abstracts of title involve close contact with the various officials who maintain public records. I know personally and have worked around both Dan Hudson and Jerry Musser for a long time. I can state that directly {despite inferences and implications to the contrary) that the city and county assessor offices are accurate, efficient, helpful public servants. When I get into a jam, I head for the assessor's office to access the excellent records them to clarify any confusions. You would not be surprised in visiting either of those offices to be helped at the counter by Dan or Jerry personally. By way of conclusion, I wish to state again that any sort of cursory examination of the existing system would show that it is an affirmative advantage to the city of Iowa City, to have a professional specialist ciw assessor, that any change in the system risks the maintenance of the tax base, and that our current incumbents are showing by their performance that the money we spend for each of the offices are well worth it, It is never inappropriate to look for economies in public life, but to look in this direction is misguided to say the least. Thanks for your attention to these issues we will be glad to talk to you further at anytime in the future. Sincerely yours, CNW:cas C i~.~111s Nat ~. Willis City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: February 26, 1996 To: City Council From: City Manager Re: Appointment of Fire Chief Effective immediately, I have appointed Andy Rocca as the new Iowa City Fire Chief, Andy was selected following a competitive nationwide recruitment. Currently serving as Acting Chief, Andy has 18 years of service with the Iowa City Fire Department. We were pleased to have received a number of highly qualified candidates. I would ask that you receive this correspondence as part of your Council consent calendar on February 27, 1996. be1-2CM