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Home My WebLink About2005-03-24 Info Packet CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET March 24, 2005 CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org IP1 Tentative City Council Meetings and Work Session Agendas IP2 Letter from Tom Harkin to Mayor Lehman: Community Development Block Grant Funding IP3 Letter from JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner to Lexington Avenue Residents between Park Road and River Street: Lexington Avenue Traffic Calming Barricade IP4 Press Release: Challenges to Iowa City Oak Trees Presentation [Submitted by Atkins] IP5 Agenda Packet for: March 17 PATV Board of Directors Meeting IP6 Iowa City Police Department Use of Force Report: February 2005 IP7 Minutes [Approved]: Economic Development Committee: February 17, 2005 IP8 Minutes [Approved]: Deer Task Force: March 1, 2005 I PRELIMINARY DRAFT/MINUTES IP9 Telecommunications Commission: March 8, 2005 IP10 Telecommunications Commission: February 28, 2005 IPll Deer Task Force: March 22, 2005 IP12 Scattered Site Housing Task Force: February 28, 2005 IP13 Iowa City Human Rights Commission: January 25, 2005 IP14 Public Library Board of Trustee: February 24, 2005 ~ City Council Meeting Schedule and ~ Work Session Agendas uarch 2,, ~oo~ CITY OF IOWA CiTY www.icgov.org FUTURE MEETINGS AND AGENDAS I TENTATIVE · MONDAY, APRIL 4 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, APRIL 5 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, APRIL 18 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, APRIL 19 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 Coralville City Hall 4:00p Joint Meeting · MONDAY, MAY 2 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, MAY 3 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · FRIDAY, MAY 6 Emma J. Harvat Hall 8:30a Special Formal Evaluations · MONDAY, MAY 16 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, MAY 17 EmmaJ. HarvatHall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, JUNE 6 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, JUNE 7 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, JUNE 20 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, JUNE 21 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting HErd T}i EDUC.!TIOW. i~ABOR, ,ND ~ .... IC.N~ March ~ ~, 2005 The Honorable Ernie Lehman Office of the Mayor 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Mayor Lehman: Since the release of President Bush's budget, many Iowans have contacted me with their serious concerns about Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. Because I know first hand the important work being done with this funding in Iowa, I recently signed on to a bipartisan letter to the Budget Committee urging them to maintain the Federal Government's commitment to the CDBG. This bipartisan letter represents the serious commitment I share with a nun~er of my colleagues to this program, and I hope that this strong show of support has an effect on the committee's deliberations. I wanted to contact you, and other community development leaders in the state, to share the attached letter. You can be assured that I will continue my efforts to ensure that this Administration does not cut the budget on the backs of the programs that will get the economy going again. This is simply pennywise and pound foolish. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions or concerns about CDBG or any other economic development issue. Sincerely, Tom Harkin United States Senator TH/baf CEDAR P~APIDS IA 52401 DES MQINE. S iA 50309 DAVENPORT iA 52803 DUBL:QLtE IA B2001 SIOUX CITY. IA 51101 (31q) 365 4504 ~5!5r 284-4574 (~3,322 i338 (563~ 582-2130 (712,252 !550 P~PA~D. PUBLISHED AND ~LED AT TA~A~R E~EN~ March 2, 2005 ~ The Honorable Judd Gregg The Honorable Ken(Conrad3;} Chairman Ranking Member Committee on the Budget Committee on the BU~dget United States Senate United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20~';(,~ Dear Chairman Gregg and Ranking Member Conrad: The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program funds housing rehabilitation, supportive services, public improvements and economic development projects in communities across the nation. CDBG serves more than 1,100 entitlement communities, urban counties and states, and more than 3,000 rural communities. We urge the Budget Committee to maintain the Federal government's current commitment to community development programs at the Department of ~ousing and Urban Development and support a budget allocation of $4.732 billion in Function 450 for UDBG, Section 108 economic development loan guarantees, and the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative. HUD is the Federal Department principally responsible for community economic development. CDBG is the centerpiece of the Federal government's efforts to help states and localities meet the needs of low-income communities. Section 101 of the Housing and Community Development Act created the CDBG program to consolidate a number of complex and overlapping programs of financial assistance in order to encourage community development activities whichare consistent with comprehensive local and areawide development planning; to further the national housing goal of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family; and to foster the undertaking of housing and community development activities in a coordinated and mutually supportive manner by Federal agencies and programs, as well as by communities. HUD's community development programs coupled with HUD's housing and homeless programs and supportive services, provide communities with a comprehensive approach to serving the needs of residents. CDBG is the glue that holds other Federal programs serving low-income communities together. The Strengthening America's Community proposal aims to create strong accountability standards, offer flexibility to communities and create a more unified federal approach. These goals are already hallmarks of the CDBG program. On the 30th Anniversary of CDBG in 2004, HUD Deputy Secretary Roy Bemardi said the following about the program: HUD has a long history of'being there' and providing help for people, particularly those with the greatest needs- our lower income constituents. CDBG has certainly been there, during boom years and most importantly in times of tightening budgets, which place greater demands on existing services. We must continue to support and build upon programs that work, those that have a proven record offlexibility and the ability to fit in with locally determined needs. CDBG is such a program and ranks among our nation's oldest and most successful programs. It continues to set the standard or all other block grant programs. The Strengthening America's Communities proposal would recreate a block grant program similar to CDBG within the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce, however, does not have the vital infrastructure or institutional capacity to provide a comprehensive approach to neighborhood development. Replicating HUD's CDBG program within the Department of Commerce would require rebuilding HUD's "infrastructure" and would result in inefficiencies, greater complexity and less aid to fewer cities, an approach which does not serve America's communities or taxpayers. CDBG's success depends on a locally driven, citizen participation process that provides flexibility and does not take a "one-size-fits-all" approach. The needs of Nashua, New Hampshire; Bismarck, North Dakota; Cincinnati, Ohio, and, Kansas City, Missouri are very different from the needs of Miami, Florida; E1 Paso, Texas; Pueblo, Colorado; or San Diego, Califomia. CDBG is capable of addressing the diverse needs of these communities whether it is housing rehabilitation, homeownership, supported services for the elderly or children, business development or infrastructure improvements. CDBG is one of the most effective Federal domestic programs to revitalize neighborhoods with proven results. Over 95 percent of CDBG funds went to activities principally benefiting 10w- and moderate-income persons. Twenty-eight percent of CDBG funds supported housing activities in distressed communities, 24 percent supported public improvements, 15 percent went to the provision of public services, and 7 percent supported economic development activities. In FY2004, CDBG housing projects assisted 168,938 households. Public service projects funded with CDBG served 13,312,631 individuals. Economic development programs funded by CDBG in fiscal 2004 created or retained 90,637 jobs for Americans and public improvement projects benefited 9,453,993 persons. CDBG also has a strong record in business retention: CDBG ensured that over 80 percent of the businesses assisted through the program were still in operation after three years. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working with you to ensure that communities across the country can provide good jobs, affordable housing, and public services to meet the needs of all Americans. Sincerely, Daniel Akaka (HI) Russell Feingold (WI) Ben Nelson (NE) Max Baucus (MT) Dianne Feinstein (CA) Bill Nelson (FL) Evan Bayh (IN) Tom Harkin (IA) Barack Obama (IL) Joseph Biden (DE) Kay Hutchison (TX) Mark Pryor (AR) JeffBingaman (NM) James Jeffords (VT) Jack Reed (RI) Christopher Bond (MO) Tim Johnson (SD) John Rockefeller (WV) Barbara Boxer (CA) Edward Kennedy (MA) Ken Salazar (CO) Conrad Bums (MT) John Kerry (MA) Rick Santomm (PA) Maria Cantwell (WA) Herb Kohl (WI) Paul Sarbanes (MD) Thomas Carper (DE) Mary Landrieu (LA) Charles Schumer (NY) Lincoln Chafee (RI) Frank Lautenberg (NJ) Gordon Smith (OR) Hillary Clinton (NY) Patrick Leahy (VT) Olympia Snowe (ME) Norm Coleman (MN) Carl Levin (MI) Arlen Specter (PA) Jon Corzine (NJ) Joseph Lieberman (CT) Debbie Stabenow (MI) Mark Dayton (MN) Blanche Lincoln (AR) James Talent (MO) Mike Dewine (OH) Mel Martinez (FL) David Vitter (LA) Christopher Dodd (CT) Barbara Mikulski (MD) George Voinovich (OH) Byron Dorgan (ND) Patty Murray (WA) Ron Wyden (OR) Richard Durbin (IL) CiTY OF Iowa CitY 410 East Washington Street March 23, 2005 Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 {319) 356-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX www. icj~ov, orB Lexington Avenue Residents Between Park Road and River Street Re: Lexington Avenue traffic calming barricade Dear Resident: Recently, City Council directed us to survey your neighborhood on the retention of the traffic- calming barricade. This was in response to a le~er from three residents of Lexington Avenue requesting a re-survey of the current residents of Lexington Avenue. The survey resulted in 22 of 24 questionnaires returned, with 77% in favor of the barricade remaining in place and 23 % opposed to the barricade remaining in place. We forwarded these results to the City Council, and they have concurred that the traffimcalming barricade will remain in place between the months of April and November. Weather permi~ing, the barricade will be reinstalled shodly after April 1, 2005. Thank you for your participation in this matter. It would be our intention to not reconsider this maker for at least one year and then only if requested by the neighborhood. Feel free to contact me at 358-5254 or ani$$a-william$@iowa-city, org if you have any questions. Sincerely, Anissa Williams JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner cc: City Council Steve Atkins, City Manager Matt Johnson, Police Andy Rocca, Fire Kadn Franklin, Planning Jeff Davidson, Planning Rick Fosse, Public Works John Sobaski, Streets Bud Stockman, Streets Marcia Klingaman, Neighborhood Services jccogtp/ltr/lexington barricade 2.doc ICGov. Org Email Release lP4 Steve Atkins From: web@icgov.org Sent: Friday, March 18, 2005 11:14AM To: steve-atkins@iowa-city.org Subject: ICGov.org Media ReLease: General City News from The City of Iowa City Title: Challenges to Iowa City Oak Trees Presentation Set Release Date: Friday, March 18, 2005 Release Time = 11:06:00 AM Originating Department: Parks Contact Person: Terry Robinson Contact Number: 319~356-5107 Oak trees in many parts of the Midwest, including eastern Iowa and the Iowa City area are vulnerable to developing Oak Wilt disease. A presentation, "Challenges to our Oak trees - disease and insects", will be held on Monday, March 28 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at City Hall, 410 E. Washington St. The presentation, sponsored by the City of Iowa City Forestry Division, will focus on recent concerns over Oak Wilt disease and the Two-lined Chestnut Borer. Oak Wilt disease is caused by a fungus that can threaten the life of trees. The Two-lined Chestnut Borer is a beetle that attacks Oak trees. These and other insect and disease pests, as well as the treatment and handling of afflicted trees, will be presented by Chris Feeley, Extension Forestry Specialist and Dr. Hark Shour, ISU Extension Program Specialist in Entomology. To subscribe and unsubscribe from ICGov email releases click here: http : / /www.icg.o_v.org/subscribe.as9 Click here to go to the City Jobs page Do not reply directly to this e-mail. It is produced from an automated system, and is not monitored for replies. If you have a question or comment about this information, 3/18/2005 AGENDA PATV BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, March t 7th, 2005 7:00 pm PATV- 206 Lafayette Str----t i. Call meeting to order 2. Consent agenda 3. Approval of February Minutes 4. Old business 5. Short public announcements 6. New business 7. Reports · ICTC · Committees i. Building & Grounds ii. Outreach & Fundraising iii. Technology iv. Refranchising · Treasurer · Management- Iowa Sharos 8. Board announcements 9. ^djoumment If you have additional agenda items or cannot attend the meeting, please contact Josh at 338-7035. PATV Board of Directors' Meeting Minutes Thursday, January 20, 2005 7:00 PM PATV- 206 Lafayette Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52240 1. Called meeting to order: Jack Fuller called meeting to order at 7:08 PM. Present were Doug Allaire (11/04-11/07), Holly Berkowitz (11/04-11107), John Carhoff (11/02 - 11105), Jack Fuller (12/01-11107), Brett Gordon (1 Ross Meyer (11/04ol 1/07), Steve Newell (11/01-11107), Phil Phillips (11103- 11106) and Director Josh Goding. Tom Nothnagle (11/98-11104) present. Angela Tyler of Live and Local present. 2. Consent agenda: consented to agenda. 3. Approval of December minutes: Doug A. moved to accept December minutes as amended. 4. Old business: a. Chili Supper Fundraiser, 2/'10105, 6:00-9:00 PM at Old Brick: Tom Nothnagle and others: BOD members bring chili, non-alcoholic beverages, bread. Sign-up sheet in studio. Stage, open mic, crew to help record and broadcast music. Also, Hannah will talk on freedom of expression. Discussed posters and commercials.. Fee at entrance. Raffle. Josh G: Close PA'rV at 4:00 PM, set up at 4:00 PM. BOO will help set up. 5. New business: a. Phil P. moved that BOD give Rene Paine a lifetime membership to PAI¥, and wrote a letter to her with an application. Holly seconded, BOD approved. b. BOD discussed compliance policies. 6. Short public announcements: a. Angela Taylor of Live and Local spoke of Where is Your Heart? 7. Reports a. ICTC meeting Monday at 5:30 PM at the Cable office. b. Committees: i. Building and Grounds: Painting in winter: Discussed water leakage. ii. Fundraising: * Chili supper: Discussed. Jack will e-mail BOD about responsibilities (See 4a). * Reggae Band March 24: John C. suggested Reggae Band performance on March 24 as fundraiser; videotape; sell food. VVill report back. iii. Refranchising: None iv. Evaluation: Done v. Bylaws: No reporL c. Treasurer: Steve N.: TIPS investment perfom,ing well. There are no expenses which destabilize financial planning perfo.uance. Snow removal budget OK: One night in January about $120. Phil P. asked about capital reserve fund. Discussed. Develop goals. Discussed. d. Management: Josh G. announced: i. Iowa Shams BOD 2/18/05 in Ames. Josh G. and Adam Burke will attend. ii. New class in preproduction in March with Adam. iii. Producer forum in late March. 8. Announcements: None 9. Adjourned 8:28 PM. Draft of January 20, 2005 PATV BOD meeting respectfully submitted on February 15, 2005 at 1:39 PM by Holly Berkowitz, Secretary. IOWA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT USE OF FORCE REPORT February 2005 OFFICER DATE INC # INCIDENT FORCE USED 04,60 02/02/05 05-5098 Domestic Assault Subject resisted arrest while being hand cuffed by trying to flee. Officers directed the subject to the ground and exposed them to a chemical irritant. Officers then used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 59 020205 05-5161 Domestic Assault Subject resisted arrest while being hand cuffed. Officers directed the subject to the ground and exposed them to a chemical irritant. Hand control techniques were then used to place handcuffs on the subject. 93,88,15 020305 05-5310 Attempted Suicide Officers displayed less lethal projectile and drew sidearms for a subject yielding a knife threatening to harm themselves. Officers were able to talk subject into dropping the knife. Subject was then transported to the hospital for assistance. 14 020505 05-5631 Burglary Officers responded to a report of a burglary in progress. Officers observed suspects running from the scene and called for them to stop. Subject stopped but then resisted hand cuffing efforts. Officers used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on subject. Subject then refused to get into the squad car for transportation. Officers used control technique to get subject into the squad car. 34 020505 05-5677 Committal Subject resisted hand cuffing efforts. Officers used hand control techniques to put subject's hands behind back to be handcuffed. 58 020905 05-6413 Theft Subject attempted to flee from Officers investigatmg a theft. Officers directed subject to the ground. Subject resisted hand cuffing efforts. Officers used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 52 021105 05-6741 Intoxicated Subject Subject attempted to flee from Officers. Officers directed the subject to the ground. Subject resisted hand cuffing and assaulted Officers. Officers used active counter measures and hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 09,51 021705 05-7846 Drag Investigation Subject had been placed under arrest and resisted hand cuffing efforts. Officers used hand control techniques and exposed the subject to a chemical irritant for hand cuffing. 31 021805 05-7855 Fight in Progress Subject was placed under arrest and resisted hand cuff'mg. Officers directed them to the ground and used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 33 021805 05-7860 Disturbance Call Officer drew side arm and gave verbal commands for a subject suspected of attempting to break into a residence. Subject was taken into custody with no problems. 60,04,23 021905 05-8167 Warrant Service Subject was placed under arrest and resisted hand cuff'mg efforts. Officers directed them to the ground and used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 19,59,95 022005 05-8311 Fight in Progress Subject assaulted Officers who were searching them incident to an arrest. Officers used active counter measures to control the subject from further assaults. Subject then refused to get into a squad car. Officers used hands on technique to place subject into the squad car. Subject was transported to the hospital. At the hospital the subject refused to comply with hospital directives and again assaulted Officers. Officers used additional hands on techniques and active counter measures to insure the subject received treatment and prevent further assaults. 17,21,18 022405 05-8848 Public Intoxication Subject has been placed under arrest and resisted hand cuffing efforts while assaulting an Officer. Officers directed them to the ground and used hands on technique to place handcuffs on the subject. Subject then refused to get into a squad car. Officers used hands on technique to place subject into the squad car. 05 022505 05-9047 Trespass/Intoxicated Subject resisted arrest by refusing to Subject place hands behind their back. Officer used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 95 022605 05-9261 Domestic Disturbance Officer displayed less than lethal projectile when responding to a report of a subject armed with a knife threatening to harm himself and others. 59 022605 05-9423 Alcohol Violation Subject resisted arrest by refusing to place hands behind their back. Officer used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 38 022705 05-9495 Suspicious Activity Subject resisted arrest by refusing to place hands behind their back. Officer used hand control techniques to place handcuffs on the subject. 19 022805 05-9712 Traffic Stop Subject resisted arrest by attempting to flee. Officer displayed chemical irritant. Subject then complied without further incident. IP7 MINUTES APPROVED CITY COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 17, 2005 CITY HALL, LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM Members Present: Ernie Lehman, Bob Elliot, Regenia Bailey Members Absent: NONE Staff Present: Steve Nasby Others Present: Brian Pedrick, Dave Helm, Dave Neipp, Joe Raso CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chairperson Lehman called the meeting to order at 9:05AM APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2005 Motion: Elliot moved to approve the minutes from February 1, 2005 meeting as written. Bailey seconded. Motion passed 3-0. DISCUSSION OF REQUEST FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE- LEAR CORPORATION Nasby said that the Lear Corporation is making an application to the State of Iowa for Community Economic Betterment Account (CEBA) funding, and also for the State's New Capital Improvement Program (NCIP). He mentioned that the State of Iowa's CEBA program requires at least 50% match from the City funds. He added that the City is the official sponsor of the application. In response to a question, Nasby said that the City has sponsored CEBA applications before for Oral B and United Natural Foods. He added that Lear Corporation is asking CEBA for $500,000, so the minimum City match would be $250,000. He noted that Lear Corporation has requested that the City's assistance could be I the form of public improvement. He said that there are some improvements to the industrial park road that are proposed and storm water or storm sewer work. Nasby said that City's money would go into these public improvements which woutd help the efficiency of the plant. He added that if the road would be widened, the storm drainage would need to be taken into account as it is now an open ditch along the road. Elliot asked if the improvements are all complementary with the plans that exist for the Highway 6 renovations. Nasby answered that an improvement to Industrial Park Road was not in the original Highway 6 improvement plan, but the timing is good. Elliot said that from reading the application, Lear's material transportation is the most important consideration in the competitive nature of the business. Pedrick said that transportation is a very important part of their business as about 80 semi-trailers arrive or depart daily. Lehman asked how the committee would like to proceed. He added that everybody appears to agree that the City should support the project. Nasby added that the committee should discuss if they are supportive of the $250,000 to meet the minimum CEBA match and then move to what types of assistance could be offered. Helm said that the proposed improvements are not serving just the Lear facility but it is tied to the improvements on Highway 6. Elliot asked if there is a reason why to do this now with these funds instead of doing it for typical capital improvement. Bailey asked what are the sources for money that could be used for this project. Nasby answered that there are several sources that could be used for these public improvements, which included General Obligation Bonds and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Economic Development Committee Minutes February 17, 2005 Page 2 Bailey said that the project would achieve some of the City's economic development goals for providing economic opportunities for well-paying jobs with benefits. Elliot said that other economic development projects the City has assisted are done are in order to add employees, this project however, would assist an existing firm to retain employees and to more effectively compete for business. He asked if there would be any way for accountability of retaining the jobs. Nasby said that there would be an agreement, which would contain enforcement methods, and the company would have to maintain a certain number of full time positions, and pay wages at a specific threshold. Helm said that of the 318 jobs to be retained, 69% qualify as Iow income according to HUD's guidelines, 47% live in Iowa City, and 59% are minorities. Raso asked if there would be more issues that would rise by using two different programs for the improvements. Lehman said that an inconvenience might be the requirements of each program. Pedrick asked if the City would approve the money, if that money would have to necessarily go into the specific projects. Lehman said that the stoplight to be put on Highway 6 would also have a direct impact on Lear, but it would also improve the traffic in the city. He said that it would be a really strong case that the improvement proposed could be tied with the improvement of the SE part of the Highway 6. Elliot asked how many deliveries the Lear Corporation gets daily. Pedrick answered that in the previous day, there were 101 deliveries by semi-truck. Elliot said that anything that could be done to ease transportation in Iowa City is welcome. Lehman asked whether this would be a project that all members of the committee would agree to support. All members answered positively. Lehman added that there would be two possible scenarios. One, he said, would be using CDBG funds, a second one would be using road use taxes, or third, a combination of the two sources. Lehman said that he would prefer a combination of the two. Elliot said that he would like to have Nasby look at the distribution of funding sources and come up with a recommendation on how it is divided between those two funds. Lehman said that the Committee would support the project, but the funding details would need to be worked out internally to determine what sources to use. MOTION: Elliot moved to support the project. Bailey seconded the motion. Motion passed 3-0. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:30 AM. Minutes submitted by Bogdana Rus. s:lpcdlminuteslecodev/20051edcO2-17-O5.doc Council Economic Development Committee Attendance Record 2005 Terl~ Name Expires 02/01 02/17 00/00 00/00 00/00 00/00 00/00 Regenia Bailey 01/02/08 X X Bob Elliott 01/02/08 X X Ernest Lehman 01/02/06 X X Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No Meeting ..... Not a Member MINUTES APPROVED DEER TASK FORCE MEETING MARCH 1, 2005 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM - CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Pat Farrant, Alan Nagel, Harold Goff, Pete Sidwell, Jan Ashman, Peter Jochimsen, and Linda Dykstra (arrived at 5:50 PM) MEMBERS ABSENT: Martin Jones STAFF PRESENT: Kathi Johansen OTHERS: Gene Szymkowiak (applicant for Biologist/Scientist seat); Tim Thompson (IDNR) CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Farrant called the meeting to order at 5:45 PM. UPDATE ON BIOLOGIST/SCIENTIST POSITION: Farrant introduced Gene Szymkowiak and welcomed him to the Deer Task Force. It was noted that at this evening's City Council meeting, the Council would be considering his appointment to the Task Force. Szymkowiak introduced himself, stating that currently he is a veterinarian in Coralville. APPROVE MINUTES - FEBRUARY 15, 2005 MEETING: Chairperson Farrant asked if anyone had any changes or corrections to the minutes. MOTION: Nagel moved to accept the minutes of February 15, 2005, as submitted; seconded by Ashman. Motion carried 6 to 0 (Jones and Dykstra absent). METHODS OF DEER MANAGEMENT/POPULATION CONTROL: Farrant gave the members a handout that gives a retrospective look at the seven-year history of the Deer Task Force. She pulled this information from the minutes of past meetings. Ashman stated that she feels it would be helpful to go around the table and have each member give a brief reason as to why they joined this committee, and she offered to start this. Goff stated that while he'd be happy to hear the history, he wants it stated that this is a new committee this year, and they do not have to follow what was set forth in the past. Ashman started by explaining to the members why she is on the Task Force. Jochimsen asked that they move on to the business at hand, and a brief discussion ensued about "why" this committee is in force. The other members briefly explained their position, in relation to being on the Deer Task Force. Farrant then opened the discussion on other methods of deer management and population control. Nagel stated that he sees three large issues: 1) the effectiveness of deer management; 2) cost; and 3) the popular support of citizens. He noted that the Press- Citizen had a "very strong" editorial on December 29 that strongly advocated bow hunting in Iowa City. Jochimsen asked what the "goal" is - to reduce the need for sharp shooting or to eliminate it. Golf stated that up until 1997, it was perfectly legal to bow hunt in Iowa City; however, at that time the City Council made a change to this. Tim Thompson, IDNR, stated that the City Attorney at that time saw a "loophole" in the law and basically closed it. The discussion turned toward what is considered "humane" in killing deer, and whether or not bow hunters could humanely kill deer. The members also discussed whether or not they should have some public sessions, in order to find out what the interested public has to say. Szymkowiak asked the members for some history on the original Deer Task Force, such as goals, time frame for getting the population under control, and whether or not it is working. Farrant responded to Szymkowiak's questions, stating that a lot of what he is asking about is covered in the paperwork he will receive once his seat on the committee is confirmed. (TAPE ENDS) The discussion continued with various members giving viewpoints on what has and has not worked in the past. Golf noted that for the past five years they have talked about bow hunting, but they have not acted on it. He asked that they continue this discussion, and attempt to permit bow hunting again. Thompson also noted that other methods of deer kill/control are trap and kill, and trap and relocate, but due to chronic wasting disease, other issues arise. Szymkowiak asked if anyone had any information on bow hunters in other communities, and how accurate they have been. Some members agreed that they do need more information regarding bow hunting and hunters, in regards to proficiency and numbers. Goffnoted that he feels it is time to open up sport hunting in order to control the deer population. Szymkowiak asked the members what the thinking was when bow hunting was discontinued, and only sharp shooting was used. Farrant and Ashman stated that it was a combination of the feeling it would not be safe, as well as the large number of deer that needed to be killed. The members' discussion wrapped up with Thompson reporting that there were 154 deer tags issued (153 actual hits), with a final count of 57 males and 96 females, in regards to the White Buffalo deer kill. COMMUNITY COMMENT: Dan Harbit, a life-long Iowa City resident, spoke to the members first. He stated that he sees hundreds of deer in the area, and is himself a hunter. He stated that he feels with the rising costs, as well as the areas that need to be addressed, he feels that bow hunting is the way to go. Joel Flack spoke next. He is also a hunter, and he talked about the bow hunting that the town of Marion has done and the outcome of it. John Flack, Joel's dad, spoke next, and stated that with the University not allowing hunting on their property, this has given the deer a haven to go to. OTHER BUSINESS: Johansen gave members a handout from Jan Ashman, and the White Buffalo deer kill report. (TAPE ENDS) SET AGENDA AND TIME FOR NEXT MEETING: Chairperson Farrant noted that the next meeting is March 22, 2005, at 5:45 PM. She asked the members to get their comments and suggestions to her regarding the 2004-2005 Deer Management Report, which is planned for review at the next meeting. ADJOURN: MOTION: Jochimsen moved to adjourn at 7:21 PM; seconded by Dykstra. Deer Management Task Force Attendance Record 2005 1/18 2/15 3/1 ' J. Ashman X A X _L. Dykstra X X X P. Farrant X X X H. Goff X X X M. Jones X A A P. Sidwell A X X A. Nagel X X X P. Jochimsen X A X Key: X = Present A = Absent NM = No Meeting IP9 MINUTES DRAFT IOWA CITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2005 - 2:30 P.M. CITY CABLE TV OFFICE, 10 S. LINN ST.-TOWER PLACE PARKING FACILITY MEMBERS PRESENT: Jim Pusack, Terry Smith, Saul Mekies, Brett Castillo, Kimberly Thrower MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Drew Shaffer, Mike Brau, Dale Helling OTHERS PRESENT: RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL None at this time. SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING EXTENSION OF FRANCHISE BETWEEN MEDIACOM AND THE CITY OF IOWA CITY. Commissioners discussed options for a date and time to hold a public heating to gather input regarding the draft franchise agreement with Mediacom. Castillo moved and Thrower seconded a motion to move the public heating from March 28 to April 18 at 5:30 p.m. in the Iowa City Public Library Room A. The motion passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Smith moved and Thrower seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. Adjournment was at 2:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Drew Shaffer Cable TV Administrator M1NUTES DRAFT IOWA CITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2005 - 5:30 P.M. CITY CABLE TV OFFICE, 10 S. LINN ST.-TOWER PLACE PARKING FACILITY MEMBERS PRESENT: Jim Pusack, Terry Smith, Saul Mekies, Brett Castillo (by phone), Kimberly Thrower MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Drew Shaffer, Mike Brau, Bob Hardy, Dale Helling OTHERS PRESENT: Kevin Hoyland, Susan Rogusky, Jon Koebrick, Jean Rice (by phone), Don Williams (by phone) RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL None at this time. SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION Koebrick said a notice for a rate increase in the Family Package has been sent to subscribers and the City. The rate increase will take effect April 1. Shaffer reported that the public hearing on the franchise extension will be publicized using press releases, video spots, ads in the newspaper, a crawl on the weather channel, city web sites, InfoVision, and sponsorship announcements on WSUI and KSUI. The topic for the next Avatar program will be winter in Iowa City. Regarding the draft franchise agreement Williams said he thought it was a good franchise agreement and is satisfied with the results. Williams said he was satisfied with the state-of-the-art language, funding for the access channels and the lack of restrictions on how those access channel funds are spent, and the access channels placement in the channel lineup. The Commission went over the franchise agreement section by section. Smith noted that the agreement is for 13 years. Thrower asked if these franchise terms would apply if another company acquired Mediacom. Rice said that a new company would assume the obligations of the franchise. Pusack noted that the system capacity was increased from 550 MHz to 750 MHz and asked about the significance of that. Williams said that for every 6 MHz an additional analog channel could be added or even more digital channels. The current state-of-the art is 860 MHz. Koebrick said the current system is built to 860 MHz and is operated at 750MHz. Pusack said that the number of subscribers per node was decreased from 600 to 500. Pusack noted that Mediacom is offering cable modem service for each school. Smith said it might not be wise to contractually specify that seven access channels be provided. The consumer survey done to gather input for the franchising process indicated that subscribers are interested in lower rates and better programming on the basic tier. Smith questioned if those interests are being met by mandating another access channel in the basic tier. Smith said that he is concerned that the franchise will tie the hands of the City in the future if it wishes to consolidate any of the access channels. Language that gives the City the right to release the obligation for an additional access channel may be needed. Rice said that according to federal law that an unused channel can revert to use by the cable operator. Koebrick said that language from the Cable Act could be inserted in that section to clarify the issue for future Telecommunications Commissions. There was consensus among the Commission to include that language from the Cable Act. Smith said that in regards to Section XI B that the consumer survey indicated a desire for lower basic tier rates, yet the pass-through fee is being increased 10% and by 20% in 5 years. Pusack noted that the desire for better local programming indicated in the survey might be better met by the pass- through fee increase. Rice said the goal of the increase was to keep pace with inflation. Helling noted that a 20% increase would be about 14 years out from the original initiation of the pass-through fee and does not likely quite meet the rate of inflation over that period. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Smith moved and Mekies seconded a motion to defer approval of the meeting minutes of January 2005 as a delay in mail delivery prevented the draft minutes from arriving prior to the meeting. The motion passed unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS None. SHORT PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS None. IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORT Hoyland reported that he had nothing new to report. CONSUMER ISSUES Shaffer reported receiving two complaints about billing problems and that they have been resolved. MEDIACOM REPORT Koebrick reported that he has been busy working on the franchise extension the last month. A notice for a rate increase in the Family Package has been sent to subscribers and the City. The rate increase will take effect April 1. UNIVERSITY OF IOWA REPORT No representative was present. PATV REPORT No representative was present. SENIOR CENTER REPORT Rogusky distributed the SCTV program schedule. Grant applications are being prepared with assistance from personnel from the University of Iowa to secure funding for equipment and staff to stream video over the Internet. Any additional funding will add to a small grant received last year. LEGAL REPORT No representative was present. LIBRARY REPORT No representative was present. KIRKWOOD REPORT No representative was present. MEDIA UNIT Hardy reported that the Media Unit taped a program sponsored by the League of Women Voters on mental health parity. The Community Television Service has accepted three interns from the University of Iowa. During their internship they will assist with productions and produce a public service announcement for a local nonprofit organization. Interactive Channel 5 will be carrying the League of Women Voters Legislative Forums live. InfoVision has re-activated an old category, You Tell Us that will be gathering input on InfoVision and the video on demand service. InfoVision staff continues to work towards the transition of the database to a Mac platform. When finished it will offer Internet browsing capacity with direct links to selected web sites. Hardy reported that he toured the Iowa City Community School District's video production facilities and will be preparing a report to help them improve the quality of their signal. Hardy has held initial discussion with North Liberty officials regarding carrying the North Liberty City Council meetings on channel 4. CABLE TV ADMINISTRATOR REPORT Shaffer reported that the public hearing on the franchise extension will be publicized using press releases, video spots, ads in the newspaper, a crawl on the weather channel, city web sites, InfoVision, and sponsorship announcements on WSUI and KSUI. The topic for the next Avatar program will be winter in Iowa City. REFRANCHIS1NG UPDATE Shaffer thanked Castillo and Smith for their work on the franchise agreement on behalf of the Commission. Shaffer also thanked the City's consultants, Jean Rice and Don Williams, Dale Helling and Andy Matthews, as well as Mediacom's representatives, Jon Koebrick and Randy Brown. Shaffer said the process went much faster than in past years. A few appendices that was not included in the draft franchise agreement but will be available at the public hearing and the City Clerk's office. The business and repair hours will remain the same as the present franchise agreement. The cutover process for any upgrade will also remain the same. A construction manual has been provided to Rice, Williams and a copy will be coming to the City. Existing access channel placements will be added shortly. Williams said he thought it was a good franchise agreement and is satisfied with the results. Williams mention the state-of-the-art language, funding for the access channels and the lack of restrictions on how those access channel funds are spent, and the access channels' placement in the chalmel lineup as specific areas in which he was satisfied. The Commission went over the franchise agreement section by section. Smith noted that the agreement is for 13 years. Mekies asked why 13 years was chosen. Rice said the deal was for 12 years and there is one year left on the current franchise. A 12 year period was negotiated with the additional origination points in mind. Mekies asked why a five year term might not be better. Williams said that because the agreement is better than most franchises negotiated recently that a longer term is in the City's interest, particularly with an uncertain regulatory structure in the future. Rice said that the flexibility with regard to the funding for public access operations benefits from a longer term franchise. Thrower asked if these franchise terms would apply if another company acquired Mediacom. Rice said that a new company would assume the obligations of the franchise. Pusack noted that the system capacity was increased from 550 MHz to 750 MHz and asked about the significance of that. Williams said that for every 6 MHz an additional analog channel could be added or even more digital channels. The current state-of-the art is 860 MHz. Koebrick said the current system is built to 860 MHz and is operated at 750MHz. Pusack said that the number of subscribers per node was decreased from 600 to 500. Pusack noted that Mediacom is offering cable modem service for each school. Smith noted that Section XI refers to seven access channels and Appendix N mentions six. Kirkwood is not included in Appendix N. Smith said it might not be wise to contractually specify that seven access channels be provided. The consumer survey done to gather input for the franchising process indicated that subscribers are interested in lower rates and better programming on the basic tier. Smith questioned if those interests are being met by mandating another access channel in the basic tier. Smith said that he is concerned that the franchise will tie the hands of the City in the future if it wishes to consolidate any of the access channels. Language that gives the City the right to release the obligation for an additional access channel may be needed. Rice said that according to federal law that an unused channel can revert to use by the cable operator. Koebrick said that language from the Cable Act could be inserted in that section to clarify the issue for future Telecommunications Commissions. There was consensus among the Commission to include that language from the Cable Act. Pusack said that the language that specifies channels for specific entities, such as Kirkwood, might be too specific. A reference to merely an educational channel may be preferable given the uncertainty of what may be desired over the next 13 years. Koebrick said that typically access channels are specified for a particular use be it public, education, or government. Pusack said that the specific naming of Kirkwood was likely a result of them being added to the current franchise. Smith said that in regards to Section XI B that the consumer survey indicated a desire for lower basic tier rates, yet the pass-through fee is being increased 10% and by 20% in 5 years. Pusack noted that the desire for better local programming indicated in the survey might be better met by the pass-through fee increase. Rice said the goal of the increase was to keep pace with inflation. Helling noted that a 20% increase would be about 14 years out from the original initiation of the pass-through fee and does not likely quite meet the rate of inflation over that period. In regards to Section XIII H Pusack said the language provides for refunds for periods over 4 hours and up to 14 days and asked why there was a limit to 14 days. Rice said that after 14 days the issue becomes one of complying with the franchise to offer service rather than a temporary outage. Pusack said the language would be confusing for subscribers. Koebrick said that if there were an outage of 14 days that Mediacom would refund subscribers for a full month. The 14 day language was offered by Mediacom as it is typical of many franchise agreements, but Mediacom has no objections to it being removed. Rice and Williams said they have no problem with removing the 14 day language. Pusack said that subscribers are still required to request a refund. Williams said that is standard industry practice. Mekies asked about the City's ability to affect the placement of channels. Is it possible to cluster together channels of a similar type of programming? Rice said the City lacks authority to do so. Those decisions rest squarely with the cable company. Smith asked what the Commission needs to do with regard to the ordinance and if it will be a subject of the public hearing. Rice said that there were only minor changes to the ordinance and that it may be addressed at the public hearing. Castillo noted that there were some minor changes to Appendix H, which deals with programming categories. SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEAR1NG REGARDING EXTENSION OF FRANCHISE BETWEEN MEDIACOM AND THE CITY OF IOWA CITY Shaffer said that Rice and Williams are planning on attending the public hearing. Pusack noted that two Commissioners are scheduled to go off the Commission at the first meeting in March and that if the public heating were to be held March 28 as previously discussed that technically their terms will would have expire. Pusack asked if a legal opinion is needed on this matter. Shaffer said he would contact the City Clerk and the City Attorney for an opinion. Mekies moved to accept the draft franchise document with the discussed changes for the public heating. Castillo seconded. The motion passed unanimously with Thrower being absent. Helling said that the Commission might need to hold a special meeting to set the public heating for a specific date and time. The Commission agreed to set a public heating for March 28 and to make an amendment to change the date and time if that is necessary. Smith moved and Mekies seconded a motion to hold the public heating on March 28. The motion passed unanimously. CITY CABLE TV BUDGET Smith moved to table the agenda item on the City Cable TV Division budget. Mekies seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Smith moved and Mekies seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. Adjournment was at 6:46 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Drew Shaffer Cable TV Administrator TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 12 MONTH ATTENDANCE RECORD 01/01/03 to CURRENT Meeting Date Kimberly Saul Meikes Brett Castillo Terry Smith Jim Pusack Thrower 6/2/03 x x x x x 7/28/03 x x x x x 8/25/03 x x x x o/c 9/22/03 x x x x o/c 10/27/03 x x x x o/c 11/24/03 x x o/c x x 12/15/03 o/c o/c x x x 1/2/04 x o/c x x x 1/26/04 x x x x x 2/23/04 x o/c x o/c x 3/22/04 x x x x x 4/26/04 x x x x O/C 5/24/04 x x O/C x x 6/28/04 x x x o/c x 7/26/04 o/c x x x x 8/26/04 did not meet did not meet did not meet did not meet did not meet 9/27/04 X X X X X 10/25/04 X X 11/04 Did not meet Did not meet Did not meet Did not meet Did not meet X X X X X 12/20/04 1/24/05 X X X X X 2/28/05 X X X X x (X) = Present (O) = Absent (O/C) = Absent/Called (Excused) MINUTES DRAFT DEER TASK FORCE MEETING MARCH 22, 2005 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM - CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Pat Farrant, Chair; Alan Nagel; Harold Goff; Jan Ashman; Linda Dykstra; Martin Jones; Gene Szymkowiak MEMBERS ABSENT: Pete Sidwell, Peter Jochimsen, STAFF PRESENT: Kathi Johansen OTHERS: Tim Thompson (IDNR) CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Farrant called the meeting to order at 5:55 PM. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL: Nagel moved that the Deer Management Task Force recommend that the Iowa City City Council allow bow hunting on private property and on designated City property, subject to DNR rules and procedures; seconded by Goff. Motion carried 5 to 2; Ashman and Farrant voting in the negative; Jochimsen and Sidwell absent. APPOINTMENT OF GENE SZYMKOWIAK TO THE BIOLOGIST/SCIENTIST POSITION: Farrant welcomed Szymkowiak to the Task Force, stating that the City Council had approved his appointment. APPROVE MINUTES OF MARCH 1, 2005, MEETING: Farrant stated that she had a couple corrections for the minutes. On the second page, about half-way through the second paragraph: Goffnoted that for the past five years they have talked about bow hunting, but they have not acted on it. He asked that they continue this discussion, and attempt to reenact bow hunting. She stated that since they never did "enact bow hunting" that this statement is not correct. Nagel suggested "reinstitute," but Farrant stated that wasn't it either. A brief discussion ensued, and it was decided to change this to "permit bow hunting again." Farrant next noted a misspelling under "Community Comment." She believes the name is Dan Harbit, not Harvat. Nagel then asked for clarification off The members agreed that they do need more information regarding bow hunting and hunters, in regards to proficiency and numbers. He stated that he does not remember any agreement. He suggests they strike this from the minutes. A brief discussion ensued on this, with other members stating that they do remember this being said. The decision was made to change The members to Some members. Goffthen noted that under the "Update on Biologist/Scientist Position," it states: ...the Council would be confirming his appointment to the Task Force. He stated that he feels the wording should be considering his appointment. Then under "Community Comments," Golf noted that the town of Marion is misspelled. The members agreed with these corrections. Ashman moved to accept the minutes for the March 1, 2005, meeting as amended; the motion was seconded and passed 7 to 0 (Jochimsen and Sidwell absent). DISCUSSION OF DEER MANAGEMENT: o Sharpshoot: White Buffalo, Inc., Report: Farrant noted that everyone should have a copy of White Buffalo's report for the recent sharpshooting. She asked if there was any discussion regarding the report. Nagel asked if they had an accounting of the whole cost, including processing and incidental costs. Johansen noted that they do, and she asked if Farrant wanted her to distribute this information at this point. After members reviewed this information, Farrant asked for member comments on the White Buffalo report. Nagel noted that 154 deer were killed, but that nothing was said about the ratio of males to females. Goff noted that he does not fully understand what mechanism White Buffalo uses to select the sites, other than convenience. Safety is an issue, of course, but he noted that some of the "hot spots" for deer were not selected. He wondered if White Buffalo had gotten the information they needed in order to select these spots with known deer. Jones brought up that he had, in fact, contacted Johansen regarding the deer problems in his area, and had given her names and contact information. Johansen stated that it may have been helpful if she had been able to get this information to White Buffalo sooner, in order for them to contact people and to make plans for hunting in these problem areas. Jones noted that these people were never contacted, and that he heard complaints from them regarding this. Nagel noted that perhaps they need to make the selection of sites part of the annual report, in order to allow more citizens to get involved in the process of site selection, and even having their own acreage be a part of the selection. Farrant noted that a lot of the problems with this recent shoot have to do with them being off schedule, and that she feels if they get back on schedule, things will work out better for the next deer kill. Nagel noted that the newspaper said repeatedly that there would not be shooting on the west side. He asked why someone within the City did not correct this error with the newspaper. Johansen requested that Nagel obtain copies of the articles he was referring to and forward them to her. Ashman suggested they invite Tony from White Buffalo to one of their meetings to address some of the questions the members have regarding site selection, etc. Nagel then asked where within the City does the responsibility lie for selecting these deer kill sites. Farrant noted that she does not remember how the zones were set up, but that they were set up in 1997 with the first Task Force. Nagel stated that it isn't the zones, but the selection of shooting sites that he is asking about. Farrant asked that the members keep a civil tone with each other, and that perhaps they should develop a list of questions, such as Nagel's, and then they could get answers to these questions. Nagel asked that they find out where the responsibility lies for the selection of sites, within the designated zones. Farrant noted that she does know that the police department was involved in this process, in the past, but that they will find an answer for Nagel's question. Szymkowiak then asked about time frame and if there was a specific time they had to do the deer kill in. Farrant noted that there is a sequence of steps that is followed each year, with IDNR being involved. She noted that a simple chronology would probably be a good idea, in order to show this time frame. Thompson noted that this past year, due to the Task Force getting set up so late, things were not the same. Nagel stated that the next question would be what is the determination involved when our report documents to City Council say "up to 282 deer" and yet they ended up with 154; and that it was to be "antler-less" deer, but that also was not met. Farrant clahfied this by asking if he wanted to know why this goal was not met. The discussion turned towards guidelines for sharpshooting, and if the IDNR has any stipulations about this. Thompson did mention that the goal of the IDNR is to manage the deer as a resource, not as a pest. Farrant stated that she would try to get answers to the three questions posed during this discussion. Bow Hunting: Nagel stated that he feels that they covered this topic pretty well at the last meeting, and that he feels the Task Force is ready to make some decisions. Thompson gave some background on the IDNR's efforts in the past with deer control along the corridor, between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. (TAPE ENDS) Farrant noted that one issue still on the table is humane methods of deer kill. She noted that at past public hearings, it was a big issue about whether bow hunting was humane. The discussion continued over whether or not bow hunting was humane, with Szymkowiak noting that it is legal in the State of Iowa to bow hunt, and that the sharpshooting just is not keeping the population under control. Jones noted that he feels it is a liability issue for the City, and that sharpshooting is not working adequately. Farrant suggested they get public comment on this issue, to see what the accepted method would be. A heated discussion continued about the issue of bow hunting and what the public would agree with, as far as deer population control. Nagel moved that the Deer Management Task Force recommend that the Iowa City City Council allow bow hunting on private property and on designated City property, subject to DNR rules and procedures; seconded by Goff. Motion carried 5 to 2; Ashman and Farrant voting in the negative; Jochimsen and Sidwell absent. Thompson noted that there would be some procedures to go through, with the City, if this recommendation is approved. Nagel also noted that it should be in the minutes that the members are aware that amendments to Code will be needed, as well, and that operation guidelines will be in place, as well. Due to time constraints, Chairperson Farrant noted that they would skip down to Larry Stone and let him speak for a few minutes, if he so desired. USDA Involvement in Deer Management: Deer Reflector System: Gary Brown Sharpshooting Inquiry: Handouts: EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: ~ Larry Stone Educational Program "Whitetail: Treasure, Trophy or Trouble?": Stone noted that he was there to listen, and to make sure he was prepared to address the issues here. He noted that he has a March 28 presentation at Parkview Church, and also a March 31 presentation at Kent Park. He invited everyone to attend his presentation on the whitetail deer. Humane Solution to Conflicts With Wildlife: REVIEW 2004-2005 DEER MANAGEMENT REPORT: COMMUNITY COMMENT: Jim from Walnut Ridge stated that he is very concerned about the deer population. He noted that he has had upwards of 30 deer in his backyard on once, and just last week he had 17. Joel Flack spoke next. He is in favor of bow hunting, and explained why he feels they need to open this up. Farrant reminded him that public comment is limited to five minutes each. Linda Thomlin asked Thompson where the deer population is currently. OTHER BUSINESS: Members asked Johansen to check on the City's web site about a link for receiving public comment on the deer question. Nagel also noted a link regarding programming schedules, and that it is no longer working and should be removed. SET AGENDA AND TIME FOR NEXT MEETING: The next meeting was set for April 19, 2005, at 5:45 PM, at City Hall in the Lobby Conference Room. (TAPE ENDS) ADJOURN: Ashman moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 PM; motion was seconded and carried 7 to 0; Jochimsen and Sidwell absent. Deer Management Task Force Attendance Record 2005 1/18 2/15 3/1 3/22 J. Ashman X A X X L. Dykstra X X X X P. Farrant X X X X H. Goff X X X X M. Jones X A A X P. Sidwell A X X A A. Nagel X X X X P. Jochimsen X A X A G. X X Szymkowiak Key: X = Present A = Absent NM -- No Meeting MINUTES SCATTERED SITE HOUSING TASKFORCE FEBRUARY 28, 2005 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Anciaux, Jerry Anthony, Darlene Clausen, Matthew Hayek, Jan Left, Jan Peterson, Joan Vandenberg MEMBERS ABSENT: Sally Stutsman STAFF PRESENT: Steve Nasby, Steve Rackis OTHERS PRESENT: Charles Eastham, Amanda Cline, Maryann Dennis, Tracy Glaesemann, Alexis Kluklenski, Luke Pelz, Patti Santangelo CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Hayek called the meeting to order at 4:45 pm. Approval of the January 24, January 31, and February 14, 2005 Minutes: Several edits and revisions submitted for the Minutes. MOTION: A motion was made by Left, seconded by Vandenberg, to approve the January 24, January 31, and February 14, 2005 Minutes as amended. Motion carried unanimously. DELIBERATIONS REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY COUNCIL Hayek said the subcommittee that was formed at the end of the February 14 meeting, which consisted of himself, Anthony, and Vandenberg, met two times and wrote a draft of the Taskforce's initial findings. He distributed the latest draft of the findings, and added that the plan is for the list of findings to be part of a larger narrative document, which has not been created yet. At this point, the Taskforce should review and discuss the findings document, then schedule a public hearing to invite public comment, after which the Taskforce will meet to finalize and adopt a report for the City Council. Hayek added that he would like to review each point of the findings during this meeting. The beginning of the document has three general policy objectives. The first one addresses current and future concentrations of poverty. He invited Anthony to comment on that point. Anthony suggested that discussion of poverty be avoided in the findings because there is no clear correlation between assisted housing and poverty. Also, the Taskforce has been charged to look at assisted housing, not poverty, and the poverty data is skewed by the student data. It is a good point to have, but without a clear correlation between assisted housing and poverty, the statement might not fit into the Taskforce's findings. Anthony noted that assisted housing can be occupied by people at higher incomes, 50-70% median income. On the other hand, poverty is defined at 30% median income or less. Anthony added that poverty does need to be addressed, and the subcommittee members were discussing a section in the overall report that would examine transitional housing and provide the context for the Taskforce's recommendations. He suggested that concerns about poverty be addressed there. Hayek suggested omitting "current" and saying instead "take steps to prevent" poverty. Anthony said there is still a question regarding the connection of assisted housing with poverty. He said that the statements about poverty are good to have in the document, but there is no data to support it if it were challenged. Vandenberg agreed that it is good to include a statement about poverty as a policy statement, for consideration in regards to future development. She said poverty goes beyond assisted housing, and that issue could be addressed in the report as well. It is good to have it up l~ront and prominent. Peterson said Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 2 it seems like the Taskforce is back at square one regarding poverty, where many members know pockets exist, but there is no supporting data they can use to specifically define it. Clausen said she agrees with Hayek's suggestion to omit "current," and say instead to "prevent" poverty. Including the statement might convey to the City that the Taskforce wants attention given to the issues of poverty without tying it to specific numbers. Hayek said he would like to have a statement about poverty in the findings. Clausen confirmed that excluding poverty data would exclude columns with X's in poverty. Peterson agreed that saying "prevent" would work. General agreement expressed for the change. Hayek read Point 2 of the general findings. Anciaux suggested saying "increase affordable housing generally." Peterson suggested switching the order of the clauses, so that affordable housing is listed first. Hayek suggested changing the statement to "maintain commitment to both affordable and assisted housing." Peterson and Left agreed. Anciaux questioned whether the City should maintain the commitment to assisted housing. Hayek observed the statement as worded might imply a current commitment on the part of the City. Peterson suggested changing the statement to "maintain assisted housing and increase availability of affordable housing." Anciaux suggested "increase opportunities for affordable housing." The Taskforce members expressed general agreement. Nasby asked whether "generally" would be included or deleted from the statement. Hayek said it should be removed. Nasby said without including the word "generally," the statement might be interpreted to mean affordable housing only for Iow-moderate income families, though families at 80-100% median income also need affordable housing. Anciaux suggested making two separate statements, one saying commitment to assisted housing should be maintained, then a second statement about increasing opportunities for affordable housing in general. Hayek suggested the subcommittee discuss and edit that point. Hayek read Point 3 of the general findings. Anthony suggested adding "without reducing the supply of affordable housing" at the end of the statement. Hayek said that issue is addressed in the specific points in the next section. Anthony said this point directly addresses scattering, and his concern is that only this point and not others in the findings would be used. Hayek asked if the same language should be used in both statements, and asked Anthony to restate his addition. Anthony said "without any reduction in the supply of affordable housing." The Taskforce expressed general consensus for the point, as edited. Hayek read Point 1 under the specific findings section of the document. Anthony said the subcommittee had discussed an additional provision to the statement that the City should take steps to find locations in other census tracts for transitional and emergency housing. The point is not to stop transitional housing, but to locate it somewhere other than block group 18.2. Anciaux asked whether the statement should specify tract 18 in general, or block group 18.2 in particular. He would prefer not to have any additional assisted housing in tract 18 at all. Vandenberg agreed. Anciaux asked how many units would be in the new Shelter House. Peterson said 35 unit equilvants or about 70-75 people. Anciaux asked whether all transitional and emergency housing is currently located in tract 18. Vandenberg said not all transitional housing is located there, although nearly all of the family units are there. Anciaux estimated 90% is located in that area. Vandenberg said she does not know exact numbers. Anthony said that transitional housing is there because the properties are inexpensive. Peterson added that the strength of the market would be tough to fight. Anciaux said he would like to reserve comments on this point for later in the meeting. Hayek read Point 2. Anciaux asked if the recommendation in this point is legal. Rackis said no, under Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, residency requirements are prohibited. Residency preferences are allowed, but cannot be based on how long an applicant has resided or worked in a Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 3 residency preference area. If someone from outside the residency preference area gets a job or an offer for a job, they must be given the same preference as current residents of the preference area. Anciaux asked whether people could use a Section 8 voucher issued outside of Iowa City. Rackis said yes, provided the transfer is allowed by the Housing Authority that issued the voucher. If Iowa City is too expensive for the voucher in the issuing office, it will be denied. He added that a working family preference does not have to be tied to residency, just whether the family is working. If someone working in Cedar Rapids comes to the top of the waiting list in Iowa City, the same working family preference is given as to someone who lives in Iowa City. This approach has been considered as a way to reduce costs per unit, but there is no way to control whether the person would quit the job immediately upon receiving the voucher. It is a question of what the preference is intended to accomplish. Hayek asked Rackis how he would recommend helping current residents qualify for assisted housing first. Rackis said he would expand existing programs such as Greater Iowa City Housing Fellowship. He does not know whether that goal is achievable through Section 8 vouchers and public housing, though he would be willing to discuss it. He added that a residency preference would serve a single UI student before it would help a single mother from another community who is currently on the waiting list. Clausen' asked why this finding was included. Anthony said it would be fairer to current residents of Iowa City. Rackis added that another way to help local residents is to provide local money, rather than Federal funding. Peterson asked whether students who come to Iowa City for school and pay non-resident tuition are considered residents for housing purposes. Rackis said no, what it means is that if someone has an offer of a job, including nonresident students, that person would be afforded the same preference as someone who currently lives in the geographic preference area, regardless of where that person currently lives or works. Dennis said that this is not allowed because in the past it had been used as a tactic to keep people of protected classes from living in certain places. Hayek said that he understands from the City's legal staff that some form of residency preference would be permissible. Rackis said that HUD does allow certain preferences, which are in accordance with nondiscrimination and equal opportunity. Dennis noted that while the Taskforce does not intend to use a preference to discriminate, historically that was why HUD disallowed residency requirements. Hayek said the intent of the recommendation is to suggest the City explore permissible means of adopting a residency preference that would be within HUD and constitutional boundaries. Rackis said he is willing to discuss different options before the final recommendation is written. Hayek added that much of the discussion on how it would work should be on the implementation end, while the Taskforce needs to discuss whether the recommendation makes sense. Clausen said it seems like this recommendation and a preference would be limiting in the long run. Vandenberg said she would like to help the situation of assisted housing availability become finite, to help the people who are already in Iowa City. If Iowa City has a short waiting list for housing, people will move here because of that fact, which would mean the City would never be able to meet the needs of its residents. There are some very poor public policy situations in the surrounding urban areas that directly impact Iowa City. Rackis said such a policy would not stop people from moving to Johnson County for the housing. If a residency preference is adopted that says preference will be given to people who live here or have a job here, all people have to do is get a job or establish an address in order to be bumped to the top of the waiting list. Vandenberg said if the City would provide funding, the City might be more supportive of helping local programs. Rackis said all current funding is Federal. Vandenberg agreed, but would like a recommendation for the City to provide funding. Eastham asked why the Taskforce is looking at Section 8 when the charge is to look at publicly assisted housing. Hayek said he thinks it falls within the purview of the Taskforce. If others do not agree, they will have an opportunity to raise that concern at the public hearing. Eastham asked whether the residency preference would be extended to all publicly assisted housing, which would include housing through other programs such as Habitat and the Housing Fellowship. Hayek said it would be applied to public housing owned by ICHA and Section 8. Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 4 Rackis said ICHA funding is Federal. Vandenberg said the problem is that there are other city housing policies that are much more restrictive than Iowa City's, which directly affects the local community. Anciaux asked Eastham if the Housing Fellowship recruits from outside of Iowa City for eligible families. Eastham said no, and they do not advertise at all. Anciaux suggested instead encouraging the City to recruit and urge its current eligible residents to apply for housing and get on the waiting list. More information should be made available. Rackis said 60% of the people on the ICHA waiting list have Iowa addresses. Residents at Emerson Point are encouraged by the landlord to fill out an application for a unit. Various groups that work with eligible populations encourage people to apply, regardless of their residence. Anciaux asked whether the City should be putting more effort into distributing information about available programs, and encouraging residents to apply. He asked whether any recruiting methods are currently in place. Rackis said there is a Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) in the family self-sufficiency program, which Was built to leverage resources. There are any number of activities through the PCC and other local homeless coordinating boards, that occur on a weekly or monthly basis, where information about different programs is shared. People who deal with eligible populations are made aware of the programs available to assist those populations, including housing. The advertising is through interagency referral, and with -2200 names on the waiting list, it seems additional advertising is not needed. Dennis said there is a difference between referral and recruitment. Anciaux agreed that "encourage" would be a better term. However, if the feeling is that residents are not being served, they should be encouraged to apply. Rackis said outreach is being done, and added that he would be willing to discuss the idea of residency preferences, so that the Taskforce is aware of what making that recommendation may entail. Hayek said the intent of this recommendation was to address the issue raised by many of the organizations that presented for the Taskforce, saying that the current housing needs in Iowa City are overwhelming and do not let up. The suggestion is that the best thing to do with limited resources is to help the current residents, and examine ways to reduce the future needs. He would like to discuss in general if such a recommendation is a good idea, and if so, the subcommittee can meet with Rackis and other offices to learn more about this matter. The recommendation may simply say the City should examine constitutionally or HUD-permissible approaches to some sort of preference. The intent is not to have the Taskforce work out all the implementation details. Anciaux said that one of the attendees at the first public hearing worked at Oral-B or another company in that area, and was receiving housing assistance. Other employees at those companies might be eligible if they would apply. Vandenberg said that with a waiting list of 2200, very little outreach is done since the end of the list is so far off. Anciaux asked if there is a point system that would move applicants up the list. Rackis said no. The current preference is if applicants are elderly, disabled, or a family with children under 18, because eligibility for those preferences can be verified by third-party data. Hayek asked if there were any additional comments on the two parts of this point, 1) to address current needs and attempt to reduce future needs, and 2) it is a recommendation that the City pursue or adopt a permissible preference policy. Rackis said no mention could be made of a time frame. Anthony asked if there was consensus with the points. Clausen asked for confirmation that the residency preference will not require people to live in Iowa City for a certain number of years before being able to apply. Hayek said it would be a preference, not a requirement, in whatever form that HUD allows. Vandenberg said the recommendation is to allow people who live in Iowa City to have the first chance at available housing. Clausen said she does not agree with that recommendation, since there are people who might be living in another community simply because they cannot afford to live in Iowa City, even though they want to live here. Vandenberg said the option in those cases would be to give the same preference to people who are currently employed in Iowa City. Clausen said she agrees with having a preference system, but does not agree with the way it is currently worded in the document. Hayek said the subcommittee members would like to know whether there is support from the other Taskforce members for the intent behind the recommendation, before the subcommittee consults with outside experts and revises the language of the recommendation. Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 5 Clausen said her concern comes from statements that indicate people are encouraged to move to Iowa City because it is easy to get housing here, which is not true. It may play into other prejudices based on people's race or their trade, so when they get here they are labeled. Anciaux said he thinks the point is that there are enough needy people who already live in the community and need services, without doing additional recruiting or encouragement. With the current resources, he would prefer to help someone who already lives here. Hayek noted the recommendation is for a preference, and is not intended to prevent people from moving to Iowa City. Clausen said she agrees with a preference. Hayek said the subcommittee would take up revisions to the recommendation. Hayek read Point 3. The Taskforce expressed general consensus for the point as written. Hayek read Point 4. Anthony said the general language needs to be adjusted. The Taskforce expressed general consensus with the point. The subcommittee will revise. Hayek read Point 5. Anthony explained that the logic behind this point is that if the private market can provide enough affordable housing options, assisted housing would not be needed. The Taskforce expressed general agreement with the point as written. Hayek read Point 6. Anthony said the subcommittee did a fair-share analysis of rental housing, and found that most rental housing is concentrated in 10 block groups. Peterson asked how many total block groups are in Iowa City. Nasby said 31. Anthony noted that a recommendation to scatter assisted housing is only practical if rental housing is built in more block groups. Nasby said that rental units are allowed anywhere, but the distinction is with the higher density rental units. Anthony agreed, saying that was why the statement recommends Iow- and medium-density rental units. The intent is for housing that is denser than single-family housing, but not huge complexes of apartments. Clausen suggested revising the phrase "take rental housing away," so it does not imply a reduction of current rental housing. Anthony suggested using the word "disperse." The Taskforce expressed general agreement with the point as edited. Hayek read Point 7. The Taskforce expressed general agreement with the point as written. Hayek read Point 8. Anciaux asked whether the County is responsible for funding Welfare. Peterson said the City funds a lot of human services. Anciaux asked if the City has an obligation to provide assisted housing. Rackis said no, the programs through the ICHA follow HUD requirements and are Federally funded. Anciaux confirmed Rackis' statement that the City currently does not provide any funding for housing. Peterson noted that human services are not required, but that Iowa City provides funding for them. She added that Iowa City carries a greater burden for human services. Coralville does not choose to fund them, because by mandate, it is only required at the County level. Vandenberg said the County is the largest source of funds. Peterson said that other communities do some funding as well, but welfare is a County issue, and the Taskforce is concentrating on Iowa City. The Taskforce expressed general agreement with the point as written. Hayek read Point 9. Anciaux suggested omitting the word "minimal" from the statement, and let the City determine the percentages. Vandenberg suggested changing it to "a percentage." Hayek asked Nasby if "affordable housing" needs to be defined for this recommendation point. Nasby asked how "affordable" is defined, as it can have different meanings for people at different economic levels. Peterson suggested using existing statistics to determine what is reasonable. Hayek said he does not want to over define the points, and suggested attaching an appendix with examples of how an inclusionary zoning policy might work. Vandenberg noted that this option would require minimal cost to taxpayers. An¢iaux noted that anything in residential housing is a drain to the tax Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 6 base, because industrial and commercial areas are the things that need to be developed to increase the tax base. The Taskforce expressed general agreement with the point, as edited. Hayek read Point 10. Peterson said she likes including this recommendation point, and suggested having an appendix with information about how much it costs to live in Iowa City, versus how much the average person gets paid in various jobs. Left agreed that having the City provide funds to do an educational series similar to the recent series on the School District would be helpful. Anthony asked Nasby about the funds that are being made available for education on affordable housing. Nasby deferred to Rackis. Rackis said the ICHA is providing funding, in partnership with the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County. The Taskforce expressed general consensus for the point, as written. Hayek read Point 11. Peterson said it should be "school districts." The Taskforce expressed general consensus for the point, as edited. Hayek read Point 12. Anciaux suggested changing "assisted and Iow-moderate" to "all." Many of the problems are not with assisted housing. Peterson noted a typographical error in the next sentence. Rackis noted that of approximately 300 nuisance ordinance citations in the city, only six have involved people in public housing and Section 8. Vandenberg said that the Taskforce wants more rental properties in more neighborhoods, so it might help make neighborhoods more amenable to having rental properties if they are afforded some protection through the City. Anciaux agreed that objections to plans for rezoning relate to rental property, the concern being whether it will be managed well. The Taskforce expressed general consensus for the point, as edited. Hayek read Point 13. He noted that this point is related to regularly reviewing changes in the fair-share matrix over time, so it is current and updated. Anthony said that new development could change whether a particular block group has an X or not. Peterson said it is a way to follow up on the housing situation, and see if there are changes over time. Hayek said the fair-share data is already several years old. While it will not be an easy task to update the data initially, after that periodic updates should be easier to accomplish. Eastham pointed out that further development of affordable housing in the peninsula area, after it is all completed, will result-in tract 1.2 being above the City average, if 10% is built as affordable rental housing. Anciaux asked what "affordable" means in this case. Eastham said for rental housing, it is affordable if rent is Iow enough that the residents pay less than 30% of their income for housing. He said public assistance is used to build them, so that rent can be kept at that level. Anciaux asked how much it costs to build the unit. Eastham said ~$130K. Hayek noted there is a lot of development slated for that area. Eastham said that the criteria compares assisted housing to assisted housing, rather than comparing assisted housing to all rental housing. Hayek asked if there were any further comments. The Taskforce expressed general consensus for the point, as written. Hayek read Point 14. He said that this was included to ensure that the policy is reviewed, and whether it is having a beneficial impact. Anthony suggested changing "housing" to "scattered site" policies. Hayek suggested changing it to "such." He added that the intent of this point is to avoid inertia. Peterson said many of the ramifications of the policies are unknown, so a review would be beneficial. Left agreed with changing "housing" to either "scattered site" or "these." Anthony said another option is to have a time limit for the policy, and it can be reviewed regularly and adopted again if it is working. Nasby said policies always are at the discretion of the Council, whether or not there is a time limit. Anthony said that it might be more acceptable if it has a time limit, rather than being adopted as a permanent policy that is up for review periodically. If it has positive effects, then adopting it a second time would be easier. Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 7 Peterson said she would like to review her notes to see if she had additional items to include in the recommendations. She asked how she would proceed with getting those on the table for additional discussion. Hayek said the draft of the recommendations would be revised by the subcommittee. Peterson asked whether there is an issue in Iowa City with not very many landlords accepting Section 8 vouchers. Rackis said no, there are 450 landlords in Iowa City who are currently active in the Section 8 program, and the yearly average utilization of vouchers is 99%. As such, there is not a high incidence of people bringing their vouchers back. Peterson asked whether the active landlords are scattered throughout the county. Rackis said yes. Vandenberg noted that was a problem historically, when the rental market was smaller. However, the market has loosened up enough that the problem has been reduced. Rackis said Iowa City and Coralville numbers are fairly steady, but more vouchers are going to other communities as well, such as North Liberty. Dennis said one of the myths has been that landlords would not accept Section 8 vouchers because the people were bad tenants. However, the reality in Iowa City is more likely that landlords do not want to accept Section 8 because the rents are controlled. Rackis added that with the previous certificate program, landlords were required to use the Housing Authority lease rather than their own, which gave a Eot of influence to the Housing Authority. However, with the current voucher program, the landlord is protected by Iowa Landlord-Tenant law. Hayek said that in terms of additional items to add to the current list, he would like to have the subcommittee revise and finalize the document without having to meet again before the public hearing. Peterson said she would email any additional items to the subcommittee members. Hayek asked if that would be a problem in relation to the open meeting policy. Nasby said it can be discussed amongst the subcommittee and included in the document, and Peterson can raise the point again later if it is not adequately addressed. Left thanked the subcommittee for all the hard work put into the document. Hayek said if anyone has any additions, email it to the three subcommittee members, and they would work to finalize the document with City staff, post it, and set it for a public hearing. Hayek said the public hearing should be held on a Monday. Vandenberg said it should happen after spring break. Anthony asked if there is a time frame needed for notice of the public hearing. Nasby said 24 hours is required by state law, but he would give at least two weeks notice. Hayek suggesting having the public hearing on March 21, and then a Taskforce meeting on March 28. The Taskforce normally would meet on the first and third Mondays, which would be March 7 and 21. He asked if the document could be revised and posted in time for a public hearing on March 7. Nasby said no. Peterson said the 21st and 28th are fine. Clausen asked how the Taskforce would see the document before the public hearing. Nasby said the revised copy would be mailed out in the meeting packet once it is completed by the subcommittee. Peterson said that one concern she had which was not addressed by the document related to neighborhood based services and access to critical services. Where concentrations of families who do need support are located, investment is needed into family resource centers and other kinds of neighborhood-based access. This would include childcare and transportation services as well. Peterson added that her other suggestions related more to the schools than to the City. Discussions were initially slanted towards the schools, so she has a separate list of things for the schools to consider. Anthony said the school suggestions could be included in the section of the report where schools are discussed. Left said that would be point 11. Peterson noted that point 11 addresses housing. Hayek suggested school policies could be added to point 11. Left suggested that a letter could be sent back to the School District, since that is where the letter to the City Council originated, with a list of suggestions for them to consider. Anthony said the final report would Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 8 include information about schools, where this could be included as well. Vandenberg said number 11 might help with revitalizing tract 18, and some of that would require some strategies for the School District as well. Peterson said one of the drawbacks to scattering housing for high needs families is the ability to serve them with an accessible community building, neighborhood supports, and the informal supports. Some families may feel very isolated and unable to access services. Vandenberg agreed, and said she has some thoughts to add to that discussion. Peterson agreed to include the school suggestions in point 11. Hayek said he might email Peterson some language regarding this recommendation before finalizing the revisions, so that it says what she intends. Vandenberg agreed it is very relevant to housing, because of concerns about isolation and community supports. Hayek asked when the public hearing could be held on the 21st. He asked what time the first one was held. Nasby said 6:30 p.m.. Anciaux said he would like to have the next public hearing in the Council Chambers. Nasby said Council Chambers would be a larger space, as would the library. Anciaux agreed that the library would be more friendly. Nasby will see if space is available at the library at that time. He noted that Council will be meeting that evening so Harvat Hall would not be availabale. Rackis noted it is a work session. Hayek said the Taskforce should go ahead with the public hearing on the 21st. Santangelo asked whether the hearing would be taped and broadcast. It might be a good way for more people to see it, especially if it can be requested on the library channel. Anciaux agreed that was a good idea. Nasby asked what time the meeting will be on March 28th. Clausen suggested 4:30. General agreement expressed with that time. Anciaux said he would like to discuss point 1 again. He would like to add to the statement that tract 18 already has x percent of transitional and y percent of the emergency housing, which would go up with the addition of 35 units for the homeless. This recommendation is not intended to impact the location of the new Shelter House, but things need to be done to make sure no more is located in that tract. Clausen asked whether the percentages would already be included in the report. Anciaux said the current language is not strong enough, and does not clarify that this is not a NIMBY situation. Putting the percentages in there might show that it is an overly utilized area, with more than its fair share. Hayek said one way to address this would be to include the percentages in the report. Anciaux would like to include some concrete information about why no more of these types of housing should be located in that area. Clausen asked whether saying it should not exceed a certain number would accomplish this. Hayek asked whether Anciaux wants percentages in this space, or in the section of the report that discusses tract 18 specifically. Vandenberg said the shortened version of this document could lose the percents. Anciaux suggested also omitting the statement regarding the arrangements to bus homeless shelter children, since those arrangements have not been finalized. Vandenberg agreed that since the distinction has been made that these are community and housing issues, the last part about school issues should be removed, beginning with "and the fact that..." Peterson asked whether it is fair to consider other housing that are not public or assisted housing, such as trailer parks or large Iow-cost apartment complexes. She asked if there is any way to consider the presence of those kinds of housing as well. Rackis suggested that might be something to address in the management point, since for example most trailer parks start out nice but then are not maintained well. Vandenberg said that the question relates to concentrations of poverty, which is not accounted for in the criteria. A block group might have a trailer court and a large apartment complex, but no assisted housing, so it would appear to be a viable place for more assisted housing. Hayek suggested adding some language about revitalization of neighborhoods. Peterson said she brought it up as something to consider and keep in mind during the discussions. It relates to understanding what a neighborhood looks like, and that the issues are not always public or assisted housing. It would be something to address in both point 1 and under management as well. Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 9 Vandenberg suggested saying "future considerations of poverty, considering assisted and non-assisted housing." It should be a broad consideration, rather than focused only on one type of housing. When the City is looking at concentrations of poverty, recommend that the definition be broad enough to include things like trailer courts. Hayek said there is lack of consensus about the ability to link poverty and assisted housing. Rackis said that one of the dilemmas is that assisted housing is one of the solutions to poverty. People who receive assistance pay less income to their rent, which assists their financial situation. People in assisted housing are perhaps not going to appear in poverty data because they are participating in one of the solutions. Employment and training are some of the other solutions. Nasby said the recommendation could be interpreted different ways as it is written, including not allowing redevelopment in student areas because students are typically in the poverty group. Left asked if it is possible to include data tied to point 1 to prevent future concentrations of poverty, which would be attached in an appendix. The appendix could give information about the locations of trailer courts and their numbers of units, for example. Anciaux noted that not all of the trailers are Iow income. For example, units in Saddlebrook are expensive and are not an affordable solution. However, if the point is to diversify housing types throughout the city, trailers are a type that is over represented on the southeast side of Iowa City. Clausen asked if information could be included with information about the different gradations of poverty, and their types. Hayek said they are all good points, but the question is where they fit. Vandenberg added that the difficulty with the whole process has been with quantifying things. Even the block group data is still very broad. Anthony agreed that there is no criterion that is going to be perfect. Anciaux asked if some concentrations of poverty would be identified if the student data could be filtered out. Anthony said that it is possible, but is very hard to predict. Peterson said she would like to strongly encourage the City to examine what each area looks like, since the different types of poverty and housing, such as elderly or student, could not be sorted. What a neighborhood is like should not be based solely on numbers. Hayek said the question is whether the percentage should be included in point 1, or elsewhere in the report. Anciaux said he does not want the information to be overlooked. The statement should start out "Census tract 18 has x amount of the transitional and y amount of the emergency housing," though the clause "this will go up with the addition..." can be omitted. Then go on with the next statement "The City should neither encourage nor support..." The next statement saying, "This recommendation is not meant to impact" should include the number of additional units, 35. Vandenberg asked what the process is for the public hearing, whether people will be responding to this document. Hayek said yes, the public hearing is inviting public comment on this document. Vandenberg said it then makes sense to have the information in the document. Hayek agreed, noting there will be a narrative as well, and the list needs to be succinct. Vandenberg asked whether only the findings will be discussed at the public hearing. Hayek said that has not been discussed yet. Anthony said it might be a good idea for someone to present how the Taskforce came to the conclusions, and identify the seven tracts that are discussed in the document. He suggested Hayek describe the matrix and how the Taskforce came to their conclusions. Hayek suggested the whole report be made available for the public hearing. Vandenberg pointed out the Taskforce will not have a chance to review the whole document prior to the hearing. Hayek noted that specific recommendations are not being made yet. Rackis asked if the rationale for each point would be explained. Hayek said the rationale is contained in many of the points, and will also be in the preamble and the appendix. Clausen asked why point 1 pointed specifically to tract 18, when at previous meetings other tracts such as 4 had been discussed. Nasby said it is because the point addresses only transitional and emergency housing. Scattered Site Housing Taskforce Minutes February 28, 2005 Page 10 Stutsman arrived at this point. Dennis asked whether the revised document would be available prior to the meeting. Hayek said yes. Rackis distributed the Federal regulations on local preferences. He said that the first question to address when considering local residency and work preferences is what the goal is, and whether it can be accomplished. They should not be used for the purpose or delaying or denying access to a Federal program. He noted that Part 5.105 basically says not to enact anything that would infringe on legislation for protected classes. Anciaux noted congratulations to City High on their trip to the State basketball tournament. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to be discussed, Anciaux moved to adjourn. Anthony seconded, and the motion was accepted unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. s:tpcdlrninuteslSSHTI2005/O2-28-O5.doc Scaffered Site Housing Taskforce Attendance Record 2005 01/03 01/24 01/31 02/14 02/28 03/07 03/21 04/04 04/18 D. Anciaux X O/E X X X J. Anthony X X X X X D. Clausen X X O/E X X M. Hayek X X X X X J. Left X X X O/E X J. Peterson X X X X X S. Stutsman X X O/E O/E O/E VandenBerg X X X X X Key: X = Present 0 = Absent 0/E - Absent/Excused NM - No Meeting .... - Not a Member IOWA CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION DRAFT MINUTES January 25, 2005 MEMBERS PRESENT: Lisa Beckmann, David Shorr, Paul Retish, Jim McCue; Geoff Wilming; Bev Witwer; Billie Townsend; Scott King; Sara Baird GUESTS: Matthew Hayek, Chairperson of the Scattered Site Housing Taskforce; Charles Eastham, member of the Scattered Site Housing Taskforce and employee of the Greater Iowa City Housing Fellowship; Valerie Garr, U of I Admissions Director STAFF MEMBERS: Heather L. Shank 1. CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order at 7:02p.m. 2. INTRODUCTION OF COMMISSIONERS: Bev Witwer, Teacher for thirty years in the Iowa City Community School District. She came out of a social studies teacher background. Witwer has also worked with the U of l Child Labor Project. Witwer expressed her interest in human rights; Geoff Wilming is the Director of Internal Operations at Quality Care, the Nature Care Company. His area of interest is in supported employment, hiring persons with disabilities. He believes that employment in general is an equalizing factor in American society; Jim McCue is a retired Professor and he is interested in a number of human rights issues; Paul Retish is on the faculty of the College of Education, his field is in the area of special education and he is interested in helping persons with disabilities to become functional citizens in society and he does a lot of work internationally in the area of education and human rights; Billie Townsend works in the College if Liberal Arts and Sciences at the U of I and she is interested in diversity, in general; Lisa Beckmann is an employee at the U of l Hospitals and Clinics in database development in the administration. Beckmann's main interests are youth interests. She and her partner adopted three of the many foster children they cared for over the years; Sara Baird works in Governmental Publications in the University's main library. She has a secondary education English degree and certification and she has worked a great deal with GLBT issues. She was a co-monitor at the U of I Union while she was in school. She has also done a number of speaker's bureaus. Then she has worked at Upward Bound when she was in college; Scott King moved her a little over two years ago to take over the position of Director of the International Student office at the U of I. King is interested in immigration issues, anti Muslim and anti-Middle East backlash has been a big part of his life for the last couple of years. King has also been involved in GLBT issues. He sings in the Quire and is interested in establishing a GLBT community center in Iowa City; David Shorr is beginning his third year as a Commissioner. He commutes to Muscatine where he works at the Stanley Foundation and works on International issues. He has lived in Iowa City for four and a half years. GUEST: Valerie Garr, a former Commissioner returned and introduced herself to the new Commissioners. Her interest has been diversity in the community and her work in the U of I Admissions Department, which has resulted in her traveling a great deal. 3. GUEST: Beckmann: "Matt Hayek is here. He is the Chair of the Scattered Site Task Force and I want to take a minute before he talks to us to give our new members some information on this topic and to give our other members an update on what has been going on since we last met. If you all remember, in the August - September time frame, some of our Commissioners raised some issues on the Council's public stance regarding scattered site and the seeming disconnect between that stance and grouping of Iow income housing and services on the Southeast side of Iowa City. The Commission decided that I would write a letter to the Mayor asking that question. I did write that letter at the end of September and Shank forwarded that letter to the Assistant City Manager for inclusion in the City Council packet. Shortly after that, I spoke with Dale, who recommended that because the City Council had created the Scattered Sites Taskforce, unbeknownst to any of us, we weren't aware of this, he suggested that we wait until after the group gave their recommendations to send our letter to the City Council. Because he pointed out that one of the questions is our letter, and our letter is in the packet, was '[D]oes the City Council have any resources or plans to address this issue?' Obviously the answer is yes since they appointed this task force so hold on until you see the recommendations. So we decided to do that. In December, a City Councilor, after reading the Commission's minutes contacted Heather and volunteered to meet with the Commission along with another City Councilor to discuss issues related to the Scattered Sites Taskforce or scattered sites issue. We had not set up a meeting with the Council members and in the meantime we invited Mr. Hayek to speak to the Commission in December but we did not have a December meeting due to the lack of a quorum. Since we had two City Council members and the Chairperson of the Scattered Cite Taskforce were willing to meet with us, We determined that it would make sense to send the letter to the City Council to make sure everyone knew where we were at in our process. Heather drafted the cover letter that we put on top of the original letter and both went into the packet at the end of December. At that point a number of City employees read the letter as part of the City Council packet. It is fair to say that some of them got pretty upset about the questions we were asking and, I suppose you might say, how we were asking them. The letter, the cover letter and the Mayor's reply is in your packet. I also want to point out that members of the City staff have drawn conclusions regarding the Commission's intent from that letter that is far beyond the scope of the letter. I think that is fair to say. They have taken our letter and kind of run with it. I guess what we are dealing with are two separate issues: (1) One is our original questions that we had for the City Council about scattered sites that we can talk to Mr. Hayek about; (2) The second one is, for a lack of a better way to say it, the fallout from the Commission's letter that can be addressed later. First let's first focus on our original questions that we had and see if we can go with that and then the Commission can discuss what has happened as a result of the letter. The one thing that I do want to point out before I pass this over is that the Scattered Sites Housing Taskforce has not come up with their recommendations or if they have the recommendations have not been published yet so I am not sure that it is appropriate for the Commission to delve into that part of it too much. You (to Matt) probably do not have any recommendations yet so the Commission should keep that in mind. Do any of you have any questions before I turn this over? Shank indicated that she believes Bob Elliot actually contacted Shank in November. Beckmann: O.K. Matt, take over, please have a seat. Matt: Thank you for having me. I enjoyed listening to the introductions. I am the Chair of the HCDC which is the Housing and Community Development Commission, also a City Council appointed Board. That is the group that recommends how Iowa City spends the 1.5 to 2 million dollars that comes in every year through HUD for housing, public services, public facilities, things of that nature. I have been on that board for three years now. I am also the Chair of the Scattered Site Housing Taskforce, which has been in existence since April of 2004. It might help for me to give you a little background about why this group was created. I think it dove tails with the discussion you folks have had. Basically in 2003, there was increasing discussion at the city level and at the school district level about issues raised in your letter to Mayor Lehman. In November of 2003, the school board sent a letter to the City Council requesting that the City Council look into assisted housing trends throughout the community and the school board expressed its perception that assisted housing is concentrated in certain parts of town and the impact, especially on the school system from their perspective, is adverse to the community. That letter asked the City to take some steps to look into this issue. In response, the City created the Scattered Sites Housing Taskforce and placed on it, eight people from around the community: (1) the Chair of the Planning & Zoning Commission, (2) a representative from the Neighborhood Association, (3) Executive from United Way, (4) a member of the Board of Supervisors, (5) a specialist on "At Risk Children" from the ICCSD, (6) a member of the school board and two people from the HCDC, Hayek and a Professor of Urban Planning and Regional Studies at the University. We were asked to look at assisted housing in Iowa City. By assisted basically that means any housing that is built or acquired or maintained with public dollars. I really kind of oversimplified it but that is essentially what it is. We were asked to look at the state of assisted housing and trends in assisted housing throughout the city with an eye towards whether there might be concentrations of that in certain parts of town. That's what we have been doing. The City Council also wants to know - if the taskforce finds concentrations and it finds that there are problems associated with the concentration, what might be some steps the City can take to correct things going forward. We have been meeting every two weeks for the last nine months. We have heard from a number of groups throughout the community, non-profits, for-profit, government, individuals concerning their perspectives about this issue. We have held one public hearing and will probably hold another one probably in another month or so. We have collected a ton of information, data from all corners of the earth, it seems. When you try to sift through that and you look at this issue, it is probably, in my experience, the most complex issue I've ever dealt with. I think it is safe to say that is for others as well. Anyway, we have been waiting for eight or nine months. We are pretty close to wrapping things up or at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We hope to hold another hearing, a public hearing, floating our initial findings and suggestions and ultimately go back to the City Council most likely in March with suggestions. It is true that we have not yet made final decisions and we do not have a set of recommendations. I think I can represent to you that here is the general consensus based on three points so far. The first is that members of the task force share the concern that this community should avoid concentrations of poverty, second, we need to continue to develop affordable housing in the community. This is an affluent community and housing is expensive but we should avoid concentrating that type of housing. Those three things, I know the taskforce has reached some consensus on and I think they will underlie where we go from here. So, where the rubber hits the road, we still need to get all of this identified in a reasonable, logical manner - where there is concentration if in fact we find it, and I believe we will. So we are coming up with some measures that have to do with the census data and things of that nature, at the census tract or block group level that help us show ourselves and others where in Iowa City there are concentrations at least relative to the rest of the community. So we are in the process of doing that and assuming that then we find that there are concentrations, and I think that is a safe assumption, we will be making some suggestions to the City about what can be done in the future to correct this. In that respect, we will come up with a list of things that the City should look at. I don't think we will be in the position to say '[T]his is what the City should do.' I think that is beyond our expertise and that is really the subject of consultants and things of that nature. I do sense an interest in looking at ways to incent assisted housing to go into basically under-represented areas throughout the community, so it is more scattered throughout the community. We have gone through an exhaustive process of whether scattering housing is, in fact, a good public policy goal. There are differences of opinion on everything. That's where we are and I would be happy to answer any questions that you have. It has been a tough process and the backlash, the fallout to your letter is something we have faced throughout the process and these are very difficult issues to talk about. I appreciate the situation you are in. Beckmann: So, what questions do we have? McCue: Well, I would like to express where my concern comes from...it comes from two places. My wife is on the Board of the Iowa City Housing Fellowship and my other concern has to do with scattered site policies - that is, Iowa City seems to be in the process of creating or allowing to be developed really its own little ghetto with lots of Iow income African Americans and it just seems to me that the development of such a thing in Iowa City is just a breeding ground for all sorts of human rights violations and human rights issues. A couple of weeks ago, I was involved in a conversation over at the homeless shelter. A woman with two small children, African American, recently from Chicago, was reviewing places she might move to. She had only been in town for a couple of months but she did not want to move to Broadway St. or Taylor Street. She did not want to move down there, "that's what I moved to get away from." And if Iow-income African Americans are saying that, I suspect there are a lot of non-low income, non-African Americans that are saying comparable things. This is not part of the community anymore. It is a place where only very poor people lease property. Hayek: Well it is interesting because Charlie's (Eastham) group, which has been very involved in this process all along goes to great lengths to better the state of affordable housing in this community. It is tough because I think really housing goes - it follows the path of least resistance (affordable housing). It is generally governed by where land is available and affordable and how much resistance there is from neighborhoods. The path of least resistance in my experience and from what I have seen, is that part of town. It takes great will power, political and otherwise to get it elsewhere and it costs more. But the data from the school district - which is the best data that we have because the district tends to keep information - keep statistics, is remarkable in terms of elementary schools in terms of how they stack up against each other. At my alma mater, Shimek Elementary, the % of children on free & reduced lunch is about 1 or 2 %. At Twain, it is over 60% and it is pushing 70% if you include their pre-school populations. Retish: This is one of the most segregated communities, by economics. And I do not want to be too cynical but you need to get in your car and drive around Iowa City and you will see sites where there are only Black people living in that neighborhood. The Human Rights Commission had a program entitled, "Music on Broadway" and I did not know there were that many police in Iowa City. I stood there and every five minutes a police car came by. They have recognized a neighborhood that they think, like it or not, that they need to patrol. Our concern and I was one of the persons that raised it, was why is this happening. Why are we as a community, allowing this to happen? What can be done to break the cycle? One of the questions I would like answered is, do we have redlining in Iowa City? Are realtors guiding people to the Southeast side of Iowa City? Has that been looked at? Looked at, not be interviewing realtors but getting below it and trying to find by behavior is that what is going on? Do we have people who own lots of land in Iowa City that say they are not going to sell their property to certain groups of people. Those are all illegal acts as far as I can tell but you just have to prove there. To me, that is why we raised the questions because from my point of view and from living in Iowa City for the last 38 years I have seen changes in this community by economics and by persons of color. I have serious concerns and you see this in downtown Iowa City. You see business people that are scared to death by what is happening in downtown Iowa City. It is very similarly related to the issues that we raised and I think that is where I was coming from and that is where I would like to see, what are we going to try and do about what I think is the obvious. The obvious is that we have schools in Iowa City in which 75% of the population are persons of color or 75% of the kids are on free or reduced lunch and then we have Shimek and the new schools that we built where there is 1% or less. It is pretty obvious that we have a skewed system. What are we going to do about it? I don't want to study it any more because I think the study is evident. I am being somewhat cynical about studying for nine months because I think it is a fairly obvious problem - to me, I am not speaking for the Commission. Hayek: In some respects it is an obvious problem but we were very careful to leave no stone unturned. We want to be in a position to make recommendations based on some real research. The very first thing we did after we formed the group was take a tour of Iowa City and that was eye opening for some people. Redlining by realtors - I don't know. It is interesting; there is a piece in today's Press Citizen on some diversity efforts that the realtors are undertaking. I also hear anecdotally that you move to town and they tell you where not to move to, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Garr: (Recently ended term on Human Rights Commission) I live on the Southeast side of Iowa City and I have to say that your question about, do realtors redline, my answer to this would be yes because it is one of the reasons I joined this Commission, because it happened to me. The realtor did not want me to buy the house that I did end up buying and I integrated my subdivision, not just my neighborhood but the whole subdivision. It was an issue. Whether it was intentional by the entire real estate company or just this one realtor - eventually he was no longer allowed to work for the sellers of the home, but I couldn't believe it was happening and it did happen. So, I think that it was a very valid question and it is something that happens to people and I am not Iow income and I am educated and meet all of the isms that people believe would prevent this from happening but it did happen to me. Townsend: When you talk about Iow income housing, there are only so many places people can go. Not all of the realtors have Iow-income housing. It is not the people coming into town; it is the people that have that Iow-income segment established, i.e. Lakeside, Broadway. Those are places they can get the help from the Government - vouchers. McCue: HACAP Transitional Housing is in the same block. Hayek: The Section 8 vouchers - that is a slightly different issue because actually Section 8 can go anywhere and for the most part it is a private market, not exclusively, but mostly. There is not much you can do in terms of affecting where it goes. But the new units that are built, specifically for affordable housing, those also receive government dollars and those you can, you can potentially have some impact in terms of where they go. But the providers of affordable housing face a tough situation because there are only so many places to build and certainly the new subdivisions, in their bylaws and covenants and what not, have a lot of ways to keep that sort of stuff out. It is such a difficult issue to talk about and seemingly progressive folks in this community don't want it in their back yard. It is shameful. I think it is actually more defensible for someone to say I do not want any more affordable housing whether it is in my backyard or on the South side of town. I wouldn't agree with them but it is more defensible to say that than yes, let's bring more in but just not in my back yard. Wilming: Do historic districts preclude development of affordable housing in your view or the Commission's view? Hayek: I do not know. I think there is a fair amount of it in the Northside area so ...but I think in terms of their particular zoning or code, I don't think so. Now there are issues associated with lead based paint in historic districts that make it harder to provide affordable housing. You have a lot of environmental issues to comply with and it is very expensive to abate lead. Shorr: And what was it that the neighbors of the Shelter kicked in towards there relocation? Wasn't there some sizable contribution? Hayek: I thought that the neighbors in the area they were proposing to go into... Shorr: And then there's that. I am more familiar with the stories before it even got to that and there was help via private donations. Hayek: We'll see. In terms of whether there is political will I mean, and this goes to Council, we will find out because this is there decision. We are just reporting facts and making some suggestions. McCue: I do not think that any of us suppose that the solution to the problem lies entirely in the recommendations but whatever is possible is going to have to include the issues that the taskforce is directly involved in. Shank: Do you think there will be a discussion like the one we are having about these particular issues or do you believe that people are so frightened to talk about it in any detail that they will try to skip around it? Hayek: I think there will be discussion and I will be so angry if there is not after all we have done that I will rattle the cages. I think there will be a discussion. Shorr: How much did you look at examples of other communities that have faced these issues and what have they done. Hayek: Well, issues that are...communities that are larger in some respects have bigger problems... Shorr: In the real estate business, it would be finding a comparable. Hayek: We have looked at studies of solutions in a general sense - has a community tried scattered site. In those instances we, I think a lot of us, maybe all of us on the task force believe those have been good experiences. Shank: I showed a video to a few members of the Council several years ago that had to do with scattered site housing, involving a particular community and it was very positive - very positive outcome. I never received a response regarding the video and I gave the video back to the law school. I am going to try and borrow it back again so that the taskforce can view it. Beckmann: I do not know what the Commission can offer up to you folks other than our interest in the topic. I do not think we are a group with a lot of "influence" on this topic and I am not sure we necessarily want to be but I think it is fair to say that we all have a genuine interest 'in it and if we can be of any help in any way I think that as a Commission, we would be willing to do that. I know that I personally when you laid out the 3 points on which the taskforce was in agreement, I sincerely agree with those and I have a sense that everyone else does. Hayek: I certainly appreciate that and I will look for ways in which the Commission can help. Witwer: In all of your searching Matt, as you were looking at this place, did you find some options? I mean, I have watched my neighborhood be integrated. I live in Village Green and all of a sudden there are all sorts of kids walking up and down the walk and we're desegregated! I mean, we were not consciously segregated before but now there are all kinds of kids walking up and down and doing what kids do. I think, that's is kind of what you want to have happen but you have to find those places where that can happen fairly naturally, where there is support systems for the people moving in because they can't just not have a neighborhood center and not have a crisis center and not have any kind of support services to do what they need to do as well. Hayek: And that's another issue that I haven't mentioned, that is, how to manage the balance between services and housing and there are people, especially in the services side of the spectrum that say, it is fine and well to have to provide more such housing but our services have to keep up with that so we are serving them in the community as a whole. There are some that believe there is an imbalance. The answer is more funding but we all know that the pie is only so large. But I am optimistic. I think a community of our size and affluence and with as many people with expertise as we offer here, we should be able to lick these problems or at least reduce their scope. HUD people come to Iowa City and laugh at us because we think we have problems and they are dealing with St. Louis. But I do not think it is fair to compare those two communities and just because we are relatively better does not mean we shouldn't be forward thinking. But, I am, and 1 do not want to use the schools as the example because I think they are focused on too much in this process, but the data are incredible. It is just an incredible disparity. Baird: I worked on the Equity Committee with Marian Coleman for the school district and I kind of remember them saying that they wanted to make sure the schools were balanced and there was not a disproportionate number of non-white children in each school and I don't know what necessarily happened with that but, I mean, how do they balance that if there is? Hayek: Well, you have raised the.issue of busing, which some people believe would be a quicker solution to some of these issues. I think the school district would say that they were...their heritage is based upon a neighborhood and a school reflecting a neighborhood. So kids go to school with kids in their neighborhood. But there are people in the community who believe we should be busing. Now talk about a third rail. Retish: And there is at least one school like Shimek who says that you cannot bus into our school because we cannot get buses in and around our school. It is not designed that way. That is why we do not have any busing. Everyone has a reason why "we protect the gates." McCue: They will all be building little gates. Townsend: Shimek doesn't have a gate. Retish: Well then is to try and get at, how do we break down the resistance to integration. It sounds like this is 1955. That is really what we are taking about is how to integrate people into the larger community. No one has ever come up with any magical answers for that. ~ayek: No, No, but you can also talk about what this community will face if we don't. Retish: Oh, absolutely. Hayek: You can send your kid to Shimek f~r six years and "avoid the problems", and then they go to Southeast and they are all together. Our futures overlap. I do not know how far that gets you. So, you all have a lot and I do not want to take up your evening. Townsend: Thank you for coming. Shank addressing Eastham: Charlie you will have to come and speak at the table so it can be recorded, Eastham: My name is Chadie Eastham, I am the President of the Greater Iowa City Housing Fellowship which is a non-profit affordable housing developer in the community which has been working since about 1990 to provide affordable housing, primarily to working families. We have about 111 units in operation now, about half of our families are African American, which is way above the percentage of families that are receiving...that benefit from the Iow [income] assistance programs generally in the community. Way above the % of other families that participate in other programs. We have, as I said 122 units in service or funded for quick development. 20% of those units are in the Southeast side of town. 80% are located in other pads of Iowa City and Coralville. One thing that t think is very important for anyone that is interested or wants to participate, helpfully, in these issues is to understand that there is a huge difference between the number of Iow income families in Iowa City and the number of publicly assisted housing units available for any of those families to occupy. So when you want to think about making more of the community open to people who may have lower incomes, moving housing around is not necessary not an efficient, and it certainly not a short term way of accomplishing that goal. The largest number of affordable housing units that I think could be reasonably built in Iowa City on a year to year basis is around 30-40 because of the limitations of available funding sources. We haven't equaled over the last many years more than half of that number, usually closer to about a third of that number. So again, moving people to different neighborhoods by simply establishing policies about where affordable housing can be located is not an easy thing to do. The other thing to bear in mind is that I think affordable housing providers including us, the housing authority, and other people, have a little different take about where people prefer to live in the community, who occupy our housing. Many people tell us that they prefer to live in the Southeast part of town and we have oral histories that support that and I believe the Housing Authority also has oral histories that support that. I think the theme that we can all embrace is to provide greater housing choice for everyone in the community. I think that choice should include where people want to live, no matter what their income status. If people want to live in the Southeast part of town, the community should provide housing that is available on the Southeast part of town. If people want to live in other school districts, in other neighborhoods, we should provide housing that is available in those areas. This is a great opportunity for us to make some really big mistakes now about adopting housing policies that will have an adverse effect upon our overall ability to provide good housing for people throughout the coming years. Beckmann: Thank you. McCue: Could you identify one or two of the "big mistakes" that you are worried...? Eastham: The big mistake would be to redline the Southeast part of town against further affordable housing development. That in my opinion would be a big time mistake because there is a lot of development in the Southeast part of town. If you look at the actual housing sales as opposed to looking at individual stories about who wanted to buy and who didn't want to buy and was told to do this or not to do this, the actual housing sales in the Southeast part of town, I actually do not see much difference between housing sales and those neighborhoods as opposed to other neighborhoods. Retish: What about apartments? What do you know about apartments? We are not just talking about people who are buying houses. We are talking about people who cannot afford houses but Want to rent apartments. What we are really talking about is the ghettoization of ~owa City. These are other issues on top of providing adequate housing but they very much interface with each other. I think redlining as a policy whether good or bad, as a policy, is bad. I just don't think we should do that. But the issue here is, when you move to Iowa City and you are at a certain level of income, you are pretty much restricted to rent. Eastham: I do not disagree with that point. Retish: So, where then are the apartments being built that is appealing to those people with a certain income? It seems to me from perhaps a naive perspective that there is just a preponderance of them on the Southeast side of town. That interplays with affordable housing and supportive housing. That they all come together and bring together a focal point in the Southeast part. The question is, how do those three issues interface with each other and are we responsible for those and when someone comes to town and asks, how can we not say that where the Black people live in Iowa City. One of my goals is when someone comes to Iowa City we cannot identify where the majority of African Americans live in the community because we truly have affordable housing throughout the community, not just for Blacks but for all people who are of Iow-income. That to me is the essence of what I am trying to look at and deal with. It is the view that when you talk to almost anyone - young kids in Iowa City, they can tell you the Southeast side, they can tell you the schools the kids go to, they can tell you the employment or lack of employment or where "these people work" or "where these people shop". That bodes ill for our community, in my estimation. That is what I would like to see. Can we stop that now? Can we open that whole process up so there is more equal representation in'the whole community? .Eastham: I would argue that we all support housing choice in the community. Also, probably the majority if not more, the number of folks that are Iow-income are living in lower cost housing are living in privately owned housing units, not publicly assisted housing, whether or not they are receiving Section 8 housing. Again, I think we can facilitate the opportunities for affordable housing providers to go into all areas of the community, all areas of the community where there is a demand for housing, we can slowly work our way out. Townsend: Does anyone have the numbers or the percentage of African Americans vs. other minorities or majorities in Iow-income housing in Iowa City? Is that information available? Eastham: The Housing Authority is the best source of information for that because the rental assistance program assists more people in Iowa City than any other kind of program. Townsend: Can we get that information? Shank: You want to know the percentages of minorities in each area in the City that has Iow- income housing? Beckmann: Rental or home ownership? Townsend: Low-income housing period. Eastham: About 20% or so of the people that participate in the Section 8, Iow-income rental assistance program are minority, I think most of those are African American. Hayek: The Iowa City Housing Authority administers the vouchers and the City owns not quite 100 units, itself. There is good information on that. Townsend: I guess the amazing thing to me is that it appears to be African American when we all know that it is not. I would be interested in knowing what percentage are actually African American ~nd what percentage are other minorities and majorities. Eastham: The majority of people with lower incomes in Iowa City are not African American. Townsend: But that is but that seems to be the topic up here. Eastham: For the housing authority, about half the people that rent from us are African American but a lot of them are receiving Section 8 assistance. We're kind of an anomaly in terms of housing providers because of the higher percentage of folks that are African American that have chosen to l0 use us as their home renter provider. We are not representative of affordable housing in Iowa City generally in terms of the percentage of minority folks who decide to rent with us or not. Townsend: And you have a smaller number of units. Eastham: We're actually the second largest single owner of affordable rental housing in the community right now. Shank: You say that you are the second largest and I understand what you are saying about how unusual your situation is, can you provide me with the percentages so I can make sure my report is complete when I put it in the agenda packet? Eastman: We can do that or we can just reflect what the...the Housing Authority has really good numbers on percentages of folks and their minority status who rent from them. They are very representative of the community. Retish: That only gives us a partial clue of whose there because we are only tapping into those People who are using housing that has assistance attached to it. The other big piece, maybe the larger piece, are those people that rent without assistance and where are they renting? How are they getting there? McCue: A place like Lakeside two years ago went out of Section 8 as I recall. Beckmann: I want to add and I know we are not into anecdotes, but I want to share one with you, relating to what we are saying. We own some rental property and rented it to a family and found out later after they abandoned the unit that there were fifteen people living in our rental unit. Now we are not Iow-income housing, we are not going to show up in any of your statistics but I can guarantee you that the reason that they had 15 people living in that house was because they needed the 15 adults, that is not including the 8 other children that I was told...I was told that there were 15 adults and 8 children living there in a three bedroom rental unit that I own. They were all living there because they have to share the rent because they cannot afford to live anywhere else. McCue: What we can get numbers on is assisted housing. Beckmann: But what Paul says is that is not reflective... McCue: Right. Beckmann: of really what's happening. Witmer: That (Beckmann's experience) might be very reflective of an aspect that we just don't see. Beckmann: But you can't get your arms around that because there is no way to combine those two statistics. Townsend: In Iowa City, you cannot see homeless people either but we've got plenty. Chorus of "Rights" Retish: And the census date won't help us with that? Eastman: Census data helps a lot. Retish: it seems to me that census data... Beckmann: If they are living in a place long enough. Retish: Yeah, yeah right. It is a lease. Townsend: They are probably undercover. Beckmann: And you can bet that when the census people knocked on the door, they didn't tell them that there were 15 adults and 8 children living there. Townsend: Exactly, and if they have been here through a census year. Beckmann: Right, exactly. Do we have any more questions? If not, I am going to suggest that we wrap up. I do not want to end this discussion but I want to move to wrapping up. Retish to Eastham and Hayek: Thank you. Beckmann: Thank you guys. Hayek and Eastham leave. Beckmann: The second half of this discussion, and hopefully it will not be the second half, just the second part. I just want to bring you up to date, on when I mentioned the fallout, what that meant. I am going to try really hard to keep my personal opinion out of this. Heather informed me that after a number of the members of the City staff read our addition to the Council packet, meaning our letter, the cover letter and the Mayor's response, they were pretty upset with us. In fact, we have been called racist. Now, and I am sure that Heather can expand on this for us, but the general gist of it is that I do not think they get what questions we are asking. I do not think they get it. So go ahead and then we can decide what, if anything, we will do about this and I am not sure that there needs to be but I want you all to know what is going on. Shank: In the original letter, dated in September, the first paragraph of that letter was of concern to some of the City staff. Shank reading: "The Iowa City Human Rights Commission, at its recent meetings has been discussing the proliferation of Iow-income housing and related services on the south side of Iowa City. [Beckmann: That part of the letter I took directly from the minutes of our Previous meetings when we discussed what we wanted to say.] Over time, there seems to have developed a high concentration of Iow-income people, a high concentration of recent arrivals in town, a high concentration of minority populations, and a high concentration of troubled populations of various kinds on the south side of Iowa City." Some people interpreted that paragraph as a comment by the Commission that they wanted all minorities on the Southeast side to move back to where they came from. Shorr: They weren't giving much better credit than that to us? Beckmann: Nor did they leave us with...? Shank: Nor did they read the [Commission's] minutes of any of the meetings. But after consideration by my boss, (he read the letter frequently after the allegations) he couldn't understand it - how that conclusion was reached. But it was reached and it was shared by many people that have a stake in the outcome of this discussion. Beckmann: I have a very strong opinion about those people taking that stance and that is this. I will say this publicly wherever anyone wants to hear it. Retish: Your not going to let us hear your opinion? (laughter) Beckmann: No, this relates to what some of the City staff is doing. If the City of Iowa City wants to have Commissions that are populated by lay people, they have to allow us to ask questions like lay people do ask questions. And if they are not going to allow that because they are going to call us racist or any other name that they can think of next week, I say everyone on every commission §hould stand up and go home because what it is doing [racist comment] is clouding the issue. It is not allowing a group of citizens that have legitimate concerns to ask the questions and be responded to in a legitimate manner. They are lowering themselves to name-calling, which is unnecessary in my view. I just wanted you all to know what happened and I am not necessarily saying that we need to do anything about it because I do not believe that anyone that sits around the table at the Iowa City Human Rights Commission meetings is a racist person. Shank: In terms of doing anything, I believe that since you have had this discussion with Matt Hayek and you've had a say and it is on tape and it will be transcribed you will have had your say or you [the Commission] can also respond differently, if you would like. I just wanted to make that dear. Beckmann: I do not believe that the reaction of some of the City staff should stop us [Commission] from doing or saying what we think is the right thing to do. King: I would say that reaction is from a group of people that do not want to admit there is a problem. Witwer: And are afraid to say it - what that first paragraph says even though they are concerned about it but they are afraid to bring it out in the open and talk about it because - they are just not going to look at it. McCue: Was this City Council members? Beckmann: No, City staff. Shorr: There probably isn't much ...in other words, how do you respond to grumbling and murmuring? Beckmann: Right - you don't but I wanted to make everyone aware. Shorr: And I think we are creating a record as we speak here that exactly gives a fuller picture of where we are coming from. Shank: The minutes will also be in the packet for the Council. All of the minutes go to the Council. Baird: Some of the hardest things to say help you move forward. And recognizing as a White woman sometimes the way you see the world as a White male or Black female, how you see the world as a lay person and as a citizen of the City, the way we see it, is right there. It is a high concentration of this type of population and this type of population. I don't see that as us saying that we don't want them there or here or in the whole town. ~Beckmann: Heather told me that some of the folks told her that that is not true, that there really is not a high concentration in that area of town. I guess my response to that is a perception is that it is there and... McCue: I think the school data is compelling. A few years ago Twain had all of the childhood diabetics in town as well as everything else. Shorr: Nor is what we are talking about something that isn't happening in the country as a whole, either. I just used a lot of negatives, I am sorry. It was like a triple or quadruple ... It is true, we have all seen it - it comes up in the popular media. That when academics look at data from today in comparison to 50 years ago segregation is very real and almost all...everywhere. Beckmann: If we are all alright with that, we will move on. Retish: The only thing that I would say is that I hope this Commission and other committees don't sPend a lot more time studying the problem. That we become proactive by initially starting at the point of saying we have a problem and let's put the best minds we have in Iowa City together to talk about solving the problem. Let's not form another committee to study the study of the study. Witwer: Part of it is putting a commitment to that with some money behind it, because as Matt said, it is going to cost more but we are looking to a better future, hopefully. McCue: I think that anyone that would propose another Commission should be forced to read the minutes of this Commission. I think that would stop them in their tracks. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Beckmann asked if there were any changes in the November minutes. McCue said he wanted to correct a sentence that he didn't say. He indicated that it was written that he was responsible for coordinating the homeless in the area churches when in fact he just scheduled the homeless in one church, not all. Shorr said that there was a misspelling in that the word was device but it should be devise. MOTION: Shorr made a motion to approve the revised November minutes and Townsend seconded the motion. MOTION: Approved unanimously. 14 4. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: No NEW BUSINESS: Selection of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for the next calendar year: Nominations for Chairperson - Wilming stated that he just finished his first year on the Commission and he has been very impressed by Beckmann's work and her coordination of the Commission's work and if she was willing to accept it, Wilming wanted to nominate Beckmann to continue in her role as chairperson. Beckmann said that she would do that but she was willing to entertain more nominations. Witwer seconded Wilmings' nomination. No additional nominations were offered. Unanimous vote to approve Beckmann as Chairperson. Vice Chair: Beckmann asked if there were nominations for Vice Chair for the next calendar year: McCue nominated Retish and Townsend nominated Wilming. Shorr seconded Retish and Witwer seconded Wilming. Wilming asked if he could ask Shorr about the role of Vice Chair because he is currently serving in a similar role on another board and it is kind of time consuming and I gladly would accept the nomination but at the same time, I am willing but not eager. Shorr said speaking from his experience in the past year, it has not been onerous at all. Beckmann has taken on most of the burdens. Beckmann added that it would mean that the Vice Chair would lead the meeting if the Chairperson was unable to attend and the one time Beckmann was going to be gone, there wasn't a meeting due to lack of a quorum. Wilming asked Retish is he would like to be Vice Chair and Retish replied that he had been Vice Chair once so if Wilming would like the experience, Retish would gladly hand it off to him. Vote was unanimous in favor of Wilming. Beckmann said that she was really happy with how the Commissioners have been looking for projects in the community and following through with those projects. She added that the Commission has a number of projects that it has been involved in and a number of projects the Commission has supported. Beckmann said that it is commendable that the group has gone beyond just talking about doing things and actually doing things. Cultural Diversity Festival: Sunday, February 20th at the Field House from 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Beckmann said that this is a great event and she loves doing it. It can be done with one person but it should be divided from 12:00 to 2:30 and 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. Witwer said that it coincides with Odd Girl Out at Kirkwood. Shank said that she would attend the Kirkwood event. Beckmann asked if she wanted someone to pick up a box of material at her office on Friday so that it can be taken to the festival on Sunday. Shank said yes and Beckmann volunteered for early in the morning and Wilming took the afternoon shift. King volunteered to get the materials from Shank and he would be at the festival for two other events so he would meet Beckmann. White Privilege Conference: Pella - April 27 - April 30. Beckmann said that in the past members of the Commission have gone to this event. People that have attended have reported that it is a wonderful activity. Baird said that she could go for one day and Witwer believes she can also go for a day. OLD BUSINESS: VIDEO SERIES: Beckmann mentioned that Bang Bang You're Dead had to be cancelled and the Commission needed to reschedule it. Retish apologized indicating that it was his mistake thinking the movie could be shown without getting a license but it was the play that was actually free to the public, not the video. Beckmann acknowledged that the film Let's Get Real is playing in February and permission has been granted and White Privilege is being shown on March 8. Beckmann asked if the Commission wanted to show Bang Bang You're Dead in April? Shank reminded Beckmann that the Youth Awards are in April and four public forums are planned for February. Shank asked whether the movie could be rescheduled some time in May. Beckmann indicated that Bang Bang You're Dead would be scheduled for the second Tuesday in May. ARAB HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: Shank attended the Friday event on the genocide in Darfur and the keynote speaker was a wonderful woman from Amnesty International, Elizabeth Hodgkins, whose home is in London although she goes all over the world investigating incidents of genocide. On Saturday there were a number of speakers that talked about a man in Sudan that could be considered the Martin Luther King of that country. This religious leader believed in a more moderate few of Islam where women and men are treated equally. There were musicians and the woman from Amnesty International spoke again only this time she talked about her relationship with Mohamed Yaha, the religious leader who was subsequently killed by the government because of his beliefs. Martin Luther King events: Shank said that she went to the Convocation to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday which was quite good but none of the programs she attended were as good as the one organized by Billie Townsend, an Iowa City Human Rights Commissioner in her role as a U of I employee. Beckmann thanked Townsend for inviting the Commissioners. RACHEL SIMMONS AUTHOR OF ODD GIRL OUT: THE HIDDEN CULTURE OF AGGRESSION IN GIRLS - Witwer indicated that she had the brochures for the conference being held at Kirkwood on February 20. It has the logo of the Iowa City Commission on the front. According to Witwer, it turned out to be a bit of a surprise because the conference includes a number of programs other than the author, Rachael Simmons. It is from 1:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and there are break out sessions starting at 1:00 p.m. From 4:00 - 7:00 p.m., Rachel Simmons will be speaking. Witwer spent the morning with Marian Coleman and she said she is going all day. Coleman also said that she could find nine more people to go and Coleman is taking a carload of girls from 1:00 - 2:15 to a session entitled, ,'Help me, I don't know what to do," which is a talk for girls that are experiencing bullying. This is free and adolescents from the Iowa City School District are going to attend. At the time Witwer got a hold of Coleman was on her way to a junior high in town to deal with female bullying. Coleman thought it ironic that she couldn't meet with Witwer because she needed to deal with a female bullying incident. Bullying is increasingly the kinds of issues that Coleman is hearing about. Witwer lent Coleman Simons's book and gave her the brochures. United Action for Youth will receive two tickets. Witwer has received no response from Regina. Shank indicated that she just wanted one ticket to give to a mother whose daughter has been involved in a bullying incident and Shank lent her a copy of Rachel Simmons's book. Pat Meyer from the Neighborhood Center is taking two tickets and buying two additional tickets. Beckmann indicated that she wanted to read Simmons' book. Shank said that she personally ordered two more books so she would let Beckman know when she has them. YOUTH AWARDS: Beckmann asked the Commissioner's to contact the schools they had agreed to contact. Shank will e-mail the nomination forms to those Commissioners that no longer have the document. The nomination form is also on the City's web site. HOUSING FORUM: The public forum scheduled for Wednesday February 16 is entitled, Tenants & Landlords: Doing the Right Thing and it is scheduled for the Iowa City Public Library in meeting room A from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. The panelists include the Director of Legal Aid, Jan Rutledge; Eric Fisher, Director of Student Legal Services and Heidi Soethout-Ehmsen, Mediator. Heidi is covering the alternative dispute resolution angle. The idea of the forum is to provide information to the public - especially law-based information that will help improve landlord/tenant relationships by giving people the tools to avoid conflicts and resolve conflicts. Beckmann reminded Commissioners that they should really make an effort to try and attend a Commission initiated event. Shorr said that the panelists are looking forward to this forum and they already have a planning meeting in City Hall. BUILDING BLOCKS FOR EMPLOYMENT: Beckmann explained to the new Commission members that this is an event that the Commission participates in with members of the HR Education Committee. Shank added that the Human Rights Education Committee is a group of volunteer community members that have come together to work on Human Rights issues. Specifically, the Human Rights Committee can do things more quickly than the Commission might because they can come together more frequently. The last Building Blocks program was on the Southeast side of town on Broadway. According to Retish, Wilming was the only businessperson in the room. Retish said that the Committee was trying to correct this by having additional businesspersons for the next program. The Committee had a meeting on January 18. Retish indicated that a volunteer group of law students have volunteered to participate in Building Blocks this time. Retish explained that the Education Committee asks people to attend and assist people with the skills required to get a job. In other words, the volunteers assist people to draft resumes & cover letters, understand how to fill out an application as well as acquire interviewing skills. Most of the people that have attended are seeking entry-level positions. More people showed up last time than at the previous programs. Childcare and food was provided and materials that coincided with the purpose of the tables i.e. resume table, were placed in a folder for the attendees to take home. In addition, each person left with a hard copy of a resume and cover letter as well as a computer disk containing their documents. Shank said that she spoke to representatives of Southgate and there are no available buildings of sufficient size in which a project like Building Blocks could be held. Shank is waiting to hear from Sehee, one of the law students, who might know of an alternative location. Retish stated that he had a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce in the following week to talk to persons about volunteering for the Building Blocks project. When he initially made the call, the woman that answered said that the Chamber had been doing similar things for years by allowing persons to use a computer disk that can be used as a teaching tool as it has programs for resumes, etc. Retish explained that the population assisted by Building Blocks does not necessarily have a computer readily available. The woman became very quiet after that but when Retish speaks to the members, he plans to tell them that he would like it if employers would attend the program and let people know what they are looking for in an employee and hand out applications for available jobs. l? Building Blocks for Employment is scheduled for February 22 and he said that the event is wonderful. After consideration, it was recognized that Building Blocks was scheduled for the same night as the Commission meeting. Retish suggested that the entire Commission volunteer for the Building Blocks for Employment program and forgo the February meeting. Shorr suggested it would be like an inservice. Townsend thought it was a really good idea as it would be a working meeting. Shank reminded everyone that they could not discuss Commission business during the event so that they would not be in violation of the open meeting law. In the alternative the Commission meeting could be rescheduled for a different night. Beckmann said that she would not be in favor of asking the Human Rights Education Committee to reschedule so she wondered whether the Commissioners were in favor of participating in Building Blocks as opposed to attending the Commission meeting. Wilming stated that he thought it [Building Blocks] was a very worthy event and he would encourage everyone's' participation. The program is from 5 - 9 p.m. so Beckmann asked the Commissioners to commit to at least an hour or an hour and a haiti Shank said that people start coming in the door around 5:15 and many leave to put their children to bed by 7:30 p.m. Motion: Retish moved to forgo the regular monthly meeting in February and during that time period the Commissioners will volunteer to participate in Building Blocks for Employment. Wilming seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Keynote speaker for Human Rights Breakfast: Issue is deferred until March meeting. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS Bev Witwer - Witwer brought materials from the Southern Poverty Law Center that teachers received for free each month. The Law Center publishes "Teaching Tolerance." She really admires the people that work at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Scott King - King reiterated that he is working with a group that is trying to get a gay & lesbian community center organized here in Iowa City. He thinks that somewhere along the line the topic will be brought to the Commission's attention. Wilming - The other issue near and dear to his heart other than employment issues is the organization the "National Alliance for the Mentally II1" of which his wife is the Director. They will be having their first NAMI walks event - it is a community walk that will take place in early May. It will start in City Park to raise both awareness and money for the NAMI. More information will follow. Garr - Report of ex-Commissioner - Yesterday in the Chronicle of Higher Education there was an article that stated that President Bush in 2006, wants to cut Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search Programs around the entire nation to make more money for the No Child Left Behind program. This will impact over 500,000 underrepresented students largely minority but also first generation students around the nation. Garr finds it incredible that the thought of this could even happen. Many of the U of I students that are underrepresented came through the Upward Bound. It is amazing how many things seemed to be going against the idea of diversity. Garr also wanted to say that she did not renew her application because her job in the Admissions office at the U of I required her to travel too much but she appreciated her time on the Commission and when she can she will participate and volunteer in the future. Commission members thanked Garr for her remarks. Townsend - Barrack Obama was the first African American to be elected as a Senator from Illinois. Townsend would like to bring him here as a lecturer. The African American Council is working on this. Beckmann - On January 10, Beckmann had the privilege of going to the inauguration of the State House of Representatives. Her uncle was inaugurated and Beckmann took her daughter there and she wasn't expecting to be a moved as she was but she was able to look beyond the pomp and saw some very sincere people with good intentions and good hearts. Also, although she did not agree with everything everyone said, she still thought everything would be okay. Beckmann said that she and her daughter got to be on the floor of the House rather than the balcony. Reading Cases - deferred until March meeting. 8. Status of Cases - Shank reported that there is one public hearing in process that the opinion of the ALJ in that case ought to be submitted in late spring or early summer. Another public hearing has been scheduled for June but the ALJ said the date might change. There has also been a recent litigation worthy decision. 9. Adjournment: 9:10 p.m. Board or Commission: Human Rights ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2004 (Meetinl Date) TERM 1/27 2/24 3/23 4/27 5/25 6/22 7/27 8/24 9/28 10/26 11/23 12/28 NAME EXP. Lisa 1/1/07 X X Beckman Paul Retish 1/1/07 X X Geoff 1/1/07 X X Wilming Sara Baird 1/1/05 X OrE David Shorr 1/1/06 X X James 1/1/06 X X McCue Billie 1/1/06 X X Townsend Bev Witwer 1/1/05 X X Scott King 1/1/05 X X KEY: X = Present NMNQ - No meeting, no quorum O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting .... Not a Member (~ iIowa Ciw Public' Library BOARD OF TRUSTEES Agenda item 3A Minutes 5:00 pm - February 24, 2005 2nd Floor Board Room David VanDusseldorp, President Linzee McCray, Vice President Thomas Dean Kathy GIoer William Korf Linda Prybil Pat Schnack, Secretary Tom Surer Jim Swaim Members Present: Thomas Dean, Kathy Gloer, William Korf, Linzee McCray, Pat Schnack, Tom Suter, David VanDusseldorp, Members Absent: Linda Prybil, Jim Swaim Staff Present: Barb Black, Maeve Clark, Susan Craig, Debb Green, Heidi Lauritzen, Kara Logsden, Martha Lubaroff, Patty McCarthy Others: Jay Beattie, Terri Byers, Sara Doyle (Practicum student), Linda Dyer, Kathy Mitchell, Paul Show, President of AFSCME 183, and Ardis Sillick Call meeting to Order VanDusseldorp called the meeting to order at 5:04 pm. Public Discussion Library's union steward Byers spoke on behalf of the staffpresent. They were objecting to the proposed FY06 Building Calendar, which was being recommended for the Board's approval. The recommendation from the Director is that the Library close at 2:00 pm on December 24, be closed on December 25 and be open with Holiday staffing on December 26 in observance of the holiday, and also open with holiday staffing on Monday, January 2. Byers's objection is that the language in the contract states that ifa holiday falls on a Sunday the holiday is observed on Monday. She said that union employees are requesting the Library be closed on December 26 to give staff more time off. VanDusseldorp asked if Byers had any other information for the Board to discuss when the agenda item comes up. Show explained that although the same situation occurs the following weekend at New Years, they were not advocating being closed January 2, recognizing that it is a heavy return day. VanDusseldorp asked for any other questions. Thanked staff. Approval of minutes It was noted that minutes did not reflect Jim Swaim's attendance at the City budget hearing. Dean moved approval of minutes as corrected with a second from Suter. All were in favor and the motion carried 7-0. Agenda item 3A Page No 2 Unfinished Business University Heights Update/Fee Card Discussion: Craig included a copy of the February 7, 2005 letter to University Heights Council, which contained a proposal for a three-year phased in contract. In response to questions about the meeting of February 15, Craig described reticence on the part of University Heights Council to make any changes in their FY06 budget. The Council will be sending their 2006 budget to the State of Iowa in March. Presently the budget does contain a line item for reimbursing fee cards, as has been the case. There was some interest from their council to solicit information from citizens although there was no distinct proposal to do so. During the last two meetings they have asked what the library is going to do about fee cards. VanDusseldorp informed them that we had an agenda item to discuss fee cards and that we would not treat University Heights any different than any other group that uses fee cards. In a memo dated February 15, to the Board, Craig expanded the report on fee cards and made a recommendation. She points out in her memo her strong belief that libraries should be open to all with no fees and that communities are responsible for providing all residents with basic services. University Heights is currently only supporting library use for those who are able to pay for a fee card. Craig has seen more and more of this type of problem because of budget constraints. Recently we negotiated a new contract with Johnson County for rural residents, and University Heights should be paying at least as much per capita. University Heights is receiving library service for very little. Craig recommends that the Board make a decision to stop issuing fee cards as of June 30, 2006. Schnack moved that we adopt this policy change and that we no longer sell fee cards beginning July 1, 2006. We would sell the last full year fee card at the end of June 2005. Dean feels we need to stress the community aspect of the library service and separate the fee card issue from alternative funding. It is a matter of equity to Iowa City residents. With the present policy in place, we are not letting the community bear the expense, and are enabling communities to do something different from Iowa City residents. Gloer asked about the original contract that would increase incrementally. Craig said initially ~ve would get $10,000, which would be shared with Coralville and give us no more income than we get now. Korf seconded the motion. All in favor of eliminating the fee cards as of July 2006 voted Aye. Motion carries 7-0. Craig will draft a letter for VanDusseldorp's approval. Strategic Plan Update Mission Statement: Craig would like to have some direction from the Board. Staff feels that this is a decision that should come from the Board. There is general satisfaction with the current mission statement. The Board can endorse any of the options provided or set up a process for further discussion. Goals and objectives are a little easier. The draft document is the result of staff working in small groups using the priority areas identified by the Board. Language was drafted and looked at with Coordinators. Gloer and McCray worked on the frrst draft with several staffmembers. If Board likes it, staffwill go back and begin writing language for specific actions. There was agreement that the goals and objectives could be sent back to the staff for minor editing and development of strategies. The group did not talk about the mission statement. Dean would like to add "community center" somewhere in the mission statement. There was some discussion about the mission statement presented as Alternative 1, which is briefer. Dean, Gloer and McCray will work on the mission statement and bring something back to the Board. New Business: Collection Development Policy Review: Korf moved approval. Dean seconded. Craig pointed out that this policy is one of the most important the Board sees, it is the heart and soul of what the library does. At this review, only minor language changes are proposed. We are fortunate to live in a community that values intellectual freedom. The ALA documents are included since the Board endorses the principles they document. Librarians review the interpretations against our current practice. The biggest area in which we part from the statement is labeling. We do include the MPAA ratings for movies in our catalog. It was pointed out that the new language in 601.27 was awkward. An editing error was made. It will be corrected. Agenda item 3A Page No 3 VanDusseldorp called for a vote. All voted Aye and the motion carried 7-0. Theft of Library Materials: Policy Review Another routinely scheduled review. Dean moved approval. McCray seconded the motion. All voted Aye and motion passed 7-0. Unattended Children Policy Review Schnack moved approval and Suter seconded. Green was asked if there were many instances of kids wandering around with no parents. It seldom happens. The policy is posted clearly in the Children's Room. A vote was called for and all voted Aye. Motion passed 7-0. Approval of FY06 Calendar VanDusseldorp asked for a motion to approve the calendar. He wanted to entertain a motion and then have necessary discussion. Korf moved approval. There were no seconds. Schnack moved that we approve the calendar with the exception of closing December 26 rather than being open with holiday staffing. Gloer seconded it. Craig wanted to make it clear that the proposed calendar is not in violation of the contract. It would be a violation if people did not get time off or holiday pay. Craig said that her philosophy is to maximize the number of days the library is open to the public. She pointed out that by approving the revised calendar, the library would be closed from 2:00 pm on December 24 until Tuesday, December 27. In her opinion this is too long to be closed. The public perception is that December 26 is not a holiday. Because Christmas falls on a Sunday Schnack recommended that holiday be given to the staff. In response to a question about being closed on the 24t~, the reconunendation is to be open only until 2:00 pm. The 24th and 26th are not holidays, although the Board can set the calendar. This year the 26~ is the observed holiday for the 25th because the 25th falls on a Sunday. People who work that day receive additional compensation. We have a minimal staff. Although the 26th is a City holiday, the busses will mn and the Recreation Center will be open. City Hall will be closed. What kind of activity do we anticipate on Christmas Eve day? It's hard to say because it is a Saturday. Union staff wants to have Monday off. VanDusseldorp called for a vote on the motion to adopt the calendar with the exception of closing on 12/26. Schnack, Korf, Dean, Gloer voted yes. Opposed were Suter, McCray and VanDusseldorp. Motion passed 4-3. Reinstate Park 'n Read Suter moved that we adopt. McCray seconded. With the FY06 budget approval we can start this program again. All in favor voted Aye. Motion carried 7-0. The program will begin on March 1, 2005. Staff Reports DepartmentalReports: Children's, Systems, Technical Services In response to a question, story time kits were described as instant programming aimed at preschool audiences. They are self-contained kits that contain ingredients to provide a story time for kids, childcare centers, etc., including multiple books, some realia and a suggestion for a group activity, all relating to a common subject. Question: Lauritzen was asked about catalog message regarding paying fines online. It has been there two days and has already been used. First day there were four or five payments made and the second day it was up to 11. VanDusseldorp thanked staff for informative reports. Agenda item 3A Page No 4 Development Office McCarthy reported that the Spelling Bee was wonderful. Thanks to all who participated. Library will make a video and DVD copy of the program available and there are already holds on them. It was fun and successful financially. Reminder letters requesting annual fund donations will go out Monday. Foundation report Committees are meeting. Gloer distributed a list of authors who have agreed to be part of the Celebrating Iowa Authors event. There are eleven events to be auctioned this year. If anyone has the names of people to add to the invitation list, forward them to Gloer. Tickets are $40; $30 of which is deductible. Miscellaneous: Guest Opinion by Kay Thistlewaite was included. This was printed in the ICPC February 5, 2005 and was titled "In praise of public libraries". President's Report VanDusseldorp appointed a nominating committee. Suter will chair. Schnack and Dean will serve. They will prepare nominations for officers for FY06 and present slate in April. VanDusseldorp reported on a recent experience with one of our librarians who escorted him to a location in order to find a particular area of nonfiction videos. The librarian recommended others in the same section and VanDusseldorp felt he was introduced to a genre of videos due to the great assistance. Announcements from Members Schnack said she was very impressed with the young adult activities for teens nm by Andrea Clinkenbeard. The teen advisory board is a great way to involve young people. Communication A letter from an unhappy patron who received a parking ticket was included as well as Craig's response. Disbursements Visa Expenditures for January were reviewed. Disbursements for January were approved after a motion made by Suter and seconded by Korf. All in favor voted Aye. Motion carried 7-0 Set agenda order for March 24 meeting. There was a comment regarding the discussion of the process of approving the calendar. Questions regarding the calendar should be brought to the Board ahead of time so Board would not feel on the spot. Is there a better way to handle the communication? Try to have an update on leased space. Appoint a Comnfittee to evaluate the director. Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 pm Board or Commission: ICPL Board of Trustees ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2005 TERM 1/27/ 2/25/ 3/24/ NAME EXP. 05 05 05 Thomas 7/1/09 O/e x Dean Kathy GIoer 7/1/05 x x Bill Korf 7/1/09 x x Linzee 7/1/09 x x McCray Linda Prybil 7/1/05 O 0/e Pat Schnack 7/1/07 x x Tom Suter 7/1/07 x x Jim Swaim 7/1/05 x 0/e David Van 7/1/07 x x Dusseldorp KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting .... Not a Member