HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-03 Transcription Page 1
Item 2. Council vacancy — option to appoint. Resolution giving notice of intent to
appoint a qualified individual to fill the vacancy created by council member
Botchway's resignation.
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Thomas: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Salih. All right, I...I've asked Eleanor Dilkes to
summarize for us a memo that you put together, uh, I've forgotten the date of it,
so that members of the public and all of our Council Members can understand
.....how the State law affects what we're doing, what the constraints are, what our
choices are, and so on. So, Eleanor, please!
Dilkes: Um, well State law pretty much dictates the....the parameters of your....of your
decision making. Um, you essentially have two options. The first is to appoint,
um.....a.....a person to fill the seat. If you do that, it's subject to a petition, urn,
by the public to....to ask for a special election. Your second option is to call for a
special election. So those are the two basic options and there's various timing
issues within those, um,which in some respects they're easy to talk about when
when you actually talk about dates, but I'll just kind of, um, give you the
basics. If you make an appointment, the appointment has to be filled within 60
days, um, of the vacancy. So Kingsley resigned on July 17th, so you would have
to make that appointment by September 15th. So if you've seen in the resolution
that I prepared for the appointment, urn, this resolution, if you choose to go that
way today, will give notice of your intention to appoint, urn, on September 4th.
Um, you could push that date farther if you wanted to but not beyond,urn,
September 15th. Um,the petition requirement would be 637 petitions. It's a...it's
signature, residence, uh, date, um, and the validity of it's determined on its face.
Urn, so if there are 637 signatures and they all have Iowa City addresses then it
would be a valid petition.
Throgmorton: And....and the persons who signed only need to be eligible to vote?
Dilkes: Correct.
Throgmorton: Within Iowa City, right?
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Dilkes: Correct. So they have to be citizens. They have to be of age, etc. Urn,but again,
when you look at the petition you don't go into those issues, unless there would
be an objection filed. If there was an objection filed somehow, let's say 10 people
weren't of age or something like that and it affected the final number, then there's
a process for dealing with that objection. Um so essentially because...let's
say you appointed and then there was a call for a special election. The call for the
special election has to be done within 14 days after the publication of the notice of
intent to appoint, or within 14 days after the appointment is made. So in other
words, um, a citizen....or citizens could choose to petition simply because they
didn't care who was gonna be appointed, they just wanted an election, or they
could wait and see who the appointment was and do the petition at that time. Um,
and I think I mentioned in the memo that it would take 637, um, persons to sign
that....that petition. Um, and then at that point you would be required to set a
special election. Because of the blackout dates around the....the general. Well,
number one it can't be held on the date of the general and it can't be held within
four....weeks prior to the general election and four weeks, urn, after the general
election. So that would put....if you got a petition, that would put, uh,the date
for....the earliest date for election in January. Urn, so those are....that's pretty
much the....the details on the appointment. Your second option is to fill the
vacancy by special election. Urn....and in both scenarios, the election has to be
held at the earliest practicable date. Urn, and the election cannot be held sooner
than 60 days, urn, after we give notice to the Auditor that you've called for a
special election. So in the....today is the last day that you can call for a special
election and get that October 2' 'date, which is...thethe last Tuesday before the
blackout period starts. Um....candidate filing deadlines, um, it's gonna be....if
....if you call for a special election, it's gonna be a pretty fast.....today for
October 2nd's gonna be pretty quick. Urn, nomination petitions would have to be
filed by next Friday. Um.....because of the possibility of a primary....we....that
period is....is that long. Urn,the cost of a special election is estimated to be
30,000, uh, or so and that would double if there was a primary needed. Urn, one
thing I did....want to mention to you is in talking to the Auditor, uh, there
apparently is a possibility of vote centers being established, which could lessen
that cost, so the Auditor would....and this would be a decision that the Council
would make, if you chose to limit....if you wanted to limit the cost of the election,
they would, the Auditor would set up, you know, say.....10 special voting centers
where anybody in the community could go to vote as opposed to the 24, urn, that,
uh, poling places. Obviously you have to weigh the cost against how that would
affect the turnout in the election. Urn....and I think that's....that's pretty much it
unless you have questions.
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Throgmorton: L..I'd just like to note that, as you know, Eleanor, I....I did not fully realize until
late yesterday afternoon that nominating papers would have to be filed by....I.....I
guess the August the 10th if we call for a special election. Yep. So (both talking)
Dilkes: Yeah, it's in the memo (both talking) days before the special. There's a
lotta....time lines (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Dilkes: .....it would be quick.
Throgmorton: I have one other question, uh....uh,what....how many signatures would be
required for.....uh,the people who would be filing nominating petitions (both
talking) candidates.
Dilkes: The code says 2% of those who voted to fill the same office at the last regular
City election. Um,the Auditor is telling us 128 signatures. Um,they....the....the
petitions are filed with the Auditor and so they're gonna be the ones who are
gonna be reviewing 'em. So....I accept their number on that. I'm a little con...
cause I know that there were....um.....(several talking in background) Okay,
anyway, that's what we're hearing from the Auditor, the 128.
Throgmorton: Okay, and those again would be just eligible voters?
Dilkes: Yes.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay, great. Thank you! Anybody have any questions for Eleanor about
what she just described? Maz, do you have any questions for Eleanor?
Salih: I just wanna ask, you said if,uh, we decide to do a special election the people who
wanna run, they have to submit (mumbled)by when?
Dilkes: The filing of the petition, was that(several talking) the question? (several talking)
Um,the petition, so if....if you would decide to appoint, um, we would publish a
notice of....of the....of your intention to appoint and the petition could be filed
within 14 days after that, or if you....you would then appoint on, uh, September
4th and it could be filed 14 days after that. So that would be September 18th.
Throgmorton: And just to be clear, that's a petition calling for a special election, after we have
already appointed someone.
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Dilkes: Right.
Throgmorton: The nominating petitions would have to be in by August the 10th (both talking) if
we call for a special election.
Dilkes: Right.
Throgmorton: Right? (several talking)
Dilkes: Sorry, I misunderstood the question if that's what was being asked.
Throgmorton: I was just tryin' to (both talking)make sure we fully understood.
Dilkes: Yeah!
Throgmorton: Okay, do any other Council Members have questions for Eleanor? Okay, at this
point I would like to invite interested members of the public to express their views
about this particular topic. I'd like to ask you to hold your comments down to a
couple or three minutes or somethin' like that cause we actually have lives to live!
(laughs) But, so would anybody like to, uh, a....address some comments toward
this question?
Olmstead: My name's Harry Olmstead. Eleanor, I have one question. That is if there are
more than three candidates to run through the election, there'd have to be a
primary?
Dilkes: If there's more than two.
Olmstead: Okay,more than two. And when would that primary then have to be held?
Dilkes: It'd be four weeks before the special. So I believe it's September 4th.
Throgmorton: If we call for a special election (both talking) There also could be a primary if
citizens call for special election.
Dilkes: Right.
Olmstead: Thank you.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Harry.
Kubby: Good morning,my name is Karen Kubby and I also have a question. If you don't
decide today.....then is that date in early Jan....if you don't decide today and you
do decide to hold a special election, then that puts the special election in January?
Dilkes: Correct.
Kubby: Um, is there....a timeframe by which a decision has to be made?
Dilkes: On the special election?
Kubby: Or appointment.
Dilkes: Or appointment, yeah the appointment has to be made within 60 days of the
(several talking) resignation. Um, and the calling of a special election needs to
happen sooner rather than later cause it has to be called at the earliest practicable
date. So.....
Kubby: So if the term that is vacant was a, um....a year and some, I....I would probably
be more in favor of an appointment.....to save the taxpayers money. It's not that
long of a period of time. But because the vacancy is for such a long period of
time, it's for over three years, it warrants serious consideration of a special
election. Whether you decide that today or in a little while. If you decide today, I
realize the timeframe is really tight, but because....the petition is an eligible
elector instead of a qualified elector, it does relieve some of that stress. So I'd ask
you to think about that.
Dilkes: I just want to make sure you're...everyone's....everyone's clear that if you were to
make an appointment it would only be until the next election in 2019, at which
point it....that, the vacancy would be on the ballot. (several talking)
Taylor: .....November 2019 election.
Throgmorton: Yeah, and a....and a replacement or...well, and someone would be elected to (both
talking)
Dilkes: ....complete the term.
Throgmorton: ...two more,two additional years of Kingsley's term.
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Dilkes: Right.
Throgmorton: Yeah. All right, anyone else like to address this? All right, seeing no one else,
I....I wanna remind all of us, myself included, that the manner in which a decision
is reached matters as much as the decision itself. So I would like to invite us to
thoroughly and fairly consider the pros and cons of appointing versus electing
before indicating what our personal preferences are. So, you know, in other
words (mumbled) so we're tryin' to be clear initially about what the pros are,
what the positive aspects are, uh, with regard to appointing someone, and then the
cons associated with appointing. Then the pros with regard to, uh, calling for a
special election, then the cons. Then, you know, cause we can learn from one
another. Once we've done that, I'll call for a motion on the, uh, the, um....motion
to appoint.
Dilkes: It's on the floor(several talking)
Throgmorton: It's on the floor, right. Sorry, already did that,thanks! Okay.
Dilkes: Yeah, it's perfectly appropriate to talk about the whole ball of wax now(both
talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay, so whatdaya see as the positive aspects of appointing someone?
Cole: I think the pro would be saving the taxpayers' money and that $30,000 is a lot of
money and I think the other pro would be,um, you know, that we would be able
to get moving on a lot of things we need to work on, as far as that goes,but I think
there's a limited number of pros with special appointment, in my view.
Throgmorton: Yeah, when I count, uh, I....(laughs) or when I calculate, I think if we appoint
someone, odds are pretty good there'll be a call for a special election. If that's the
case, then we would be able to fill the position one month earlier than someone
who is elected, assuming that there's a call for a special election, we'd fill it one
month earlier. So I'm....we....we wouldn't get all that much if in fact citizens
choose to call for a special election after we appoint someone. Can y'all think of
any other....positive, uh, aspects of appointing?
Taylor: I think that's the most definite pro is it would give us a more full Council as far as
voting purposes in considering items. Uh,that's the only....that's the pro I can
think of.
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Throgmorton: Please make sure you're speaking loudly enough into the microphone so Mazahir
can,uh, can hear you. (both talking) Yeah! Yes. All right,how bout negative
aspects, you know, cons associated with appointing?
Taylor: I think the voters would feel that they didn't have a voice in the appointment
process as far as the person that's serving them on the Council. The only one I
can think of.
Cole: (mumbled) concur,that's the obvious con.
Thomas: I think, you know, looking at the....the notion of democracy by definition it's the
people rule and, uh.....so having a special election seems to be the best. It cer...
reflects that value pretty clearly.
Throgmorton: And if we appoint someone, as I already indicated, uh.....uh,voters of Iowa City
could call for a special election and in that case....uh,the special election would
take place on January the 8th as Eleanor already indicated and that's a pretty
awkward date.
Mims: Does it have to take place on January 8`b?
Dilkes: The earliest it could take place.
Mims: So I'm....I'm just reflecting on the letter we had today from the students in terms
of asking that if....if it was gonna be in January, to wait and have it when the
University's in session. That still would be legal to delay it to later in January?
Throgmorton: That....that's an important point. Thanks. I thought we would have to hold the
election at the earliest possible date(both talking)
Dilkes: ....practicable date, and I think you can take into consideration, you know, who's
in town and...voter turnout.
Throgmorton: Okay.
Mims: Thank you.
Throgmorton: That's important to know. If we hold a special election also the cost savings
would disappear,the cost savings of a....associated with appointing someone.
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No, I'm sorry! If the voters call for a special election after we appoint someone,
then the cost savings associated with appointing would disappear. The last
disadvantage I could think of has to do with basically students at the University of
Iowa who would not be here and Gustave, our Student Liaison made that point in
a memo or a letter we received from him this morning. But...your question
addresses that particular concern. (sound of phone dialing) Did we lose you,
Maz? (several talking) Okay, let's take a short break. (sound of phone ringing)
Salih: Yes.
Throgmorton: We're back, Maz!
Salih: Thank you.
Throgmorton: I'd say tell us when you're about to drop off(laughs) but there's no way you
could....no way you could know if you're (both talking) drop off. Okay,
are....can, are there any other pros or cons anybody wants to bring up with regard
to appointing?
Cole: Well I think the other con....the other con would be is that the person that would
be appointed would be in a really untenable position if we had some very
controversial issues. There'd be a perception of, even though we're following the
law, legitimacy. Um, we've had some close votes recently on various issues and
to have a tie-breaker phenomenon with someone who was appointed just calls into
question a whole series of obvious concerns. Um.....so.....
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay.
Dilkes: I wanna just....l, there was one more piece of information I wanted to give you
here. So, um, as you know, whether a vote is successful or not is dependent on
the number of seats, right? So it's out of seven. That will continue to be the case.
So a(both talking)
Salih: I can't hear you!
Dilkes: A successful vote will take four; um, with the super-majority it will take six.
Throgmorton: Even if there are only six Council Members present, it still, uh, a super majority
would be six Councilpersons, right?
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Mikes: Right.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Yeah, thanks. Okay, well let's shift to the, uh, calling of a special election,
and again please, uh, try to articulate what the positive, uh, qualities of doing that
kind of thing would be.
Taylor: This would be for the October?
Throgmorton: Yeah, October the 2"d(both talking)
Taylor: ....October.
Throgmorton: Yeah, well that's when we have to do it.
Taylor: Right. Right. That....that would be, I think, the pro would be that, uh, we would
get someone in sooner.....for.....for the position.....rather than waiting till
January.
Throgmorton: Yeah, uh, yeah, in those two possible scenarios.
Mims: Well I think it's couple people have already said it gives people in the community
the opportunity to make the choice, in terms of a democratic decision rather than
the Council appointing.
Throgmorton: Any others?
Cole: Well and I think even though we have the option to the point under the law, um,
you know, I view our role as working for the people of the City of Iowa City, not
to tell them who their leaders should be, and so I think this is something that gives
them the opportunity, um, to elect their leader, their representation, the people that
they want to represent them, and....even though we have the authority, I don't
think we should exercise that authority, uh,because I think that it's not as
legitimate in the minds of a lot of community members, as an election,which I
think is the hallmark of legitimacy in terms of any political process.
Throgmorton: Yeah. And just to be clear about a related point, if we hold....if we call for a
special election, someone gets elected, that person will serve the entirety of the
remainder of Kingsley's term, which would be, uh, almost three years. Yeah.
Well (several talking) little over three and a half years, yeah. All right,how bout
cons? I....I'll bring one up. Holding a special election early in October,meaning
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October the 2°d, would give potential candidates very little time to decide whether
they want to seek election, very little time to organize and fund a campaign.
Moreover, they would only have a week to obtain the necessary signatures,
though it turns out the number of signatures is really pretty small so I don't think
that would be, uh....a huge hurdle. And that might constrain the number of
candidates, you know, the rapidity with which the election, uh, appears....and the
steps that have to be taken. So that concerns me. I....I think ideally....people
would have a little more time(laughs) to think about whether they want to be
candidates, a little more time to....get their act together(laughs) you know, and
uh, that's...that just would not be the case if we have an October 2nd special
election and, you know, even if there's a September the 2°d, is that when the
primary would be?
Dilkes: I think it's the 4th.
Throgmorton: Fourth, September the 4th (both talking)
Dilkes: ...Tuesdays before....let me just check. Yep. September the 4th.
Throgmorton: And a related point is that the public would have very little time to vet the
candidates. Maybe that's a good thing, you know, and in lots of countries,
spec....I think of England in particular, or Great Britain, they have two months to
campaign, and you know, that's a lot better than four years to campaign like we
see in the United States often. But, still, very little time to vet the candidates and,
again, that...I don't think that's great. I think it'd be better if more time was
available.
Cole: Although to a large degree, Jim, I mean you think about even an ordinary
election, although a lot of people get involved a lot earlier and start campaigning a
little bit earlier than historically, the thrust of the election usually in the fall is
after the School Board election and that's where sort of all the action really occurs
in terms of the public meetings, in terms of, you know,that entire process, so I
think the community's used to it and I'm confident we'll get an exuberant set of
candidates that are gonna be willing to get on their walking shoes and start hittin'
the doors. So although it's a concern, I don't think enough of a concern for me to
outweigh,um, the positives.
Thomas: Yeah, I'm....I'm, I appreciate and agree that it's...it's not the best of
circumstances that we're working with. Um, but I don't know what(laughs) you
know,there isn't an easy answer to this. I do think since Kingsley, uh, resigned,
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uh, certainly it's been a part of the public conversation. I think people have been
thinking about(both talking)
Throgmorton: I've talked to people who had no idea, literally two days ago, no idea that
Kingsley had resigned. I think most people have no idea Kingsley's resigned.
Thomas: Well that...that's maybe always the case too, that, you know, there are people who
are engaged in local politics and there are others who aren't and, uh (laughs) I
think those who....in terms of putting their name in...in to run for office, I think
there...those people have been thinking about the, you know, the opportunity,
whether it was through appointment or through special election.
Throgmorton: Maz, are you still with us?
Salih: Yes, I'm here. I think, for me I really prefer a special election, even (mumbled)
City, you know, cost money to the City,but this would be the democratic way for
the voter,uh, you know, to choose whoever they want, and also you just said
some people even they don't know Kingsley is resigning. Through special
election people will (mumbled)knowing like there is something going on here,
somebody has already resigned. That's why we have a special election. Uh, I am
concerning about the time but you know (mumbled) is really close, uh,but at the
same time, if we leave it to the public to call for a special election and (mumbled)
held in January. The second, this will give them more time but at the same time I
don't think this is fair for the students not to be in town during that time. I don't
know, it's really hard choice but I still (mumbled) the public need to choose who
they want. At the same time they will know that(mumbled)
Throgmorton: Uh, thanks, Maz. You may not have heard,uh, a conversation we had at one of
those points where you accidentally were disconnected,but it appears as though if
we appoint someone and if there's a petition calling for a special election, that we
would be able to hold that special election, uh, I don't know, in the middle of
January, uh, after students have returned to the University. So the....I know that
was a big concern I had in mind, but uh, apparently it's not, uh....not a
insuperable hurdle.
Salih: Oh, okay, I didn't know that.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Uh, can you think of any other cons, folks?
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Dilkes: I just....I just want to make sure you're clear that....October is the date before the
blackout period. You could choose a date at....now you could choose a date after
that.
Throgmorton: And the date after that would be mid-January or something, right?
Dilkes: Um.....well it would actually be after the blackout period. It would be....um.....
because we would give notice now, we could do it in December.
Throgmorton: Oh, I didn't know that!
Dilkes: Uh huh.
Throgmorton: What date?
Dilkes: Well the blackout period ends on....uh,December 4th. So it'd be the 11th, 18th...
you might run into the same University problem. (several talking)
Mims: You're running into finals again.
Dilkes: Yeah, finals (several talking)
Cole: And under those circumstances, if we called for a special election, we don't have
then the authority to appoint pending a special election, like temporary(both
talking)
Dilkes: No you don't.
Cole: Yeah, okay(both talking)
Dilkes: If you would appoint and then there was a petition, that person would serve
temporarily.
Cole: Okay.
Dilkes: But you don't.....you can't do both.
Cole: Can't do both.
Dilkes: So.....
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Throgmorton: Well I....I didn't realize....I thought we had to act expeditiously and therefore had
to schedule it for October the 2"d, given that the blackout dates, etc.
Dilkes: No,that's the date,the earliest date....that's, if you wanna catch a date before the
blackout period, it's the...the only one is the 2"d. Um, you know, earliest
practicable date. One interpretation of that could be is we have the ability to give
60 days notice to the Auditor and that's, um....what we could do today. The other
interpretation would be is people need more time to campaign. I don't know that
that would be,urn, unreasonable. So.....
Throgmorton: Well, uh, let's talk about date a little bit. I....I don't know if y'all (laughs) had
had a chance to think about this before the meeting,but I certainly had not. How
bout some preliminary thoughts, uh, about the choice between October the 2"d and
December the whatever it is, the 4th.
Cole: I really want to get movin' on an election. I don't wanna be held in limbo, urn,
for that additional three months, and I think we have people in the City of Iowa
City that....(both talking)
Throgmorton: It'd only be two months. It'd be an additional two months.
Cole: ....additional two months. Um....but I would strongly prefer the earlier option.
Thomas: I mean it seems to me one of the issue would be do we want to hold it before or
after the general election in November, and I'm kind of inclined to go with
October, um.....maybe get ahead of the...the general election, kind of like the
Board elections rather than holding it afterwards, when I think people might be
just(laughs)
Throgmorton: Burned out.
Thomas: ...burned out and....and.....
Cole: Thanksgiving, finals.
Thomas: Yeah, I....I think after that point the energy and focus might be lost.
Throgmorton: Yeah I was thinking about that as well. And I...we....we agree with that general
point. Uh, Maz, are you hear....are you trackin' this particular conversation?
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We're just learning we have a choice, actually between October the 2"d and
December the 4th, if we choose to schedule(both talking) special election.
Dilkes: You know what?
Throgmorton: What, no?
Dilkes: That's wrong.
Throgmorton: It's wrong?
Dilkes: Because we need the (both talking)
Throgmorton: Never mind, Maz.
Dilkes: ....so it is the 8t. The 8th is the earliest.
Throgmorton: Okay so the choice....
Dilkes: It is the 8th.
Throgmorton: All right, so the....just to be clear for Maz, the choice really is October 2"d versus
January the 8th.
Dilkes: (mumbled)
Throgmorton: (laughs) Okay, well....I.....I think we probably know what we would prefer on
that point. Okay, does anybody wanna bring up any other pros or cons with
regard to ea...either of the options we have? All right, if not we have a motion
before us to appoint....uh, a....a replacement for Kingsley basically. So....uh, I
think we should have a roll call on that parti...particular point. Motion carries, uh,
6-0. Let's turn to Item 3.
Mims: It failed. (several talking)
Throgmorton: I'm sorry, failed, yeah (laughs) Failed 6-0. There is a difference between carried
and failed, isn't there?
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Item 3. Council vacancy—option to call for a special election. Resolution setting
special election to fill vacancy created by council member Botchway's
resignation.
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Salih: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? So.....the....the practic...
practical thing is....if we approve this we will be calling for a special election on
October the T'd, correct? And you have a....you gave us a draft notice, right?
Dilkes: No, that...that's the notice that we would need if you appointed, so we don't have
to deal with that notice.
Throgmorton: Oh(mumbled) okay.
Dilkes: Um, I would....the Auditor would....does want me to request if you have any
interest in the, um.....the voting centers.
Throgmorton: Uh, can you provide any clarification about that, or go back over what you told us
earlier?
Dilkes: What the Auditor is telling me is that they have the ability if the Council wants
'em to go this way.....the cost of the, uh, the election is largely driven by the poll
workers, and so the more polling places you have the....the greater the cost. Urn,
and she said, urn, they have the ability to....to establish voting centers. In other
words there's not a polling place where you have to go. Anybody in the
community could go to one of these. Urn, could go to one of these voting centers
and vote, and they....they might do eight of`em or 10 of'em or something like
that and it might reduce the cost of the election by half or so.
Cole: Is that in addition to the regular or in lieu of?
Dilkes: No, it'd be new. I mean obviously the definite downside of that is people know
where their polling places are. That's gonna be a whole informational...
information campaign and seems to me to try to get the word out on where people
are supposed to be voting so....
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Throgmorton: Yeah, and have we done this before?
Dies: Not that I'm aware of.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Cole: I wouldn't want that.
Throgmorton: I wouldn't want that either(several responding)
Thomas: It's gonna be confusing enough, I think.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Cole: Just to get the word out.
Throgmorton: Okay, any further discussion about this item?
Cole: I don't know if we can make our....I'd just like to elaborate a little bit, I mean I
think that...I....I'm really excited about this. I mean everyone get on their
walking shoes, get out to the Farmers Market, uh, discuss the issues. Um, it's fall,
and fall is election season, and so I'm really excited about the opportunity, um, to
sort of ventilate some of these issues out on the public square, and so we can sort
of get that feedback. Um, we don't usually get that....we get feedback in various
contexts, but I'm really lookin' forward to it. I think it's gonna....fall is campaign
season and so let's get movin' and....and, um, you know, uh, lookin' forward to
seein' how everyone does out there in the public.
Throgmorton: Anyone else want to make a final comment? I don't hear anybody. Roll call
please. Motion carries 6-0. Could I have a motion to accept correspondence for
Items 2 and 3 please?
Thomas: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Cole. All in favor say aye. Motion carries.
Item 4. Adjournment.
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regular formal meeting of August 3,2018.
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Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to (both talking)
Dilkes: Before we do the adjournment, um, so if there's....if there is a need for a primary,
it'll be on September 4`". You have a meeting scheduled for that date, so do you
want to keep that in place? Do you wanna....wait and see if there's a need for a
primary or....
Throgmorton: Well the same would be true for the special election on....on October the 2"d?
Don't we have that scheduled?
Dilkes: Yeah.
Throgmorton: So I don't think that's problematic (both talking)
Dilkes: Okay!
Throgmorton: Yeah, I mean maybe others do but I'll explain why I don't. That was, um, that
practice was instituted after....uh, we had a....a Council election on the night of a
Council meeting and one of the Council Members lost. It was pretty difficult
emotionally for that Councilperson and this is the way I hear it from Marian Karr
our long-time City Clerk, and that afterwards the Council decided, I don't know
who,but the Council decided not to have them occur simultaneously. So this is
different. We're filling a vacant position.
Mims: Eleanor, I have one question. When would the special election, if that's on
October 2"d, when does that person take office?
Dilkes: After the canvassing of the votes, and the Auditor said that's about a week after.
Mims: Okay. So they'd be ready for the next meeting (both talking)
Dilkes: Yeah.
Throgmorton: Okay, good deal. Any other comment, discussion? Hearing none could I have a
motion to adjourn?
Cole: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
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Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Thomas. All in favor say aye. Yeah, all,uh,
opposed same sign. Motion carries. (bangs gavel) We are adjourned.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of August 3,2018.