HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-07-21 Public hearingItem Number: 8.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
`���� COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
July 21, 2020
Discussion of Formation of Truth & Reconciliation Commission - Public Input
and Council Discussion
Prepared By: Eleanor Dilkes, City Attorney
Reviewed By: Geoff Fruin, City Manager
Fiscal Impact: To be determined
Recommendations: Staff: No Recommendation
Commission: N/A
Attachments: "Truth and Reconciliation Commission Core Functions and Requirements"
received by Council members Bergus and Weiner from Iowa Freedom
Riders.
Prior City Council resolutions creating the Climate Action Commission, Ad
Hoc Senior Services Committee and Ad Hoc Diversity Committee.
Executive Summary:
On June 16, 2020 the Council passed a resolution of initial commitments addressing the Black
Lives Matter Movement and Systemic Racism. Item 5 of that resolution provides for the creation
of an ad hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In order to create the commission the City
Council must pass a resolution that includes details of the Council's charge to the commission
and the makeup of the commission.
Background /Analysis:
Item 5 of the Council's June 16 resolution provides:
By October 1, 2020, create an ad hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bear witness to
the truth of racial injustice in Iowa City and to carry out restorative justice, through the collection of
testimony and public hearings, with such work to include a recommendation to the Council of a
plan for dedicating and/or renaming public spaces and/or rights of way in honor of the Black Lives
Matter movement;
Examples of resolutions creating various city committees/commissions are attached. The
resolution creating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will need to address:
1. Number of members.
2. Whether positions will be designated for persons with specific expertise or from specific
organizations.
3. Whether members will be required to be residents of Iowa City.
4. Duties/responsibilities of the Commission
5. Length of time the Commission will have to complete its work and report back to the City
Council.
6. Report to Council - Details on what the report and recommendations to Council should include.
The resolution passed on June 16 states that the report to Council will include a recommendation of a
plan for dedicating and/or renaming public spaces and/or rights of way in honor of the Black Lives
Matter movement. Council member Bergus has provided a few additional examples:
1) a professional repository for community stories in multiple media (written, video, audio, art);
2) a process for supported and facilitated direct conversations between community members
of color and white community members, including those who've had direct negative
interactions (police and protesters, landlords and tenants, students and teachers, doctors and
patients, etc.); let's make a replicable model and provide the structure for these conversations
throughout Iowa City; 3) educational programs throughout the community (sounds like staff
already pursuing great ideas); 4) recommendations for City funding support, in coordination
with existing City programs, grants, and commissions.
7. Will Council appoint the Chair or will the Commission, once created, appoint its Chair?
In addition to the resolution Council will need to provide direction on what resources will be
provided to the Commission. As a reminder, item two of the resolution passed on June 16
allocates 1 million for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2020 for efforts to promote racial equity and
social justice, including support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Council should
outline upfront whether support will be limited to facilitating meeting logistics and public
engagement with all final programmatic recommendations for funding coming to Council for
approval.
As reminder, this Commission will be subject to the same state laws as other city boards and
commissions, including open meeting and open record laws. City staff can assist in ensuring
compliance through an appointed staff liaison position.
Lastly, the City Council should consider how this commission will be expected to coordinate with
other city commissions that are doing similar work including the Human Rights Commission and
the Community Police Review Board. Clarity of scope and expectations for all of these
commissions will help ensure efficient use of volunteer time as well as clarity for the public who
want to participate in discussions and decision-making processes.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
I FR Core Functions and Requirements
Climate Action Commission
Ad hoc Senior Services Committee
Ad hoc Diversity Committee
Truth & Reconciliation Commission
Core Functions & Requirements
Core Functions:
Fact-finding. The TRC will bring out first-hand testimony and other evidence of the
experience of discrimination and racial injustice in police interactions, city services,
employment, housing, univeristy academics and activities, and more, to create a concrete
factual record to support a range of fundamental and necessary institutional and policy
reforms in the coming years.
Truth -telling. The TRC will give persons impacted and traumatized by racial injustice a
deeply empowered and attentive space to share their stories of racial injustice (and
gaslighting about the supposed lack of racial injustice) and the experience of being heard
by (a) fellow communities of color, (b) a broad cross-section of the entire Iowa City
community, and (c) key entrenched/established power -brokers and decision -makers in city
government, the business community, and the University.
• Education. Recognizing that structural racism is often as much a result of ignorance rather
than malice, the TRC will provide deep experiential learning to broad cross-section of the
Iowa City community regarding the reality of discrimination, racial injustice, and white
supremacist assumptions operating in our idealized progressive/welcoming city and the
painful experiences
• Reconciliation. With the beginnings of a shared experience of race and racial injustice in
our City, the TRC will build momentum for institutional and policy reforms and begin to
cultivate new social practices, expectations, protocols, habits, rituals, conversations, and
celebrations that will move Iowa City toward a shared experience of race and difference,
justice and equality, an community and harmony in our city.
Core Requirements:
• City Support. Strong, unwavering support from city (and business, civil society, and
university) officials to (a) loudly vocalize the need for a TCRP and for Iowa City to stop
pretending it doesn't have a racism problem and (b) provide the financial and logistical
resources necessary for a high-profile and successful process.
Safety & Protection. The TRC must have the ability to protect participants from any threat
of retaliation associated with their full and robust participation in TRC processes. The
means to ensure this will be worked out but will likely need to include (a) consistent
messaging that robust honest participation in the TRC is a heroic act in service of the long-
term health of the community; (b) the creation of a Retaliation Prevention Task Force and
if necessary a streamlined non judicial remedy system; (c) an insurance -backed
commitment from the City to indemnify any witnesses against any defamation or other
legal claim and a strong stand against any actors considering such responses/retaliation.
• Inclusive Testimonial Participation. The problem of racial injustice in Iowa City intersects
with and is invidiously buttressed by discriminatory and superiority assumptions impacting
innumerable communities of difference across spectrums of sex, gender, ability, ethnicity,
nationality, indigeneity, and more. The TRC must be have a strong ethic of inclusivity and
aim to investigate and support intersectionality as part of its core mission.
Widespread ListeningPpation. Robust listening/learning participation from across
Iowa City's politically and culturally diverse communities and from the grassroots to the
highest echelons of poltical and economic power is absolutely critical both to respect and
protect witness participants (asking impacted persons to share their stories without
sufficient procedural respect risks retraumatizing them) and to make viable the profound
education and reconciliation goals of the process.
Given what we know about Iowa City's inclination to hide from racial justice issues, strict
transparency and accountability measures may be necessary to encourage broad
participation across institutions, communities, and neighborhoods. While such measures
are not a substitute for genuine good faith, they can help push people past initial wariness
or dismissiveness to a point where they may recognize the value and core safety of the
proceeding.)
Evolving & Creative Design. It is impossible to say ahead of time exactly what processes
and tools will work best for a TRC in Iowa City. Nor should the planners of a TRC in the
present moment presume to know the needs of a true education and reconciliation process
before a wide range of persons impacted by racial injustice have been heard from. Thus it
must be expected that the procedures and requirements of the TRC will evolve over time
as more truth comes to light and more information becomes available.
The TRC must also embrace creativity and diffrerence in its core functioning. A "public
hearing" with speakers at tables, microphones, and an audience is only one method of truth -
telling. The TRC must be open to ways that art, music, theater, workshops, rallies, and
other forms of congregation and listening can add dimensions to the process and reveal
truths that cannot be fully expressed in traditional forums.
Significant & Flexible Remedy/Response Powers. The TRC must have the power to direct
and recommend the implementation of both practical and symbolic remedies and/or
responses, commensurate with the depth and ambition of the underlying truth -telling and
reconciliation process. As referenced in the language of the June 16 Council Resolution,
such remedies/responses should include dedicating and/or renaming public spaces and/opr
rights of way in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement, or specific person -of -color
victims of police or community violence, or other significant community figures in the
fight against systemic racism whose impact(s) may be revealed by the TRC process itself.
The TRC should also be empowered to consider the question of reparations, measures to
enhance the autonomy/security/sovereignty of communities of color, measures to rapidly
mitigate disparities in social and economic power, and of course institutional and policy
reforms across city affairs, University -city relations, and local business practices.
2
Prepared by: Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator, 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 887-6161
Resolution No. 19-251
Resolution establishing a Climate Action Commission
Whereas, in Resolution No. 17-96 the Iowa City City Council authorized the creation of a Climate
Action Steering Committee for the purpose of creating the Climate Action and Adaption Plan to
achieve greenhouse gas emissions targets of 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2025 and 80% by
2050; and
Whereas, the Steering Committee convened
Adaptation Plan, adopted in September 2018,
continue as a self -governed advisory board; and
during the creation of the Climate Action and
and dissolved from an official City capacity to
Whereas, after one year, members of the self -governed committee recommended a formal City
Commission to address the City's climate action and sustainability objectives; and
Whereas, in July 2019, City Council declared a Climate Crisis and increased new greenhouse gas
emissions targets of 45% by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050 as recommended in October
2018 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in response to this crisis; and
Whereas, creation of a Climate Action Commission will enhance and enable further community
efforts to achieve the City's ambitious climate goals; and
Whereas, a created Climate Action Commission will operate as an advisory body to the City
Council and shall advise, research, analyze, promote, and with approval, implement initiatives that
support the City's climate and sustainability goals, including the Climate Action Plan and any
related or updated plan hereafter, and
Whereas, the composition of the Climate Action Commission shall include eleven member; with
backgrounds, knowledge, and expertise offering representation across the community which
could effectively guide implementation of climate objectives. MidAmerican Energy and the
University of Iowa will each have a standing representative on the Commission. Nine at -large
seats, representing other key stakeholders, will be appointed by the City Council. Key
stakeholders may include, but are not limited to, the Iowa City Community School District. area
commercial businesses, local industry, design and construction professionals, non -profits, and
the general public;
Whereas, residents of Iowa City should be given preference, but members are not required to
have Iowa City residency; and
Whereas, the self-governing climate advisory board is a direct successor to the Steering
Committee which developed the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Active members of this
board have expressed interest in continuing in a formalized role and it is appropriate to appoint
these members initially, without regard to gender balance; and
Whereas, Commission member terms should be three years, with a two -term limit, and the
initial terms will be staggered in length, with all members appointed for three years. The two
standing members, MidAmedcan Energy and the University of Iowa, will assign their
representatives and not be subject to term limits; and
Whereas, the Commission should be guided by principles of equity, and ensure through diverse
and representative Commission membership and through its actions, to consider equity impacts
of proposed climate initiatives; and
13'
Resolution No. 19-251
Page 2
Whereas, the Commission may form working groups or subcommittees on specific topics and
issues to achieve substantive progress on action areas of the plan. Working groups and
subcommittees may include members from outside the Commission; and
Whereas, the newly created Commission will create greater credibility, influence, awareness, and
capacity in interactions with City elected and appointed leadership, and throughout the
community.
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Iowa City City Council hereby establishes a Climate
Action Commission in order to assist the City in the implementation of the Climate Action and
Adaptation Plan in order to reach the new Climate Crisis emissions targets by 2030 and 2050 as
follows:
1. The Commission shall have eleven total members consisting of nine at -large members
appointed by the City Council, one from MidAmerican Energy, and one from the University
of Iowa.
2. Members shall have backgrounds, knowledge, and expertise offering representation
across the community which will effectively guide implementation of climate objectives,
and may include representation from the Iowa City Community School District, area
commercial businesses, local industry, design and construction industry, non -profits,
and the general public.
3. Any active member of the climate advisory board who is interested in serving on the
Commission is appointed as an initial member, even if not gender balanced.
4. City residency is preferred, but members are not required to be Iowa City residents as
long as they are residents of Johnson County and meet the requirements of knowledge
and expertise for guiding climate objectives, as set forth in Paragraph 2.
5. Member terms shall be three years, with a two -term limit except for the three members
initially appointed for a one-year term. The initial terms shall be staggered in length as
follows:
a. Three members appointed for three years with terms ending December 31,
2022.
b. Three members appointed for two years with terms ending December 31,
2021.
c. Three members appointed for one year with terms ending December 31,
2020. These three members may be appointed for two additional three-year
terms.
Accordingly, the new terms for three members shall commence January 1, 2023, for
three members on January 1, 2022, and three members on January 1, 2021.
Representative members from MidAmerican Energy and from the University of Iowa will
govern their own appointments and not be subject to term limits.
6. The Commission may form working groups and/or subcommittees on specific topics and
issues to achieve substantive progress on action areas of the Climate Action and
Adaptation Plan.
Resolution No. 19-251
Page 3
7. The Climate Action Commission shall:
a) advise the City Council on climate issues.
b) research, analyze, and promote climate actions, with particular attention to equity.
c) educate and engage with the public on climate action and the City's climate and
sustainability goals.
d) assist City staff, City Council, and members of the community with implementing
approved initiatives that support the City's climate and sustainability goals, including
the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and any related or updated plan hereafter.
e) recommend to City Council updates to the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.
8. The Climate Action Commission shall prepare bylaws, which it deems necessary and
advisable for the conduct of business of the Commission, and present the bylaws to the
Rules Committee and City Council for approval.
Passed and apprrooved this day of er 2099.
Ma r
ATTEST: W, Zip
Cl CLERK - d- —
roved
City Attorney's Office
Resolution No. 19-251
Page 4
It was moved by Mims and seconded by Teague
Resolution be adopted, and upon roll call there were:
AYES: NAYS: ABSENT:
x
Cole
x
Mims
x
Salih
x
Taylor
x
Teague
x
Thomas
x
Tbmgmorton
the
Prepared by: Geoff Fruin, Asst. to the City Manager, 410 E. Washington St., Iowa City, lA 52240 (319) 356-5010
RESOLUTION NO. 14-37
RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING AN AD HOC SENIOR SERVICES COMMITTEE
TO REVIEW THE VISION, MISSION, AND PROGRAMMING OF CITY
SPONSORED SENIOR SERVICES IN RELATION TO THE OVERALL NEEDS
OF SENIORS IN THE COMMUNITY
WHEREAS, The vast majority of city sponsored senior services are provided through the Senior
Center (aka The Center). The Vision of the Senior Center is that it "will be the communities'
primary resource for the highest quality programs, services, and opportunities that promote
optimal aging". The Mission of the Senior Center is "to promote optimal aging among older
adults by offering programs and services that promote wellness, social interaction, community
engagement, and intellectual growth. The Center serves the public through intergenerational
programming and community outreach.",* and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Census Bureau, the segments of the United States
population that grew the fastest between 2000 and 2010 were persons ages 45 to 64 years and
65 years and older. Statistics on the State of Iowa and the City of Iowa City indicate that the senior
population is growing in similar fashion; and
WHEREAS, The City Council recently adopted its 2014-15 Strategic Plan, which includes a
commitment to foster a more inclusive and sustainable Iowa City. The Strategic Plan also included
a new initiative to examine alternative approaches to delivering services and programs for senior
citizens; and
WHEREAS, It is important for City services to recognize and adapt to the changing demographic
and socioeconomic profile of Iowa City residents in order to ensure that municipal services are
best meeting the needs of the population; and
WHEREAS, The City Council has expressed a desire to evaluate the current services offered
by the Senior Center in order to ensure that the City is effectively meeting the needs of the
senior population within the community.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IOWA
CITY, IOWA, THAT:
1. The Ad Hoc Senior Services Committee is established.
2. The Senior Service Committee shall consist of seven (7) members to be appointed by the
City Council. Members of other City boards and commissions may serve on the Senior Services
Committee. Membership shall include at least one member of the City Council, Senior Center
Commission and a non-member of the Senior Center. Up to two non-residents of the City of Iowa
City shall be eligible to serve on the committee if they are residents of Johnson County and offer
desirable expertise not available from applicants who reside in Iowa City.
Resolution No. 14-37
Page 2
3. Applications for membership on the Senior Services Committee shall be announced,
advertised, and available in the same manner as those for all City boards and commissions. The
term of members shall commence immediately upon City Council appointment.
4. City Council shall select the Chair, who when present will preside over all meetings, and
the Vice -Chair, who will serve as chair in absence of the Chair.
5. The City Manager and City Clerk, or their designees, shall staff the Senior Services
Committee.
6. The Senior Services Committee shall determine the frequency and conduct of its
meetings. The meetings will be open to the public in accordance with Chapter 21 of the Iowa
Code.
7. The Senior Services Committee shall serve from May 1, 2014 to December 1, 2014 and
shall have an organizational meeting no later than June 13, 2014.
8. The charges of the Senior Services Committee are as follows:
A. To evaluate the current vision, mission, programming, and recent
accomplishments of the Senior Center, as detailed in the 2013 Annual Report.
Further, and to review the current demographics of the participants served by
existing operations. Such evaluation should consider the 2013 Senior Center
Survey of Members, Former Members and Non -Members, as well as other
available data sources from the Senior Center, and determine whether segments
of the senior population are not accessing available services. A summary of this
committee evaluation and its related findings shall be included in the final written
report submitted to the City Council.
B. To make recommendations to the City Council on how Iowa City should use
current financial and physical resources to meet the needs of Iowa City seniors.
These recommendations should consider the City's use of existing resources and
the vision, mission and programming required to more effectively serve the
growing senior population in the community in accordance with the inclusive and
sustainable values expressed in the City's Strategic Plan. Such recommendations
shall include commentary regarding the specific segments of the senior population
that they are intended to serve.
C. To identify any obstacles, including facility considerations, which may be hindering
the City's ability to serve the senior population and to make recommendations that
would minimize or eliminate such obstacles.
9. The Senior Services Committee shall submit a written report to the City Council by
December 1, 2014, that responds to each of the charges listed above and that contains
recommendations, if any, with respect to each of the charges.
10. Absent further action by the City Council, the Senior Services Committee will dissolve on
December 1, 2014.
Resolution No. 14-37
Page 3
Passed and approved this 18th day of February , 2014.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
p roved-by1
City Attorney's Office
Resolution No. 14-37
Page 4
It was moved by Mims and seconded by Payne the
Resolution be adopted, and upon roil call there were:
AYES: NAYS: ABSENT:
x Botchway
x _ Dickens
_ Dobyns
x Hayek
x Mims
x Payne
x Throgmorton
Prepared by: Susan Dulek, Asst. City Atty., 410 E. Washington St., Iowa City, IA 52240 (319) 356-5030
RESOLUTION NO. 12-320
RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING AN AD HOC DIVERSITYCOMMITTEE TO STUDY CITY
OPERATIONS AS THEY RELATE TO MINORITY POPULATIONS
WHEREAS, the population of Iowa City is becoming increasingly racially diverse; and
WHEREAS, on May 15, 2012, City Council passed a resolution of intent to establish an ad hoc
committee to study City operations as they relate to minority populations with a view toward
promoting just and harmonious interaction between local government and minority segments of
the community (Resolution No. 12-260).
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IOWA
CITY, IOWA, THAT:
1. The Ad Hoc Diversity Committee is established.
2. The Diversity Committee shall consist of seven (7) members to be appointed by the City
Council. Members of other City boards and commissions may serve on the Diversity Committee.
Members must be residents of Iowa City.
3. Applications for membership on the Diversity Committee shall be announced, advertised,
and available in the same manner as those for all City boards and commissions.
4. City Council shall select the Chair, who when present will preside over all meetings, and
the Vice -Chair, who will serve as chair in absence of the Chair.
5. The City Manager, City Attorney, and City Clerk, or their designees, shall staff the Diversity
Committee.
6. The Diversity Committee shall determine the frequency and conduct of its meetings. The
meetings will be open to the public in accordance with Chapter 21 of the Iowa Code.
7. The Diversity Committee shall have an organizational meeting no later than September
10, 2012.
8. The charges of the Diversity Committee are as follows:
A. To study the operation of the City's transit system, including but not limited to the
downtown interchange, as it relates to minority populations with a view toward
promoting just and harmonious interaction between City government and minority
segments of the community.
B. To study the operations of City law enforcement, including but not limited to the
Police Citizen Review Board (PCRB), as it relates to minority populations with a
view toward promoting just and harmonious interaction between City government
and minority segments of the community.
Resolution No. 12-320
Page 2
9. The Diversity Committee shall submit a written report to the City Council by March 10,
2013, that responds to each of the charges listed above and that contains recommendations, if
any, with respect to -each of the charges.
10. Absent further action by the City Council, the Diversity Committee will dissolve on March
10, 2013.
Passed and approved this 19th day of . June , 2012.
!!g� w
MAYOR `
ATTEST_ 2/
CITY RK
Ap ove
6,13
City Attorney's Office
Resolution No. 12-320
Page 3
It was moved by Dobvns and seconded by Payne the
Resolution be adopted, and upon roll call there were:
AYES: NAYS: ABSENT:
_x Champion
X Dickens
x Dobyns
_ x Hayek
x Mims
_.._ x Payne
X Throgmorton
0
0110
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
ANDICE ESTIMATED HEARING(COST FOR THE 2019-J2020 ANNUAL FILED
SANITARY SEWER PIPE REHABILITATION PROJECT IN
THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA
JM 02 2020
TO ALL TAXPAYERS OF THE CITY OF IOWA CITY,
IOWA, AND TO OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS:
Public notice is hereby given that the City Council of the
City of Iowa City, Iowa, will conduct a public hearing on the
Project Manual, including the plans, specifications, contract,
and estimated cost for the construction of the 2019-2020
Annual Sanitary Sewer Pipe Rehabilitation in said city at
7:00 p.m. on the 21st day of July, 2020, said meeting to be
held in the Emma J. Harvat Hall in the City Hall, 410 East
Washington Street in said city, or if said meeting is
cancelled, at the next meeting of the City Council thereafter
as posted by the City Clerk.
This project includes lining of approximately 10,600
linear feet of sewer pipe, reinstatement of approximately
236 service connections, and other associated work for
various locations around the City of Iowa City.
Said Project Manual and estimated cost are now on file
in the office of the City Clerk in the City Hall in Iowa City,
Iowa, and may be inspected by any interested persons.
Any interested persons may appear at said meeting of
the City Council for the purpose of making objections to and
comments concerning said Project Manual or the cost of
making said improvement.
This notice is given by order of the City Council of
the City of Iowa City, Iowa and as provided by law.
Kellie K. Fruehling, City Clerk
City Clerk
Iowa City, Iowa