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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-06-04 Info PacketOUR CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET MISCELLANEOUS IPI Council Tentative Meeting Schedule IP2 Article from City Manager: Commercial property tax reform June 4, 2015 IP3 Article from City Manager: After one year, Juvenile Court diversion program seeks to expand IP4 Article from City Manager: Farmers and Cities Play the Water Pollution Blame Game IP5 Memo from City Clerk: Iowa League of Cities meeting IP6 Memo from Housing Adm.: Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Assistance (VASH) program IP7 Email from Iowa City Community School District Youth and Family Development Coordinator to Police Chief: ICPD and ICCSD Collaboration IP8 Copy of Police Chief responses to David Freeman and David Robertson: Wetherby Park IP9 Notice of Funding Opportunity — Housing Trust Fund Accepting Applications IP10 Memo from City Clerk: FY21012 Adopted Budget and FY2015-2017 Financial Plan Memo from City Clerk: KXIC Schedule [Distributed as late handout on 6/5] DRAFT MINUTES IP11 Human Rights Commission: May 19 1 = j CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2015 MISCELLANEOUS IP1 Council T ntative Meeting Schedule I122 Article from 'ty Manager: Commercial property tax reform IP3 Article from City anager: After one year, Juvenile Co diversion program seeks to expand IP4 Article from City Mana r: Farmers and Cities Play the ater Pollution Blame Game IP5 Memo from City Clerk: to League of Cities meet! I126 Memo from Housing Adm.: using and Urban evelopment (HUD) and Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive H sing Assistanc (VASH) program I127 Email from Iowa City Community Sc of Distri Youth and Family Development Coordinator to Police Chief: ICPD and ICCSD Coll orati IP8 Copy of Police Chief responses to David Fr man and David Robertson: Wetherby Park IP9 Notice of Funding Opportunity—Hous g Tr t Fund Accepting Applications IP10 Memo from City Clerk: FY21012 Ado p ed Budget d FY2015-2017 Financial Plan DWAFT MINUTES IP11 Human Rights Commission: toy 19 � r j CITY OF IOWA CITY Date Thursday, June 4, 2015 City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule SP1 :j Subject to change June 4, 2015 Time Meeting 5:30 PM Special Formal Meeting Location Emma J. Harvat Hall Monday, June 8, 2015 7:00 PM Special Formal Meeitng Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, June 16, 2015 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Monday, July 20, 2015 4:00 PM Reception prior to meeting TBA (Johnson County) 4:30 PM Joint Meeting / Work Session Monday, July 27, 2015 5:00 PM City Conference Board Emma J. Harvat Hall Work Session Meeting 7:00 PM Special Formal Meeting Tuesday, August 18, 2015 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, September 1, 2015 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, September 15, 2015 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, October 6, 2015 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Monday, November 30, 2015 1-6:30 PM Work Session Meeting Ashton House Strategic Planning and Orientation Commercial property tax reform - Business Record http://businessrecord.com/Content/Real-Estate-Development[Real-Estat_.. From the City Manager 1 11 PREVIOUS ISSUES NEWS BY INDUSTRY Google + Search Home I Advertising I Membership I Newsletters I Contact Us I About I BPC News I Sub. SPECIALTY PRODUCTS EVENTS CALENDAR EXECUTIVE TOOLE Commercial property tax reform The 2 -year-old legislation has cities looking for new sources of revenues BY KENT DARR, Senior Staff Writer Friday, May 22, 2015 6:00 AM Ed'itor's note: West Des Moines will not hire new employees in the coming year and Des Moines is on a search for new revenues. Why? It's all in reaction to property tax legislation that was passed in 2013, with a key provision taking effect this year that will hit municipal revenues next year. We decided to take a look at what the effect has been so far, and at the potential future effects on cities. The answers, as you might expect for an issue as complex and multifaceted as commercial property tax reform, are not uniform. West Des Moines and Des Moines both draw a large percentage of their revenues from commercial property taxes. And the reality is, it's just too soon to know what the real effects will be of legislation that Gov. Terry Branstad declared two years ago would lead to the largest reduction in property tax bills in state history. But despite the uncertainty, and despite an underlying fear from city leaders that the state, as it has in the past, will leave promises unfulfilled, cities are preparing for a landscape that will continue to morph as the legislation takes effect. Grounded Property tax reform hasn't been a city budgethuster, but local officials are concerned If you ever wonder whether land rules the roost in Iowa, just consider that property owners can tap into more than two dozen tax credits and exemptions, and those don't include rollbacks and abatements and rebates that lower tax bills. As further evidence that we are prone by policy to protect the land from tax grubbers, the Iowa Legislature, with Gov. Terry Branstad in agreement, passed what were hailed by many, depending on how much hyperbole they had ingested for the day, as the most significant property tax reforms in state history in 2013. For municipalities, though, the reforms took an additional bite out of their principal source of revenues, with the first real effects showing up in budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1. At first glance, the impact appears slight, with the loss of some property tax revenues offset by something called "backfill;" a promised return of dollars lost to reform. Even for communities that have experienced an overall decline in property tax revenue, the backfill has added up to increases in revenues of 1 or 2 percent. But what if the backfill goes away? And what happens when the state pledge caps out? It is doubtful that city Most viewed Mr • WHO anchor Dix to became s - manager for SHAZAM • 2015 Forty Under 40 class am • Guest Opinion: An invisible do • VIDEO: Kurt Mumm provides Sculpture Park • Women of Influence: Now ace 5/27/2015 12:49 PM I of 6 Commercial property tax reform - Business Record http://businessrecord.com/Content/Real-Estate-Development/Real-Estat... expenses will freeze. And there are plenty of Statehouse observers who know legislators sometimes have short memories. They point to example after example of instances when appropriations suddenly lock in at $0. So, who's paying attention to what admittedly can be a dry and complicated issue? Des Moines and West Des Moines, two cities that receive a large chunk of revenue from commercial property taxes, are expected to take the biggest hit from changes in the commercial property tax laws, especially from changes in the way apartment buildings are taxed. On the other hand, development colossus West Des Des Moines was able to lower its tax levy for the coming fiscal year by a nickel, and it put in place a hiring freeze. There have been some key changes. One the one hand, legislators decided that as a matter of tax fairness, the owners of office buildings, restaurants, retail shops and massive warehouses shouldn't have to pay taxes on 100 percent of the value of their properties. Some also argued that lower taxes would trigger more commercial development. Developers and brokers say that has not occurred. As of this year, commercial and industrial properties are taxed at 90 percent of value, a figure higher than what was sought by tax reformers. The law also instituted a complicated formula for establishing a commercial property tax credit. The credits were expected to generate an average savings of $523 per property in 2014, the first year they went into effect. Once the credit is approved, it stays in place forever unless the property is sold or its use changes. For example, an office building converted to an apartment building would not quality. But lawmakers didn't forget about owners of apartment buildings. Beginning with property assessments conducted in January, multifamily buildings will see their taxable value fall to the same level as single-family homes over eight years. This year, apartment owners will pay taxes on a little more than 86 percent of their properties' value. That change alone was enough for the city of West Des Moines to put a hiring freeze in place for the fiscal year that begins July 1. West Des Moines City Manager Tom Hadden isn't declaring an emergency. In fact, few city officials are panicking over the changes in property law. And for a simple reason: It is just too soon to know what the real effects will be. Still, Hadden and Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders recognize that their cities need to find additional revenues if they are to provide services residents expect. Alan Kemp, executive director of the Iowa League of Cities, said city budget planners should be anticipating a rough ride. For one thing, he is surprised that lawmakers seem willing to fund the backfill for fiscal 2016 (remember, a state budget has not been approved). He thought that with the state still locked in debate over school funding and with revenues relatively tight, the property tax rebate to cities would have been eliminated. "The state has a bad record of maintaining obligations," Kemp said. Kemp and others know that what lawmakers give, they can take away. In fact, it is the Legislature, with interpretation by the courts, that determines how cities raise money. Even locally generated hotel/motel dollars are parceled out on a formula mandated by the state. The local option sales tax, considered the best alternative to property taxes for generating local revenues, could be changed by pending law to distribute half of the proceeds to property tax relief. The city of Des Moines would like to determine for itself how the money might be spent. In particular, City Manager Sanders would like to invest it in improvements to neighborhoods with the hope of boosting property values. The city of West Des Moines supports sharing the revenue with property owners, apparently recognizing that the best way to win voter support for the 1 percent hike in sales taxes is to guarantee some property tax relief. Des Moines has walked the fine line — some would say the razor's edge — between taxes and fees as revenue generators for several years. It currently is holding $40 million in trust to pay a court-ordered settlement of a lawsuit that resulted in a judge's ruling that what the city called a fee, this one for users of electricity, was in fact an illegal tax. The Legislature came to the city's rescue in 2009, and allowed Des Moines and any other city to assess a fee for the use of electricity and other utilities. Lawmakers have mandated other expenses that cities can't avoid. The state's 49 largest cities pay into two pension funds, one for police and fire departments, the other for all other municipal workers. The police and fire pensions, called 411 funds, put steep requirements that many believe could ultimately lead to a public pension 2 of 6 5/27/2015 12:49 PM Commercial property tax reform - Business Record http://businessrecord.com/Content/Real-Estate-Development/Real-Estat... crisis, much like those that have forced some West Coast cities into bankruptcy. For Gretchen Tegeler, executive director of the Taxpayers Association of Central Iowa, that crisis is practically unavoidable, but she doesn't believe it can be solved by letting cities tap into unlimited revenue sources. Tegeler is a tax expert and a respected advocate for fiscal discipline. Her arguments can be boiled down to this: Cities need to control expenses; give them more money and they will spend more money. But City Manager Hadden has a reply to that. "We're not like the federal government. We have to spend within our means," he said. For the most part, that amounts to spending what revenues property taxes provide. Elements of reform Thirty years of debate led to HB 295 The property tax reform legislation was approved by the Iowa Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad in 2013. Some of its changes were immediate, some will be phased in over 10 years. Rate of growth: Effective the day it was signed, allowable taxable growth statewide of residential and agricultural properties was lowered to 3 percent from 4 percent. Commercial and industrial values: The taxable value of commercial and industrial properties was set at 95 percent of assessed value as of Jan. 1, 2013. The taxable value dropped to 90 percent as of Jan. 1, 2014. Business credit: On Jan. 1, 2014, owners of commercial properties received a credit on the first $145,000 of assessed value that was estimated to equal the taxes paid on a residential property of equivalent value based on 2013 assessments. Once approved, that credit lives with the property, unless its use changes. The credit does not apply to multifamily properties, so if an office building were converted to apartments, the credit would not apply. This provision came with a bit of a surprise. When the bill passed, it was estimated that the credit would average $523 per property statewide. Instead, the average credit was $900 per property, an increase of nearly 70 percent. Multifamily rollback: The rollback is the amount of assessed value that is taxable. Beginning this year, multifamily properties are treated as a separate class, with taxable value declining until it reaches the residential rollback in 2022. For 2015 assessments, which will be paid in 2016 and 2017, the taxable value of residential properties is about 55.2 percent; for commercial it is slightly more than 86 percent. Those rates are expected to be about 56.4 percent in 2022. Local option an option Weary of state promises, cities look to local option sales tax Mandates concern local government leaders. So do half promises. Just consider the problem Iowa lawmakers are having coming up with a funding formula for schools. The formula was a legislative promise, one that schools use to set their budgets. The debate over school funding has many city leaders worrying about the future of a so-called backfill of revenues lost to property tax reform. West Des Moines City Manager Tom Hadden notes that what lawmakers give, they can take away or at least place a local price tag on it. "The state's biggest impact is by legislative action," Hadden said. "Our ability to access funds is very limited." Here are a couple of examples of those actions: The hotel/motel tax that cities collect is distributed in a manner mandated by state law. Cities typically see three - sevenths of the revenues from the tax, which is 7 cents on the dollar. Even the much ballyhooed local option sales tax will have a stake anchored in the property tax landscape, providing lawmakers get a chance to vote on a bill that was introduced this year in the Iowa House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Tom Sands, chairman of the committee, is a longtime banker and fiscal conservative who keeps a close watch on taxes and revenues flowing to cities. He introduced a study bill in April that would allow cities with touching borders, such as those in Greater Des Moines, to ask voters to approve the tax. If approved, at least 50 percent of the revenues would have to be used to lower property taxes. 3 of 6 5/27/2015 12:49 PM Commercial property tax reform - Business Record http://businessrecord.com/Content/Real-Estate-Development/Real-Estat... Sands said the property tax relief language is essential to garnering support from legislators in rural counties In West Des Moines, which has pressed for a change in state law that will allow cities whose borders touch to ask their residents whether to adopt a local option sales tax, city leaders seem to support the idea of using some of the extra revenue for property tax relief. West Des Moines City Councilman Jim Sandager said that feature might be enough to get voters to support a local option sales tax. In Des Moines, on the other hand, city officials would like the option of how to spend the option, said Councilwoman Christine Hensley. It should be noted that current law does not require directing any portion of local option revenues to property tax relief. How are cities coping and prepping? Freeze hiring, find alternatives to property taxes West Des Moines City Manager Tom Hadden has been on the job for a little more than a year. He arrived just in time to see the first impact of property tax reform. Property valuations gained a mere 0.7 percent for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, based on 2014 valuations, meaning the full effect of property tax reform had yet to take hold. Property tax revenues available for city expenses gained 1.1 percent after increasing an average of 4 percent a year for several years. The rollback in revenues from multifamily assessments will show up in the fiscal 2016 and 2017 budgets. Hadden's reaction: Freeze hiring. His next thought: It would be great to ask voters to approve a local option sales tax to partially offset the dollars that could be lost over the next 10 years as the result of property tax reform. Hadden estimates the city needs at least 3 percent revenue growth just to pay salaries, wages and benefits, such as mandated pension contributions. "When they take away your revenue stream, it can be challenging," he said. And then there are basic services, like police and fire protection and good roads and streets, that residents consider important. "People aren't interested in hearing your excuses when they have an issue they want you to address," he said. And that, he believes, is what sets cities and their budgeting process apart from the sources of many of their required expenses. He points out that the city of West Des Moines, unlike the federal government, can't float along on a deficit. "Local government has to live within its means," he said. "Yet the local level is where you have to provide the services." The percentages would tell you that West Des Moines and Des Moines will feel the brunt of changes to commercial property taxes. In 2013, nearly 30 percent of property revenues in both cities came from commercial buildings, according to the Iowa Department of Management, well above the state average. Those numbers reflect revenue before apartment buildings began their rollback to residential numbers. By comparison, a mere 5 percent of Waukee's revenues were from commercial properties in 2013, while Ankeny accumulated 19 percent of its revenues from commercial properties. Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders said the property tax landscape is a "risk to the budget." The city is counting on $5 million a year from the state to make up for the drop in commercial valuations to 90 percent from 100 percent. He also points out that city budgets must be filed with the state by March 15, long before lawmakers have a state budget in hand. Cities really don't know what they are getting from the state when they crunch their numbers. The City Council understands that it needs to focus on improving property values in neighborhoods and finding new construction for vacant properties. 4 of 6 5/27/2015 12:49 PM Commercial property tax reform - Business Record http://businessrecord.com/Content/Real-Estate-Development/Real-Estat... A 1 percent local option sales tax would provide the funds necessary for those improvements and move the budget burden away from property taxes, Sanders said. 'The local option sales tax is the one source of revenue that would be large enough to supplement property taxes," he said. "We have considered other options, but they are not of the magnitude of the local option." Sanders also noted that when the Legislature passed property tax reform, lawmakers said they would address the need for alternative revenues in future sessions. Rep. Tom Sands introduced a bill this year that set the framework for debate on the local option sales tax. Some council members also have discussed tapping into the city's large base of nonprofit organizations that do not pay property taxes. Those efforts have found little traction. Still, it is a topic that gets a lot of attention in Des Moines, where public utilities and hospitals make voluntary payments in lieu of taxes. "The public realizes that the tax burden is spread more thinly when you have large tax-exempt entities," Sanders said. What does the future hold for cities? A watchdog believes cities will get by just fine Gretchen Tegeler asks lots of questions about taxes, based on reams of data she compiles from state and federal officials as the executive director (and frequently the sole employee) of the Taxpayers Association of Central Iowa. She is a frequent contributor to the Business Record, and the topic more often than not deals with public finances. After years of experience, she still is surprised by novel nuggets of information. For example, much was made two years ago when the Iowa Legislature, as a part of what lawmakers called landmark property tax reform, cut the maximum statewide growth in valuation to 3 percent from 4 percent. Tegeler, as many of us, assumed that the 3 percent — or 4 percent, for that matter — was a target. If assessments only went up 2 percent, let's pretend, then that would be the statewide average for the year. Wrong, wrong, wrong, Tegeler said. She recently discovered that the statewide average increase is a target with a can't -miss bull's-eye. The statewide average will increase 3 percent no matter what. "I was as surprised as anyone when I learned that," she said. But what that discovery points to is a broader belief that where there's a will to raise revenues, there are many ways. "They will always find a way," Tegeler said. She is not being hostile toward local governments. Tegeler recognizes that expenses that must be paid, and many of those are mandated by the state. Still, she does not have a sense of impending doom for city budgets based on changes in the property tax law. After looking at the data, she predicts that Des Moines will lose about 3 percent in taxable valuation over the 10 years it will take for multifamily properties to be taxed the same as residential. West Des Moines will experience a decline of about 3.5 percent, just on its land in Polk County, where most of the city's apartments are located. Tegeler predicts that Ankeny will lose about 2 percent in commercial property tax revenue over 10 years and Urbandale will lose about 1.4 percent. "I don't think Ankeny and Urbandale will even notice it," she said. The loss of taxable valuation in West Des Moines will more than likely be offset by the city's rapid development, Tegeler said. "Des Moines will notice it — but it's still pretty small in the scheme of things," she said. "Consider this year their taxable value grew 2.4 percent, so if this had been in place it would have grown 2.1 percent instead." 5 of 6 5/27/2015 12:49 PM From the City Manager --04-15 IP3 After one year, Juvenile Court diversion program seeks to expand Schools focus on understanding, teaching behavior JUNE 2, 2015 1 6:30 AM IOWA CITY — Start small. That was the goal of police, school, court and other officials in the first year of a Juvenile Court diversion program that aimed to reduce the number of children in the court system. To that end, officials focused solely on cases of disorderly conduct. Rather than face court dates and a criminal record at an early age, offenders of high school and junior high school age were given the opportunity to do community service and actions designed to make them think about their actions and consequences. Now, as the Iowa City Community School District's academic year draws to a close, those officials are looking back on the term — and the first year of the diversion program — and assessing its impact. And while authorities do not yet have end -of -year numbers on the program's success, they are confident enough in the program's strength and shifting attitudes about juvenile discipline that they intend to expand its reach in the coming school year. "My goal is possibly doing diversion for all simple misdemeanor crimes for juveniles," said Gabe Cook, the Iowa City Police Department's new juvenile crime investigator and a graduate of the Iowa City school district. If that comes to fruition — and the initiative appears to have the support of other players in the juvenile crime diversion program — it could further reduce the number of children winding up with court records for first-time minor offenses, while also freeing up valuable court resources for children in need of greater attention and services. The decision to expand or not will be made by representatives in the diversion program, which is made up of police, court, school and social services officials. The offenses included in the broadened diversion program would include shoplifting, simple assault, public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia and possibly possession of marijuana. "We're able to devote more resources and more intensive attention to those kids that need more intense attention," said Sixth Judicial District Judge Deb Minot, a former Johnson County prosecutor. "We're siphoning off the kids who we can work with in one way and hoping it works and saving our more dedicated and more expensive resources for the kids that need a higher level of intervention." While the goal of the Juvenile Court system was to give children a chance at receiving intervention without a formal court record, Minot said that is not what is occurring now. Minor offenses remain on children's criminal -records as they enter adulthood. - - - - - - - - Under the diversion program, which began at the onset of the 2014-15 school year, police don't respond to the first instance of disorderly conduct, providing it's not a major fight or disruption and the juvenile doesn't have an extensive previous record. In those cases, students instead complete a "stop and think" program that requires them to reflect on the incident and why it happened. Iowa City schools also provide mentors for some students — teachers, community members or law enforcement — who can check on students' grades and spend time with them over lunch or riding along in a police car. That approach has allowed teachers and administrators to learn more about the reasons for students' behaviors and has improved behavior in school overall, officials said. "I've seen huge dividends pay off from this," said Michelle Cook, Gabe Cook's wife and assistant principal of South East Junior High School. "Getting kids connected to school makes them feel better about themselves. When they feel better about themselves, they're less likely to misbehave." For subsequent offenses that do involve police, officials determine if court diversion is appropriate, If so, juveniles typically will do community service and write a victim -impact letter as well as a sheet designed to walk them through their actions and decision-making. "It keeps them from being in the court system," Gabe Cook said. "But, these kids are not getting away with it." Minot was a member of a group of local officials who participated in Georgetown University's Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice Certificate program in 2013. The intensive five-day sessions seeks to teach participants how to reduce minority contact with the juvenile justice system. "The whole point was that disproportionality is not one system or agency's problem, it's everybody's problem," Minot said. "Until you got everybody to the table ... you wouldn't be able to handle that problem. That was the insight, the epiphany everybody had." 2 Officials at South East Junior High have seen reduced disproportionality this year, Michelle Cook said. "It was not just about making the numbers look better because anybody can do that," Michelle Cook said. "If we truly want to see the decline in disproportionality, then we truly need to see a reduction in the disproportionality of the behaviors, not just the consequences." Iowa City Police Sgt. Kevin Bailey, the former juvenile crime investigator who helped implement the diversion program, said it's too early to tell if the anticipated overall decrease in Juvenile Court cases is a result of the diversion program, different approaches to school discipline or something else. He said Gabe Cook and others will continue to assess and change the program as they see fit. "We've had growing pains," Bailey said. "This isn't `Kumbaya.' This is a work in progress." Schools also have made their definitions of behaviors and consequences more consistent, Michelle Cook said. And teachers and administrators are working on understanding cultural differences between themselves and their students, which may factor into how they view students' behavior, said Joan VandenBerg, the school district's youth and family development coordinator. At South East, discipline referrals this school year were down 50 percent compared to the previous year, Michelle Cook said. Including theft offenses in the diversion program could have a significant effect on schools, VandenBerg said. Michelle Cook and VandenBerg said they support the idea that discipline can be about teaching, not just consequences. "We kind of want to get to some of the underlying issues to address why this kid is reacting in this way," VandenBerg said. "Every kid, you have to do a little bit of detective work to understand exactly what's going on with them." Judge Minot said the Georgetown instructors told their group to have a long view on the program and advised them it could be three to five years before they see significant changes. Still, she already is excited about the early returns on the initiative. "My personal feeling is, if we diverted one child of color and at the end of the year, there was one fewer kid that has a juvenile record, then I think we're successful," she said. "If I find out ... that it was five or 10 or 13, then I'm going to be thrilled because we couldn't figure out how to do any of that before." Page 1 of 4 From City Manager Farmers and Cities Play the Water Pollution Blame Game �P4 BY: Daniel C. Vock I June 2015 Des Moines has a water problem. The source of the drinking water that's processed by the city's utility, which serves half a million people, routinely has dangerous levels of nitrate, a colorless, odorless and tasteless form of nitrogen. In extreme cases, nitrate -rich water can be fatally toxic for babies, depriving them of oxygen. So for the past several years, Des Moines has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to filter nitrate from the Raccoon River, where it gets its drinking water. The situation has grown so dire that the utility says it will soon need to build a new facility to comply with federal pollution laws, at a cost of somewhere between $76 million and $184 million. But to hear Bill Stowe tell it, the dirty water isn't really Des Moines' problem at all -- it's the problem of outlying rural counties, where farmers apply nitrogen -heavy fertilizers to boost crop production. Stowe, the CEO of the area's water utility, says he's tired of waiting for farmers to voluntarily reduce the amounts of nitrate they allow to seep into groundwater, and he's tired of waiting for someone to police the farmers. So he's suing them. "Our stormwater systems, our sanitary sewers, our water systems are paying for pollution caused upstream by agricultural producers," Stowe says. "That's not a situation we're going to allow to continue to go unchecked." The lawsuit technically pits the Des Moines Water Works against 13 obscure agencies in three agricultural counties more than 100 miles upstream from the city. But it carries great symbolic significance -- it challenges fundamental farming practices in a state whose identity and reputation are linked inextricably with agriculture. It also exposes an urban -rural rift. "Des Moines has declared war on rural Iowa," Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican in his sixth term, said as the utility geared up for the court battle this winter. "Instead of filing a lawsuit, Des Moines should sit down with the farmers and people who want to do something about it." Stowe dismisses the idea of a regional conflict. "Clean water is no less necessary on farms and in small towns than it is in cities and suburbs," he says. "The issue is more starkly industrial agriculture versus the rest of Iowa. The endgame here is agricultural accountability for water quality in this state. There's not another business that could put ... a pipe into a water of the state and not be regulated." The suit claims that water polluted by fertilizer should be regulated under the same federal rules that govern water discharged from factories and sewage treatment plants. It's forcing Iowans to confront the long -neglected and sometimes painful problem of how to clean up their rivers without choking off the lifeblood of the state's economy. It's part of a bigger discussion about Iowa's farming history and what the state wants to be in the future. Similar conversations are taking place in other states as well. This spring, Ohio lawmakers cracked down on farming practices (such as spreading manure on frozen fields) that harm waterways, after a Lake Erie algae bloom shut down Toledo's water supply for two days last August. In Maryland and other Mid -Atlantic states, efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay have increasingly focused on stormwater runoff in communities far upstream from the bay. In Iowa, the lawsuit takes issue with the technology that makes much of the state farmable to begin with. Iowa today has some of the nation's most fertile farmland, and, with some plots going for more than $10,000 an acre, some of the most valuable. But it wasn't always so. A century ago, much of Iowa was marshy swampland. The first white settlers in the "prairie pothole" region north of Des Moines, where the Raccoon River originates, thought the vast expanses of flat land were worthless; they settled along streams or on drier ground instead. But soon area residents discovered that by adding drainage pipes four to five feet underground, the swampland could be made incredibly fertile. So they installed underground plumbing systems to carry water away, and their farms flourished. As the practice became more popular, farmers needed a way to move the drained water off their property and into streams and rivers. In 1908, voters amended the Iowa Constitution to specifically allow farmers to band together and create "drainage districts" to build those ditches and drains. Heavy machinery made installing drainage systems easier, and farmers continue to install drains even today. They are used extensively for corn and soybean fields in the Raccoon River watershed, and are common on 40 percent of the farmland in Midwestern states between Iowa and Ohio. "Sac County would be a mosquito haven but for drainage districts, because there'd be standing water everywhere," says Colin McCullough, an attorney who, like his father before him, focuses on drainage issues. McCullough is representing Sac County's supervisors, who were sued by the Des Moines utility in their capacity as trustees for drainage districts in the area. Just defending the case could put a huge financial strain on the resources of the county, which has only 10,000 residents. In fact, all the defendants will likely have to hire lawyers from Des Moines and Washington, D.C., but Sac County's insurance company so far has refused to cover the costs of the suit. http://www.governing.com/templates/gov_print article?id=304453691 6/4/2015 Page 2 of 4 Des Moines Water Works CEO Bill Stowe: "Clean water is no less necessary on farms and in small towns than it is in cities and suburbs. " (Ryan Donnell) Drainage districts are essentially agreements among neighbors to build, maintain or upgrade infrastructure to move water away from the fields. Residents decide whether to start one, and the costs are paid for entirely by landowners in the district. A supermajority of those landowners can block projects entirely. In fact, drainage districts themselves cannot do much but build drainage facilities. They don't have the authority, for example, to adopt conservation measures. While county supervisors are caretakers of the drainage districts, they actually have little say in what those districts do and rarely spend much time overseeing them. There are 3,000 drainage districts across the Iowa prairie; as governments go, they are tiny. But the drainage districts are the key to Des Moines Water Works' unique claim that water coming from farmlands can be regulated under the federal Clean Water Act, which focuses most of its enforcement on "point source" pollution, typically liquid flowing out of a pipe into a body of water. The law specifically exempts "agricultural runoff' from regulation. While it is a clear concession to a powerful lobby in Congress, the agricultural exemption also makes some regulatory sense. It's not hard to imagine the complexities of regulators trying to pinpoint pollution to specific corn or soybean fields. A central question in the Des Moines lawsuit is whether the water carried by the drainage districts is actually "agricultural runoff." The utility says no, because it's not surface water. It isn't rainwater that rolls downhill into a stream; it is water that trickles through the soil before the drains siphon it off. The Des Moines Water Works considers it contaminated groundwater that, when it enters streams and rivers, should be treated as point source pollution. It's the drains, in the Des Moines utility's view, that are responsible for the high nitrate levels. Nitrogen is naturally filtered through soil and taken up by plants. That is, of course, why farmers apply nitrogen -heavy fertilizers in the first place. But the drainage pipes short-circuit that process, says Stowe, the utility's CEO. The pipes, he says, "falsely interrupt the groundwater system and bring it to a higher quantity and lower quality." At its heart, the lawsuit raises a novel legal claim. "The surprising thing is that this issue has never been litigated," says Drake University professor Neil Hamilton, who heads the Des Moines school's Agricultural Law Center. It is also clear, Hamilton says, that the Des Moines utility strategically selected its defendants so the focus of the suit would be squarely on agriculture. All of the drainage districts it sued are in sparsely populated areas, where farms are the only plausible source of nitrate pollution and public data show high levels of nitrates in the water. That rules out other sources of nitrate contamination that are more common in urban and suburban areas. The move "nullifies the goose poop and golf course arguments" that have sometimes been used to deflect responsibility from agriculture's role in producing the pollutants, Hamilton says. The drainage districts have plenty of legal defenses. There's a threshold question of whether they can be held liable under Iowa law at all. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled three years ago that drainage districts cannot be sued for money damages; they can only be sued to compel them to keep up their systems. The districts also will point to legislative history purporting to show that Congress meant to include drainage districts under the agriculture protections in the Clean Water Act. The free pass that the agriculture industry gets under federal environmental laws can breed resentment even in a farm state like Iowa. While ignoring the nitrogen and phosphorus that wash off farm fields and into rivers, federal regulators keep close watch on the water flowing from city sewer pipes or water treatment plants into those same rivers. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has been tightening the screws on municipal water systems under the Clean Water Act, often requiring improvements costing billions of dollars. In many areas, though, farm runoff is harming the environment more than city waste. For example, the chemicals responsible for creating the Gulf of Mexico "dead zone," where most marine life cannot survive, come largely from agricultural sources. Midwest corn and soybean fields, such as those upstream from Des Moines, account for a quarter of the phosphorus and more than half of the nitrogen that enters the Gulf. By comparison, urban areas contribute 12 percent of the phosphorus and 9 percent of the nitrogen that runs into it. It is particularly frustrating, says Pat Sinicropi of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, because reducing a pollutant such as nitrogen or phosphorus is much cheaper in the field than in a treatment plant. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, for example, one study found that it would cost farmers $1.50 to $22 per pound to reduce nitrogen in the water. For wastewater utilities, the cost would be $15.80 to $47 per pound of nitrogen removed. For stormwater cleanup, the cost would be more than $200 a pound. Iowa farmers planted more than 300,000 acres of cover crops in 2013. Experts say this reduces nitrate leaving farm fields by 31 percent. (Joe Murphy, Iowa Soybean Association) http://www.governing.com/templates/gov—Print article?id=304453691 6/4/2015 Page 3 of 4 The federal government also keeps a close eye on drinking water agencies, many of which, like the Des Moines Water Works, use rivers as their supply. Those utilities must comply with regulations under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. That scrutiny is what spurred the Des Moines utility to build a special $4.1 million treatment unit to remove nitrates in 1991. Nitrates dissolve in water and are difficult to remove. The process Des Moines uses to do so is messy, because it creates a corrosive salt slurry. It's expensive, costing $7,000 a day. And it's outdated, because better processes have been developed in the quarter-century since Des Moines built its existing facility. But Des Moines is using the nitrate -removal process more and more often. In the first decade after the treatment unit was built, the city used it, on average, about 50 days a year. Recently, though, nitrate levels in the incoming water have been so high that Des Moines has been breaking its own records for consecutive days with the unit operating. Due in part to extreme weather, the Des Moines Water Works took in more nitrate in a single week in the summer of 2013 than it had the entire previous year, which cost the agency more than $500,000. Since then, nitrate levels have remained stubbornly high. This winter, the water agency had to keep its unit running for 96 days, the longest ever for that season. When Branstad, Iowa's governor, said Des Moines should work more closely with farmers to reduce pollution, he probably imagined something like what Cedar Rapids is doing. In the same week that Des Moines filed its lawsuit, Cedar Rapids, Iowa's second-largest city, announced that it had received $2 million in federal money to work with 15 local groups to encourage farmers to find ways of curbing pollution. It's a collaboration among some of the biggest players in Iowa agriculture, including state and county soil and conservation districts, Iowa State University, and trade associations for pork, corn and soybean farmers. That's how Steve Hershner, who is in charge of the drinking water, wastewater and trash collection in Cedar Rapids, ended up on a bus tour of farms with 80 other people in March. The group explored several new ways to break down nitrate on their own farms using natural processes. Farmers can plant winter -hardy plants during the offseason, ones that will continue to break down nitrate after the main crops are harvested. They are also spreading water along the grassy banks of streams, rather than piping it straight into the stream itself, so the grasses can process the nitrates. One promising technology, known as "biodigesters," can help too. Biodigesters are essentially underground concrete chambers filled with wood chips that mimic the work done by wetlands to convert nitrates into nitrogen gas, a harmless substance that makes up most of the world's atmosphere. Water from pipes passes through the biodigesters, each of which is about the size of a small basement. Microbes in the wood chips break down the nitrates before the water moves through. But there are drawbacks. "Innovations like this are really expensive to construct and install, and they take some - - - management," Hershner says. "It's not that you put it in and never think about it again." Then there is the problem of scale. The federal grant will pay for demonstration projects, but that doesn't go very far. Roger Wolf, who runs the environmental programs at the Iowa Soybean Association, says stemming the flow of nitrates downstream would take somewhere around 180,000 biodigesters in Iowa; the soybean association, viewed as a leader in the area, currently helps run 26. Many activists believe farmers could reduce pollution by either using less fertilizer or using it in a more environmentally friendly way, but Wolf says that won't be nearly enough to solve the problem. "You're not going to reach these goals by tweaking fertilizer management," he says. "I think that's difficult for people to understand." A full solution of the nitrate problem would require financial resources that neither the federal nor the state government seems ready to provide, plus coordination among the state's 90,000 farmers, 300,000 landlords and 3,000 drainage districts. The collaborative approach pioneered by Cedar Rapids may also be too late for Des Moines. Because of differences in its geography, economy and water supply, Cedar Rapids can afford to be patient. In fact, Cedar Rapids has no system for filtering nitrates from its drinking water, because it hasn't ever needed one. Its goal in working with farmers is to make sure it won't ever have to build one. But statewide, Des Moines' aggressive approach is winning in the court of public opinion. A February poll by The Des Moines Register found 63 percent of Iowans backed the utility as it prepared its lawsuit. Support was strongest among urban residents, but even in rural areas, residents were evenly split. Hamilton, the Drake law professor, says the lawsuit highlights the public's growing frustration over water quality. "People are saying this isn't a new issue," he says. "We've been dealing with water quality issues in Iowa for generations. I think it's fair to say the public is growing weary of claims that all we need is more time and voluntary measures will get us there, because there's no evidence to support that." CORRECTION. A previous version of this article credited the third photo to Ryan Donnell. The photo was actually taken by Joe Murphy. http://www.governing.com/templates/gov_print article?id=304453691 6/4/2015 r �P5 ®, CITY OF IOWA CITY '- �V MEMORANDUM DATE: June 3, 2015 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Marian K. Karr, City Clerk RE: Iowa League of Cities Meeting The 2015 Annual Conference for the League of Cities will be held September 23-25 in Cedar Rapids. If you are interested in attending, I will be happy to handle your registration for you. Please let me know as soon as you decide. Attachment: Schedule of Events U:l_eaguem eeting.doc U, 1 OPEC , F i iowA� ;Iw`.www.iowaleague.o LEAGUE` OfCITIES -"� J U, 1 OPEC , F i iowA� ;Iw`.www.iowaleague.o LEAGUE` OfCITIES -"� —► NEW! Register to receive housing information. Attendees are responsible for their own housing reserva- tions and must submit a conference registration BEFORE making a reservation within the League's room block at any hotel.We recommend registering for conference and making hotel reservations early because rooms are limited and may fill before the room blocks close on August 23. Only city officials who are registered for conference and their guests will be allowed in our block.To ensure delegates receive a room in nearby hotels, we ask that attendees respect our policy and not share housing information with non -registered city officials or vendors. After registering online, you will receive a receipt, fol- lowed by a separate email containing housing and other pertinent registration information. Registration Add -Ons Networking Best Ball Tournament Wednesday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. I Pre -Register Connect on the green with city officials and exhibitors. Shotgun start begins at 10 a.m. with registration open- ing at 9 a.m. Groupings are done by handicap, and the $85 registration fee includes greens frees, shared cart, lunch and prizes. Flight winners will be announced at the Welcome Reception later that evening, pin winners will be announced at the course after the round. Annual SK Run/Walk Thursday, Sept.24, 7 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. I Pre -Register Start your day with a fun 5K run or walk around Cedar Rapids. Anyone is welcome to join, but attendees who register before August 21 will recieve a free shirt. A light breakfast will follow the free event. Ride CR Bike Tour _ Wednesday, Sept.23, 10:30 a.m. - noon I Pre -Register BYOB -Bring Your Own Bike (& helmet) and join the city of Cedar Rapids and the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization on a bike ride through the heart of the city. Starting at the recently renovated NewBo City Market the metro's multimodal transportation planner will guide you through three of Cedar Rapids' most dynamic neighborhoods. Stops will include Downtown Cedar Rapids, Czech Village and the NewBo neighborhood. In total the ride will traverse just over 5 miles at a leisure- ly pace through the city's core; cyclists of all levels are welcome. More information is available at www.iowaleague.org. Space is limited, so register early. 2 1 Iowa Leaaue of Cities Annual Conference & Exhibit ' orkshops How Alternative Fuel Vehicles are • Changing the Way Cities Get the Job Done Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. I Pre -Register This workshop offers attendees a chance to discov- er how cities can use alternative fuel vehicles and a chance to see different types up close. Alternative fuel vehicles offer cities a way to operate more efficiently and gain stability over fuel costs, while also being better for the environment and promoting green prac- tices in the community. However, selecting the right type of vehicle for your city may present challenges as each city may have different needs for their own fleet. Learn about the various alternative fuel vehicles used to perform city services and then hop on the bus to check them out and see a demonstration. The Dramatic Recovery of Cedar Rapids' • City Facilities After Historic Flood Thursday, Sept. 24, 8 - 11:45 a.m. I Pre Since the historic flood of 2008, Cedar Rapids has replaced or renovated more than $200 million in city facilities, including City Hall, Central Fire Station, Police Station, Public Works, Public Library and Paramount Theatre.This workshop will share the city's facility recovery story that spans a variety of buildings - from a $5 million Animal Care & Control facility to a $45 mil- lion public library and everything in between.Various complexities will be explored, including local, state and federal funding mechanisms. Attendees will also hear about design, construction, sustainability and end-user experiences, including how the buildings serve the public. A driving tour of the buildings will include sev- eral stops so attendees can take a look inside. ® This is just a glimpse of everything the event offers. Visit www.iowateague.org for up-to-date information. CEUs Available Receive certification hours for the Iowa Municipal Finance Officer's Association (IMFOA) Certification Program when you attend. Specific workshops may qualify for Continuing Legal Education. Check our Web site for updates. Register first to receive housing information. Ride CR Bike Tour. (Don't forget your bike and helmet!) e sure to visit the Newbo City Market wring a Mobile Workshop er the ide CR Bike Tour., tisit the National Czech & Slovak Auseum & Library during the 'resident's Reception. —i Mobile Workshops (continued) Putting Down Roots - A Comprehensive Housing Strategy in Cedar Rapids Thursday, Sept. 24, 2:15 - 3:15 p.m. I F're Register The 2008 flood in Cedar Rapids had a dramatic effect on housing and neighborhoods. With flood waters reaching well beyond the 100 -year and 500 -year flood plain, over 5,100 residential parcels were impacted and over 1,300 parcels were ultimately acquired and demolished as part of a Voluntary Acquisition Program.The removal of so many homes only exacerbated a shortage of affordable and workforce housing that the city had been working to remedy before the flood. As a result, the city has im- plemented a comprehensive approach to replacing housing and restoring neighborhood vitality, which will result in the creation of over 1,700 new housing units by 2016. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to tour a variety of housing improvement projects and learn about the fund- ing strategies and approach to public input that have made the housing recovery a success in Cedar Rapids. Tour of Flood Protection and Greenway Improvements in 0 Cedar Rapids Thursday, Sept. 24,330 - 4:30 p.m. I Pre -Register On June 13, 2008, the Cedar River crested to its highest level in Cedar Rapids history, 31.12 feet.The previous record reached only 20 feet.The flood waters penetrated 10 square miles or 14 percent of the city, impact- ing thousands of homes, businesses and city facilities. As a result,the city has made huge strides in its recovery efforts as well as planning for a flood a control system of levees, floodwalls, gates and pump stations to protect the city. In addition, the city has enhanced the Cedar Rapids Greenway, a collection of riverfront parks totaling 130 -acres on the west shore of the Cedar River comprised of previously existing park properties and prop- erties acquired by the city.The park enhancements will encompass the city's flood protection system while introducing both natural/passive landscapes and active recreational assets to increase the vitality of this area, serve as a landmark destination for the city, and provide connectivity for the length of the river from the north end of the Time Check neighbor- hood to the south end of Czech Village. • Advanced Planned with the seasoned city official in mind. • City Clerk --o- The needs of city clerks were on our mind when we planned this event. •Economic ---i Information contains an economic Development development angle. O • Interactive ---p- Includes a topic overview and lots of time for .� you to contribute content. • Mobile —> An off-site workshop or event for which the 3.. League provides transportation. Q Small City--- 0- Suggested workshops for delegates from small cities. Register online at www.iowaleague.org Wednesday, Sept. 23 Networking Best Ball Tournament 110 a.m. - 3.30 p.m. Pre -Register (Learn more in the add-ons section) Ride CR Bike Tour 11030 a.m., noon I Pre -Register (Learn more in the add-ons section) Workshops 11:30 - 4:30 p.m. Running Water A wide-ranging discussion on utility and environmental topics important to city officials: maintaining a viable drinking water system; asset management for wells, towers and meters; wastewater best practices and emerging issues; and effective stormwater quality practices. Utility experts will provide information on laws and best management practices. Strategies for an Active and Engaged Community This workshop will focus on three components of citizen engagement that cities can use to bolster their efforts and improve how they connect with their community: Part I: Drones, Skyping and Twitter ... Oh My!; Part II: Put the Spotlight on Citizens for Long Term Success; Part III: Branding Your City:The First Step in Marketing Success. First -Timer Orientation 14.45 - 5.45 p.m. Meet other new conference attendees as you learn more about what to expect and how to get the most out of the conference. Veteran attendees are also welcome. Red Carpet Event 14:30 - 5:30 p.m. Enjoy classic rock and blues with Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett and his band, Crankshaft, before the red - carpet Exhibit Hall opens. Welcome Reception & Exhibit Hall 1530 - 8 p.m. Dress in your Hollywood best, and join us for an evening of glitter, glam and glitz. We'll roll out the red carpet Wednesday evening as the spotlight is on exhibitors. See what companies and organizations are offering and how they can help your city become a star. --. Thursday, Sept. 24 Annual 5K Run/Walk 17- 8.30 a.m. I Pre -Register • (Learn more in the add-ons section) Workshops 18:30 - 9.30 a.m. Credit Outlook for Iowa Local Governments • Many local governments use rating agencies to assess their credit worthiness when issuing debt. Learn what criteria is considered and what you can expect during the credit rating process. Also hear about Moody's credit outlook for local governments in Iowa and the nation. 4 1 Iowa League of Cities Annual Conference & Exhibit Hire Hard/Manage Easy -Tips for Getting the Best Employees • Learn recruitment strategies that can be used by local government officials to hire and retain the best people for positions. All cities will need to recruit for positions at some time, learn best practices and practical advice on the ever changing recruitment process. Hometown Pride: Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Your Community The Hometown Pride program, offered through Keep Iowa Beautiful, focuses on empowering citizens and improving the quality of life in Iowa's communities. We'll explain the role of the community coach and review program methods, technical and funding assistance, leadership development strategies and case studies of current cities in the program. I'm in Charge of What? 0 City officials have a wide range of duties, some they may not have thought of until it pops on their radar. This workshop will provide a guide to workplace safety for small cities, including how elected officials can understand their responsibilities in managing a safe workplace. Hear strategies on how to improve the safe- ty of your city and foster a healthier, happier and more productive workforce. Public -Private Partnerships: An Approach to Economic Development and Meeting Growing Public Infrastructure and Service Needs Public -Private Partnerships, or P3s, have emerged as an effective way to offer services in an efficient manner, utilizing the financial and other resources of the private sector. However, P3 arrangements are often misunderstood, surrounded by misinformation and misperceptions.This workshop will provide an overview and the legal framework of P3s, including an explanation of how to use P3s as tools to support economic development and public infrastructure efforts. The"Process"of Balancing the City Budget Since the state legislature implemented significant changes to the ability of cities to generate property tax revenues, city officials are experiencing an ever- increasing challenge in balancing their budgets. This session will demonstrate a proven method to balance the budget using a straightforward and inclusive process that can be easily duplicated in your community. Find the Workshop Key on page Threats to Trees and Tree Management Trees Forever and the Iowa DNR Forestry Bureau will provide a primer on how trees function as important components of a city's infrastructure and what threatens them. Presenters will discuss practices and policies that mitigate the impacts of these threats, and funding and resources available for planting and caring for trees and woodlands. Exhibit Hall Open 9:15 - 10:55 a.m. Enjoy your morning coffee and pastry while talking with exhibitors and peers in the Exhibit Hall.Take advantage of the last chance to connect with a vendor. Workshops 10:45 - 11:45 a.m. z Reslient Cities In order to remain healthy, vibrant, safe and economically competitive cities ; must be able to anticipate and adapt to all types of change. Resilient communities recover faster and better from natural disasters and other j challenges. Learn from past challenges then bounce back faster while being more prepared for the next challenge. Connecting the MoneFederal to State to Development on Iowa Brownfield Property This interactive workshop will demonstrate how a city wins federal Brown- field grant funding, addresses environmental issues and then leverages the technical results into tangible dollars used by developers as Iowa Brown- field tax credits. Included will be a "walking, talking re-enactment"of a city case study. Developing and Maintaining Effective Working Relationships • How effective city officials are at building and maintaining positive relationships largely defines the success of our cities in the short and long- term. Learn how to reduce conflict and strengthen workplace relationships while also sharing your stories and advice. S ` P r It's Not Just for Kids and Geeks: Legal Aspects of Municipal Social Networking w While the use of social media has several advantages in increasing transparency and greater citizen participation, it also creates a number of potential pitfalls for cities which could lead to First Amendment violations or violations of Iowa's Open Records and/or Opening Meeting Iaws.To make matters worse, as employers, social media exposes cities to a number lublic Library and of legal claims by employees, such as constitutional claims, discrimination eatre since the claims and claims under the Iowa Public Employee Relations Act.This presentation will identify these unique issues and provide guidance on how to navigate this area of the law. Paving for Progress This workshop will illustrate how the city of Cedar Rapids created a pavement management plan for street improvements.The program used pavement data to make more informed decisions on where to focus resources. Regardless of the size of your city, this presentation will outline the importance of prioritizing projects and engaging the public in pavement management. Register online at www.iowaleague.org Thursday, Sept. 24 (continued) Workshops 110.45 - 11:45 a.m. (continued) The Latest on Iowa's Property Tax System Changes made to Iowa's property tax system during the 2013 legislative session continue to roll out and impact city budgets. Get the latest on the property tax sysetm and how to best prepare for the future. TIF and Economic Development Workshop 0 Always a popular topic, tax increment financing and other tools play a key role in economic development efforts.This session will provide guidance on how to effectively use such tools in your community. Opening Luncheon I noon - 2 p.m. Recharge and refuel over Iunch.Watch League Weekly and www.iowaleague.org for keynote speaker and programing announcements. Workshops 2:15 - 3:15 P.M. 411 Summit An opportunity for cities that are members of the Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System of Iowa (MFPRSI) to obtain up-to-date information on legislation, system investments and future contribution rates. Below 100 Below 100 is a nationwide effort to provide training and guidance on improving the safety of police officers through the reduction and elimination of preventable deaths and injuries.The goal of the program is to reduce line of duty police officer deaths below 100 in a year. While focused on police officers, this training is relevant for all city officials as it offers ways to improve basic safety procedures and create a culture of protecting employees. Innovative Parks and Recreation Programs • This interactive session will feature examples of how different cities have implemented innovative parks and recreation programs and offers attendees the chance to share their city's accomplishments and challenges. The Life Cycle of a Capital Project • Learn how your city can include life cycle costs in planning efforts, including a cast study of Grimes'water and wastewater improvements. Secure and Friendly Environments for Cedar Rapids (SAFE -CR) Overview and Implementation Despite the best efforts of city officials, some nuisance properties remain a challenge to remedy.The SAFE -CR program was developed to not only address nuisance issues through traditional methods, but also encour- age a higher quality of life by preserving property val- ues and control the costs of tax payer -funded services such as police, fire and property code enforcement. Hear how the program works through nuisance issues provides rental business training for property owners and governs mandatory tenant background checks. 6 1 Iowa League of Cities Annual Conference & Exhibit The Art of Downtown Placemaking Integrating art into the public environment can have a significant impact in developing a downtown's sense of place while also serving as an economic develop- ment driver. Hear stories of how cities can include art in their development plans, including replicating terra cotta on historic buildings, blending art in streetscapes and fabricating major installations that reflect the culture and history of a community. Workshops 3:30-4:30p.m. Nuisance Abatement - Keeping Your City Clean 40 Learn how cities address junked cars, weeds, danger- ous structures and other unsightly or hazardous con- ditions.The workshop will focus on the development of a strong nuisance ordinance and how to work with property owners. Capital Improvement Plans: Providing a Blueprint for the Community This workshop will discuss how a Capital Improve- ment Plan (CIP) will help put a city's Comprehensive Plan into action through the budgeting process. Learn how a CIP can reduce duplicate efforts and how a CIP can be used to inform the public of future needs and projects. Former and current city officials share stories on the most effective strategies and how to avoid common mistakes. Estimating Long -Term Financial Impacts Resulting from New Development An important part of determining if a proposed devel- opment is a good opportunity for a community is to understand the development's direct long-term fiscal impact on the city. Learn about the basic premises and assumptions used in projecting these impacts. Find the Workshop Key on page 3. Handling Major Liability Issues Changing the Face of Downtown Cities and city officials face a wide The Iowa Economic Development Authority's Downtown Resource Center variety of liability issues and must be assists communities around the state in revitalizing their downtown and aware of evolving trends in litigation commercial districts. Learn the latest trends and hear an overview of state related to personnel matters and city programs designed to assist cities. operations.This session will highlight areas where there has been con- Improving the Implementation of Public Improvement Projects siderable litigation in recent years, The perception of a project's success can vary greatly between elected allowing your city to deal with issues officials, staff and the public. How cities deal with project concerns often de - before they become costly. termines the degree with which the public views your projects as a success. This workshop will detail steps that cities can take to ensure project success Lessons Learned from Elkader's in the eyes of all stakeholders. Flood Recovery and Redevelopment • Making Effective Decisions Using Data The city of Elkader experienced Several obstacles make it difficult to use data to make effective decisions. record flooding in 2008. In response, Learn how you can use an Iowa State University web -tool to easily access the city developed a planning pro- complex up-to-date data when discussing issues impacting the city - this cess to transition the flood -impacted includes both financial, economic development, quality of life and health of area into significant amenities for the residents.=' community. Learn how communities r j ::,ur rf -s can follow a similar process to rede- Much Ado about TIF'ing velop areas in need of infrastructure Tax increment financing (TIF) is a valuable tool for many cities in helping and recreational improvements. spur development in the community. However, there is sometimes debate over when the tool should be used and how many city resources should be Awards Banquet 16 -8 p.m. invested in related projects.This interactive workshop will give attendees And the award goes to ... Cities! Enjoy the chance to share their experiences in using TIF and some of the obsta- a banquet buffet followed by the cles they have met. presentation of the League's annu- al All-Star Community Awards, the Using State Bids to Maximize Your Purchasing Power Legislative Service Awards and other Cities and other governments can use bids awarded by the Department special honors. of Administrative Services (State bids) to purchase many items. Potentially save money when you learn how you can make it work in your community. President's Reception 18 - 10 p.m. Join colleagues and friends at the Annual Business Meeting 19.15 - 10 a.m. National Czech & Slovak Museum & Voting delegates from member cities vote on business items, including the Library for this special event to thank approval of the new League Executive Board members and the League's League President and Creston Mayor legislative priorites. All are encouraged to attend. Warren Woods for his service. Workshop 19.15- 10 a.m. . Effectively Managing Public Records Requests • --► Friday, Sept. 25 Cities create and possess an incredible amount of records, many of which Workshops 18 - 9 a.m. are open for public review.This session will focus on the mechanics of how Are Your Parks and Playgrounds cities should handle public records requests, including setting reasonable fees for retrieval and copies, compliance deadlines, working with the public Safe? and handling large requests from unknown parties. Given the popularity of parks and playgrounds, it's important that cities Closing Brunch 110- 11:45 a.m. ensure they are safe and properly in- sured.This workshop will detail some Enjoy a brunch buffet with the newly -elected League Board President. Watch www.iowaleague.org and League Weekly for the announcement of of the common types of exposures the keynote speaker. cities have with parks and play- grounds and what should be done to correct them. Register online at www.lowaleague.org September 23-25, 2015 -- 1 ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBIT Organization/City Name (as to appear on name badge) Title Street Address City State Zip Phone Email Address O 1 am a first-time attendee O 1 am new to city government O Guest Registratio; -, - MSG Allows a spouse/significant other and child(ren) to attend non -ticketed conference sessions and gain access to the Exhibit Hall. Registered guests receive access to the Exhibit Hall for Wednesday night's Welcome Reception and Thursday morning, a ticket to the Closing Brunch and a complimentary conference bag. Registered guests may also sign-up to golf or participate in the Run/Walk or Bike Tour. Guests cannot be city officials. Guest name (as to appear on name badge) O $85 -Networking Best Ball Tournament (pre -register) Handicap: O $35 -Thursday Opening Luncheon O $60 -Thursday Banquet & President's Reception ■ Registration Fees The conference fee includes admission to all general ses- sions,workshops and meal functions on the conference agenda. Please contact Shannon Busby at (515) 244-7282 for accessibility or dietary accommodations. League member Non -League member Through Aug.20 After Aug. 20 O $195 I O $250 O $320 O $365 Requires Pre -Registration O $85 - Networking Best Ball Tournament Wednesday, Sept. 23 10 a.m. Shotgun Start I Jones Golf Club Handicap: O Free -Ride CR Bike Tour Wednesday, Sept. 23 10:30 a.m.- noon Bring your bike and helmet O Free -Annual SKRun/Walk Thursday, Sept. 25 17 a.m. Register before August 21 to receive a shirt. I plan to 0 Run O Walk T-shirt size O S O M O L O XL O XXL Mobile Workshops o How Alternative Fuel Vehicles are Changing the Way Cities Get the Job Wednesday, Sept. 23 1 1:30 p.m. -4:30 p.m. o The Dramatic Recovery of Cedar Rapids'City Facilities After Historic Flood Thursday, Sept. 24 18 -11:45 a.m. O Putting Down Roots - A Comprehensive Housing Strategy in Cedar Rapids Thursday, Sept. 2412:75 - 3:15 p.m. 0Tour of Flood Protection and Greenway Improvements in Cedar Rapids Thursday, Sept. 24 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Total amount enclosed Each attendee must fill out a separate form. Registration will not be processed wilt) out payment. Ali cancellations must be received in writing by Sept. 7. Cancellations after Sept. 1 are subject to a $50 administration fee. No refunds after Sept. 14. No refunds will be made to no-shows. credit card payment available only online. ofCITIES Mail form & payment to:lowa League of Cities, 500 SW 7th St, Suite 101, Des Moines, IA50309 8 1 Iowa League of Cities Annual Conference & Exhibit 06-04-1 �•'-r® CITY OF IOWA CITY 1P6 MEMORANDUM Date: June 3, 2015 To: Tom Markus, City Manager From: Steven J. Rackis, Housing Administrator Re: Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Assistance (VASH) program. Introduction: Since 2008, the Iowa City housing Authority and the Iowa City VA Medical Center have partnered in the HUD-VASH program to pair housing for at -risk veterans and veteran families with supportive services. Our current allocation supports 67 rental assistance vouchers. On May 26, 2015, the Housing Authority was contacted by HUD to determine whether or not we would be interested in administering an additional 10 vouchers. History/Background: Seventy-five million dollars was included in HUD's FY 2008 Appropriations for the voucher assistance portion of the HUD-VASH program. The Iowa City Housing Authority administers the housing assistance portion of the HUD-VASH program. Ongoing VA case management, health and other supportive services is made available to homeless veterans in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids Corridor through the Iowa City VA Medical Center. In order to participate in the program, the Veteran must commit to the VA's 5 -year case management program, be income eligible, and not subject to any lifetime sex offender registry. Following is the historical timeline of HUD/VASH allocations: February 2008 35 vouchers May 2013 15 vouchers October 2014 7 vouchers April 2015 10 vouchers Discussion: In October 2012, the HUD-VASH program implemented the Housing First concept for the delivery of services. Housing First places permanent housing with supports at the foundation for success and stability, including better access and outcomes with treatment services. The Housing First model minimizes barriers to recovery and focuses on access, rapid engagement, and then sustainment of community-based permanent housing. That means that Veterans can move from the streets or shelters directly into permanent housing as quickly and safely as possible. Housing First helps VA focus HUD-VASH on Veterans experiencing the most significant challenges to housing stability, including chronic homelessness, severe mental illness, and other significant barriers. Recommendation: Therefore, as you have directed, staff will apply for the additional 10 HUD-VASH vouchers. If the funding is approved by HUD, then the City Council will need to consider whether or not to accept the HUD-VASH vouchers. From: Tom Markus Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2015 8:12 AM To: Marian Karr Subject: FW: ICPD and ICCSD Collaboration For the info packet please. From: Joan VandenBerg [mailto:VandenBerg.Joan@iowacityschools.org] Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 6:02 PM To: Sam Hargadine Cc: Stephen Murley; Susie Poulton; Tom Markus Subject: ICPD and ICCSD Collaboration Dear Chief Hargadine, With our school year coming to a close, I want to thank you for your support for our collaboration. The police departments really had to do the heavy lifting for the new diversion program. It was great that Iowa City PD took such a strong leadership role and is willing to consider expanding to other misdemeanors in the future. Kevin Bailey has been a great resource to our building administrators. He will be missed and we want to make sure that we have a plan moving forward. We are very excited to work with Gabe Cook and plan to have him come to our Core Management Team in June to help with the transition. Gabe has a lot of great ideas and I think could be a good resource for many issues. Thanks again for your support! We look forward to continuing our partnership next year. Joan Vanden Berg, Youth and Family Development Coordinator Iowa City Community School District (319) 688-1015 NOTICE: All email communications to and from the District's email server are archived in accordance with District policy and procedures. This email communication, including attachments, contains information which may be confidential and/or legally privileged, and may otherwise be exempt from disclosure under applicable law. The information is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient or believe you received this communication in error, please reply to the sender indicating that fact and delete the copy you received. In addition, if you are not the intended recipient or believe you received this communication in error, any unauthorized retention, copying, disclosure, distribution, or other use of the information is strictly prohibited. Thank you. Reply to letter received # 3f(7) of June 2 meeting IP8 410 E. WASHINGTON IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 PH: 319-356-5275 FAX: 319-356-5449 Mr. David Freeman 1410 Wetherby Drive Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Mr. Freeman, Thank you for the correspondence regarding concerns about Wetherby Park. Like many communities, Iowa City typically experiences an increase in calls for service pertaining to juveniles who are out of school and do not have the pressures of homework, sports, or other school related activities occupying their time. With more dispensable time, it is not uncommon that some juveniles may turn to activity that affects the quality of life of others. Recently a neighborhood grant was awarded that will allow officers to work overtime in the Grantwood and Wetherby Neighborhoods on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Officers assigned to this detail will be briefed on the concerns that have been expressed to the City. The police department will employ the following strategies to improve conditions at the park: - Partnering with social services agencies in the area such as the Broadway Neighborhood Center and the Dream Center along with community members in the neighborhood to assist us with addressing concerns. Increased patrol by on duty officers. Notification of parents for juveniles that are found in violation of minor offenses. If appropriate, referrals to the juvenile diversion program. If appropriate, arrest and charging juveniles for serious offenses. I am confident that with everyone working together we can successfully address the concerns that have been brought forward. Please continue to share your feedback and observations with the police department. For issues needing immediate attention please dial 911. For more general questions, comments and observations I encourage you to contact Neighborhood Response Officer Rob Cash or Crime Prevention Officer Al Mebus at (319) 356-5273. Sincerely, Samuel E, H�gadin Chief of Police Reply to letter received #3f(7) of June 2 agenda 410 E. WASHINGTON IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 PH: 319-356-5275 FAX: 319-356-5449 Mr. David Robertson 2260 Balsam Court Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Mr. Robertson, Thank you for meeting with representatives from the City and your correspondence regarding your concerns about Wetherby Park. Like many communities, Iowa City typically experiences an increase in calls for service pertaining to juveniles who are out of school and do not have the pressures of homework, sports, or other school related activities occupying their time. With more dispensable time, it is not uncommon that some juveniles may turn to activity that affects the quality of life of others. Recently a neighborhood grant was awarded that will allow officers to work overtime in the Grantwood and Wetherby Neighborhoods on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Officers assigned to this detail will be briefed on the concerns that have been expressed to the City. The police department will employ the following strategies to improve conditions at the park: - Partnering with social services agencies in the area such as the Broadway Neighborhood Center and the Dream Center along with community members in the neighborhood to assist us with addressing concerns. - Increased patrol by on duty officers. - Notification of parents for juveniles that are found in violation of minor offenses. If appropriate, referrals to the juvenile diversion program. If appropriate, arrest and charging juveniles for serious offenses. I am confident that with everyone working together we can successfully address the concerns that have been brought forward. Please continue to share your feedback and observations with the police department. For issues needing immediate attention please dial 911. For more general questions, comments and observations I encourage you to contact Neighborhood Response Officer Rob Cash or Crime Prevention Officer Al Mebus at (319) 356-5273. Sincerely, Samuel E. Barg ine Chief of Police Housing o rust Fund Johnson County Board ofDirectors Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County 322 East Second Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Email: tachcnbach@htfjc.org Website: www.htfjc.org Office: 319.358.0212 Fax: 319.358.0053 Bob Dvorsky, President State Senator, 15" District Ellen Habel, President Elect City of Coralville Ron Mavrias, Secretary Private Citizen NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY John Warren, Treasurer Bergan Paulsen Simon Andrew, City of Iowa city HOUSING TRUST FUND ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Jerry Anthony, University of Iowa, Urban & Regional Planning Robert Brooks, Private CitiZen The Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County is currently offering $500,000 in funding to Bob Burns, Burns & Burns, support the development and/or rehabilitation of housing provided to income -qualified LC. households below 80% AMI. Of the available funding, $100,000 will be dedicated as Crissy Canganelli, Shelter House grants for projects serving populations below 80% AMI that are able to utilize funding MiKayla Crouch, US Bank before December 31, 2015. Eligible applicants include businesses, nonprofits, builders, developers, and governmental agencies seeking funds for affordable owner -occupied, Maryann Dennis, Ex -officio rental, transitional or emergency housing in Johnson County. The Housing Fellowship Kirsten Frey, Kennedy, Cruise, The application deadline is 3 p.m. on Friday, June 19th, 2015. An application, AMI Fry and Gelner guidelines, and additional information may be found online at www.htfjjc.org or by Steve Gordon, AM Management calling 319-358-0212. Steve Long, HBK Engineering, LI -C Tracey Mulcahey, City of North liberty Phil O'Brien, L.epic Kroeger Realtors Scott Schroeder, MidWestOne Bank Rod Sullivan, Johnson County Board of Supervisors Larry Wilson, University Heights Citizen Staff Tracey Achenbach, Executive Director Casey Cooper, Operations Coordinator �. CITY OF IOWA CITY IP10 mom- MEMORANDUM Date: June 4, 2015 To: Mayor and City Council Members From: Marian K. Karr, City Clerk Re: FY2016 Adopted Budget and FY2015-2017 Financial Plan The adopted budget is available on the Finance Department City Website. A complete copy will be distributed and permanently archived in the 6/5/15 information packet. r CITY OF IOWA CITY M E MO RAN D U Date: June 4, 2015 To: Mayor and City Council From: Marian K. Karr, City Clerk Ra Re: KXIC Radio Show At your June 2nd work session, and follow-ups conversations, Council Members agreed to the following schedule for the Wednesday 8AM radio show. At your request a complete summer schedule is provided below. Wednesday June 10 —Payne June 17 — Hayek June 24 — Botchway July 1 — Mims July 8 — UISG Neal July 15 — Mims July 22 — July 29 — Mims August 5 — Mims August 12 — Mims August 19 — Mims August 26 — Mims In addition we are adding a 7:15 — 7:45 AM the first and third Friday of each month: Friday June 19 — Throgmorton July 3 (pre-recorded 10 am 7/2) — Botchway July 17 — Botchway August 7 — Dobyns August 21 — Mims Future requests / commitments: Wednesday September 2 — September 9 — September 16 — September 23 — September 30 — October 7 — October 14 — October 21 — October 28 — November 4 — November 11 (pre-recorded 10am 11/10) — November 18 — November 25 — December 2 — June 5, 2015 Page 2 December 9 — December 16 — December 23 — December 30 - Frida September 4 — September 18 — Dobyns October 2 — Dobyns October 16 — Dobyns November 6 — Dobyns November 20 — December 4 — Dobyns December 18 — ** Please remember that KXIC is very flexible with taping the Wednesday sessions ahead of the show. It is the intent of the Friday interviews to be live. Uxadioshowappts.doc 06-04-15 IN I Minutes Preliminary Human Rights Commission May 19, 2015 — 5:30 PM Helling Conference Room Members Present: Orville Townsend Sr, Kim Hanrahan, Joe D. Coulter, Paul Retish, Harry Olmstead, Ali Ahmed, Shams Ghoneim. Members Not Present: Stella Hart, Edie Pierce -Thomas. Others Present: Len Sandler, Dale Helling, John Kinnaman. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers. Recommendations to Council: No. Call to Order: Coulter called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Consideration of the Minutes from the April 21, 2015 Meeting Date: Motion Hanrahan, seconded by Townsend. Motion passed 7-0. New Business Names of Awardsfor Breakfast Sandler, Helling and Kinnaman requested for the Human Rights Commission to rename the Lifetime Achievement Award the Heather Shank Lifetime Achievement Award. The reason for the request is because Heather Shank, former Human Rights Coordinator, has and continues to commit her life to Human Rights and has been a pioneer in the field. Townsend suggested that it be renamed the Heather Shank Human Rights Lifetime Achievement Award so that future recipients of the award know her contribution to the community. Heather Shank will also be a recipient of the award at the Breakfast scheduled for October 28. Motion Olmstead, seconded by Ghoneim. Motion passed 7-0. Vendor Request 2015 Safe Summer Kick Off l (May 28 and May 29) The Commission will participate in this event being held at two locations Wetherby (May 28) and Pheasant Ridge (May 29). There is no fee to participate in these events. The Commission will provide financial support for both events in the amount of $50 each. Motion Hanrahan, seconded by Olmstead. Motion passed 7-0. Vendor Request for Juneteenth Celebration (June 27) The Commission will participate in this event being held at the Robert A. Lee Recreational Center. Motion Olmstead, seconded by Townsend. Motion passed 7-0. Participation Request Coralville 4` "Fest Parade (July 4) Commissioners choose not to participate in this event. Vendor Request for Johnson County Americans with Disabilities Act Celebration (July 25) Ghoneim will staff the Commission table for an hour at this event and Olmstead who is participating in several of the activities at the event will assist when time allows. The cost to participate is $25. Motion Townsend, seconded by Hanrahan. Motion passed 7-0. The Commission chose to support and partner with this celebration by helping to spread the word and advertise. Motion Hanrahan, seconded by Retish. Motion passed 7-0. The Commission is waiting to hear back from Access 2 Independence to see whether a collaboration on a Disability Advocate Award which would be given at the event is possible. Proclamations Townsend will accept a Juneteenth Proclamation on behalf of the Commission at the June 16 Council meeting. Olmstead will accept the Americans with Disabilities Celebration Proclamation on behalf of the Commission and the Johnson County Americans with Disabilities Act Celebration at the June 16 meeting date. Funding Request Form The form will go into effect July 1. Retish would like to see the Commission establish a hierarchy of how things are funded. For example, requests by University of Iowa organizations should be reviewed to see if there are funding sources available to that organization through the University of Iowa prior to the Commission providing any funding. Commission Action Plan 2015 See Hart's memo in packet for May 19, 2015 for update on educational programming. See Ghoneim's memo in packet for May 19, 2015 for update on educational programming. Hanrahan is working on reducing the listening post participant form to two pages. Hanrahan will use the Juneteenth event as a listening post to solicit information/feedback from the community. Fair Lending Training (April 30) Bowers reported that this training which is the first outreach done to area banks by the Commission was at capacity and well received by those in attendance. United Action for Youth LGBTQ Summit (May 9) Hanrahan who organized this event said there were over 60 participants. Topics discussed at the event included School Safe Zones and gender neutral restrooms. The plan is to do a follow up summit within the next year. Youth Award (May 13) Commissioners noted the job well done at the event this year. Recipients were down this year and Commissioners will work on doing additional outreach to the community next year. Job & Volunteer Fairs The Construction and Trade Job Fair will be held on Tuesday, May 26 at Mercer Aquatic Center. 2 Education Subcommittee Retish has set up a meeting between the Iowa City Community School District Equity Director and the head of the University of Iowa Education Department to discuss ways the University can assist in recruiting educators for the Iowa City Community School District. Retish left meeting at 6:41 p.m. Making Iowa City a Human Rights Community The subcommittee is working to build community support before taking to the Council. Olmstead is meeting with Council Member Throgmorton about the initiative in the near future. Building Communities Townsend updated Commissioners on the Iowa City Community School District's new boundary lines. University of Iowa Center for Human Rights Board A meeting was held on April 30. The Commission will hold its November meeting at the Center due to remodeling at City Hall during that time. The meeting will most likely be held at the University of Iowa Capital Centre. Reports of Commissioners Ghoneim reported that the Americans Civil Liberties Union -Iowa Chapter recently met with the Iowa City Police Chief to discuss body cameras. Olmstead reported that he and Ghoneim are both a part of a new Gazette News Writers Program. The group takes a subject each month and writes about it from a pro/con perspective. He also reports that he and the City's ADA Coordinator have been working on a program to improve curb cuts around the City. Adjournment: 7:24 p.m. Next Regular Meeting — June 16, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2014/2015 (Meetinu Date) NAME TERM EXP. 7/15/ 14 8/19/ 14 9/16/ 14 10/2/ 14 10/21/ 14 11/18/ 14 12/15/ 14 1/20/ 15 2/17/ 15 3/17/ 15 4/1/ 15 4/21 15 5/19 15 Edie Pierce- Thomas 1/1/2016 - - - - - - - X O/E X X X O/E Joe D. Coulter 1/1/2016 O/E X X X X X X X X X X X X Harry Olmstead 1/1/2016 X X X X X X X X X O/E X X X Paul Relish 1/1/2017 O/E X O/E X O/E O/E X X X X X X X Ali Ahmed 1/1/2017 X X O/E X X X X O X O/E X X X Orville Townsend, Sr. 1/1/2017 X X X X X X X X X X X X X Kim Hanrahan 1/1/2018 X X X X X X X X X X X X X Shams Ghoneim 1/1/2018 X X X X X X X O/E X O/E X X X Stella Hart 1/1/2018 X X O/E X X X X X X X X X O/E KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting — = No longer a member R = Resignation Stefanie Bowers From: Allen, John S <john-allen@uiowa.edu> Sent: Monday, May 18, 2015 4:42 PM To: Stefanie Bowers Cc: Sandler, Leonard Subject: Heather Shank Dear Stefanie, I just ran into Jon Kinnamon at the law school a few minutes ago. He said that the Commission is considering whether to name an award for Heather Shank. I think it is a wonderful idea. Heather has been an incredible voice for human rights. I first met Heather when she was a law student in our legal clinic in the early 1990s. I supervised her work on behalf of an inmate at Fort Madison who brought a civil rights law suit against various prison officials. No doubt I have forgotten much from those times, but I remember distinctly Heather's work. I suggested that she do a time line of events so that we could begin to build a narrative of the events that led up to our client's complaint. She thought that was a good idea. Perhaps a week or two later, she showed up with a huge scroll of paper. She had poured over hundreds of pages of records maintained by the prison, statements from witnesses, and memos of discussions with our client. She reconstructed the sequence of events on this scroll. As I unraveled it, I discovered that its length was roughly equivalent to the perimeter of our clinic. I just stepped out into our work space to get a sense of what that is. Our work space is 30 feet by 45 feet, so the scroll was 150 feet long. I had never seen anything like it, nor have I seen anything like it since. She then proceeded to advance a novel legal theory on behalf of the client. I have had involvement in discrimination cases for about three decades, a period we might divide into the pre - Heather era and the post -Heather era. I saw Heather transform how a case was developed by the Commission. She brought the same level of dedication and thoroughness that I had seen in her work in our clinic to the job as coordinator. I do not mean this as a criticism of any of her predecessors, but Heather brought the quality of investigations to a new level that surpasses the work that I have seen done by any human rights agency. She was committed to getting it right. She understood the important rights at stake — the rights of both the complainants and the persons and businesses called before the agency. In her mind, this required carefully planned interviews of witnesses, transcriptions of key interviews, pulling together all the relevant documents, and a careful legal analysis of the claims presented. She viewed the interests involved as too important to just process a file. All of us in Iowa City have been the beneficiaries of Heather's tireless (some might say relentless) work for the agency. I know that you are aware of the work she did in bringing about the addition of gender identity as a protected status under the ordinance. I suppose that some viewed that as controversial at the time, but Heather has the wonderful capacity to speak comfortably and honestly about difficult topics. I have never seen her back down from fear of the other person's reaction. She helped Iowa City be a leader on this issue rather than a follower. Vu, a 1 �1 Those of us who know Heather know her as kind, compassionate, empathetic, and caring. It turns out that she is also tough as nails when it comes to issues of fairness and justice. She listens to people and helps them find their voice as they seek to vindicate their rights. Heather is an extraordinary person and has done much for this community and beyond. Warm regards, John Allen Stefanie Bowers From: Linda Kopping Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 12:34 PM To: Stefanie Bowers Subject: Renaming the Lifetime Achievement Award Hello Stefanie: Please forward this message to the members of the Human Rights Commission. Thank you, Linda Dear Commission Members: I am writing to encourage you to rename the Lifetime Achievement Award to honor former Human Rights Coordinator, Heather Shank. The new title would be The Heather Shank Lifetime Achievement Award. I have known Heather for thirty years and throughout that time she has been a selfless advocate for human rights on a personal and professional level. I first met Heather when we worked together as Registered Nurses in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Heather was an advocate for her patients as well as their nurse. On more than one occasion she spoke -up to address questionably ethical behavior of other professionals towards patients. Yes, it was the right thing to do, but go back thirty years and think about a nurse filing a complaint about a physician's conduct. She put her job on the line—and in one case her personal safety—more than once to make sure patients were treated with the respect and dignity they deserved. Eventually Heather left nursing and went back to the University. No one has ever worked harder to get through law school. Not because she was academically challenged, because she was facing new, serious, physical challenges. It would have been so easy for her to give up, but she pushed forward in order to pursue her dream of getting a legal degree and using it to address social injustice. When Heather was hired as the City of Iowa City Human Rights Coordinator she was thrilled. It was truly her dream job. Major aspects of this position, such as pursuing fair treatment and equal rights, mirrored the fundamental values by which she lived. It was a good fit. The record of her accomplishments while working as the Human Rights Coordinator speaks for itself. Besides working on cases and with the Commission, she increased the visibility of the office, enhanced and expanded programming, produced educational videos, reached out to under -represented segments of the community, spoke to anyone who would listen about human rights, organized and sponsored job fairs, and many, many other similar accomplishments. There is an expression used that someone who is so thoughtful or considerate of others will "give you the shirt off their back." It is a figure of speech. Not in Heather's case though. Heather really would give you the shirt off her back if she thought you were cold and homeless. That is the kind of person she is. I hope you will look favorably upon this request. Respectfully Submitted, Linda Kopping 5640 Lower West Branch Rd. SE West Branch, IA 52358 Linda Koppinq lCoordinatorl Senior Center) 28 South Linn Stj Iowa City, IA 52240 W 319-356-5225 1 P linda-koppinq@iowa-city.or www.icgov.org/senior Nacional insfffute of Senior Centers 11 Find us on Facebook Stefanie Bowers From: Susan Shullaw <susan@susanshullaw.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 2:32 PM To: Stefanie Bowers Subject: Heather Shank award proposal Stephanie, I am writing to voice my strong support of the proposal to name the Human Rights Commission's Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of Heather Shank, who served as Iowa City's Human Rights Coordinator from August 1994 to December 2005. Heather has been a personal friend since the early 1990s, when she was completing her education at the UI College of Law and beginning her work in private practice. Even then, it was clear that Heather's primary aim in earning a law degree was to give voice to the powerless, and to fight the human rights abuses she had observed in her own life. From being bullied as child, to witnessing the mistreatment of patients during her tenure as a nurse, Heather's experiences served to deepen her passionate commitment to working on behalf of justice and fairness. When she was offered the job of Human Rights Coordinator, it was one of those fortuitous "right person, right time, right place" moments, and the City could not have hired a more energetic and visionary human rights champion. In my view, it is Heather's far-reaching vision of what human rights could and should be in our community — and her desire that Iowa City become a model for others to follow — that makes the naming of this award in her honor so appropriate. The old phrase, "Think globally, act locally," describes much of Heather's work: She was determined to achieve justice for individual clients here in Iowa City, but she was equally devoted to putting Iowa City on the map as a pace -setting community where human rights are in all ways respected, observed, and celebrated. To achieve the latter purpose, she functioned as a one -woman PR and outreach machine, speaking to schools, community organizations, corporate gatherings, and any other group she could interest in the cause of promoting human rights. She held regular film screenings and other events to which the public was invited, and I can recall many, many instances when, despite her frail health, she could be found distributing posters to local businesses (and affixing them to light posts) to encourage public attendance. She was never content with the status quo and was highly proactive, seeking to expand the impact of the Human Rights Commission to multiple under -served populations, from the LGBT community to recent immigrants from Somalia. Other supporters have no doubt written to you about the film she produced on transgender issues, which was cited by former New York City mayor Ed Koch and shown at major human rights conventions around the nation. Heather has received numerous honors in the past, including the City's own Human Rights Award (2002), the Iowa City Pride Committee Legacy Award (2005), and the annual Friends of Iowa Civil Rights Award in 2005, among others. But to attach Heather's name to the Lifetime Achievement Award means that her remarkable legacy will live on to inspire future generations. The Heather Shank Lifetime Achievement Award will set the highest possible standard, and will encourage future award -winners to emulate Heather's example as a true champion for human rights — to dream bigger, work harder, and accept nothing less than (as we all learne to pledge in grade school) "justice for all." n V, A Thank you for your consideration, Susan Shullaw 719 North Johnson Street Iowa City IA 52245 susan,susanshullaw.com