HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-23 TranscriptionEn
Council Present: Botchway, Dickens, Mims, Taylor, Thomas, Throgmorton
Present:Andrew, - Bockenstedt,O'Brien, . r
o •Korpel, Knoche
HEM
(questions from Council re Agenda Items:
Throgmorton/ Okay, so we're gonna start the work session, Iowa City City Council work session
for March 23`d. Uh, the only person not here is Rockne Cole. He can't be present for this
work session.
Karr/ Correct. He'll be here for the formal.
Throgmorton/ Okay. First topic is, uh, questions regarding agenda items, and it looks to me like
the first thing we should get out of the way is appointments to boards and commissions.
So why don't we, uh.... move directly to that. I'll give you all a chance to kind of locate
your notes. The first one is Airport Commission. We have one applicant for an
unexpired term, and that would be ... the applicant is Robert Libby,
Thomas/ No objection.
Throgmorton/ I ... I think I do have one question. Uh, his business is located at the Airport, or the
business he works for? Does that create any conflicts that are ... (both talking)
Dilkes/ Yeah, I saw that. I mean I think there are ... um ... issues that he'd probably have to recuse
himself from, but I don't think it ... disqualifies him (mumbled) on the Commission at all.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, okay, so uh...
Dilkes/ If you had another applicant it...it might, he might be less valuable but...
Throgmorton/ Right, okay. Any objection to appointing Robert Libby? (several talking) Okay,
I should make a note of that (mumbled) Bear with me for a second. Okay, the next is
Civil Service Commission. We have three applicants for one four-year term. The
applicants are Melissa Jensen, Richard... Wyss, and Paul Hoffey. Uh, what's your
pleasure?
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Um
Mims/ I would recommend Rick Wyss. Um ... to me this is a, one of the commissions
that... reappointment isn't necessarily a big issue cause there's not a big learning curve
where you're, you know, losing that experience in terms of having been on it, and I think
we've tried to move a little bit more towards involving more people in our boards and
commissions and getting more turnover and stuff. Uh, I think Rick's experience in the
civil service, um ... you know, being on the police force here and going through that and
involved, I think it ... the level he was at probably when he retired, had probably been
involved maybe in some of the hiring and those kinds of things. So ... think he'd be pretty
familiar with the Civil Service Commission and thought he'd be a good person to be
(mumbled)
Dickens/ I talked to him too. I called him and was very impressed with his background, and I
think he'll do a fine job.
Botchway/ I don't necessarily disagree. I mean, I guess ... (mumbled) putting somebody else forth
I am disagreeing, but ... I talked with Melissa Jensen. Um ... and she ... I had worked with
her. Basically I had worked with her previously on the, um ... at the time the CPRB and
now it's... different and so, um .... you know, I'm just throwing her name out there as well.
I mean she did a really good job there. Um, her current profession is the Director of
Emergency Services and Campus Security at Kirkwood Community College. She
provides a different type of insight, um, you know. I think Susan is right though, um,
Richard Wyss, um, does provide some background that is, uh, very appealing, um, but I
did talk with her. I do know her from that standpoint and ... she (mumbled) a phenomenal
job on the previous commission, and so I ... I feel compelled to at least put her name out
there.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, she seems to be quite an admirable con ... um ... um, applicant, uh, but I ... I am
concerned that there's a potential conflict of interest, uh, having to do with her spouse
who's a deputy chief and second in command at the fire department. So the ... there are
potential complications with, uh, with her as a ... as an applicant. Uh... though she's
admirable in every other way I can think of. So, maybe we'll come back to that in a
second; maybe not. Uh, I..I would also want to say that ... Paul Hoffey, who's currently
just ending his first term, from what I can gather has done quite a good job on the Civil
Service Commission and ... um .... he also has a ... I guess a pretty similar background to
Rick Wyss. So, I mean, I ... I would put him forth, but ... I don't have strong feelings one
way or the other, but .... so....
Thomas/ They all seem very well qualified to me. I .... but I ... I don't have any personal
experience with ... with any of them.
Mims/ Yeah. I've known Rick for quite a while. I mean I got to know him once I came on
Council, and again, I ... my recommendation of him has nothing to do with Paul at all. Just
the idea of....I think we've gotten to a point on the Council of wanting to get more people
involved and turnover of the membership on the boards, um...
Botchway/ I guess to that point, cause I make that point a lot, yeah. Never mind (mumbled)
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Um
Mims/ And ... and Melissa's been on stuff so ... (both talking)
Taylor/ I think Rick seems really (mic feedback) being on the commission. He reached out and I
think he must have reached out to each of us and made phone call. I didn't talk to him
personally, but ... he's obviously very interested in ... in being, in serving on it.
Throgmorton/ Okay. I ... I sense sentiment for Rick Wyss, so..
Botchway/ I mean sorry we're making these decisions about people wanting to come on a
commission and .... as people are leaving. It's good!
Throgmorton/ Never too late to apply for the next opening!
Mims/ Yeah, like the Jefferson Street... district, for the Historic Preservation, which we've had for
two or three years and have not gotten one applicant for.
Throgmorton/ Right.
Botchway/ I thought we talked about that one.
Throgmorton/ We did. I think at our last meeting.
Mims/ (both talking) ...State law we have to have it. (several talking)
Karr/ We have written to the State requesting, um, further clarification.
Botchway/ Okay!
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so to be clear, some people know what we're talking about here. We
have ... the next topic for us is ... is Historic Preservation Commission, the Jefferson Street
position. We have one applicant for that position, Vera Rose Smith. She seems
admirab ... admirably qualified, but she does not live in the district. So ... we cannot
appoint her, is that correct?
Karr/ That's correct.
Throgmorton/ All right. So, we have to leave that position open.
Karr/ We'll readvertise.
Throgmorton/ ...pending any change that might occur, huh? Yeah, okay.
Taylor/ (mumbled) I think we almost need to—go door to door in that neighborhood and try to
drum up some interest (both talking)
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Throgmorton/ ...or something like that. One person lives (several talking)
Thomas/ I spoke to Vera and I was saying that, you know, the concept of an at -large candi... um,
commissioner, you know... seemed with the Jefferson District, we ... we have a problem,
you know, it's very hard to get anyone who lives in the district to be able to represent it.
Throgmorton/ Right.
Thomas/ And she lives in the Central District. I mean, she's familiar with the area, but., .
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Okay! So we cannot appoint her. So the next position is another Historic
Preservation Commission. This one for the Summit Street District. We have two
applicants, again Vera Rose Smith and Cecile Kuenzli who is a resident of the district.
Um ... I ... I would suggest we appoint Cecile. (several talking) Yep. Okay. Okay, and
next is the Planning and Zoning Commission. We have five applicants for two five-year
terms, with, uh, one male requirement and the other is ... has no ... gender requirement. The
applicants are Dennis Cronk, Carolyn Dyer who is just finishing her first term, Mark
Signs, James Bechtel, and Kate Corcoran. Uh, yeah ... I ... I want to propose that, uh, well I
want to say I think Mark Signs would be a terrific appointee and I think Carolyn Dyer has
done quite well in her first term. But ... you all may have different views, so...
Taylor/ I know we've talked about not reappointing folks, but uh, just from my experience on the
Council, the Planning and Zoning issues have been the largest learning curve for me, and
I think it would be helpful to, in this case, to ... to have someone reappointed, cause it
looks like some of the others that are on the Commission now haven't been on it a very
long time, so I think it would be helpful to have someone with that background.
Mims/ Yeah, and P&Z is one that we frequently have reappointed for that very reason.
Throgmorton/ Right. Yeah. And we ... we talked extensively about that when we were going
through the time table or whatever. Yeah.
Mims/ On the male side, I would, um, put forth Dennis Cronk. Couple of reasons. I ... I think
Mark Signs is a ... is, they're all great applicants. We already have one realtor on the
Commission. Um, that would put two realtors on. So I think ... that is a concern I think in
a certain way. Dennis is involved in ... kind of real estate business, but in a totally
different way with I think a very different set of skills in terms of, um, appraisals and a
lot more land use and zoning background, and I think he would make a really strong, uh,
candidate for P&Z, so I would support him.
Dickens/ (mumbled) ...Susan's (noises on mic) on that side and ... would be fine ... for the male
applicant.
Mims/ And I'm fine with Carolyn ... to reappoint.
Dickens/ Right. Reappoint.
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Botchway/ I would actually agree with Jim. I like, I mean, I ... I guess I didn't think about, uh,
Susan's particular point but urn ... I really think Mark does a good job of, you know, come
to know him just over the last couple years and I don't know him, know him like ... you
know, we don't go out for dinner or something like that, but um, he's always been a great
guy. He's always been at multiple meetings, um, not necessarily, I guess, related to
Planning and Zoning issues, but just in relation to affordable housing and what that
means and ... um, I just really appreciate just his overall views in this particular area. I ... I
don't necessarily agree with Carolyn Dyer. Um, just because you know how I feel about,
you know, opening positions and I felt like, um ... (mumbled) ... sorry. Um ... I like James'
application, but um ... sorry, I keep flipping back and forth. I like James' application. He
graduated from the Planning and Zoning Department, some other things. Very, just
supportive of you know, again, the new blood but ... you know, I ... I also I think at times
when we've had this conversation have been voted down a couple of times, you know,
with the knowledge that the Planning and Zoning Commission does have a lot of, um...
um, huge learning curve and so ... I'm willing to kind of change my view on this particular
commission, maybe not all the other commissions, um, but um, but I'd be supportive of
Jim's recommendation.
Thomas/ And it seems, um, from what I know of Mark he's been very involved in the affordable
housing (noises on mic) challenges we have in Iowa City and so I think since that's really
one of our top priorities, uh, over the, you know, in the coming years, it would be helpful
having someone who has a good understanding of that ... um, from the get -go. And he
seems very personable as well, um, seems to have good insights into the ... you know, how
housing in ... in this region works.
Mims/ Yeah, I guess I would come back and ... I guess my concern is ... I mean we ... we set ... you
know, at the Council level, we approve zoning changes and ... and zoning code, and we've
had major changes to the zoning code, what ... five, 10 years ago but ... I mean, we're
always looking at that. To me ... you know, the Planning and Zoning Commission is there
to look at those zoning changes in certain cases, and yeah, they're looking at Comp Plan
and things like that, but ... I think ... to ... I guess my concern is ... putting somebody on simply
because of their involvement with affordable housing. I think we've made it clear from
the Council level that that's important. I think that broader knowledge that, um ... uh... that
Dennis Cronk brings ... speaks to a lot more than just the affordable housing. I mean I
think we're gonna be looking at that affordable housing even, you know, we've talked
about looking at our, um ... I'm drawing a blank here! Um ... as we bring in (laughs) I'm
really drawing a blank here! (both talking)
Throgmorton/ (mumbled)
Mims/ No, um ... as we bring property into the city...
Botchway/ Annexation!
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Mims/ Annexation, thank you! Sorry! Just couldn't... couldn't think there. Um ... you know,
we've ... we've talked about looking at our annexation, you know, guidelines and things
like that, and so ... you know, those are things a lot of which, you know, the ultimate
decision I think resides here with this elected body and I think that's... where, you know,
that emphasis needs to be. I think simply because somebody has been involved
in ... affordable housing in the area that does not necessarily... give them the overall
qualifications to be, um, the strongest member to add on to the P&Z, and again, I think
when you put ... we've already got one realtor on there and putting a second one on,
um ... that I think we're not getting that broadening of perspectives and experience that we
would get with Dennis Kronk.
Throgmorton/ Well, Pauline, it all comes down to you!
Taylor/ That's a tough one there! I mean, it was amazing to see five applicants for just the two
positions, and ... and I ... I would encourage whichever ones don't get selected to ... to
continue, especially if their interest is in Planning and Zoning cause over the next couple
of years some other positions are going to come up. Um ... I do agree ... from what I've
heard of Mark Signs and uh... uh, what I read on his application he ... he would be excellent
for that and so he .... except for the realtor part of it, but realtors know, um ... know zoning
codes and property, uh... Dennis it sounds, I mean, I ... I admire, uh, Susan's
recommendation. She usually has given a lot of thought to her decisions. So this one's
tough! Uh, and the James (mumbled) He even sounded, uh, like an excellent candidate.
Urn ... but my first inclination when I saw all of them I ... I was leaning more towards Mark
Signs. So that's probably where I would go too.
Throgmorton/ I think I hear four in favor of Mark Signs and if I understood correctly, at least
four in favor of Carolyn Dwyer? Dyer, I mean. Okay! All right, one more.
Telecommunication Commission. We have one applicant to fill one three-year term.
The applicant is Paul Gowder. Constitutional law professor. All right, we live in Iowa
City! (laughs) Uh... any objection to appointing Paul Gowder? (several responding) All
right! That wasn't so hard! Which brings us to ... other topics on the agenda.
Throginorton/ Uh... Geoff, uh, are... are you thinkin' that we'll discuss the ... the proposed
transportation network company ordinance during our work session? I don't know,
Simon, if you intended to say a few more words or anything like that, cause we
could ... you know, process it a little bit here, saving our votes and decision till later.
Fruin/ We can give you an overview of the issue. I imagine we'll have a ... a pretty decent crowd,
uh, tonight and we should probably do the same with them, but if you'd like the time to
process the information from staff we can certainly do that now.
Throgmorton/ What's your pleasure?
Mims/ I guess I'm a little confused. I mean we've got a work session agenda.
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Mims/ I mean we
typically - followed the work sessionagenda. - -
is usually we go through questions from Council regarding (both talking)
Throgmorton/ I'm sorry!
Mims/ ...all the agenda items.
Throgmorton/ Is this a separate topic on the work session agenda?
Mims/ No, but I'm just saying we ... we do have a work session agenda, and normally what we do
is follow that agenda for the work session.
Throgmorton/ Well I'm .... I'm misunderstanding you. I think we are. (several talking) This is an
agenda topic so I ... I'm just wondering if we want to have any kind of staff input at this
point, with regard to that agenda topic. That agenda item. That's all I'm sayin'.
Botchway/ Is there anything different that you're going to be presenting on, compared to your
last presentation?
Andrew/ Um, no there was some additional information in the Info Packet, which was really the
same information, but boiled down to be a little more digestible hopefully. Um, I do
have a couple of items that I want to address before, uh, we talk about the ... the ordinance
at large. There are a couple of items that, um, if you do choose to vote on it tonight
should be amended into Section 10, from the floor. Um, and these aren't terribly
pertinent to what we've discussed previously, but ... um, the ... Section 10 currently reads
that, um, that vehicles shall meet requirements set forth in the specific section of Iowa
Code, uh, Section 321.20. Um, this section of Iowa Code doesn't cover all of the safety
features that are required on a vehicle, um, to be street legal essentially. So we were, um,
recommending that this be changed to all applicable State and federal laws, just to make
sure that we're catching, um, every ... I mean, this is cracked windshields, things that
vehicles are required to have anyway, so um .... not terribly pertinent to ... to tonight's
discussion, but something that should be amended into make it cleaner, um, and the other
one was to add, uh, the requirement that vehicles need to be 10 years old or newer. Um,
this was a policy of the transportation network company that reached out to us, um, but
isn't represented in the proposed ordinance. So that's something that, um, should also be
added, and that one does relate to the, uh, inspections that, um, are done for traditional
taxi companies that were referenced in the memo and tonight's packet.
Throgmorton/ Do you have written text that you will provide to ... one of our Council Members so
that they can propose the amendments?
Andrew/ Sure! Sure! We can type that out before we get to the formal.
Throgmorton/ Okay.
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Andrew/ Absolutely!
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Dilkes/ I don't think you need to do it by amendment. When you put the ordinance on the floor,
um ... ordinance with changes discussed at the work session — vehicle 10 years or
(mumbled) the language that ... that Simon will give you.
Andrew/ Was there anything in the information that was presented in either the table or the one-
page memo that, uh, you all had questions on or ... additional clarifications that you needed
before, uh, the discussion at the formal meeting tonight?
Fruin/ Just ... just so everybody's clear, um ... what's before you is the same transportation network
company ordinance, and then the memo was just providing supplemental information. If
you want to act on that, which is looking at peeling back some of the regulatory
framework for taxis, that will require a separate ordinance that we would bring to you at a
later date.
Botchway/ So procedurally, if we were to say, you know, um, we were ... you know... going to
approve or not approve this particular ordinance but we would like, you know, for staff to
come back with the changes (mumbled) to have the ... where is it at? In the ... in the memo,
um, that's something we would wait till the ... formal meeting to do or can we do that right
now? Or ... I guess wait until the formal meeting to do, right after we make the resolution?
Dilkes/ If...if you want to, I mean, you can have ... you could decide now to direct staff to do the
changes to the ... the, um, traditional taxi cab ordinance if you chose to. I think it probably
makes sense to wait till you hear the conversation tonight to do that. But ... but I think you
would then act on the TNC ordinance and then direct staff with respect to the ... taxi cab
changes.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I mean... personally it seems to me that we would want to consider changes
to the taxi cab ordinance but not tonight. Yeah.
Andrew/ Right, right. That wouldn't be (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ....whether we would change the ordinance or what the changes would be, but.
okay. Is there anything else we need to ... be clear about with regard to the TNC
ordinance?
Thomas/ (both talking) The only question I would have is if any of us were to raise... questions,
uh, you know, to accept the language as it stands now, but to .... second and third reading,
to suggest amendments to that. Is that...
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Dilkes/ (both talking) Um, the final ordinance has to have three readings. So if you're going
to ... make substantive changes, um, or you want to make substantive changes, if you know
what those are tonight, the best way to do that is by amendment.
Throgmorton/ Tonight.
Dilkes/ Tonight, so we can ... get a first reading under our belt and not have to back up to the first
reading, if changes are made later.
Throgmorton/ Without going into detail here, John, do you have like one amendment (both
talking)
Thomas/ ...one in particular I thought, um ... the, um, the medallion requirement was something.
Currently Uber does not ... does not, is ... (mumbled) are not required to have any indication
in the vehicle that they are a TNC ... and ... I was looking at some other ordinances in
Minneapolis and Seattle and they ... they have a TNC ordinance and they require it, and it
seemed like a good idea. It identifies the vehicle (both talking)
Taylor/ I had thought of that too, um, and noticed that that was a major difference and I didn't see
how just having a decal that (mumbled) they were part of this (both talking)
Andrew/ ...a little bit of the background on that. That is something that is included in our current
ordinance, uh, that our first go around with this, that we require some sor... type of decal,
trade dress is what it's called, and it is something that they have used in other
jurisdictions. What the fear is with using that is if they do, um, boot a driver off their
system for, uh, poor performance or if there's some other reason, then getting that decal
back or that medallion back, um, is problematic, that they want to have passengers
depend on the app and the, um, license plate that they've been, uh, given of the vehicle
that's going to pick them up and not rely on other visual cues that could be, you know,
present after a driver was booted off of their system. That's the concern with it,
but... you're right that that is present in other cities. They do (several talking)
Taylor/ I think what ... what I've been hearing was that like in the case of an accident, uh, a police
officer would automatically see that that's what that ... that vehicle was. If there was no
indication of that it would look just like a regular passenger car.
Andrew/ Right, and that was the logic with including it in our first go round with this, that, um,
there are ... there are situations in which that would be beneficial, uh, to police. We ... we
found that ... we came to the conclusion that ... the possible safety risks of having, um,
somebody claiming to be a TNC who isn't currently working for a TNC company or a
licensed TNC company, um, that, uh, you know, having them... downtown picking up
passengers when, urn ... you know, they weren't necessarily the vehicle that was called for,
uh, without that license plate information given to the passenger was more problematic,
that that outweighed a situation in which it might be useful. Um, but ... you know, as you
said, that is something that they operate with in other communities.
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Throgmorton/ So maybe we should discuss this more thoroughly after the public hearing
and ... and you know people are ... other people are present and ... so we get the first initial
motion on the floor, correct? And then John would propose an amendment if he chooses
to do that? Uh, then we could discuss the amendment.
Dilkes/ Yep! (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...vote on it, and then ... move to the (mumbled) Okay.
Fruin/ We do expect a representative from Uber to be here tonight so that question can be posed
directly to them as well.
Dilkes/ I ... I would just say too, to keep in mind that... that... the fact that they, Uber, has done
something in another city is fairly meaningless in terms of whether that's going to be
agreeable to them in our market, it seems to me, because ... uh, we have a much smaller
market than some of the other cities and I ... I just don't think you can extrapolate from
(both talking)
Thomas/ I understand that, urn ... I understand there are different markets, but it seemed like a
reasonable....
Dilkes/ No, that's fine. I just (both talking)
Thomas/ ...asked for. And I ... I view this as a negotiation and um ... it, that seemed like a
particular (laughs)
Fruin/ I'm not ... I'm not sure it's viewed as a negotiation on the other side, but we ... what we've
presented to you is really the bottom line of what Uber requires, will require to enter this
market. I mean, we went into that discussion with Uber particularly, um, Simon
and ... and we said ... you know, what ... what is it that you need to ... to be able to ... what's the
regulatory framework that'll allow you to enter here, and we pushed back on a number of
items and ultimately ended up where we did in what we presented with you. The
ordinance that we have right now that allows a TNC to function, um, is the result of a lot
of analysis of other cities ordinances and what we tried to do is find....provisions in
different ordinances that we liked that Uber .... agreed to at one point, and kind of take the
best from different cities across the country. And what we quickly found out is as
Eleanor said is that -just because Uber does it in one market doesn't mean they're going
to agree to it here. So...um... I would ... I don't know, you know, certainly we don't know if
Uber would accept that. But what they've told us to date is that ... it's unlikely that they're
going to agree to enter the market with any amendments to the ordinance as it stands
today. Or as it's presented to you today.
Throgmorton/ Good to know! Any further discussion about Item 8? Okay! So ... other ... other
agenda items anybody wants to talk about? Okay, I don't ... I don't hear any so we could
turn to the domestic violence presentation and I know we have some guests. Come on
up! Introduce yourself please. Nice to see you!
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Domestic Violence Presentation 'IP3 Infer Packet of 3/17
Eglaine/ I'm Persephone Eglaine. I'm with the University of Iowa Legal Clinic and we are here
with our client, the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, and a representative from
that is Bronis Perteit. We are here today to talk about the ... freedom from domestic
violence resolution proposal that you should have in front of you. We come before you
today to ask that be placed on the April 5th Council meeting agenda to be placed for a
vote and we also hope to convince you to adopt the resolution on that date. How I'd like
to start out is basically by explaining where this resolution comes from. This resolution
is one in a series across the nation at this moment, and it all stems from two women. One
of them is Jessica Lenahan Gonzalez and the other one is Caroline Bettinger-Lopez. I'll
start with Jessica. Jessica was... she... lived in Colorado with her husband and her three
children. She ... knew her husband had some erratic behavior. He was sometimes abusive,
sometimes not, but in ... beginning in 1999, early 1999, she realized that his actions were
getting more violent towards her and towards the children, and so she decided that they
needed to divorce. She got a temporary protective order in May of 1999 and on June 4d'
she got permanent protective (mumbled) her custody of the children, and on June 22nd
her husband abducted all three of her children from the front yard. Over the next 10
hours, she contacted the police, either via phone or in person, nine times, trying to get
them to respond to.. just arresting her husband, finding her children, and ... they did not
respond. She got a call from her husband and he had told her that he was 40 miles away
at an amusement park with her children. She called the police and said I know where he
is; can you go pick him up please, and they said I don't think that this is a violation of
your protective order and talk to the courts. And so 10 hours after first call to 9-1-1, what
happened was he showed up at the police department and he opened fire. The police
responded also with fire and he was killed. What they found in his vehicle were the three
children, and they had all been killed by gunshot wounds. (mumbled) they determined is
that he had gone out that night, bought a weapon, killed his children before going to the
police station that day. That is where Caroline Lopez comes in. She was the attorney for
Jessica, and Jessica brought a due process claim. It went all the way up through the
Supreme Court and ultimately she failed. However, what Caroline's response to that
failure was was to try and find another way to bring awareness to the issue of domestic
violence and how she decided to do that was trying to get cities to recognize that freedom
from domestic violence is truly a human right, and so she started in Cincinnati and
Miami. She was a professor at the University of Miami, College of Law, and she got
them passed. They started passing it in about 2011. Currently there are 26 cities and
counties across the nation that have recognized freedom from domestic violence as a
human right. However, none of them are in Iowa (laughs) and we believe at the
University of Iowa that Iowa City is ... a very good candidate for one of these resolutions,
and we believe that Iowa City is already doing a lot as a community to recognize freedom
from domestic violence as a human right, and we want to be a beacon for the rest of the
state, and an example for others to follow. We come before you today not by ourselves.
Technically I'm by myself, but (laughs) we have the support of the Johnson County
Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Johnson County Local Homeless Coordinating
Board, the Consultation of Religious Communities, the Iowa City Human Rights
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Commission, and the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, who are also co-
sponsoring this resolution proposal and who all urge you to pass this on April 5a'. And
so ... with that community support, what we want ... if you look at the text of the resolution,
what we are looking for is awareness, is showing how Iowa City deals with domestic
violence, the resources that we have, and the importance of the subject to stop anything
happening again like what happened to Jessica. The response of the police
working... having worked in the clinic the past two semesters, having talked to Professor
Lois Cox who is running the Domestic Violence Section of that clinic, working in Iowa
City (laughs) is ... comparatively amazing than working in other cities or other counties
with domestic violence. I know that we have had issues getting temporary protective
orders in other cities. Here, the paperwork's available and easy, and thanks to DVIP,
quite often they are the ones that help women in those situations. And we just want that
awareness. We want that validation from the City Council that freedom from domestic
violence, it's a human right. It's something that Iowa City stands for. And so .... with that,
there ... I know there have been concerns both about the length and some of the wording.
We are currently working with Eleanor Dilkes to ... confirm statistics and ensure
everything's correct. The resolution was written in 2015, October of 2015. We are
updating that to reflect all of 2015 rather than up to just October, and ... we were ... we are
open to any other criticism, however, we do feel very strongly about ... about the topic and
that it is a topic that is worth a discussion, a community discussion. So if you have any
questions, we would absolutely be willing to answer them.
Throgmorton/I'd like to ask one basic question. Could you please restate your name so I can
type it in?
Eglaine/ Persephone Eglaine. Do you need me to spell it?
Throgmorton/ Persephone.
Eglaine/ Yes!
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Persephone... that's not right. Why don't you spell it? (laughs)
Eglaine/ P -e -r -s -e -p -h -o -n -e, and then Eglaine, E -g -1 -a -i -n -e.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, thank you! My apologies.
Eglaine/ No problem! You're not the first! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ I don't know if anybody has questions for Persephone but I do know it's important
for you to have connected with Eleanor and at some point maybe, Eleanor, you want to
tell us what ... what you're doing with the proposed resolution?
Dilkes/ Well the Council had asked me to review it and I did that, and I sent my com... comments
to Persephone and her group and she was very responsive and, um, this was
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just... yesterday or the day before maybe and I said we can work through those between
now and the next meeting.
Throgmorton/ You don't see any legal difficulties?
Dilkes/ I think there are a few things that I think need to be changed, but nothing that's
insurmountable at all.
Throgmorton/ Tremendously important topic. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
wonder if others would like to ... weigh in in one fashion or another?
Botchway/ I guess I would simply state, I mean, I agree with Mayor Throgmorton. This is a
tremendous, um, tremendously important topic. Um, you know, frankly I was, you know,
supportive of just doing some type of resolution as it came before us as a Council, but
you know, at times these present opportunities where you can give a presentation, and
now that we televise our work sessions, it can provide some awareness within that and
then obviously as we, um, possibly bring it forth as a resolution, but even additional
awareness. Um, so I thank you bringing this, uh, bring this to our attention, um, you
know (mumbled) in the past and so I know the wonderful work that she does, um, in a
variety of different arenas and so just very excited about, um, that this particular
resolution and just ... keep up the good work and ... love your name!
Eglaine/ Thanks (laughter) If there are no other questions, thank you so much!
Throgmorton/ Thank you! Thanks to all of you for coming too! All right. Uh, I guess we'll
move on from there. Uh, the next topic on our work session agenda is the strategic plan.
Botchway/ Presumably I guess we don't need any type of ..kind of understanding from Council
that we want to move forward with the resolution?
Dilkes/ I assumed you do (both talking)
Botchway/ Okay! All right, I just (both talking)
Dilkes/ We'll have it ready to go on the stn
Botchway/ Okay! Good deal!
Throgmorton/ Excellent! Okay, strategic plan, uh, it has to do with the topic of initiating public
dialogue about meaning ... the meaning and importance of a walkable neighborhood and
how to achieve it. Geoff, uh, did you want to initially address this?
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nei2hborhood and how to achieve it:
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Fruin/ Yeah, just...just a few initial comments, um ... the ... the pending list is a ... is further down on
the agenda, but ... um, I want to start there. If you looked at IN in the ... in the work, in the
Info Packet, you noticed that the work session, uh, pending list has grown considerably
and I just want to explain that and ... and I think that'll lead us to why we're talking about
this tonight. Um, we went through the, uh, strategic plan as well as the budget
amendments that the City Council made of staff, and we tried to identify everything that
we felt we needed further direction on, uh, from Council before we could really, uh,
pursue these initiatives. And so that's why you see the list of, uh, 14 items on the ... on the
pending list. Uh, from there, uh, we will look to you to help us prioritize those, uh, in
terms of what you want to see us moving on first, and we'll try to get those scheduled,
um, as quickly as we can. You'll notice that we already have, uh, the two meetings in
April, um, scheduled, uh, so we're really looking at May, um, going forward, and we
don't need to get into that, uh, tonight on what those May topics will be, but ... I do want to
get you thinkin' about that. We are thinking about it at a staff level too and I'll provide
some information, uh, to you about, uh... you know, which of these issues we probably
need to get started on sooner rather than later, just to meet the two-year timeframe
because some of these initiatives may take a month or two to complete, and others may
take close to two years to complete. So, we can have that discussion down the road.
Tonight, uh, we ... we pulled the public dialogue piece out, um. ... uh, I felt that was a ... a
fairly safe one to ... to start with, and really what we're looking for tonight is just some
more direction on ... on what you're looking for from staff to accomplish this. Uh, we can,
uh, pursue bringing in speakers. We can pursue townhall-style meetings, um ... but ... some
direction from you on ... on what that looks like and what your expectations are, what your
goals are for this item would be helpful to us.
Throgmorton/ I think I spoke about this a fair amount during our work sessions having to do with
strategic plan. So ... part of what I had in mind was to construct basically a ... a ... a series of
presentation by invited speakers that focus on this general topic of what constitutes a
walkable city and how to help pro ... how to produce it. Uh... I could toss out some names
of individuals, uh, others might have names to suggest. But that's the main thing I had in
mind, but there are other possibilities as well and I think we ought to probe those
possibilities and of course I don't know if other people agree that we ought to do a
speaker series either, so we could find that out.
Thomas/ Well I ... I support the speaker concept. I ... we had one, uh, earlier this week, uh, that
many of us attended, uh, that Jim helped sponsor with Robin, which I thought was a very
successful event. Um...in terms of the speakers' focus, I think one of the important things
about the...the concept of the walkable neighborhood or the walkable city is that ... it's a
concept which ties together land use and transportation ... and ... and the walking of the city.
So it...it re ... the speakers would have to have ... an understanding of land use and of
transportation considerations, because the two are tied together. Um, another thought I'd
had with that was that ... if we have projects that, uh, we're looking at in terms of making
them more walkable, such as Gilbert say, um, I think it may be useful to try to fold that
somehow into the process, because I think...often times if you're only talking about the
concept and you don't really apply it to a specific case, um ... you may not understand how
those principles... how you apply them in a specific instance. So in ... and I think that
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would also kind of serve as a way of ..of, um, the public being engaged in the discussion
of that particular project. Or projects.
Throgmorton/ I ... I know in ... in the past, in some of our work sessions, there's been some
discussion about ... about, um, Jefferson Street and Market Street, which currently are a
one-way couplet and there's this consideration about changing them both to two-way
streets. You know, and no decisions have been made about that. But if we do move in
that direction, perhaps in the sense of make... conducting an experiment like Robin
Hambleton was kind of recommending, uh, on Monday... perhaps that would be a ... a nice
focal point as well for what John was just referring to, so that the ... this idea of a walkable
city could be brought more to life. On that point I guess I want to say I was in New
Iberia, Louisiana over spring break and it's ... it's a ... it is a historic ... it is a historic district
in the downtown. So there's a one-way couplet riding along these old houses in the
downtown and right close to the downtown. Uh, so one-way couplet, so vehicles are
going through on their main street at 35 -miles -an -hour and that speed and noise
undermines the quality of the streetscape and the quality of the historic district itself. So
it ... I mean, I'm not a Louisianan so I didn't say anything down there but, uh, it seemed
pretty obvious to me if they shifted to two two-way streets, that would be an economic
benefit to ... to, um, stores, etc., on those streets. Anyhow, I've said enough. So
what ... what do the rest of you have to say about this idea?
Botchway/ I guess for me the one thing, and I'm not speaking for .... staff, I'm just trying to, you
know ... think about it from the context of...I don't mind the speaker series. I guess, John,
to ... to your point, I worry where we're ... moving away from policy makers and moving
more towards ... you know, dictating how staff goes about a particular process, in relation
to what you were talking about as far as different projects. Um, you know, if .... if they
come before us and give us, I mean, tell us as far as, you know, this is what we believe or
this is what we feel from our perspective as far as what is walkable, um, and then we take
that information, and I do believe we need to be actionable. I don't think we just need to
have speakers to talk, cause that's a waste of time and money, um ... and they talk to us and
say, you know, this would be some enlightened policy changes that you can make and
then we as a Council enact that, I think that's different than directing staff ...to possibly
incorporate them into particular projects that we might have, um, coming forth. I guess
that's my only I guess angst when I heard you say that. I don't think you (noises on mic)
not sure what you meant by it and I don't think you meant what I'm ... what I'm thinking in
my mind right now, but ... it was just thinking about the, you know, myriad of projects that
we do have and you know...just having an individual, and using Robin, I mean
(mumbled) presentation. I wasn't here for the presentation, but being able to talk with
him ahead of time around, you know, what inclusive city means and some other things, I
came away from it feeling that it would have been great if he had been able to talk to our
City Council about some policy changes that we could make in relation to what other
cities are doing in a good way, but I don't necessarily know ... or I don't necessarily like
him engaging in our staff and some ... in somewhat of an ad hoc basis, directing them in a
way that I guess we have ... as a Council, haven't discussed that's what we want to do
moving forward as a ... as a policy making body. I guess that's my feeling. (mumbled)
disagreement for speaker series. I just ... I guess for my perspective I would be ... I'd be
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more interested if it was either kind of that townhall situation or a presentation before
City Council to talk about, you know, how this policy may kind of change what we think
about in terms ... in line with Iowa City and our own goals and strategic plan.
Fruin/ It's part of the clarification that we need tonight to ... to ... to speak to the point is ... is it more
of a consultant service that you're looking for? Do you want someone to come in and
evaluate the Market, Jefferson situation that .... an expert in walkable neighborhoods with
that planning background, because we've ... we've kind of had the engineering analysis
done. So on that particular project, are you looking for us to engage someone to, um,
offer more of a consulting, uh, type of service that ... that also has a public presentation,
uh, component to it? Or is it more just educating the public about the, uh, benefits of
a ... of a walkable city, so that when various projects come forward, like Market or
Jefferson, there's a..a greater understanding of those benefits and ... and there's, uh... um,
deeper conversation that takes place. That's... that's what we're trying to discern as staff.
Botchway/ I would be in agreement with that last point (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, the latter is what I had in mind, personally. So ... so that, um, we ... we could
be helping the public understand better ... what would be entailed, uh, by this idea of a
walkable city and how ... what's required to produce it. What its benefits are and that kind
of thing, not to be hiring consultants to come in and say, okay, with regard to this
particular place we think you should do X, whatever X is. So I don't know (several
talking)
Taylor/ I think, uh, engaging the public and getting them interested and, you know, not having
somebody come in and tell us how it should be done, but coming in and, uh... uh, showing
the public, you know, what can be done.
Dickens/ I think that's where we need to start is ... is information, education, and then ... if it does
lead into something else, we can do that. But, uh...
Thomas/ I guess my feeling was that (several talking) YouTube presentations by say Jeff Speck
where he would .... it would be, the emphasis would be on the educational aspects of it,
but in order to make it real, make it ... bring it alive, he would often then comment on
specific conditions in whatever city he was visiting. So it ... I don't know that I would say
it so far as he's being hired or that ... whoever that person is is being hired as a consultant
per se, um .... but I know Jeff...
Fruin/ Jeff does that, uh, a good example of that would have been the Da ... when Dan Burden
came for the ... for the Blue Zones. He ... he came and did a ... a community walk, uh,
one ... one afternoon and presented some preliminary thoughts that would by ... by no
means was a thorough consulting engagement, but then there was a public presentation
where he mostly drew from his experiences in other cities, but worked in some of the
things that he saw, so ... I get ... I get where you're comin', John.
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Thomas/ Yeah, I think it would be ... when you ... when you have someone like Jeff Speck, and
there are others, actually come to your city and they have insights into... how... how to
implement the concept of a walkable city, it's... it's... it would ... it would be I think
a ... unfortunate not to take advantage of what their take was on specific issues that we're
facing. (noises on mic)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so is that clear enough, Geoff, in terms of what y'all need?
Fruin/ Well, um, I ... I ... I get the gist of the topic area and the general philosophy, um ... uh, are we
looking for a couple of speakers a year, is this, you know, can you maybe talk a little bit
about frequency and what those expectations will be?
Mims/ And I think we also look at what are we talking about money, I mean ... I know with like
Robin, this was something kind of you set up...
Throgmorton/ Right.
Mims/ ...without, I mean, the Council didn't even talk about that, which that's another whole
issue I have a concern about, but....
Throgmorton/ Talked with Tom.
Mims/ ...yeah, but I think some of those are Council decisions, but um ... I mean I don't know
what he cost. I know there were other co-sponsors, um, I ... I think you've also got to think
real carefully ... I mean, Robin was here talking about the whole inclusive city. Okay.
You look at the people who were at that presentation on Monday night. That was not
inclusive. Yes it was in a public building, it was open to the public, it was advertised.
You look at the audience — it was not the inclusive audience that ... a lot of you
campaigned on. So ... you know, you talk about bringing in these speakers and educating
the community, I'd like to see a plan of how if we're going to spend that time and money,
you're gonna make this inclusive and really educate the full community.
Throgmorton/ I think that's a great point. Uh, I had exactly the same observation, Susan, with
regard to the Monday night presentation, and I was standing in the back, I was looking
around.
Mims/ It was the same old crowd!
Throgmorton/ ...yeah, it was a great turnout. I was really happy with it, but your point I think is
spot on. So maybe we could ... in terms of, uh, the ... whoever we invite, maybe we could
make s ... make sure that we respond to this need to kind of reach out to other groups
within our city, so that they ... have an opportunity to provide us with feedback and
provide the speakers with feedback about ... about this walkable city idea, you know, like
who cares and like (laughter) little bit of feedback and ... and there are lots of possibilities.
Mims/ They're too busy working!
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Fruin/ Um, certainly from a cost standpoint, things will vary considerably. Um, Robin
Hambleton, things worked out where that was a very inexpensive endeavor for us. Um,
we are working with a couple other community stakeholders to bring, uh, the president of
the, uh, American League of Bicyclists in, uh, in May to give a presentation. Um...
Botchway/ That hesitation killed me right there. You said the president and (laughter and several
talking)
Fruin/ Um, but (several talking) but Jeff Speck, and I'm just ... I'm guessing here, but Jeff s ... Jeff
Speck's gonna, I wouldn't be surprised if it's, uh, $10,000 engagement, uh, for ... for
services of someone of that stature. Um, maybe just a ... a quick in and out presentation
would ... would be less than that, but for him to come and ... uh, perform some of those
services that he does for Cedar Rapids and for Des Moines, where he'll walk a corridor
with ya and provide some ... some thoughts, you know, it's gettin' pretty expensive because
he's ... he's at the top of the heap right now in terms of desire of speakers in the planning
profession, so ... um ... we have the complete streets funding line, um, and that's probably
where we would look to to accomplish some of this, especially if there's a ... a high dollar
speaker, but...um...you know, we'll do our best to .... to leverage the funds and bring in
community partners as we ... as we've tried to do in the past, but um ... it would ... it would be
nice to know ... if we have the Council's support to go after someone like a Jeff Speck that,
urn ... would be a ... a considerable, uh, engagement. There ... there would be a considerable
engagement if he...
Throgmorton/ With regard to your timing question or ... (several talking) frequency, uh, I ... I guess
my own personal sense is that we would like, I think we would .... it would be good for us
to build some momentum, uh, and that would mean ... bringing in a series of speakers at
say ... every two months. I'm just tossing it out here — every two months — for a period of
time, not forever (laughs) not for five years, you know, just to get things going, to build
some momentum.. And ... in the spirit of making that suggestion, I'm gonna ... I'd like to
suggest the names of several individuals who could possibly be invited. I have no idea
what they would cost. They might be outrageously expensive, so ... that ... that's not ... that's
not a trivial point. So Jeff Speck is one. Chuck Marohn is another; John's mentioned him
quite a bit. He's the, uh, I don't know editor of the Strong Town's (both talking)
president, sorry. So he's one and then that guy that did the form -based code for
Cincinnati; what's his name?
Thomas/ Dan Parolek with, um (mumbled)
Throgmorton/ Dan Parolek?
Thomas/ Parola... lek.
Fruin/ He's the "missing middle".
Thomas/ The "missing middle".
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Throgmorton/ Him, um, I know a professor named Emily Talen, who I think is at the University
of Arizona, who's written a lot, uh, on topics directly related to this. There's an African
American in Detroit who's speaking at the Congress for the New Urbanist meeting in
June or July. He's, uh, a man named Maurice Cox. He's the Director of Planning and
Development for Detroit. Uh, he may be way too busy cause they have a pretty big
challenge in Detroit, right, but uh... the connection between... well, you know, he ... he
might be a possibility. Uh... so those are some names that.. .
Fruin/ That's helpful!
Botchway/ What's our why? I mean I ... I'm hearing this kind of throw out some names here and
I'm ... my concern is creeping up, because I'm not necessarily against hearing from all
these speakers. I think they're going to provide a wealth of information. I guess I just
don't know what we're doing, because I, I mean, if we're trying to bolster our own, um. .
I don't know, community around some of the things we're proposing ... I don't know. I
just ... I mean, I just .... I'm kind of going back to Susan's point about inclusivity, and as I
think about, you know, the names that, you know, you just mentioned, I have no idea
who those people are.
Throgmorton/ Right.
Botchway/ Except for the fact that maybe John has like, you know, thrown 'em out there for
whatever reason, and good reasons but I just mean ... for a reason. Urn ... I'm not ... I mean
I'm compelled because I'm a City Council Member and we've talked about it from a
strategic plan standpoint, but I'm just trying to think of, you know, who would be
compelled to come listen to these things, and I ... and I ... so when I was thinking about that
I was also thinking about what ... what if we invited Jeff Speck, and then ... from that we do
some type of data analysis or feedback as far as whether or not we were really inclusive
of anyone that we were trying to be inclusive of, you know, was this beneficial? Was it
not? Um ... and then based on that analysis, decide whether or not we're gonna go down
the road with these other potential speakers, because ... you know, I guess from a Council
directive standpoint, if we're saying we're gonna do the missing middle, we do the
missing middle. And I don't know if I'm saying that correctly, but ... if we're deciding that
we're going to do, um ... whatever Jeff Speck is proposing, then we just, as a Council
directive we just do what Jeff Speck is proposing. If we're asking them to come in and
kind of explain it to us from a community standpoint, and I understand what maybe we're
trying to do to galvanize the community, but ... I just think it's, you know, in my head I'm
thinking about from a job's standpoint, it just seems like one -stop -shop PD and that's not
what you want to do in these type of situation ... or professional development, that's not
what you want to do in those situations. You want to have sustained... systemic, you
know, professional development, or at least in this ca ... situation, community education or
engagement, and I'm not sure we're getting that here. Or I don't ... I'm not sure that at least
we've come up with some type of plan that would get us what it ... exactly what I think
we're looking for and that's why I guess I'm coming back to what is our why.
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Mims/ I'm with you, Kingsley, from the standpoint ... I ... I think it's going to be incredibly difficult
to get members of the public, any significant number, to come listen to these speakers. I
think it's going to be primarily for the benefit of the Council and ... the really, really small
minority who are focused on ... the walkability issue already. I ... I ... I'm sorry, I think by
the time people work, they take their kids ... it's getting warm, they're going to soccer
practice and everything else ... they're working two jobs, they work a night shift —
whatever. I just look at what we had Monday night and you talk there's, you know,
leading the inclusive city. Now you talk about a title that should draw out the people that
you folks are talking about, and they weren't there! You think they're gonna come to a
walkable city? I don't think so! I think...I think we're going to be having speakers come
in preaching to the choir.
Throgmorton/ Pauline, do you have an opinion about this? Terry?
Taylor/ I ... I'm excited about the idea of having someone come in just to kind of get us engaged
and ... and uh, invigorated. Uh, I don't necessarily agree with your like every two months.
I think that might be too frequent. I was originally thinking, uh, quarterly or even two
times a year, like spring and fall, uh, would be good times to kind of space it, but ... uh.. .
we would just have to try to ... I don't know what the publicity was around, uh, Robin's,
uh... presentation, but we would maybe have to reach out to those community groups — the
neighborhood centers - and make sure that it would be something of interest to them that
they would attend.
Throgmorton/ Or maybe hold events out there (both talking) wherever there is, right?
Taylor/ Correct.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I think that would probably be a very good thing. You know I think about,
for example, uh, instead of having an event in room A of the Library, we could have an
event at, uh, out at Sycamore Mall, or the Broadway neighborhood, I mean, you know,
pick ... pick possibilities, urn ... cause I think Susan's point's right about connecting with a
diverse audience, or uh... uh, populations in Iowa City.
Dickens/ I guess if it's one of our major goals, walkable neighborhoods, I'd like to have as much
information as I can, so I wouldn't ... I wouldn't be adverse to having a speaker, but then I
would like to have ... maybe it's up to us to read all these other books, not bring all these
people in, and I think we need to do more research on it. After we've got a .... a good base
of the information, cause I really don't have a big background in ... in walkability,
walkable neighborhoods. So I think if we had some base that we can start with. I'm not
up for one every two months or something. I ... I, like Pauline said, you know, once or
twice a year, but we're talkin' money here and ... and I know we have some set aside for
this, but I think there's a lot of areas that we need to ... to focus on and I would ... I would be
fine with getting some basic background and then I think it's our responsibility to delve
into it deeper.
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Throgmorton/ Let me suggest a possibility, cause I hear what y'all are saying. Maybe we can
identify... staff could identify two speakers who could ... come visit with us over a period
of four to six months ... so that we do what Terry just suggested. We ... we get the head
start with the first speaker, whoever that might be.
Dickens/ I think that's very important, that first speaker (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, and then ... and then (both talking) back it up with someone else, and then
we .... do everything we can to ... to get out of City Hall (laughs) you know, and go to
where the people are, so that .... we can get some responses from other ... other folks. That
sound reasonable?
Botchway/ The other piece, from a funding perspective, is you know kind of similar to what was
able to happen with the Robin Hambleton situation is, you know, reaching out to the
other communities for co-sponsors, as well.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, we had like six co-sponsors for Robin Hambleton's visit.
Botchway/ So something similar to that.
Thomas/ Yeah, I would just add that ... and part of our, I think, our difficulty with this is ... is
getting ... I don't know that we as a Council share a really full understanding of what the
walkable city is. So it...it kind of draws questions marks, I think, to some degree, but 1,
you know, in looking at some of the strategic plan and work session topics coming up,
uh, the complete streets, the parking policy ... uh, you know, the question of the form -
based code that we'll be looking at ... um, reducing carbon emissions — all of these things
are tied to the walkable city. So it's ... it's possible ... I think, I mean you can begin to see
even there there are some potential constituencies that would be interested in coming to
that event. I ... I could see one of the events having kind of a Central District focus,
because you know if we looked at some streets, the bicycle network, how to enliven the
commercial core, you know, Geoff, um....Jim just mentioned the, you know, we have
Market, Jefferson, Gilbert, Burlington. There are some major streets which are very
disruptive to the downtown area. So I think that, as a topic at a ... at a conversation...
could, if we did our homework in terms of getting people informed that this discussion
was going to take place, I think it could draw an audience.
Dickens/ I know there's people that are adamantly opposed to Market and Jefferson (several
talking and laughing)
Mims/ I was just going to say Terry (several talking)
Thomas/ ...I think it's important to have, you know (several talking)
Dickens/ That's a great example right there is, you know that....you know, I get calls or ... you're
not gonna do that! (laughs)
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Mims/ I was just going to say Terry (mumbled) changing those to two-way and we'll have a
crowd!
Dickens/ Yeah! So ... I mean, you're... you're looking at a focal point, and that would be a
good ... that would be a good start right there, because that is ... there's a lot of opinions on
that! And it's been that way for ... (several talking and laughing)
Botchway/ Just ... my ... my concern, I think, John you're alluding to this — I'm just worried about
the takeaways. You know, what are we going to take away from this .... these speaker
series, and again, kind of going back to Terry's point, I mean ... if we were to do Jeff
Speck, you know, next four months and that be kind of a signature event, um, kind of
along the same lines as the Blue Zones situation where something actionable came out of
it. Maybe it isn't just for Council, but maybe you know the, um, Chamber or the
Downtown District or whatever organization would get behind it, um, I'm for it, but even
I ... if I remember correctly in relation to that Blue Zones situation, there were kind of
rumblings before that ... that, you know, this was something that people were considering,
and maybe I'm wrong, but it wasn't just .... a speaker came in and all of a sudden
everybody decided to do something. I just ... I just want to make sure there's takeaways
because basically what it sounds like to me, and what I'm going to have to try to explain
to people, is we just paid a bunch of money for a ... a speaker to come in and ... what did we
gain out of it? And that's... that's where I want to make sure we were very clear (both
talking)
Thomas/ I don't mean to focus on Jeff Speck, but he has worked in Iowa, uh, he's ... he's worked in
Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. I mean I would be very interested (both talking)
Audience/ Excuse me, could you speak louder? I can't hear anything you're saying. Like you're
mumbling or something. Thank you.
Thomas/ Um, I'd be interested to know how the ... the Des Moines (noises on mic) experience
was, how successful was it in terms of galvanizing, uh, the community in terms of
the ... the topic. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Well, like ... I'd like to say one thing. I ... I take your point and ... my personal sense
is that ... the value of constructing, um ... a modest speaker series, consisting of say two
people over the next four to six months, is ... is that it builds some awareness and helps us
collectively, and the public, understand better what's involved in this walkable city idea,
and then to echo something John said — there are several strategic plan elements that are
directly connected to this walkable city idea. So, it's better to get a (mumbled)
understanding about the idea before divin' real deep into... and.... into particular strategic
plan actions and ... trying to put them into place. So, I ... I see... this... process as being ... uh,
one that enables better understanding that facilitates later action with regard to other key
strategic plan actions. That's what I see. I made a suggestion earlier about having... say
two speakers over the next four to six months, total of two speakers over the next four to
six months, with the ... the details we've already been discussing. Are we okay with that
idea?
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Mims/ Yeah. (several responding)
Throgmorton/Okay.
Dickens/ Cause we're gonna have a lot of stuff coming up.
=
Botchway/ Just within the first six months, you know, we are moving into summer, so...
Throgmorton/ I do know that! Thank god! (laughs)
Botchway/ ...just how that plays out.
Mims/ Are you sure? (laughter)
i i I
Throgmorton/ Rumor has it spring's arrived! (several talking) I don't see any evidence of it at
the moment. Sorry, I mumbled right then. I didn't mean to. My bad! Uh, all right, so I
think that brings us to our Information Packet discussions, uh, the March 3rd Info Packet
— anybody have anything you want to bring up about that?
Botchway/ Just briefly, um, IP2, um., . ,
Mims/ Yeah!
Botchway/ ...I think this is a great initiative. I appreciate the County kind of taking the reins on
this and pushing forward. Um, I ... I just want to give kudos to Simon and, um ... Chief
Hargadine, Sam, as well, because Sam just did an amazing job as far as explaining this,
um, to the Kingdom Center. We had I think myself, John, and Pauline were there as well,
um, and there was the question raised about, um, what the City is doing in relation to
some of the concerns that they brought up, and this was, you know, a great response and
I'm glad that we're doing what we can do to kind of, um ... um, you know, bolster the
efforts, especially as it pertains to, you know, for me it sounds like giving people a
second chance and providing adequate treatment, um, in response to certain things, but I
just thought it was a great, you know, Sam did a great job as far as explaining it, and I
came away, you know, and I think they came away from it feeling really good.
Dickens/ I just had a question on IP6, which is the letter from Peggy Slaughter, about the
(mumbled) community investors. Where are we at with ... all that?
Frain/ That is the 3/17 Info Packet. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, you jumped ahead just a little bit (several talking)
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Dickens/ I thought it was the 3rd. Got the wrong one up there.
Fruin/ Um, we ... we're still meeting with, um, Peggy and the (mumbled) so I don't have anything
I can report right now, but we're still actively discussing a path forward with them.
Botchway/ IP ... something.
Throgmorton/ Still on March 3ra.
Botchway/ Yes, still on March 3rd, and in relation to the, um, memo from ... I don't know if it was
Human Resources or, um, the Police Department, um, about just overall how to,
um. ... how, what they're doing in relation to trying to create a diversity of staff. Um, I
know that already was answered in here, but ... I guess as I was looking through this list,
and again I, you know, I could be looking at it wrong. There's... as you look at the
candidate data on page 4 of the ... of that pack ... or page 4 of that packet and then page 57
of the actual Info Packet, um, it talks about candidate and it goes through kind of
applications received, eligible to test, and kind of breaks down how those things go
through. You know, I'll be honest with you — these numbers don't mean much to me, I
mean, in relation to looking at the diversity of staff without, you know, desegregating the
data out and kind of knowing whether or not, um, some of the individuals are people of
color and some are not. I know that it was kind of answered beforehand that it's tough to
find that information out just because the information is voluntary, and so if you don't
volunteer that information, you don't get it, but then you know I asked the question, you
know ... are there potential pitfalls in the process, you know, I ... I ... I mean I .... I guess I
didn't see that in relation to ... and I don't want to get too much into details. I guess I just
want to throw that question out for analysis by, you know, Chief Hargadine or staff, just
because... something's goin' on and obviously this is a nationwide problem, so I'm not
necessarily saying Iowa City Police Department you have to get it together, but ... we gotta
do something, because it seems not...that's not bearing the fruit we want to do there.
Fruin/ Well, I think what the memo intends... intended to show is what we've tried to date. We're
not stopping here. We're continuing to try new things. I tell you, our biggest challenge
is, we just don't have a whole lot of open positions, and so we can go on a ... a cross-
country roadshow and ... and tell people how great it is to .... to work here, but ... the
openings are pretty few and far between. Regarding the data on page 4, um ... uh, I...I
realize that doesn't really tell you the ... the makeup of the applicant pool, but I think what
we were trying to show with that is with these changes that we've made, you're seeing
more applications, you're seeing more people make it later, uh, deeper into the process,
and that was the intent to some of the changes was to remove some of those initial
screening tools, um, that were keeping people out, and ... and broadening that pool until
you have to really narrow it down at the end. So, in that respect, I think the numbers bear
out that we've been... successful in expanding the pool.
Botchway/ Another one ... sorry, this was a really important packet for me cause I think there was
a couple issues I was interested in. Um, all issues are important — sorry for staff that
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might have thought differently, but ... um, going back to, um, not going back to but kind of
moving forward on the, um, aquatic center. Just one of the statements that's, uh, on page
3 of the, um ... actual report and page (both talking)
Throgmorton/ You mean for City Park?
Botchway/ Yeah, City Park! Um ... was ... I don't know, I just didn't like the
statement... that... sorry. Uh, our attendance hasn't ... our attendance has stayed the same
over the last 10 years. It worried me because if our attendance has stayed the same, but
our city has grown... that ... I ... I worry that that means then folks aren't necessarily
participating in the rate that they should participate for us to look at that as far as
meaningful data. If that makes sense. Maybe I'm off base. Cause it seems (both talking)
Taylor/ I saw that more as the, um, with the competition with the, uh, opening of the aquatic
center in Coralville, I saw that they believe that was a positive thing, rather than dipping
greatly because of the competition they remained the same. So I saw (both talking)
Botchway/ And I ... and I thought about that too but I was also thinking about the fact that we ... we
should still see some increase.
Fruin/ Yeah. If you look on ... on page 2 of that memo, at the very bottom, you'll see the
attendance summary and so from 1998 to 2003 you see were were up to 28,000 people
coming through the ... the turnstiles there every ... every summer. And then that's when
both Coralville and North Liberty opened up their family aquatic centers and that's where
you see a dip and, um ... what ... we've remained pretty steady, I mean, it's grown a little bit
from 14,000 from the next five years up to almost 15,500 the last five years.
Um ... it's ... it's steady use, and so we're not experiencing the ... the 28,000 by any stretch,
and we probably... probably won't get back to that, with that type of facility. That type of
facility just doesn't have the ... the broad appeal that, uh... um, other ... other types of
facilities have, but it's ... it's still being used by ... pretty stable amount of the population.
Um, but I think as the memo gets into, when you look at pools, there's... there's a variety
of different users of pools. There's lap swimmers, there's competitive swimmers,
um ... there's recreational swimmers, and we do some things very well, you know,
for ... from a competition standpoint. We have great facilities, a lot of swim teams use
that. We have a lot of people that come and do lap swim. We don't have a lot of young
families that come to our facilities because they weren't constructed to accommodate that,
and they haven't been renovated in a way that will bring them in. They don't have the
fancy bells and whistles.
Thomas/ Yeah, I was...I was very pleased with that memo actually. (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, me too!
Thomas/ ...and urn ... but you know there was mention, Kingsley, of adding water slides,
concessions, interactive play features.
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Botchway/ Right.
Thomas/ I thought they really captured the spirit of that facility and suggested some ... ways of
improving it without altering that essential quality that it has.
Botchway/ No, I agree and I guess then it comes to my next question is ... is ... what does that mean
from a Council deliberation standpoint? I mean, were you looking to ... I know we asked
the question, so you provided this memo in response, but then are you looking now for
Council to come back to you and say we want you to make those changes (both talking)
Fruin/ No ... I ... I think... there's (both talking) there's nothing in the five-year capital plan that, um,
will address the ... the larger issue here. Um, so I ... I think the appropriate thing to do
would be to, um, wait for the, you know, the next round of budgeting, if you want to get
in that. Certainly if it's ... it's a top priority for you, if you all look at each other and say we
need ... we absolutely need to go down this path, then give us that direction now, but I
didn't sense that to be the case in the budget discussions. I felt it was more of a should...
should we be looking at this type of thing. Um, I can tell you the Parks and Recreation
Commission have discussions about this ... this thing periodically, and of course, um, with
the slate of Park master plans that we have, there are a lot of competing priorities in Parks
and Recreation right now, so ... um ... I don't know that ... you might see a couple of, um,
modifications to the pool over the next five years, um, but unless you intervene and tell
us you really want to pursue it, you're probably going to see our recommendations go to
some of the existing, uh, projects that we're working on --- Lower City Park, Riverfront
Crossing Park, and.. .
Botchway/ Okay.
Fruin/ ...Hickory Hill, that those (mumbled)
Throgmorton/ Okay, folks, we are a chatty group, we all know that (laughter) so I'm conscious of
the time. There's a lot of other material to move our way through. So, are there any other
topics concerning the March 3rd packet that anybody really wants to bring up?
Mims/ I just think IP9, the Johnson County, uh, I don't know if it's livable communities that
actually put it out, but they've got an event on April 16th from I 1 to 2 at the Johnson
County Human ... Health and Human Services Building, on Johnson County for all. They
do require ... or they are asking for an RSVP, so...
Throgmorton/ Can you mention that in, urn... Council time at the end of our formal meeting?
Mims/ If I remember! (laughter) I'll try! I'll write it down, yeah.
Throgmorton/ Okay, so we're done with March 3rd. March 10. Any particular, uh, items ... to
focus on there?
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Mims/ IP2, there's a symposium on criminal justice reform on April 22"d from noon to 5 at the
Lindquist Center on the University campus. I thought Tom Markus's final thoughts in
IP3 were something that we should all read and re -read occasionally, um, and think
about. I think there's a lot of really good information in there. Um ... IP4, I'm going fast,
Jim!
Throgmorton/ Good! (laughs)
Mims/ Um (mumbled) Three Diamond was approved for tax credits, so this'll be for a senior
housing project on Williams Street in Towncrest.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, that was great news (both talking)
Mims/ ...this is their third application, I believe, for State tax credits. So 36 units of affordable
housing for seniors.
Throgmorton/ Can I jump in?
Mims/ Sure!
Throgmorton/ IP5, a blueprint to a more inclusive ... to more inclusive economic growth, uh, it's
an article by Amy Luke. I thought that was pretty insightful and something that could be
of considerable relevance for us in the future.
Mims/ That was next on my list! IP7 also, uh, we had the four-star community rating, um, from
the STAR community project, the highest rated city in the state of Iowa.
Throgmorton/ Did you want to say something (both talking)
Fruin/Yeah, can I offer (several talking) comments on that. Um ... you, in your late handouts
today — not the .... not the electronic packet, you'll see a matrix. Um, Brenda Nations put
this together and I'll show you, um, how we scored in the various categories. Um, I ... I
tell you our ... we are exceptionally proud of the work that Brenda and Carrie did, and
really all of the staff and external partners that we have, um, there's 48 communities that
have certified STAR, and these are communities that are, um, voluntarily doing this, so
that probably tells you that this is of importance to them, that this is ... areas that they're
working on. It's not a random sampling of cities. And real quick I'll just tell you the
statistics on ... on where we landed. You can see the seven categories across the top on
your matrix. In five of those seven categories we're on the top 10, again, of the 48 that
have certified, including second in education and arts, third in equity and empowerment,
sixth in health and safety, eighth in economy and jobs, and 10'h in built environment. In
all seven we're in the top half, um, we finished 20th in natural systems, and our lowest
scoring area was climate and energy, where we finished 29th. So, we are doing really
good in some areas, and you can see the ... the color coding here, the darker the green
the ... the better we scored, uh, as a percentile with our peers, and um ... uh, we should be
proud of those areas. Just because we scored high in them does not mean that, um, we
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don't have to pay attention to them. You know we score ... you'll see that we scored very
high in affor... in housing affordability, and we all know that we have challenges in that
area too, so it doesn't mean that, uh, we're doing everything that we need to be doing, but
it shows you, again, where we are with these peer communities. The areas that
we're ... we're struggling in, um, are ... are natural systems and climate and energy, and you
folks have identified that in your strategic plan and ... I think that this STAR framework
will provide us a ... a good opportunity to ... to advance in those areas too. So, um, take a
look at that matrix. There is a public presentation on STAR on March 28`h, which is next
Monday, at the Library. I believe it's ... 7 PM, uh, 7 to 8 PM, and Brenda Nations, uh,
and ... and Carrie Fox Rummelhart will be, uh, presenting more about our score, um, at
some point we'd like to return to Council and talk about the next steps, and we're workin'
with the STAR staff to, urn ... uh, schedule some type of work session to where we can
identi... you know, can ... can convert this scoring matrix into an action plan, so more to
come on that.
Throgmorton/ So, Geoff, with regard to the Monday night event, uh, I know I'm supposed to
make some welcoming remarks. Uh, are y'all going to give me some talking points or do
I just kind of...
Fruin/ We'll give you some talking (both talking) Yep!
Throgmorton/ Good.
Dickens/ We're not going to let you go on! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ That's right! (laughs) Good deal! (unable to hear person speaking from
audience) No, ma'am, not in our work session. This is a work session. It's not our
formal meeting. The formal meeting starts at 7 PM. (unable to hear person speaking
from audience) Yes. (unable to hear person speaking from audience) Yeah. Uh, so ... are
there, um ... any other topics havin' to do with the March 10 ... um, Info Packet? Okay,
March 17 packet. With regard to IPS, which is an article by James Fallows, titled'How
America is Putting Itself Back Together.' Geoff, you and I talked sort of about this a little
bit this morning. There's material in there that directly relates to that, I don't know, crafts
facility idea, so.. just pointing that out.
Karr/ Like to point out IP9, you've got two listening posts scheduled coming up the month of
April — April l st and April, um ... 20`h. Uh, the two Council Members who have
volunteered, um, for that, for the April 1 is Cole and Mims. April 20 is Thomas and
Taylor. Again, if there's any changes, please let me know, send me emails, so we're sure
that we have two Councilpeople at each one.
Throgmorton/ (mumbled) two on the second event?
Karr/ Thomas and Taylor (several talking)
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Throgmorton/ Sounds like (mumbled) (several talking) law firm or something, I don't know!
(laughs)
Botchway/ I just thought of Jonathan Taylor Thomas (mumbled)
Mims/ Um, IP 11, we've got the Community Police Review Board, uh, annual forum on April
26th at 6 PM in the Library, meeting room A.
Throgmorton/ And you're going to mention that during the....
Mims/ Sure!
Throgmorton/ (laughs)
Botchway/ Susan, you're going to be talking about it like five, six minutes (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Okay, anything else on the ... March 17th In ... Info Packet? No? Okay. Council
time.
Council
Mims/ I would just comment quickly, um, I am on the ... gosh, I'm not sure of the name. The
regional economic development, um ... planning that's been put together. We got our first,
um ... draft report back. They've had a lot of public input. They've interviewed a lot of
business leaders, public officials, etc., across the creative corridor, seven -county region.
Um, they're making some adjustments to that draft report, based on our comments today,
um, and ... we'll be able to, um, share that with our boards and councils, etc., hopefully
within a couple of weeks. Um, I would say not a lot of surprises in there, but let me tell
ya — these folks have pulled together, um ... I think Market Street is the consulting
company that's doing this. They have pulled together, uh, some really, really interesting
statistics from ... from the State, from the feds, from proprietary sources, etc., that really
give, um, an incredibly comprehensive picture of our region. Um, there are some
concerns with some of it in that it's all aggregate, so you, you know, everything kinda
goes towards the average. I mean, you really have to make sure we pick out ... the outliers
that are some areas that we need to make sure that we're really working on. Um, but I
look forward to sharing it with you as soon as we've got it, um, in final form. We've got a
lot of people from, um, like I say, lot of companies, different councils, non -profits, etc.
They're really trying to, uh, look at ways that we can work better together, um, and move
this region forward, so .... good things going on there.
Throgmorton/ (mumbled) Good deal!
Botchway/ I forgot to mention in relation to that, and I don't ... oh, never mind, it's the next packet.
I'll wait. It was about Cedar Rapids winning, um, an award for ... having diversity as far
as, um ... entrepreneurial black businesses, um, I can't remember what article I was reading
or what Facebook post but I know that it's in ... I think it's in the next packet, I'm pretty
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sure, but um ... you know, from a ... as many of you know me, I'm a competitive person, and
so hopefully we are working towards that, obviously with our strategic plan, but moving
towards that in the future.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Any other Council time items? All right, I have a few I'm going to
mention. On March 3rd Brenda Nations and I appeared on Iowa Public Radio's River to
River, to discuss the Mayor's Compact on Climate Change, which I had just signed. It
was a real pleasure to be there. Brenda did brilliantly! That same night I made a
welcome ... I made welcoming remarks at the U ... UN Association's Thousand Dinners
event. Uh, and that was great fun, over at Old Brick. Lot of people there and it was fun
to do. Third, Simon and I attended the National League of Cities' meeting in
Washington, D.C., March 5th through 9th or something like that. Uh, few highlights — you
could chime in on this, Simon, if you want to, but a few highlights for me included a
panel discussion about affordable housing, another panel discussion about climate change
and carbon emission reductions, meeting with the university cities group, networking
with people involved in other university cities, and meeting with sena ... talking with
Senators Grassley and Ernst. Uh, it was a pleasure to do that. I'm glad they made time to
meet with us. So, do you want to chime in on that any?
Andrew/ No, I think those were all, um ... you know, the highlights as I saw 'em. There was also a
very good panel on, um, bringing, uh, digital access to underserved communities that has
more public schools moved to more electronic assignments and homework on line that
it's really important to have that connectivity in all communities and that was a ... a very
good panel discussion as well, and then of course Ana Navarro was hilarious! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ She was amazing! We ... afterwards we can talk about this, I mean, it was... she's
really funny and very insightful. So, let's see a couple other things I wanted to mention.
Uh, I'll be attending the, um, Convention and Visitors Bureau board meeting, um, on the
24th. There's an employee service awards luncheon at the Rec Center on March 31St, and
the last thing I want to mention is, uh, in mid-April I intend to begin doing what I think of
as Mayor's Walks ... in various neighborhoods, uh, in the city. Uh, I don't know how many
of 'em will take place but I'd like to do this on a regular basis and you know I'm
imagining maybe a two-hour walk and knocking on some doors, just saying'hey, how are
things going in the neighborhood,' kind of stuff, so ... want y'all to know about that. Get a
little feedback from various neighborhoods.
Dickens/ Be careful when you come to my neighborhood! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, who knows! (laughs) Uh, okay! So that's, uh, enough for me.
Taylor/ I ... I don't know if this is when you mention this. It's not really an event or an invitation
but ... uh, it is Severe Weather Awareness Week and the City will be testing their sirens
tomorrow, I believe...
Karr/ We will have a test here in about one minute when we'll be asked to go downstairs (several
talking and laughing)
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Taylor/ There ya go!
Botchway/ Oh man! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ All right, so maybe you can mention that during Council time in the formal
meeting. Right, okay!
Dickens/ ...supposed to be a surprise.
Meeting e e e®
Throgmorton/ Meeting schedule. See if we can get this (several talking) Meeting schedule. The
Economic Development Committee's meeting on April (several talking) and ... we ... we are
going to be meeting with the legislative delegation, is this right, Geoff, uh... uh, on March
the 25"', all of us are? Is that right?
Fruin/ No, it's just you and, uh, Mayor Pro Tem Botchway.
e iork SessionTopics 11P # 4 Info Packet of 3/
Throgmorton/ Okay. All right. Any other thing having to do with the meeting schedule? Okay.
Uh... pending work session topics. You already mentioned that, uh, long list. We have to
figure out how to prioritize and we'll ... we're workin' on that.
Mims/ Upcoming events and invitations. I think we've covered most of those.
Upcoming _ v s/ c s:
Throgmorton/ Yeah. (both talking) So anybody want to mention any upcoming events, Council
invitations?
Thomas/ Uh, this Friday at the, um, Old Capitol is An Evening at the Ecopolis. Jeff Biggers and,
uh, Awful Purdies will be playing. Kind of a performance piece that starts at 7:30.
Throgmorton/ Maybe you could mention that during Council time.
Dickens/ Get your Mission Creek tickets. They're goin' fast!
Throgmorton/ There you go, you can mention that. That'd be a good thing (several talking)
Dickens/ ...very few left on ... lot of 'em are sold out already, so...
Mims/ Wow! Good!
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I nrogmorton/ Vkay, me siren's going to go ort TM23-77=u (I] g so ...
All right, we're done with the work session. Thank you.
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