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ITEM 3. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA)
Throgmorton: So this concerns items that are, uh, not on the formal meeting agenda. I'd like to
ask .... well, how many of you wish to speak with regard to Rose Oaks? (unable to
hear responses from audience) All right so ... um, I want to make sure you know
that we have .... we end our public discussion period not later than 8:00 .... not later
than 8:00 P.M. Please limit your comments to, at the most, five minutes but I
think given the number, three would be good.
Mims: But you're gonna do that at the item, right, not (several talking)
Karr: Item 5.
Mims: At Item 5.
Dickens: It's already on the agenda.
Mims: It's on the agenda!
Throgmorton: Right, right, I'm sorry! Excuse me, that's, uh.... yeah, sorry. Got...got distracted.
Thanks for clarifying. So, anyhow, limit your comments during, uh, this,
uh.... uh, public discussion period to not more than five minutes. You can address
any topic that's not on the formal meeting agenda. Hey, how ya doin'?
Honohan: Fine! Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, Jay Honohan. I'm a member of the
Senior Center Commission. I want to apologize. I've been lax in getting you
reports about what's going on, but uh.... I'll try to be brief tonight and make up
for it. Uh, right now we are engaged in, uh, mission and visions, uh, draft, which
will come before the Commission, uh, this week. Uh, we have a draft that was
prepared at a joint meeting that Geoff attended. Uh, a lot of participants and, uh,
members of the public, uh, attended and .... came up with a pretty good draft.
Although as, uh, Geoff and Manan remembering the Ad Hoc Committee, I have
proposed a few amendments as is my practice. Uh... one of the things that I'm real
pleased to report to the Council that we have been doing for some time now is we
have a volunteer committee who volunteer to help foreign students and
occasionally a professor with the English language. It's a very interesting project
because .... we take for granted a lot of what I call idioms in the English language
which are very confusing to somebody from another country. Uh, and Cathy
Mitchell has headed this volunteer group. I attended one session, uh.... just to
learn what was going on. I found it very interesting and very important for the
people that are students. Uh, I'd also remind the Council that's what I think are
some of the things that the ... on-going committees do or volunteers do at the
Center that many people are not aware of, and that of course is we do insurance
counseling, which is very important to people, seniors. We also do something I'm
pleased with a volunteer lawyers, which we help on legal advice. We also do, uh,
the art group does tax returns for individuals. And you do not have to be a
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participant of, uh, a member of the Senior Center to avail yourselves of those
services. We have devised a new program guide which I hope you got a copy of
and I hope you had a look at it, which we think is excellent. The staff really did
that, I had nothing to do with it. But ... right now we have over 142 classes at the
Senior Center for our 1,600 -plus participants. I want to thank the City Council for
its support for the Senior Center and the community at large. Any questions I'll
be glad to ask it but it looks like you have a long meeting so I'll get out of here.
Besides the Cubs are on in a few minutes! (laughter) Thank you!
Throgmorton: There ya go! Thank you, Jay. Good evening, Jake.
Simpson: Hi. Jacob Simpson from Student Government. I wasn't planning on talking but I
just realized next week school starts, um (laughter) so .... um, we're gonna have
over 20,000 more students coming to town, um, and we, uh, all know the
atmosphere of Iowa City's gonna change a little bit, um, and again, we all know
of the negative (laughs) things that come along with that, but I'm really excited
that we as students have the opportunity to be in Iowa City for our schooling and
I'm excited for this year, uh, for Iowa City to embrace returning students and
incoming students, and um, the community can also take part of all .... in .... all the
University activities and events that goes along with it, so .... looking forward to a
good year.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Jake. It's fun to see how the (unable to hear person in audience) No,
ma'am. No, this is just public discussion period .... about any topic that's not on
the formal meeting agenda. So we're gonna get to (unable to hear person in
audience) we're gonna get to Rose Oaks in a .... in a few minutes. It's part of the
regular agenda. (unable to hear person in audience) Anybody else care to speak
to any topic that's not on the formal meeting agenda? Good evening, Dan!
Daly: Good evening! Dan Daly, uh, Iowa City resident. Um ... I think my comments
are... are broader, uh, than Rose Oaks, although I certainly support, uh, the
residents there and everything they're having to deal with. Um, Iowa City City
Council has recently taken important steps towards an effective affordable
housing policy. Thank you! We hope it will play a very important role and a
very positive role in future community developments. I, uh, like Councilor
Dickens, uh, am a proud member of St. Patrick's parish. As such, I'd like to urge
the Council and our City planners and Legal, uh, to give careful consideration to
some advice on affordable housing that, uh, his holiness Pope Francis gave us just
last year. I've got a couple quotes from here and they are short, so I won't be
long. Uh, in cases where it is necessary to relocate poor people, in order not to
heap suffering upon suffering, adequate information needs to be given beforehand
with choices of decent housing offered and the people directly involved need to
be part of the process. Okay, I'm off the quotes again now, but we must carefully
seek fair and practical means to reincorporate residents disenfranchised from run-
down neighborhoods. Beautiful cities, and back on the quotes now, overcome
paralyzing mistrust, integrate those who are different, and make this very
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integration a new factor of development. How attractive are those cities which
even in their architectural design are full of spaces which connect, relate, and
favor the recognition of others. We are our neighbors. Let's make it policy to be
good neighbors. Thank you!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Dan. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else we'll move to Item 4,
Planning and Zoning Matters.
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ITEM 4. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS
Item 4a REZONING 2114-2118 S. RIVERSIDE DRIVE AND 103
COMMERCIAL DRIVE — ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING
APPROXIMATELY 36,416 SQUARE FEET OF PROPERTY FROM
GENERAL INDUSTRIAL (I-1) ZONE TO INTENSIVE COMMERCIAL
(CI -1) ZONE LOCATED AT 2114-2118 S. RIVERSIDE DRIVE AND 103
COMMERCIAL DRIVE (REZ16-00004)
1. PUBLIC HEARING
Throgmorton: John Yapp!
Yapp: Uh, good evening, John Yapp, Development Services. Uh (both talking)
Throgmorton: John, excuse me, I gotta (both talking) open a public hearing. Excuse me, so ... I'm
gonna open a public hearing. (bangs gavel) John Yapp. Thank you!
Yapp: Uh, thank you. Uh, this property is located at, uh, Commercial Court and
Riverside Drive as shown on the overhead. Uh, the applicant is with Veterans
Liberty, uh, Center which is in the building on the, uh, west side of the property.
Uh.... and they lease a part of their building to an auto repair, uh, shop. The, uh,
Veterans Liberty Center and the auto repair shop are currently non -conforming in
the industrial zone. Uh, the property is zoned industrial. Uh, they have applied to
have it rezoned to intensive commercial, uh, for two reasons — to make their uses
conforming, uh, with the existing zoning, uh, and which then would allow the
auto repair shop to start selling, uh, vehicles. Uh, there are two structures on the
property, uh, as shown on the overhead. Uh, again, Veterans Liberty owns the
western most building. Uh, there are three condominiums in the eastern building,
two of them owned by Griffin Construction, uh, and one owned by, uh, Rowcon
Construction. Uh, they're contractors', uh, shops in those buildings. Those
would also be conforming in the intensive commercial zone. Uh, regarding the
zoning pattern in the larger area, the ... the zoning to the north is already intensive
commercial and the zoning to the west is also intensive commercial. Uh, the
proposed intensive commercial zoning would also be in compliance with the
Comprehensive Plan, uh, which identifies this larger area as being either for
industrial or intensive commercial, uh, uses. Uh, when staff met with the
applicant and the, uh, other owners of the condominiums on the property, uh,
there was some concern that auto sales, uh, would be .... could be in conflict with
the contractor, uh, uses on the property. Uh, there was also some concern about
use of the common space on the property between the auto repair business and the
contractors' business, uh, and .... staff and the owners reached a solution, uh, to
restrict any vehicle sales to the west side of the property, uh, and then they
reached a private agreement amongst themselves identifying on the property
where cars could be kept for, uh, cars that are being, uh, repaired, where those
could kept, and keeping an access drive open, uh, for the use of...of both the
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buildings. Uh, staff.... recommends approval subject to a Conditional Zoning
Agreement specifying the vehicle sales will be limited to the west side of the
building. Uh, the Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval
by a vote of 4 to 1.
Throgmorton: Okay, thank you, John (both talking)
Yapp: (both talking) ....take any questions.
Throgmorton: Any questions for John? I don't hear any. Would anyone else care to address this
item? Seeing no one I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Botchway: Move first consideration.
Dickens: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call.
Motion carries 7-0.
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ITEM 4. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS
Item 4e HISTORIC PRESERVATION — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING
THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION TO FILE AN
APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT (CLG)
GRANT TO OBTAIN FUNDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF UPDATING THE
2001 SURVEY AND EVALUATION OF THE CENTRAL BUSINESS
DISTRICT
Botchway: Move the resolution.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? John Yapp.
Yapp: This is, uh, a request for, uh, authorizing, uh, the application to ... uh, resurvey, uh,
the downtown, uh, for historic properties. Uh, survey was done in 2001. Since
that time there have been changes to the downtown. Uh, the grant application, uh,
if awarded, uh, would result in a resurvey of the downtown area. Uh, this is
supported by the Historic Preservation Commission and Ginalie Swaim, uh, the
Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission is here tonight, uh, if you have any
questions for her.
Throgmorton: Thank you, John. Any questions for John? Don't see any. Ginalie, where are
you? Would you like to say anything? You don't have to. (unable to hear
response from audience) Okay. (laughter) Okay. Uh, would anybody else like
to address this particular topic? Okay, we have a motion on the floor.
Discussion? Hearing none, roll call. Motion carries 7-0.
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ITEM 5. ROSE OAKS — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING TRANSITION PAYMENT
TO TENANTS OF ROSE OAKS APARTMENTS FROM CITY'S
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUND
Throgmorton: And, uh... yeah, so! We do the motion to accept correspondence afterwards,
right?
Karr: Right! We'll have a motion putting it on the floor though, it's a resolution.
Throgmorton: Right, okay, so is there a motion?
Botchway: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Yes, ma'am!
Rommey: I am Jan Rommey. I am a writer of Iowa City. I am a journalist. We have done
10 editorials on the Rose Oaks' victims. I lived at Rose Oaks 15 years. I know.
Human shit in the hallways, bug bites all over the bodies, the smell of dead
corpses, uh... horrible people who do things like this. Uh, I have a college degree.
I've served my country honorably six years. Uh, I am a retired architect. I dabble
now in retirement in sociology, psychiatry, history, political science, religion,
ideology, blah, blah, blah. I'm not a damn dummy. Uh... this Rose Oaks' disaster,
everything you put your finger on it is wrong. Uh... I don't even know where to
begin! I mean ... this illusion in writing in major newspapers that there's nothing
wrong at all. You knew over a year ago that this, uh, was going to happen, that
those people were going to be run in the street, and you told nobody. You let that
property management, Eagle Property Management, get the last penny in rent so
they won't use .... lose a year and a half of rent monies. Greed! Then 28 days to
run everybody in the street. My lawyer has that eviction notice. When I paid my
rent, and I had a lease until next year. We're not talkin' about somebody on the
street in Iowa City. We're talkin' about children, who don't vote. We're talkin'
about females who are retired on Social Security, who pay their rent, who have a
legal lease, who were harassed and harassed and harassed, please, please, and
were told to get out, you get out, get your stuff in boxes and get out! With a lease
and the rent paid! They're not deadbeats. They're not moochers. They're not
freeloaders. Susan Mims! We're not gonna play (can't hear) here ... of, uh,
compassion is insane. Uh... we know. We've been in print for 30 years on these
social issues and to enter up the article that, oh my god, there's only one person
having a problem to relocate. It's a personal problem. When just on national
news tens of thousands of people being thrown in the street so developers and
investors can get millions. The Trumps buying everything up on the cheap.
Robber barons buying everything up on the cheap. To get millions and putting
tens of thousands in the street. This is not a one-person personal problem. Now
this is common knowledge, and to deny this common knowledge, that's willful
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ignorance. And to know that this was going to happen a year ago! Uh, and not
tell anybody, that's willful ignorance! Willful ignorance is punishable by
criminal law. Willful ignorance is criminal! And we are not going to tolerate
this. Now, we're not gonna have border disorders here of ...well, we have a
million dollars in federal monies in play, federal government. I don't go around
and say I'm Obama, and you should not say that you're federal....with federal
monies, uh, to decide for us what you're gonna not do for us. Uh, we don't want
no choice statements. That's a rape of humanity. We don't want this tyrant stuff
going on, the one-man decision maker who doesn't listen to anybody. You
haven't listened to anybody for a year! You haven't told anybody anything for a
year! Uh, let alone the last three months. We got nothing. We got nothing! And,
uh, that's 3,000 out of my pocket to relocate. Go find it yourself. It's anarchy!
This is uncivilized. This is barbaric. Uh.... it's everybody for themself. That's
what got laid on us, and then, uh, on top of this, nothing higher than self. That's
mainstream, worldly ideology. It's immoral. It's evil. And, uh, we're not gonna
embrace evil at the door. Especially with me being a writer and a journalist in 30
years of this. Uh... it's a rape of humanity (both talking)
Throgmorton: Jan, if I could interrupt you. You've now gone over five minutes, uh (both
talking)
Rommey: No, I'm not going over sideways. You have gone over sideways (both talking)
I'm not talking to you. I'm talking (both talking)
Throgmorton: I said you've gone over five minutes in the (both talking)
Rommey: Well, I have one thing to say. This is a democracy and we have a right to
economic justice and I haven't heard one swingin' whistle here about anything on
economic justice. It's not about fairness! It's about economic justice, and
apparently you don't understand that. It's apparent. That's it!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Jan. Would any (applause) Yes, ma'am, good evening.
Home: Hello, how are you?
Throgmorton: Hi!
Horne: Uh, thank you first of all. My name is Chantrice Horne.
Throgmorton: Chantrice, nice to see you.
Home: A former resident of Rose Oaks. How you doing? On a lighter note, I just want
to say first of all thank you all for considering this. My first point I want to make
is you look at the word affordable housing. If Iowa City doesn't take a stance and
change what the definition of affordable housing is, because it's not out there, we
might not make the money that you make. We don't have the resources that you
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have, but we work. And we work hard, and we work hard for our families. And
there was a comment made that if this is passed, it'll look as if Rose Oaks' tenants
are more deservin' than anybody else that's relocating, which is not true. A true
statement is yes, people's leases are not renewed every year. But in a lot of our
situations that wasn't the case. I just signed a lease February 17th.... February 151
of 2016. I should still have my same place to February of 2017. My lease wasn't
up. But I still had to move. I still had to relocate my family. There was
assistance given. It helped ... to get you from one place to the next, but you have to
move to somewhere where you're payin' way more rent. It was things that Rose
Oaks given us that you can't account for. We didn't have to worry about a water
bill or garbage pickup or lawn care or now as the winter's comin' up, snow
removal. I still work the same job. My income is the same. My housing situation
changed, not because I wanted it to. Not because anything that I did wrong. But
because of this. So now I have to figure out how to get my son to school. Where
he could walk last year, this year he can't walk. He has to take the bus. So now I
have to pay someone to watch my 10 -year-old so my 13 -year-old has to leave out
the house an hour early to catch a bus to school, which I gotta pay $31 in a bus
card now. That wasn't in my budget before. I did nothing wrong. Now I have to
pay for a water bill and, uh, a sewage bill. That wasn't in my budget before, but I
did nothing wrong. You act as if the $250 won't help. My children start school
on the 240i. 1 would love to see them in a new pair of shoes. Not the same shoes I
bought `em for the summer just so they can go outside and play in. Because see I
didn't count that in my budget, this move. I did nothing wrong. We did nothing
wrong. I work every day. My daughter works every day. My oldest son just
graduated from high .... from City High in May. On top of that you can't do
anything for him to tell him that you're proud of him because he's graduatin'
because now every dime that we have has to go towards the move, but I did
nothing wrong. But I have to look in my kids' face every day to tell them we
don't have this today, we don't have this today. We can't go out and do the actual
things that we did. We were comfortable livin' there because now our budget has
changed. Yet again, I did nothing wrong (laughs) But I'm to be treated as if I'm
less than because I only make this amount of money. There's no affordable
housing. Oh ... income doesn't equal out, excuse me, to affordable housing. It's
not a handout. It's not a charity case. We're tryin'. This was put on us. We
didn't ask for this. So if you consider the $250, thank you. I appreciate it.
Because if it doesn't help with school supplies, I can put that towards a bill so
maybe next month I can take my kids out to dinner instead of tellin' `em, baby,
we can't go out this weekend. You think that $250 means nothing because you
don't understand what $250 does for a person like us, for a person like me. That's
a night out at Pizza Ranch where we can sit and laugh and take pictures, go on
Facebook laugh and make the crazy faces that we like to sit and laugh at because
we can't do that. $250 is a whole lot, especially when you have a family. Thank
you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Chantrice. (applause) Who else would like to speak? To this topic?
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Mamona: Bonsoir a tons.
Throgmorton: Bonsoir.
Mamona: (speaking through translator) Hello, everyone. My name is Mamona
(Kabandelwa).
Throgmorton: I...I'm sorry, what's your name?
Mamona: (speaking through translator) Mamona.
Throgmorton: Mamona.
Mamona: (speaking through translator) I'm a refugee. Oh, thank you, thank you to the
United States for providing me a ... a permanent residence. And particularly in
Iowa City. I've been a resident of Rose Oaks for three years. Uh, right now
there's a problem that troubles us very much. We've been ... we've been forced to
leave. We are low income. Our children.... are at school, or were close to school.
But now that we've been moved, we have a lot of problems with accessing
schools for our children. And this is a result of our moving by force. It's very
difficult to move from one place into another. It's very difficult to adapt to a new
place. And these cause a lot of problems for the child. (both talking)
And... caused a lot of problems for the children to adapt to a different school in the
middle of the year. And we are broken hearted, it breaks our hearts as parents.
I'm thankful for the $250 given to the residents of Rose Oaks. But it doesn't... it
doesn't suffice and it doesn't resolve our problems. And ... because we are moving
to apartments that are much more expensive than the ones at Rose Oaks. We are
low income. And... and because of that we don't know how to confront the
situation financially. Um, for this reason .... um, for this reason we'd like to
present our ... urn ... okay, we ask the City, as refugees we're asking the City to
create programs for refugees to live in affordable housing, not just low income
housing. Because that will pre ... that will allow us to live .... good lives, happy
lives, in the United States. We've been blessed to meet people who defend our,
um, our needs.
Throgmorton: Excuse me, uh, we have a five-minute limit. Yeah.
Mamona: (speaking through translator) Oh, um, special thanks to Stefanie for defending,
um, for meeting us and defending our rights as, um, members of Iowa City.
We're sorry.... thankful (both talking) We're thankful for her (both talking) We
ask .... (both talking) ...of Iowa City.....to give us opportunities as part of the
population. To observe (both talking) to see our trouble and to help.
Throgmorton: Merci beaucoup.
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Mamona: (speaking through translator) Thank you to the Center for Worker Justice... for
your help, um, in our .... in solving our problems. Merci. (applause)
Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause)
Garcia: (speaking through translator) Good afternoon.
Throgmorton: Buenas tardes.
Garcia: (speaking through translator) My name is Santos Garcia. I come from the
apartments of Rose Oaks. We were living okay and then suddenly Lakeside was
bought. The news came that they, um, were going to dislocate us. We tried many
times to see if we could renew our lease and they said no. Um, instead they
offered us money that they never gave. So we all ended up, um, doing badly from
that news. Um, we are very stressed out because we didn't have where to go....
anywhere to go. Um, we had thought they would relocate us in some other area.
But no, they said no. They offered money that at least they didn't .... I didn't get.
Now, um, if we've achieved the 200 .... looks like we've achieved the $250. It's
very good. But it's not enough. I thank you for listening to us. Because I am one
of the residents of Rose Oaks. Thank you very much. (applause)
Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause) Who else would like to speak?
Hostle: My name's John (both talking)
Throgmorton: Good evening, John.
Hostiler: Yeah, and I'm, um, a CWJ member. I'm not from the Rose Oaks, but I live out
in ... live around near here and um, I'd just like to say (unable to hear person in
audience) Say what? (unable to hear person in audience) Yeah, no I said I'd like
to support the, um, the pay out of $250 and based on the stories that I've heard
and that's not the tenants' fault and also, um, they, um .... you know, may not or...
looks like they're not gettin' like their deposit back or anything, so they can put it
down toward... towards another place to live and so forth and ... also $250 I'm sure
is ... it's good but it's also, like they said, short of what it takes to .... to meet goals
too so....
Karr: John? John, can I have your last name.
Hostiler: Hostiler.
Karr: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Good evening, Lauren.
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Lyon: My name's Lauren Lyon. I'm the Director of Trinity Episcopal Church. A few
weeks ago I received an insurance settlement of close to $800. I received it
because I bought a defective dishwasher a few months ago and it leaked water
through my kitchen floor into my laundry room. Um, the damage, or the ... the
area was evaluated, there was no permanent damage, but it was, um, considered a
reasonable compensation to me for having mopped up the water and washed
dishes by hand to receive a little more than three times as much as is proposed for
compensation of the Rose Oaks' residents for having to involuntarily vacate their
homes and find new places to live. Uh, the $250 is a small, decent expression of
the City's respect for their citizenship and for their participation in the economic
and social life of this community and I urge you to approve it. (applause)
Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause)
Salih: Good evening, my name is Mazahir Salih
Throgmorton: Good evening.
Salih: I just want to say quick things like for too long our community (unable to
understand) tenants as affordable house as eliminating affordable housing (unable
to understand) and also (unable to understand) out of control in housing (unable to
understand) more than usual, and it is time for the City Council to take action in
support of (unable to understand) tenant rights (unable to understand) affordable
housing policy and also I think we should (unable to understand) make the
developer accountable so we can addressing this moving forward. Thanks so
much. (applause)
Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause) Anyone else? Yes, ma'am!
Stutts: This is a CWJ sign that I'm happy to ... to hold. My name is Sabrielle Stotts. Um,
and I'm not a Rose Oaks' resident. Um, but I grew up on the other side of the so-
called ghetto trail in Iowa City, um, connecting the low-income apartments at the
time on Broadway to, uh, the then Lakeside area and I've had family members
who have lived in Lakeside and considered that myself. Um .... applied there, I
believe, a few years ago and .... I returned from having been born and raised here
and am seeing this, uh .... disproportionate, um (mumbled) go to the people who
are .... uh.... part-time citizens of the city or not even residents at the University
and I see them being favored because of the satellite city of Chicago income and
I'm a townie, so to speak, um, and I just want to represent that there are already
residents here who matter and I could not actually afford to move into Rose Oaks
or similar apartments right now. So ... I can imagine having to relocate. I could
not afford to relocate now and I have a college degree and I'm a Caucasian person
and I was born and raised here and it didn't .... it didn't do much for making
it ... that possible. As somebody who grew up in low-income housing and
struggling and .... in apartments on the southeast side of town I want to point out
that there's a generational effect when people are forcefully dislocated by external
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so-called circumstances or companies, and there's accountability, I think, with
everyone who's involved in that development decision and it affects children and
families. I can remember being a child and being forced to move around or....
(mumbled) and that feeling sticks with you, that knowledge that your stability of
housing or stability of income as has been shown, uh, I can't cite (mumbled) lot
of sociological, socio-economic, psychology studies it sticks with someone,
feeling like they're not important enough and it sends a strong message. So
please, uh, give what's rightfully due of $250 and more to each citizen and family
and resident of any kind and any citizenship status at Rose Oaks. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause) Anyone else? (unable to hear person from audience)
Sorry, Jan, you've already spoken so.... (unable to hear person from audience)
Uh, so, um .... we've now heard ... is there anyone else who has not yet spoken who
would like to address this topic?
Sterling: Hi, my name is David Sterling.
Throgmorton: Good evening, David.
Sterling: This is my first City Council meeting so....
Throgmorton: Welcome!
Sterling: ....a little nervous. Uh... I've lived in low-income housing almost my entire life.
My mother had a bachelor's degree growing up, uh, so did my father. Um ... I had
a lot of friends in school that also grew up in low-income housing. And without
the privileges afforded to me and my family by their education and the racial
disparities in this country, those children grew up very desperate. They spent
their entire lives knowing their parents were basically going dollar to dollar just
tryin' to get by. This $250 might help some of them enough to help them get by,
but.... it's the equivalent of an IV drip when someone needs like a gallon of
water. People been living in an emergency situation for years now in these, uh,
housing projects. The fact that they're now getting booted out, after making our
burgers and cleaning our streets, washing our cars, sitting out in the ped mall
begging for money, any assistance they could get. The fact they're getting booted
out now, I think this is not just a morality crisis, but ... the fact of the matter is in 20
years or less a lot of these kids are going to grow up believing that the City
government did not care about them. The City government essentially waved
them off with a small, uh.... small handout when really they needed a leg
up ... badly .... for years. So, uh, I don't just support the $250, but .... I believe that
this is an emergency situation, not just for these families but a growing one for
our city. Uh... so I hope that the Council will, uh, be open to further discussion
(clears throat) on matters like this in the future, very soon, uh, and make it a top
priority if possible. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, David. (applause)
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Moza-Sapo: (speaking through translator)
Throgmorton: Good evening.
Moza-Sapo: (speaking through translator) Good afternoon, good evening, my name is Moza-
Sapo. I arrived here 12 years ago. When I had to renew my lease I had one month
to find a new place, but um, I had a lot of difficulty because the rents are very
expensive. Maybe I found a place but for a lot of people for example who are
seniors and have a hard time getting by, I think people have the right to live with
dignity. I think that if you approve the $250 today that's going to be something
significant. It's not a lot, but it would show compassion, um, on your part for
these people. Thank you.
Tbrogmorton: Thank you. (applause) Anyone else? All right, seeing no one else, uh, Council
discussion.
Botchway: I'm supportive of the measure. Um, you know.... unfortunately how the situation
has played out, um, to me the larger implication for Iowa City, not only for us as
Councilors but also as a community is that, you know, for lack of a better word
we've lost a thread. Um, it's been somewhat of a diaspora that we have, um, I
wouldn't say been a part of but have watched unfold where there would be
multiple members, um, from Rose Oaks in the community that, you know, have
left Iowa City, um, are in different places in Iowa City, and to me that's an
unfortunate thing. I know that multiple members or folks today talked about, you
know, the fact that, um, they won't be going to the same schools and so the family
implications I won't get into, um, but that's always been a potential concern of
mine or a concern of mine. I wouldn't say potential. That we .... we've lost a
voice and I .... I, there's no way, um, that we are going to get that back. Um, I do
want to thank, you know, the community partners that are here today. Um, I
don't know if Shelter House is in the room, but I also want to thank them for their
work and their effort, and other community groups that weren't mentioned or
talked about, um, in helping residents, not only in the... throughout the entire
process, but also, um, move as well, um, on August I". You know, the ... the
(mumbled) gentleman that came up last, or almost last, spoke to some of that, um,
economic discussion that I know that we talk about a lot, and .... I worry that we
are becoming a community that will be pricing, um, our individuals out, and
so .... our residents out, and so as we ... we talk about or when I think about the
ICAD mantra as far as work, living, and playing, um, in a particular area, I just
want to make sure that as we're talking or thinking about, um, the economic
policies and other things that we're putting forth from a business community
standpoint that we are looking at all of our residents when we're making ... those
decisions or having those conversations because, uh, affordable housing, as you
know, is a .... a huge issue of mine, um .... urn, that I ran but ... but also not only talk
about as many times as I can, but you know .... it's a problem and .... and I, you
know, you think about the situation not only obviously as an emergency situation
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that happened, um, in the last six months, but an emergency situation that people
have been living in, um, for a number of years, um, it's tragic, but .... again I am,
you know, concerned about the fact that we've lost a substantial, um, population,
uh, a substantial thread so to speak, um, from, uh, our community and, um,
unfortunately won't get that back, but I am very supportive of this motion.
Throgmorton: Others?
Taylor: I also am very much in favor of this resolution. I think the resident, uh, Chantrice
said it the best where she said that they had done nothing wrong, these folks did
nothing wrong. They were members of the community, some of them for many
years. They had, uh, been good tenants, signed their leases, paid their, uh, paid
their rent and it just came as a total surprise to them when they were told that they
would not be able to renew their leases and they would need to .... to move, and
uh, this was of no fault of their own and I think they're very much deserving and
it's the least we can do to help them out.
Cole: I just wanted to say thank you to every single person that came here today. Um,
the reality is is that the seven people up here, you know, we're the elected
representatives of the City of Iowa City, but we cannot solve this problem without
your help, your assistance, your vision, your wisdom, your energy, your volunteer
efforts. We need you, and I think going forward, um, this is not the end of a
process. I think this is the beginning and I think we need to engage in a
constructive process going forward with our ... with our groups. Is this a perfect
solution? No, it's an imperfect solution to a crisis, a major crisis that occurred,
but I think what really stands out for me, and I think really the reason why I'm so
inspired that all of you came here tonight is the class, the dignity, um, you guys
all showed an incredible amount of class throughout this entire process, and I just
really want to thank you for everything that you've been able to do. Um, it is
amazing and you're really inspiring. So, I really do thank you for that, and so this
is the first step and I hope this will .... is this enough? Probably not, um, but I just
thank you from the bottom of my heart for the ... for the dignity and class that you
all showed tonight. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Other comments?
Mims: I'll comment. Um, I have spoken against this numerous times, and let
me ... explain my position, and I know it's not going to satisfy anybody here in the
room and I understand that. Um, first I ... I certainly agree that people here have
not done anything wrong, that this was not anybody's fault, that all of you, the
majority of you, have contributed significantly to this community, work hard, etc.
My problem with this is not the money — it's t he process that this Council has
taken on this. Okay? In talking with virtually any other government
organization, or any of the non -profits, where emergency funds are given to
people in need because of a dislocation, because of a natural disaster, whatever it
is, there are procedures and processes in place for accountability for the money
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that is given and the way that is handled. My problem with this is the direct
payment and other than that I'm supportive of it, but because of the process that
has been used here by this Council, I can't support it from that philosophical
standpoint.
Tbrogmorton: Anybody else? I don't hear any other comments from other Councilpeople. Uh,
I .... I'll be very brief. Uh, I ... I've expressed my views several times in previous
meetings. I think, uh, what Rose Oaks' residents have experienced is equivalent
to a natural disaster and we need to respond with empathy and support to the
degree that we can, and is this process perfect? No it is not, but if we tried to
make it perfect it would be a .... tremendously complicated administratively. We'd
have to invent the processes, uh, whole cloth out of thin air and uh, I don't think
we want to go down that route. So I .... the bottom line is I support the action that
we're proposing to take tonight. And I thank all of you for coming. So, urn ... I
think at that point we can call for roll call. Motion carries 5-2. (applause) Could
I have a motion to accept correspondence, formerly Item 2f (several talking)
Botchway: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Uh, moved by Botchway, seconded by Cole. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. All right, so .... (mumbled)
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ITEM 7. CITY CHARTER AMENDMENT — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND
DIRECTING THE JOHNSON COUNTY AUDITOR TO PLACE A
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CITY'S HOME RULE CHARTER
TO AMEND SECTION 7.03(A)(NUMBER OF SIGNATURES) OF
ARTICLE VII (INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM) TO CHANGE THE
NUMBER OF SIGNATURES REQUIRED ON INITIATIVE AND
REFERENDUM PETITIONS BEFORE THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF
THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA AT A SPECIAL CITY ELECTION
ON NOVEMBER S, 2016
Botchway: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Thomas. Uh, is there anyone who wants to
address this topic? Good evening, Caroline.
Dieterle: Hi, I'm Caroline Dieterle. Um, and I don't want to take up a lot of your time
either, um, but just to make it clear that this, uh, issue has been basically, uh,
in ... in people's minds since, oh, the winter of 19 ... of 2015 when the Charter
Commission was meeting and I attended all of those and it became clear that the
majority of the private citizens who came to those forums, um, wanted to see
changes in the Charter, and very little change was really made that was anything
substantive. The one thing that these people were able to achieve was, uh,
making the Charter in line with the current Iowa voting law of same day register
to vote, by removing the qualified elector requirement from the initiative and
referendum signatures. But at the same time that they did that, they raised the
signatures from 2,500 to 3,600, which struck many of us as being, you know,
spiteful and unfair, frankly. Um, because and I ... I have been a strong supporter of
Ben -tie Sanders and I take to heart his, uh, urging that people on the local level
need to take more interest in their government, and participate more, and that all
change begins at the bottom and all politi.... politics is local politics. And
accordingly, um, it's important I think to change this signature requirement to a
manageable number. And since amending the Charter itself follows Chapter
362.4, it stands to reason at least to me that, um, using the same yardstick for
initiative and referendum petitions, um, should, you know, should be used. And
when we were gathering the signatures, we .... it was very easy to gather the
signatures. People would like to have, um, it made easier to petition, even though
nobody had any burning issue that they mentioned that they wanted to do, but
they understood right away the, um, usefulness of having the path open in case
anybody did want to do anything. And, urn ... I think that that shows that the
people really understand that, um, you have to do that, and the couple of people
who.... objected, their objections were that they did not want, uh, Iowa City to be
like California, that a lot of stuff, you know, ended up before the Council that was
frivolous. Uh, if you read the ... the Charter, you understand that there are 13 areas
delineated in the Charter, um, from which, uh, initiative and referendum are
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already precluded, and we're not trying to change that. We think that's fine. Um,
but we would like to have this other change made. We're very desirous of it, and
if we had known, uh, what I was told this afternoon by Miss Dilkes that we could
have waited as late as the last two or three days of August to sign ... to .... to put this
petition in, while we talked further with the Council about trying to do, uh, the
change itself we certainly would have done that, but we were under the
impression from the meeting at which Martha came to tell you that we had a
petition ready that really, uh, we had to file it quite quickly in order to be able to
make the ballot. So, it wasn't because we were acting precipitously or without
thinking about all of this. We did, but um ... now, uh, you're going to put it on the
ballot and I guess the only, uh, concern that I have left is that the ballot language
be very clear so that people know what they're voting on. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Caroline. Good evening, Martha.
Hampel: Um, there's.... there's not really anything I can say to change anything. This issue
will go on the ballot. I'm excited about that personally. Um .... uh, when I was
here two weeks ago, um, I was under the impression, um, after .... that meeting and
after speaking to the Auditor's office that we had to file it when we did. Um,
after I was here there was.... five, six days in which, um, Jim, that you could have
reached out to us. I know you mentioned that you tried or you thought about it,
um, and so we filed the petition, um, and then we had a discussion, which I wish
we would have had, uh, 48 hours prior, but that didn't happen. Um, that's okay!
I .... this whole time I've an ... anticipated that this go on the ballot, and so I'm
going to take this opportunity, um, to, uh, start our campaign to (laughs) for this
change and uh, explain to people why they should vote for the change. Um, we,
like Caroline explained, we've been trying to work towards this change for over a
year. Uh, I feel like the Charter Review Commission that was put in place was of
course selected, um, and we went to all those meetings, um.....I didn't feel like,
uh, they really cared about what we were saying, and as Caroline said,
they .... they changed one thing and ... made one thing easier and then made
one... another more difficult. Um, we basically want to change the City, Iowa City
Charter, to comply with Iowa Code 362.4, uh, we want to reduce the number of
signatures required for an initiative and referendum, uh..... down to 10% of the
number of people who voted in the last City election, um, right now it's at least
3,600. That's ridiculous. I've gone out and collected signatures for .... for more
than one petition, um, it's very difficult to get even one signature, um, with this
particular petition that we worked on to get this here issue in front of you, we had
great support and we could tell right off the bat, um, more than probably 80% or
more of the people we spoke to that were Iowa City residents signed our petition.
It .... there was a lot of support for this change. Um, and I kept thinking what if we
had to collect 3,600 signatures, already knowing that our issue has this much
support and, um, I ... I can't imagine collecting 3,600 signatures for an initiative or
referendum and already knowing whether or not you have the support you need to
make that change. I mean, a petitioner is going to know right away whether
they're.... what they're doing is ... is worth their time. Um, so I ... I feel like
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lowering that requirement to 30 ... to 10% of the number of people who voted in
the last City election is a great idea. I think Iowa City residents are ... are, uh...
gonna accept that and, um .... I think they'll agree with us, um, so .... anyway, yeah,
I'm .... I'm .... I wish this could have gone a little differently, uh, I've learned a lot
and um .... yeah, I'm .... I'm excited for this. So, um, thanks for your consideration
of the issue. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. But yeah!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Martha. Okay, anybody else want to address this topic? Uh,
apparently not. Uh, Council discussion.
Dickens: Yeah, who writes the amendment, so that it is, uh, not confusing on the ballot?
Dilkes: The ballot language is included in the resolution and it's taken directly from the
petition.
Dickens: Okay.
Cole: What I would just say ... I think let's just celebrate this because what better way to
establish community support than through the ballot box this fall. Um, so I guess
I think we should embrace this, and I'm certainly going to honor the wishes of the
people of the City of Iowa City. So, I'm actually sort of glad it's turned out this
way cause I think this is the perfect way to establish whether there is the support
for it in the community. So....
Mims: I would agree with you, Rockne. I think a change to the Charter outside of the
Charter Review process is much done .... much better done at the ballot than by the
City Council.
Cole: Yep (both talking)
Mims: Whether I agree with the change or not, that ... that's irrelevant. I think when
you're going to change it outside that process, I really think it's better to change it
at the ballot and let the people of the community vote on it.
Throgmorton: Anybody else? So the good news, Martha, I don't know if you heard this earlier
but the total cost to the City will be less than half of what we anticipated it would
be. Uh, the Auditor currently, um, estimates it'll be somewhere around $31,000
maximum, uh, that is the City's share of the cost would be less than 31,000. So,
that's the good news, eh, and Rockne's spot on. Let's see how.... and Susan, let's
see how the people vote. Okay, uh, no other comment? Uh, I guess we have a
motion on the floor. Roll call. Motion carries 7-0.
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ITEM 13. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION
Throgmorton: We could start with .... hey, Susan, why don't you go first!
Mims: I have nothing, thank you.
Throgmorton: Okay. John?
Thomas: Nothing.
Throgmorton: Pauline?
Taylor: I always confuse that with the public ... the invitations (several talking) ...tons of
invitations but as far as the Council, uh.....except for notice of our pending, uh,
we've got some.... what do you call `em? (laughs) The meetings .... (several
talking) Nothing, I have nothing!
Throgmorton: Rockne?
Cole: Um, I just wanted to comment on, uh, Soul Fest and the entrepreneurship panel I
went to. I think Kingsley went to that. Um, it was a really amazing event. We
had four dynamic entrepreneurs and they all short.... shared, it was ... they all
shared their vision as to how they started their business, um, what sort of products
they had. I was in particularly, um, glad to learn that there's a new gluten free
bakery out there, uh, Ease Gluten Free Bakery cause my wife is gluten free and
one of the things I've discovered is a lot of that food is not good (laughs) uh, but
this food was great (laughs) and so that's sort of going to be their comparative
advantage, and I had some of their food and it was fabulous so I hope everyone
goes out and purchases that. Um, so it was just a really inspiring, uh, group of
people that were really solutions -oriented and it wasn't all perfect but ... it was just
a real pleasure and um, kudos to ICAD for organizing that, and I think it was
Simian... yeah, Simian was the one that organized that so kudos to Simian as well.
Dickens: Just a big shout out to, uh, Pathways. They had their Men Who Cook over the
weekend. It was a very big success, um .... I think there was over 100 people
attended it. We had I believe 16 cooks, uh, looking for more next year, uh, just a
great event. If you don't know what Pathways is, it's an adult daycare which has
been serving Iowa City for many years and so ... it was a great event to go to.
Botchway: I would, you know, echo Rockne's comments. Soul Fest was amazing. Um, the
fashion show that was put on by Andre Wright and Royceann Porter, um, was
amazing. Um, the quick story that happened, I was actually stuffing my face with
food from Royceann's, you know, um, vendor and Marc Moen walks up to me
and says, "It's good, isn't it!" And I'm like obviously yes (laughs) so ... um, that
was a funny experience and also embarrassing, but some of the other things as far
as events are concerned, um, paddleboarding is coming back to the ped mall and I
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will unfortunately miss it on the 21" but, um, I really thought it was interesting
how people were not getting wet and, uh, figured that, you know, a big guy like
myself would definitely be wet. Um, and then last but not least is a huge event
for me cause obviously I talk about food is Taste of Iowa City, um, is on the 24,11,
starting at 4:00 P.M. and ending at 8:00 P.M. Um, I believe it's ticket based and
so if you want to give me your tickets, um, ahead of time, it's greatly appreciated!
Thank you. (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton: I want to mention three items. The City of Iowa City's holding... hosting an open
house on Wednesday, August 24th, uh, at the Iowa City Public Library to provide
for people, for residents of the city, to provide feedback and ask questions about
potential strategies to address the issue of affordable housing in Iowa City. So,
uh, anybody interested in that topic should, uh.... come on down. It starts at 5:30
P.M. on the 24th. Also on Sunday, August the 28t', uh, there will be the 38th
annual Sertoma fly -in, drive-in pancake breakfast from 7:00 A.M. to 12 .... to noon
at the Airport, right? Yeah, at the Airport. Yeah, so that could be a fun event for
all sorts of people. And last, uh, it's too bad Jay Honohan's not here, there will be
a 35th anniversary open house and ice cream social at the Senior Center from 2:00
to 4:00 P.M. on Wednesday the 17th. Tomorrow! So, better hurry! (laughs)
Okay, uh....
Taylor: I do have one thing. We had gotten an email about the City employee blood
drive, which is this Friday, so go out there and give blood. It's .... the social hall at
the Rec Center from 12:30 to, uh, 3:30, cause there's a big need for blood
products and specifically for City employees that day.
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