HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-11-15 TranscriptionPage I
ITEM 2. STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS
ITEM 2a Lucas Elementary
Botchway: So we are going to, uh, do the Student Leadership Awards, and I'm really excited
about doing this. Can we have our amazing students come up?
Karr: Veronique and Sara (applause and cheers)
Botchway: So I have secretly wanted to do this since I've got on Council (laughter) so you'll
see me in the background like smiling, really excited to, you know, do this
opportunity and so, uh, again, these are our students from Lucas Elementary.
Really excited to have you here and I see your parents and principal, um, here as
well, so I'm gonna hand you the mic and, uh, let you have your statements and
then I'm gonna present you with your awards!
Brenneman: Hi, my name is Sara Brenneman. (talking in background, clapping and cheers)
(laughter and talking)
Shabani: Hi, my name is Veronique Shabani and I'm here because I was chosen to receive
the Student Ci ... Citizenship Award from Lucas .... Robert Lucas School. I am
really thankful for all the people who nominated me. Thank you very much.
Being a good citizen is important because you get to help a lot of people knowing
that there is nothing in return. You get to do good things because you want to, not
because someone told you to, or because you get something in return. I am really
thankful for being chosen. Thank you. (applause and cheers)
Brenneman: Hi, my name is Sara Brenneman and by definition a good citizen is someone who
respects others and their property. They are helpful and considerate and willing to
put others first. I'm a good citizen at home because I help around the house, help
with my grandparents, watching my niece, and doing my own laundry. Outside of
the house, I babysit for several different families and participate in some school
groups, such as student council, band, (can't hear) club, and safety patrol. I take
responsibilities for my actions and I show respect towards others and their
property. I'm very happy to be selected for this award. Thank you. (applause
and cheers)
Botchway: Okay, and so now I have the proud honor of presenting to you the Student
Leadership Award, and so for your outstanding qualities of leadership within
Robert Lucas Elementary, as well as the community, and for your sense of
responsibility and helpfulness to others, we recognize Veronique Shabani as an
Outstanding Student Leader. Your community is proud of you. Presented by the
Iowa City City Council. (applause and cheers) And then again, another Student
Leadership Award. For your outstanding qualities of leadership within Robert
Lucas Elementary, as well as the community, and for your sense of responsibility
and helpfulness to others, we recognize Sara Brenneman as an Outstanding
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 2
Student Leader. Your community is proud of you. Presented by the (applause
and cheers) Iowa City City Council. (applause continues) Well, you're more
than welcome to stay here or you can go home and do some homework. Thank
you. (laughter)
Karr: Mayor .... Mr. Mayor, could you wait out here for the proclamations, please?
Botchway: Okay!
Karr: We have a special .... the next one, please.
Botchway: (mumbled)
Karr: Not yet! You just....we'll read it and then I'll introduce someone to accept it.
Botchway: Okay!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 3
ITEM 3. PROCLAMATIONS
ITEM 3a Nutcracker Season — November 15 to December 15
Botchway: (reads proclamation)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is the Sugar Plum Fairy, Maddie Brown.
(applause and cheers) Pose for pictures!
Swanson: Mayor Pro Tem, my name is Chuck Swanson. I'm the Director of Hancher and I
just want to say thank you to you and to all the Council for this proclamation, and
I just want to say that the arts in Iowa City are very special, and there couldn't be
anything more special than the Nutcracker and to begin the month of December
with the Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker, the first weekend, and then the second
weekend to have Nolte's Dance Academy Nutcracker, it doesn't get any better
than that! I want you to know that Maddie is going to be performing in both
Nutcrackers. (applause and cheers) So once again, thank you very, very much!
(applause continues) Thank you!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 4
ITEM 5. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). [UNTIL 8
PM]
Botchway: I'm going to take this time to make a brief statement to the community at large
and obviously the community members here, and then we're going to go right into
Community Comment. (reads statement) So at this time I'd like to invite you to
participate in community comment. Please keep your comments to five minutes
or less, and this comment period is for items not on the agenda.
Dieterle: I'm Caroline Dieterle and I'll be really brief. Um, this whole thing is coming to a
head at the same time that we're faced with replacing our police chief with
someone else. And there've been a lot of questions asked. I'm sure that the
Committee has .... has, you know, interviewed thoroughly, but I guess I'd like to
know, uh, whether it was asked whether in your opinion — this is the candidates —
in your opinion should local police take part in immigration enforcement? And I
think that that's awfully important in view of what's happened on the national
scene with Trump being elected and his really hateful agenda, and uh, it's also
important because, uh, we ... can't forget what happened to, uh, the pastor that was
deported here about a year ago, or less than a year ago, and (clears throat) I don't
know who knocked on his door and rounded him up, but I would like to think that
the local police would not be active in that kind of activity. Thank you.
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause)
Hamad: Um, hi everyone. My name's Lujayne. Um .... so we're here basically to demand
a safe environment against bullying, harassment, and discrimination in our
schools. Um, last week I was targeted as a Muslim woman in this country, um, in
school actually, and I .... it could have been because of the color of my skin or my
gender or my religion, but I was targeted and I was told to go back home. Um,
personally I don't feel like .... that we have taken clear actions to solve this issue,
but basically students at the Iowa City Community School District need and
deserve a safe environment to learn, grow, and thrive. Recent events, including
racist remarks and attacks on students of color and religious minorities have failed
to be addressed properly by our current faculty. We the students of West High
and City High demand that the following principles are implemented and that
actions take place to address these incidents of racism and xenophobia, inhibiting
our right to a safe and supportive environment for learning. Um, one of our
immediate demands to help us feel safe and secure, at school... tomorrow... would
be clear support from faculty and administration, must be shown in a statement
made against bullying and harassment. Students do not currently feel safe at
school. The disrup.... this disrupts our ability to learn and participate fully in our
education. We must see and hear renewed commitment from our teachers and
administrators that bullying and harassment will not be tolerated. We see this as
vital to our ability to feel safe again in our schools and regain trust in the adults in
our learning environment. That is our first immediate demand. (applause)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 5
Merriwether: Hello, my name is Jade Merriwether. Um, I'm a student at Iowa City West. I'm
a senior, and this is our second immediate demand. Teachers and administrators
must enact the provided procedure when an incident has occurred. In the past
several days, students have come forward to report acts of violence, bullying, and
harassment, not just in our school, but across the nation. These reports have been
met with a lack of dis.... a lack of belief, and have garnered no disciplinary action
against students who committed such acts. School faculty and administrators
have guidelines and procedures with which to address these acts. Uh, policy
502.1 and 502.3. We must see administrators and faculty enact these procedures
and protect vulnerable students when they come forward with these complaints.
(applause)
Makawi: Hi, I'm Luma Makawi and I'm a freshman at Iowa City West. Our third demand
is....education about the rights of students and the procedures of. ... and the
procedures to ensure rights. A show of good faith from faculty means educating
students on their available rights and resources available to protect them from
bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Teachers should spend an amount of
time educating all students on the anti -bullying and the anti -harassment policy,
and the grievance process so that all students know the steps to report a
complaint. That's our third demand. (applause)
Murphy: (mumbled) Um, our fourth demand is there must be a student -led workshop and
training about diversity. We recognize storytelling and experience sharing as
powerful ways to build empathy and create change. We want the co ... cooperation
of faculty and students to create diversity and sensitive training, in which students
school -wide must participate in response to nation-wide xenophobia, raciism...
racism (laughs) and discrimination.
Karr: (applause) Excuse me, could I have your name?
Murphy: T.J. M .... T. J. Murphy.
Karr: Thank you! (applause)
Keita: Hello! My name is Mariam Keita and I am a freshman at Iowa City High School.
I will be reading our fifth immediate demand, which is available mental health
counseling and staff must be prioritized. The mental health and safety of our
students must be supported and prioritized by this District. The students facing
bully... bullying, harassment, and/or discrimination must have available access to a
trained and adeq... adequate staff to respond, because right now .... I have just
started out at a new school. I'm already an outsider. I don't know where to go or
who to ask for help, if I do get bullied or harassed. All I know is that someone
has made me feel small or little or outside, and I don't know where my support is
coming from or if I even have support right now. That needs to be changed. We
need to know where to go and who to ask for help as soon as the problem occurs,
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
ME
not a week or two weeks later when it might already be too late to do something.
Thank you. (applause)
Bennett: Uh, hi, I'm Joseph Bennett. Um, Iowa City City High School. So .... um, in terms
of our long-term demands, um, first of three, uh, is education for students about
our, uh, rights. It should be a part of. ... it should be part of practice for all
students to know the procedures about how to report a complaint, ub, trigger due
process, and begin the grievance procedure. Educational materials must be
created and provided for all students. So, yeah! (applause)
Namad: Hi, I'm Raneem Namad and I'm a senior at Iowa City West High School. And
our second, um, demand for long-term change is that diversity classes should be
added as a required course for graduation for all students. Students should have
to take a diversity training course in order to graduate. (applause)
Murphy: Hi, I'm Anthony Murphy from Iowa City City High School, and uh, our third and
final long, uh, term demand should be that there should be, uh, a devoted
healthcare specialist. Once again there must be a mental health professional on
staff at each school that is known to students (mumbled) always available and
accessible, whom we can seek out at a time. Also I think that, um, some
teachers... well, all teachers should be required to say that they have someone to
go to or that there is someone every day, before class, and remind `em that they're
always wanted. Thank you. (applause)
Hamad: Um, yeah, and those are basically the demands that we came up with, um, in order
to have our rights as .... to have a safe environment against bullying, harassment,
and discrimination in our schools, and we feel that the Board or the District needs
to take proper action to enforce these immediate demands, and these demands for
sustained change to cause a ripple effect in our schools, to have us feeling more
comfortable and more secure, and more safe and welcome in our schools every
day. (applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continuing) Can we get a copy of that
for correspondence? (people talking away from mic, unable to hear)
Karr: That'd be great! Yeah, right here.
Botchway: Yeah. Thank you!
Salih: My name is Mazahir Salih. I live in 2355 Jessup Circle. Okay, as you all know,
last week one of our community members has found a hate note on her door. I
really appreciate the community that ... been supporting them by delivering flowers
and candy and just giving hug and support them as.....and welcoming to this
community. But my complaint is.....the complaint I am saying here is that the
police officer who took the call (mumbled) show he has no (mumbled) to the
safety of...of (mumbled) in the area. He simply said that this is nothing... there is
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 7
nothing I can do. I mean like when the ... the family called the police, uh, at 12
midnight, they just ... the police just (mumbled) nothing I can do. And I don't
think this is right. (mumbled) from the officer make me seriously think that some
of, uh, Iowa City Police Department officer does .... does.....sorry! Uh, does in
fact endorse this kind of hate message or at least he has no regard to safety of
minorities in this community. For this reason above, we ask you for (mumbled)
investigation to find out why the police officer did not take the report, uh, and
open investigation. Is this related to lack of training or the police officer ... uh, he
himself is a hate message supporter. If is one of this assumption are the
(mumbled) then you are obligated to take an actions. You are the City Council,
you are above the Police Department. (mumbled) if we don't feel safe, the police
should make the community feel safe, and if when we call the police, they say
they can't .... they have nothing they can do, who will know what they .... we can
do? If the bullies cannot do anything. I really encourage you guys to make
(mumbled) investigation about this issue. We don't like this, and we know that
we really, the minorities in this, uh, community being like really ignored
somehow by the Police Department. But I never thought it going to be like this
when it come to someone (mumbled) police. Thank you so much. (applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
Abdalla: Hi, my name is Muna Abdalla. I'm a mom (mumbled) She got harassment at
school the same week we got the note on our door, and immediately my husband
he get out and when he come back, like 12:00, 12:10, he (mumbled) to my room
and I sleeping and he just wake me up and he said `Did you see anybody outside
or did you notice anything?' I said `No because I'm sleeping.' He said `Yeah, I
found this paper on the door.' I said `No, no, no! Don't touch anything! Just call
the police.' He just called immediately, and when he talked with the police, the
police kept asking him questions about the .... if he had noticed anybody or
(mumbled) problem anything. He said `No, I don't have any problems with any
of my neighbor. I don't have any problem with anybody,' you know, and he said
`Yeah, I can't do anything for you now,' and my husband said `Yeah, but at least
(mumbled) and show up and take a picture of the paper and take the fingerprints
and (mumbled) anything.' He said `Yeah, but I can't take fingerprint from the
paper. It's hard. I cannot do that.' He said `Yeah, okay, then what you gonna do
now?' He said `My advice,' he told my husband, `My advice for you, just take it
and throw it away.' And my husband, he just shocked and he said `Well this is
not gonna (mumbled). I said `WhyT He said `Because he doesn't .... he cannot
do anything.' I said `How the police cannot do anything?' At least if he show up,
maybe the guy around or, you know, whatever who around (mumbled) if he show
the police maybe he get scared (mumbled) not gonna come back to our house
again. He said, `No, no, no! He just close the line.' And after that I just .... I
don't know, we don't know what to do, you know, cause we just shock. The
police is not coming for something like that, and we are both scared, and he just
take the picture with his phone and we take the paper and we keep it inside. In
the morning we have email for neighborhood and all the (mumbled) if somebody
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 8
around, he watch us when our light turn off he came and he did that, or what's
going on. I'm .... in the morning I just met all my neighborhood because I would
like to be able to watch me, to watch my house, you know, because they can't do
it all the time. And I emailed all of my neighborhood, sent email (mumbled) like
broke my heart, you know. Many, many people they came to my house with
flowers, with cookies, with (mumbled), all the family, all the neighborhood
family came to me and sometimes people I don't know, they came from different
area, Coralville, North Liberty, to support me. I didn't actually get any support
from the police and actually every night I don't.....(mumbled) you know, I don't
feel safe in my home, and (mumbled) neighbor because they feel I'm scared.
They brought for me camera and they would like to help me to set up the camera
because no one care about me, you know, and some of my neighbors they told me
maybe if you let your kids talk with the police that gonna be help because I have
asked them and my husband has ask them, but if my kids talk, he think they are
American, you know, and he's gonna come immediately, and I just feel like so
mad and frustrated, you know, because it just shock me. (mumbled) last week it's
too hard and the principal with my daughter, he didn't take any action. He didn't
take any action at all, until now. He never call us. He never set up meeting. He
never do anything, because same thing when I call him on the phone he found my
accent and he just like .... why he do to care about me, you know, I'm not
American, you know. He just like.....doesn't care, you know, and just shock me
that what the kids did is wrong, but it's still his kids, you know. But the principal
supposed to show him the right and the wrong, you know, but he never do
anything. Just made me mad and I'm still scared to stay up night at home because
my husband, he work nights, you know. I stay with my kids alone at night. And
I don't know what to do, but the neighborhood (mumbled) and set up the camera
and that's helped me a lot, you know. The neighbor.... my neighborhood they
support me more than the police. And I don't know, guys, what you gonna do
with my situation. (applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
Adams: Uh, good evening. My name is Adil Adams, uh, Human Rights Commission. I
live in Iowa City since, uh, 1997. Iowa City is a great place, and everybody
(mumbled) love Iowa City, and I come here in 1997, and everybody said to me
why you want to move? (mumbled) Iowa is a good place, and even this, uh...
(mumbled) is just, uh... (mumbled) but still the Iowa City police is helping us as
(mumbled) company. Anytime you call the police, they respond. Maybe the
police, they call him, he was not in good mood or he didn't respond, uh, as he
should, but still as Sudanese community, we appreciate it. The police, what he
doing to us (mumbled) our kids and hopefully in the future (mumbled) accident
(mumbled) hopefully the police just respond right away (mumbled) and uh... all
our kids, they told me, they get harass in the school. I told them just be patient
and, uh, in the future everything will be all right. So I want to just tell this family
everything will be all right and .... and the police here will help us in the future.
Thank you. (applause)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 9
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
Ali: Okay, my name is Asma Ali and I (mumbled) language teacher at Washington
High School in Cedar Rapids. I came today because I am one of the, uh,
Sudanese community member. Uh, actually I have a couple of question. One of
them is, uh, as minority in this state, we have some tradition and culture, uh,
activities. We love to (mumbled) here and (mumbled) and one of the questions
come to my mind, uh, from now on, who is going to support us as people have,
uh.... (mumbled) activity, and it's beautiful for the.....I'm going to invite some of
you as a member of this community like, uh, residents of, uh, Iowa City, to come
out and ask us about who we are. We are Sudanese. We have, uh, our religions,
actually, uh, Muslim and Christian, we present, uh, Arab, African. We are all
consider our .... ourself one nation. And we want you to know about us. If you
didn't know about us, you will not have as much respect and support to us,
because if someone ignore others or does not have an idea about what's going on
about, uh, a few people who lives around, definitely he will ignore all their goals,
all their, um, ideas, all their activities, and from now on, please, we are seeking
you as the people of power in this state to stand with us, to be with us, as
(mumbled) any time, answer our phones. Just show us that you are with us,
because we don't have nothing to do. We .... we live, we grow, our .... our kids,
um, born and grow in this country, and there is nothing to do and there is
nothing.... there is no place to go for example, going Sudan, I have a son right
now. He can't speak Arabic at all. And I am Arabic language teacher. I can
teach American people English. They will understand it; they will get it; and
everything, but my son at home, he's really late in speaking Arabic. So, show me
that (mumbled) to this country, even his culture at home is different from me.
There is big difference. I can't comp ... compare his culture with me at all. Why?
Because he have American friends at the school, American neighbors, American
people he .... who he can go out, half of his life ... I can state 90% of his life is
American style. (mumbled) I don't know what to say more than this, but .... I
thank you for the time you listening to us, and I thank you for the, uh, respect us,
to let us come here and present ourself and tell you about our feeling, and uh, we
hope in the future to find you as (mumbled) standing beside us, and thank you.
(applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
Keita: Hello, once again my name is Mariam Keita. I will be speaking again. Um, once
again I'm a freshman at City High School, and I would like to say that I am here
because it is time for a change. I'm here because ever since I was a little girl, I've
been looked at funny in the hallways at school and whispered about in the
classroom. I am here because I have been called a terrorist and many other much
worse names. I am here ... because so many people have attempted to silence me,
and I have been made to feel like my voice does not matter, because if I don't
speak up, I know that no one will speak up in my place. I am here because what I
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 10
am saying will be recurring throughout the night. It has already been said and
unfortunately, my story is not one in a million. My story is more like one out of
every two people in this very room. I am here because there are people that do
not understand my struggle, our struggle. I am here because hate exists and it is
tarnishing our beautiful community. And the sad thing is that the people who are
perpetrating that hate are not in this room tonight. They are safe in their homes,
hiding behind the cloud of an illusion. That is something that I do not have the
privilege of doing. I cannot pretend that structural discrimination is not built into
each and every one of our lives. I cannot pretend that we are all gathered here in
this tiny room for nothing. That we do not have a message. We all want our
voices to be heard because we have important things to say, and my peers have
stood up here and told you what we want, what we need, and I am implore you,
you all on this panel that have the voices to speak up for me and others that are
not being heard. What I'm saying right now may seem redundant, but it is a
message that is worthy of repetition because it is worthy of your consideration.
Thank you. (applause and cheers)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
Ali: Uh, good evening, everybody. Uh, my name is Shadelbin Ali, member of the
Sudanese/American community. Um, first of all, I would like to say that ... just the
mere fact that we as ... um, communities, Sudanese/American community, we are
able to raise our voice and make it heard — that is a blessing. Thank you,
everybody, for making that possible. Second (light applause) Thank you.
Second, I....I would like (light applause) I would like to assure my community
members and everybody else that this great country has ... has witnessed in its long,
um, history that such twists and turns, and this is not new. Just like President
Obama said yesterday in Greece, that history doesn't go straight. It has zig zags.
It has twists and turns, and ... but the shocking thing that we thought, such twists
has long part of the past, but we should not be too scared that these things happen
again, uh, and that we don't feel assured, um, as like, uh, like a new (mumbled)
this country. I have been living in this state for more than 20 years and I never
felt like I need reassurance as I think like everybody does. Um, regarding the, uh,
the incident that we are coming together tonight, maybe most Sudanese in our
community, I .... I don't condone and nobody else I think condones that the failure
of police officer to respond to our call, but .... from my experience, from the Police
Department, we had a great experience. Police was always ready to protect us, to
participate us, even participating in raising our awareness of our legal rights, I
mean legal things, um, we had Police Department coming and, um, you know,
(mumbled) participating in a workshop early in this, um, in this year, and even
nowadays I contacted them through the Sudanese community, I mean also
(mumbled) for the mosque that we need police, um, like, um, presentation or
workshop, how to protect like big (mumbled) like the mosque or something like
that, and they were ready. They said they will come, okay? And that is ... the
reason why I'm saying that we cannot judge with one incident. We don't know
what's surrounding. I don't condone it, but still we have full trust, full confidence
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 11
in the police officers, and the department, and most of all, for the, uh, for the
community of. ... of the Iowans as .... as ..... as a whole. I always say since we have
left our country, Sudan, our whole country, some willingly, some fleeing, we are
blessed to land in this greatest country, already greatest country in the face of the
earth, and even in America we feel blessed to be in Iowa City. Thank you,
Iowans. Thank you for everybody. (applause) So.....yeah. Yeah, I mean I just
want to just .... just to reassure my fellow citizens that they shouldn't be too
scared, but .... we have to take such actions, such governance, not only during the
crisis, not only (mumbled) like this, but all over, I mean, every time. I encourage
them to be a part of the life here, to be participating in all elections from .... from
up the top, to be actively involved and get to know what .... what is going on here.
Um, I was shocked and sometimes, uh, maybe, you know, bothered that many of
us, we still don't know the difference between popular vote and electoral college.
So these things, and .... and the real life and the realities of the politics, we don't...
we wouldn't be able to know unless we get involved. So I encourage everybody
not to gather only during the crisis, but in every day life. I encourage them to
participate in such meetings, to participate in elections, and the only power we
have is our vote. So I really encourage everybody to take this thing serious and
not wait till the time of crisis. This supposed to be our everyday life. Thank you
so much. Thank you, City Council Members. Thank you, Police Department.
Thank you, Iowans, as a whole. Thank you so much! (applause and cheers)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
(child): It's not about color. It's not about religion. It's not about .... it's not about color.
It's not about religion. It's about discrimination. (mumbled) Muhammad Ali.
(applause and cheers)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments.
Gurtovoy: Hi, um, my name is Aleksey Gurtovoy, uh, 4236 Court Street. Um, I came here
today to talk about, uh, the police chief selection process. And, um, I actually,
um, think there is a little bit of (mumbled) between what's been said so far and
this issue, and it seems like the City is intent on, um, fast-trackin' the selection
process and .... um, the essence of my comment is .... uh, I would urge the City
Council in particular to intervene in that process and .... give careful consideration
because, uh....what we are talking about is appointin', you know, someone in the
position of power for the department, you know, probably the most visible pub...
public department in the City, you know, the one that comes with, in contact with,
citizens on a daily basis and that has, you know, the power of serve and protect, or
you know, um .... the power to ignore and the power to .... um, you know, not serve
and protect. And ... um, I....would like to acknowledge, you know, the .... the,
there was a opportunity to ... so the .... as far as the selection process goes, we are
down to three finalists and what we've heard so far from the City, uh, specifically
from, uh.... um.....Mr. Fruin is that, you know, we're in the final stages and the
public has until Thursday to provide public comments and then, uh, he's gonna
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 12
make a recommendation based on the information that he personally collected
and, um... he's gonna make recommendation to you guys and then you
(mumbled) recommendation which from what I understand is basically,
um .... (mumbled) um, because we went through the process. There were three
finalists, one was selected (mumbled) as the choice, you know, it's been a long
process. There is a lot of pressure on you to go forward with this. What I feel is
missing in this process is the opportunity (mumbled) for the public to find out
who those finalists are and what they stand for exactly and .... you know, who
will .... if any of them are, uh, qualified to be in the position that we appointing
them to. And ... I believe that the public at large did not have the opportunity to
make that assessment. I believe there has been not enough, uh, exposure and not
enough (mumbled) you know thoughtful questioning and.... interaction between
the public and those candidates in order to make this decision. And I believe that
we as a public right now, well first of all, uh.... and my correspondence, I had
correspondence with Mr., uh, Fruin and uh..... it made me believe that Mr. Fruin
is actually not looking for more input from the public, but you know (mumbled)
more input from the public. It seems to me that the public at large is being asked
to make an informed decision in the lack of information. We ask to make a
decision, uh.... about the candidates based on the (mumbled) short questionnaire
that they filled out and .... um .... a cover letter. And the sound bites that, you
know, from the interviews that (mumbled) local press. Well, the last time we
made the decision based on sound bites, you know, that was last week ago and
you know how that turned out. So let's not repeat the same mistake and
let's .... not (mumbled) decision and ..... um, the specific objection, uh, that I have
is the, um, that there is a very, very (mumbled) extensive survey out there, uh, and
I was a part of the group that (mumbled) it was a collective effort and that ... that
survey, specifically, it's about 30 questions, uh, that, uh, concern about all the
current policing and the civil right's issues that, you know, everyone is talking
about, which have very much (mumbled) to the current political climate, very
much (mumbled) um .... they age that we live in and very much (mumbled) to all
community, and I urge the City Council, I urge this body to intervene in the
process that the .... I .... I know that formally, you know, you only come in the last
part of the process. (mumbled) intervene and insert yourself in this process and
make sure that this process, uh, shows our community better, and .... um.....
Botchway: (both talking) ...you were over five .... our five minutes. Can you wrap it up?
Gurtovoy: Yeah. Uh.... so just one, uh.... small, uh, just one sentence. So the .... one concern
that has been expressed about this survey, that it's, you know, that it's (mumbled)
and it's too tough and the questions are (mumbled) I mean we are selecting
someone who's going to be serving our community for a long time. I do not think
that it's unfair to them to ask tough questions. I do not (mumbled) I do not think
that it's unfair to ask them spend, you know, a couple of (mumbled) that's gonna
give us an idea about where they stand on the issues in the climate where, you
know, we're about to have an executive branch that ... you know, expressed
disregard for Constitutional rights, disregard for civil liberties, uh.... expressed
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 13
unconditional support for the use of police.... for the use of force by police, uh,
you know resulting in consideration whether (mumbled) expressed,
uh.... (mumbled) to, uh, deport millions of people that (mumbled) with a police
state. I do not think that any of those issues are (mumbled) cut the survey to five
questions just because we are afraid to inconvenience the candidates.
Botchway: Okay. Thank you for your comments. (applause) We're still in public comment.
I do want to thank everyone for coming, uh, I will say something about that again
at the end of public comment as well, but thank you again for coming. I
appreciate it! (light applause)
Hemingway: I don't mind speaking with the crowd because I have .... I apologize, maybe I
waited too long to come up to the mic. Uh, my name is Phil Hemingway, 415
Elmridge Avenue. Um, I come before you as a ..... community member and also
as a, uh, Board member, and of course my comments reflect myself personally
and do not reflect the Board. Thank you for the opportunity to convey .... to every
student in the district that you .... that you are, every one of you, precious to us.
Each of you have the commitment of myself and every Board member, and I'm
sure every Councilman, for your well-being and safety. Bullying based on the
assumption of any student's race, ethnicity, nationality, religious faith, or lack
thereof, gender identity, sexual orientation will not be tolerated. Period. Every
student has an equal right to be free from bullying and that that being the case,
each student must view every classmate as themselves and accord to every other
student the respect that they would want themselves. And I apologize that the...
the one gal left because I wanted her to know that her voice does matter. And it
matters to all of us. And .... (light applause) words are, uh.... singul.... or words
are the singularly most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to
use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively use
the words of despair. Words have energy and power, with the ability to help, to
heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble, and we must be very
constructive in what we say, uh.... um .... amongst ourselves and .... and, uh, with
our youth. Uh, I also want to bring to the attention that, uh, and again I apologize.
I seem to have lost the crowd, but the Board will be taking this up at our 22°d
Board meeting. It has been placed on the agenda, uh, President Lynch had
notified me this afternoon. I wanted to let the public know of that. Uh, we do
take it seriously. Um .... uh, I ... I, and I know that, uh, it means, uh, that .... that
everyone in elected office has a duty and an obligation, uh, to provide the
community that.....that we think we have, that it should be what it actually is, and
uh.... uh, I know that, uh, at .... with the School Board, we're going to do
everything in our power to make sure that our students feel safe and respected, uh,
no matter who they are. Thank you.
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (light applause)
Gowder: My name is Paul Gowder. I am a Professor at the Law School and a political
scientist and I've actually studied how Constitutional democracies maintain their
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 14
Constitutional democratic character or crumble, and I say this just to establish my
bona fide here. I am terrified right now, and .... I am terrified here because of the
grotesque unconstitutional threats that Donald Trump has made, as well as the
private actions that we've heard today from people who emboldened by his
election (mumbled) even in our own community to engage in acts of hate.
However, I .... so I....I want to speak to emphasize the importance of this.
Authoritarian movements throughout history, and as I said, I've studied this.
Authoritarian movements throughout history survive by capturing the cognitions
of the people. They survive and they thrive because people who wish to support
them and people who wish to carry out acts of hate come to believe that the
community will support them and that they will not be sanctioned, and people
who are good, people who wish to defend others from acts of hate and people who
wish to oppose the regime come to believe that they are alone, that no one will
support them. This is a consistent policy of authoritarian movements through
history, and this is why authoritarian movements like Erdogan in Turkey right
now focus on leaders and journalists and visible people to remove the people who
might give the populous the view that they .... their desire to protect the rights of
minorities and to protect rule of law principles is publicly supported, and so why
do I say this. I say this because one of the key ways to counteract that is to very,
very visibly, in our own communities, make clear our firm commitment and act in
accordance with that commitment to number one, defend our citizens against acts
of hate and hates of oppression. It is in my mind critically important right now
that all hate crimes, all acts of hate be investigated and be vigorously prosecuted
because only then will the people of the community know that they too can speak
out, that they too need not live in fear and only then will we actually have
something like (mumbled) continuing.....public support .... that people are
unafraid to show for our principles of equality under law. Thank you. (applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
Hampel: Hi, I'm Martha Hampel. Um, I live on Court Street. Um, basically my comments
are for the public. I've already emailed many of the, uh, Council Members
regarding a particular survey that we'd like to have conducted. Um, I just want to
give everyone a little background of what we're talking about actually. Um,
while we were all, um, distracted with the election, um, the City has been in the
process of selecting a chief of police, the new police chief. So they're in the final
phase of that. Last week, um, they had a meet and greet, where the public could
come and meet the three finalists. And I believe this is the only time .... this is the
only meet and greet, I could be wrong, maybe I missed one. Um, but this was our
only chance last week to come and meet the finalists and discuss issues that were
important to us with them. And so it was a two-hour, um .... it was a two-hour
meeting Wednesday or Thursday last week. So based on that ... two-hour period of
I think maybe 50 people, 60 people, showed up. Um, so.....based on that, the
public is supposed to give feedback to the City Council or to the City Manager,
um, on who they think the best candidate would be. Um, who .... who here
attended the meet and greet last week? Okay, there's four people. Who here
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 15
knew that there was a meet and greet last week with the finalists? Okay. So
that's kind of part of my point, um, a lot of folks didn't even know that there was
an opportunity to meet the police chief finalists. Um .... so .... has .... so we had
gone and, um, I .... I wasn't actually there. My husband went and, uh, took video
of.... uh, the three finalists giving an opening.... opening statement and then they
had break-out sessions where, um, community members could discuss particular
issues with each, um, finalist, and he took video to the best of his ability of those
break-out sessions, urn .... we posted it online with our report and, um .... we also,
uh, put together a 35 -question survey, um, that we would like the three finalists
to.....to complete. Um, some have said, like .... like Aleksey mentioned that the
survey is too long or the, um, questions are too hard, and, um, I'd like to, um, just
reiterated what Aleksey said and what Caroline Dieterle said, um, this is a really
important appointment to be made here in Iowa City, especially, um, like others
have said in today's political climate. So we don't take this lightly, and I'm sorry
we were distracted with the .... with the election, and that we just, um, started
working on this, or came into this, in the last .... in the last phase, in the last days
of this selection. Um .... but again, we didn't have an opportunity before last
week, um, to actually.... meet the finalists and discuss issues with them and, um,
most of the community that is concerned with the selection of a police chief, um,
or interested in this .... this topic, uh, was not able to make it to that two-hour
meeting. Um, so .... because it's so important and the police chief will
ho .... hopefully be our police chief for quite a long time, um, that's why we feel
this is important, um, and .... like I said, based on the political climate, this is a
really important appointment now for Iowa City to make. Um, so ..... we .... would
really appreciate if the three finalists would .... um.....have to take or be required
to take the 35 -question survey so that .... and the questions be made, the questions
and answers be made public so the public can actually see where they stand and
then actually give informed feedback to the City as to who their, um.....who their
favorite, um.....uh, finalist would be, um.....and.....uh.....yeah, I guess that's
my ...... that's my request from.....from you, uh, and really a ..... according to the
City Charter, it all lies on .... our City Manager. It's his decision. He's gonna
make the decision and he's going to, uh, give his recommendation to the City
Council, um, so.....we don't want the meet and greet from last week to simply be,
um, a theater or a farce, uh, just this .... to .... to make it look like the City has some
kind of input. We want the community to actually have some input in this
decision, urn.... otherwise, you know.....don't tease us (laughs) um, anyway, those
are my comments. Um, those.... that's the background behind what's going on,
urn .... thank you so much. (light applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues) Shawn, before you come up
to the stage, Council, I'm going to request, uh, can we extend the Community
Comment period for another 15 minutes? (several respond) Is that okay?
Shawn, go ahead!
Curtain: Thanks! I'm Shawn Curtain, Iowa City resident. Um .... I just wanted to talk to
you guys about the selection of the police chief today. You know, uh.....all the
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 16
power that the government has comes from the consent of the governed but it's
really just been boiled down to a very insular, small process to decide who the
police chief is going to be. It's too much .... too much power in the hands of the
City Manager. Um, you know, basically .... um.....it doesn't matter what a City
ordinance or a State law or a federal law is. At the end of the day, the laws that
are passed or whoever's in power, the way that that's, urn ... the way that the
people are impacted by that is by what the police deem to be appropriate. They
enforce the laws that are passed and they have discretion, and you know you can
have someone as a .... as a police leader like Sheriff Joe Arpaio or you can have
someone who's very great. Um....but, you know, with the climate of what's
going on, I think Iowa City needs .... not just a generic police chief. Um, we have
resumes, we have cover letters. There was a meet and greet. I wasn't aware of it.
I follow the news regularly but .... everyone was involved with the election. No
one really knows what's going on with this process. Urn .... I know there are three
candidates. I know one of them's with the Iowa City Police Department
currently. The other two aren't. I don't know anything else about `em. Uh, so
I.....I really don't think that Iowa City is .... is at this point in any position to
consent about who's to be appointed over them. Um, but .... the local activist
group that has civil libertarians and progressives and most recently passed
measure C in Iowa City has, uh, prepared a 35 -question, uh.....survey on issues
such as criminal justice reform, uh, militarization and civil liberties, and .... I guess
the question would be, if those questions aren't put to the candidates, you know,
whose interest is that in? Who would not want to see issues on criminal justice
reform and civil liberties put before the person who's going to enforce all of the
rules and all of the laws on the state, uh, of the residents of Iowa City? Urn .... sol
would ask that you guys do that. Thank you! (light applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues)
Ross: Brandon Ross. I, uh, I second the previous three comments about the survey.
I .... I hope that you do exceed to the survey. Uh, I think it's most important. I
think that, um, what happens in the policing of this town is important right now.
Urn .... I was lucky enough (clears throat) to be able to work my way through
college at Boston University. And, urn .... (clears throat) sorry! My, uh, my
favorite professor was a historian named Howard Zinn, and Howard Zinn wrote
The People's History, uh, of the United States, and Howard Zinn would basically
say this: that .... in the face of tyranny, never lose your humanity, never lose your
dignity, never lose your sense of humor, never lose your activist spirit, never lose
the spirit of music, never in the face of tyranny. Howard Zinn lives a good, long
life. He was always active and he was never cynical. This city is special, and this
is a city that calls for solidarity. We are more alike than we have differences. I
do believe that the people who voted for the current presidential administration
have concerns just like folks like me who voted for .... who caucused for Bernie
Sanders, who voted democrat, that there is a large working class group of people
out there. There's a large group of people who are poor. And the middle class
has evaporated. I would ask the City Council, the City Manager, Marian Karr
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 17
who I know runs everything, and Eleanor Dilkes, our City Attorney, who support
all policies that support the people who need, not the people who have support,
the teachers support the people working minimum wage, support anything that
gets people into affordable housing, support people who are driving cabs, people
who are doing every day jobs, every day people, and that also is a great way to
bring together not just the people who say we should have solidarity who are
talking tonight, but everybody.... because right now everybody is in the working
class and has needs, and in selecting the police chief, I think we should select
someone who supports the community and (mumbled) supporting a non -
militarized type of community. I think that we have made the mistake over the
past 35 years of using imprisonment instead of community policy, putting people
in jail, support our... our poverty stricken, not by spanking them but by
supporting them. We're all family. I call for solidarity. I appreciate the City
Council, the management, uh, and I hope that you will act accordingly and that as
far as we're concerned right now, it's game on. Thank you.
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (light applause)
Knight: Hello. My name's Roger Knight. Uh, just like to talk about two things. One is
the Police Department. It's even been.... brought on to the news how you call for
the Police Department to investigate, deal with something, and is that really what
we want, a Police Department where you have to call the news station to get them
to come? We need a police chief who I hope you guys are lookin' into that is
going to actually fix the department. It's been in shambles for a while. It doesn't
know how to police a town of this size. Someone once earlier today mentioned
that we have a small Police Department.... or has a small town Police Department.
I was laughin' about that and then I got to thinkin'. No, we kinda do. We have a
Police Department that's more designed to handle a city of Tipton, which is 3,000
people. You have that in spades just goin' to the University. Not to mention the
other, whatever.... 75,000 people that just reside here because they reside here.
You need to be able to fix this town by .... stopping everything. You get a Police
Department that we have now who stops nothing. I've seen people run a .... a red
light in front of a cop and the cop goes, `I didn't see it.' How are they going to
stop hate crimes? How are they going to stop murders? How are they going to
stop hate? Sex? Rape? When you look at a red light and go `Eh!' And the other
thing I want to bring up is low-income housing. The Mayor, who I look up to and
I think a lot of him, said that we are .... we the City Council. I'm not the Council.
(laughs) ....is going to have something on low-income housing on every agenda
for the next few months. Two straight now that you guys have not fixed low-
income housing, or had anything on it. And to think about somethin' for a quick
second on that, before you guys do move forward, is hopefully... in a way .... it's
for Iowa City residents first. Because you don't want to get into a part like
Dubuque .... who had a police department that was working just barely
and .... things just went in shambles because they brought in Cedar, or I'm sorry,
Chicago crime and they didn't know how to handle it. Nobody talks, nobody says
anything because they're scared. Well, how's a police department that's designed
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 18
to hear rumors going to do anything when they can't hear nothing. I grew up
around the fire station where if there was a call, no matter who it was, young
woman, old woman, old man, young man, doesn't matter race, religion .... we
were to get on the truck and go. We need to have a city that finally does that too.
Thank you.
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (light applause) (several talking in background)
Freund: Um, so I'm appearing before the Council today as a student at the University of
Iowa. Um....
Botchway: Can I get your name?
Freund: Um, my name is Harrison.
Botchway: Thank you.
Freund: Um, I am a resident assistant in the residence halls and so we've noticed a large
spike in the number of these kinds of like bias incidents, um, occurring
throughout the residence halls, um, and generally speaking our protocol is to have
University of Iowa Police respond, but as a University of Iowa student, the
majority of students do live off campus and do fall under the jurisdiction of Iowa
City Police, and I would also like to remind the Council, um, of an event earlier
this spring when there was an alleged hate crime which .... upon investigation did
end up being false. However, um, there was a lot of community backlash, um,
due to the response of that and the lack of coordination between University of
Iowa Police and Iowa City Police, so I'm asking that in the selection of the police
chief, um, that you listen to everyone else's concerns about whether or not the
police chief will be able to, um, build up the department to the point where hate
crimes and bias in our community can be addressed, but also so that they can
work in conjunction with University of Iowa Police to help protect University of
Iowa students who don't feel safe coming back to the residence halls, their
apartments, going to the cultural houses on campus and in the downtown area
where a lot of students reside. Thank you.
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (light applause)
Gillaspie: Hello. Um, my name's Hunter Gillaspie. Um, I'm a student at the University of
Iowa. Um, and I'm gonna talk a little bit .... I've emailed a lot of the Council
Members already, um, and I've received responses from some of them, um, but
just to kind of bring it up so more people are kind of aware of what's going on.
Um, so as I said, my name's Hunter. I'm a student at the University of Iowa and
a resident of Iowa City. Um, I'm also the Vice President of Delta Lambda Phi
Fraternity, the University of Iowa's first and only historically progressive and
queer inclusive fraternity. Um, as an active member of the LGBTQ community, I
have long been aware of the fight to end conversion therapy. I have followed the
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 19
efforts of my fellow community members, um, that have attempted to lobby
various political and medical groups in the state of Iowa, um, namely the Iowa
Board of Medicine and the Iowa Board of Psychology. Um, while such efforts
have been beneficial in making the issue known to those in power, they have so
far been unsuccessful in producing regulations that protect LGBTQ individuals in
Iowa, um, from the damaging and traumatic practice of conversion therapy. Um,
I recently stumbled across an article with news that Cincinnati, Ohio, uh, had
become the first city in the nation to ban conversion therapy. A few days later I
learned that Seattle and Miami had also banned the practice within their city
limits. Upon additional research, I discovered that five states as well as
Washington, D.C., have also imposed similar bans. Um, sorry, I'm reading off an
email, uh, cause I'm nervous and bad at public speaking, but bear with me. Um...
so in the wake of last week's election results, uh, which have invoked a sense of
fear and despair from the LGBTQ community across the nation, I think it would
be worthwhile adopting a ban on the harmful practice of conversion therapy in
Iowa City. Um, I believe that the power to make changes as individuals and as
communities is more important now, um, than it has been in recent times. I also
believe that banning the practice of conversion therapy in Iowa City would
bestow a great sense of safety and security upon the LGBTQ community of Iowa
City, and that it would contribute to a resounding statement that America's cities
will not accept the discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ platform that we are now faced
with as a result of the recent election. Iowa City and the University of Iowa have
been at the forefront of pioneering LGBTQ rights and human rights as a whole
since its inc ... since its inception, um, and I see this as a way to continue that
progressive legacy. Um, so basically that was my email, um, to all the Council
Members. Um, I received word back that, uh, a lot of the Council Members have
concems about whether or not this is, uh, within our powers. As a city, um,
because of, uh, the way the government works in Iowa, um, and how it limits the
powers of cities, um, but if we do find, ub, it to be within the power of the City,
uh.... I, and I know that a lot of, um, people that, uh, are in my community, um,
the LGBTQ community of Iowa City, would strongly suggest, um, imposing this
ban on the harmful practice of conversion therapy in Iowa City. Thank you.
(applause)
Botchway: Thank you for your comments. (applause continues) And thank you, everyone,
again for your comments. I hope you will, and we will, continue to have this
conversation and continue to hold us accountable as well. We're going to move
on to Item 6, Planning and Zoning Matters. (starts to read Item 6) Actually, one
second, can we get a motion to, um, receive correspondence.
Dickens: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Botchway: Uh, motioned by Dickens, seconded by....
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 20
Cole: Cole.
Botchway: ...Cole. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Opposed same sign. Motion carries 6-
0, Throgmorton absent.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 21
ITEM 6. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS (In accordance with the City
Attorney's memo of 2/28/07 entitled "Rezonings, Due Process and Ex parte
communications". Council will discuss # 6a at formal meeting) ITEM 6a
PLEASANT VALLEY AND NAGLE LUMBER — ORDINANCE
CONDITIONALLY REZONING PROPERTY FROM INTENSIVE
COMMERCIAL (CI -1) ZONE AND PUBLIC (P-1) TO RIVERFRONT
CROSSINGS — SOUTH GILBERT DISTRICT (RFC -SG) ZONE FOR
APPROXIMATELY 8.52 ACRES LOCATED AT 1225 S. GILBERT
STREET, 1301 S. GILBERT STREET, AND 1201 S. GILBERT STREET.
(REZ16-00002)
1. PUBLIC HEARING
Botchway: Go ahead and open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Howard: Good evening. My name is Karen Howard. I'm from the, uh, Neighborhood and
Development Services Department and I'll just do a little overview of this
particular rezoning item. Um, the properties, uh, being rezoned are located, uh,
on South Gilbert Street, at the corner of Highway 6. Urn ... the highlighted
properties are on the map. The existing site conditions in this case, uh, currently
they're intensive commercial uses or have been in the past. Some of the
properties are vacant. Urn ... they're characterized by outdoor storage, surface
parking. Uh, the area in question is .... is, uh, not very pedestrian -friendly at the
moment, um, and there's a large, uh, quarter mile long super -block that extends
all the way from Kirkwood Avenue to Highway 6. And this, uh, is pretty
important in the Riverfront Crossings District, um, because it does back up to
Ralston Creek and, uh, the new Riverfront Crossings Park. The current zoning is
intensive commercial, and there's a small .... a.....a third of the property, um, is
located here, that's zoned public, um, and then there's a .... a, the property that's
formerly the Nagle property was, uh, rezoned last year to Riverfront Crossings but
there needs to be some changes to the conditional zoning agreement for that
property. Uh, the proposed zoning, um, is Riverfront Crossings South Gilbert
because it is in part of...it is in the Riverfront Crossings District. As you can see
from the regulating plan on, uh, the map here, um.....that it does have some
conditions that would be imposed as far as the zoning goes for Riverfront
Crossings. The required streets would be Gilbert Street. There would be new
blocks that would need to be formed to break up that super -block, and Ralston
Creek would also become a street frontage as well. So it becomes much more of
a walkable neighborhood suitable for residential development. So this is really a
transformation of this area, unlike some of the areas that are just south of
downtown that have already, uh, been redeveloped into a more urban
neighborhood. This is part of Riverfront Crossings that has not, um, gone through
that transformation yet, and so the applicants for this rezoning, their intent in the
future is to redevelop it to these new standards, uh, capitalizing on the Highway 6
access and visibility, and the amenity value of the new park and to make it much
more pedestrian friendly, with a mix of residential and commercial development,
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 22
more urban frontages, um, and emphasize those connections to the new park. The
Riverfront Crossings sub -area plan had a lot of lang.... has a lot of language in it
that supports a .... a new type of neighborhood here, um, more pedestrian friendly.
It states pedestrian comfort and safety should be placed at a premium during the
design phases of this prop ... these properties, the circulation pattern should
continue, the grided network of streets already be in place, while connecting to
the larger trail network along the Iowa River, and the new Riverfront Park,
through new east -west street connections with pedestrian bridges across Ralston
Creek. So in the Riverfront Crossings plan, there's quite a bit of, uh, information
about ... how these properties should redevelop in the future, um, to transform them
from more of a quasi -industrial area to a pedestrian new ... pedestrian
neighborhood. Uh, Gilbert Street currently is not very pedestrian friendly. The
right-of-way is only 60 -feet wide, um ... there are some improvements needed here
to widen that right-of-way in order to provide the pedestrian, uh, facilities along
the street that would support the increase in residential density of this rezoning.
There's also quite a, uh, lack of green space in the neighborhood, but with the
new Riverfront Park, of course, that will be remedied. Um, but there will be new,
um, connections to that park that it will be needed, uh, for the new residents in the
future. The other aspect of the Riverfront Crossings plan, um, of course is storm
water best management practices and the need for, um, handling the storm water
responsibly. Um, part of the whole point of the Riverfront Crossings District is to
mitigate our storm water management. This is a character rendering of a new
pedestrian street that would be, uh, built in the future in this neighborhood. And
this is a concept plan from the applicants, showing how, um, this conceptually
could be redeveloped in the future with those principles in mind —the new
pedestrian streets that would connect from Gilbert Street over to the new park and
improve Gilbert Street frontage .... and some enhanced, um, landscaping in the
area. The buildings then would become more urban in nature, uh, four to six
levels.... levels of residential mixed-use, and mixed-use along Gilbert Street. Um,
this of course is the property that's being re- purposed as a brewery site right now,
and so one of the issues with the rezoning is to adjust the conditional zoning
agreement for the Nagle property to make the, uh, pedestrian connection in a new
location. So the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission,
um .... is recommending approval of REZ16-00002 subject to the following
conditions — the dedication of the necessary right-of-way along Gilbert Street to
improve conditions for all modes of transportation. This would be a dedication of
40 -feet, uh, in depth along the frontage of 1201 S. Gilbert and 1225 S. Gilbert
Street, dedication of 50 -feet in depth along the frontage of 1301 which is the
southern most property here. There may be a need for some tum lanes as we
improve this intersection of South Gilbert Street and Highway 6, and to create a
required Ralston Creek frontage here that would also comply with the sensitive
areas ordinance, which would basically create a new street that buildings could
front along the new park.
Mims: Karen, I'm sorry. Before you go any further, that 40 and 50 -feet, where's that
being measured from?
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 23
Howard: From the current right-of-way line.... current property line, along Gilbert Street.
It's (both talking)
Mims: So is that.... ballpark.... the curb going another 40 -feet into these properties?
Howard: Well the .... the right-of-way line is inside the curb. So right now the right-of-way
width is about 60 -feet. In order to get the right-of-way, um, improvements
necessary for the street....
Mims: We need a hundred feet?
Howard: We need a hun.... at least a hundred feet, yes. And I'll show you the cross-section
again. Um .... this is a cross-section that's in the Riverfront Crossings District
plan. Um, this shows after a traffic study by the consultants during that planning
effort, um, this shows a five -lane cross-section with a center turn lane. And it
includes.... right now there's not ... there's not a, uh, sidewalk along this Gilbert
Street in ... in quite a few locations. Um, this would widen it to include both the,
uh, necessary pedestrian areas, as well as the center turn lane .... through this entire
frontage. Now there has been some question about, urn ... whether this could
change into something that was a three -lane cross.... cross-section of road diet in
this area, but even with those changes, if it's in order to get bicycle lanes and
those .... those additional facilities along there, um, this is a cross-section is 115 -
feet, with the five -lane cross-section. With a three -lane cross-section, you'd need
at least 95 to 100 -feet ... to accommodate bike lanes as well. So, urn. .... that's why
the 40 -feet of ...dedication along that frontage, and then 50 -feet closer to the
intersection.
Mims: Okay. Thank you.
Dickens: Would we have to purchase that right-of-way or is that....
Howard: This would be a condition of the rezoning, um, it's part of the conditional zoning
agreement. Um, this rezoning results in a considerable increase in residential
density. In fact, the CI -1 zone does not allow residential at all currently so (both
talking)
Dickens: Was this brought to you by the owners of the property or ... was this....
Howard: So this is part of the Riverfront Crossings plan in order to ba ... basically make it a
pedestrian -oriented new neighborhood for residential development, um, this is
what was felt was needed to make these streets, uh, walkable .... in the future.
Fruin: It's a strategy that's being employed throughout the District, and so some of our
other projects, uh, for example on Riverside Drive has the Kum n' Go rezoning or
the Hanik apartment buildings have come forward. We've .... we've looked at the
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 24
plan and .... and really studied what we need to make the pedestrian improvements
to .... in order to do that, and that's the hook with the upzoning. Um, if you want
the upzoning of the property, you have to provide the City what we need to carry
out, to execute, the plan.
Howard: To give you some idea, a typical, uh.... uh, arterial street right-of-way for new
arterial streets is at least a hundred feet. So we .... we have a pretty inadequate
right-of-way width here for the type of development we're anticipating.
Cole: And just to clarify, are we tying our hands at all in terms of being able to do a
future road diet for Gilbert? I just....it's not clear to me or how does that work?
Howard: No, I don't think we are. In fact I think we need that additional right-of-way,
even if we .... we do a road di.....diet.
Cole: (mumbled) ...just wanted to clarify.
Frain: As Karen mentioned, you know, even if you're just looking at, urn .... a street....
street tree planting area, and I think there was 7 -feet in the cross-section for that
on .... on ..... on both sides, and then a .... a pedestrian sidewalk accommodation,
which doesn't exist now, um, you've got 8 -feet and 7 -feet on both sides — that's
15 -feet just on .... on one side for the non -street, you know, really just the
pedestrian realm there, and that's one of the, uh, the toughest challenges we have
on the Gilbert Street corridor is .... is really the lack of any type of pedestrian
environment.
Howard: I mean the right-of-way, you can see here from this diagram. This is the existing
right-of-way right now. And we have a four -lane cross-section. So there really is
no space for the pedestrians along the street. I mean, right now it's .... it's, you
know, a lumber yard and a .... and a garden center, so uses that haven't needed,
you know.....
Dickens: You have to walk through the parking lots to (both talking)
Howard: Right, to get to the buildings. So, urn .... that's the difference. Any other
questions about that? The other aspect of the dedication of these streets is, um,
the size of the blocks really is what makes it walkable, and I think when you had,
uh, the guest speaker come a few weeks ago, Jeff Speck, he talked about creating
those walkable neighborhoods, and most of our older parts of the city have 320 -
foot blocks. Um, this is a quarter -mile long currently, from Kirkwood all
down ... all the way down to Highway 6, and so.....to the developer's benefit as
well, to be able to have these block frontages because every building built in
Riverfront Crossings have to .... has to have a street frontage. So by creating these
new streets, while they'll ... they will have to, um, reserve hose spaces, uh, as street
right-of-way. It also allows more building to be built on these particular
properties than currently is possible. If. ... if, uh, the property were not to be
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 25
divided into these block, uh, patterns, uh, the only property, the only, um, areas
that can be developed would be along Gilbert Street. So it does, you know, add to
the development potential. So moving on with the conditions, part of creating
that kind of public realm and those new block systems is the .... is, and the way
you create those is through a subdivision process. So the applicant has agreed to,
uh.... uh, go through a subdivision process, subsequent to this rezoning process,
that would then establish those new rights-of-way, and through those....
establishment of those rights-of-way will determine how the zoning then is
applied to these properties that will allow them to redevelop. And then part of
Riverfront Crossings, of course, is also ha ... pulling the buildings to the street and
having the parking located internal to .... to the properties. This is, urn .... an image
of the Riverfront Crossings plan showing how those principles might be applied
to these properties, showing the new street frontages, the buildings that line up
along Gilbert Street, along the creek, and along these new street, east -west street
connection. Um, it shows also the ability to have, um, some on -street parking,
both along Gilbert Street and along these connections here to help activate any
new commercial that locates in those locations, and um, just s ... serve then the...
the, uh, pedestrian movement, um, and .... and vehicular cir... circulation to the
parking areas that would be off this, uh, this cross -access easement that would go
north and south. So that's part .... that would be part of the, uh, a .... a subsequent
sub.... subdivision process as well. And then finally, condition is the owner of the
property has agreed to satisfy the affordable housing obligations of the Riverfront
Crossings inclusionary housing ordinance. So with that, um, I'd be happy to
answer any questions you have.
Taylor: You mentioned parking along Gilbert. Is that just that ... that section there on those
addresses that we're talking about? I'm having trouble visioning parking (both
talking)
Howard: So (both talking) so once again I'll pull up this, uh, cross-section diagram. I don't
know how easy it is to read, or to see that, but basically the new street would be
sidewalk along the street, and then the parkway with the street trees, um, and then
opportunity for parallel parking, similar to many of our downtown streets where
you have parallel parking along the street. Currently Gi... Gilbert Street does not
have that. That serves both to activate any new commercial located along Gilbert
Street, helps to buffer the pedestrians, um, and then some opportunities for
bicycle lanes and .... and vehicular lanes as well. So, that's .... that parking would
be along Gilbert Street. There's also an opportunity for parking then as .... as the
vehicles... vehicles turn off Gilbert on those east -west street connections. Um,
some angled parking in the first, uh.... 60 -feet or so of that street would be
vehicular, leading back to the alley that also would be ... probably more service
parking or structured parking behind the buildings.
Fruin: I just want to stress on the Gilbert Street improvements that, um, you know this
was a concept developed with the plan several years ago. Um .... at some point,
uh, as we begin to, um, assemble the right-of-way on this strip, we'll need to get
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 26
a .... a more detailed concept. Um, what we're really looking for at this stage is
the flexibility. So, you know, we want to make sure parking is an option, bike
lanes are an option, nice pedestrian accommodations, that we have that flexibility.
We'll really get into deciding what the appropriate mix is down the road. You
know, it could be that you want separated bike lanes because Gilbert's gonna be a,
you know, it always has been, but an important biking corridor in the community,
so .... that's to be determined, um, and really I don't think we get into that until
some of this redevelopment starts to occur and we are able to amass the right-of-
way that we need.
Botchway: In the concept, can you go .... mmmm, up or forward. Other slide, other slide....
maybe it's there. I think it may be back, but ... um, how many parking spaces are
we talking about, cause we just talked about additional parking spaces on the
street, on Gilbert Street, and then .... it wasn't this picture. I think it was maybe
further back, and just showed a large number of parking spaces. I guess I'm just
(both talking)
Howard: Are you talking about their concept or (both talking)
Botchway: Yeah, their concept, that one.
Howard: So .... I mean, this is a conceptual drawing from.....from the applicant and I don't
think they've worked out all the details, and once they go through the subdivision
process, um, and have the zoning in place, it'll become more clear where parking
is allowed and where it's not.
Botchway: Okay.
Howard: So I wouldn't go too much about ... by this conceptual drawing here. Um, but the
zoning will really determine where parking is allowed. Um, but, uh.... the parking
can be structured. It really, the amount of parking really depends on .... for,
number one, what kind of businesses are here. If there's businesses located here,
how much parking they .... they feel that they need in this location. Um, our
parking requirements for Riverfront Crossings are fairly low for commercial, but
a lot of commercial businesses feel like they need more parking than what we
would require. For.... and then also to support the amount of residential that
we're talking about here, obviously we need some parking for the residential as
well.
Thomas: Could the, um, street parking apply to the off-street parking requirement?
Howard: Um, actually does apply for the .... for the commercial. Not for the residential, but
for the commercial parking. But once again, it's gonna be .... sort of determined
by, um, how the businesses feel about what kind of parking they actually need.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 27
Botchway: Any other questions? Thank you. Any questions or comments from the
community? All right. I'll go ahead and close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Thomas: Move first consideration.
Dickens: Second.
Botchway: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Dickens. Discussion?
I
Dilkes: Would you ask for ex parte, uh... conversations, please.
Botchway: Any ex parte communications or conversations?
Mims: Nope.
Botchway: Discussion?
Dickens: Glad to see this section picking up and going!
Mims: Yep!
Cole: One .... once again, great job on Riverfrom Crossings. Um .... nothing bad to say
about it!
Thomas: Yeah, I would kudos. As Karen I think indicated in the presentation, this ... this is
a real transformation, uh, because we're talking about really trying to create a ... a
public realm, which .... where one doesn't exist. There's no grid framework as,
you know, we .... we've been discussing over the last several weeks. So it's really
truly transforming Us .... Us part of Iowa City, which is .... it's pretty exciting. I
mean I .... I would say we're really, you know, we're approving the, um, the
zoning, the .... the street design is, as Geoff said, I think we'll need (several talking
in background) we'll need to revisit that. I was, you know, I .... I, as Geoff noted,
the ... the sharrow I think .... I think we're all become.... we're all becoming aware
of the fact that sharrows don't work, especially in a corridor like Gilbert. So....
The sharrow lane widths, all the things that we've been talking about, um, I think
will need to be revisited, but.... the.... the change in the land use and the... and the
overall urban design concept is really a .... a big move forward.
Mims: Well, and the idea when we get the park down there improved and you get
businesses and residential, you know, across Ralston Creek, right adjacent to the
park, and with these pedestrian bridges, you know, and also having bike and
pedestrian access on Gilbert is ... yeah, it .... transformative is ... yeah, it's going to
be a major, major change, so.....(several talking)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
�� regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 28
Taylor: It's a big package deal that's got kind of all of our wishes in it with the green
space and pedestrian space and bicycles and .... and residential, and, uh, just really
an under utilized area in the past that ... that's going to be transformed. It's
amazing!
Cole: (mumbled) ...one quick thing. There's so much innovation with the Riverfront
Crossing District, um, and I know it's harder to bring that innovation to new
neighborhoods, but I guess my hope for the future is that we can start pulling
some of this innovation and trying to bring it in other neighborhoods. It's more
complex, but I .... I just continue to be amazed by how, uh, good this plan is.
Botchway: Definitely! Kudos to staff'. Any other further discussion? All right, roll call.
Motion carries 6-0, Throgmorton absent.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 29
ITEM 7. UNIVERCI TY SALE, 924 EAST BLOOMINGTON - RESOLUTION
AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY HOME
LOCATED AT 924 EAST BLOOMINGTON STREET
a. PUBLIC HEARING
Taylor: Move for consideration.
Botchway: Well I'm going to open the public hearing! (several talking in background) I'm
going to get you when we come back (laughs) Open public hearing. (bangs
gavel) Any comments from staff? Any comments from the public? Go ahead
and close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Consider a motion to approve.
b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Taylor: Move for consideration.
Dickens: Second.
Botchway: Moved by.....Taylor (several talking and laughing), seconded by Dickens.
Discussion?
Dickens: It's just in a great price range. Uh, this is .... this is kinda the range that we're
thinking o£ I know we were a little worried some of `em were getting too
expensive, but this is in a very affordable range here at $165,000 and ... and it's a
great project.
Cole: Go UniverCity! I love UniverCity program! So....
Botchway: All right, any further discussion? Roll call. Motion carries 6-0, Throgmorton
absent.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 30
ITEM 8. PEDESTRIAN MALL RECONSTRUCTION - RESOLUTION
APPROVING, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO
EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST AN AGREEMENT BY
AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND GENUS LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTS, PC, OF DES MOINES, IOWA TO PROVIDE
CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR THE PEDESTRIAN MALL
RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT
Botchway: Need a motion to approve.
Mims: Move the resolution.
Thomas: Second.
Botchway: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion?
Karr: Mr. Mayor, I'd like to note the revised, uh, comment, with the total cost of the
services has been changed. It was in your late handouts. The total cost of the
services is now $709,490.
Frain: And we have a brief intro to this, and then, uh, turn it over to Scott Sovers in our
Engineering Department. Uh, in May of this year, uh, staff presented the City
Council with a, uh, kind of a status report on our downtown master plan, um, and
at that time we laid out, um, what we thought would be the most appropriate
schedule to move forward and you gave kind of a head sho.... head, uh, head nod
approval to...to move forward, um, with the next phase of. ... of the, uh, downtown
streetscape plan implementation. Uh, so Scott has been very busy, uh, this year
working on, uh, the Washington Street project. Uh, done a nice job down there,
um, working with the businesses as that project is .... is wrapping up here, and uh,
now we're preparing to .... to take a look at, uh, the improvements needed on the
pedestrian mall. Uh, and as we indicated before, um, the .... the pedestrian mall
project largely focuses on ... on kind of the, um, just the maintenance needs. There
is some reconfiguration of space, but it's certainly not, uh, a complete makeover
like Washington. Um, but uh, what's here before you is a design contract, uh, so
we're proposing that we move forward in.....in 2017 with the design, with the
intention to construct, uh, the improvements in 18 and 19, and that's where I'll
turn it over to Scott!
Sovers: Scott Sovers, Senior Civil Engineer. Uh, at the May P Council meeting, staff
provided an update on the progress of the Iowa City downtown and pedestrian
mall master plan. Since then, the quick -start projects along with the Washington
streetscape project have either been completed or are in the process of being
wrapped up. The next critical project is the pedestrian mall improvements. Um,
priority was assigned to this project because of the deteriorating condition of the
pavements and overall infrastructure. This can be, uh, seen on this ... on this slide.
Uh, we've got, uh, deteriorating pavements kind of on the lower right and then
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 31
the, uh, limestone planters are starting to .... starting to lean. (mumbled) The next
slide illustrates the schematic design of the pedestrian mall improvements. In
summary, the project will include public and private utility upgrades, repair and
replacement of deteriorated pavements, new site furnishings, enhanced planting
areas, and a permanent performance stage at the Weather Dance Fountain. The
resolution before you today is for the consultant services for the preliminary and
final design, as well as the preparation of construction documents for the
pedestrian mall improvements. At this time I'd be happy to answer any questions
you may have.
Fruin: If I could just add one more thing, uh, to that. Um, you'll recall in our discussion
on the Black Hawk Mini -Park piece, um, and, um, what we have taken from that
conversation back in May, um, is that the space will, um, more or less be designed
to be open and flexible. You won't see, um, a whole lot of fixed features in that
space. Um, certainly won't have the .... the art piece anchor that the schematic
design anticipated. So, uh.... hard to say what that'll be, but our intention going
into this, um, is .... is to keep that space open and flexible.
Botchway: Any questions? Comments? Go ahead! Oh, well I'm really excited about this.
This is, you know .... I see a lot of trees, and as I was reading our Information
Packet, and John, our Councilor Thomas (several talking) urban tree things in
there. I'm really excited about seeing that, and ... and additionally just with, um,
walking downtown, especially in the hot sun and some of the other things, I think
that it will kind of, you know, add to the vibrancy of the, uh, the walk and the ped
mall experience, so thank you!
Thomas: Geoff, did I understand you to say there .... what was your comment regarding
the .... the art enrichment, or the sculptural element in Black Hawk Mini -Park?
Fruin: The park wouldn't necessarily be anchored by an art piece, as was proposed
before with the Lens project. Not to say there can't be public art out there, but it
won't be that central focal point.
Cole: I have to say I really like the flexibility in the Black Hawk Mini -Park. I really
love what the Downtown District has done there, and so I think to keep that open
for that type of use is really going to be a good thing for the City.
Botchway: Any further discussion? Roll call. Motion carries 6-0, Throgmorton absent.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 32
ITEM 9. HIRING TWO FULL TIME POLICE OFFICERS - RESOLUTION
AMENDING BUDGETED POSITIONS IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
BY TEMPORARILY ADDING TWO FULL-TIME POLICE OFFICER
POSITIONS
Mims: Move the resolution.
Dickens: Second.
Botchway: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion?
Frain: You have a short memo in the packet, uh, that I, uh, provided to you that kind of
gives you some background and some rationale for this recommendation. Uh, this
isn't something that, um .... uh.....probably those of you that have been on Council
for a.....a number of terms have .... have ever seen before and I wouldn't expect
that you would see this very often. It's rare that we would come to you and ask
for a over -hire, uh, not only in the Police Department but really any department,
but in this particular case, we have an opportunity to, urn .... uh, make some
significant progress towards a .... a goal that has, um, been in front of us for, uh,
some time, and a goal that's difficult really to achieve, and that's diversifying our
workforce, and .... and uh, that has been a focus of the Council and the staff for
several years now, not just in the Police Department but, uh, in the City, uh,
throughout the entire City. And so what you see in the, uh, the memo that was
presented to you, is the, urn .... a current, uh, demographic, uh, make-up of our, uh,
police officer force. We have 64, uh, sworn, uh, officers at that officer rank that
...that excludes the supervisory positions, and of those 64, uh, percent we have
92.2% white and 3.1%, uh, that are black or African American, and, uh, by, uh,
allowing us, uh, to over -hire by two positions on a temporary basis, um, once
the .... once those numbers normalize, um, and we get back, uh.... uh, through
attrition to, um, a normal staffing level, we would grow, uh, the black and African
American percent of officers from that 3.1 to 7.6%, and uh... uh, a side note in
there is the 2010 census, um, has that baseline of 5.8% of our population that
identifies as black or African American. So, um, essentially what we are asking
you is for the temporarily, uh, to temporarily allow us to hire, uh, two additional
staff and, uh, again through natural attrition, we would work our way back down
to, uh, the, um .... uh, the current authorized level. Now, um .... uh, the way that,
um, police hiring works is that we, uh, create a list of, uh, qualified applicants and
so it's not the case as in most positions where if we have a police officer vacancy,
we go out and advertise, um, the .... the testing process for .... for police officers is,
um .... uh, quite .... quite intensive and it makes .... it makes a lot more sense and
has a lot more efficiency for us to go out, um, once a year, once every couple of
years and create a pool of candidates that we can draw from. Um, and what
ultimately that process produces is again a rank ordered list of qualified
applicants, and as we looked at that rank ordered list and .... and anticipated, um,
who the next people we would be, urn .... uh, offering employment to, um, we
noticed that there's, uh.... uh, three of the next four are, uh, minority candidates.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 33
So we currently have two vacancies and normally we would just fill those two
vacancies. We're asking you to allow us to ... to go to four, so that, uh, we can
bring in, again, three of the new four, uh, three of the four new hires, urn, would
be of minority status and bring them into the department. Urn .... I .... we're happy
to answer any questions. Interim Chief Bill Campbell is here and .... and can talk
about the .... the, um, recruitment and hiring process more if you have questions
about (both talking)
Cole: Geoff, when will we get back to that baseline level that you had talked about? Do
we have a .... are we just gonna wait for retire .... (both talking)
Fruin: We would wait for retirements. Typically we .... we'd have more than two, uh,
officers turn over in a particular year, whether that's retirements or, uh, voluntary
separations from the department. Um, so I would expect by, um, certainly at the
end of 2017 that we would be back to that normal staffing level.
Cole: Okay.
Mims: I'm really happy to support this. I think since I've been on Council, you know,
we've talked a lot about this and the, you know, the difficulty of diversifying the
City workforce and particularly the difficulty of diversifying, uh, the police force
and a lot of that is because, um, as Geoff said, the way the hiring is done. Civil
Service requirements, the testing, the list, etc., and .... my concern would be if....if
we don't take advantage of this opportunity, and don't over -hire, um, every police
department in the country is trying to diversify their workforce, and so the chance
of. ... if we hired one of `em now and.....and two of them we didn't get now, by
the time we have openings six months or a year from now, they may very well
have been hired away by somebody else, and .... and then we spend the next year
or two years working off from that all -white list that we have left, and so we don't
even have another opportunity to increase the diversity of that workforce until we
go out and do another testing session and develop another list. So the fact that we
have this many highly, highly qualified minority candidates on this list, um, to me
is ... is impressive. I think it's, you know, fantastic that we've got people that want
to work here and want to be part of this department. It meets our goals, and I
think probably as all of you know sitting here and certainly staff knows, I ... tend to
be one of the more fiscally conservative members of this Council, and .... (several
talking and laughing in background) I, hey, I look at that tax rate, guys! I'm
lookin' at that tax rate! Urn .... we're the highest around! We continually are. So
I am more than willing, more than willing to spend the extra money to help us
diversify this workforce when we have this kind of an opportunity, and uh.... so
yeah, glad to see it happen!
Botchway: Yeah, I was ... I would say I'm excited as well. I think this is a, I mean, Susan's
made a couple of points already. Great step towards diversity of the workforce.
also think it's going to be helpful in some of the understaffing, um, that we have
currently and, you know, another opportunity to engage the community in a
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 34
different way and so .... um, the other piece I think Geoff really highlighted is, you
know, matching our, uh.... our, uh, our percentage of our population. I think
that's something that's, uh, important to me, to ensure that we are doing what we
can, doing on a regular basis, to ensure that we are .... our workforce is, uh,
workforce, not only the Police Department but, you know, in all departments,
matches the community that we live in, and so, you know, I'm very supportive.
This is very exciting, urn ..... for many different reasons, um, but particularly,
again, for having the opportunity to really diversify our workforce in a
meaningful way, I think, Rockne, you brought it .... mentioned it during our
strategic planning period and obviously recruitment's important. I think this is a
great step. I know that, um, Interim Chief Campbell's gonna have to work on the
retention piece as well, and you know, that .... that's going to be an important
piece as well, but kudos. I really appreciate it. Good work!
Taylor: I think the timing is perfect, and I think we need to take advantage of this
opportunity because we don't know when, uh, when we would ever get this
chance again with these, uh, great... potential officers for our department.
Cole: Well .... it's something that I think Geoff has talked about too. I'm really hoping
five or 10 years from now, one of these candidates will be in an executive position
too, as well. Hopefully in this community, uh, so I think it's a really good
opportunity for us.
Mims: I think that's a really good point, Rockne, because you know as we are looking,
and .... and we had a lot of comments tonight about the police chief search, and as
I've talked to, you know, a number of people in the community, and .... and in our
own police force here, you know ..... there are so few minorities in .... in the police
force, here .... you know, percentage wise, here and nationally, and when you get a
minority candidate who .... who moves up through the ranks, and if they live out in
Washington or Baltimore or even Chicago, you know, they can kind of write their
ticket in terms of move ... if they're a good officer, they can kind of write their
ticket in terms of moving up through the ranks because there are so few, and so
that makes it exceptionally challenging for us to, you know, for example to go out
and hire a black police chief. If...if we're gonna get officers and command staff
that are minorities, probably the best way we're going to do that is to grow our
own, and so the more officers we can bring in, whether diversity.... whether it's
gender, race, whatever, then that gives us the opportunity to also diversify at the
top levels of the staff, as well, so I think that's really .... it makes a good point.
Botchway: I agree! Any further discussion? All right, roll call! Motion carnes 6-0,
Throgmorton absent.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 35
ITEM 10. ALMOST PARADISE TOBACCO PENALTY - RESOLUTION
ASSESSING A $300.00 CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST ALMOST
PARADISE, PURSUANT TO IOWA CODE SECTION 453A.22(2) (2015)
ITEM 11. DELI MART #2 TOBACCO PENALTY - RESOLUTION ASSESSING A
$300.00 CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST DELI MART #2, PURSUANT TO
IOWA CODE SECTION 453A.22(2) (2015)
ITEM 12. DELI MART TOBACCO PENALTY - RESOLUTION ASSESSING A
$300.00 CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST DELI MART, PURSUANT TO
IOWA CODE SECTION 453A.22(2) (2015)
ITEM 13. CREEKSIDE MARKET TOBACCO PENALTY - RESOLUTION
ASSESSING A $300.00 CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST CREEKSIDE
MARKET, PURSUANT TO IOWA CODE SECTION 453A.22(2) (2015)
a. CONDUCT HEARING
Botchway: All right, we're gonna do somethin' maybe a little different, I think we've done it
before, but we're going to combine Items 10 through 13. So I need a motion to
combine Items 10 through 13.
Taylor: So moved.
Dickens: Second.
Botchway: Moved by Taylor, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Need a voice vote on this
one, so all in favor say aye. All opposed same sign. Motion carries 6-0,
Throgmorton absent. So I'm going to now ... open hearings on Almost Paradise,
Deli Mart #2, Deli Mart, and Creekside Market.
Chappell: Appears that .... my name is Andy Chappell. I work at the County Attorney's
office. We, uh.... I won't say prosecute cause I don't prosecute. We handle these,
uh, tobacco civil penalties for the City and for all the cities in Johnson County and
from rural Johnson County. That sounds like we're down to four, uh, tonight.
Almost Paradise, uh, Creekside Market, Deli Mart, uh, #2, and just plain old Deli
Mart, those are all first violations within, uh, two-year periods. The civil penalty
for a first violation is $300. That civil penalty is set by Iowa Code. The Council
does not have discretion on what the civil penalty is. Urn ... and while I suppose
you could not proceed with them but then the AG's office would .... would come
in and .... and ask nicely, I suppose, and then they would keep the civil penalty to
themselves. So, um .... unless you have any questions, I have the details on all of
them. I suppose we could talk about them if you want, but .... (several talking in
background)
Dilkes: Andy has given us the .... the convictions.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 36
Botchway: Okay.
Chappell:
Botchway:
Chappell:
Botchway:
Mims:
Dickens:
Karr:
And I don't know if anyone is here to ... to speak on behalf of any of the
businesses.
I was going to mention that after .... if you had anything else.
I have nothing else.
Okay. Anybody from the businesses wanting to speak? All right, I'll go ahead
and close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Move the resolution.
Second.
We're doing all the resolutions.
Botchway: Yeah, we're doing .... so move to adopt resolutions through .... for Items 10
through 13. Okay. Motion by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Roll
call. Motion carries 6-0, Throgmorton absent.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 37
ITEM 14. JOHN'S GROCERY TOBACCO PENALTY - RESOLUTION ASSESSING
A CIVIL PENALTY OF EITHER $1500.00 OR A THIRTY DAY PERMIT
SUSPENSION AGAINST JOHN'S GROCERY, PURSUANT TO IOWA
CODE SECTION 453A.22(2) (2015)
ITEM 15. WALGREEN TOBACCO PENALTY - RESOLUTION ASSESSING A
CIVIL PENALTY OF EITHER $1500.00 OR A THIRTY DAY PERMIT
SUSPENSION AGAINST WALGREEN, PURSUANT TO IOWA CODE
SECTION 453A.22(2) (2015)
ITEM 16. NORTH DODGE SINCLAIR TOBACCO PENALTY - RESOLUTION
ASSESSING A CIVIL PENALTY OF $1500.00 AND A THIRTY DAY
PERMIT SUSPENSION AGAINST NORTH DODGE SINCLAIR,
PURSUANT TO IOWA CODE SECTION 453A.22(2) (2015)
a. CONDUCT HEARING
Botchway: We're going to do a similar thing here as well. We have Items 14, 15, and 16, uh,
no public hearing is necessary as the establishments have as ..... as the
establishments have waived the hearing and paid the fines. So I have a motion to
adopt resolutions for Items 14, 15, and 16.
b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Dickens: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Botchway: Moved by Dickens, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Roll call. Motion carnes
6-0, Throgmorton absent. We are going to move to Item 18, Council Appoint...
Karr: Mr. Mayor, would you like to note that #17 has been withdrawn and no action
will be necessary.
Botchway: Note, uh, Item 17 (mumbled) uh, Marian, is being deleted from the agenda and no
action is necessary. Thank you for that!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 38
ITEM 21. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION (Meeting Schedule; Pending Work
Session Topics; Upcoming Community Events/Council Invitations)
Botchway: So this is a little different. Obviously we made some changes recently. And so,
um.....I'll just ask really briefly are there any issues with the meeting schedule?
Okay. Any issues with the pending work session topics? Okay. Upcoming
Coun.... or Upcoming Community Events/Council invitations. We're gonna start
with you, Pauline.
Taylor: Uh, Susan and I, um, had a listening post at the Senior Center today. Uh, not a lot
of attendees, but the .... the folks that did come, uh, the handful of folks, uh, came
very well prepared and, uh.... uh, had strong issues that they wanted to talk to us
about and .... and expressed, uh, thank yous to us to ... to be there in a less formal,
uh, manner than having to come before the Council here and .... and speak with
the lights and .... and lots of people. They really appreciated the fact that it was
more that casual meeting. Uh, would have liked to have a few more people
attend, but uh, at least we did have some people stop and ... and talk to us. So... I
don't know if Susan has any more to say, and uh, yeah, and .... yeah (mumbled)
Botchway: Good deal!
Thomas: Well, I attended the, uh, groundbreaking over the weekend of the, uh, Prairie Hill
co -housing project over in the Miller Orchard neighborhood, and um ... for those
not familiar with that project, it is really been what I call a labor of love, of the co -
housing community itself. It's been years in the making just to get to the
groundbreaking, um .... so it was very gratifying to attend and ... and Jim was, the
Mayor, was unable to attend so I spoke on behalf of Council and how the project
was reflective of ...of many of our strategic plan goals and uh.....it was .... it was
just good to be there. It was a beautiful day.
Botchway: Good deal.
Mims: Nothing!
Dickens: Um .... I will have a report at the next meeting. I have a paratransit meeting
tomorrow at 1:00 and, uh, we'll be discussing, uh, North Liberty's new para -
transit route and hopefully they're working on their fixed route to have a bus
service in North Liberty. That's one of the things we'll be discussing, so .... I'll
have a little more information at the next meeting.
Cole: Were you going to bring up the issue of the resolution during your time,
Kingsley?
Botchway: Yeah. Or no, go ahead. Go ahead!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 39
Cole: Well I was just going to say, I do think it's important. We've talked about this a
little bit before, but that we do as a Council try to support some sort of resolution
in light of the recent events, similar to what we did with the, um, the domestic
violence resolution that we did, probably three or four months ago. Yeah, it was
about three or four months ago. Um, so I don't know if we need a work session
on that or what Council's thought on that. I think ... in particular to deal with some
of the hate crime issues that we've done, and to reaffirm our values as a
community. So, um, I .... you know, typically Council doesn't touch these sorts of
things, but I think this is extremely important in this day and age that we are
going to have to express our values as a community, and I guess if I could, I'd just
like to make a brief statement. Um .... you know, I think it's been a very difficult
week for all of us. Um, regardless of who you supported in the local, state, and
national elections, it is clear that this election has spos.... exposed a great divide in
this nation, and has also revealed deep divisions in our own community. We are a
city of nearly 75,000 people. We understand that while we strive for political
(mumbled) that may not always be possible. Um, people are going to hold
different views, but rather than lament those differences, I think we should
celebrate our political, uh, views and .... and celebrate those differences, and
encourage every member of this community to engage in civil discourse. I want
to just .... bear that repeating, um, regardless of our differences, we must engage in
civil discourse. More importantly I encourage community members to reach out
and engage people that disagree with you, listen to them, engage them, learn from
one another. The reason why I love living in this community is that .... is it's a
community based upon connection, listening and respecting one another,
and .... and inspiring one another, and I have to say, uh, I didn't have an
opportunity to speak to the young people tonight, but I was so inspired by every
single one of those students that spoke out, and I think it's been a very difficult
for me personally this week, but I can really say in my own view, this is the first
time in the last week and a half where I have really felt hope, and I just really
want to thank the students for what they shared with us, and I'm very much
looking forward to their leadership going forward. I was very inspired by that,
but I do want to make one thing clear. While we celebrate our diversity and many
differences of opinion, we will never stand by while some members of the
community are threatened or intimidated based upon the religion, race, class,
orientation, or gender identity. Every single member of this community has a
right to live in peace and harmony with their fellow neighbor. We will do
everything within our power to ensure that these threats and intimidation stop, and
they will not be tolerated. So, I want to thank everyone that came out and spoke
tonight. I want to thank the fellow Councilors. We are going to enter a very
difficult time. I think it's very important as a community that we really stick
together, and that we show, um, through our actions how we're .... to lead, uh, you
know, normally we ... Council time's a little bit more perfunctory, but I think in
this day and age, uh, we really have to make these sorts of statements and so, um,
I'm hoping that, you know, Kingsley, can call for a either resolution or
proclamation, obviously in consultation with the Mayor once he gets back, uh, so
we can clearly express our values, and I don't know .... do you think we maybe
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 40
need a work session on it or I don't know what people think. (several talking)
Okay. (several talking) Okay.
Mims: They're good at wordsmithing.
Cole: Yep.
Mims: And I would just like to say, Rockne, well said!
Cole: Yep, thanks!
Mims: Appreciate your comments!
Botchway: (mumbled) and I also, uh, you know, kind of (mumbled)
Cole: I'm done!
Botchway: Okay! Kind of in conjunction with that, I really appreciated the, um, I cannot
remember his name right now, but he used to be the President or he is still now
the President of the Sudanese community association, and coming up and
speaking about the fact that, you know, um, in relation to the one incident that we
don't judge the entire department, um, wanting to make clear that, you know, that
folks are very supportive of our Police Department. I think that was actually
multiple members made that comment, not just him, um, and .... focusing on the
fact that, again, not necessarily looking at just this one incident but how we can
move forward together, I think that was a powerful message, and it seemed to
really resonate with the room as well. The other, um .... things I want to quickly or
briefly... yeah, briefly discuss is, uh, was able to attend the, uh, Hancher event
again (mumbled) Joe Lavono Quintet. I just think it's an amazing, um, place, you
know. It's, you know, and I .... just amazing place! I'm not going to go into more
of that. It was amazing to see, um, Mr. Valdez on the piano, his hands are
enormous, and was able to do things that, you know, I clearly can't do cause I'm
not a pianist! Um, the other thing I was able to attend today actually, um, at noon,
or 11:30, was the ICCA celebration of the arts. Had the opportunity to present the
"Reaching Out Award" to, urn ... Summer of the Arts and.....Oaknoll Retirement
Community. Uh, just two outstanding organizations, um, in our community. I
actually forgot to, you know, say something about Oaknoll because I was all in
my feelings about the job that Lisa Barnes does for Summer of the Arts and how I
felt just .... I feel more comfortable in the community for the amazing ability that
she has to ... not only put programs together but listen to some of the community's
thoughts and pivot, um, and change some of the programming to make it even
better than it was, um, originally thought of, and so kudos to them, and from an
Oaknoll standpoint, it was one of those places that I want to live, you know, later
on in life, um, so save a spot (laughter and several talking in background) Um,
but again, um, just two great organizations from that standpoint. And, moving on
to reports from City staff.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.
Page 41
ITEM 22.
Botchway:
Fruin:
Botchway:
REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF
a) City Manager
City Manager?
Nothing.
Simon?
Andrew: I feel like I should take advantage of the microphone while I have it. (laughter)
December 6`h, uh, Ashley Monroe will be starting as Assistant City Manager. We
are thrilled to have her coming on board and, uh, really look forward to welcom...
welcoming her to the organization and the community.
Botchway: Great call!
Dilkes: I look forward to having Ashley here too. I was lucky enough to sit on some of
the .... one of the interview panels, and I think she'll be a great addition.
Botchway: Good!
Taylor: I had one more thing, since you were talking about Hancher. Uh, I was, uh,
fortunate enough to attend the dedication ceremony for the, uh, Stead Family, uh,
Children's Hospital, which is just amazing. Uh, but the weekend before that I
attended the open house so was able to go up to the 12`h floor, and talk about
being proud of our city. Uh, people talk about that press box and you've got the
view of the Kinnick, but if you go on the east side, the view of the city, it's almost
like a 360 -degree view of Iowa City, and the people that were touring were just
amazed. It's like `Wow, look at Iowa City,' and it's like so impressive, so if
anybody ever gets a chance to go up there, I mean you will just be in awe. It's a
spectacular view of our .... of our wonderful city.
Botchway: Good deal! All right.....
Taylor: And Happy Birthday to my granddaughter who turned 2 today! (laughter)
Botchway: That's a good call! (laughter) That's a good call at the end. All right, can we get
a motion to adjourn?
Mims: So moved.
Dickens: Second.
Botchway: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. All in favor say aye. All opposed same
sign. We are adjourned! Thank you!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 15, 2016.