HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-07-07 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Bergus, Mims, Salih, Teague, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Kilburg, Dilkes, Fruehling, Seydell-Johnson, Hightshoe,
Sovers, Nagle-Gamm, Ford, Bockenstedt
Others Present: Longenecker, Van Heukelom (UISG)
COVID-19 Update:
Teague/ All right, welcome to the Iowa City City Council work session for Tuesday, July 71,
2020. And look like all of our Councilors are here, and I see Ryan from UISG All right!
Well.... it's been kind of a long week. I hope people enjoyed, uh, the three-day holiday, if
you had one. Um, wanted to just kind of jump in the agenda and we'll start with COVID-
19 updates. So we know that there's been a lot with COVID-19, especially with the
uptick in our community. And so .... would staff have any updates for us today?
Fruin/ Good evening, Mayor and Council. Nice to see you all. Uh, I don't have any prepared
presentations for you this evening. Um, I will update you on ... on a few things. We
remain to have, uh, all our facilities closed to the public. We had hopes of reopening City
Hall and some other facilities, uh, earlier this summer, and with the uptick in cases, we
have decided to keep things buttoned up, and we do not have any, uh, plans to, uh, reopen
City Hall or, uh, our rec centers, uh, at this time. Uh, the Library is offering curbside, uh,
services right now, uh, and other, uh, departments are offering their services virtually,
including, uh, Parks and Recreation and, uh, the Center. So, um, I think I'll just, uh,
allow you to have a conversation. Uh, any Council Members that have questions, I'm....
I'm happy to answer those, urn .... uh, and we'll go from there. So I'll tum it back over to
you, Mayor.
Teague/ All right! Thank you! Well we know that there's a lot happening with COVID-19, um,
beyond the request of people not totally wearing masks throughout our community and..
and individuals want to mandate that, um, per order of the Mayor. There's been quite a
....a bit of discussion relatin' to this, urn .... item. We do know that around, um, I think
it's two other places, two other mayors in ... our state has done that, made that, um....
requirement for their city. (mumbled) somethin' that I continue to take under
consideration at this time. I think that ... I at least wanted to address with the community
that it is important that we do, uh, wear face shields and do social distance practices, uh,
to the best of our ability whenever deemed possible, but wearin' your mask is one way to,
um, when you're in public, to really show others .... you know, the opportunity that you
are taking COVID serious and tryin' to decrease the risk of vulnerable individuals within
our community. So I ... I at least wanted to make mention of that. Um, I do know that
there are some items that are on our consent agenda, um, and it's related to grants, and I
think we honestly can probably take that item and put it here, if we wanted to. Um .... so
we know that there's two grants that are in the consent agenda. One is, uh, CWJ's `My
Home to Yours,' and we may have to ask, urn ... Councilor Salih, uh, Mayor Pro Tem
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Salih, um, and maybe .... you can advise us on this. She may have to recruse herself for
this part of the discussion. Urn .... so .... so maybe we'll talk about the CWJ, if...if Council
is, uh, want to talk about that. We will also talk about, um .... uh, `Better Together' had a
request as well. Um, I think because, uh, Mayor Pro Tem can speak on that, we'll
probably.... um, talk about .... um.....we have to do them separate. So we'll probably talk
about CWJ first and then probably have Mayor Pro Tem come back, if that's agreeable.
Okay!
Salih/ I can do that! You want me just to leave or just, what I do?
Teague/ Um, my assumption is you can probably listen in.
Salih/ Yeah, because (mumbled) (laughs) but I don't have to give you any input on this. Yeah,
because I cannot do that. Yeah.
Teague/ Yep! Yep, so ... (both talking)
Salih/ ...be silent.
Teague/ Yeah. Typically you leave the room, so I don't know if you wanna (laughs)
Salih/ Yeah, I .... (both talking) you want me to leave the ... and come back later. But how I'm
gonna know, you gonna text me?
Teague/ Um, any advice on this, Eleanor?
Dilkes/ Well I ... I think if we follow the practice, I mean generally the prohibition is on having
any discussion, or certainly voting on an item, which we wouldn't be doing tonight, but I
would say probably just (noises in background, difficult to hear) um .... to get off the
Zoom and get back on when we're ready probably makes the most sense.
Salih/ Okay! Text me when you done.
Teague/ All right.
Salih/ Okay!
Teague/ We'll .... we'll text you!
Salih/ Thank you!
Teague/ Yes! All right! So .... in the .... um, consent agenda, there was a request, urn .... for CWJ,
`My Home to Yours,' and I think what we are hoping to do potentially is maybe discuss
this and then, um, I know that I've had conversations with our City Manager, um, in
regards to, um, you know, the request and maybe the process for the request. So maybe
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I'll have the City Manager mention this at this time and then we'll be able to have
discussion.
Fruin/ Uh, and I'll actually bring Eleanor into this, uh, dis.... discussion, Mayor. Um, because
there was a Attorney, um, General opinion that was offered earlier this year that I think
will influence just the process on how we move forward. So, Eleanor, do you wanna
explain that, uh (both talking)
Dilkes/ Sure! Uh.... okay, um, so at the beginning of the COVID-19, um, pandemic, the State
Auditor sent out an advice to, um, local, um, local governments, uh, about making...
specifically about making grants to non-profit organizations and reminding us of the
constitutional prohibition, the Iowa Constitutional Prohibition on using, urn ... uh, public
funds for private purposes. Uh.... we, I think, generally, the way we conduct business, are
in good shape with these kind of grants, because we, for instance with our Aid to Agency
grants and certainly with all our CDBG and Home grants, we have an agreement that
documents the public purpose, uh.... indicates how the money will be spent to further that
public purpose, and has a reporting mechanism in place by the entity that's receiving the
grant funds. Um .... it was a reminder simply of a provision that's been around for a long
time, um, but I think we can expect that the auditors will be lookin' out for it, and so I
think we wanna be particularly cautious about getting any, um, any distribution of grant
funds documented in a grant ... in a grant agreement. So the ... so what I suggested to the
Mayor earlier this week was that, um, if you wanna make these grants funds, then the
direction to staff be to prepare an agreement, um, and... and bring it back to you at your
next, uh... meeting.
Teague/ All right! Thank you! And so I just wanted to, uh, mention for the public, um, the
Center for Worker Justice have a relief effort program and it's called `From our Hou..
From our Home to Yours,' and it was created in April, um, and it was .... really in response
to many families in crisis with no safety net, um, leavin' them unable to afford rent,
utilities, and basic needs, and many immigrant families and, uh, their network are not
eligible for unemployment or any type of federal stimulus fund, and CWJ has, um, been
able to pass along fundings that they've had, uh, to date given between $300 to $600, uh,
per family that's in crisis and so their request to the City of Iowa City is to help with their
efforts by donating $25,000, um ... and this money will be distributed to Iowa City
residents and that is, um .... their request and so wanted to open up .... open it up for
Council discussion. (several talking, garbled)
Weiner/ Um,I recognize the need, I recognize there's been, uh, enormous need in this community
from the beginning, and I sort of wanted to ... to reel us back a little bit to May because in
May we were talking about in larger terms the .... sort of the financial arc of this
(mumbled) the assistance pieces and the City Manager had given us, um, essentially an
overview of where things stood financially with the City at that point, some possibilities
for giving aid. I know that we carved out, um, $50,000 out of the affordable housing
fund (mumbled) for .... for, um, people who would not otherwise be eligible for state or
federal funds. Um, and that's, I think that's being distributed right now (mumbled) that
money doesn't go directly... it's my understanding that money doesn't go directly to the
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people, uh, who have applied, but it ends up going to pay, directly to pay their, uh, their
bills, whether it's rent or...or whatever it is. Um, this is absolutely a worthy request, but
here's my...here's one of my concerns. Um, we haven't .... a lot of other things
intervened. We've been super busy, and we really haven't had a chance to step back and
take a look holistically at...at the whole financial situation. What we can do, what's
happening now with federal funds, what's happening with state funds, what we could do
as a city on, uh, on .... relief, um, for utilities, what we can do with enterprise funds.
There's a ... There's a whole, um, there's a whole series of things we also don't know quite
yet but we will probably within the next week or two what's going to happen with the
federal (mumbled) for unemployment. Um .... when I, I would really love to look at it all
(mumbled) piece, um, over .... over the next couple weeks, so we can really see the big
picture instead of going at it piecemeal, and that's sort of where I'm starting at it from.
Teague/ I'm .... typically I know that I, uh, kinda wait on items and ... I did wanna just jump in, uh,
and talk about, um, this item. I know that we're gonna talk about the next item, um, here
in a little bit, once our Mayor Pro Tem comes... comes back, and that's related to `Better
Together.' I know that there's a lot of needs within our community. We have, um,
businesses that have closed or are lookin' at closing, and the needs are now. We also look
at individuals within our community. Um, there are some that have, definitely have the
unemployment, um, funds given to them that have helped them. Some say that it's even
better than what their paycheck was. Uh, that's a reality. There's also those that haven't
had that ability to get any, such as some of the, um, undocumented individuals within our
community. I think that .... when.....when we look at all of the programs that have
happened to date, um, PPP funds, other relief funds, they have come in short order. Here
it is, you know, in July, we have done some COVID relief, um, in roundabout ways, but
this ... we have individuals within our community, and I'm talkin' about individual
residents, not businesses, um, people that are livin' day-to-day in need of some of these
things to make it, you know, on a daily basis, and so although I do agree with you, where
we need to look at the greater, the greater need — absolutely, we need to make that a
priority, and we can certainly put that on the next agenda, relook at and visit some of
the ... the presentation that was given to us by the City Manager, as well as Dennis, um,
and .... and try to figure out where .... have some real conversations about that, but the one
thing that I am, um, fully aware of is that no matter what we do it's gonna be time
sensitive as far as like meetin' the needs of the people. (mumbled) tangible things right
now that we ... that we can do. Twenty-five thousand, in my opinion, uh, for the residents
of Iowa City is not a large ... is not a large stretch. Peop.... people lives are really bein'
affected and I wish, um, you know, people have reached out and told their personal
stories. Um, I've been in conversations with people about not bein' able to pay their rent,
not bein' able to pay their utilities. Um, you can talk to, uh, the Crisis Center, or
Community, um, Crisis and Food Bank, and they'll be able to tell ya some of the stories
that they're hearing, um, from some of the individuals. And so I believe that, yes, we do
need to, you know, look at all that, but right now this is a tangible solution, uh, for a small
portion of our residents that have needs right now. CWJ from, um, what they've written
and from the support letters that have come in, it's very clear that they're workin' hard to
meet the individ.... individual needs within our community, um, and so I do like this
proposal and would recommend that we, urn .... approve the 25,000 so that staff can come
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back next week, or two weeks from now, um, so that those funds and that agreement can
be drafted.
Mims/ I guess I have a question from looking at the request on, um, I guess what .... what are the
qualifications and what .... what's the documentation, um, that CWJ is gathering to .... to
show that people qualify. I guess ... part of my question also becomes, um, potentially, and
I don't .... I don't know if this would fall into it, if this is just City money, but we also
administer or .... or state and federal money flows through us, and there's the concern also
about double-dipping, which I know when I've talked to some other providers, they're
really concerned about, um, consistent and accurate documentation of who's getting
money and who's getting it from what pot. Otherwise there literally is the potential that
the City would have to, could have to repay money, and I realize this would be City
money, but ... I .... I just don't understand enough about some of those systems to be willing
to support this at this point in time, because I don't wanna end up, you know, having to
repay part of that ... part of CDBG money or something because people have gotten money
from there and then got money from here, and I also have, when it's taxpayer dollar, I
think it's important that there are specific criteria that are specified for who is getting the
money and that there is documentation, um, of that need, and none of that was explained
in the request. So if we were to go ahead, I would certainly want to see that, um, required
in the agreement that the City, uh, was to generate for this.
Fruin/ If I could jump in, I ... um, some of the things that we would normally look at in a grant
agreement like this, um, would be the prioritization of funds. So for example with the
50,000, uh, in funds that we provided for local housing and utility assistance, we made it
a requirement as the City to, uh, make sure that those folks apply for state funds first, and
if they have not applied for state funds, we'll do what we can to assist them, and if
they're not, uh, deemed eligible by the state or they're denied for some reason, then we
would look to do that. So I think that's one thing the Council would need to consider, do
we wanna prioritize funds? Uh, we do expect that, um, as early as next week we'll go
live, uh, with our, uh, partnership with Community on the CDBG COVID funds, and uh,
those, uh....um, undocumented residents are eligible for those funds, and that's for rent
and utility relief. Um, so ... our .... our normal thought process would be, um, let's make
sure the person applying for local relief first goes through the federal and state channels
to see if we can use those resources first, and if those ... if those programs aren't designed
to ... to fit the needs of those individuals, um, then that's where the local .... local dollars
come, and that .... that allows us to stretch our local dollars the furthest and, uh, allows us
to utilize those outside dollars first. So the prioritization of relief funds is important for
you to think about. Um, income verification is something, uh, that ... that we typically
require on any type of assistance like this, um, whether it's, you know, COVID or non-
COVID. Um, and then the other thing, um .... uh, specifically related to COVID is
documenting, um, the impact of COVID, um, and that'll be something you'll need to
consider, but for again.... for example in our $50,000 funds that .... that, the program that
we designed there, um, we require that, um, you be able to demonstrate that COVID
caused you financial hardship. So, um, we look at, uh, we're then tasked with looking at,
well, what was your income before and after COVID to see if that's changed, if you've
lost your job, if. ... if your circumstances have changed, then this, uh... uh, safety net of
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funds would be there. So prioritization of funds, income, um, verification, and proof of
COVID impact are ... are three things that I think the Council should talk about, uh, as you
consider this request and frankly any .... any request, um..uh, going forward, uh, for local
relief funds.
Teague/ Hey, Geoff, I have a quick question for you. As far as like the particulars within an
agreement, is that somethin' that typically, or at least in the past, we know that, uh, I
believe so far, um, Shelter House has an agreement with us, um, is that somethin' that you
kinda... that staff works with the entity requestin' the funds to kinda work out that detail
and then bring it back to Council, because I think it would... probably not be in our best
interest to develop what those are, but that would be a conversation between you,
between staff and kind of the individuals requestin' the funds. Now of course we just
heard what you mentioned and some of those things I know are important to me as far as
like, um, what would be the criterium for individuals to get funding, um .... and .... and I
think of that as something that's, at least from my knowledge, so far that's been somethin'
that staff and ... that's worked out with entities. Now we can certainly weigh in on that if
there's somethin' that we feel was very vital, but um, is that typically, uh, one way that
this can go at this point?
Fruin/ Yeah, um, you know, it's .... it's a little bit different in this case and ... and here's why. With
the $50,000 program that we created, uh, earlier this month, or last month, um, that was a
program we designed from scratch. Um, so we identified the need, we put together the
rules of the program, and then we approached the Shelter House to administer that. Now
they .... they could provide us some feedback on ... on what rules, you know, may be
problematic, but uh, that is our program that we designed, that they administer. This is a
program that's already been designed and is up and running, uh, so it's .... it's a bit of a
different conversation to go back to the Center for Worker Justice and say we want to
completely rework your program and here's our rules. Um, that's, you know, again
they've got a program up and running and the fundamental difference from my
understanding in just looking at the letter is that they give direct relief to individuals and
families, and uh, whereas in relief programs that we design and that the federal
government and the state put out, um, by and large those are relief, uh, that are going to
be directly paid to your utility holders, your landlords, um, and not directly to the
families. So, um, it's a little bit different, Mayor, in that this is an established program
that was created with private donations and now they're coming back to us (mumbled)
public funds to supplement. So I think the Council needs to figure out if you're .... if
you're comfortable giving that direct relief to families, and if so what's the
documentation that you wanna require, urn .... in order .... in order to allow that, and ... and
really the same is gonna be for the `Better Together' program, as well, right? That's a
program that they've already created, they've launched with private funds, and we're
asking to contribute dollars to there. So if there's any kind of unique twists that you
wanna put onto those funds, that's the type of discussion that you all need to have tonight.
Teague/ Thank you!
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Weiner/ Um, excuse me, Geoff, did you ... did you say with respect to the federal funds that are
(mumbled) that are going to be, um (mumbled) community that undocumented will or
will not be eligible for them?
Fruin/ They will be eligible.
Teague/ One of the (both talking) Oh, go right ahead!
Bergus/ Oh I'm sorry! Just a clarification question, um, for Eleanor. Mentioning the Attorney
General's, um, advisory, and I think you said the State Auditor, as far as public funds for,
um, ensuring they're for a public purpose. Is it your opinion that we could have a grant
agreement that would satisfy that or...or is sort of what Geoff was saying with this
established program, I mean do you .... I don't know, does that make sense? Do you think
we can get there or...or.... or not?
Dilkes/ Well I think we can ... I think we can get there. I think we could get there, but it's gonna,
as Geoff says, it's kind of a backwards process, um, and .... we're gonna have to impose
rules on a program that perhaps doesn't have such rules. I ... I don't know what rules they
have.
Bergus/ Okay. Thank you.
Dilkes/ Or create a separate program for the 25,000.
Weiner/ And following up on .... on, um, Councilor Bergus' question, um, Eleanor, for further
clarification, so giving.... giving money, essentially sort of giving stimulus, the equivalent
of stimulus directly to the people who are in need so that they can decide what their
priority is, what they really need to use the money for, is that .... can that be considered a
public .... a public purpose?
Dilkes/ Well I ... I think you're doing that with the Shelter House agreement. It's just being
given .... it's not being given directly to the individuals but to the providers. I don't know
who it's distributed to .... is the critical determinant in whether there's a public purpose or
not. It would help .... it does help in proving that there is a public purpose or the funds
have been used for a public purpose. That's where the documentation comes in. Um...
when there's questions asked about that. I mean we give .... we give money to ... our, we
have an Aid to Agency budget. We give money to non -profits all the time for what we
identify as community needs and ... and a, that serve a public purpose. So I don't,
fundamentally I don't think this is any different than that. Um, but I think it's .... it's
tough just to give directly to the individuals.
Teague/ I don't actually see where it says that the funds go directly to individuals. I'm readin' it
again, and it says our project passes along payments of $300 and $600, uh, per family to
local community members in crisis, startin' with those who are ineligible for other
assistance program. So that does not state to me that it's bein' given directly to the
individual or the family. I think we're makin' that assumption, but again I ... I believe that
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we have, um .... with .... with the agreement, uh, we can make that stipulation. That
sounds like a very simple stipulation to be made.
Fruin/ And, Mayor, I'll .... I'll agree. I am making that assumption based on that language, but
I ... I don't know how they're administering the program right now.
Teague/ Yeah.
Thomas/ Well I'm ... I'm pleased to hear that it...it appears we can .... we can get there, uh, with...
with some form of an agreement. I mean I think ... I suspect all of us would agree there is
a need, uh, beyond that I ... the questions I'm struggling with with these sorts of things is
how can we most effectively reach, uh, the greatest number of people. Urn .... so that's...
that's one of my concerns. I'm pleased to hear that concept, as Geoff noted, of the City
funding being kind of the last money to come in, uh, to help with the assistance. Um,
one .... one of the things that I've been thinking about, with respect to this, is how we can,
um, use our .... uh, utility, control over the utility fees to help with, uh, with assisting
households, uh, which might have a greater reach, uh, than this particular program, but
um .... you know, so that's something that I'm looking at ... or concerned with and thinking
maybe an option, uh, and possibly one that could, uh, adapt to a more long-term
approach, because I am aware that some cities, even prior to COVID, had, um, programs
where they would discount their utility rates for households which, um, qualified based
on their household income. Uh, so you know, the ... the issues we're struggling with here
existed before COVID, uh, I think they will exist after COVID. So to a degree we can try
to anticipate or...identify a way in which we might be able to assist in a more long-term
structural way, um, rather than these one-time cash infusions, um, is something that I'm
interested in.
Taylor/ Yeah, I think, uh, what John said though, the one-time (mumbled) cash infusions, I was
kinda thinking of that. It seems like now maybe things are going to start trickling in and
be kind of a hit -n -miss here and there with requests for funding, and ... and rather than us
maybe having or, uh, setting aside a big pot, uh, of funds and then, uh, assessing if there's
proper documentation from the non -profits that want the money, uh, I ... I trust ... I've
known the CWJ for many years and they've always, um, been, uh, very truthful and
honest about, uh, work they've done and been helpful to folks, uh, so I ... I would trust that
they would closely monitor, uh, that the use is for those folks that were impacted by
COVID, um .... and .... and I think it would be more like a partnership with them, uh, with
these funds, because they would have to, uh, assure us that they're using them
appropriately. Um....but (mumbled) question of do .... do we do the hit -n -miss or...or, um
...or wait? And I'm not sure about that (laughs)
Teague/ All right (both talking)
Mims/ I guess I would ... I guess I would be more in line with Janice in terms of trying to get a
better idea of the big picture, um, rather than kind of doing these hit and miss on some of
these as well.
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Weiner/ The other piece that I'd add is I'd also really like to get ... I know that they've worked on
it and... and discussed it at HCDC, um, they have some expertise and some ideas and I'd
really also like to leverage the, um, the knowledge and the ... the capacity that we have on
that City commission, as we approach this as a whole. I mean I'm not ... I'm not necess...
I'm not ... um, necessarily against 25,000 at this point, but I really do want us to, um, and
would really appreciate it if. ... if we could be ... before our next meeting, a really full look
at this and the .... and what we, the needs are and what the recommendations are and what
the possibilities are for help, both short-term and long-term.
Teague/ Okay, so I think I'm hearing .... I .... I kinda hear two things. I hear... definitely hear that
there's, uh, waiting, um, to get the big picture. Um, and I .... I gotta somewhat of a sense
that, um, people wanted to ... maybe see what resolu.... what type of agreement could be
created. Urn .... so what are people, I guess ... it's so hard here (laughs) um, but I can see
your faces. So ... uh, maybe just kinda raise your hand if you're wantin' to wait and get big
picture, but I think we need to wait, maybe hear from staff, to see what that big picture
might look like. Um, I know that we have the slides. Is that somethin' that the staff
could bring, big picture, but I .... or are we at the point where staff need .... where
Councilors need to either make decisions, uh, based on your presentation.
Fruin/ Well, it's been a couple of months, Mayor, so they can certainly kinda refresh that
presentation and ... and focus it, because I think, uh, one .... one thing that was clear coming
out of there, back in May, um, was that the ... the Council seemed most focused on the
support of social services and families in need. Um, that was your highest priority, and I
trust that that is probably still your highest priority. So we could focus that conversation
a little bit and also update you on the ... the larger financial picture for the City going
forward, uh, now that we have a couple more, ub, months under our belt. Um, but in the
meantime, you know, I can work with the Center for Worker Justice and try to reso... you
know, try to get answers to these questions. It's ... it's hard, uh, when we don't fully
understand the program to ... uh, to work it. So we can, uh, over the next couple of weeks,
um, get a sense, a better sense of exactly what their processes are and what types of, uh,
documentation, prioritization, all those things... what.... what might be acceptable to them,
so that when you have that bigger picture you can come back to ... to this one and to
`Better Together' and to whoever else with a little bit more precise idea on exactly what
those... what.... what gap those programs would .... would fill.
Bergus/ I could jump in, Mayor. I think (mumbled) if we're going to be looking at, um, the,
uh.... the agreement that we would need in any event, um, I think it would be helpful to,
urn ... to have that more comprehensive look. So I'm sort of seeing it as doing both at
once, right? Hopefully going towards the agreement but also, um, having the opportunity
to be a little more comprehensive, because we've been talking about, you. know, trying...
trying not to be piecemeal but also acknowledging the urgency of what's happening. So I
think if. ... if we can kind of take that, both things at the same time, that that might ... that
might work. Does that make sense, cause we're also not addressing right now where
those funds might be coming from, if we agreed with the .... the 25,000 and so with the,
um, Geoff mentioning that the CDBG, COVID funds, um, for rent and utility relief are
coming hopefully next week, um, I mean I just ... I just think we wanna see what those
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options are, and there may be monies that would fit with that program without any
concern based on, you know, application process we already have in place or a program
that's already in place, so maybe we can ... get the details and ... work towards that. Does
that make sense?
Teague/ So it sound like from, um, what I'm hearing is that we'll... next.... next Council meetin'
on the 215, we'll look at COVID big picture and, um .... we'll make .... make some
decisions there potentially, as well as in the meantime, City sta... uh, City staff will work
with CWJ on what would that agreement look like and, um, that can also be at our next
meeting.
Mims/ I would just add from .... from my perspective, I think the requirements that are in that
agreement with Shelter House, when we asked them to, um, do the administrative work
on that 50,000, and again as Geoff said, that was not a request from Shelter House for
that 50,000. That was a program we established and then we asked them to administer it
for us with these rules that we put in place and to me when we're talking about taxpayer
money, I think those, um, three pieces that are a part of it are ... are really kind of our
fiduciary responsibility to the city taxpayers, so I think that prioritization, um, that people
have to first apply for the state and federal money, and if they don't then they're... then
they are eligible for this money. I think it's important that income verification is done so
that, you know, we can assure our taxpayers that the people that are getting this money,
you know, need it and deserve it and certainly if we're saying that this is to help, uh, in
relief of COVID, then there should be some documentation of the impact of..of COVID
on their income. So to me those... those three requirements that we put on that $50,000
would be certainly reasonable to put on this additional 25, even if somebody else is
administering it.
Teague/ The one thing when I look at it's not just limited to, uh, the rental. Um, it's to other
things related to, urn .... basic needs, and so .... I .... I would suggest that we give this to
staff and to CWJ to have the conversation, because one of the challenges that I know with
a lot of the programs that we create for low-income individuals, there are so many
barriers, um, and I .... and I've been surprised at the process when we're talkin' about PPP
and ... and people got money with no barriers, and so I believe that if we can give it to staff
and work with CWJ, and then they come back, and then we can make a decision at that
point. But I ... I do hear what you're saying, and I ... I do respect that, um, I think that theirs
is not just limited to rent, their request, um, and so ... and the other thing is that we're
talkin' about, um, CWJ has been a champion in specializing with undocumented
individuals and so when we're talkin' about safety nets and places to go, I mean it's CWJ,
but um, I ... so that would be my suggestion is that we give it to staff. I ... I would, you
know, I think that those, um, should all be considered, um, and then staff, you know, do
like they do with a lot of things, and they come back and share what was mentioned and
where they are with their request.
Mims/ Yeah, I agree with that. I just, to me when this is City taxpayer dollars, to me those three
requirements (garbled) um, that are .... that we put on that other money, are really minimal
requirements to show to our taxpayers, um, that we're being prudent with the use of their
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money, that we truly are helping the people in need. So I think that's pretty, uh, fairly
minimal in terms of the requirements, and I think .... I think it would be helpful, and as
you say, Bruce, you know, staff can run with this, but having an idea of -of, if they have
certain requirements, what ... you know, what are their requirements other than, if they
have any, other than what the City might, um, impose on that.
Dilkes/ Mayor, if I can just add one more (clears throat) excuse me, one more thing to the three
items that Geoff mentioned that are typically found in our agreements. We're gonna have
to have some way, if we're giving .... pots of money to different entities for the same basic
purpose .... how we're gonna figure out, you know, we have a trail to show that, okay, so
from X entity person A got reimbursed fon.. or got paid for rent and utilities from ... from
entity B got paid for .... food. So that is gonna be a little bit tricky, I think. But I .... but I
think we're all kind of on heightened alert because of the, um, letter from the State
Auditor.
Taylor/ I .... I think the other tricky part is going to be, uh (mumbled) uh, this need is related
ultimately to COVID-19, you know, what the person unemployed due to that, their
business had closed or...or cut down on the number of employees, uh, so that it really
shows that it's related to COVID, and I think that's going to be, uh, important and ... and
maybe an extra step to document, but .... but we need to see that.
Teague/ One of the challenges with COVID is that nobody's totally hiring (laughs) so...
Weiner/ Yeah, I just .... I also wanted to, urn .... support what you said, Mayor, with respect to the
(mumbled) of the PPP program, that we're looking at some of these programs where
enormous amounts, not of...not of City (mumbled) tax dollars, but of federal taxpayer
dollars have gone, um, to businesses that are never going to be paid back and are
probably.... probably not really going to be accounted for. That's not our program. But it
makes ... it makes, uh, basically what I would like to see ultimately as we go forward is...
be able to, yes, have some documentation, but really not have it be onerous, because
people need money. So we need .... we need to do what we need to do, but figure out how
to ... get the money out without scaring people away or .... or making .... or having them
jump through too many hoops, because we really do wanna meet the need.
Teague/ All right, so I ... if, are there any other comments before we, urn .... I'll probably ask our
City Clerk, Kellie, to contact Mayor Pro Tem .... and have her join us again. While we
are .... waitin' for Mayor Pro Tem .... urn .... did we want to .... um, there was one thing that
I wanted to just mention to Councilors about, uh, our listening post. Are there any ideas
of what we want to do for listening posts, uh, during COVID-19? We've only had one
this year, that, um, Councilor Taylor and I attended.
Weiner/ Is there a way to set up, um, everything pretty much is by Zoom right now. Is there a
way to set up ... Zoom meetings? People, if they don't have internet, they can also call in,
urn ... and it could be at different times. I don't know, but it really would be helpful to be
able to .... be in touch with people.
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Bergus/ I agree with that.
Teague/ And normally (both talking)
Taylor/ I think the intent of the listening post is .... is the personal interaction with these folks and
think that .... that's difficult to do with the Zoom.
Teague/ Mayor Pro Tem has joined us. We took a little, uh, detour to talk about listening posts.
We've only had one this year. Uh, typically we have four, um, so we've missed May
already, and then the other two would be in August and November.
Mims/ I mean I agree that the benefit is to try and do things in person, but given that that is really
about impossible right now, um, and especially... I'm gonna jump back for just a second,
Mayor, to the whole COVID issue. Just as a reminder to people of the press conference
by Better Together, um, really highlight, you know, what's happening in Johnson County
and the increase in cases here, and to really, really, you know, push and remind people to
do the social distancing, face coverings, hand washing, etc., because that is all crucial to
keeping these numbers down. It's crucial to opening our businesses back up fully, and
it's crucial to our whole educational system, in terms of the schools being able to open up
in a .... in a beneficial way for K through 12, as well as the University, which obviously
impacts our economy, um, incredibly. So ... I just kinda wanted to back up and say, and...
and we've gotten letters, both pro and con, um, as you mentioned, Mayor, about doing
the... requiring the face coverings and .... and we've gotten the opinion from the City
Attorney that we can't do that. But I would just strongly, strongly encourage everybody
to read that information, think about that, and ... do it when you're out in public because it
is crucial to our recovery. It's crucial to people's health. Um, and it's crucial to our
economy... and our educational system. So...
Teague/ Well said! Yes!
Weiner/ I feel like I'm talkin' a lot, but um, basically it's, for me it's collective responsibility.
Um, we have a lot of -essentially rules of the road that we follow in order to save lives
and preserve lives. We wear seat belts, we stop at stop signs, um, we drive on one side of
the road, um, that saves lives! Wearing a face covering.... helps break the trans... chain of
transmission and it really does save lives and save our businesses. And I think.....it's also
going to be a main topic of conversation at the Joint Entities meeting on the 20".
Taylor/ I was going to talk about (garbled) this later also, uh, at the end, uh, when we talk about
personal things, but I think in light of the alarming continuing rise in the number of cases
in Johnson County, I would just kindly ask everyone, uh, to do what they can to limit the
spread of the virus and what's being done has proven to be, uh, in ... insufficient so far and
we're continuing to hear of businesses in the community needing to close, uh, due to, uh,
their employees testing positive, uh.... so please wear a mask or a shield when you're in
close proximity to other people, uh, because it has been shown that face coverings are
(garbled)
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Teague/ I thunk (garbled)
Taylor/ (garbled)
Teague/ I think .... I think we've lost you, Councilor Taylor. It's breakin' up quite ... oh, there you
go!
Taylor/ I don't know how far I got then. I was going to stress the social distancing and... and that
we as the community can't afford another total shutdown, so you know, just encouraging,
you know, to keep our local economy going, and same time benefiting people's health
and welfare, uh, just to stay safe and stay well and wear a mask and social distance.
Teague/ Great.
Dilkes/ Mayor, I just (both talking)
Teague/ Go right ahead!
Dilkes/ I'll start my video. Urn ... I just warm, in response to what Susan said about the mask
issue. I just warm clarify that you've all, you know, seen my opinion on, or my brief
opinion that I gave to the reporter, um, yesterday about that, and um, it's a little more
complex than you can or can't, so just warm be clear about that.
Teague/ Uh huh. In response to the listening post, I wanted to just make sure that we kinda give
some direct .... we understand where we wanna go. So we do want to ... um, try ...two more
opportunities, um, maybe in August and November for listening post via Zoom...
opportunity. Is that correct? I'm seein' some shakin' of heads. I see at least four, so
we'll go with that, and so, uh, we'll have staff come back, urn .... do we have the names of
individuals .... it seemed like to me we had already determined the names of who wants
to ... what, but maybe we'll pick that back up at our next meeting. So maybe we'll get
some dates, some ... some dates and some ... who wants to do what. So we'll pick that back
up. All right. We will go back to COVID-19, um, updates. Uh, Mayor Pro Tem is back
with us, welcome back! And so we will discuss, um, Better Together at this point, and
urn .... I guess maybe I'll just give a recap, because I feel like we've... we've made, we've
kinda made a decision, uh, with Better Together. Am I ... correct to say that....
Councilors?
Salih/ When?
Teague/ Oh! So .... so I guess what'll .... as far as like waiting to....
Dilkes/ Mayor?
Teague/ Yes!
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Dilkes/ (mumbled) for Mayor Pro Tern's benefit, I think ... I think what ... what I would say is that
you, in the decision you made about CWJ and the process you arrived at, it's logical to
apply that same process to, uh, the, um, request from Better Together.
Teague/ Okay! All right. So what she just said, and so I think, um, to explain the process of
what's going to happen is next meeting, um, we're gonna have City Manager give us the
overall view of COVID-19, urn .... update the slides and ... and such, and then in the
process we'll work with .... um, Better Together, uh, should that be the direc ... uh,avenue
that Better Together wanna go, uh, with as well as CWJ, um, on ... uh, discussing terms
and conditions, should there be an agreement created.
Salih/ (mumbled) No, like this I cannot understand anything.
Teague/ Okay.
Salih/ We need to discuss Better Together!
Teague/ Okay! We can discuss Better Together.
Salih/ Yes! Because I ... I wasn't here, I don't know what (both talking)
Teague/ Yes!
Salih/ ...discuss.
Teague /Okay! So essentially, I ... I guess from my .... I guess my position is that we, um, for
Better Together, um, we have staff work with Better Together to work out and understand
terms of the funds and how they want to spend it, and then staff can bring that back to
Council next meeting, um, and then during the meantime while we are wantin' to get a
better picture holistically of where we are, um, with COVID-19 requests and our
response efforts. Um, staff has been asked to bring that back to us, and I'm expectin' that
we'll have that next meetin' on the 215`
Salih/ I don't know. You guys are kind of give me conclusion. That's why I don't know where
everybody stand and what they are...
Teague/ I....I think it's a little bit difficult because we just had this conversation (laughs) um, and
I know that, you know, uh....
Salih/ You was discussing both of them at the same time, that what you telling me?
Teague/ No we did not!
Salih/ Okay.
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Dilkes/ Mayor, I would say that you haven't discussed the notion of whether you want to give
money to Better Together. If you do, I would say the process that you went through....
that you talked about with CWJ would be the same for .... for Better Together, but I ... I
don't think you've had the conversation about whether .... you think individual relief as
CWJ is doing is a worthy expenditure, whether what Better Together is proposing is a
worthy expenditure.
Teague/ Okay! All right! That... that.... that is fair enough. So we'll open up the conversation
for, uh, thoughts on Better Together and their fundin' request.
Mims/ Well I guess I'll start. Um, I guess I would support it. I've had some conversations with
Nancy Bird. We certainly have the individual needs within our community, which we
discussed and ... and need to support, but we also have economic issues, uh, which involve
then.....then can trickle down to the individuals in terms of jobs and businesses staying
open or staying closed, and so this is a way to, you know, try to encourage and leverage
shopping in the area, um, to help keep these businesses open with the gift cards that
people can get if they spend a certain amount of money. I think Better Together has kind
of set those numbers a little bit on the higher level, um, to try and actually support people
spending more money than maybe they normally would, um, they can only submit I think
it's three receipts and they have to total at least $150 to qualify, um, for the gift cards. So
from an economic standpoint, um, I think it's a worthy cause and we certainly.... our
money is gonna be, um, added to a lot of money from various financial institutions and
hopefully from the other municipalities to support, um, the retail businesses in the county,
and we need to remember that, um, I think a little bit over 50% of the retail business in
the county resides in Iowa City. So this can really benefit Iowa City.
Teague/ All right (both talking)
Thomas/ Well I too also, um, you know, I'm supportive in principle with the, uh... with ... with the
idea of assisting, uh, with this program, um, and then as Eleanor said, I think the, you
know, the devil so to speak in the... in the, will be in the details in terms of making sure
we have an agreement, uh, as we move forward with that program, that we're all
comfortable with.
Weiner/ I'm sort of of two minds (mumbled) I'm not sure where I .... I haven't decided where I
come down on it, um, I would like to see if other entities in this ... in this county are going
to con .... are really going to contribute to ... to it, and if so how much. Um .... I'm also, as
we talk abut COVID, I'm also really mindful of the... the... the one barrier for a lot of
people is maybe they don't have a face mask or they don't have a face shield and I, and
this is sort of a different topic but not completely. I'd really like to see us invest a chunk
of money in, um, in those things so that they can be distributed, perhaps through Project
Better Together, perhaps through businesses, to help, um, to help businesses stay open so
that people can go in safely.
Bergus/ Yeah, I ... I think con.... conceptually, um, I also am not opposed to this kind of support,
but I do wonder about, um, with the agreement that we would come up with, uh, similar
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to, you know, kind of like just making sure it's serving that public purpose, um, I ... I'm
favorable to .... to asking staff to go down that .... that road, um, for this project. I do also
though, I hope we can have a comprehensive overview when we talk about that, that
we're .... we're looking at the possibility of City support for, um, PPP.....PPE, uh,
personal protective equipment, face shields and masks, for, um, the community. Again
whether that's distributed through businesses or .... or somehow through the City itself. I
think, um, I don't wanna lose sight of that, and I think kind of what we're coming up
against as we talk about what's the best way for public funds to reach these purposes is
really how can the City be most effective in supporting COVID relief, um, and I...1, it
feels a little bit like we're putting a square peg in a round hole with some of this, and...
and .... and we need to do that when we're being responsive to specific requests, to see if
we can be responsive to those requests, but I really do like the idea of trying to look
holistically and see what can we do on the utility front. Um, we have on our agenda this
evening the relief for the parking, um, permits, and so I think if. ... if we're entertaining
that, you know, we need to be looking at what are ... what are the different tools that we
have in our toolbox. So, um, yeah, I'm favorable to moving forward with the, coming up
with the agreement for this one as well, but make sure that we're having that big picture
conversation with our next meeting (mumbled) also.
Taylor/ I agree with Councilor Bergus, uh, because I think we have to be fair and consistent, and
with our discussion with the CWJ, uh, issue, and I'm very supportive of this too. I ... I
support the downtown businesses and I think this would be an excellent project, but I ... I
think that we need to hold them accountable to the same requirements that we've... we've
done, uh, any other group that's asking for large funds, and ... and have them, um, work
with the staff, uh, as far as coming up with an agreement.
Teague/ I don't believe that this is limited to only the Downtown District. I think it's, um, for
local businesses, uh, with Iowa City. Um, and I'm not sure if it extends beyond Iowa
City because I do know that this program, uh, the fund.... there's been funds asked to I
think it's all businesses here in. It is (person responding) county (several talking,
garbled) Yep, it's all businesses here in Johnson County. So ... um, one of, so I'm not sure
if our funds will be somehow limited to businesses... business owners here locally or
that's too much of an ask and it's all put into one pot. I guess in theory I am, uh, very
aware of the hardship that business owners .... some business owners do have during this
time and certainly this is, uh, one way to stimulate the economy to make sure that
businesses continue. Um ... just like this probably isn't one of my, uh, first priorities to
vote on, um, it's somethin' I will consider, uh, to vote on. Um, what I would like to see is
kinda that agreement created. Personally I think there could be other ways to kinda
stimulate the economy while, uh, supporting the most, uh... vulnerable individuals, uh,
with lower income within our community, but this is one avenue that, uh, Better Together
is workin' on and so I can, um, you know, take a further look at it, but I do wanna see that
comprehensive and see what the details are of this agreement at our next meeting.
Salih/ Ok, is ... me, right?
Teague/ Yes!
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Salih/ Okay, you know, I (sighs) I talk to Nancy Bird about this, I guess the Mayor and I was
talkin', but we never talked about .... what the requirement for business. How can we
(mumbled) business if they ...if they really lost or they did not lost? Same thing like, you
know, if we, uh, can provide something with individual. You know, uh, what Susan
Mims just said, she said this is how business continue open and I just believe also
anything else that it will help, you k now, people in the corrummity continue their life,
especially the people who cannot apply for another, you know, programs. Yes I'm gonna
speak about this cause I don't wanna speak about CWJ. I'm gonna speak about, uh, what
the $50,000 that we been given to the Shelter House. So the same (mumbled) happening
there it will be happening (unable to understand) maybe other people will come and ask
you money for. Uh, the Shelter House programs, even though this is a City money, but
we make it difficult for undocumented people to be eligible for that. (unable to
understand) for the federal fund. Second, the verification — you have .... I'm sorry to tell
you that, but you guys don't know anything about undocumented people! Because, uh,
you know what happen is if the City saying that you have to show, uh, your loss of
income from before March and now, okay? But you know how undocumented people
work? Do you k now sometime what ... what type of information they use when they
apply for work? Do you know that this is could be completely different from the rent
or...agreements and the way they can work? You know, those people they cannot provide
the document to show that they loss of income, even though they did! Okay? And also
the safety net that the, you know, we talk about, the immigrants, the undocumented
people, they scared to death to go to an organization that will take their data and they
don't know if they gonna share this data, if the, you know, if the FBI just came to their
house or somebody else came to the, I mean to their place, you know, how ... we can know
that this document, you know, all this information is not gonna be used against those
people. That's why they don't go there and apply! They scared! They're just a scared!
You know? And this is ... we really make it very hard for them. I remember Geoff said
something about when he come and propose how can we use this money, uh, for the
community, all of us we agree for non-profit organization, but he also mentioned he said
we can give it direct support to the individual or we can do it for rent, or we can do it ... I
remember that conversation. Maybe he can correct me from mistaking, but uh, you
know, just supporting Better Together and also look at the community needs. I see the
community needs is ... is high, and I know that there is business needs, there is no doubt,
but I want to see the City be fair enough applying everything for the community, and also
require all the, you know, require documentations to provide money for each, you know,
like group of people, whether they are business or individual. If I inquire from, you
know, the Shelter House to ask `em about all this documentation and you know I would
also ask the business people to require all the business who applying, they benefit out
from this, about all the documentation (mumbled) that show lots of income! You know,
I ... I really, I'm not going to do anything, and I feel like you guys are, you know, you
want to postpone it until you get more information. I also wait until I get the same
information and I will see how can we applying the same rules, you know, requiring on
one hand from the Shelter House to collect all this information, are we gonna require the
same thing from business. At that moment I can vote.
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Teague/ Any other comments on Better Together? All right! We are movin' on to our next item
on our agenda and that is, um, continuin' discussion of our resolution of...of Black Lives
Matter movement and systemic racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by the
Minneapolis Police and calls for action from protesters and residents.
Salih/ (mumbled) we still on the COVID-19 or Black Life Matter, I don't know, but (both
talking)
Teague/ Yes, we're on Black Lives Matter. We just moved to the next item. (both talking)
Salih/ Yes! You just moved very fast (both talking)
Teague/ Sony!
Salih/ (both talking) you know, uh, I just really want to also, uh, I want the City to look
(mumbled) Shelter House fund and ... and I will request that. There is a lot people they
cannot pay (unable to understand) is already here. Today is what, it's June 7°i I guess, 6,
7, uh, July 7, I mean, and the months of July is not being covered by the Shelter House.
We have a lot people who went there, I'm not even talking about undocumented. I'm
talkin' about people who really documented and they cannot apply for the, you know, the
fund for the, um, federal. They need the months of July. They just lost their job, after
March and they need .... they need the months of July, uh, rent, and I know my
understanding that this is not, uh.... one of the criteria. They cannot apply. I'm
requesting the City to modify their, uh, you know ... their rules, and adding July as a, you
know, one of the months, because we already in the months of July. Right now people
start receiving, soon they will start receiving notice of eviction and everything because of
that.
Teague/ So it sounds .... if I understand you correctly, it sounds like the agreement was for May
and June.
Salih/ Yeah, from March until June I guess, but we .... July is not there, and a lot people are
asking for July. They will be making all the (mumbled) but they ...they are requesting for
July. Same thing for utility.
Mims/ Well it would seem to me that we need to make sure Shel... that with Shelter House that
they've met all the previous months, uh, requests and applications before we start
changing the rules to add additional months to it.
Salih/ Maybe we can just give priority to the people who are... applying for previous months, and
they receive eviction notice, but if we don't we can give those priority because that what
I'm ... I believe. You can check it with, uh, you know a lot people just apply (garbled)
because I'm gonna tell you something. The immigrants people, if they ...they use their
credit card to pay the rent, they are not going to make the rent late because they scared to
be homeless. So some people they went and they like have a loan or, you know, they ask
somebody to pay for them the rent of June and the rent of May, and they ...they find help
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by any means, like maybe you take a loan from somebody, maybe you use your credit
card, maybe any... anything, but, uh, now that's why I was long time ago asking if we can
have the help immediately, uh, when we had the 400,000, but we have to wait for the
guideline, uh, from the federal. Of course that's... that's something not in the City hand,
but ... but right now people they figure out, they figure out a way to pay that even though
they are in debt by doing that, but most people they scared that if they don't pay it, they
will be evicted. That's why they .... they figure it out, but now they are really (unable to
understand) but if the Shelter House have a lot of application for. -for those month, I
agree. That can be a priority, but this is could be the second priority too, like...
Mims/ I guess just my thought would be .... if.....if they have more money, if that 50,000 meets
the needs that were originally specified in the agreement with the City, then I have no
problem with changing the terms of that agreement to include additional months, but my
understanding is they have not used all the money and they have not met all the needs,
um, based on the current agreement. So I don't think we are ready to make changes in
that agreement.
Salih/ You maybe ... but don't say we.
Teague/ I do wonder (both talking)
Salih/ I wanna hear from everybody please, because, you know, sometimes one person will talk
and just they mean the whole person, the whole people. Please, I don't mind guys
rejecting this, but I wanna hear from everybody that you ... that's what you want to do!
Teague/ Yeah. I guess my .... my entire question would be, and this would, uh, throw it back to
staff as well as to, um, the Shelter House. So maybe get an update on some of the
challenges that they're seein' with the requests. Um, if they're seein' an uptick in the
requests for July, um, on..we know that there... even if there is one request where someone
is not able to pay their rent, um, I think that that's something that can certainly be
discussed with staff. The other question that I have is, um, are we paying partial rent or
are we paying it all at one time? Do you know that, Geoff?
Fruin/ Yeah, Mayor, I can answer some of the questions and Tracy Hightshoe's on the call. She
could fill in some gaps and we can report back on anything that we need to, but as a
reminder to the Council, the $50,000 in local programs was meant to be a bridge program
to get us from the point in which we were at to the point in which the federal funds
became available because there was such a long delay in bein' able to use the HUD funds,
uh, so our intention was that this was a .... a short-term bridge program. Um, as I
mentioned before we do expect that the, um, federal funds will be available, uh,
beginning next week, um, and those are going to be administered by Community. Um, so
hopefully... our... our hope is that even for those folks that got some of the 50,000 in local
funds that they can now transfer on to the federal program for assistance. Um, but
certainly that .... that local program can be expanded, but as I mentioned before during...
during your previous discussion, um, our ..our philosophy until told different by you all is
going to be to try to exhaust federal and state funds before we use local. So if someone is
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in need of July assistance right now, and they've already maxed out the two months of...
of, that we have as a cap on our, uh, $50,000 program, we're going to help those folks
apply to those federal funds and again undocumented residents are eligible for those
federal funds that will become available we hope next week, and then, uh, hopefully
exhaust those federal dollars, um, and then we'd turn back to ... to local funds at that point.
So that's.... that's been our intention all along. Um, we are happy to adjust as the Council
sees fit, and uh, I know the Shelter House will be happy to .... to.....to, uh, work with us as
we adjust our rules for the program that they are administering.
Teague/ One of the questions that I have (both talking) Oh!
Salih/ Can I just ask a question, Geoff? Uh, you know, if the person... for example undocumented
person, cannot provide anything of loss of income because their employer refused to.
What we gonna do?
Fruin/ It's ... it's a good question and I'd have to .... I'd have to consult with our staff and with the
Shelter House staff on what our options are at that time.
Salih/ But I'm gonna ask you something. You know the Shelter.... whether the Shelter House or
any number of other organization, they don't know how to answer those questions
because they don't know even ... they don't know there's a person who working cannot
bring proofication of work! They don't know there is person was working. They are not
getting paycheck, pay stub, you know, they don't know there is some businesses pay
under the table. They don't know all this (garbled) stuff, you know, consist with the
people who know, you know? That's the problem when you come and just provide the
rules for any programs, you should bring the people (unable to understand) that they
understand that community, so they can give you more information to make you able
prove the rules that will benefit every single person in this community. Not only like
because those people they .... they know that .... (unable to understand) how it look like
(garbled) That is something that, you know, nobody else know and that ... (mumbled)
undocumented people are facing. Right now they cannot even, if you require the loss of
income, not everybody gonna do that, and also if there's people (garbled) Nobody gonna
go and apply for this! What you gonna do for those people who are scared?
Fruin/ Yeah, so again we can try and come up with some alternatives for that. If there are no
workable alternatives, then it becomes a policy decision on whether you wanna require
proof of COVID impact or not, and if you're comfortable, uh, having someone self -
certify and just tell you, yes, I was impacted by COVID, if you feel that that's enough
information, uh, to ... uh, distribute the ... the local tax funds, then that's a policy decision
that you all can make. Um, so again, we're happy to work with staff and ... and, um ... uh,
come up with some alternatives to address that situation that you're bringin' up, and if no
acceptable alternatives are there then I think you all will have to decide whether... whether
requiring proof of COVID impact is, um, something you still want to do going forward.
Teague/ I do think that lookin' at what the barriers are, um, is very vital to ensurin' that
everybody in our community have opportunity to, um, move forward durin' COVID-19.
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So I do ... I do believe that Mayor Pro Tem brings up some good, uh, points when it relates
to, uh, undocumented individuals and so what I would suggest is that, um, quite honestly
is, urn .... for staff to work with not only the Shelter House, but work with the... someone
that kinda knows the undocumented, um, community specifically, to learn what may be
some of the barriers, so that we can be fully informed and make adjustments, um, or...
suggest, uh, adjustments movin' forward. Because we do know that undocumented
individuals, uh, within our community, um, you know, they do live in fear, and we need
to be .... we need to do what we can to ensure that they can also be, um, successful and
maintain their livelihood durin' this time. So .... um, I don't know if anyone else has
comments.
Bergus/ I guess I would just say, Mayor, that if, you know, if we were premising this on making
sure we have an agreement, um, with the organization that would be administering the
funds that would meet the ... the legal need for serving that public purpose, and if, you
know, I personally would be comfortable with a self -certification if that ... if that meets
that threshold. I mean you mentioned the, um, federal program with the PPP funds and
that was how that, uh, documentation of need occurs, is that self -certification. So
personally I'm comfortable with that level of documentation if it ... if that meets our, the
legal requirements.
Weiner/ Um, I agree with Councilor Bergus on that. Um, and .... I mean it's ... it is in our interest
to ensure that people are able to stay in their homes, to be able to ensure that their kids
are able to stay in their homes, and so what .... as .... as we look at how these agreements
are formed, uh, I .... we ..... we have an absolute .... we have an obligation, um, to ... to figure
out how to do this so that we serve all our residents, while meeting the legal
requirements, and I'm sure that we can do that.
Salih/ Also the .... the thing that I really wanna say to you all of you guys that whenever we have
programs that like to distribute money or we would like to do anything, please we, you
know, the staff doesn't mean they know everything! You guys don't know the whole
community. You don't know the (mumbled) You don't know (unable to understand)
You don't .... I can understand you know the typical Iowan, because that what everybody
know who born here, but you have people from other cultures, you have people from
another background, you don't know what their needs is, you don't know how things will
be like ... like (garbled) their cultures. That's why why don't contact people from those
community to have a seat on the table and help you come up with rules! If they are
volunteering to do that, they are not asking the City to pay them. They can come and do
that, and .... and I was really pushing this for all the entity, not only Iowa City, even the
school, you know. We ... we need people who look like the community to make the
decision and to make the rules for how we can distribute something, but always
(mumbled) staff because how gonna know that staff know about undocumented people?
How the staff will know about refugees and ... somebody else? Please, make a committee
of people from like especially the non-profit organization like the Crisis Center. They
know the need of some kind of,uh, you know, the ... the community, other communities
like CWJ. A lot of, you know, people, if we can bring those people and say yeah, we
gonna come up with rules. Can we just have ... have a seat at the table to come up with the
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rules? This is City money! We are talking about City money! All the time when we
receive something federal... from federal, yes we have to obey the ... their rules, but this
City money. Bring the people of this city and let them have a seat at the table and discuss
how can we use this money, and what the rules that we supposed to be apply. Because it
feel like .... I feel like the staff when they come up with something, you are very
restricted. What the difference between the City money now and the federal one. Even
you know the state one! The state money nobody can apply. The application is very
difficult and people are not getting even the help.
Taylor/ Mayor Pro Tem Salih, I ... I totally agree with you, and I can echo what you're saying, if
these other folks don't understand the implications. I have gone, and as you know, I've
gone with you on many times or sat in on many wage theft cases, and the amount of that
that goes on in this community, uh, especially with the contractors and the laborers, how
they get around paying these folks even social security! So you're right, you know,
they're paid cash or they're not paid at all, uh, their hours are ... are mismanaged and so,
yes, I understand what you're saying as far as that. So I think, uh, that comes into play
with, um, Councilor Bergus, and I .... I agree with her that, uh, self -certification would be
acceptable, uh, to me on that. I ... I would believe these folks, cause I've seen through
your.... your CWJ, uh, what these folks have gone through.
Continue discussion of Resolution (20-159) of Initial Council Commitments addressing the
Black Lives Matter Movement and Systemic Racism in the wake of the murder of George
Floyd by the Minneapolis Police and calls for action from protesters and residents:
Clarification of Agenda Items:
Teague/All right, anything else on COVID-19? We'll move on to the next item, which is, uh,
continuin' our discussion on Black Lives Matter. Um, I know that we are, we concluded
our last meetin..... statin' that we're gonna have on the 2151, um, listen to the community.
There's a few things that's gonna be, um, highlighted, which is really listening to the
community on the 2151. Um, but ... um, we can take this time to give any updates that we
would like.
Thomas/ Well I .... I had a question on the ... the status of the work groups. Um, you know, there
was the discussion at our ...at our last work session of, uh, the formation of four work
groups and uh, as I recall we were asking for .... uh.....what, you know, which... which of
those groups each of us might be interested in participating in. Is that still something that
we are .... uh, to be looking into, because I mean I have an interest in working on the
housing and policing work groups. So I ... I didn't know if that was something we were
going to be indicating our preferences but that's .... I'll just say that that was something I
was interested in.
Teague/ I guess it was my understanding (mumbled) please chime in that we would, uh, kinda
wait for that public input, and then we would go further into discussion on ... you know,
the work groups and .... and such, but that was just at least my walkaway from the last
meeting.
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Weiner/ Did we wanna hear where... what progress has been made and what the possibilities are
for, um, looking at the review of June 3`d9
Teague/ So that would be City Manager.
Fruin/ Yeah, I'm happy to, um (mumbled) talk about that. So, uh, your resolution requests a
report by the City Manager on the June 31 protest events, and our involvement in the
Dubuque Street, um, tear gas and flash bang response. Um, I'm looking for some
direction from Council. Um, as I previously indicated, uh, I .... I first wanted to check
with the State to see if they'd be interested, uh, and available to conduct the review, and
um, after talking with them, I ... I agreed with their conclusion that it's probably best that
the State not be involved, even ... even though a separate entity I had in mind that wasn't
necessarily involved at the... at the, in that incident, uh, it still is a state agency and, um, I
think, uh... uh, having somebody removed from that incident is probably best. So, um, I
think the Council has two options and it probably depends on the extent of the review
you're looking at. Uh, willing certainly to work with the City Attorney's office and, uh,
provide you a report on, uh, the factual, urn .... uh, events that happened that night, uh, so,
you know, who was involved up at Dubuque Street and the timeline of events, uh, and
that sort of thing, uh, and allow you just to review that factual, uh, account of what
happened, uh, trying, uh, to .... to, um, not include any, um, analysis from my part,
because frankly I'm involved in that, uh, in that chain of command as well. Um, other...
other option would be to ... to seek an independent review, uh, from another entity that has
experience in reviewing critical instances like this, and uh, the City Attorney and I have,
uh, had a couple of conversations with, uh, different firms that .... that provide those
reviews for communities across the country. Uh, frankly we had never used a ... a firm
like that before, um, so the two firms that we've talked to, um, have not previously
worked with the City, and um .... I think the benefit in having them, uh, conduct the
review is that they would come in without any knowledge of the ... of the event. Uh, they
haven't been involved in ... in training our staff or...or really have any involvement in our
policy development in the past. Um, yet they could ... they could create an accurate
account of what happens, uh, what happened that night. Uh, they could also, uh, analyze
our policies and our training, and suggest, ub, areas of improvement, urn .... uh... where we
might need some more policy, uh, developed, um, and perhaps, um, what some useful
training might be, um, in the future, uh, so that those situations could be handled in a .... in
a different manner. Uh, so again, um, looking for your direction on which of those two
options that you'd like. I will say that the independent review, obviously we have to pay
somebody for that. It ... it, uh, will require, urn .... uh, a .... a bit of investment from the City
to pay somebody to do that. I don't have quotes to provide you, but uh, probably an
hourly charge of some type to, uh, review the materials, uh, that, uh, from that evening.
Um, and there's also, uh, probably no chance that a ... a private review could turn around a
report by your August I' deadline. So, um, I think you're gonna have to make a decision
on what's more important — having that, uh, having that independent set of eyes look at it,
report back to you, and have that cost a little bit of money and come a little bit later, um,
or .... or just asking the Attorney's office and ... and me to .... to prepare that, uh, prepare
that account for you in a more, uh, timely, in a more timely manner.
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Teague/ Thoughts from Councilors?
Taylor/ Personally I think that an independent review, uh, agent would be, uh, beneficial. Uh,
kinda somebody totally on the outside looking in and re ... really, uh, looking at all of the
facts and what happened and interviewing folks, uh, I think that would be helpful
and... and to me I think the cost at this point, uh, it doesn't matter, it's not that important,
uh, how much it is. Whatever the cost, it would be important to us to know these things.
Salih/ I agree with Council Taylor, yeah, independent. Somebody outside the City to do this.
Weiner/ I think it needs to be independent for a variety of reasons and ... and that, um, that is the
way to go!
Bergus/ I agree, it should be independent, and I'm wondering if there might be some very basic
information that could still be released in the interim, if we're kind of trading the, um, the
value of the independent inquiry with knowing that it'll take more time, um, I don't know
if there's just some, you know, very, very basic information that we could... provide that
might at least answer some of the questions we've been getting, um, like you said Geoff
without analysis, but just ... kind of thumbnail facts about the situation and, um, perhaps
providing that in the interim.
Mims/ I would agree. The public is looking for something independent. I don't think, for the
public, I don't think something coming from staff is going to be acceptable.
Weiner/ (several talking, garbled) ...think it's fair to staff to ask them to do that.
Mims/ I would agree.
Thomas/ Yeah, independent analysis is the way to go here.
Teague/ So independent analyt... analysis it is! And then, um, I know that Councilor Bergus just
asked about maybe some .... somethin' from staff, uh, in the interim, because we
anticipate it will not be ... August 15t that they'll be able to have this independent, um,
review done. What are people thoughts there? Or do we just wait and have it all come
out at one time?
Mims/ I guess I would leave that up to staff's discretion, if they... feel like there's things that they
can pull together and release that don't...... necessarily compromise the independent
review and that are just super factual, can be documented as factual. So I guess I would
respect staff's opinion on what they would do there.
Salih/ I really prefer like all of it in one. I don't wanna just have like staff say something,
somebody else will come and say something, and you know .... we just need .... all of it to
be at the same time.
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Dilkes/ I think that kind of slicing and dicing is gonna be really difficult to do (laughs) and I ... I
think it potentially undercuts the .... the independent investigation.
Weiner/ I .... urn, I agree with that and with Mayor Pro Tem.
Teague/ So .... I .... I agree that we just kinda wait for the independent. And I see some noddin' of
heads. So we'll go with that! All right, any other item related to Black Lives Matter?
Hearin' none we're gonna go (both talking)
Bergus/ (both talking) Sorry, can I just update, Mayor? Uh, at our last meeting, uh, Councilor
Weiner and I were sort of deputized to, um, talk with the Iowa Freedom Riders about the,
uh, Truth and Reconciliation portion of, um, where we're headed with all of this, and so
just wanted to let folks know we had a really good meeting yesterday afternoon. Think
that was just yesterday, um ... and I think it would be helpful to make sure that they are
included in these, you know, conversations going forward. Um, certainly I learned a lot,
it was very insightful to be able to have that real-time communication and conversation
with them. So I think for ...to the extent of when ... when we're discussing things that
relate to what they may be able to provide, um, on those aspects of. ... of this overall
project with Black Lives Matter. I think that would be good to make sure that they're
included going forward. Um, and also with the ... the work groups, um, I agree that
getting, you know, we had talked at our last meeting about getting, um, making sure we
had public input. We didn't really, I think, set up a framework for doing that, and so, um,
if...maybe we could just talk a little bit more about what .... what that looks like, to make
sure that we're not stalling in that process, um, would be kind of my .... my request for
that, which hopefully we could do briefly.
Teague/ I guess as far as the work groups and myself, um, my thought is .... we would kinda, you
know, determine about how many people would be on a work group and who, how will
we open up the .... the opportunities for people (garbled) to be on the work group. Um, so
I mean in ... in general thoughts, or general terms, that's what I was thinkin' about.
Weiner/ What ... what I hear Councilor Bergus say is two things. One I would concur with ... with
her description of our meeting yesterday. Um, and I do think it will be useful to have an
IFR representative in real-time, um, talking.... talking to us and present when ... when
we're talking about these issues. Um, and... the... but I think she ... she also mentioned the
need for basically us to have a .... a very basic or simple way to, in addition to having
public comment at the meeting, to collect public comment in advance. Maybe that's just
asking people to, um, to email views on certain topics. Maybe it's even setting up a
separate email address or...or something on that order, I don't know, but I think that's
what you were referring to, no, Laura?
Salih/ Yeah, I really agree on the idea that we need to have, uh, like a IFR person with us when
we talk about this, and we can just like make it a temporary thing until we ... we finish
from this and that's it! It's not like somebody like the, like Ryan for example. This is
gonna be temporary and after that we done ... after we done from this, uh, Black Life
Matter, hopefully.
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Teague/ Yeah. I ... I guess me personally, and I'm, you know, I am not exactly onboard with, um,
havin' IFR sit in on our meetings, uh, when we talk about Black Lives Matter issues.
Um, I ... I mean I love and respect them for, you know, and ... for them getting' the ball
movemen... moving for .... for us to be where we are today lookin' at Black Lives Matter,
um, but when we're talkin' about the community of...of black people within our people of
color within our community. Um, Black Lives Matter, I'm sorry, IFR is only one portion
of that. We have Black Voices Project that's been out there advocating. We have many,
many other, um, individuals or groups out there that we may not even know about, that's
been advocating, uh, for black lives, and so I don't believe, personally, that, um, Iowa
Freedom Riders has been that elected person to represent all black people, and so where I
do, you know, appreciate and understand that we welcome conversation with IFR. We
welcome conversation with Black Voices Project. And whomever else is out there. I just
attended another meeting with a .... with a group of black leaders, um, that, you know,
they're wanting.... they're lookin' more at business opportunities and stuff like that. Uh,
for the most part they have other ambitions, and so again, I .... I believe that IFR certainly
can contribute through conversation that we have one-on-one. I am also dedicated to,
um, ensurin' that they're on any of these committees that are created by the City, you
know, makin..... and I've talked about havin' a placeholder for them and all of those
independent, um, committees, which they'll be able to be in real-time there, but when
we're talkin' about, um, like Council decisions and Council conversation, I don't believe
that that is appropriate at this time.
Salih/ I just wanna let you know, Mayor, you know IFR is reaching out to community. They
reach out to Black Voice Project, if you don't know. They did reach out to them and
Black Voices Project was gonna discuss all the demand, and they ...they will (mumbled)
they tried to make them involved with this, and they reach out, I don't know if Laura and,
uh, you know, Janice they ...they, if they heard from them that they start reaching out to
other group. But let us talk about the fact that we are discussing a demand that brought,
yes it's about Black Life Matter and Black Life Matter is not IFR only,it's everyone, but
they are the one who come like forward and submitted this and also I remember when
they come up with this, you know, demand, I was in the room with different organization,
included (garbled) the, you know (mumbled) Dream Center from the Black Voices
Project, uh (mumbled) meeting with them too, and all those people they come up with,
they wrote the demand they send it to the City Council. They are doing things together. I
don't know why you are not seeing that, but what I really wanna (mumbled) I remember
when we have the bike master plan, when we have the deer management, when we have
like talking about, uh.... uh, employees at the, you know, whoever brought that proposal
is the one who come, for like the climate action and all this. Whoever brought that
proposal usually is the one who come and give us presentation. Usually it's the one we
go to them and ask `em that. This is the same! Why we are ... we are treating this
different and I (noise in background) they try hard to reach out to, you know, all the
communities — the black people in the community — and we, our job is if we feel they are
not reaching out, we have to go and invite that group to come and say, hey, we want to
hear from you too. But (mumbled) when we give them seat at this table, they discuss the
demand that they propose it for us.
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Teague/ I...I think, uh, and I respect what you're talkin' about as far as like having the ... the, um,
any of those special groups, you know, come and present, but typically those special
groups, like the bike project... or the black, uh, bike group, that's like somethin' that's
been developed throughout the entire community, I'm assuming, um, I ... again, this is not
to, um, discredit anything that IFR has done. This is not to say that I don't appreciate all
of the demands that they've done. I'm black. So I ... the things here, I want to work on.
These are things that are very important to me, and so .... when I .... when I look at just the
opportunity that is bein' asked of us, um, for IFR, I also have to realize that there are
many people out there that would probably want that same opportunity, and there's, you
know, IFR hasn't been voted to be the .... the Black Lives Matter (garbled) movement here
in our community. They have risen to the occasion, which I really appreciate. So I'll
leave it at that for now. (several talking, garbled)
Mims/ I...1, thank you, Pauline. Um, I met with IFR, uh, yesterday afternoon as well, after Laura
and Janice did, and had a very, very positive conversation with them and really, um,
trying to get to know each other and .... and, you know, where we stand, and the thing I
said to them and I've said in these meetings before. I really... really deeply appreciate
their passion and energy that they have shown. Um, because we wouldn't be where we
are without them in terms of the resolution that we've passed, and um, the progress that
we've made already. Obviously there's a lot, lot more to be done, there's no doubt about
that, but we've taken a significant first step with this resolution. We talked about, um, the
efforts that they have made already to reach out and communicate with other, um,
members within the black community and other organizations, and um, I was hoping
to ... by tonight, to have more information on that, and I told them, uh, they were hoping
that I would advocate for them having a seat at the table, and I ... my response to them was
if you can show me that you have really reached out and are working with and
coordinating with, uh, the black community at large, then I would support that. At this
point I have not seen that. Um, and so I hope I will see that, but until I really do see that,
I ... I'm in the same position you are, Mayor, that there are lots of constituents within the
black community and, um, I don't think there's any one person or any one organization at
this point that can represent the entire black community to us, but I welcome input from
all of our black residents (mumbled) all residents, but particularly our black residents as
we try to move forward on the Black Lives Matter issues.
Taylor/ Uh, thank you, Susan. I, uh, what I wanted to say is I think having a seat at the table and
being a part of the conversation are kind of different things. I think, uh, any time we
would be discussing anything that, uh, would pertain to their, uh, request. Uh, they
should help us out and ... and communicate with us, but I think as the Mayor had alluded
to, uh, I .... I think their important place are on those subcommittees, uh, that's where their
voices need to be heard. These are where their ideas are going to be talked about and
they can bring other, bring forth other ideas, uh, so I think that's.... that's where they need
to be, uh, on those committees.
Teague/ Okay. Um, any other comments on this? We only have about two minutes before...
well, about a minute before we need to take a break and then get ready for our 7:00 P.M.
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Weiner/ Since .... since we don't have a lot of time, um .... I thought we oughta.... that we could
have, um, maybe the City Manager walk us through briefly what their ...they now have up
on our website in terms of, uh, essentially anybody can look and see where we stand with
respect to any one item of the resolution.
Teague/ Okay.
Fruin/ Is the Council good with a .... a two -minute real quick overview to at least orient you to
that?
Teague/ Yes!
Fruin/ Okay. Um ... let me share my screen here. Okay, so you have our home page here, and uh,
the easiest way to get to it is just a slash with BLM, uh, will take you to an update web
page. You can also access that page through our Office of Equity and, uh, Human Rights,
uh, so under City Government, departments and divisions, Equity and Human Rights, uh,
will get you there as well, and again, um .... it's under the Black Lives Matter heading
there. So, uh, this landing page is a work in progress. Uh, we expect to be
supplementing this with quite a bit of information over the next several months, uh, much
is ... is being gathered right now. Uh, but is really meant to give the public a place to go to
to, urn .... uh, get information on where the City stands, uh, with our efforts here. So, uh,
just a brief summary, an abridged version, if you will of the, uh, seventeen action steps,
um, we'll have a ... a summary section where we put more information about, uh,
employee demographics, uh, training efforts, those sorts of things under here, uh, maybe
the history of things like the CPRB and ... and whatnot, urn ... uh, will go under there too.
Any upcoming public engagement events will be here. Uh, hopefully recaps of those
events like we've started to post, and then various documents that, uh, relate to ... to this,
to this matter. So most of what you see here is the resolution, uh, that's available in
several different languages. Uh, the status report is a ... is available down here, um, but,
uh, hopefully it's ... it's more easily found at, near the top of the page. So as I click open
this, urn.... status report .... I'll show you what we have here, and I might have to share my
screen a little bit differently here. (mumbled) I assume you can see that report now?
Okay, uh, so this is a .... a very simple report. Again, ma .... uh, intended to give, uh,
someone a very quick update, uh, on where things stand. Uh, we've categorized the
seventeen actions under the policy headings, uh, or the headings that you developed at
your last meeting. These are all hyperlinked to long page summaries of where we stand
on these items. Um, the next page is just a simple graphic to ... to let the public know
which items are awaiting further Council discussion. Uh, so for example, uh, the, uh,
plan to restructure the Iowa Community Police Department towards community planning,
you all still need to have that discussion on how that plan is going to be developed. Um,
all the other items that you see here in the middle column are underway in some way,
shape, or form. In most of these cases staff is ... is gathering information, or perhaps
there's been a commission meeting on a particular topic, and then anywhere where you
see green check boxes where, uh, some actions have been completed. So right now these
are fairly simple actions. Uh, for example, Mayor, your letter, uh, to the Sheriff's Office
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on the MRAP or the preliminary budget information that we posted on the .... on the, uh,
website, uh, the (mumbled) law enforcement agencies on the duty to intervene are all
accounting for these check marks. So it's by no means saying that the item is completely
done, but just letting the public know that there is some progress. So again you can go
through, uh, any of these that you want to. Uh, you can scroll down and you can go
through them individually, or you can link to them and you'll see a page like this. This is
the duty to intervene, um, and uh, every page is gonna be the same. You're gonna have
the exact language from the resolution, so the community can be reminded of exactly
what Council's commitment was. A short summary of where things stand right now. In
this case there was a joint law enforcement meeting on June 19°i, uh, and you can click to
see the, uh, duty, uh, to intercede memo that was signed by those law enforcement
agencies. Again, go ... go back down there, urn ... the, uh, next steps are laid out so the
public knows what's coming next with each item. In this particular case, uh, staff is...
right now, um, updating our general orders to reflect the, um, duty to intervene mandate
that the Council had. So yes, we signed this agreement with other law enforcement
agencies, but we also need to make sure that's very evident in our policies, and we'll
probably take it a little bit step further in our own individual policies, and so then the next
step for this one would be to have the CPRB review any updated general order that we
produce, and that's common practice. Uh, so the CPRB already reviews our general
orders. As we update them they provide feedback and recommendations to us before we,
uh (clears throat) before we, um, move forward. So, uh, again that's just, uh, one page,
uh, there's one of these for every one of the action items and so you and the public can go
through and ... and, uh, get a sense of where things stand. Uh, we will link a lot of
documents out of this report, but we want this to be a very simple, concise summary of
where things stand, uh, but under ...but as we make progress on all these items there'll be
a lot of memos and ... um, general orders and things of that nature that are attached to this
report. So knowing that you have limited time, that is a quick overview of the report.
Um, we would love some feedback on it. Obviously this is a, this is an initial draft that
staff put together, uh, but we need to .... to hear from you and hear from the public on
what information is ... is perhaps missing, what would you like to see, and what would be
more helpful, uh, so you can funnel any of that information, uh, to me and if you get
feedback from the community, uh, please do share that with us and we'll make updates as
we go along. Any questions before I close out the screen sharing?
Teague/ None. It doesn't sound like.
Fruin/ Okay! That was pretty quick. I'm happy to talk with you individually, uh, outside of the
meeting. Again, if you have feedback, just, uh, feel free to reach out, but hopefully you'll
find a few minutes to ... to go through this website and offer some feedback.
Teague/ Thanks for showin' that to us. Uh, and we will take a break and come back at 7:00 P.M.,
unless there is anything else right now that needs to be discussed, and we'll continue our
work session at the end of our formal agenda... meeting.
(break for formal meeting, reconvene afterforraal)
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Information Packet Discussion (June 4, June 11, June 18, June 25, July 2):
Teague/ All right, we are... reconvened .... reconvenin' our City Council work session, um, today,
which is Tuesday, July 7a' and we started at 5:00 P.M. and we postponed the rest until
tonight. So ... is there any item prior to the clarification of agenda items, which at this
point we won't do. So we'll go on to info ... we'll go on to info packets that really need
Council direction, but also if there's any info packet that people want to address. So
we'll start with June 4a' info packet. Anything there? June I la' ....info packet. June 181
info packet. Um, the one thing is we have two items that, um .... one we already
addressed, but the first one is IP3, it's a memo from the City Clerk about our proposed
Council meeting schedule, um, it's September through December 20th. Um, if I
remember correctly all those were the first and third Tuesday, as are typical for Council
meetings. Are there any conflicts or....
Taylor/ The only thing was, um, Tuesday, November 3' is election day, uh, I don't know how
folks feel about that. I don't ... we don't have anybody on the ballot. Usually if we have
someone on the ballot then .... then we change the date, so ... but otherwise maybe it'll be
all right .... to have that date.
Mims/ I think maybe we've changed it anyways, haven't we? Geoff, Eleanor, do you remember?
Fruin/ I think we've historically moved off election day, uh, even if there's no local elections,
just recognizing that the public may be, uh, more in tune with that than what may be on
our agenda. So we typically have moved it to the Monday, I believe.
Mims/ Yeah, that sounds.... sounds right! I would recommend that we do that.
Taylor/ (several talking, garbled) Yeah. I'm okay with that.
Teague/ Okay! All right, we have a consensus there! All right, any other date .... of concern?
Salih/ For December I .... I don't know, but uh, I really (mumbled) maybe I can—talk to Geoff and
the staff and see ... if we can have only one meeting on December? If they don't need it.
Not like really have to.
Mims/ Maybe we could look at that when we get closer .... to see what we need and what people's
schedules are?
Salih/ Yes, that sound good!
Mims/ Okay!
Teague/ All right!
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Fruehling/ (both talking, garbled) ...with the listening posts, if it's gonna be via Zoom, I mean
really if there's two people and they have a date in mind, or if you want me to email
outside. There's not a whole lot to try to figure out on the back end for that, since we
don't have to find a place.
Teague/ So .... yeah, so I know we're wantin' it Zoom. And as your .... and I guess I didn't really
get your question.
Fruehling/ Well you were just gonna have ... have me come .... back to it at the next meeting, but
I'm not sure what I'm gonna come back with.
Teague/ Okay! Actually it was who wants to be a part.
Fruehling/ Okay.
Teague/ But we can make that .... well, because we need dates ... of when that'll be set up. So I
don't know if you'll probably touch base with Councilors. Maybe we can get who wants
to do it in September. I'm sorry, in August.
Fruehling/ And then figure out with those two people the date?
Teague/ Correct.
Fruebling/ Okay.
Teague/ So maybe we can determine that now and then .... we also have the one in November. So
maybe we'll determine that now and then you can just post what dates are, um, agreed
upon amongst those (both talking, garbled) So who wants August?
Mims/ I would just throw out a suggestion that between the August and November ones, we give
Laura and Janice each an opportunity to do one of those, and then maybe .... uh, older
Councilor Members who've been around longer, um, pair up with each of them, um, on
one of those? Make sure they get a chance on these next two. If they want it! (laughs)
Bergus/ I'm interested! (several talking, garbled)
Teague/ I'll just add that .... yep, I'll just add that, um, Councilor Taylor and I, we did it in
February, so we would probably not be a part of the mix!
Salih/ I would like to do it.
Teague/ All right (both talking)
Salih/ (both talking) ...Laura or .... (both talking)
Bergus/ That'd be great!
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Mims/ Yeah, I would be interested in doing one, cause the last one that Maz and I did at Grant
Wood (both talking) nobody .... (laughs) nobody showed up! So .... so I would be
interested in doing one as well.
Salih/ I'll do it with Laura. You do it with Janice (several talking)
Teague/And what month, um, I guess I'll let you all deal with that offline, unless you have a
preference now that you want Kellie, um, do you all wanna.... maybe that'll be easier for
Kellie. Who wants August, between Laura and, um, who wants August?
Salih/ Laura, do you want August? (both talking) Okay (several talking, garbled)
Teague/ So there you have it (laughs) Kellie, you're good?
Fruehling/ I'm good! Thank you!
Teague/ Thank you. We're gonna move on to .... number, um, anything else with IP...um.... June
180i? Hearin' nothin' else, we're gonna go to number, um, we're gonna go to IP June 2501
and there is IP4 there, um, memo from Parks and Recreational Director, Happy Hollow
Park baseball field infield conversion. So .... I know that staff want a little direction there.
Thomas/ Um, perhaps I'll .... I'll introduce the, um, discussion on that. Um, I hope all of you
have had an opportunity to see the, um, letter that, uh, Michael Molenbrock had sent to
Council last week, uh, in which he linked to a change.org petition asking for the
restoration of the ball field. Uh, which was the last I looked had been signed by 437
petitioners. Some of which, um, provided comments, as well. And it was ... I .... I found it
to be a very thorough, eloquent, heartfelt letter, um, addressing the issues that ... that
he ... he saw and that he feels, um, are indicative (mumbled) as a long-term resident in
Iowa City of the situation and condition as it relates to our system of ball fields in Iowa
City. Um, it took me a while to reach and connect with Michael. It was kinda of a series
of conversations I had, uh, with other members of the community that led me to .... to
meet up with him and, um, he ... he basically took the lead on the, um, kind of gathering
the information from the baseball community, and others, uh, setting up the change.org,
uh, petition, which did draw from more than the ball .... ball field community. I did ... I did
wanna emphasize and ... and expand out a little bit from his letter, uh, to try to speak to
some of the issues, um, what I see as we consider this, and uh, you know, I've prepared
some comments which I'd like to share with you. Um, first I would .... I would wanna say
straight, you know, straightaway that I ... I do support converting back to the (mumbled)
field and, uh, that would be, uh, number two of the options listed in the ... in the staff
memo. Uh, but I would also like to support number four, which is exploring partnerships
with the baseball/softball groups for assistance with the reconversion of Happy Hollow
ball field and the possibility of converting other fields. In .... in looking at this issue, um,
particularly as it relates to some of our neighboring communities, North Liberty comes to
mind. Uh, North Liberty and Coralville have done an excellent job (mumbled) from what
I gather on, uh, forming partnerships to help support their system, which is, uh, I'll get
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into in a little bit here. Uh, but here.... here are some of my thoughts on different aspects
of this issue. Uh, the first has to do with the planning, park planning process. Uh, and...
and we're .... the question of changes to the field or ground surface came up recently with
the prairie restoration proposal, and ground surface, as we learned then, is an important
factor in determining park use. In this case, the question of field surface meant whether
the ball field, skinned infield, would be replaced by turf, thus becoming what staff refers
to as a `recreational field.' This was a question which was not asked of the neighborhood
residents or of the baseball/softball community. Uh, I would suggest that any questions
re ... regarding changes to existing park use .... whether initiated by the community or the
staff, must be asked of park users at the beginning of the planning process. So we wanna
make sure at the very start of any ...any park improvement project that we .... we address
the question of how are the uses, uh, going to be changed, um, and in this case, as we had
with the prairie restoration, it's ... it was a question of the ground surface, which was
triggering, uh, a change in use. Um .... in terms of the ball field use at Happy Hollow, uh,
staff's perception was that the primary users were the City's recreation division T -ball
teams, and it was that perception that led to their proposing the turf infield, because that
is adequate for that group. Um, Michael's letter and petition comments were consistent
with verbal and written correspondence I received when asking about Happy Hollow's
ball field use. In normal non -distancing rimes, the ball field ... in the correspondence that I
received and that he received, the ball field is used every spring, summer, and fall by all
kinds of people, including baseball and softball teams, both formal and informal, and kids
and adults. Activities include slow -pitch softball, pickup games, batting practice, even
kids being kids just running around the bases. So what that suggests to me, and I think to
Michael and others, was that a ball field in a neighborhood setting will typically see a
different pattern of use than a ball field in a complex. Field rentals are .... are really a
partial measure of that .... of that use. Michael also I think importantly noted that the ball
field skinned infield surface does not prevent its use for other recreational activities. That
means that multi -use of the field is both desirable and encouraged, and can continue, uh,
with the skinned infield. However, if you remove the skinned surface, it eliminates the
use of the field for softball and baseball. Uh, in terms of the ball field supply and
demand, uh, the ball field clearly .... uh, express that there was no sur... surplus of ball
fields in Iowa City. And that's where I learned, uh, you know, I started looking for the
first time at comparisons with other local cities. Uh, North Liberty ..uh, their ball field
system includes nine ball field, a nine ball field complex at Penn Meadows, and five
single fields, similar to ... Happy Hollow, uh, three of which are located at elementary
schools and two that are located at parks. North Liberty's use of both complexes and
single fields ensures sufficient supply. Uh, they have an amazing, uh, ratio of seven
fields to 10,000 residents. Uh, Iowa City's, by contrast, is somewhere between two to
three fields depending on how many fields you're counting. If it's sixteen it's a little over
two per 10,000. Um .... and .... and lastly, uh, so ... so that .... I'm finishing that thought.
The ... the complexes and the single fields combined have, uh, that high ratio, but they're
also well distributed. That's the other, I think, important consideration and why I think
number four is so important, is to try to expand the ... the network and distribution of the
ball fields. And then lastly I would just say that Michael noted and affirmed, uh, was
affirmed by some .... some of the four .... 437 petitioners in ... in saying that Happy Hollow
ball field has carved out a unique niche in Iowa City. It is cherished for its memories, as
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well as its unique natural setting, somewhat removed from the surrounding cityscape.
These qualities have been strengthened by the beautiful new shelter and restroom, and
will further be enhanced by the prairie restoration and future park improvements. So I
think... what.... my real takeaway from this whole process was that, uh, I ... I feel that the
maintenance issue is really the driving issue here. And I .... I do encourage us to, as North
Liberty has, in looking at the softball/baseball website, uh, that site indicated there were, I
think, over 30 sponsors for that program. Uh, so that is something that I hope we can
make progress on. Uh, I do think Happy Hollow is a special and unique ball field. I
would like to see if there might be opportunities, uh, in other parts of Iowa City, perhaps
with the recreational fields to expand that opportunity. Um, but what we're discussing
now is Happy Hollow, and I certainly would ask that you support, uh, restoring the ball
field.
Teague/ So thoughts on that? Well I .... I might start. Um, so I ... I appreciate the petition that was
submitted. Urn .... but just like we've seen here recently where, whether it was a project
that was kinda in the pipe years ago that was just bein' activated, or it was somethin' that,
um, we didn't totally, you know, reach out to, uh.... people that wanted to weigh in on it.
I am not against lookin' at the change, but I do believe that it should be vetted by the
community. Um, whether that is through condu.... number five, which is conductin' a
survey to get input from neighborhood and youth sport associations. Urn .... I think that
would be important, before we go and make this change, and then make the change and
then it's .... find out that, um, maybe there's a different idea or a different desire for this,
uh, for this area. Urn .... I also, urn .... you know, would.... after that survey is done, or
even simultaneously while conductin' the survey, maybe there's an opportunity to do
number four, as well. Urn .... and I'm not exactly sure how that would play out, but .... I
appreciate everybody that weighed in on this and signed the petition, but I really do
believe that, um, we need to do number five first.
Taylor/ I .... I think that that would be a good idea, uh, but I think, uh, as John said, that petition,
uh, included a lot of people from, uh, the sports field, the .... the coaches and the players
that .... that have played on that field, so I think that's a good place to start, and .... and, but
if we need to look at it a little bit further, I .... I would, uh, be in favor of..of also looking
at number five with community input, but, uh, I still think that it would need to be put
back to the skin field.
Mims/ I'll be perfectly honest, with everything else we've had on our agenda, um, and quite
frankly the importance I have .... have put on, um, making sure that I was doing all the
things for the Black Lives Matter issues, um, and the COVID, I have not given this the
attention that it deserves, um, and based on that I'm not prepared to give recommendation
one way or another. I .... I really wanna make sure I give this careful consideration. I
think when .... when staff and Parks and Rec have gone through, you know, a process and
have made plans and changes, and then we get significant input to the contrary, I really
wanna make sure I have ample time to ... to look at all those, and quite candidly I can't do
that tonight.
Teague/ So I think staff is kinda wantin' direction. So.....
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Salih/ Can .... can we bring this again later or we have to do it today?
Teague/ Um (both talking, garbled)
Salih/ I also need more time really on this. To be honest.
Bergus/ (both talking) ...Mayor, I ... I think that, you know, I appreciate the work that the
residents have put into this, but um, I do think in the last couple months our, you know,
our focus has been on .... on other issues, and I'm not inclined to, urn .... to support
converting it back, you know, based on what's in front of us here, but I would be willing
to defer it.
Salih/ Yes!
Mims/ Geoff, does that put staff in a bind if we don't give you direction for a couple of weeks?
Fruin/ No, there's really no urgency from a staff standpoint. It's .... it's a usable park feature now.
It's just a question if we wanna go back to the way it...it was, um, before. So that can be
done this summer, this fall, next spring, two years from now. There's really no urgency
for us.
Salih/ Okay!
Mims/ Thank you. Then I would like to defer this, um, for at least a couple of weeks till we have
maybe a little more time to review it.
Salih/ I will second that.
Teague/ Yep, so I'm in favor of deferring, but can we defer until August 4a', at least?
Mims/ That's fine with me!
Teague/ I'm seein' some heads shaking. Okay! All right, so we'll defer until August 4"1. Um,
item .... we'll move, any other items from June 25°19
Weiner/ (mumbled) I apologize because I don't recall which of our packets it was in, but there
was a letter .... urn, from a taxi driver, who wanted to .... who wanted to, uh, renew the
license but said it requires .... he only has two taxis right now. It requires four. Um, and
my question is what, uh, what's the history behind, uh, that regulation, why is it the way
it is?
Teague/ Well we'll have Geoff (both talking)
Weiner/ (both talking) ...as someone still new enough on Council that I've ... this is the first time
I've run into this.
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Fruin/ We can provide the Council with some .... some, a background memo if you'd like, but the
...the short of it is is, um .... uh.....uh, we .... previous experience it would be that we
would get a lot of, um, small, uh, kind of one-off companies, uh, that would, uh, run taxi
services, particularly around, uh, the football season, and uh, I think it was, urn, there was
some negative experiences, um, expressed by the residents about the service they were
getting and some of these companies that weren't necessarily in it for the long haul, so
the ... the minimum of four cab ... the minimum requirement for four taxi cab was really to
ensure that the companies were, uh, strongly invested in the long-term in Iowa City,
and ... and with that investment would provide the type of service that we would want our
residents and visitors to the community to ... to experience. Uh, but that's, uh, you know,
for those that've been on Council for .... for more than a few years, you know that it seems
like about every year we're .... we're analyzing our taxi ordinance and ... and debating, uh,
tweaks in it. So we'd .... we'd be happy to provide you some ... some background on that,
uh, that particular rule and other changes. Certainly when we had the, um, when Uber
and Lyft came to town there was just a ton of discussions about cab ordinances and that's
probably been a couple years, but that's probably been the most recent, uh.... review of
the ordinance.
Weiner/ (mumbled) given the proliferation of...of Uber and Lyft, although I expect they're not so
busy right now, um, I personally would ... would appreciate that.
Teague/ All right!
Fruin/ Just verify (both talking) I saw several heads nod. Is the ... is the full Council want us to go
down that path, or .... or a majority of ya?
Mims/ I think especially for our new Councilors, that would be really good to have a little bit of
a history on that.
Teague/ All right! Any other item from .... June 25th? Ju .... July tat? There is, urn .... which has
already been mentioned, the ... the Joint Entities agenda. Well, Joint Entities meetin'
which is gonna be July 20th, uh, we've heard that the ... topic is gonna be focused on
COVID-19, maybe some collaborative efforts. Are there any other agenda items that
Council wants to bring up?
Salih/ Related to COVID-19, I spoke to some Supervisors and I thinks we (garbled) a good time
to talk about how can we help like .... like, uh.... sustain health for un .... undocumented
people in the community, in Johnson County in general, and like whether that will be like
kind of advocating or doing something. Anyway, they.... they ask me if I can put it on
the ... on the Joint Entity.... agenda meeting.
Teague/ Did .... did I hear the title be un, um, sustained health for undocumented?
Salih/ (mumbled) like that, you know I really don't know what the title should be, but it is, uh,
like .... uh, instead of like helping them like this way and that way and just like, uh, short
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time and, uh, you know. How can we really think about, as entity, about helping
like ... like sustain it, like (mumbled) sustainable (mumbled) I don't know.
Teague/ So not really related to COVID?
Salih/ But due to COVID right now, if we can do that, and going forward. If there was another
crisis came, what we going to do to them, you know, and....
Teague/ Uh huh. I'm not ... at least I'll comment. I'm not in opposition to that. I do wonder if,
um ... we wouldn't have those conversations ourselves, to try to figure out what our role
and position would be. Urn ... before we take it to a broader .... you know, ask of other
municipalities, um, unless there's some specific examples that you can either share with
us as solutions or...ways we can partner. Um, certainly I think we can elevate the
undocumented people for any COVID-19 relief (garbled) um, but I would be very
interested in, uh, learning maybe some, or brainstormin' at some point, ways in which we
can help our undocumented individuals within our community. My only challenge is,
you know, if we pose that idea without any examples right now, um, well of course we
have examples for COVID-19.
Salih/ We really don't have like any solid solution that we can propose. That's why we want to
brainstorm together and think about ways ... we don't have to solve it on the meeting or we
don't have to (garbled) something better like, oh, if the like what you think we can do,
maybe somebody will have creative solution or ... just like speakin' about it, the fact that
this is happening in our community, how can we ... really help those people?
Teague/ One question I have is is there anyone that can give maybe an ... an overview of some of
the challenges that undocumented individuals face in our community? Cause I think that
would be a great startin' point for education. Um....
Salih/ (both talking) ...we can bring somebody to talk about that, to give us like .... like very good
presentation.
Teague/ Yeah!
Salih/ And we don't have to make a decision. After that we can talk about it and ... yeah. I could
recruit someone.
Teague/ So I ... I will be in favor of it. I'm not sure what other Councilor thoughts are. I'm seeing
some head nodding! So, all right! We will add that to, um, the ... our agenda, to submit to
the Joint Entities meeting. Any other agenda item? And then we'll ... you can get with us,
because that'll be before our next, uh, Council meetin', the night before. Um, who will
be that representative? Are we ... cause I think a presentation would be important,
urn .... are people in agreement with that as well? And we'll have the item on the agenda,
and a brief presentation. (several talking)
Weiner/ University Heights, Louise Fromm is organizing, so....
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Teague/ Okay. All right! Great! Um, so no....no other agenda items, I don't hear any.
Salih/ What the time is, uh, meeting on the 20?
Weiner/ 4:30.
Salih/ 4:30, okay. Thank you.
Teague/ Used to get there for cookies and coffee at 4:00 but that won't be happenin' (laughs) All
right, item number five, um, well let's go to, um, July 2"d, uh, we're still there, so number
five, IPS, um, memo from the Neighborhood and Development Services Director. I'm
not sure if Tracy Hightshoe is still here!
Frain/ No, uh, Tracy was unable to stay on tonight. In short, I think the Council was aware
you've been contacted by, uh, Habitat and the Johnson County Affordable Homes
Coalition about the ... the partnership to, uh, expand and really stretch the impact of the,
uh, South District Home Ownership Program that we, uh, kicked off last year, and so, uh,
Tracy had some discussions with Habitat and, uh, where they landed is outlined in the
memo, but it's essentially a, uh... uh, a pilot program that we would do, um, this year in
which we would, um ... uh, the FY21 budget just included one additional duplex for the
South District. We would expand that to two duplexes, uh, through use of some, uh,
unallocated CDBG dollars right now. Um, the City would use those CDBG dollars and
do our program as we've done in the past, and then, uh, in order to afford Habitat some
more flexibility, we would get them the local dollars from the budget so they don't have
the ... the federal constraints on them, and uh, Habitat would do a, um, a, uh... a .... a
rehabilitation of. ... of a duplex, and uh, we think there's some ... some real merit to try
(mumbled) I think Habitat, uh, through their network, um .... uh, could .... could help us
stretch those rehab dollars, but they could also, uh, help expand the pool of available
properties, uh, because they're willing to, uh, be a .... be a landlord if needed, uh, in a
situation in which one duplex unit may be available and the other's still occupied, really
that's not a good role for the City to be playing, um, but Habitat's willing to do that, and
that allows them to stage the rehab without forcing displacement, uh, so we can hold true
to that value of this program. So happy to answer any questions, um, but in short it
would be expanding the program for FY21 and, uh, working with Habitat on one of those
two homes. Then after we're done with that project, we will all be able to kinda learn
from that experience and decide if this completely becomes their .... their project going
forward, i it still makes sense to split it, or if it makes more sense for the City to keep it,
but we're excited about it and we appreciate, uh, the Affordable Homes Coalition and
Habitat bringing it to us.
Mims/ Well I'm supportive of this. I was really impressed with the conversation that I had, I
can't remember who else was on that call, might have been Janice and/or Laura, uh, with
Sara Barron and Heath Brewer, um, Sara from the Affordable Homes Coalition and ... and
Heath from Habitat. I just think there's, as you've mentioned, Geoff, a real chance to, uh,
kind of leverage some City dollars to get some programming experience and contacts
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of July 7, 2020.
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through Habitat and, um, get more bang for our buck, quite frankly, by using Habitat. So
I'm really interested in the idea of trying this for a pilot for a year and see ... see where we
wanna go with it from there.
Taylor/ I've been really ex ... excited about this project from its very beginning, uh, the South
District duplex plan, and uh, so the thought of having a partner that can kind of help, uh,
help us along with it and ... and since Tracy, uh, is in favor of it, then ,uh, that's good. So I
would be in favor of this also, as a trial. See how it goes!
Bergus/ I think this is a really exciting opportunity for a great partnership between the City and
Habitat and building on what ... what we know and what we learned through what we've
undertaken and ... and their expertise, so I agree with what everybody said, but it's very,
very exciting, and great for the South District.
Weiner/ It's great to be able to leverage, uh, a good non-profit partner for something as valuable
as this.
Teague/ I have to agree, leveraging resources. This, uh, makes all the, uh, this creates
opportunity, I think, for the City, and it definitely, uh, creates opportunity and what our
intentions were for residents within the South District.
Thomas/ Yeah, the other thing I like about this is, uh, Habitat will have more of a presence in that
district, so it ... um, I think that helps too, um, in terms of gaining further traction, uh, with
the effort when you have that ongoing presence and sense of relationship to the
neighborhood.
Salih/ Yes! I agree!
Teague/ All right! I would make a comment that our Mayor Pro Tem is short of words right
now! (laughs)
Salih/ (laughs) I guess you know (mumbled) easier for me when everybody say agree, agree. I
don't have to fight!
Teague/ Well I'm just sayin..... and it's almost 9:30 (laughs) so .... (laughs)
Salih/ Yes (laughs) I'm good (mumbled) agree about this! (laughs) And which is great!
Teague/ Great!
Salih/ Yeah!
Teague/ Any other, um, agenda items from July 2"d that anyone wants to point out? All right,
hearing none .... any other items for the good of the .... cause tonight?
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of July 7, 2020.