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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-06 TranscriptionPage 1 2. Proclamations 2.a. Domestic Violence Awareness Month Teague: (reads proclamation) Here to accept this is Alta Medea -Peters, uh, this proclamation today. Medea -Peters: Hi, yes. Um, this is ... also I've got a small two -and -a -half year old here helping me this evening. So you hear him chime in (garbled) Um, I first just wanted to thank the Council and the community of Iowa City and ... and surrounding areas for all of the amazing support that we've had over the last 41 years. Um, this is where we started and ... and certainly have helped to support us and keep us going all of this time. Um, I also just wanted to mention, um, some brief statistics. Um, in the past year we have served over 1,800 individuals, which is pretty on par with, uh, where we were last year. Um, just about 100 off, and that's pretty remarkable, considering the fact that we have been, um, for three of those months we were essentially shut down. Um, once the State started to open in early May, um, due to COVID, uh, closures, um, in early May, we did see a 28% increase in our hotline calls, um, which is a big jump. Um, and we are grateful to be able to serve those in need, um, that have been isolated, uh, and are sort of quarantined with their abuser. Our services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they are free and confidential to anyone in need and accessible by calling 800-373-1043. In Iowa City alone we helped, uh, 700 individuals. Um, and so we are ... we are grateful for your support and the last sort of number I've been sharing, as I've been doing these proclamations across our service region, is that, um, we have had a 96%, uh, of our clients have reported that they feel safer because of the work of our advocates, and to me that is a number that is just um, absolutely wonderful to share. It ... it speaks to the skills that our advocates have in problem solving and safety planning, as well as the, um, yeah, just the work of the ... the victim survivors, and reaching out and getting resources they need. So I wanted to open it up to answer any questions that you all might have for us at this time. Teague: I think I speak on behalf of the Council when we say thank you for all the work that you all are doing. Thank you so (garbled) Medea -Peters: It is our pleasure. I know you've heard a lot from ... Kristie Fortmann (mumbled) our executive director lately too. So I ... we just really appreciate the time that the Council has taken to speak with us and understand the needs of victim survivors. So thank you so much for your support. Teague: Thank you. 2.b. Indigenous People's Day Teague: (reads proclamation) ...and to accept this proclamation today is Joe Coulter. Welcome, Joe. Joe Coulter: (unable to understand) Thank you, in my native language. I appreciate very much, Mayor Teague and the City Council, for, uh, this proclamation of Indigenous People's Day. We will actually celebrate Indigenous People's Day on October the 12th, which is next Monday. Uh, I would also like to say that (mumbled) proclamation, uh, very much is an acknowledgment of the indigenous people, the native people, who are here in Iowa. Even the state itself is named This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 2 after the Ioway Tribe or Nation. Uh, so I am, uh, very appreciative of this opportunity to speak with you, uh, and want to say in my Pottawatomie language (unable to understand) Great thanks. Teague: Thank you, Joe. 2.c. LGBTQ Mstory Month Teague: (reads proclamation) ...and acceptin' this proclamation is my good friend Tony, who is our current Chair of the Iowa City Pride. Welcome, Tony. Sivanthaphanith: Thank you guys. Uh, I just want to thank the City, uh, Council, um, Human Rights Campaign for, or Commission, for reaching out to us about this. Um, this is a very important month, um (mumbled) for our time right now, especially with ... with the pandemic and not having our Annual Pride Festival or March, um, and with certain rights, uh, currently being possibly taken away. So I think now is a great time to really honor the history and honor ...the people who paved the way for us to continue this fight. So I'm really excited to ... to show you guys what we have coming up here in the next month or two with some new Pride events and stuff like that. So I just thank the City and thank ... thank everyone there for, uh, encouraging us and in being there for us. Teague: Thank you, Tony. All right! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 3 9. Community Comment (items not on the agenda) (UNTIL 8 PM) Teague: This is a time where it's community comment and anyone from the community that would like to address Council during this time, please raise your hand and I will call upon you. If you're on the phone, please press *9, and this is an opportunity to address anything that is not on the formal agenda, and I'm going to go to David. Please, uh, welcome, David. Drustrup: Thank you very much, Mayor. Uh, thank you, Council. And, uh, just wanna start by saying thanks to the Council and everybody who ... who was there for the listening posts. I felt like those have been really, really helpful these last few weeks and, uh, thanks to Councilor Mims. I think you're the one a few weeks ago that really pushed that together and ... and made the scheduling on that happen really quickly. So thank you for that. Um, you know, I think we've seen pretty broad community support for a CAHOOTS type model, urn .... for, as we're talking about policing changes, especially from the first listening posts. Um, I thought we had pretty broad community support for that. Um, and ... and this support includes a model that does not include police response, um, for calls that are relating to non-violent offenses. So I think we've seen over these listening posts that not just, uh, community support, but also local professionals are supportive of that model. Uh, for the ... we have a lot of research that supports that model. There's organizations like NAMI and the American Psychiatric Association and, um, if you saw in the email that I sent y' all, uh, for anyone listening in the public. I think it's on page 197 of the very large handout, uh, where I have some references and links that show that even CIT International, which is the group that, um, provides the modeling for, uh, training our police force, um, the police force has been holding, uh, this model up as sort of the gold standard that, uh, chose to get the 40 hours of training for crisis intervention. Uh, even CIT International says that the best practice is to not include police in these types of responses. Um, so as we see some broad support for this, uh, I've asked like what more proof do we need? You know, we have the support. we have the local professionals, and the infrastructure, who have the experience and the desire to do this type of work. So, um, from my perspective, it seems like a matter of political will, um, to give those local professionals the funding that they need to do this work in a .... in an efficient way. Um, secondly, just to respond to what went through during last meeting. Um, I'm just personally a little bit disappointed with the way Council pushed through, um, the proposal for the TRC, um, that didn't have any power. Um, I talked a couple times in the weeks prior about some of the ... some of the other research out there from the United Nations and other folks who warned against setting up a TRC that does not have enough power, because truth does not always lead to reconciliation. Um, IFR even proposed some language in there that, um, that there should be systemic and reparative changes that come as a result of the Commission and that language was taken out. So I'm ... I'm not sure why Council took that out and it's disappointing to see that that language is removed. Um, it seems less interested in systemic change that way. Uh, and finally, just want to offer support behind what Councilor Thomas proposed at the beginning of September, I think that was the September 1 st meeting y'all had, um, and ... and his ideas for changing... making meaningful change, short investment of traffic infrastructure. Um, you know, Iowa City has a pretty terrible reputation relative to the rest of the nation in disproportionate minority contact. So implementing some of those changes that Councilor Thomas has brought forth, um, and y'all are considering, I hope, for the ... for the December budget proposals that you're talking about, um, for 2021, um, IFR is ... is fully supportive of this, of these changes and understanding that if we can create ... to create streets that police themselves and traffic infrastructure that polices itself, then we'll have less need for This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 4 traffic police to be the ones using their discretion, um, to make those stops, and I think we've seen, given the ... the record of disproportionate minority contact, that even after years and years of anti -bias training, that training has ... has obviously failed. It doesn't work for our police force because we still have those very poor records. Um, so this is a ... an example of something that we can be imaginative with, be creative with and sort of change the system, um, and implement something that doesn't require that police discretion, which has failed us in the past. Thank you very much! Teague: Thank you, David. And we're gonna go to Missie. Welcome, Missie. Forbes: Hi. Thank you for having me. Um, I wanted to, um, thank the Council for ...for your time, um, and to talk to you all about the Neighborhood NESTS Program that I'm a co-chair of. Um, the NEST stands for nurturing every student together safely. Um, the concept of the Neighborhood NEST was born out of co ... a concern of academic gap widening as the Iowa City Community School District began revealing aspects of their return -to -learn plan. A group of community members, nonprofits, and representation from the School District came together to address three specific needs — childcare, academic supports, and social emotional well-being, with the intention of each NEST focusing on the unique needs of each specific neighborhood. In six short weeks, four pilot NESTS were set up to coincide with the start of the school year, addressing these needs. Dream City, Four C's, Open Heartland, and United Action for Youth all opened their pilot programs the first week of school. Since the start of school and our transition to hybid... hybrid learning, some of our NESTS have shifted how things looked at the beginning and some of our focus, but we do remain focused on addressing the needs of our mote at ... our most at -risk students and families. We hold weekly meetings with the School District administration and School Board members to address, um, the on -the -ground issues that we see daily in our NESTS and work with them to figure out how to quickly problem -solve these issues. We're working with businesses and city governments, including the City of Iowa City, to address space, funding, and infrastructure. Additionally, we hold informational meetings on how to begin NESTS and where the need is, which currently is everywhere. We currently have 10 Neighborhood NESTS within the Iowa City Community School District, with two more hopefully to come online within the next month. We continue to work closely with the Iowa City Community School District, Student Family Advocates, the Homeless Liaison, and the Youth and Family Development Coordinator to assess need and are continually looking for volunteers and others to set up their own NESTS in their own neighborhoods. And I just wanted to take the time to introduce you formally to the Neighborhood NEST concept and to, uh, throw it over to my other co-chair, Megan Alter, who was on the call as well, to talk about another aspect. Teague: Thank you, Missie. And Megan, you are next. Welcome! Alter: Sorry, I had to unmute myself. Can you hear me? Teague: Yes! Alter: Excellent! Well thank you so much for your time and it's wonderful to see all of your faces. Um, so to take up where Missie left off, um, we have learned so very much in a really short amount of time. Um, and it's been incredibly productive, but also, um, pretty daunting. Um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 5 part of our mission now is to figure out ways that municipalities and the various community aspects can come together to help solve our problems that existed pre-COVID. It's just a matter that COVID has revealed a lot of infrastructure issues and, um, everyday problems that are facing our families and our students, and um, that goes beyond the educational system, and really what Missie and I have been talking about, and ... along with many other people, is a real recognition that, um, overall we as a community, uh, not just Iowa City but writ large, um, have over -relied on our educational system to do a lot of community work, um, and so in ... in propping up, in standing up these NESTS, we have found these issues to be sort of put under the microscope, and so one of the things that we are very committed to is that this was to be a short- term help. Well, COVID isn't going away. We really see this as extending through the year. But then also what do we do to help continue to put pieces in place for families and students in need. Um, what we have found is that food instability remains huge, um, how to get food to families that is honestly edible. Um, how to work through the digital divide with, um, different families, whether there are language barriers or simply just a lack of understra... understanding or familiarity with technology. Um, internet connectivity is a huge issue. We have to have more people who can get access to it. So these are all things that have been highlighted and exacerbated by the current pandemic, and the way in which the school system has pretty heroically tried to meet these needs. But it's putting such a strain on a system that wasn't built to do that, uh, to do all of that work. So I'm kind of adding the why, to the who, what, where, when, um, to ... to say that what we would very much like to do is to, um, offer the work that we've been doing and kind of the little infrastructure that we have, as a way to continue to partner, um, and to think with municipalities about how we can try to create a better community at large and to help problem solve in these ways, um, for these issues, that, um, helps the lift be a little more equitable throughout, and that really ...I come full circle because what, um, Missie and I and the other NEST, um, people have been discussing is that from the get go, um, what COVID has revealed is that there's so much inequity, and so we feel very strongly that this is the perfect time to be talking about this and what can we do to collaborate further to, um, help solve for people who have, um, have felt that they do not have a voice or do not have the tools, um, for success, and we would like to partner and to continue to talk with you about ways that, um, we can try to make this a community issue, uh, these multiple issues are community issues and to understand them as such, so that we can all work together, um, in the way that the NESTS have collaboratively. Thank you! Teague: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address Council? We're going to have Eva, followed by Mayra. Oh, Eva is no longer with a hand raised. Um, we'll have Eva first, followed by Mayra. Okay. Eva has disappeared again. (echoing) Sileo: Hi, I'm here. (garbled) Can you hear me? Teague: Yes, hello! Sileo: (garbled) Hello, everyone, and (garbled) thank the Mayor and the Council (garbled) listening session (garbled) and really I would just like to echo what David said (garbled) I agree wholeheartedly that with the abundance of support from the community, um, the academics that are studying this issue, and (garbled) CIT that the only thing missing does seem to be a political will to sort of take on this, um, challenge of reimagining our system, to make it a little bit better. Um, I ... I do feel that our current model is a waste of the utility of our mental health This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 6 professionals in this town on ... of which there is an abundance, um, and it just (garbled) person to try to help the unhoused or those experiencing overdoses or threatening suicide or any of the other various non-violent issues. The police currently are responsible for and sort of a person with years and years of training, um, and very specific experience helping people in these exact same situations. So I just wanted to voice my support for, um, the Iowa Freedom Riders on that proposal. Thank you! Teague: Thank you. And we're going to go to Mayra, followed by Sara, and everybody's doin' so good, keepin' their comments between three to five minutes. So, uh, just a reminder that is apart of what we ask. All right, welcome, Mayra. Hernandez: Hi, can you hear me now? Teague: Yes! Hernandez: Great. Um, so I just wanted to quickly talk, um, about some of the, um, work that we've also been doing, um, and some of the things that we've noticed during, especially during the pandemic here. Um, so, um, I'm the Community Organizer at the Center for Worker Justice and we have seen like a very incredibly... increase, a huge increase, in the amount of people that are coming to us with different, um, like issues. Uh, some ... most of them are COVID-related, um, and we have a lot ... a lot of people coming for assistance, uh, with rent and utilities, um, and those are the people that we are, you know, trying to asses ... or address their needs. Um, and the ...also the other thing is that a lot of those people, you know, not only have been affected, you know, by, um, COVID in regards to their rent and utilities and all of that, um, but we do have a lot of people who are currently, um, experiencing, um, we accept cases, um, and during the time of COVID, um, there's still a lot of, uh, employers who are, um, very predatory and don't really care that, you know, it's a pretty difficult time for everybody but, um, we have been working with, like, uh, we still have like wi... five wage theft cases who have come to us, um, and we are trying to get through those as ... as quickly, uh, as timely as possible. Um, we are also working with meat packing employees, um, to be able to address the needs that, um, that they are experiencing at the, at this time. A lot of them, um, we are dealing with, uh, the effects of COVID, um, and we are trying to, you know, assess, um, reach as population, as a lot of the times this population, um, doesn't get reached and so we are doing a lot of outreach for them. Um, as well as a lot of people who have worked in meat packing plants have reached out to the Center for Worker Justice, as you know, during COVID, a lot of the issues were that these plants weren't providing PPE, or, um, you know, meeting the demands that they should be meeting for the safety of their workers. Um, and so a lot of people who were not comfortable going to work because of the pandemic, you know, who filed for unemployment and then were given the unemployment, but then, um, after a couple months denied and told, `Hey you actually are not eligible because your employer protested. So now you owe back all this money that we initially had approved you for.' And so we've been helping people appeal for those cases. Um, and it is these, a lot of these, um, immigrants and refugees who have come to us with these specific problems, um, and the process of that, going through all of that, is extremely confusing. Um, so we are, you know, doing our, uh, dividing our time between not only like rent and utilities and helping with that issue, even though that is a huge ... a huge problem for a lot of people and a lot of our membership base, and a lot of people that were not our members, but members of the community who were also reaching. Um, but also all of these other like This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 7 employer wage theft problems that we still need to address. Um, and so we're ... we're juggling both of these, um, parts of, you know, COVID and how COVID has affected all of these workers. Um, not only in workers not being able to pay their utilities, but in the workplace itself and how COVID has really shown, you know, the ... the predatory practices of a lot of like companies and employers, um, and landlords as well. Um, it's ... it's really a lot going on, um, that with us at the Center where we're doing our best with the limited, very limited staff that we have, um, but yeah, we just wanted to make sure that that was presented, that COVID is affecting all of these different people in so many different ways. Um, so yeah, thank you! Teague: Thank you! Sara, welcome. Barron: Hi, Council, um, I'm Sara Baron. I'm the Executive Director of the Affordable Housing Coalition. Thanks for the opportunity to speak tonight, um, and mostly coming to you with a thank you. Um, I want to, um, review ...I know you're going to review tonight, um, some information about how your eviction prevention funding is going. Um, just today I looked up the numbers for Johnson County and the Iowa Finance Authority eviction prevention program, and Johnson County represents 15 to 16% of the renter households and owner households who have applied for and received funding through the State. Um, and that, um, is, despite the fact that we're only 5% of Iowa's population. So we've done a really good job, you've done a really good job, our partners have done a really good job to get the word out to households, about the assistance available both from the State, um, and the local programs. Um, I know our local partners have been working really hard to make sure that households have this information and we see some success, but we also know that there are many households that are still struggling and need this assistance, um, and so I wanted to highlight just a couple of things for you. Um, the first is that there will be a landlord summit. It's being put together, um, through a number of partners of the project Better Together housing sub -group on Thursday, October 10, um, at... I'm sorry, October 15 at noon, um, and you can visit our Facebook page or, um, one of the other participants Facebook pages to get more information about that. The intention is to share information about the rental assistance programs with landlords so that they can both pass that on to their tenants, and continue to preserve their income through the pandemic, um, and also just wanted to offer you this reminder that housing justice is very much a racial justice issue, as you know, through your discussions. Um, in April, the data that was collected showed that 61 % of Hispanic Americans and 44% of Black Americans said that they or someone in their household had experienced a job or wage loss due to coronavirus, um, which is much higher percentage than that of white Americans even, and so as we're thinking about targeting this assistance for, um, rent and mortgage, while we know that, um, many in our community are impacted by it. Um, every step that you take toward keeping people stably housed is also a step towards your racial justice goals, um, and I wanna thank you for your concentrated efforts, um, and keeping people in Johnson County safely housed through the pandemic and beyond. Thanks very much! Teague: Thank you, Sara. Would anyone else like to address Council? Seein' no one, we are gonna move on to Item number 10. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 8 10. Amend Downtown Urban Renewal Plan — Resolution approving Amendment No. 16 to the City -University Project 1 Urban Renewal Plan to add climate change objectives and projects. 1. Public Hearing Teague: I'm going to open the public hearing. And .... staff. Ford: Good evening, Council. I'm Wendy Ford, Economic Development Coordinator. As you know, any urban renewal activities undertaken in an urban renewal area must be included in their respective urban renewal plan. Amendment No. 16 to the City/University Project One, uh, Urban Renewal Area, also known as the downtown urban renewal area, includes two future projects. One, a redevelopment project on the south side of the 100 block of East College Street, and an energy efficiency incentive program for commercial properties located within that urban renewal area. It is important to note that the amendment to the plan does not constitute the approval of the projects listed within the plan. Rather, it simply affords Council the opportunity to consider those projects at a later date, and a little background on ... on both. Regarding the redevelopment project, the Tailwind Group developers first prevented their... presented their project a year ago to the Council Economic Development Committee, and since then, they have made some adjustments to their plans, and they expect to make a final presentation to the Economic Development Committee this fall, um, which EDC will then consider a recommendation to forward to Council from there. We anticipate that in the coming weeks or a couple months or so. Then regarding the energy efficiency incentives to encourage businesses to make investment... the investments required to improve energy efficiency, the City is creating an urban renewal program designed to offset some of those costs. Applicants would be eligible for up to 50% match for eligible energy efficiency improvements, similar to what we set up in the, um, three industrial areas in August or so. And how to pay for each of those — well, tax increment generated from taxes paid by property owners in the urban renewal areas... area would be used for both projects. The commercial users would apply for the funds for their energy efficiency projects and the projects would be vetted by pro... professionals or contractors in the industry, and then we would enter into agreements with those users for those funds. For the private redevelopment project, um, they would be required to generate their own TIF increment through the increased valuation on the property to be eligible for TIF rebates. TIF increment is taxes, um, paid by the owner, over and above a base value or a beginning taxable value of properties. Um, that project too would be considered at a later date by Council. I don't think I had any other comments on that amendment to City/University, uh, Project One Urban Renewal Area, but I'd certainly help answer questions. Teague: I don't hear any questions for ya! (laughs) All right. Um, is there anyone from the public that would like to address this topic? If so, please raise your hand and I will call on you. Hearin' no one ... I'm gonna close the public hearing. And can I get a motion to approve? Taylor: So moved! Thomas: (both talking) Taylor: Second, Thomas. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 9 Teague: All right. Um, I'm gonna ... I guess I didn't quite know who actually moved that one. Thomas: (garbled) Pauline, and I seconded. Teague: All right, so moved by Thomas, second by Taylor. Thomas: Either way, yeah. Teague: All right (laughs) All right, Council discussion? Thomas: Well, I think this is a ... a natural evolution with our TIF policy now that we've, uh, you know, climate has become such a critical issue. So I'm ... I'm really pleased to see that it's incorporated into our TIF policy. Teague: Hearin' no other comments, roll call please. Teague: Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 10 12. Taxi Companies - Number of Required Vehicles - Ordinance amending Title 5, entitled "Business and License Regulations, Chapter Two," entitled "Taxicabs," to decrease the number of required vehicles from two ... from four to two. Teague: This is first consideration. Can I get a motion, please? Weiner: So moved, Weiner. Taylor: Second, Taylor. Teague: All right, and... presentation by staff. Fruehling: Hi, um, so this ordinance is by Council direction. Um, there was a request from one of the current cab companies to change the minimum requirement for vehicles from four down to two. Council had asked for some history, which we discussed at the September 15th work session. Um, and what the changes that have kind of evolved over the years with the ... the business renewal process, switching to once a year and then with the TMC Companies, like Uber and Lyft, um, the number of pop-up companies, which used to be a concern during like football season, have dropped dramatically. Um, and then with the survey of larger cities showed the majority of them don't have a minimum requirement. Um, so currently we have two companies, Big 10 which has two vehicles, um, which is acceptable due to the Mayor's order with the suspension of the requirement of four cabs, and then we have Yellow Cab which, has 17 vehicles. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Teague: Hearing no questions. I know we had a .... a great discussion the last time through this item. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please raise your hand and I'll call upon you. Seein' no one, Council discussion? Weiner: It just seems to me like this is ... this is a good way to respond to current circumstances. Circumstances have changed since... since we had all these pop -ups in ... in previous years. Um, obviously if things don't work that we have the option to change things back again, but it sounds like this will really help at least one company right now. Teague: Yeah, I think it's a great positive step, and, um, given the ... the changes within our community over the years, it's just not during COVID. This seems like the correct response. So, I'm going to support this. Hearin' no other comments, roll call please. Teague: Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 11 13. Short -Term Rentals - Ordinance amending Title 17, entitled "Building and Housing," Chapter 5, entitled "Housing Code," to provide rental permit requirements for short-term rental properties. This is fust consideration. Teague: Could I get a motion please? Salih: So moved, Salih. Mims: So moved, Mims. Teague: All right, and staff presentation. Dilkes: Um ... just turn my camera on. This is Eleanor Dilkes, City Attorney. Um, so this, uh, ordinance change is necessary because of State legislation that, um, regulates or prohibits cities from, uh, regulating short-term rentals, Airbnbs, etc. Um, we can continue to, uh, regulate them from a health and safety perspective and a nuisance perspective, but we we just can't, um, charge a ... a rental permit fee. So essentially what this ordinance does is applies all our other health and safety standards that we apply to other rentals and ... except for the fee. Teague: Okay. Any questions for Eleanor? Hearin' none, would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so please raise your hand. Seein' no one, Council discussion? Roll call, please. Motion passes 7-1. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 12 14. Appointment of Police Chief - Resolution approving the appointment of Dustin Liston as Police Chief in Iowa City, Iowa. Teague: Could I get a motion to approve? (several talking) Moved by Thomas, seconded by Mims. And staff presentation! Frain: Thank you, Mayor and Council. This is Geoff Frain, City Manager. Um, the police chief is one of, uh, two positions that I have the authority, um, to select and recommend to the Council. Uh, tonight I'm asking for your, um, your approval, um, of that appointment of Dustin Liston. As you know, on February 24, uh, former Chief Jody Matherly retired from the Iowa City Police Department, and uh, shortly before he did that we started our recruitment, uh, for the new police chief position. Uh, the Civil Service Commission approved that recruitment process at their February 7, 2020 meeting. I'll go through that, uh, recruitment process, um, and can certainly speak in more detail about it if you have questions about how we got here tonight, um, but we, um, took a .... took good time to articulate the type of person that we were looking for in a police chief and advertised that widely, um, to as many, um, groups that, uh, that we could. Um, we received applications for 18, uh, from 18 individuals by our April 30th deadline. I reviewed those along with some other City staff here and, uh, chose nine to respond to a written questionnaire that had five questions in it. Uh, during that process, we had four candidates withdraw from the process, leaving us, um, five that responded. Um, I selected four of those, uh, to advance for further consideration to an interview phase of the process. Um, I was gratified that, uh, 15 people from the community, including both City staff and folks outside of the City staff, uh, agreed to, um, help me interview, uh, those four finalists, uh, semi-finalists, I should say, and each of the ... each of the four semi-finalists, uh, had about three hours of interviews with, uh.... urn, these community members and City staff members. Uh, I wanna, um, I think it's really important that I note that the interview panelists were not necessarily, uh, asked to endorse or choose a candidate. They were really there to help me, uh, help ... help share their perspective with me on the candidates and really help me identify, uh, things that I needed to look for as we advanced, uh, through the other stages of that process, and I certainly learned a lot from their participation and ... and their viewpoints, and that certainly helped shaped, uh, my decision on, uh, who to advance to the finalists stage and how to structure that final stage, uh, and ultimately what issues to really probe into. Uh, we did have three finalists candidates that were publicly released. Uh, they had their, uh, resumes and questionnaires posted on our website. Uh, they were also in town for the final event, um, I'm sorry, the final day of events, which included, uh, community and station tours, uh, an additional interview. Um, we had a youth panel that, um, I met with the ... each of the candidates, uh, a Police Department meet and greet, uh, and a public meet and greet that we did out at Mercer Park in the ... in the evening. I took all the feedback from ... from those finalist events, uh, as well as, uh, information from the ... the previous, um, portions of the process, and, uh, also, um, had the benefit of...of background checks at that time, which we had a third party, uh, conduct for us during this process, and, uh, I'm here, uh, tonight with that recommendation, uh, of Dustin Liston, uh, for your consideration. So I don't take this, uh, recommendation lightly. Um, appointments of department heads, uh, positions I consider, uh, probably to be the ... the most significant responsibility I have because of the, uh, level of discretion that ... that each of those individuals has in their areas. So, um, I ... I think it's important that you know, uh, that ... that I understand the importance of this selection and that, uh, Mr. Liston has my full confidence and my full backing with this recommendation. So a little bit about, uh, Mr. Liston. I hope you had a chance to read This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 13 the memo for a more extensive overview, but he's a Iowa native, born and raised in Eldora ... uh, Eldora, Iowa, and, uh, actually resided in Iowa City and, uh, did some... some lifeguarding for us and interned in our Police Department, uh, while he was going to undergrad at the University of Iowa. He has Bachelor of Arts degrees in psychology and sociology, and, uh, after graduation, he joined the El Paso, Texas police department, where he has served for 22 years. Uh, he's risen through the ranks in that, uh, department and currently serves as Lieutenant and is assigned as the director of the El Paso Fusion Center, which is a multi -agency intelligence hub, uh.... uh, in El Paso. Uh, at, uh, at the Fusion Center he's, urn .... uh, proven to be a very strong collaborator and an excellent communicator, two of the very skills that we were seeking from the outset of this process. A little bit about the El Paso Police Department, uh, to give you some perspective. It's a significantly larger department than we have here in Iowa City. Uh, 1,173 sworn officers. We are, uh, sworn at 84 right now. So quite a bit bigger department. They also have 299 civilian, uh, staff members in that department. They serve over 680,000 residents and over 80% of their residents identify as Hispanic. El Paso's the home to a significant, uh, university, much like we have here. Um, in El Paso they serve the University of Texas EI Paso, which has enrollment over 25,000 students. So, uh, a couple of things that stood out to me, certainly a ... a significant, uh... um, difference in department size, a .... a wide variety of experiences, uh, that Mr. Liston has gained over his 22 years, but also that experience of serving a divi... a diverse community, understanding the outreach and engagement that goes along with that, and, uh, his experience, uh, with a large higher education institution like we have here in Iowa City. Those that have worked with Mr. Liston describe him as a good listener and a deep and forward thinker, uh, a strong collaborator who's very highly respected amongst his peers. He has no disciplinary history in his 22 years with the El Paso Police Department, and is regarded as having strong morals and ethics that served as a foundation for all of his actions. Others have described him to me as courteous and empathetic. Uh, he's someone that takes strong interested, uh, a strong interest in the officers that he supervises. He enjoys and take seriously the tasks of mentoring young officers and helping them develop professionally throughout their careers. His ability to motivate and fully support a staff while holding them accountable and constantly working to improve upon service delivery are unique skills that are really important for our position here in Iowa City. Uh, he is certainly up to the task and understands the challenge ahead of us, uh, with your call to, um, accelerate a path towards a more robust community policing model, and he eagerly embraces that challenge, uh, with your support. Uh, there is, uh, he has significant experience in community policing programs in El Paso, including CIT civilian response programs, which will undoubtedly help shape our efforts here in Iowa City. He has a strong commitment to the principles of procedural justice, which I know he will help permeate throughout our department, and improve our collective efforts to consistently serve all persons in a fair and impartial manner. He's prepared to hold our staff accountable when we make mistakes and also lift them up and celebrate their achievements, uh, with many successes that we will have under his leadership. I ... I take, uh, great comfort in knowing that he is coming, uh, home to Iowa and that he already has a strong stake in this community, and he has a deep passion for Iowa City and the University of Iowa. He's going to, um, really enjoy, um, the support from a ... a strong and talented department that we have here. We're ready to embrace, uh, him and, uh, what he will bring to this leadership position. Um, I look forward to what the Police Department will be able to do under his leadership. We have an extremely strong foundation here at the Iowa City Police Department. We have a heck of a lot to be proud of. But we also understand the challenge that we're, um, we're hearing from... from the community to again accelerate that path towards community policing. So, it is without This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 14 hesitation, it's with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm that I ask you for your support in approving Dustin Liston as our next Police Chief. Teague: All right, any questions for Geoff from Councilors? Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please raise your hand. Nicholas, welcome! Theisen: Hello, Council. Um, thank you for listening to me. Um, you'll probably be happy to note that I'm not going to pontificate about housing tonight. However, I hadn't initially intended on saying anything, but I wanted to voice my strong opposition to appointing Mr. Liston as ... I mean I'm opposed to police in general, but particularly Mr. Liston, given the recent situation and the circumstances that activists have had to deal with in Iowa City over the past few months. Activists have been spied upon, they've been followed after protests, they've been pulled into cars randomly. ICPD has not been behaving responsibly with regards to protecting the civil liberties of political activists in the area. And the reason why it's distressing that Mr. Liston has been recommended by the City Manager is precisely because he used to run the Fusion Center. Um, I don't know if you're familiar with this, but (laughs) during the Occupy Wall Street movement fusion centers were actually central in cracking down on civil unrest and on political protest, and more specifically to the point, not the same fusion center that Mr. (mumbled) Liston worked for, but a different fusion center in Texas was actually cited in a 2009 ACLU report for its role in spying on activists. So I have to say that I actually find this recommendation to be galling, given the current circumstances, and Mr. Fruin's assertion that somehow this is a good choice given the situation to be frankly ridiculous. That's all I have to say, and thank you. Teague: Thank you, Nicholas it. Would anyone else like to address this topic? Hearing from no one, um, Council discussion? Mims: Well, I would like to thank Geoff and certainly all the community members who participated, um, in the interviews and gave Geoff their input, um, in terms of, uh, who they felt, you know, what they felt about each of the candidates to help him in terms of his decision. Um, I know this is not a time that we get in discussion with the public, but I must say, uh, some of the allegations that Nicholas just made are certainly nothing that I have heard, or I guess would question, uh, the validity of some of those, in terms of police dragging people into cars in Iowa City, um, and that ... that disturbs me when we start having these, um, allegations with ... with no real evidence, and I think ... I would support Geoffs comments that we have, I think, a very good police department here. We have improvements and changes to make. Um, I look forward to having Mr. Liston here as our new Police Chief to help lead that, and just the additional, I guess, comment that I think we will move forward with those things, and I don't .... I do not sense that there is any lack of political will by this Council to make those kinds of changes, um, as referenced earlier tonight in some discussion, but it's simply that we were in a process that will play itself out over time as we get the public input. And then have our opportunities to have those discussions as the Council. So, I think, uh, it'll be really nice to get Mr. Liston here. We'll ... we're going to have ... our goal is to have our preliminary plan by mid-December. He'll be here in January, but certainly he'll be here to help guide us and work with us as we finish that plan and then start implementing it. Taylor: (garbled) nothing about these fusion centers (garbled) certainly there is nothing of that nature, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 15 uh, in this area, and also did not know about or had heard or seen proof , uh, that citizens were being dragged into cars, etc. I think, um, Chief Matherly left some very big shoes to fill. Uh, but I think, uh, from the interview process and the narrowing down, uh, sounds like Mr. Liston will be a good fit for this community, uh, and I look forward to working with him. Weiner: So I sat in on the youth panel and a lot of the ... the youth around there were ... were very enthusiastic about him. I just wanted to add a little bit of perspective, which is El Paso, um, it does not just have a very, very high Hispanic population. It is a border city. It borders on Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which has one of the highest crime rates and murder rates in Mexico, yet El Paso, however they've managed it right across the border, is an incredibly safe place. But there are a lot of challenges to deal ... to deal with there and it would seem like they are, um, they are incredibly large in scale compared to what we have to deal with here, which are very important, but I'm confident that if someone is capable of dealing with the enormous challenges presented by that geographic location, that he can deal with our issues here. Thomas: I just want to thank everyone who participated in this process, you know, as Geoff described it, it was a ... a very intensive process with lots of steps involved with it, engaging all aspects of our community. So, you know, it certainly lends itself to feeling comfortable that, you know, the ... the decision Geoff made has been vetted throughout the community, uh, and it seems like an opportune time, you know, we are going through, uh, this evaluation of how we can make positive changes to our police department. So making the change at this moment seems opportune and, uh, a great opportunity for anew police chief to come on board. Bergus: Hey, I'm going to support the appointment of Dustin Liston. When we had the opportunity, some of us Councilors to meet with the three finalists, what really struck me about Mr. Liston was his understanding of where we were, as a community, um, kind of after this summer and being very understanding of the Council's will and our interest in, as John was saying, to, um, really embrace community policing and our commitment in terms of restructuring the police. So I think he's coming in at a very good moment with eyes wide open and had very, um, insightful and intelligent responses to our questions, and certainly I think gets it when ... when we talk about how Iowa City is positioned and where we want to go. So thank you, Geoff, for that recommendation. Teague: This role is so critical (mumbled) when we're talkin' about the police chief and given the times that we're in, as a community, Iowa City specific, I think it's critical that whoever we appoint as our police chief, um, gets vetted from the community, um, and Council also ensures that our position on how we want our police to look like, what our community want our police to look like is expressed in who we appoint as a police chief, and I am confident that Dustin Liston, um, is that individual. Um, and so thanks to, um, our City Manager Geoff Frain who did a ... who did some hard work, and he wasn't alone in ... in makin' this decision. I ... I really believe that our public, other staff that came together to kind of go through the applications. I know that our City Attorney was a part of that process, as well as the... the... the initial group of people that were looking at the candidates and ... and making suggestions. Um, when I heard that the youth were a part of this process, that ... that was for me really important to know that their voices were heard and ... and had opportunity to be at the table. So I am 100% supporting Dustin Liston as Police Chief, and I'll tell you that I would have no issue, um, if I had one moment or...to think that he would not serve our city well. I would have no issue of not making this This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 16 recommendation and not voting for this tonight. So, I am supporting this, um, appointment and um ... yeah, I'm looking forward to Dustin Liston bein' a part here. IE..he sounds like he's gonna, um, get ... get appointed once we finish it with our roll call. Hearin' no other comments, roll call please. Teague: Motion passes 7-0. All right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 17 15. Council Appointments 15.a. Human Rights Commission — One vacancy to fill an unexpired term plus a three year term, upon appointment, through December 31, 2023. Teague: And Council discussion. I did wanna make mention (both talking) Salih: (both talking) ...Pauline Marshall? Oh, you wanna say something? I'm sorry! Teague: Yes, I was going to just, um, make mention that if I understand correctly, this is a ... a male required opening. Taylor: Yes! Salih: It is? Teague: Yeah. It's a male required opening and there are 42 applicants total. I didn't ... I didn't separate `em out by male and female. I think, Mayor Pro Tem, I think you just mentioned, um ... (both talking) Salih: Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah. Teague: Yeah. Yep. So it's a (both talking) Salih: I wasn't paying attention if it's male or .... requirement. I saw it like it doesn't matter. Teague: Yes, yes I, you know, I ... I did want to, um, as I looked up the ... at the current makeup of this commission, um, one of the things that is lacking, um, in my opinion, is the mental health and disability world. Um, I looked ... one, I would like to say that we had a lot of good applicants. I know that, um, Kevin Riviera, um, I really liked his application and what he had to put forth. Um, but as I look at what we have on the current makeup of the Coun... of this commission, um, and we're talking about all the things with the policing, uh, going towards community policing, we don't have anyone on here that really service our mental health and disabilities world. I would like to say this, uh, before I even make this recommendation. Many of you know Roger Lusala, who is over the MYEP, is the Executive Director of MYER He's a great friend of mine, but, um, I wanted to make that known that he was a friend, but ... but this recommendation does not come, um, with that relationship. Many of us have rec... you know, friendships or whatever with many people that are applicants here, but I wanted to make that recommendation because I do see that, um, that is something that is lacking on our commission and so I would like, uh, Council to consider Roger Lusala as, uh, a commissioner. Salih: I will second that. Weiner: And I ... I was going to make the same ... same recommendation, Mr. Mayor, for a variety of reasons because of his experience with MYEP, um, and ... and for the work that he's done, um, also raising, uh, women of color in this community. So I think he has tremendous experience to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 18 bring to this. Taylor: I agree with all those things you're saying and ... and I, uh, do agree with Mayor that each of the applicants, uh, would be well suited, uh, in their own rights, uh, to serve on the Human Rights Commission, uh, but it ... it's been some time since we've had a person that required a wheelchair apply or even be appointed, uh, to one of our boards or commissions, and I ... I believe that the Human Rights Commission could benefit from such a member of our community, and that it would be a ... a ... a good fit, uh, and they would ... they would, um, serve well on ... on the HRC. And so for that, uh, reason I ... I was interested in Robert Molsberry. Thomas: Yeah, I was ... I was too. Um, I ... I think having representation on the HRC with a person with disabilities, uh, would benefit the commission. I ... I think ... we all ... we all seem to understand things best, uh, or at least there's a ... more likely to understand things best when we have some direct experience with it and I ... I do feel in Iowa City are, uh, the issues associated with persons with disabilities, uh, could have... could... could benefit from a stronger voice, and I think he may help provide that. Teague: We have two recommendations so far on the floor, Robert Molsberry and Roger Lusala Bergus: I would just say, Mayor, as ... as other Councilors have noted, it's just tremendous to have so many applicants and so many qualified applicants. I don't know what we did differently with this particular opening. I saw a lot of posts about it in different places, um, but we obviously did something right to get people really fired up about it, which is fantastic. Um, I ... I think both, um, both of the individuals who are ... who are nominated have very good qualities and qualifications for the commission. I had come in thinking that Roger Lusala would be a good fit for the commission just given some of the ... the items that you had mentioned, Mayor, also just knowing his background some. So, I think that's where I would lend my support, knowing him and his involvement in the community, and again, just think we have a ton of qualified applicants and really grateful that people are wanting to be involved. Salih: I recommend the same person also, Roger Lusala, as Laura and the Mayor said. Teague: So we have, uh, four for Roger Lusala and two for Mal ... Robert Molsberry. So we do have the majority for Roger Lusala. Do we wanna continue discussion on this item at all? The one thing I did warm just make mention is related to, um, how ...how we ... this process, how it's not easy for any of us to look through 42 applicants and, um, of course this is a male opening. Um, you know, as I was looking at, because I ... I was goin' through and I was lookin' at a few of them, um, and I did mention Kevin Riviera, uh, as I was lookin' at his application and ... and so I saw that we had, as far as occupations already on the commission, a licensed psychologist, um, and wasn't exactly sure what the clinical research associate (laughs) was related to, but we try to mix up the occupations a little bit, um, as well, so that we have some diversity here from different points of view. But ... those individuals that did apply, we never know when we have other openings on the Human Rights Commission, which we do have two vacancies to fill coming up, which I'll mention here in a little bit. So there will be more opportunities for openings on the Human Rights Commission in the near future. We also have other boards and commissions that, um, if people are interested in applying for we would welcome you to some of those as well. Any other comments from Council? Hearing none, it sounds like Roger This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 19 Lusala, we're gonna appoint, um, to the Human Rights Commission. Salih: So move. Teague: Move by Salih. Mims: Second, Mims (several talking) Teague: Seconded by Mims ... is what I think I heard. Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 20 18. Community Comment Teague: And this is, uh, Ryan Longenecker, I think I saw you. Longenecker: Good evening, Council. Thank you, Mayor. Um, nothing really to update tonight. I just wanted to express, um, our support again for students to be, um, practicing social distancing measures and being safe as the bars reopen, um, and to please, um, make sure that you're wearing a mask, not engaging in large group activity, um, as we saw after the bars closed. Our numbers went down drastically after we had a major outbreak at the beginning of school, and I think we'd all like to keep it that way. So, please be practicing those safety measures and, uh, have a good rest of the semester. Thank you, Council. Teague: Thank you, Ryan. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 21 19. City Council Information Teague: Now is an opportunity for us to, um, I guess we can do anything at this point. What we would have done at work session, as well as what we normally do here with updating the, uh, community on events that we've attended and other information. Taylor: I just have an upcoming event to ... to mention and announce, is the weekend of October 17th and 18a', from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., weather permitting, will be the second repair weekend to assist the residents of the Forest View Mobile Home Park. As you all might remember, uh, as long ago was four years now, developers announced plans to build new affordable housing for the residents of Forest View; however, this development has yet to happen. And in the meantime, these residents have continued to live in their mobile homes, many of which are in urgent need of repairs in order to make it through yet another winter. Uh, this repair weekend is a joint project, uh, partnering the local Carpenters Union, the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council, the City of Iowa City. Thank you, City. Forest View Tenants Association, and Center for Workers Justice, but I would especially like to thank Royce Peterson and his Union Carpenters Local 1260 for their major role with this project. If anyone would like to help, uh, out that weekend, it would be appreciated. No construction skills are necessary, they'll find something for you to do. Um, you can just meet up out there at Forest View. Thanks. Teague: Great. Weiner: I would like to piggyback off of what Ryan said. The bars are reopening. Please be safe, please wear a face covering, please distance socially. Please, please, do whatever you need to do to keep yourself and our community safe right now. Iowa's hospitalization numbers, hospitalizations are the highest they have ever been for COVID. They're up 65% just since September 20th. So we cannot be complacent. We need to ... we need everyone to keep our numbers reasonable here in Johnson County, and on a more upbeat note, please vote. Early voting has started. There is drive-through voting that the Johnson County Auditor's Office has in the parking lot next ... in the parking structure next to the Health and Human Services building, and there are drop boxes at the admin building if you want to drop ballots there. Please vote. Salih: Please, uh, if you can attend, uh (mumbled) meeting for the Center for Worker Justice at 12 noon on Friday, uh, so you can hear how people struggle during this time. And how the Center for Worker Justice been doing amazing job of helping people of this community, especially people of color and immigrants (mumbled) Thank you. Thomas: I'll just quickly mention on the subject of transportation, which we talked about earlier tonight, on the 23rd of September at our MPOJC meeting, we discussed the, uh, the plan as it stands now for providing, uh, light rail service between downtown Iowa City and North Liberty and it was a pretty interesting presentation. It's certainly, um, I think, at least my impression was is the, uh, response to it was receptive. It is, as ... as it was explained in the presentation, a unique opportunity because this rail line is whole, not much needs to be done in order to make it happen, uh, and Crandic is interested in its transformation to a passenger rail system, which is also not always the case. So it's a interesting opportunity. Of course it costs, as I recall, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 22 somewhere in the $40 million range I think was the number, something like that, which was as also explained for what we would be getting, you know, I think about some of our projects that, you know, we approve routinely for, say the American Legion extension out to Taft Road. I think that's like a $10 million project, something like that. Suit ... in relative terms for a major piece of public transit infrastructure, the cost seems pretty reasonable. So anyway, there is going to be an effort to try to ... to expand on the, you know, the messaging on this particular project, uh, and, uh, make it more public... publicly known, as ... as we try to move forward and see what the reception is to the concept. Teague: I wanted to just make mention that this weekend on Saturday, uh, there was the celebration of the 30th Johnson County ADA Celebration that took place, and I know that Councilor Bergus was also in attendance. It was a great celebration of just hearing from locals and some throughout our state, about all of the work that, um, people that have been workin' towards makin' our community better for those with disabilities. It was just a great opportunityto be a part of that, so wanted to mention that today. Uh, the other thing that I will mention is that tomorrow I get an opportunity to be in a Zoom meeting with our Assistant... wait! Our City Manager Assistant, Rachel. We're going to be a part of the the Mayor's Innovation Project. There is a live showcase that's gonna be with other mayor's across the... the ... uh, the states, and so we're going to be a part of that tomorrow at 3:00 P.M. and so I'll get an opportunity to hang out with Rachel for a little bit. So I ... that's all I wanted to mention today. Bergus: I would just... Mims: (both talking) ...one of our public input sessions last night, um, Councilors Thomas and Taylor were there with me. We were at Chauncey Swan. Uh, the ... the primary focus of that one was on the homeless population. And so we had, uh, good, reasonable participation from the community, given that our weather is ... it was cooler last night than tonight (laughs) I think, although it wasn't bad last night. So it was a good opportunity to hear from people, um, and get some input and questions. And so I'm glad to see that we've got those almost wrapped up as our weather cools off here, and will be interested to see some of the compiled, uh, data and ideas come from those sessions. Bergus: Just to piggyback off of that, I was just going to remind folks that the last of our series of listening posts is this Thursday, October 8th at 5:30pm at Dream City, focusing on youth engagement, as we talk about community policing, um, we'll take ... we'll listen to input from the public on any topic, but that is kind of the theme. Um, the listening posts so far, I think, have been very well attended and well received, and we're getting a lot of great information. So really appreciate people participating in that. The UNESCO City of Literature Book Festival is happening virtually now through October 16u', so I encourage people to look online, um at the City of Literature's website or Facebook for programniing that's happening with that, and then just wanted to plug the City of Iowa City's Climate Ambassador Program, um, for ...you may have seen that online as well. But there are educational programs to encourage folks to sign up to be a climate ambassador, a series of educational trainings to, uh, inform folks on how to be better climate advocates in their own actions and in the community, and then to kind of be an ambassador to others for those acts as well. So that is happening later this month and hope people sign up for that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 23 Teague: All right, any other comments by Councilors? Well, we'll be back. ..we're gonna go back into our work session in a little bit. So, all right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020. Page 24 20. Report on Items from City Staff b. Assistant City Manager Teague: Our Assistant City Manager Ashley. Monroe: Councilor Bergus mentioned the ambassador program. I'm glad she did. Um, another program that's pretty new, we just put out a press release yesterday about our new tree planting program called `Root for Trees,' and got the opportunity to talk with the Mayor this afternoon on a Community Connection episode, and so people can look for that ... for more information, or they can go to our website, icgov.org/ROOT4TREES. We've already got a ... a very healthy interest in the program, lots of applications to get a voucher for a discounted tree. The final thing I'll mention is, of course, the United States Census. Um, they are still counting people in our community. And if at all at this point, people have not responded, it is critical that they do so. We very much appreciate taking five minutes to finish the census. So go to my202Ocensus.gov. Thanks! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 6, 2020.