HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-01-10 Info PacketCITY OF IOWA CITY
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CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET
MISCELLANEOUS
IP1 Council Tentative Meeting Schedule
January 10, 2013
IP2 Memo from Mayor: Endorsement of Iowa City Community School District ( ICCSD)
Revenue Purpose Statement and Policy Regarding Socioeconomic Balance
IP3 Information from City Manager: Copy of West High Letter regarding Planning for Next
School Year
IP4 Information from City Manager: Copy of email to City High Alumni Board regarding
School diversity / equity — important information
IP S Copy of email from Edwin Stone to Jeff Charis Carlson: Equity Editorial
IP6 Copy of email from Edwin Stone, and response from ICCSD Board Member Sarah Swisher:
ICCSD email accounts and parental mailing lists
IP7 Memo from City Manager: Finance Director
IP8 Copy of email to City Manager and Dr. Tom Rocklin from Michelle Bacon Curry: Wilson
Building Property & Married Student Housing [Staff response included]
IP9 Memo from Community Development Planners: City Council Request for information
about the Single Family New Home Program
I1310 Copy of letter from Fire Chief Rocca: Updated general guidelines to assess fire
department fees
DRAFT MINUTES
IP11 Airport Commission: December 27
IP12 Human Rights Commission: December 18
IP13 Police Citizens Review Board: January 8
l IP1
I�., City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule
ON
January 10, 2013
CITY OF IOWA CITY
Subject to change
Date
Time
Meeting
Location
MN
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
7:010 PM
Special Formal Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
6:00 PM
City Conference Board Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
7:00 PM
Formal Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
7:00 PM
Formal Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
6:00 PM
City Conference Board Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
7:00 PM
Formal Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
7:00 PM
Formal Meeting
Emma J. Harvat Hall
1 l
:.
';' MIN
CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
Date: January 10, 2013
To: City Council
From: Matt Hayek, Mayor
Re: Endorsement of Iowa City Community School District ( ICCSD) Revenue Purpose
Statement and Policy Regarding Socioeconomic Balance
At our December 18, 2012, meeting, the council unanimously adopted resolution no. 12 -534,
entitled "Resolution Recommending a Shared Vision for the Future Planning and Development
of the Iowa City Community School District and the City of Iowa City." A copy of that resolution
is included with this memo.
The resolution articulates a shared vision between Iowa City and ICCSD and links the district's
Revenue Purpose Statement (RPS) to the city's Strategic Plan and ongoing efforts to promote
income - diversified neighborhoods throughout the community. The resolution directed the mayor
and city manager to meet with district officials in advance of the RPS vote to discuss the shared
objectives of the city and the district. Tom Markus and I met with district officials and the
discussion was positive.
The ICCSD board of directors has submitted the RPS to the voters for a February 5, 2013,
referendum. In addition, the board is presently considering a policy to maintain socioeconomic
and enrollment balance between schools. Both of these items are critically important to our
community's future. Staff will draft a resolution for consideration at our January 22, 2013,
meeting that will express the council's endorsement of the RPS along with a policy to maintain
socioeconomic and enrollment balance between schools. This is an important message to send
to our citizens in advance of the February 5 vote and is consistent with our adopted Strategic
Plan and the specific priority of Neighborhood Stabilization.
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this.
IP2
Prepared by: Tom Markus, 410 E. Washington St., Iowa City, IA 52240 (319) 356 -5010
RESOLUTION NO. 12 -534
RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING A SHARED VISION FOR THE FUTURE PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
AND THE CITY OF IOWA CITY
WHEREAS, the Iowa City Community School District Board of Education (ICCSD) has voted to
submit a Revenue Purpose Statement (RPS) to the voters on February 5, 2013, to authorize the
ICCSD to spend sales tax monies for any of the purposes set forth in the RPS; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the RPS including its stated expenditure purpose: "To
provide funds to build and furnish a new school building or buildings; to build and furnish
addition(s) to school buildings in the District; to remodel, repair, expand, and improve the school
buildings in the District; to purchase and improve grounds; to furnish and equip district facilities;"
and
WHEREAS, in January 2012 the City Council adopted Resolution No 12 -02, which establishes
neighborhood stabilization as one of Iowa City's Strategic Plan priorities; and
WHEREAS, the Strategic Plan states that the City "aims to invest in and deliver core services to
neighborhoods in a manner that enhances overall stability and maintains the intended character
while facilitating new opportunities to improve the quality of life;" and
WHEREAS, the Strategic Plan states that the City's neighborhood stabilization initiatives "should
incorporate collaborative efforts with the ICCSD to maintain and build upon the success of schools
in established neighborhoods while ensuring new elementary schools are planned as integral and
sustainable components of neighborhoods;" and
WHEREAS, in February 2011 the City Council adopted Resolution 11 -51, establishing an
affordable housing location model to balance the distribution of federal and other housing funds
and encourage income - diversified neighborhoods throughout the community; and
WHEREAS, the ICCSD Superintendent has expressed that low income students, and in fact all
students, do better when there is a mix of income levels within each school; and
WHEREAS, the decisions of the ICCSD Board of Education have a significant impact on the
neighborhoods of Iowa City and the other communities in the district; and
WHEREAS, equitably distributing facilities, programs, and educational opportunities among our
schools promotes stable, income - diverse neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, reinvesting in existing schools helps stabilize neighborhoods by attracting individuals
and families who desire proximity to employment centers, commercial services and cultural
activities, reduces transportation costs for families and the school district, and is a cost - effective
way to accommodate population growth, including ICCSD enrollment growth;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IOWA
CITY, IOWA THAT:
1. The ICCSD should prioritize capital spending to bring all existing facilities to the standards of
recently- constructed facilities.
Resolution No. 12 -534
Page 2
2. The ICCSD should pursue construction of two new elementary schools within the corporate
limits of Iowa City and, through partnerships between the City and ICCSD similar to the Grant
Wood gymnasium, the use of these facilities should incorporate community uses in addition to
educational purposes.
3. In the event it determines the necessity of a third high school, the ICCSD's priority should be to
do no harm to the existing high schools and ensure balance and equity with respect to facilities,
offerings and enrollment practices so that all high school students in the district receive the
same quality education.
4. The city manager and mayor are directed to meet with appropriate ICCSD officials in advance
of the RPS vote to discuss the shared objectives of the City and the ICCSD.
Passed and approved this 18th day of December , 20_12_
ATTEST: A�LCg�
CITY ERK
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Approved b
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City Attorney's Office
It was moved by Payne and seconded by Dickens the Resolution be
adopted, and upon roll call there were:
AYES:
NAYS: ABSENT:
X
Champion
X
Dickens
X
Dobyns
X
Hayek
X
Mims
X
Payne
X
Throgmorton
`
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Jerry Arganbright, Principal
Molly Abraham, Assistant Principal
Scott Kibky, Athletic Director
, - 01'1��n
West High School � nx—.m
Where Excellence is a Tradition
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Date: January 4,J013
To: West High, Northwest, and North Central Parents
Re: Planning for Next School Year _
`
-
.
Aswa move into the 2O13 calendar year, vve are beginning the planning process for the ensuing school
year. These plans will soon involve our students, including current 8th with enrolling intheir
specific course selections for high school, as well as6m grade students preparing to enter Northwest and
North Central junior high schools. As we initiate the steps in preparation for the 2013-14 school year,
our parent rep groups (PSTO/PTA) have requested we keep our parents well informed of any building or
district decisions that will affect our students' educational setting and/or program.
The school board is currently in process of planning entitled
Policy." A copy of this draft policy is included with this email/malling for your added information. At
their December 17 meeting the school board conducted a first reading of the policy, and from their
discussion there was a majority of the seven member board supportive of adopting this policy at an
upcoming school board meeting. While this policy requires three readings, it is our understanding the
board could combine the 2"d and Yd reading and adopt this policy at their January 15 meeting.
The draft diversity policy is a product of the school board's governance committee which will meet on
Monday, January 7, to further discuss the details included within this policy. Board committee meetings
are open to the public, but public comment is not permitted. We are bringing this information to your
attention since if adopted, it will influence our planning for next year and could affect the school
assignment for some students next August.
For this policy, ' theschool board is defining "minority students" a* those students who participate inthe
school district's free or reduced price lunch program. While this policy will also affect student school
assignments in the elementary buildings, we will only address how it affects our plans for next year
working with our secondary students (grades 7-12). |f this policy |s approved as currently drafted, the
superintendent will be required to:
* balance the free or reduced price lunch students mthe three junior highs so there are no more
than 15 percentage points difference among these three schools. This could require the
superintendent to adjust attendance areas. While the policy provides the superintendent five
years to complete this free and reduced lunch balance process, he must show annual progress
which could require reassignment of some junior high students for the next school year.
2901 Melrose Avenue ^ Iowa City, 1A 52246-3605
Main Office Phone: (319) 688-1050 # Fax: (.319) 688-1059
West Wing Office Phone: (319) 688-1090 - Fax: (319) 688-1099
• balance the free or reduced price lunch students between West High and City High to no more
than 10 percentage points difference between these two schools.
in addition to the stated focus on equity as defined by income, the policy also addresses capacity issues
in the secondary schools. According to the draft policy, the capacity levels between the two high schools
cannot differ more than 10 percentage points between the most filled and least filled school. This could
require the superintendent to assign some West High students to City High. Although the
superintendent is provided two years to fully implement parts of the policy, he must achieve one of
these two requirements within one year. Thus, there could be some high school students reassigned to
a different high - school next fall.
We bring this information to your attention due to potential changes for some student school
assignments should this policy be adopted by the school board. The superintendent will be required to
implement the school assignment changes beginning next year, and subsequent years as well. From our
conversations with Superintendent Murley, if this policy is adopted, our secondary students will be
informed as soon as possible if their planned school assignment will be changed. Given our schools and
course registration timelines, we know it will be important to have a school assignment plan prepared in
a timely manner should the policy be adopted. Again, we share these details to keep you informed in
advance of what may likely unfold as this policy is processed by the school board at their January 15
meeting or at a future board meeting. Board members have indicated that they are anxious for feedback
on this policy. They can be contacted via email at the following address: boardc&iccsdkl2.ia.us.
Although this policy draft is a school board initiative, please feel free to call with any questions.
Thank you,
Jane Fry, Principal
North Central Junior High
/ e'"r
i J rry Arganbright, Principal
rr�
West High School
Gregg Shoultz, Principal
Northwest Junior High
omi
Marian Karr
From: Adam Bentley
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 11:55 AM
To: Marian Karr
Subject: FW: School diversity / equity -- important information
From: Adam Bentley
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 8:39 AM
To: Tom Markus
Subject: FW: School diversity / equity -- important information
Our alumni board sent this out re: school board
From: Brian Kirschling [mailto:b.kirschling @gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 8:34 AM
To: Adam Bentley; Alma Greene; Bill Scott; Brad Seaton; Brian Kirschling; David Farber; Dick Evans; Gene Vineyard; Jane
Green; Janet Holland; Jill Stephenson; Jim Sangster; John Bacon; Katie Hogan Moorhead; Keith Hemingway; Liz Phelps;
Michele Conlon; Mindy Sleichter; Mitch Meis; Molly Dietz; Robyn Sierk Canfield; Steve Shank; Sue Foster; Terrance Riley;
Todd Means; Vince Woolums
Subject: Fwd: School diversity / equity -- important information
As a follow up to last night's discussion regarding Equity in the ICCSD, there is a School Board meeting on
Saturday AM at 9 am at the former Press Citizen office on N.Dodge St to address this issue. You might
consider attending if your calendar allows.
Regards,
Brian Kirschling
---- - - - - -- Forwarded message ---- - - - - --
From: Julie Eisele <julieeiseleghotmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 3:49 AM
Subject: School diversity / equity -- important information
To:
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED EQUITY / DIVERSITY POLICY:
Please consider attending an information meeting at 9 am Saturday (Jan. 12) at the district
headquarters, 1725 N. Dodge St. (former Press Citizen location).
Apologies if you have already received this message; feel free to share it with others.
Why should you care about this ??
Poverty is a growing problem. Ten years ago, poverty at both of our high schools was around 11
percent. Now that number is 36 percent for City High, and 24 percent for West High. Rates increased
by about 5 percentage points in the last year, at both South East Junior High and City High. Poverty
increased an average of 4 percentage points between 2011 and 2012 among elementary schools.
There are many misconceptions about this policy. Please keep reading!
Q: There has been so much high profile coverage of this topic in the local news recently. Is it
true this policy will cause unfair and mass busing, hugely redrawn boundary lines, and will
split up "neighborhood schools " ??
A: Not according to school board members (see below). Some student movement is possible,
but is not likely on a mass scale (especially if we start working on this now — before the gaps
widen more). The policy would encourage the district to look at varied options to address the
current situation -- to: 1) consider plans such as magnet schools and all -day schools at some
elementary locations, which would likely help spur voluntary population movement and have
an impact on FRL numbers; 2) consider boundaries and demographics when opening new
schools — situations where significant redistricting would take place anyway (and several new
schools may be built in coming years); and 3) consider incentive programs at the secondary
level (such as International Baccalaureate programs) to elicit student movement.
The policy is intended to extend equitable educational opportunities to students across the district.
Importantly, it aims to help address achievement gaps. The policy protects taxpayer assets and
promotes good stewardship by encouraging maximum use of existing buildings before new buildings
or additions are made. It is also designed to help keep our schools vibrant.
The policy would require schools to be within a certain range of each other regarding the percent
ranges of students who receive free or reduced -price lunch (FRL), which is used to measure poverty
in schools.
The majority of the current Board of Education is interested in passing this policy before the Revenue
Purpose Statement vote on Feb. 5. (See more discussion below.)Three readings are necessary; one
reading has already occurred. A second reading is likely to occur on Tuesday, Jan. 15. That meeting
begins at 6 pm (same location as above).
District patrons can vote on the RPS issue but the equity / diversity policy is a board - controlled
matter. Please consider expressing your support to the board. Copying and pasting this email header
will put you in touch with the board and superintendent; use a subject line such as, "SUPPORT
EQUITY AND DIVERSITY" (as board members are likely to be receiving heavy email volumes lately):
board iccsd.kl2.ia.us, murley .stephen(&- iccsd.kl2.ia.us
Please keep reading!
What are the between- school ranges spelled out in the policy? 10 percentage points for high
schools (CHS is currently 11 points higher); 15 percentage points for junior high schools (SEJH is
currently 20 percent higher than North Central, 12 percent higher than North West); and within 15
percentage points of the district mean for elementary schools. (26 is the mean, so elementary schools
should fall 15 percentage points on either side of 26. Currently this number ranges at the elementary
level from 6 percent to 79 percent across our district.) A sizeable disparity exists among elementary
schools; City High and South East are both outside of the range that would be allowed under this
policy. Note that a third high school may be built in coming years; the policy would aim to ensure
balance among the high schools.
Is poverty -growing in our community? Yes, it is growing everywhere in this country and Iowa City
is no exception. The district average is 36 percent. One decade ago, it was approximately 12 percent.
Why does FRL matter— why is this metric singled out? The Press Citizen explained this well
recently: "Focusing on the percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch is an
imperfect metric at best. FRL rates are the primary means by which the school district measures
poverty, and the U.S. Supreme Court has said that districts can use them for the purposes of drawing
school attendance areas. Plus few people can deny that a school with a nearly 80 percent FRL rate
includes a much higher percentage of students with obstacles to learning than does a school with
only a 6 percent FRL rate."
Poverty has been identified as a barrier to education. It often — BUT NOT ALWAYS — can
have an impact on learning. Achievement gaps are a very real issue. Research indicates that efforts
to balance poverty levels improve achievement of children living in poverty, while there are no
negative effects on children not affected by poverty.
Is our district currently se_gre_gated by socioeconomics? You decide. See this color -coded
map of poverty in our school district.
http: / /www.press- citizen.com/ interactive /article /20130108/NEWS01 /301080020 /Diversity- policy-
details- under - review
Is this a new issue in our district? No. This is not news for those who have been following the
issues for the past 5 -8 years or so. This trend has been on the radar, but no action has been taken.
From the Iowa City Press Citizen's Editorial Board in a recent opinion piece: "Ever since the
redistricting debates of 2010, we've been waiting for the Iowa City Community School District to
develop a diversity /equity policy that would require a better socio- economic balance of students in
schools throughout the district." Previous school boards have discussed this issue for the past 5 -8
years and action was always tabled. Our current board — mostly new members within the past several
years -- would like to make a difference. Please consider showing your support!
How is this related to the Revenue Purpose Statement vote on February 5? The majority of
board members would like to approve the policy before the vote is taken. Board member Sarah
Swisher says she is "interested in giving people a policy" before asking them to vote on a document
that would let the district borrow ahead on about $100 million in sales tax revenue for construction
projects. The policy would affect possible new construction and, as new schools open, boundaries
that take demographics into consideration. This is one way to improve FRL numbers at some schools
— and to do so at a time when boundaries are in flux anyway, as new schools open.
Other sources:
See this national blog by the Century Foundation:
http: / /tcf.o[g /blogs /botc /2013/1 / more - support- for - socioeconomic - school- integration -iowa- city -is- close-
to- passing -plan
Recent editorial:
http: / /www. press - citizen.com /article /20130109/0PI N IONO2/ 301090037 /New -d iversity- equity- policy-
needed- avoid - separate - equal- schools
Spending information in our district:
http: / /thegazette.com /2012 /10/27 /iowa- city - school -d istrict- spends- more -on- west -side/
View the updated policy (should be available on 1/10/13):
http : / /www.edline.net/pages /iCCSD/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
TO DO:
* Bring your questions on Saturday, Jan. 12, 9 am.
* Attend the board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 6 pm.
* Consider supporting the policy and sharing your support with district leaders. Let your voice
be heard. Copy and paste the addresses below and consider a subject line such as
"SUPPORT EQUITY AND DIVERSITY."
5
board(a)iccsd.kl2.ia.us, muriev .stephen(aD-iccsd.kl2.ia.us
Marian Karr
From:
Edwin Stone <stone. edwin @g mail.com>
Sent:
Wednesday, January 09, 2013 12:36 PM
To:
Jeff Charis Carlson
Cc:
Board; Council
Subject:
Equity Editorial
LIP5 i
For at least fifteen years there has been a struggle going on in our community between two competing concepts of
public education. Some believe that the tax - supported educational resources in our community should be distributed
equally while others feel that inequality is a fact of life and that it is desirable to have some schools with significantly
better physical facilities, curricular opportunities and socioeconomic status than others. School board after school board
and superintendent after superintendent have ignored the growing disparities and in some cases have even taken
actions to make them worse. As a result, the average school on one side of our district has gotten newer and newer
while the average school on the other side has gotten older and older. The average school in Iowa City is.now more than
twice as old as the average school in Coralville and more than three times as old as the average school in North Liberty.
Five new schools have been built in the latter two cities in the past 15 years while no new elementary or junior high
schools have been built in Iowa City. Schools in the newer parts of our community are much more likely to be air
conditioned, ADA compliant and free of lead paint and asbestos than schools in the older parts. During the past fifteen
years our district's schools have also become dramatically segregated along socioeconomic lines. Today, only 5.9% of
the students in one of our elementary schools qualify for free and reduced lunch while 78.6% of the students in another
elementary qualify for this support.
There is a large body of literature showing a relationship between the average socioeconomic status of a school and
the academic performance of its students. And, school districts that have taken steps to balance the socioeconomic
parameters of their schools have found that students at both ends of the socioeconomic spectrum benefit from such
balance.
For these and other reasons some members of our current school board feel that equity of facilities, curriculum and
socioeconomic status are very important for public schools. They have drafted a policy that is designed to reduce the
disparities in socioeconomic status among our schools and to make sure that our existing secondary schools are fully and
equally utilized before building new ones. This marks a very critical point in the evolution of our community. The
disparities in our schools are already so stark that if we do not take aggressive steps to reduce them it is unlikely that we
ever will. The effect of this disparity on our community's many neighborhoods is nearing the point of no return because
in addition to their primary role of educating our children, schools set the tone for the economic health and well being
of neighborhoods. Dilapidated old schools foster dilapidated old neighborhoods and well- maintained schools foster
healthy well- maintained neighborhoods.
The board members who have crafted the equity policy deserve a
tremendous amount of respect and appreciation from our community.
Equity always sounds great in principle, but it is usually very difficult to achieve in the real world. Fifty -nine years ago,
the Supreme Court did the right thing when they acknowledged that segregation of schools was inherently unequal and
hence unconstitutional. Our community should recognize the analogy between this landmark decision and our current
situation and support our school board in the community saving actions they are taking.
Ed Stone
IP6
Marian Karr
From: Sarah Swisher <Sarah.Swisher @iccsd.k12.ia.us>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 7:33 PM
To: Edwin Stone; Board
Cc: Council; Stephen Murley
Subject: RE: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists
"What is the quality of your intent?
Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or
offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to
do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always
comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We
cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to
ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent.
My intent will be evident in the results."
Thurgood Marshall, Brown vs. BOE 1954
From: Edwin Stone [stone.edwin @gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 7:31 PM
To: Board
Cc: council @iowa- city.org; Stephen Murley
Subject: Fwd: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists
Dear Board Members,
On the 19th of December, Gregg Shoultz of Northwest Junior High used his ICCSD email address to send an email to
hundreds of families with children at Northwest giving his personal opinions about the equity policy currently under
consideration by the board.
I asked Mr. Murley on four different occasions (Dec 22, Dec 28, Dec 31 and Jan 3) whether he thought it was
appropriate, ethical and legal for a secondary principal to use his or her ICCSD email address and confidential address
lists to express personal political opinions.
Mr. Murley has chosen to not reply to any of these queries.
Today, Mr. Schultz, Ms. Fry and Dr. Arganbright sent a jointly signed letter on West High letterhead to a bit more than
half of the families in the district who have children in secondary school. The letter is ostensibly informational. It tells
the reader that the board is "anxious for feedback" and provides the board's email address. You have all no doubt
received numerous emails today from recipients of this letter who are now worried that their child will be reassigned to
a different school next year.
Are the east side secondary principals supposed to get together now and hurriedly craft a letter /email to "their parents"
with "their summary" of what the equity policy may mean to the children of our community?
West vs East, us vs them, pitchforks and burning pine knots, right?
WRONG!
I believe that the majority of the community and the majority of the current school board members want to use our
community's educational tax dollars to benefit every child in our district equally. From my perspective the board is on a
solid course toward this outcome and I believe that this outcome will be good for everyone in the district for many years
to come.
So, how do we stop all of this "us vs. them" stuff? How do we stop the fear mongering?
1) Continue to conduct televised public board meetings with published written minutes and invite all members of the
community to get their information about board activities first hand, or from the newspaper, or from some private
citizen who is using his or her own resources to convey his or her own opinion (the cornerstone of our democracy).
2) Ask Mr. Murley to send a letter to all district principals telling them that it is inappropriate to use district email
accounts, district letterheads, and district mailing lists to express any political opinions and that this prohibition includes
communications designed to "alert" families to topics currently under consideration by the board and /or suggestions
that the recipients contact the board to voice their opinions.
3) Pass the equity policy on January 15th and banish significant educational disparity from the ICCSD forever.
Regards,
Ed
Begin forwarded message:
From: Edwin Stone < stone. edwin @gmail. com <mailto:stone.edwin @gmail.com>>
Date: December 31, 2012 11:39:37 AM CST
To: Stephen Murley < Murley. Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us <mailto:Murley .Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us>>
Cc: Board < Board@ iccsd. kl2. ia. us <mailto: Board @iccsd.kl2.ia.us >>, council@ iowa- city.org <mailto:council @iowa-
city.org>
Subject: Fwd: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists
Hi Steve,
The question I posed last week (see below) seems pretty straightforward to me.
I remain very interested in your answer.
Regards,
Ed
Begin forwarded message:
From: Edwin Stone < stone. edwin @gmail. com <mailto:stone.edwin @gmail.com>>
Date: December 28, 2012 8:50:37 AM CST
To: Stephen Murley < Murley. Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us <mailto:Murley .Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us>>
Cc: Board < Board@ iccsd. kl2. ia. us <mailto: Board @iccsd.kl2.ia.us >>, council @iowa- city.org<mailto:council @iowa-
city.org>
Subject: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists
Hi Steve,
I am writing to ask you whether you think it is appropriate, ethical, and legal for a secondary school principal to use his
or her ICCSD email account and the email addresses of hundreds of families with children attending his or her school to
express personal political opinions?
Regards,
Ed
CITY O F IOWA C (T Y 1P7
�►.
Nam&..
®,� MEMORANDUM
Date: January 10, 2013
To: City Council
From: Tom Markus, City Ma
Re: Finance Director
The City of Iowa City is pleased to announce the hiring of Dennis Bockenstedt as Finance
Director. Bockenstedt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Buena Vista University, a
Master's in Business Administration from St. Ambrose University and is a licensed Certified
Public Accountant.
Mr. Bockenstedt brings over 20 years of public- sector accounting and finance experience to the
City of Iowa City. He comes to Iowa City from Hutchinson, Kansas where he has served as
Finance Director since December 2010. Prior to his post in Hutchinson, he served as Finance
Director in both Burlington, Iowa and Ankeny, Iowa.
Mr. Bockenstedt is expected to assume his duties in mid - February. He will succeed Kevin
O'Malley who is retiring on January 31, 2013 after 27 years of service with the City of Iowa City.
O'Malley has served as the City's Finance Director since October 1999.
Marian Karr
From:
Tom Markus
Sent:
Thursday, January 03, 2013 1:32 PM
To:
Jeff Davidson
Cc:
Geoff Fruin; Adam Bentley; Marian Karr; Sue Dulek
Subject:
FW: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
Please prepare an appropriate response
- - - -- Original Message---- -
From: Michelle Bacon Curry [mailto:mbaconcurry@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 1:28 PM
To: tom- rocklin @uiowa.edu; Tom Markus
Subject: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
Dr. Rocklin and Mr. Markus:
In watching the recent process for determining which housing /commercial project would be chosen for the property
which includes the former Wilson Sporting Goods building, it occurred to me that Iowa City's constant striving for
expansion and revitalization of the downtown area could be met with a partnership with the University as it seeks to
rebuild and revitalize its Hawkeye Court complex for married student housing. It has always seemed a shame to me that
an area of the University that contains such a rich diversity of families, ethnicities and nationalities has remained
physically isolated from both the University and the Iowa City community. I realize that this relative isolation of a pocket
of our international student community is more a function of physical location and land availablility than by design, but
it occurs to me that as the University embarks on a project to rejuvenate that housing, it would very much serve both
the city of Iowa City, particularly its downtown area, and the University if that community were relocated to the
downtown area.
Consider for a moment the immediate inclusion and immersion into the local community that students and their
families would feel if their housing were located in a bustling downtown district rather than on the outskirts of a rather
isolated area. Because many of these students use buses as their primary mode of transportation to and from campus,
their experience of the downtown area is often one of "visiting" rather than "dwelling." With the location of married
student housing in the downtown area, there would be an instantaneous need for more commerce in the area as well --
families require food, entertainment, clothing, schools, etc., -- and the businesses that might be drawn to the area as a
result of a diverse population could be very enriching to our downtown "scene." Such a move would be good for our
city: our downtown schools would remain vibrant, our businesses would be expanded and multiplied, and our
community would be enriched by a diverse blending of cultures that would be seen as welcome participants in our local
community.
Of course, it need not be the Wilson property: such a project would also be a wonderful concept for Riverfront
Crossings, or as partnership with a local housing developer (like the one in place with AUR for dormitory space). And, of
course, I realize that these projects are extremely complex in ways that I could not possibly imagine, both financially and
politically, and that both of them are likely deep underway. However, I thought it would be remiss of me not to at least
present the possibility for consideration (though I'm sure neither of you is short on opportunities to hear other people's
opinions;-) Here, you have just one "man" more offering an opinion. You may take it for what it is worth.: -)
Thank you to you both for your service to our community. It is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michelle Bacon Curry
(Student & Constituent)
4723 Canterbury Court
Iowa City, Iowa 52245
mbaconcurrv@vahoo.com
319 - 330 -4782
Marian Karr
From:
Jeff Davidson
Sent:
Wednesday, January 09, 2013 4:22 PM
To:
Tom Markus; Marian Karr; John Yapp
Subject:
FW: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
Here is the response I sent to Michelle Bacon Curry.
JD
- - - -- Original Message---- -
From: Jeff Davidson
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 4:09 PM
To: 'mbaconcurry@yahoo.com'
Cc: Tom Markus
Subject: FW: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
Hello Michelle.
Your message below was forwarded to me by the City Manager. I have also had the chance to review the response sent
to you by Tom Rocklin. You make some very good points about the accessibility of the residents of Hawkeye Court to
the downtown area. I am not certain there are a lot of good candidate locations for what you suggest in the downtown
area, but Riverfront Crossings provides some great opportunities.
As Tom pointed out in his response, the repurposing of Hawkeye Court is proceeding with a private developer that the
UI has under contract. However, there are sure to be future decisions, and hopefully the points you have made can be
taken into consideration. The City is certainly willing to coordinate with the UI on any interest they have in Riverfront
Crossings.
Thanks for your comments.
Jeff Davidson, Director
Dept. of Planning and Community Development The City of Iowa City, Iowa
- - - -- Original Message---- -
From: Michelle Bacon Curry [mailto:mbaconcurry@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 1:28 PM
To: tom- rocklin @uiowa.edu; Tom Markus
Subject: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
Dr. Rocklin and Mr. Markus:
In watching the recent process for determining which housing /commercial project would be chosen for the property
which includes the former Wilson Sporting Goods building, it occurred to me that Iowa City's constant striving for
expansion and revitalization of the downtown area could be met with a partnership with the University as it seeks to
rebuild and revitalize its Hawkeye Court complex for married student housing. It has always seemed a shame to me that
an area of the University that contains such a rich diversity of families, ethnicities and nationalities has remained
physically isolated from both the University and the Iowa City community. I realize that this relative isolation of a pocket
of our international student community is more a function of physical location and land availablility than by design, but
it occurs to me that as the University embarks on a project to rejuvenate that housing, it would very much serve both
the city of Iowa City, particularly its downtown area, and the University if that community were relocated to the
downtown area.
Consider for a moment the immediate inclusion and immersion into the local community that students and their
families would feel if their housing were located in a bustling downtown district rather than on the outskirts of a rather
isolated area. Because many of these students use buses as their primary mode of transportation to and from campus,
their experience of the downtown area is often one of "visiting" rather than "dwelling." With the location of married
student housing in the downtown area, there would be an instantaneous need for more commerce in the area as well --
families require food, entertainment, clothing, schools, etc., -- and the businesses that might be drawn to the area as a
result of a diverse population could be very enriching to our downtown "scene." Such a move would be good for our
city: our downtown schools would remain vibrant, our businesses would be expanded and multiplied, and our
community would be enriched by a diverse blending of cultures that would be seen as welcome participants in our local
community.
Of course, it need not be the Wilson property: such a project would also be a wonderful concept for Riverfront
Crossings, or as partnership with a local housing developer (like the one in place with AUR for dormitory space). And, of
course, I realize that these projects are extremely complex in ways that I could not possibly imagine, both financially and
politically, and that both of them are likely deep underway. However, I thought it would be remiss of me not to at least
present the possibility for consideration (though I'm sure neither of you is short on opportunities to hear other people's
opinions;-) Here, you have just one "man" more offering an opinion. You may take it for what it is worth.: -)
Thank you to you both for your service to our community. It is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michelle Bacon Curry
(Student & Constituent)
4723 Canterbury Court
Iowa City, Iowa 52245
mbaconcurry @vahoo.com
319 - 330 -4782
Marian Karr
From:
Tom Markus
Sent:
Wednesday, January 09, 2013 4:30 PM
To:
Jeff Davidson; John Yapp; Marian Karr
Subject:
FW: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
From: Rocklin, Thomas R [mailto :thomas- rocklin @uiowa.edu]
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 2:21 PM
To: Michelle Bacon Curry
Cc: Tom Markus; Stange, Von
Subject: Re: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
Thank you for your suggestions. I like the goals you are addressing.
You're absolutely correct that these projects are complex. You may know that we are working with a private
developer regarding new apartments in the current Hawkeye Court location. There are a couple of strong
arguments supporting that location. One is that the university owns the land, and can therefore lease it to a
developer at a reasonably low price. That's important because one of our top goals is to keep the rent on
apartments for students and their families low. The second argument, and one that has come up each time that
we've considered alternative locations, is that Hawkeye Court has a lot of open space for children to play in
relative safety. Downtown, we would have a harder time providing that.
I appreciate your very cogent suggestions. I don't think we'll be able to act on them in the near future, but it's
good for me to have them in my head as we consider future plans.
/s/ Tom Rocklin
Tom Rocklin
Vice President for Student Life
249 Iowa Memorial Union
The University of Iowa
Iowa City IA 52242
319- 335 -3557 • 319 - 335 -3559 (fax)
The Division of Student Life fosters student success by creating and promoting educationally
purposeful services and activities within and beyond the classroom.
http:Hstudentlife.uiowa.edu
On Jan 3, 2013, at 1:32 PM, Michelle Bacon Curry <mbaconcurrykyahoo.com> wrote:
Begin forwarded message:
From: Michelle Bacon Curry <mbacongM@a,yahoo.com>
Subject: The Wilson Building Property & Married Student Housing
Date: January 3, 2013 1:28:01 PM CST
To: tom- rocklin@uiowa.edu, tom- markus@iowa- city.org
Dr. Rocklin and Mr. Markus:
In watching the recent process for determining which housing /commercial project would be chosen for the
property which includes the former Wilson Sporting Goods building, it occurred to me that Iowa City's constant
striving for expansion and revitalization of the downtown area could be met with a partnership with the
University as it seeks to rebuild and revitalize its Hawkeye Court complex for married student housing. It has
always seemed a shame to me that an area of the University that contains such a rich diversity of families,
ethnicities and nationalities has remained physically isolated from both the University and the Iowa City
community. I realize that this relative isolation of a pocket of our international student community is more a
function of physical location and land availablility than by design, but it occurs to me that as the University
embarks on a project to rejuvenate that housing, it would very much serve both the city of Iowa City,
particularly its downtown area, and the University if that community were relocated to the downtown area.
Consider for a moment the immediate inclusion and immersion into the local community that students and their
families would feel if their housing were located in a bustling downtown district rather than on the outskirts of a
rather isolated area. Because many of these students use buses as their primary mode of transportation to and
from campus, their experience of the downtown area is often one of "visiting" rather than "dwelling." With the
location of married student housing in the downtown area, there would be an instantaneous need for more
commerce in the area as well -- families require food, entertainment, clothing, schools, etc., -- and the
businesses that might be drawn to the area as a result of a diverse population could be very enriching to our
downtown "scene." Such a move would be good for our city: our downtown schools would remain vibrant, our
businesses would be expanded and multiplied, and our community would be enriched by a diverse blending of
cultures that would be seen as welcome participants in our local community.
Of course, it need not be the Wilson property: such a project would also be a wonderful concept for Riverfront
Crossings, or as partnership with a local housing developer (like the one in place with AUR for dormitory
space). And, of course, I realize that these projects are extremely complex in ways that I could not possibly
imagine, both financially and politically, and that both of them are likely deep underway. However, I thought it
would be remiss of me not to at least present the possibility for consideration (though I'm sure neither of you is
short on opportunities to hear other people's opinions ; -) Here, you have just one "man" more offering an
opinion. You may take it for what it is worth.: -)
Thank you to you both for your service to our community. It is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michelle Bacon Curry
(Student & Constituent)
4723 Canterbury Court
Iowa City, Iowa 52245
mbaconcurry�a,yahoo.com
319 - 330 -4782
r
CITY OF IOWA CITY 1P9
, NSA � i
MEMORANDUM
DATE: January 10, 2013
TO: Tom Markus, City Manager
FROM: David Purdy, Community Development Planner
Doug Ongie, Community Development Planner
RE: City Council request for information about the Single Family New Home Program
The Single Family New Home Program began in 2009 as an effort to replace some of the housing
stock lost in the 2008 floods. It has contributed to the variety and availability of affordable owner -
occupied housing in Iowa City. There have been four funding rounds and 106 homes have been
constructed and sold to date. A total of 141 homes will be built when the program is complete.
Prices of homes have ranged from $130,000 to $180,000 and the homes have been located
throughout Iowa City (see attached map).
People interested in purchasing one of the Single Family New Homes must meet income
guidelines set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. For a family of two, gross
income cannot exceed $51,400; for a family of four, the maximum income allowed is $64,250.
Applicants must also qualify for a mortgage loan and borrow the funds from a local bank that is
participating in the Single Family New Home Program. A pre - approval loan letter needs to be
submitted with an application.
The state grant funds are used for down payment assistance. Those who qualify for the program
are eligible for down payment assistance totaling 25% of the sale price of the home. The
assistance is set up as a five -year forgivable loan, with 20% of the loan forgiven each year. Thus,
for a $150,000 home the buyer gets a conventional loan from a lending institution for $112,500 and
$37,500 is provided by the City of Iowa City at the time of closing.
At the start of each round of the program, a lottery drawing from potential applicants was held. First
priority went to first -time home buyers. Second priority went to Johnson County residents.
Currently applicants are being served on a first -come, first - served basis.
The Single Family New Home program has acted as an economic development tool by adding
$17.8 million in taxable value in Iowa City to date. This amount has more than replaced the taxable
value lost in the flood and has stabilized the housing market during a down economy.
Anyone interested in more information on the program should feel free to contact David Purdy at
356 -5489 or Doug Ongie at 356 -5479.
Cc: Jeff Davidson, Planning and Community Development Director
Steve Long, Community Development Coordinator
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January 3, 2013
IOWA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT
410 E. Washington Street — Iowa City, IA 52240 -1821
Phone: 319.356.5260 www.icgov.ors; FAX: 319.356.5269
Chatham Oaks, Inc.
Attention: Ms. Vivian Davis, Director
4515 Melrose Avenue
Iowa City, IA 52246
Dear Ms. Davis:
Qap}y
IP10
Recently, the Iowa City Fire Department has been receiving an increasing number of calls from service - provider entities
seeking assistance in non - emergency matters, oven simply looking for assistance in moving a person from the floor to a
chair, and similar labor assistance. In the past five years, the department has provided non- emergent assistance 74 times
to staffed service provider entities, with 24 of those incidents occurring in 2012. The department's ability to provide a
timely response to a true emergency incident is compromised when units are otherwise engaged.
In December 2012, the City Council passed Resolution No. 12 -519, establishing updated general guidelines to assess fire
department fees, which included it provision for cost recovery from an entity that charges for its non- emergency services
and requests assistance from the fire department for the same non- emergent services.
The resolution discourages abuse of emergency services and provides for cost recovery fi-om entities when they call the
fire department seeking assistance in non - emergency matters when they themselves charge a fee for services provided.
The fees charged will be based on the most current Federal Emergency Management Agency's schedule of equipment
rates and personnel average hourly wage and benefit figures, as provided by the City of Iowa City budget analyst,
reflecting the actual cost of providing the services. An example of the charge for a 30- minute non- emergent call for
assistance with a three - person crew is listed below:
Hourly Rate
30 Minute Billable Response Example
Apparatus
$ 85.00 $42.50
Crew of 3
85.56 $42.78
Total /hour
$170.56 Total billed: $85.28
The Iowa Cite Fire Department will begin charging for non - emergent assistance, as outlined above, on Monday,
February 4, 2013. Billing of time will begin with the alarm time (when the fire department receives notice of the
call) and end when the unit is returned to service and made available for another call. Labor will be billed on the
quarter hour, rounding up. )emergency medical response remains a provided service stud is not billable. Please
notify your staff of the billable charge provisions for non- emergent assistance.
Sincerely,
IOWA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT
Andrew J. Rocca
Fire Chief
/aj r
Airport Commission
December 27, 2012
Page 1
MINUTES
IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION
December, 27 2012 —12:00 P.M.
AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING
Members Present: Jose Assouline, Howard Horan, Chris Ogren
Staff Present: Sue Dulek, Michael Tharp
Others Present:
Members Absent: Rick Mascari, Minnetta Gardinier
DRAFT
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council
action):
CALL TO ORDER:
Chairperson Assouline called the meeting to order at 12:04 P.M.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION /ACTION:
IP11
a. 7/25 Parallel Taxiway Grading & Drainage — Tharp stated that this was
something they had been waiting on as they needed the contractor to submit final
paperwork. Tharp noted the final cost of the project was a little over $48,000 less
than the original price. Tharp stated that the contractor had submitted the
necessary paperwork and that AECOM had given its recommendation letter to
accept the project.
i. Consider a resolution accepting project as complete — Horan moved
and Ogren seconded Resolution No. Al2 -36. Motion passed 3 -0
(Mascari, Gardinier absent)
b. Hangar M Taxiway Extension - Tharp noted this was the same process as the
taxiway project. The project has been completed and that the final cost was $900
less than the original contract due to quantities of concrete actually used. Tharp
noted that Foth has submitted their recommendation to accept the project. Ogren
asked about the engineering agreements with the project. Tharp noted that the
engineering agreements covered construction related services, including quality
controls and some grant management tasks among other things. Tharp stated
they have similar contracts for projects around the airport and that the Airport
Commission has a master engineering contract with AECOM.
i. Consider a resolution accepting project as complete. Ogren moved,
and Horan seconded Resolution No. Al2 -37. Motion passed 3 -0
(Mascari, Gardinier absent)
c. Budget - Tharp noted that he needed consensus to continue the flooring project.
Tharp stated that following the previous discussions he had worked with
purchasing to complete a RFP process for open bids. Tharp stated they received
two bids which were similar in pricing. Tharp noted that if the Commission was ok
with the pricing he would move forward with scheduling the work.
i. Flooring Project — Commission agreed to move forward by consensus.
Airport Commission
December 27, 2012
Page 2
ADJOURN:
Horan made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 12:11 P.M.; seconded by Ogren.
Motion carried 3 -0. (Mascari, Gardinier absent)
CHAIRPERSON DATE
Airport Commission
November 15, 2012
Page 3
Airport Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2012
Key:
X = Present
X/E = Present for Part of Meeting
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = Not a Member at this time
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N
N
N
03/01/13
Rick
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Mascari
03101/14
Howard
Horan
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Minnetta
03/01/15
Gardinier
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
X
X
Jose
03/02/16
Assouline
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Chris
03/01/14
Ogren
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
X
X
X
X
Key:
X = Present
X/E = Present for Part of Meeting
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = Not a Member at this time
IP12
Page 1 of 13
Minutes
PRELIMINARY
Human Rights Commission
December 18, 2012 — 6 P.M.
Helling Conference Room
Members Present: Harry Olmstead, Orville Townsend Sr., Connie Goeb, Kim Hanrahan, Diane Finnerty,
Shams Ghoneim, Jessie Harper, Dan Tallon.
Members Excused: Howard Cowen.
Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Human Rights Commission meeting of December 18, 2012.
Recommendations to Council: Yes. 1) The Human Rights Commission would support the City in pursuing a municipal issued
identification card, implemented in a manner to protect the safety of undocumented persons. 2) For the City Council to adopt the
recommendations for signage at City facilities (see attachment). In considering the recommendations for signage the Commission
would respectively request the Council to consider each individual recommendation along with the feasibility of pursuing signage
in other languages prominently spoken in the Iowa City community.
Call to Order:
Chair Olmstead called the meeting to order at 18:00.
Consideration of the Minutes of the November 20, 2012 Meetina:
Goeb pointed out a needed correction, page 6, the town of Richmond, California and not Enrichment as stated.
Townsend moved to approve the corrected minutes, seconded by Tallon.
Motion passed. 8 -0.
New Business:
Recognition of Outgoing Commissioners Cowen and Goeb
HO: Connie Goeb has been with us for three years and has had quite a bit of involvement. We do appreciate it and we are
sorry to see you go.
CG: I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I enjoyed all the Commissioners that have come through and I'll miss it. By far
my favorite things were the awards breakfast and even more so the youth awards. I think I will be one of the public at
the youth awards in the coming years because I enjoyed those very much, and probably the breakfast as well. I'll be
thinking of you guys on the third Tuesday of the month.
HO: We also have one for Howard as well. I should probably read it. It says certificate of appreciation is presented to for
outstanding dedication and commitment to human rights and the Iowa City community. January 1, 2010 to January 1,
2013 and signed by the mayor. Moving on to the MLK Jr. Proclamation.
MLK, Jr. Proclamation
SB: Each year the Commission usually submits a proclamation for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is on the 21 ' of
January. The council meetings however are the 8`h of January and the 22nd of January. So if the Commission chooses
to submit a proclamation somebody would need to be available on either the 8`h or the 22 "d depending on what
submittal date you prefer, to accept it on behalf of the Commission.
HO: Do we have a volunteer?
DT: What day of the week is the 8` ".
SB: It's a Tuesday, they both are Tuesdays. The 8" would be prior to the 22nd and would be the day after so.
Page 2 of 13
SG: The proclamation is already on record?
SB: It would have to be submitted, but it's substantially similar from last year. I think I have a copy, but if not what
happens is you can still submit it and the mayor will sign it, but it's not formally read at a council meeting if somebody
is not there to accept it.
SG: Usually you don't change it right?
SB: Last year I think this one was submitted and it was a newer version, so it's only been presented once. I think it's
different from the one of 2011.
HO: It's real simple, just stand there and the mayor will hand it to you and you can say a few words if you want.
SG: Okay so you don't have to read it.
SB: No the mayor reads the proclamation yes and signs it.
HO: I think Jesse would like to do it.
JH: I would love to.
SB: Can we shoot for the 8`h so that it is read prior to the holiday versus after the fact? Okay.
Universal Identification
HO: It's in your packet as item 4-c.
SB: It actually starts right after agenda items, and there are some materials that Diane F. submitted and then some
correspondence that the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee received, which includes an article and then minutes from the Ad
Hoc Diversity Committee meeting where they had a member of the public who spoke about universal identification.
KH: Can I just say that the Sanctuary City Committee is also working on the universal ID cards. The scope is much broader
than what I think the sub - committee on immigration would be capable of doing because that would include county
services also, and potentially working with banks to have them be able to use to open account services at banks. So it's
kind of spreading to a degree that I'm not quite sure we can go onboard with that at this point, unless we decide when
we come to discuss the sub - committee that we could at some point could we potentially just support what the Sanctuary
City Committee is doing? What are some of our options?
SB: Could you repeat that?
KH: Could we support what the Sanctuary City Committee is doing or should we do something separate?
SB: Yes that's an option. You could support, the making a recommendation to the city council? Yes you could support
that. It's possible, I don't know if the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee is going to make a recommendation on the topic. I
don't believe their recommendations are due until March of 2013. So that's an option too to see if they recommend it.
If they do, if you want to add to it or take away from it. If they don't recommend it you could recommend it at that
time too. It's really up to the Commission. I don't really think there are any restrictions.
DF: I think where our influence comes is that it's a municipal ID card. So if they're going to the county or whomever, but
what I would like is if people have enough information to make a recommendation. That we would support the
city in pursuing a municipal ID card that may be more expansive than based on what the Sanctuary City Committee
works out. For me this material or understanding is the basis that it's a government issued ID card that assists with
opening up accounts at banks. So then working with the banks so they actually accept it, but it's the fact that its
government issued and there's a photo ID on it and identifying information just gives people something to say they are
who they say they are. I think some of the other places what it's used for to actually access library services. I'm not
sure if that's what is needed from the city because I don't think you need like a driver's license to_ library.
JH: Another thing that was identified from that an ID card was violence also because what was
happening was some of the families since they knew that they didn't have bank accounts and stuff, they were being
taken advantage of. So I don't think that will be an issue here, but that was some of the greater issues of why they
came up with the ID card.
Page 3 of 13
OT: One of the things that I would like to see is we get to the point where we're going to activate the process of having a
card, we need to look at the economic side. If there is an expense for people to get the card and if at all possible we can
look at possible resources that will be available to help individuals who may not be able to afford the card.
DF: Did somebody talk last week; is there an outside vendor who has handled this for other cities? Did you mention that
Kim?
KH: I did, it was an outside vendor and I don't recall if it was in New Haven, CT or if it was in California. There was an
outside vendor and I'm not clear what the costs were and how that arrangement was set up.
SG: Would this card then be renewable or is it just _ every so often?
SB: I thought in the article they might have mentioned it.
HO: Diane it sounded like you were making a motion. Do you want to make a motion?
DF: Yes.
CG: Are people able right now, I know people that don't have driver's licenses can get government issued IDs at the vehicle
place?
OT: My mother has one.
HO: I have one.
CG: Did she need to present anything in particular to prove?
OT: Yes you need to have a birth certificate and social security number.
CG: Okay that's right, even for the ID cards that are not driver's license cards okay.
KH: You have to have two items that support from two different, separate columns of things that you could and often times
our folks don't have those.
SG: That would be costly and that's where...
CG: Right because I was thinking why not just charge the same a month as you would for a driver's licenses and people
would have that option.
OT: I think we need to be careful what criteria we use on individuals to even get a card because we're need to see a person
that has a social security or something like that and we're right back to step one because a lot of people won't have it.
CG: Isn't the idea that it would be like opening a utility or an account. What is it that you need to provide for a utility bill or
something like that, to show what your address. I mean that's the kind of thing we're talking about here right? Where
it would just be proof of residency and that would be the only proof you'd have is that you are paying bills in Iowa City
or Johnson County.
DF: I think if we could borrow off of other communities that have done it so they use the same categories of
identification that's need — numbers. So what the US Department of Treasury does for the individual tax payer
identification number account.
SB: I have the list if anyone wants to know what is on it.
DF: I personally don't feel a need for us to kind of debate what ID should be used or the specifics even about the financing
at this point. I love what you're saying about however the financing gets worked out if there is a cost then maybe we
can figure out how to fundraise to even get that cost more nominal fee. I would just like our endorsement of the
concept of a municipal issued ID that we as the Human Rights Commission support the city and strongly and moving
forward with that. That would be my proposal that the Iowa City Human Rights Commission supports the city
developing a municipal city ID.
HO: Do we have a second to that motion?
Page 4 of 13
DT: I'll second it.
HO: Discussion?
OT: I would suggest that you know when it comes to the economic part of it; you know there are a lot of churches working
with immigrant population. I think basically what we might want to do is to encourage them to spearhead that aspect of
it because they've got access to the money. They've got members and preachers are basically can get you know
churches can get resources from other
SG: A question I have. Would that be just for the immigrant community members or say other people?
CG: For anybody.
SB: Somebody had asked about the expiration date if that, and as Diane said I mean I don't think we necessarily for the
Commission need to get that specific, but on page five of the article that was in the packet it does say that the card
includes a residence, photo, name, address, date of birth, date of issue and expiration. So there must have been an
expiration date issued on those.
DF: And the cost is $10 for adults and $5 for kids.
SG: So I have another issue. Undocumented persons are always afraid of being identified by the _. So that's a
governmental issued card. How would you address that fear that they may be identified that way?
CG: Because they'd be, most of these people carrying it so if you had that undocumented.
SG: Well you're already identified with issues.
KH: The card itself wouldn't say whether you were documented or undocumented, and one of the benefits I've heard from
the immigrant community is that often times when they're stopped by police officers and they don't have a form of ID,
that's when they're taken down to the police station and potentially ICE could get involved. So this would be a way for
them to identify themselves to a police officer or law enforcement official in a way that they don't have available to
them right now.
CG: But it wouldn't prevent them from being taken in.
KH: If they broke the law, no.
CG: Or they're taken in just because they don't have IDs.
KH: Like for a minor traffic stop potentially, that's what I've been told.
OT: One of the bones I've had with the process all along is I see a lot of people getting involved doing things, but the
community itself I feel should be doing more. I feel that if we can get the system in place to make the card available
there are individuals in the community that are very comfortable with the city, that know what's going on. Maybe they
might want to take some responsibility of organizing and encouraging people to go or even getting a group of people
and bringing them down because I think we've got a lot of people that have been in Iowa City for years, and they really
don't understand the city or have a comprehension of the city, and I think they're being cheated.
DT: I think one of the ways you could address your concern by only people who are undocumented having the card would
be to encourage students to get it because students it would be cool to have a, it would connect them to Iowa City. A
lot of them don't have local ID's anyway and that might help them access voting services or feel like more of a
resident. I think there might be a lot of opportunity to expand who carries it, so it wouldn't just be undocumented.
SG: My brain goes to the time when before the election when our wonderful Secretary of State wanted to, in my opinion
anyway, , and how you can target and identify who can vote and who cannot. I'm just very aware that
once you get your name in a system electronically you know you can get identified whether you want it or not.
OT: I think that's another reason that the community needs to work to strengthen itself because you can tell me, I can go to
the poll and vote and you can tell me I can't vote. If I'm frightened and let you run me away I won't vote, but if I stand
my ground you can't stop me from voting.
Page 5 of 13
SG: No I was thinking of the other way around though, that if these names are undocumented or in a database, they can be
identified by the government.
KH: I'm not sure that they would collect that information at the time that they issue the card, whether they're documented or
undocumented. It really is to provide access to services and remove barriers for everyone. So if it could be distributed
more widely that would create
OT: That's a good question. I think that needs to be clarified exactly the information being given and how is it going to be
handled.
HO: Would this be for adults 18 and over or?
DF: The other ones have kids and adults.
DT: I like the adult version of this card that it talks about in the article. It's a loadable debit card as well that can be used to
pay for parking and bus services and things like that. It would probably not be practical maybe in this situation, but it
would be pretty cool if you could just like swipe it on the bus. Well using it for the bus could also expand like if you
could put it as your bus pass as well then it would expand the people that want to get it.
KH: And eliminate the need to have paper versions of bus passes.
HO: Okay we have a motion on the floor and it's been seconded. Any further discussion?
DF: I would put an amendment on it that we support it and implement it in a way that provides the greatest amount of safety
to undocumented people.
HO: Do you accept that as a friendly amendment? Dan?
OT: I have another question. Did anyone see in the material where it states negatives associated with this card that can
work against the individual? I know there are a lot of pluses, but did I miss the negatives?
KH: I did say that I went to a website and it had questions. It was an open site for questions and comments. I think the
more you expand the reach of the card the more complexities come with it, and the more opportunities for some
negative application or consequences. Prescription drugs they use them for here, and so I'm not sure just for using it
for municipality services, I'm not sure that there is
OT: My concern about that is negatives can go both ways, go against the person or the person can abuse the card. I think a
way to keep a good handle on that is we might want to take a look at restricting how the card can be used because the
the freedom of the card the more chance for problems. I know we definitely need to have something that will
identify the person and tell everybody this person is okay. He or she can get a book out of the library you know, but I
think all that other stuff you may be opening Pandora's Box. We need to consider that.
KH: Can you clarify for us Stefanie we make the recommendation and then city staff is the one that really researches?
SB: Based upon the council's direction of the recommendation.
DF: The only other thing I'd add in terms of the community support I know would be the Immigrant Voices Project is in
support of this initiative. I know the people pulling together to work with justice and the immigrant leadership are
supportive of this. Sanctuary City is supportive of this, so I know that there are community members that are that
support this initiative as well.
SG: We need to educate them as well if there is any downside to it too because on the surface it's wonderful, but like
everything else it's associated with an ID card. There must be some other eventually hidden issues that we ourselves
don't know, and I don't know how you get that
HO: Stefanie would you reread the motion and amendment?
SB: The Human Rights Commission would support the city in pursuing a municipal issued ID implemented in a way most
friendly to undocumented persons.
DF: I think friendly is a big word, but I was thinking safety issues which we also talked about accessible and so.
Page 6of13
SG: I would put something regarding the safety issue even if it's just a word.
DF: Implemented in a way that not increases but...
KH: Are you wanting to protect?
DF: To protect the safety of undocumented
HO: Okay you're heard the motion is there any other further discussion? Hearing none I'll take role on this.
Motion passed. 8 -0
Old Business:
Immigrant Subcommittee
i. Spanish Signage Recommendations for City Services (packet item 5 -a (i))
KH: The subcommittee met and edited the rough draft. Of course the best recommendation is to do all city signage in
multiple languages. We had a discussion about why Spanish was spoken. Did you have a chance to find that?
SB: I have the report. The source is the University of Iowa fall 2008 profile of international students and scholars. Also it
states 2007 American Community Survey, so not the most recent stats being that it is 2012.
KH: Because at that time the Spanish speaking population was the third largest in Johnson County.
SB: This is a report that transit did, but the first table represents persons in Johnson County who reported speaking English
less than very well. The number one language for that was Spanish. So this is self - reporting. The other table
represents U of I international students and scholars by world region. So it's not definitive on any recent languages that
may be more prominent in the community than others.
SG: Isn't Spanish the most commonly second language in the United States period? I think so.
KH: So that discussion was prompted by what could be the argument against and why did we choose Spanish instead of
another language. But again as we've discussed here choosing Spanish for the first language is a good start and maybe
we can consider something after that.
HO: It's also the largest population expansion in this county. Okay do we need a motion for this Stefanie? Proceed or
what?
SB: Well because the subcommittee is making a recommendation to the entire Commission to accept these
recommendations. So to answer your question yes.
HO: Do I have a motion to approve the subcommittee's report?
SG: I'll make a motion.
CG: I'll second.
HO: Any further discussion?
DF: I have a couple of questions. One is I thought oh this is what they discovered on their walk, how exciting. I'm
very proud that this would be our municipal building and the signage in Spanish, and then I realized oh no this is the
recommendation of what should be done. But it was this really fun feeling of what a different place it would be if it
was there. So that's really great. Did you intentionally have anything with the police department left out or?
KH: Intentionally just because it was decided I thought at one point to separate that out as a separate issue Diversity Ad Hoc
Committee.
HO: Any other further discussion?
OT: I agree that Spanish is a large population and it would make sense to have interpretation you know for that language.
But I think we might want to be sensitive to other groups. We have a situation where we're dealing with economics.
We can't afford to just go out and spend money getting things interpreted, but I think we might want to word it so that
Page 7of13
we're saying that this is the first step, and that future decisions will be made based upon the usage and population, the
usage and amount of people attending public meetings or whatever. So that it's understood that we're just not saying
we're going to do Spanish, but what we're saying is that this is the beginning and we will act as appropriate as we go
along.
DF: I almost thought that if signage is going to be reprinted it would be very cool to encourage even four languages. I mean
think about what the major ones on the signage, but may get some of the more translated like the applications start
with Spanish. Signage is going to cost some money to get some signs reprinted, so wouldn't that be cool at the same
time to have it multiple languages. I'm also wondering is there any way that the language department at the University
could assist in this about not so much maybe detailed translation, but some of the signage stuff shouldn't be a difficult
translation. Get it and then vet it by some of the _ accessible. I would echo that the part of this that would make
the recommendation to start more of a detailed translations of applications and documents, start with Spanish but we
say this is the beginning. I wouldn't mind entertaining whether we recommend multiple languages on the signs. Like
if that revenue sign is reprinted that will cost some money. Wouldn't it be cool if there were lots of different
languages?
SG: So what I hear everyone saying that it would be large signs like this one say the revenue, but also the documents
themselves would be in Spanish. Is that correct?
SB: That's what the recommendation is asking for.
KH: Could we add something that says we will continue to reevaluate future needs for language translation services or
something along those lines.
HO: Except I think Diane saying that while they're making up the signs now that we should probably recommend three or
four languages at this time. Diane do you know what those languages should be?
DF: I don't know the communities well enough, but certainly like Mandarin Chinese would be one, Arabic could be one.
So Spanish, Arabic, English, Chinese is my guess.
HO: Could we put into the report the consideration of other languages should be pursued?
CG: Because otherwise it will take forever to get, I mean now you got this and it's settled and then you go back and do
another one. I think this is the route we were trying to reach and that was kind of the scope of your project. I would
think it'd be better to stick with that than to expand it, other than maybe say aspirational we think it should be pursued.
OT: I would suggest that we plant the seed and let the pollination process begin.
KH: Is that clear Stefanie?
SB: It is, was there a second on that? I have the first, you did the first. Was there a second?
CG: I made the second.
HO: You've read the recommendation with the addition of consideration for the language to be inserted into it. Any further
discussion? Hearing none I'll take role.
Motion passed. 8 -0
SB: I think just for purposes of being clear, I believe this vote was for the Commission to accept it, so if you want to make a
recommendation to the city council I would make that specific.
HO: Separate motion okay. Do we have a motion to that effect?
DT: I'll make the motion.
KH: I'll second.
HO: This is to make recommendation to the city council for the recommendations that have been brought forth by the
subcommittee. Any discussion?
OT: I guess at this point I would like to refer to Stefanie in terms of any concerns she may have about this or anything we
need to look at before we proceed.
Page 8 of 13
SB: Well one I'm not sure if the council will piecemeal these recommendations or wait until the Ad Hoc Diversity
Committee has made all of their recommendations. I'm not sure as far as time, and that's just my personal opinion just
so that if it's January it may not have been discussed by the city council. The thing that I've spoken with Kim about is
just because this is the Human Rights Commission, and wanting to make sure that you're being inclusive and not
exclusive so that other groups don't feel that they've being slighted. So that's just something to be mindful of, but the
recommendation did discuss other languages to be pursued so. So that was just wanting everybody to feel welcomed at
city hall and not you know kind of putting one community above another.
SG: Regarding persons with disabilities do we have documents in braille?
SB: Some documents I know we have. I mean it just depends, for every department there should be things in place for each
division, department that would address any needs that somebody may have to access city services.
OT: When it comes to disability I don't think we have to worry because the Americans with Disabilities Act you know has
set requirements and standards that must be adhered to.
KH: I had a question. Given that we've just considered the ID cards I just wanted to be removed from the
recommendation.
SB: I don't see any harm in keeping it there. What I would probably just suggest is adding that amendment and I'll make a
note of that.
KH: The other thought was to request that the city council review each recommendation individually rather than collectively
so that they don't just throw it all out and instead consider each one.
SB: So that would need to be part of the motion.
HO: So do you want to do that as a friendly amendment?
KH: Please.
HO: Okay you accept that Dan and Shams?
SG: Yes.
SB: Can somebody restate the entire motion?
SB: To recommend to the city council to adopt the recommendations. It was a very simple one, but I wasn't sure with the
addition how you wanted that exactly worded.
KH: Does it make this much more complex if I were to add that?
SB: No, just how you want it worded that's all.
KH: I would request that the city council consider each individual recommendation.
OT: So are you saying that they would look at each recommendation individually?
KH: Yes.
HO: Does everybody understand the motion that's before us? Hearing no further discussion I'll take role.
Motion passed. 8 -0
HO: Is there another meeting planned for the subcommittee?
KH: We haven't planned another yet. We had two in December so it will be next quarter.
Updates/Reports:
World Human Rights Day & Proclamation
Page 9 of 13
HO: I attended the city council and the mayor read the proclamation on December 4`h and I'll pass the proclamation around
and its part of your package as well. On Human Rights Day several things happened. There was a gathering at the Old
Capital in the senate chambers inside and we tried to get the mayor to read the proclamation, but he wasn't available. I
pursued that and he had another prior engagement, and so I took and read it. There was an article in the Daily Iowan
regarding the Human Rights Day and my reading the proclamation there on behalf of the Human Rights Commission.
That's about all I have to report on that right at this point. Any questions?
SG: I was just going to add that I came unfortunately and I missed Harry's reading, but I was there for the rest of the
day. It was good because there were so many different groups that heard you because they came from all across
campus, different groups that are addressing the issues of Human Rights. So I found that not just the mayor accepted
it, but it became more like an awareness raising about what the Commission is doing.
HO: Right, they took and read the whole document of the Declaration of Human Rights one section at a time, and then
somebody from an organization on campus a representative of a human rights group spoke about their group and told
people what they did. I thought it was quite interesting, and I was very interested in the number of groups that are on
campus dealing with human rights. It was good to see.
KH: Shams thanks for all the work that you did or whoever else was involved in editing. Thank you so much.
Ad Hoc Diversity Committee
OT: We have been doing a little planning of terms in reaching out and getting out into the community. We had the program
at the library and it was well attended and productive. Certain communities were not there so we're going to have sub
groups to have meetings in the community. We're going to have a meeting in both high schools, City and West,
Pheasant Ridge, but basically to get feedback. The feedback will be pertaining to the two choices we had about
transportation and . So hopefully we'll be getting more information.
HO: How are you going to publicize that?
OT: It will be coming out Marian the city clerk is going to take care of that whether it flyers or newspapers or what. The
meetings are going to be in January, like the 8`h or 9`h or 10`h.
HO: Any questions or further discussion? We appreciate Orville being on that committee.
SG: Instead of a draft form just, I'm involved with other local groups and the school district is putting together a diversity
format. There is something about a discussion regarding how to address issues of low income, social economic
students. We were sort of still looking into it with the group I'm with, and I really think, I hope before it becomes final
somehow if you can, can you get information from the school board about that, forms ahead of time? The language
that I saw today was not very good. I wasn't the only one in the group that felt that way. So I just wondered if you
could jump ahead.
KH: I mean because it's not very clear because actually what they want to do is try to redistribute , and they want to
get the high schools at 50...
SG: And the technology used is not good.
KH: Right and the elementary are within 15 points of each other.
SG: They're using a word that should not be used in that context.
OT: I'll tell you what Joan Vandenberg is on that Ad Hoc Diversity Committee. Why don't you send me an email just
outlining what you want, and then basically I'll ...
SG: Address issues of diversity, it shouldn't always be social economics, but apparently because of the Supreme Court
decision you cannot say you have to either define or ethnicity or racial issues as a part of diversity. The only word they
can use is something about the social economic status of the students. So I don't know how we can get that
information to also address issues of ethnic racial diversity.
DF: I think the challenge might be Ad Hoc Diversity Committee wouldn't have any purview to go into the school districts.
Because it is municipal police, transportation.
KH: The school board has for the first time three different times (multiple voices)
Page 10 of 13
SG: Yes if maybe Orville you would be able to attend and if there is a time for public comment, be aware of the language. I
don't know how they can do it because I was told that they cannot put in the language anything about ethnic racial
diversity according to the law. Now it has to be social economic, but they're using words like minority, which
doesn't make any sense to me.
OT: I'll get with you so you can give me more specifics so I know exactly what I need to talk about. I think Diane has a
valid point you know Ad Hoc Committee is not likely to be able to address that because it's a school district thing. It's
going to be interesting to see what type of _ comes out of the meeting with the students at City and West.
KH: Is there any way that you can include Tate students that ?
OT: I could, but I'll email Marian and ask about that possibility.
KH: Because often times the students are the most marginal
OT: I'll email her and indicate that this came up at the Human Rights meeting and a request.
SG: Something else you said Orville the last time about the meeting that you had a good turnout, but it wasn't too
many members of the African community. Were you able to address that?
OT: The way we're going to address that is the meeting, you know when we have the meeting at City High School and
West, and we'll be talking with the students. Then the meeting at the _ you know and then at Pheasant Ridge I think
we'll have a cross section.
Building Communities
OT: We met today and we have basically been collecting names of blacks in the community that might want to form a
group to work to address issues in the black community. We have a meeting set for I think its January 30`h and invite
them to come so that we can sit down and discuss this, and anyone that wants to proceed with us basically we'll see if
we can get a commitment from them. When we get the group together then the group will start identifying issues and
setting goals that we want to accomplish. We've the ground work set and now it's just a matter of getting everybody
together. Jess do you have anything that you'd Eke to add to that?
JH: Yes you've hit it right on the head as far as what the purpose is. One of the main reasons for this group is we're trying
to identify an African American community because what we are finding with a lot of issues that are coming up there is
no clear leader. There is no one person someone can turn to. A lot of our African American families are not aware of
their rights or where they can go for assistance. So if we can establish some type of community where people can get
the information and feel comfortable with the information, we think things will flow better. So you know and actually
the date it actually was February cause the dates were close. It will be February 7th actually, but again that's the
purpose of the meeting because we want to establish a community. We are very hopeful for that and like Orville said,
we had great groundwork today. People were sharing great ideas. We found out new information pertaining to the
families that we're working with.
HO: Where are you planning on meeting?
JH: It's either going to be the Coralville or...
SG: It's the Iowa City Library.
OT: The direction we want to take is the black community needs to become more involved in our future, and basically you
need to have individuals from the black community to be more committed. One of the things we definitely need to do
is we need individuals to start communicating more and working cooperating working better. We've got a lot of
resources, but you know for some reason everybody is doing, you could have four people doing the same thing. We've
got to do a better job of communicating and hopefully this is going to take off and we can identify some issues, and
actually do some planning and start that's going to expand.
KH: How are you recruiting or identifying key leaders in the community?
OT: I ask each member of the committee to submit names and we'll start off with those individuals and as we get that going
then we'll extend invitations to others. It's looking pretty good right now.
Page 11 of 13
KH: So like Fred Newell's name came up?
SB: He's on the sub - committee.
KH: Chuck Taylor?
OT: Yes his name was included.
JH: What we're trying to do is establish the core, the inner circle first before we start to you know kind of spread out
without necessarily having everything together in- house. From previous experiences we found that if we start to
include so much without having a clear what we're trying to do, we get shot down quickly and then the work has just
been done for nothing. Orville has brought up many times during our meetings that these types of programs have
happened before, but for some reason things started to fall, and then we're back at square one. So we're trying to take a
different approach to have a stronger foundation this go around.
HO: Any other discussion?
SB: I just want to mention that the event is open to the public and anyone can attend.
CG: So did we decide what the date was? February 7`h?
JH: Yes.
SB: That's tentative because you have to reserve and get a confirmation and I have not gotten a confirmation, but I'm 95%
sure that will be the date. Sometimes they block rooms even though you can't see it on the calendar.
KH: Where will it be?
SB: The Iowa City Public Library.
University of Iowa Center for Human Rights
HO: A lot has been happening and there is a lot of good coming out of it. For those who may not have seen this was in the
Daily Iowan as well as in the Press Citizen, full page. I was quoted and just for a matter of transparency I will read
what I wrote. Here I am as the chair - person of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. The University of Iowa
Center for Human Rights is developed aunique relationship between the University and the community through such
programs as One Book, One Community, Child Labor Education, The Rights of Undocumented Immigrants and many
fine ventures, workshops and movies all made available to the citizens of Johnson County at little or no cost to our
citizens. We must support the efforts to keep The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights open.
SB: What day was that in?
HO: That was on the 10`h, on Human Rights Day. We met with the provost yesterday, the executive board of the Center and
I was included in that meeting. The provost brought some good news to us, and I am not at liberty to discuss the details
of it because we want the provost to make that announcement, but there is some good coming out of all of this. There
was on December 5`h the students organized a demonstration, which you may have seen in the paper as well as on
channel nine covered it. Howard and myself were down there, but I don't know if anybody else was there. We
protested in front of the old capital and then we marched over to Jessup Hall, which is where the President of the
University Sally Mason has her offices and chanted out in front. So it comes to light that there is some need to keep the
center open and I guess I can assure...
SG: There was pressure.
HO: A little pressure. I can assure that the center will remain; it may not be the same identity as it is now, but it will remain
in a form. Probably by next meeting you will all hear in the news what's going on.
Commission
DT: Nothing
SG: The Consultation of religious communities every year has an MLK event. They are going to do the same thing this
year. So as soon as the program comes together I'll send it to you, but it's usually inter -faith readings. There is also a
Page 12 of 13
faculty member who is a Muslim who is going to — music and reading specific verses from the holy Koran that goes
hand in hand with the theme this year, which is justice and equality.
HO: Do you know where that will be held?
SG: I'm going to get more information. Tomorrow the CRC is meeting and they will come up with a time. I'll send it to
you.
DF: I'm very excited about the development of a worker justice center that's coming up Immigrant Voices Project, and
there was a meeting scheduled Thursday, but it was postponed until February and I don't have that date. It's a very
exciting initiative, the _ big communities, labor unions, university community activists that are involved in making
this come to be, and they've but in a 501 (c) 3 so there's a non - profit status. They are getting some grants and it's very
exciting. It's just this power of the community coming forth and making it happen. The next meeting is in February,
but if anyone else is interested I'd be glad to share.
JH: No.
OT: I would just like to extend an invitation and a challenge to the Commission. That is collectively we possess a lot of
resources and the invitation I would extend, which is also a challenge is that we all have our own individual groups or
agendas and things that we want to push. We have like the black community to me, that is my priority, but that doesn't
mean that if someone else is working on an issue that I can't work with them to make that happen. This is just not
about the black community, it's about the community. So I'm hoping that in the future we can do a better job of
working with and supporting each other, and communicating more with each other. That's all.
KH: No.
CG: Nothing
HO: I saw a commercial and it was very disturbing on TV the other day. It was from Kraft Foods, which one of the
subsidiaries is Jell -O. It was about the Mayans and the Mayan ruins, and I went online and found there is quite an
interest about this commercial that they were very culturally insensitive to what the Mayans have done. It was
regarding the December 21', the end of the world, and how they had these explorers that went up the Mayan temple
ruins, but the commercial at the end it was, they talked about how the Mayans sacrificed to the gods and they went up
and they put this big package down and opened it up and it was Jell -O pudding and he said I would sacrifice this to the
Gods. I thought it was just very culturally insensitive. So I encourage anybody that could either write or call Kraft
Foods and complain about the commercial to do so. There is more information online about it.
Staff
SB: I just want to follow up with a question that was asked at the last Commission meeting concerning anonymous
correspondence. I spoke with the city clerk and she said if anonymous correspondence is received for the city council
that it is destroyed and not included. So that was something that I don't remember who had the question now, but I
remember somebody had asked about that. I did speak with the city clerk to see how that's handled. So basically there
is no anonymous correspondence.
SG: Whenever I send something which I have in the past, a letter to the board, it always says you have to identify your
name, your address and your contact information, and that it is going to be public.
HO: Stefanie regarding the status of complaints. You have one here that has gone to a judicial review. The complainant
alleges that he was discriminated against due to disability. Does that mean it's going to the courts or?
SB: No it just means that they've asked for further review. If a complaint is administratively closed or as 1 call it ac. The
compliant can appeal. Somebody can object to that and that would be what that is, but it would stay with the office.
HO: Anything else Stefanie?
SB: No I don't think so.
Next Regular Meeting– January 15, 2013 at 18:00.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn at 19:03.
Page 13 of 13
Human Rights Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2012
(Meetina Date)
NAME
TERM
EXP.
1/17
2/21
3/20
4/17
5/15
6/19
7/17
8/21
9/18
10/16
11/20
12/18
Dr. Howard
Cowen
1/1/13
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
O/E
O/E
Constance
Goeb
1/1/13
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
Harry Olmstead
(8 -1 -2010)
1/1/13
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
David B. Brown
1/1/14
X
O/E
O/E
O/E
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
Diane Finnerty
1/1/14
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
Orville
Townsend, Sr.
1/1/14
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Henri Harper
1/1/15
O/E
X
O/E
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
Kim Hanrahan
1/1/15
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
Shams
Ghoneim
1/1/15
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
Jessie Harper
(Appointed 6 -5-
12)
1/1/15
-
-
-
-
O/E
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
Dan Tallon
(Appointed 7-
31-12)
1/1/14
-
-
-
-
-
-
X
X
X
O/E
X
KEY:
X= Present O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting/No Quorum
R = Resigned - = Not a Member
Attachment Human Rights Meeting Minutes 12/18/12
To: Iowa City Human Rights Commission
From: Subcommittee on Immigrant Human Rights
Date: December 12, 2012
Background: The Iowa City Human Rights Commission (ICHRC) in response to community concerns on
the plight of immigrants in the Iowa City community made nine recommendations to the City Council in
the fall of 2011. The City Council did not reach consensus on many of the recommendations but did
request the ICHRC proceed on the two cited below.
Recommendation 4)
Increase Access to City Services by Immigrant Communities, particularly those identified as most -used
in the "We Are Iowa City" survey data. As discussed above, it is clear that several City services are
currently accessed and appreciated by local immigrant communities. Given the connection that currently
exists, we recommend that these services increase outreach to non - native English speakers by
developing brochures and resources in other languages. For example, we encourage that a version of
the Recreation Services program and policies be offered in at least Spanish, and that signage in more
than one language be posted in the facilities.
Recommendation 10)
Create a Standing Immigrant Review Committee: Given the well-founded reluctance of many people in
the immigrant community to come forward with concerns of rights violations and /or recommendations
for community improvements, we recommend that the IC Human Rights Commission create a stand-
alone subcommittee focused on reaching out and serving as a vehicle for the voices of immigrants living
in Iowa City. This committee could include membership from the IC Human Rights Commission (2
members), the Police Citizen Review Board (1 member), members at large (2 members to be appointed
by the Iowa City City Council), and 3 -5 members of the local immigrant community. Details for how often
they would meet and how they would channel their recommendations to the City leadership are left to
be developed, but we encourage this committee as a conduit between the community and City
leadership, since such a connection does not naturally occur in our current system.
The ICHRC established The Subcommittee on Immigrant Human Rights (IHR) in February 2012. The
purpose of the IHR is to be a voice for those immigrants in the Iowa City community whose voices may
not be heard and to convey their concerns to the ICHRC, City Council and City staff. Giving immigrants
the support and encouragement to come forward and speak for themselves.
On September 18, 2012 & October 9, 2012 members of the IHR including Commission member Kim
Hanrahan met with the Human Rights Coordinator, Stefanie Bowers, to tour City facilities. Hanrahan and
Bowers were the only native English speakers participating in the tours; other participants were native
Spanish speakers. The tours were arranged to determine what signage in Spanish would be most helpful
in navigating City Departments. The Public Library, Robert A. Lee Community Recreational Center, City
Manager's Office, Cashier's Desk (Revenue Division), Police Department, Personnel, Main Information
Desk (City Hall), Housing Authority and Human Rights were all visited on the tours. What follows are the
recommendations based upon the two tours.
Recommendations:
Cashier's Desk (Revenue Division)
1) Signage that announces department in Spanish.
2) Brochures /handbills in Spanish available at the counter that describe and explain the services offered
at the Cashier's Desk.
3) All flyers, signs or notices affixed to bulletin board (to the right of the counter) posted in Spanish.
City Manager's Office
4) Handouts on permit process and application for permits available in Spanish.
Robert A. Lee Community Recreational Center
5) Activity guide published in Spanish.
6) Activity guide published in Spanish distributed throughout the Latino community in Iowa City.
7) Signage at checkout desk in Spanish. Signage in Spanish should include what forms of identification are
required to utilize specific services.
8) Signage in Spanish in upper level notifying of services located on that level.
Public Library
9) Visible "Check Out" Signage in Spanish
10) Brochures or handbills in Spanish explaining library services.
11) Signage in Spanish identifying the Children's Area.
12) Library Calendar of events available in Spanish in a printed format.
Iowa City /Johnson County Senior Center
13) Program guide published in Spanish in a printed format.
14) Calendar of events published in Spanish in a printed format.
15) Programming reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of Iowa City.
16) Outreach to immigrant communities notifying of the services and programs offered at The Center.
Information Desk (City Hall)
17) "Main Lobby" signage in Spanish.
Additional Recommendations related to City Services in General
18) Mandatory employee training on how to use the Language Line Service.
19) Signs for Language Line larger and more visible in all departments.
20) Pamphlets or brochures published in Spanish that explain the function of City Government available
in a printed form.
21) Pamphlets or brochures published in Spanish that explain City Services and the function of each
department. Materials should include specific sections on refuse collection, recycling and how to read a
water bill. Pamphlets or brochures should be available in a printed form.
22) Universal Identification Card that can be used as identification for all City Services and at all City
Facilities.
DRAFT
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
MINUTES — January 8, 2013
CALL TO ORDER: Vice Chair Melissa Jensen called the meeting to order at 5:34 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Donald King and Kingsley Botchway
MEMBERS ABSENT: Royceann Porter and Joseph Treloar
STAFF PRESENT: Staff Catherine Pugh and Kellie Tuttle
STAFF ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Captain Jim Steffen of the ICPD.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL
None
IP13
CONSENT
CALENDAR Motion by King and seconded by Botchway to adopt the consent calendar as presented
or amended.
• Minutes of the meeting on 12/11/12
• Minutes of the meeting on 12/18/12
• ICPD Department Memo #12 -51 (July- August -Sept 2012 Use of Force Review)
• ICPD Use of Force Report — July 2012
• ICPD Use of Force Report —August 2012
• ICPD Use of Force Report — September 2012
Motion carried, 3/0, Porter and Treloar absent.
OLD BUSINESS Additional Board Recommendations — The Board decided to table this item until the next
meeting when all members could be present for discussion.
BOARD
INFORMATION None.
STAFF
INFORMATION None.
PUBLIC
DISCUSSION None.
January 8, 2013
Page 2
TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE and FUTURE AGENDAS (subject to change)
• February 6, 2013, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm
• February 12, 2013, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm (Moved to February 6th)
• March 6, 2013, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm
• March 12, 2013, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm (Moved to March 6th)
• April 9, 2013, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm
• May 14, 2013, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm
Staff reported that Treloar had requested meetings be moved to Wednesdays for the
next two months.
Motion by King, seconded by Botchway to move the February and March meetings to
Wednesday, February 6th and Wednesday, March 6th
Motion carried, 3/0, Porter and Treloar absent.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION Not held due to a lack of quorum.
ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by King, seconded by Botchway.
Motion carried, 3/0, Porter and Treloar absent.
Meeting adjourned at 5:44 P.M.
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