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ITEM 2. Student Leadership Awards
Item 2a Horn Elementary
Throgmorton: Would our two students come up, please? (several talking and laughing in
background) Well, I don't know. We'll find out who gets to go first! So, I think
....you know I haven't figured out how to hold these three things and the
microphone all at the same time. Is this working? Yeah. All right, so we're
gonna start with you, Ben. Okay, so Ben Morrilly. So, would you read your
statement, Ben. I'll hold this microphone for you.
Morrilly: Hi, I am Ben Morrilly. Thank you for choosing me to receive this award. I think
I was chosen for this award because I treat all kids with how I would want to be
treated, which is with kindness and respect, even though I may not hang out with
them. I think you need to treat all adults with respect no matter what. I also think
I am polite and use my manners always. I care about kids and want to make sure
they do not feel any pain, like some other people might feel when they break an
arm or have a death in their family. I try to be a leader, especially at safety patrol
so none of the kids get hurt. Thank you very much for listenin'. (applause)
Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause continues) Well done. Thank you, Ben! All right. And
next is Piyush Pydipalli. (mumbled, away from mic) ...read your statement.
Pydipalli: My name is Piyush Pydipalli. I thank my teachers for selecting me for this award
and my parents for their support. I help the whole community by participating in
safety patrol. I help my buddies learn many things. Being a good citizen to me
means helping others and doing my duties. Boy Scouts influenced me to do
community service and as I progress to Eagle, I hope to help the community in
many ways. Thank you. (applause)
Throgmorton: Very good! (applause continues) Okay, so.....both of you are receiving student
leadership awards. They say exactly the same thing, except your name appears on
the award. Okay? So that part's different. So it says Student Leadership Award
(reads award) So .... Piyush, this is yours and Ben, let me make sure I hand you
the right one! This one is yours, Ben. So I know the proud parents are out there
because I met them earlier tonight. Congratulations to you for bringing up your
children so well. Great job! Keep up the terrific work! We're re ... we're very,
very proud of you. Okay! Help join me in celebrating! (applause) We also have
an award for Mina Al-Gharrawi. I'm probably mispronouncing that last name.
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She's not here yet. Maybe if. ... if she arrives at a certain point we could break up
the monotony (laughs) and actually give her an award as well.
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Item 3. Special Presentations
Item 3a Iowa City of Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department
Presentation
Throgmorton: Juli Seydell-Johnson. Good evening, Juli!
Seydell-Johnson: (mumbled) Council, I'm here tonight, uh, we'd like a chance to recognize a
family that has made possible one of the goals of our park master plan. As you
remember, the park master plan had a lot of goals about our park spaces and
engaging and gathering the community, but it also had specific goals about our
youth, and some of those goals are we want every kid to be able to ride a bicycle.
So we've been working with the bicycle community on that. Uh, we want
outdoor recreation skills, have partnered with, uh, Take Your Kid Outdoors.
Gardening skills as with Backyard Abundance, but most importantly swimming
skills. We want, to make sure that every child in Iowa City learns how to swim.
It's an important safety skill. It's a life-long recreation and fitness skill. Um, and
to that end we have someone we'd like to honor tonight. So I'm going to ask
Matthew Eckhardt, who is our Recreation Program Supervisor for Aquatics, to
come up. He'll give you a little bit more information about what happened, and
uh, we'll give our little presentation.
Throgmorton: Good evening, Matthew!
Eckhardt: Good evening, thank you! Thank you, Juli! Thank you, Council. I appreciate the
opportunity to come up, uh, and recognize this individual that has done so much
for our department already. Uh, kind of a brief history of where we've been in the
last couple of years, uh, in this process. In 2014 we had a fundraiser, our first golf
outing. Uh, we kind of came up with the idea that we wanted to develop, uh, a
scholarship program to reach out to individuals who may not have the financial
means to participate in swim lessons. Uh, we do have a low-income program, but
we still found that there was a barrier there. We wanted to eliminate that barrier
as much as possible. Uh, so we ran two outings over the next couple of years
with some success. Uh, we're able to provide, uh, to a certain level, but then
kinda reached a point where we wanted to reach out and do more, uh, so we
started brainstorming with ideas of what we could do, and Gary Watts came to
me, if he wants to come up, uh, and said `We should do a 24-hour swim,' and
while my mouth said `Yes,' my brain was like `How are we gonna do a 24-hour
swimT at one of our (laughs) pools, cause I knew we wouldn't want to do it at
City Park. I'm like `That's just not possible!' (laughs) But, uh, he decided he
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wanted to host it at his home, at his residence, and I thought `That's great! That
would be fantastic!' Uh, so this last year, uh, May 5"' and 6a' of 2017, uh, we
hosted our first swim here, 24-hour swim, at the Watts' residence. Um, the goal
was, well .... Gary came to me in March and said he wanted to do it in May, and
that's a .... an aggressive timeline, but uh, we got it done, with the help of a lot of,
uh, very motivated individuals. Um, so the goal we set was to raise $10,000, uh,
and Gary was going to match whatever we were able to raise. So through kind of
a fee program, uh, and a donation program, we did meet .... manage to raise $9,465
and with the Watts', uh, match, that brought the total to $18, 930. So well above
what we .... we were anticipating. Uh, we found that there was a lot of support for
this program. Um, so to date we've issued 163 individual scholarships. Uh, and
we've already started plans to do this again in 2018, uh, over that same weekend.
So, Gary, thank you for everything that you've done with us so far, uh, we do
have a certificate. I do want to, uh... make an acknowledgement of some of the
other individuals that also, uh, helped us. Uh, Jerry Protheroe, Jim Cantrell, Hal
Ide, Tom Casavant, and Ben Kieffer, and of course Rose IrIbeck, uh, who was
instrumental in the process, the coordination process. So, Gary, if you'd like to
share, uh, you said you want to share a few words.
Watts: Yeah! It was a great event. We had a lot of fun, and I did not swim for 24 hours
straight! (laughter) Just so ya know!
Throgmorton: We were wondering! (laughter)
Watts: Uh, and you're all welcome to come out next year, if any of the Council'd like to
come out and swim. It'd be wonderful! It's, uh, on Cinco de Mayo, May 4a' and
501. So, it's a good time. Uh, I want to thank, uh, all the swimmers. I think we
had around 40 swimmers and it was a great group. They went every ... every
minute of 24 hours and, uh.... uh, especially the overnight crew. They were
amazing. We had a full moon and it was beautiful out, but it was a little cold in
the middle of the night. So .... but they swam all night, so we had a ball! And it's
great to see that, uh, we can get, uh, swim lessons for kids that, uh, may not be
able to get those. So we're excited about what we did and you're all welcome to
come out, uh, next year! Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks for your good work, Gary (applause)
Eckhardt: Gary, before you go, just a small certificate, uh, thanking you for everything
you've done for us. I'm lookin' forward to moving forward. Thank you!
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Watts: Thank you.
Throgmorton: I'd like to mention too. Uh, Gary, I remember very clearly meeting you 22 years
ago in this room (unable to hear response from audience) and then (laughing)
well, I don't know, we both look a little bit different than we did back then, right?
Thanks so much for your help on this!
Watts: My pleasure!
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ITEM 2. Student Leadership Awards
Item 2a Horn Elementary
Throgmorton: Yeah! So we're gonna break up the routine here. Can you turn that back on,
Ashley?
Monroe: Yes, of course!
Mims: Come on up here! Come on up here. Come up here and turn right around. The
Mayor is gonna come right there. So turn right around.... there (both talking)
Throgmorton: .... just be ... well that's good! Stay right (laughter) Hi, thanks for comin'! I mean
I know you're gonna get an award right here and I'm gonna read it in just a
second. Uh, and I'm sorry you had to miss the first time when your two fellow
students got an award, but thanks for hurrying to get down here. I know you
accidentally went somewhere else by mistake. Okay, so do you have a statement
you want to read? Okay. Here, I'll hold this and you can talk to your audience,
and maybe even your mom (mumbled)
Al-Gharrawi: I think I would be a great leader because I'm respectful, responsible, and caring
and honest. I also think I would be great at student council because I .... because I
listen and always do my best. And I do not judge people .... p .... people because of
how they look or what they wear. I also treat every person equally. Thanks for
listening. (applause)
Throgmorton: All right! (applause continues) So let me read this award for you. (reads award)
Here you go! Thank you! (applause) Thanks for getting her down here! I know
you had ... you had to kind of move around to do it. Okay! Good deal. Thank
you!
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Item 4. Consider adoption of the Consent Calendar as presented or amended
Throgmorton: ... and I'd like for the motion to involve pulling Item 4d(7) for separate
consideration.
Mims: So (both talking)
Botchway: Second!
Mims: So moved (both talking)
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway (laughter) Uh, discussion? Hearing
none, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. All right, let's do Item 4d(7), support
of carbon fee and dividend program.
Item 4d(7) Support of Carbon Fee and Dividend Program - Resolution
calling on the United States Congress to pass a Revenue Neutral Carbon Fee
and Dividend Program
Mims: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Is there anybody who
would like to address this topic?
McCoy: (mumbled) ...sign in or register somewhere?
Throgmorton: Yeah. Should be right there. Good evening, Jamie.
McCoy: Hi! Um, my name is James McCoy and I'm a volunteer with the Iowa City
Climate Advocates, and we are the local chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby.
I'm here to urge you all to vote for the carbon fee and dividend resolution that
we're considering tonight. I want to thank you for approving the carbon reduction
goals resolution earlier this year. Efforts at all levels are important to solving this
problem, but .... we need a national strategy to address climate change. To be
successful, any national strategy has to meet three criteria. It needs to
substantially decrease carbon emissions. It needs to do so without detrimental
effects on the economy. And it needs to have bipartisan appeal. The Citizens
Climate Lobby studied all the known options and concluded that the carbon fee
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and dividend best meets these criteria. Briefly, the carbon fee and dividend is a
revenue -neutral charge on carbon dioxide emissions with the return of revenue to
households. The fee would be placed on fossil fuels at their entry into the
economy, whether that's the oil well or the coal mine or the point of entry, uh, for
imports, and starting at $15 per ton of CO2 emitted by that fuel, and increasing by
$10 per ton per year. This with time would price carbon fuels to reflect their two
....true social costs. Revenues generated by this fee would then be returned as a
monthly dividend to all U.S. residents. The two-thirds of households at the lower
end of the economic ladder would break even or receive more in dividends than
they pay in higher prices for increased energy costs, and that would leave extra
disposable income in their pockets to stimulate the economy. The dividend part
of this program would be similar to the Alaskan Permanent Fund that sends
checks from all North Slope investments to all state residents. It would inject
billions of dollars into the economy. The third component of this proposal is a
border adjustment on imports and exports to maintain American competitiveness.
Goods going from the U.S. to the countries without a similar carbon fee would
receive a proportionate rebate to account for the increased energy costs of
production. Goods going, uh, in ... or coming into the United States that don't have
a similar carbon fee would be assessed a fee on entry into the country to level the
playing field. And this would prevent companies from fleeing the United States
to places where they could pollute for free. The carbon fee and dividend would
spur innovation and it would build aggregate demand for low carbon products at
the consumer level. This approach has been thoroughly studied by Regional
Economic Models Incorporated, which is touted as one of the best economic
modeling firms in the country by the Wall Street Journal. It projects carbon fee
and dividend would reduce CO2 emissions 50% below 1990 levels within 20
years. And it also projects an added 2.8 million jobs above baseline. Uh, within
20 years. Meeting the second criteria I talked about before. This approach has
bipartisan appeal. Carbon fee and dividend is appealing to the more liberal end of
the spectrum because it substantially addresses a problem that's been of grave
concern to them. Conservatives have been much more reluctant to accept car ... or
climate change, in part because solutions often seem to involve more government
regulation and more political interference in the economy. The carbon fee and
dividend approach results in minimal increase in government. It does not put
money in the hands of government officials to be dispersed based on special
interests influence or who's donated to a politician's campaign. It does not take
money out of the economy as the proceeds are quickly dispersed to the people,
and its rules are simple and transparent. In summary, our country needs a
program to address climate change that can be adopted in the near future. It needs
to effectively decrease the 02 emissions, and it needs to do so while not harming
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the economy, and it has to have bipartisan appeal. The carbon fee and dividend
meets these criteria better than any other known option and I strongly encourage
you to support this resolution. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Jamie! Good evening, Eric! I haven't seen you for a while.
Johnson: I'd also like to, uh, speak in favor of the carbon fee and dividend. (mumbled)
Uh, I'd like to thank Jamie for spearheading this effort. He's the endorsement's
chair of our local chapter of the Iowa City Climate Advocates. Uh, my name's
Eric Johnson. I am the, uh, co-chair, co -leader, co-organizer of this group. Um...
so it's a, we're really thrilled to, that this is before you guys tonight and we really
hope that it passes. Um....Congress needs to hear from us, from citizens, but they
also need to hear from our, uh, the .... the name for you guys is a `grass top'
instead of a `grassroot' so we .... the grass .... the grass tops are especially
important because, uh, you guys stick out and, uh, the politicians pay attention to
you guys, so supporting this is a big deal. And I also wanted to say that, um, this
tax, it's.... we call it a fee because it's not growing the size of government, but
elsewhere in the world, in Canada, uh, British Columbia, they've passed this.
They call it a carbon tax there, but it's revenue -neutral and they've done this, uh,
since 2008 and it was passed by a center -right government there. And, uh, since
its inception, it's reduced carbon emissions from 5 to 15%, depending on the
various factors that you look at. And that was only covering 75% of the carbon
emissions in British Columbia, so it's been pretty effective there. Um, and the
longer it's been in place, the more political support it's gotten. When they
enabled it, when they first enacted it, it was slightly, uh, like 50 -some percent
were against it and now it's down into the low 40s. Um, as of 2016 I think. Um,
so yeah, I just wanted to give you an example of a real world, uh, carbon fee and
dividend situation that's working out pretty well, and uh, encourage you guys to
vote in favor of, uh, endorsing this resolution tonight. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Eric. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else, Council discussion?
Thomas: I'd just like to thank, uh, Jamie for reaching out, uh, to all of us and, um .... really
appreciate that, you know, we as a community moving forward on this is really
what it's all about. So I was really, really pleased that, uh, he reached out and that
we're now in a position to support the program.
Cole: No, I agree with John and I had a lot of great conversations with Jamie on the
phone. Um, but I think it's really nice to see these sort of citizen -led initiatives.
You know we don't, frequently, endorse sort of federal level policy changes, but I
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think from time to time, it is important that we weigh in, because even in those
circumstances where we don't have, um, the literal power, we do have a platform.
I guess I didn't know I'm a grass top (laughter) um, I like that metaphor. That's a
good one. I'm gonna use that in the future. Uh, but we do have this platform and
I think from time to time in a judicious way we should express that, especially
when we have such a well thought out platform of which to support. Um, so
really appreciate this and I'm happy to support it.
Throgmorton: Terry? Kingsley? No. So I've long supported carbon fee and dividend. I believe
its adoption would facilitate our ability to reduce carbon emissions while also
stimulating market interest in low carbon technologies. This is basic market
economics. While, um ... and returning most of the income to all households
would be a very fair way of taking care of, uh.....uh, equity concerns that would
otherwise matter a lot. So, I clearly support this, and I .... in fact I've talked with
Senator Grassley about it in his office. I did that like five years ago, uh, as a
member of Iowa City Climate Advocates way back when. Way back then. That
said, I .... I have to admit, I'm pretty skeptical that Congress would adopt the
dividend part that's, I think, crucial to this whole thing. I .... I .... my guess is
they'd find some other way to use the money. But that's not what we're voting
on tonight. What we're voting on is the carbon fee and dividend proposal as
presented by Citizens Climate Lobby, and I'm very happy to support it. So, any
further discussion? All right, so hearing no more discussion, uh, all .... uh, roll call
please. Motion carries 6-0. Thank you all for coming and supporting carbon fee
and dividend. (applause) Okay!
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Item 5. Community Comment (items not on the agenda). [until 8 pm] Community
Comment will be continued, if necessary, prior to "City Council
Information" item at the end of the meeting agenda
Throgmorton: So anyone who wants to address any topic that's not on the formal meeting
agenda should feel welcome to do that now. I'd ask you to state your name when
you come up to the podium and .... take not more than five minutes to state what's
on .... whatever is on your mind. So, who wants to speak? Good evening, Ginalie!
Swaim: Hello! Hi, my name is Ginalie Swaim. I'm the Chair of the Historic Preservation
Commission and I also co-authored the piece in your packet about the "Saving
Iowa City's Oldest House," and I just wanted to say briefly tonight that I'm really
grateful that the City and City Council are joining in the conversation now about
the Sanxay-Gilmore House. Um, as that story is shared with the broader
audience, as it will be soon, I believe that you will be hearing that the future of
this house is very important to a lot of Iowa Citians and a lot of people with
connections to Iowa City who may not live here anymore, but who value its
history and its roots, and it should be important to (laughs) a lot of Iowa Citians.
We don't have many 170 -year-old houses around. That is very old for the
midwest, unless it's like a river town like Dubuque or, uh, Burlington or Keokuk
or such. Um, another amazing number is that in only 20 years, I had to do the
math to make sure this was right. In only 20 years we will be celebrating our
bicentennial. And we want to look back on our actions today and said .... and say
that Iowa Citians did right by (unable to understand) in his fine brick house on
Market Street. So, I hope to talk to you more about it in the future, but thank you
for, uh, starting to think about it seriously.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else, we'll move to Item
6, Planning and Zoning Matters.
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Item 6. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 6a S. Gilbert Street and McCollister Boulevard (Preserve at Sandhill) —
Ordinance conditionally rezoning approximately 21.79 acre of property from
Interim Development Multifamily (ID -RM) zone to Low Density Multifamily
Residential (RM -12) zone located north and south of the intersection of
South Gilbert Street and McCollister Boulevard. (REZ17-00001)
a) Public Hearing [Continued from 11/21 meeting]
Throgmorton: So .... I should ask for ex parte disclosures. Anybody need to report anything?
I .... I will say for .... for the public's benefit that in our work session prior to the
formal meeting, we had a consultation with the Planning and Zoning Commission
and so there was extensive discussion during the work session.....pertaining to
this topic. Okay, with that I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Anybody
who would like to address this topic? Okay. Seeing no one I will close the public
hearing. (bangs gavel)
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration) [Deferred from 11/21
meeting]
Thomas: Move first consideration.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Mims. Discussion?
Mims: Well I think based on our discussion at the work session tonight it was pretty clear
that there were some significant issues, um, that P&Z had and that we had. Uh, I
think while there's an awful lot of support for this development, um, there's
certainly some tweaking that I believe that we all felt needed to be done, um, from
infrastructure, um.....in terms of McCollister, in terms of a controlled intersection
at McCollister and Gilbert, um, some of the design in terms of transition from the
current housing into the new development, um, and just the price points
and .... and sizes, etc., of the structures within, um, the area. I think those were
probably the three key ones that stuck with me in terms of some issues, and I .... I
think P&Z kind of, uh, agreed with that and hopefully the developers got enough
of an idea and direction of what, um, we're kind of looking for in terms of, um,
you know, some .... some changes there, and the other thing I think that was really
brought up was .... in doing that, hopefully a little more, um, consultation with the
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neighbors and getting them a little bit more on -board as well, so .... um, I expect
that we'll see this go down to a 0-6 vote but not .... not because we're not
interested in support of the project. It just needs some tweaking before we can
fully support it.
Throgmorton: Anyone else?
Cole: Yeah I just want to emphasize too, there's a lot of parts to this design that I do
like. Um, so ..... and I think in particular the .... the concepts, and I'm hoping that a
lot of these pieces will remain part of the final design, just not all of it, and I think
Susan really said it well in terms of really reaching out with hopefully the
neighbors and the developer. I know you're probably not gonna get 100%
agreement, but you know, there's that Rolling Stone song `You can's always get
what you want, but you gotta get what you need,' so I'm hoping that both sides
can, you know, the developer can get what it needs to make the project work, and
the neighborhood can get what it really true needs too, and then hopefully there'll
be some middle ground, uh, that you'll be able to achieve.
Throgmorton: I'd just like to re-emphasize that we had a very fruitful conversation with the
Planning and Zoning Commission. I think we benefited from what they had to
say. I think our conversation enabled the developer to hear the kinds of changes
that would be required in order to come back here and get approval, sufficient
approval, from the Council. So.....we'll see what comes, as things transpire over
time. Yeah. Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call, please. Motion
defeated, uh, 0-6. Could I have a motion to accept correspondence please?
Dickens: So moved.
Botchway: (both talking)
Throgmorton: Moved by Dickens, seconded by Botchway. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries.
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Item 8. Rental Permit Requirements - Ordinance amending Title 17, entitled
"Building And Housing," Chapter 5, entitled "Housing Code," to establish a
rental permit cap and to strengthen the minimum requirements for rental
housing. (Second Consideration)
Mims: Move second consideration.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Would anybody like to
address this topic? Okay, I don't see anybody. Council discussion?
Mims: I'm just happy to see us moving forward on this and know we have more to come,
um, as staff has time to fill in the other pieces and gaps to, uh, really address the
issues that were put before us when the State Legislature, um, made it impossible
for us to use familial status in our rental orga... ordinances. So, uh, stabilization,
particularly for the Northside. I'm glad with the changes we made in terms of the
map and, uh, those boundaries, so that we can .... and, uh, in lowering the cap to
30% so that .... we can always up it. We can always up it if we decide to, but I
think this gives us a good start, and I think it's something, as we talked earlier,
that we're gonna have to be re-evaluating at least on an annual basis for the next
two or three years to kind of see how it's.....how it's working.
Cole: I think the irony with the Home Rule limitation that .... that we now don't have a
tool .... a tool to regulate, but these particular changes I think'in some respects may
even make the neighborhood better, um, so I guess I don't know if I want to thank
the legislature (laughter) I'm not going that far, but I just really want to
compliment the staff for having all of these tools. It's a very complicated issue.
Really engaging with the community, and I think we're going to get a really great,
uh, regulatory framework that hopefully we can tweak over time, if need be, if it's
not wor.... working quite in the way that we want it to.
Throgmorton: Yeah, I think I want to say something about, uh, so .... some quotations that
appears in The Daily Iowan today. As .... as Ben and Gustave know, I spoke with
students at UISG, to the senators, about affordable housing in relation to students.
Was it last week, was it? Yeah. Time passes (laughs) you know, uh, it was a
very fruitful conversation. I don't know, you have 70 senators, 60? Somethin'
like that. Yeah. So, uh, they were all.... almost all of `em were present. We had a
good extended discussion. But in the DI today, several students were quoted as
being opposed to this particular ordinance and I think they did, they
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misunderstood what we're doing. Uh, my sense was ... that at least many of the
people quoted, many of the students quoted, seem to think that we would
somehow be, uh, eliminating rental permits in the areas, in the neighborhoods that
are being affected. That's not what's happening. We're putting a cap on rentals,
all existing rental permits continue. I mean nobody's gonna lose, no landlords are
gonna lose rental permits in those neighborhoods.....unless they violate some....
some other part of the code. So tha.... that means all those units that are being
rented right now, uh, will continue in effect. But.....also the .... this particular
rental cap applies only to single-family detached housing that's used for rental
purposes, or duplexes that are used for rental purposes, not apartment buildings.
So, it .... it's not (both talking)
Mims: That's a significant (both talking)
Throgmorton: ....significant, uh, difference. Uh, so I just want people to know that that's the
case. So, with that in mind, uh, any further discussion? Okay, roll call please.
Motion carries 6-0.
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Item 9. Council Appointments. Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be 18
years of age unless specific qualifications are stated.
Throgmorton: This may be the fastest we've gotten to Council appointments before. All right,
let's see (several talking in background) Yeah, we have several appointments to
make. What am I supposed to do with this first part? Should I read all the ones
that, you know, that I always have to read? (laughs) You know, like Airport
Zoning Board of Adjustment. Yeah, I guess I should. So, all right.....
Dilkes: You don't have to read them. I mean it's a .... that's up to you.
Dickens: They're publicly posted, so.....
Throgmorton: Yippee! (laughter) Okay. One vacancy on the Board of Adjustment to fill a five-
year term. And we received one application. So, what do you folks want to do
about that?
Mims: I would suggest we appoint Ryan Hall to the Board of Adjustment.
Botchway: I would agree!
Throgmorton: Any further discussion about that?
Cole: I'll recuse myself.
Throgmorton: Okie dokie! All right, sounds like, uh, there's agreement we should appoint Ryan
Hall to the Board of Adjustment. With regard to Board of Appeals, we have....
Dilkes: Do you want to just vote on that Board of Adjustment one now? Since .... (several
talking) ...recusing himself and then he can....
Throgmorton: Sure! All in favor of that motion say aye. Opposed. So it's, uh, 5-0 with one
(several talking in background) Okay, uh, Board of Appeals, we have two
vacancies to fill five .... two five-year terms. And .... we received one application
from Andrea French, who currently is serving her first term. (several talking)
Second term, I'm sorry. Yeah, that's right, second term, and we have a policy
against re -appointing people to more than two terms now. This is unique though,
so what do y'all think?
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Mims: That was my question on this one because it is her second and normally we
wouldn't, but we have two openings. We only have one applicant, and I'm also
wondering because of the categories within here if it's pretty tough sometimes to
get applicants. I'm seeing nodding of heads yes from staff, so I would approve....
I would suggest that we go ahead and appoint her to a third term.
Thomas: Yeah, I think this is a special circumstance it seems.
Botchway: Yeah. I .... I'm worried about how quickly we're able to, you know, kind of
change the, I mean, throughout mine I look at ... I'm having questions as far as,
are .... what is our policy? I mean our policy was against the second term. I'm not
saying this is not an exception, but .... I mean, ultimately did we provide
opportunities for previous people to say that there's exceptions as well, um, you
know there's gonna be a couple coming up that have been consistently in here that
I think we need to have conversations about. I'm supportive, as well, um, but I
mean it is a concern as far as how we're .... how we're thinking about it if we're
truly wanting to look at (mumbled) make sure we have some fresh faces on our
commissions.
Cole: Uh huh!
Mims: I think for me, Kingsley, one of the key things is we don't have enough applicants
even to fill the openings that are there. Um, and so it's not choosing her over any
other new person. So .... and we can talk about the Senior Center issue in a minute
when we get there, um, so .... I think if we don't even have enough applicants, and
somebody wants to reapply, I don't see a problem with giving them a second, or
in this case, a third tern. I know with Senior Center we decided to kind of take a
break from that for an extended period of time because the person had been on for
six terms, which is really getting out there in terms of the timeframe. But, um, I
think as we go through the rest of these tonight, I think that is definitely
something that we need to keep in mind, and I think we also need to be thinking,
because we've talked about .... the fact that we really want to give different people
an opportunity, I think we also need to be looking at appointing.....people going
from one commission to the next, and so you truly aren't getting fresh faces
across the commissions. You're just moving somebody from one commission to
the next commission. So, they end up serving 10, 20 years on commissions, just
going from one to another. So I think.....I think we need to look at it not only on
the individual commission, but also how long and how many different boards or
commissions they've been serving on as well.
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Throgmorton: Yeah, we could have that discussion at some point. Uh, I .... I want to state for the
public's, um, benefit here what the requirements are for this position, or actually
there are two vacancies, right?
Mims: Right!
Throgmorton: So, uh, Kellie, Eleanor, help me if I misstate this. It's my understanding that we
have a two female requirement. Now that doesn't mean we have to appoint a
female, but it means we have to keep the position for long enough and then if we
can't fill it with a female then we .... we can fill it with a male. But also there's
a ... one of the appli... one of the appointees has to be a licensed plumber. And the
other has to be, uh, an HBA rep, Homebuilders Association, representative or
someone qualified by experience or training. That's a pretty.....
Dickens: Specialized!
Throgmorton: (several talking) Very specialized (mumbled) so I .... I think an exception is
warranted in this instance. All right. Any further discussion? Why don't we vote
on this, do a voice vote on this as well?
Dilkes: You can just do this one in the .... with the rest of the group.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Mims: I would suggest maybe we do this one separately, only because we may have
some disagreement on Human Rights. Maybe we won't, but there's an awful
(several talking) Yeah, there's an awful (several talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, so, uh, appointing Andrea French. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries. All right. Which brings us to the Human Rights Commission. We have I
think 42 applicants for three positions. No, well 41 for three. And there's a two
female requirement and the other is, uh, it's not relevant. So, whatda y'all think?
Mims: Well I went through and ..... as I'm sure everybody else, spent a lot of time
(laughs) reading through these and taking a few pages of notes. Um, and .... and
looking, as we've talked about things before, not only gender but the other
diversity issues, um, you know, in terms of race, ethnicity, um, gender identity,
etc., and all those .... but having looked at all those, I think we still have to come
back to who do we, you know, with .... taking those into consideration we still
have to look at qualifications. And we want to make sure we have really good,
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qualified people on here. Um, the .... I came up with Ingrid Anderson, um, she's
an attorney by training. She works in environmental compliance. She .... I felt
like she had a strong, um, experience and activity within.... within social justice,
civil rights. She'd been on the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission. Um, so
she was the first one I had. I'll just give you all three and then we ... guess we can
go from there. I had, urn, Arianna Aaron, Aron, A -r -o -n. Um, she's an advocate
for homeless youth. She's worked in a number of the ... the local non -profits,
young African-American woman. Um, thought her .... her work experience and
activity within the community, um, lent a lot of, um.....just.... it was a strong
point to .... to her application. And then my third one, once I had those two, again,
gender was no issue in going to the third one and urn .... my third one I went with
Jonathan Munoz. Um, he is actually a practicing attorney. Um, he did a lot of
legal aid work and, uh, I think does a lot .... I don't have those notes right in front
of me, but does I think a lot, uh, still within, uh, kind of the civil rights and .... and
those kinds of areas. So, uh, a lot of very good applicants. Um, we saw a lot of
students, I think based on a presentation that Stefanie Bowers had done, uh, to a
class at the University, and I want to, um, applaud those students for, you know,
getting out and applying. Uh, they're up against a, I think a very, very strong
group of. ... of applicants with a lot of experience and a lot of. ... a number of them
with I think some very relevant experience, um, for this commission, so....
Botchway: So (several talking) so I would agree. Um, I had Jonathan Munoz, um, was mine
as well. I also, um ...... I think you may have mentioned age as well, so I was
thinking about commission age, and I believe he's 27 and I .... I believe Arianna
Aron as well is, um, I don't have (both talking)
Mims: 25.
Botchway: 25, okay, I didn't have it on my notes.
Throgmorton: Support her also.
Botchway: Support her also, yeah, um, the only thing I think we're in disagreement on is
I .... I chose Damita Brown. Um, I've met Damita Brown a couple of times now in
various, um, instances. Um, she's, um .... because I don't know exactly which
way I want to describe her, I mean she does a lot of work .... she started with doing
some work in the community. She has a lot of experience, um, in teaching and
one of the things I also thought about when focusing on the Human Rights
Commission is the .... the thought around how our commissioners lead ... or guide,
um, the conversation as they move forward and as you see commissioners come
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on, certain things happen and change in different... and so, you know, she has a
focus on, um, really empowerment, um, of. ... of communities of color. Um, she
has a .... a ... a wonderful tendency of calling out instances of social injustice, even
somewhat awkwardly in .... in situations where I may not have wanted to step
there and she decided to step there and really me being proud of her for that and
sol....I'm supportive of her. Uh, she .... she's mentioned to me, uh, discussions
about Freedom Schools and wanting to incorporate more of a discussion around
empowerment (mumbled) when it focuses on the African-American community,
and she's done some wonderful work with Midwest Telegraph, and so, um, so
that.....that's the only reason. The only difference!
Throgmorton: Okay! How bout the rest of you?
Thomas: I, urn .... have, uh, Jovana Davidovic, uh, who, um .... has lived in Iowa City I think
four.....
Mims: Four and a half.
Thomas: Four and a half years. Uh, one .... one thought with .... with Jovana was she's, uh,
has an international perspective on human rights, which I thought would be an
interesting contribution to .... to the Commission's....
Throgmorton: She's from Serbia, right?
Thomas: Serbia, yeah, she's a Serbian. Um .... the second person I had in mind was Cathy
McGinnis, who, um .... also seemed to have a pretty strong background in.....you
know, working kind of on the front lines with respect to people who are, you
know, human rights often become .... come into play, uh, and ....... I had several
others, uh, Solomon Worlds, Peter Gerlach, and David Borger Germann, uh, as a
possible third candidate.
Throgmorton: But you're not gonna name just three, right (laughter and several talking)
Thomas: Una .... I didn't have a strong feeling about those three, uh, I guess if I were to lean
toward anyone it might be Solomon Worlds.
Mims: Who were those other two though?
Throgmorton: Yeah, who were they? (both talking)
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Thomas: David ... uh, Borger Germann and Peter Gerlach.
Throgmorton: Okay. Terry? Rockne?
Dickens: I had McGinnis, uh, Arianna, and Mu .... Munoz. Those three.
Mims: Okay (mumbled)
Throgmorton: To jump to the quick here, Rockne, I don't know what you're gonna do, but I
definitely had Munoz (both talking)
Cole: Yeah, I was gonna (both talking) Munoz.
Throgmorton: So okay .... so Munoz is gonna be one appointee.
Mims: Whose were yer.... yours again, Terry, I'm sorry.
Botchway: Yeah, I missed the first one.
Dickens: McGinnis and then Arianna.
Cole: I was going to do Arianna too.
Mims: I had Arianna too. Okay.
Throgmorton: Uh, you mean (several talking) last name. So, Rockne, would you please state
your three or whatever.
Cole: So that would be .... so I did Jonathan, Arianna, and I am gonna support, um,
Damita as well. I share Kingsley view on her. I think she's done a lot of terrific
work and I think she's gonna really do, um, excellent work on the Commission if
she's selected. Solomon, I'm the biggest Solomon World fan. I think he's a great
guy. He's only going to be here for like five months, so I had a concern about
that. Urn .... but, if he were here for like just a little bit longer, I would totally
support him. Um, so if you're listening, Solomon, that's the issue. Um .... but
yeah, those three, Damita Brown, Arianna, and Jonathan.
Throgmorton: Okay, I think I heard four in favor of Aron already, right? Okay, so there's
another appointee. So Munoz and Aron for sure. And I can say that I had, like
John, I had like six female names .... or seven actually, identified — Ingrid
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Anderson, Damita Brown, Julie Christensen, Jovana Davidovic. Vanessa Fixmer-
Oraiz.
Mims: Vanessa's already on another (several talking) Oh she is? I'll delete her.
Botchway: I saw that twice.
Mims: Yeah.
Throgmorton: Vanessa, you're deleted. Uh, Cathy McGinnis, Emily Rands. So I .... I .... I think
all of them would be ...... appropriate, but we're left with .... well, McGinnis had
two votes. Uh.... (both talking) yeah I could .... I certainly could support
McGinnis.
Dickens: Brown has two.
Throgmorton: Brown had two. I could support Brown too, so ..... but I don't have that many
votes.
Botchway: I think you should change your vote to Damita.
Cole: Yeah, that's what I think.
Botchway: ....get a chance to meet her.....
Throgmorton: Oh I have met her! I've talked with her at length, uh, several times and she writes
public, uh, opinion pieces for the Press -Citizen off and on. Yeah, uh, I .... I can
support Damita. But we already have two appointees and we only need .... well
we need one more. So, Brown, Davidovic, well, Brown and McGinnis are the
ones that have the highest number of votes so far. But....
Cole: Brown needs one more.
Mims: Just out of curiosity with the returning members, um, I don't know race or
ethnicity, um, I mean I know Adil Adams, know Joe Coulter. I don't know the
other three. Do we have any African-Americans that are already on and are
staying on?
Throgmorton: Um, I think .... we can probably figure that out.
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Mims: (both talking) (mumbled) Falk, and Pena.
Throgmorton: Yeah, let me find that.
Botchway: To that end I think this highlights one of my points I made during the work
session as far as having that information available.
Throgmorton: Well it is (both talking) yeah, we don't have that information available, but we do
have the names of the current members and so on.
Mims: I'm thinking that there's not. (several talking)
Throgmorton:... Coulter .... yeah, there's no African-American representative. And not that
we're formally appointing an African-American (both talking)
Mims: No, but just as we're trying to....
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Mims: .....look at that diversity (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, with the Human Rights Commission, it .... it's more complicated now. We
need to have a .... a more diverse (laughs) range of appointees. Uh, yeah, I .... I
would support Brown.
Mims: Yeah, I think to Kingsley's point, if. ... if.....if we're gonna look at not only the
qualifications, you know, and .... and we get people who are all highly qualified,
so then we're looking at diversity issues, this is probably a pain in the neck for the
City Clerk (laughs) but ..... it would be nice to go back and pull from their
applications and have some of that information related to diversity as we're trying
to select new people to these commissions (both talking)
Throgmorton: I wonder if there are any legal constraints we should be conscious of.
Dilkes: No, I think you can have that information.
Throgmorton: Yeah, cause I think of disability status (both talking)
Dilkes: If it's .... if it's available!
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Mims: Right. If they filled it out, sure.
Dilkes: It's a .... if they provide it voluntarily, so .... we're not (both talking)
Throgmorton: For this commission that would be helpful for sure.
Botchway: And some of `em, I mean some of the other applicants did, I mean there was
maybe two or three I remember being mentioned, uh, some type of disability, you
know, that took .... took into account.
Dilkes: Oh no, the ... if. .... the questions are asked (both talking)
Botchway: No, that's what I'm saying, two or three (both talking)
Dilkes: ...whether they answer (both talking)
Mims: Yeah, cause the other one I don't know is, you know, age, urn .... variety of ages
on commission either. Um.....because...... with .... with Jonathan, I mean if. ... if
we went with Jonathan, Arianna, and Ingrid, you're getting three younger people.
Um, Damita is in her mid to early -50s. My guess is .... I don't even know, I mean
of the five returning, other than Adil and .... and Joe Counter, I .... I'm not.....I
don't recall the other three from having appointed them in terms of (both talking)
their ages, and I don't go to the meetings so I (both talking)
Throgmorton: I don't know that either.
Dickens: I know we're losing some of the people, we're losing our ..... our, between 50 and
70, just knowing several (both talking)
Throgmorton:... right....
Dickens: So we are (several talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah. All right, well .... bruin, who else has been keepin' track of possible
appointees here? Does I don't really know how many said Brown and how many
said McGinnis now.
Fruehling: (mumbled) two for Brown and (both talking)
Cole: There's three for Brown.
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Botchway: Brown.... Terry's Brown (several talking)
Throgmorton: Well, I can say Brown. Who else said Brown? (several talking)
Mims: Who else did?
Throgmorton: Yeah. I don't know, who else did?
Cole: I said Brown.
Dickens: Those three.
Throgmorton: All right, so .... three, and who.....who said McGinnis? (several talking)
Thomas: I did.
Throgmorton: I think I did too.
Botchway: Susan's thinkin' about Brown (several talking) (laughter)
Mims: Kingsley, you just lost it! (laughter) I'll go with McGinnis! (laughs)
Throgmorton: All right, uh, so that, uh, we will be appointing (both talking)
Botchway: And what was ... what was McGinnis' piece again, just so I've....
Mims: She's a probation officer.
Dickens: Lived here 23 years.
Mims: So worked in the system, seeing people on the front lines in some of that.
Botchway: Okay.
Throgmorton: All right, so the motion (both talking) be to appoint A ... Aron, Munoz, and....
McGinnis.
Mims: So moved.
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Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by.....
Dickens: (mumbled)
Throgmorton: .... Dickens. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion carries 6-0. Parks and
Recreation Commission, we have two vacancies to fill four-year terms, but....
The suggestion coming from Kellie is that we defer to our next meeting and
appoint all three vacancies at the same time cause there's another vacancy that
takes effect at a certain moment where we can appoint three people instead of just
two and do it again sort of the next time. So we'll .... we will revisit that at our
next (both talking)
Dickens: Defer.
Throgmorton: Yeah, so we need a motion to defer the Parks and Recreation Commission
appointees to our December 19a' meeting.
Dickens: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Dickens, seconded by Thomas. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries.
Mims: I have a quick question related to that, and I....
Throgmorton: Sure!
Mims: ....probably get to it. Is there .... time for anybody else to apply?
Fruehling: Yes, the other vacancy, um, the deadline is.....the.....Tuesday before the next
meeting, so it'd be the 12'.
Mims: Okay. So I would just encourage, if there's anybody out there who is interested in
serving on the Parks and Rec Commission to get their application in. We have
three very good applicants. We do have one that is finishing his second term,
who I know would love to stay on. He's done an excellent job. But we have
stated very publicly that our goal is to try and get new people and different people
represented on these boards and commissions, so .... just kind of put that out there.
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Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay, we can move on to .... the Public Art Advisory Committee. We have
two vacancies to fill two three-year terms, and we received four applications and,
uh, we need to appoint one male .... in general, appoint one male and one none, or
no preference (laughs) I know it always sounds weird (several talking)
Mims: Sounded like we're getting a nun! (laughs) Well and it looks to me, if I'm
reading this right, that we can only appoint one tonight, so .... um, and we can only
appoint one who's a public art professional.
Fruehling: (unable to hear, away from mic)
Mims: Right. Right, so we can only appoint one out of the public arts professionals, or
we could appoint the at -large. We can't do both because we don't have a male in
either category.
Throgmorton: That sounds right, but we could at our next meeting.
Mims: Correct.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Mims: Of the public arts professionals, uh, Vera Rose Smith kind of. ... uh..... I thought
they were all (several talking) highly qualified (several talking) Uh, but I liked
her, um, specialization of, you know, the production of public art, um, I thought
was a very positive attribute that I was looking at. So....
Throgmorton: I .... I was very impressed with all four of them and find it impossible really to
choose so.....I can support Vera Rose Smith. (several responding) All right,
there are four votes. So, could I have a motion to appoint Vera Rose Smith to the
Public Arts Committee.
Dickens: So moved.
Mims: Second!
Throgmorton: Moved by Dickens, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries. All right, we have, uh, Senior Center Commission, two vacancies to fill
two three-year terms, and we've received two applications. We're supposed to
appoint one male and one .... it doesn't, uh, gender doesn't matter.
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Mims: I am going to suggest that we appoint both of these individuals. We've had this
discussion about Jay Honchan for months, who has served six terms, but over all
these months, we have not gotten enough applicants to actually fill all the
positions on the Senior Center Commission. So to me, if after all these months he
continues to has his .... have his name in here, and we still have an opening, and
we're still gonna have the Commission in place, then.. A don't see why at this
point we don't appoint him.
Dickens: He's been off for a full year and he does have a passion for the Senior Center
so....
Throgmorton: So could I ask a clarifying question here, I mean it sounds reasonable to me but
when people apply, do their names remain in the hopper, so to speak?
Fruehling: For a year.
Throgmorton: For a year. So do we know that Jay .... really wants to be reapplying at this
moment?
Mims: He can always decline if we appoint him.
Throgmorton: Yeah, fair enough (several talking)
Fruehling: (unable to hear, away from mic) ....reapplied or if he just left his name in
the .... yeah, his was still in the hopper from last November.
Throgmorton: Well if Jay turns us down, that'd be fair. (laughter) Okay, so could I have a
motion to appoint Cheryl Clammon and Jay Honohan.
Dickens: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Dickens, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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Item 11. Community Comment [if necessary] (items not on the agenda).
Throgmorton: So, Ben, would you like to say a few words?
Nelson: I'd also like to echo Rockne's point. I'm a big fan of Solomon, Solomon Worlds.
He's great. I .... I will be sad when he goes to Michigan, but he'll be doing bigger
and better things. Um, don't have a whole lot today. Um, it's finals, er, getting
ready for finals week. So, uh, I'll be going to the Library after this. Um, I also
probably won't be here at the next City Council meeting, so I'd just like to take
this time to publicly thank Terry Dickens for his service, um, to Iowa City.
You've been a really .... a pleasure to work with, um, you've been, urn ..... I
remember when I first came to one of my City Council meetings. Uh, I .... L..A
whispered over to Jake, I was like `That guy looks vaguely like, uh, what's his
name? Bill Murray!' (laughter) That's a compliment! (laughter) And then, you
know, getting to work with you, it's just been...... it's just been really, really fun.
Um, I .... I think you're an excellent example of, you know, how to take your work
seriously, but not how to take yourself too seriously. That's something that I
certainly look up to because a lot of times we get caught up in, um .... you know,
the weeds so to speak so .... thank you very much for your service.
Dickens: Thank you.
Throgmorton: So, Terry, did you see Bill Murray on the David Letterman award thing?
Dickens: Luckily, no! (laughter)
Throgmorton: It was pretty funny!
Dickens: I'll have to watch it.
Throgmorton: So you could come in with that Henry the VIII gear on (laughter)
Dickens: I was thinkin' more of a dinosaur head (laughter)
Throgmorton: Thanks, Ben!
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Item 12. City Council Information
Throgmorton: Maybe we could start with Susan and move to the right.
Mims: Oh gosh, didn't give me enough time, Jim! Urn ..... met last week with,
uh... Colleen Schmitt I think is the last name, down at Kirkwood Community
College. She had approached us .... well and she talked at one of the Council
forums when we were running for City Council this fall, about the lack of English
language classes in the community. So just started with having a conversation
with her. These are free classes that they run at the Kirkwood Learning Center,
um, and they always have an incredibly long list of people. So just talking about
starting to gather some information and other community partners that are doing
some similar things and looking at, um, how we might develop some partnerships,
um, where the City may or may not be involved, but just tryin' to get .... gather
information really at this point, um, how we could kind of address that issue.
So....
Botchway: So .... I can't remember how long it's gonna be, um, happening, but right now the
downtown pop-up shop, um, is running and it's been fun. I've been able to
frequent it a couple of times and just see the different businesses, and I actually
didn't know it was rotating, so that was .... I was planning on going there to get
something and as I saw (several laughing and talking) wasn't there, um, but I
think it's a fun idea, um, in that space, you know, I love that space being utilized
in kind of, um, new and inviting ways. Um .... that's it! Oh, and then snow
removal, so I got my letter or note from the City in a blue paper, which like made
me think that that's ..... I think it was blue paper, but anyways, um, pay attention,
you know, to your cars and where they're parked. Um, my son's really excited
about snow and I'm not, so, um, just beware, be ready!
Dickens: Nothing!
Cole: Well I guess I'm gonna shift gears a little bit. Um, talk about something a little
bit more serious. Um, since my time on Council, um, I have gotten more calls in
the last month about rising crime issues than I have throughout any of my time
period and it really concerns me. I know that we have a fabulous Police
Department. I think our (mumbled) does a wonderful job. I know we have a lot
of great community leaders, um, that are actively working at all components of
this issue. Um, but I do, um, I was aware of this because citizens reached out to
us, and I'm sure they all reached out to you as well, and I really want to
encourage the community to continue to reach out to us. We can monitor this,
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regular formal meeting of December 5, 2017.
Page 31
because I can think of no higher duty that we all have than to ensure community
safety and to make sure that we're as proactive as we possibly can. Um, so I'm
hoping with some of our listening posts as we continue to return to our southeast
side, so we're proactive with .... with the residents out there, and that we continue
to think about this, um, whether it's a work session, whether it's additional
programming with additional resources, because that's such a wonderful part of
our community, um, but yet we've, you know, we've had some people reach out
recently, um, that I.... that I hadn't had that, at least my own limited term on
Council. So I think it's just somethin' we need to monitor closely and we also
need to make sure that, um, and continue to encourage the residents to reach out
to us because we can only effectively serve them, um, if they reach out to us. So,
um, it's something for us I think to really watch closely as a Council.
Throgmorton: Geoff, on that point, I wonder if we could have Chief Matherly come in and give
us a quick briefing at our next meeting, concerning what the situation is, whether
it's worsened, whether it's .... kind of the same but more visible somehow, you
know, let us know what he knows.
Fruin: Sure!
Thomas: Had a .... very, uh, interesting and, um ..... entertaining for lack of a better word
visit to Iowa City's, uh, Prairie Hill co -housing project.
Throgmorton: It has really moved along!
Thomas: It's moving along. It's, you know, it's becoming real. Um, and when, you know,
Rockne, you mentioned this notion of community is so central to what it is we're
trying to do and promote, and um, I think the co -housing is an interesting concept
along those lines. It's a mix of housing types at different price points. It's
something, you know, novel in that regard, and it also has what .... its disting ... its
distinguishing quality is a common house. So it has a center in that way that I
was describing before, but in this case it's a building, not a park, not ... not a
commons in that regard. Uh, the common house .is not completed, but it's framed
up, roof is on, and you can walk through it and get a sense of it. It will have a
dining room that will be able to accommodate everyone who lives there and
there .... there are 36 units, so it's a fairly sizable number. It's,um, I would
encourage anyone interested to look at their web page. They include the plans.
They include profiles of the individuals, um .... it's pretty, you know, I think they
have maybe half of the units already accounted for. Uh, it's a pretty interesting
mix of people who have chosen to live there. It's .... there was a certain
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intentionality to living in a co -housing community. Not that you're in a
commune. It's (laughs) it's not that (laughs) but .... it's sort of people who learned
their lessons from the 60s, you know (laughter) You know, some separation is a
good thing! Ub, but I .... I think architecturally and in terms of what it's, you
know, what it presents as a .... a way of. .... of, uh, forming communities of very
interesting .... example, and it's the first one in Iowa, the state of Iowa.
Throgmorton: All right. Well then it comes to me, so on my birthday, I had an excellent meeting
with Student Government and all the senators, Ben and Gustave. That was my
birthday. (unable to hear speaker from audience) (laughter) Ah! Too late!
(laughs) It was fun! I think, uh, I found it very enlightening. So I hope it was
helpful for Student Government. And on the 30' I helped celebrate the grand
opening of the new Hilton Garden Inn. That was fun to do. Lot of happy people
there. I think the team in particular was very pleased to be able to celebrate. On
the I" I participated in a panel discussion and some of you also attended, at Film
Scene, involving three other mayors — Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett;
Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart; and Madison, Wisconsin Mayor Paul Soglin. And
it was.... enlightening for me to participate in that. Was glad to do it! Last, Susan
and I are gonna be meeting with Janet Godwin and Lori Roetlin tomorrow, uh, as
we did before with Chris Lynch and Brian Kirschling. You know, a quarterly
kind of thing.....meeting with `em. So I look forward to that! That's it for me.
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regular formal meeting of December 5, 2017.
Page 33
Item 13. Report on items from city staff
a) City Manager
Throgmorton: Geoff?
Fruin: Yeah, do have one item. Uh, in your late handouts, the electronic handouts that
were distributed to you, there was a, um, item regarding the Telecommunications
Commission, uh, and they requested that the Council take a similar action to what
they did, which is, um, to oppose the rollback on the, um, net neutrality, um,
regulations that were passed during the Obama administration. Um, so I .... you
know my viewpoint is the Telecommunications Commission position on that is
consistent with that of cities across the country. It's consistent with the National
League of Cities position, and um, I .... I certainly don't see any harm, um, in
joining the Telecommunications Commission in support of their position. So with
your head nods, um, we can communicate that to our delegation as well.
Throgmorton: It's fine with me! Ashley? Nothing?
Monroe: I was just going to mention that we have a new Listsery for e -subscriptions, uh,
related to the budget, and activities that occur financially. So, um, anyone who's
interested. We sent out a press release in conjunction with us getting the, um,
Government Finance, uh, Award for our budget this past year and so anybody can
access the Listsery by going to the `news and media' tab on our web site, on the
City web site, to sign up for the budget news, um .... and information that, where
people can participate further.
Throgmorton: Good!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of December 5, 2017.