HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-11-23 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Bergus, Mims, Teague, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner
Council Absent: Salih
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Kilburg, Dilkes, Fruehling
Others Present: (Delegates) Senator Joe Bolkcom, Senator Kevin Kinney, Representative Mary
Mascher, Representative Dave Jacoby, Representative elect Christina Bohannan;
(Carney & Appleby Associates) Jim Carney, Doug Struyk, Jennifer Dorman
Discussion of City Legislative Priorities with State Delegation:
Teague/ Good momin', everybody. It is 8:00 A.M. on Monday morning and very excited for this
opportunity to talk to, um, our legislative delegates. This is the City of Iowa City's, uh, special
works or work session related to our 2021 legislative priorities. And we want to welcome all of
our legislative delegates. And I think to get us started, um, because we do see a few new faces
that just went through election. I think what we might do is go ahead and have all of our
legislative delegates, um, introduce themselves and tell us, uh, what they represent. And we can
start with ... um, I think we have five people. Is that what I see? Yes. So we'll start with
Representative Mascher.
Mascher/ Morning everybody, um, State Representative Mary Mascher, House District 86, which is the
southeast side of Iowa City. Um, yay, South Side, uh, and, uh, also the Hills and, uh, University
Heights community. So good morning, everybody!
Teague/ Good momin'! And then we have Senator Bolkcom.
Bolkcom/ Uh, good morning. Thank you, Mayor. Um, Joe Bolkcom, represent basically Iowa City,
University Heights, and Hills.
Teague/ And then I see, um, newly elected Christina representative (mumbled) Yes, welcome!
Bohannan/ Hi, um, I'm representative elect, uh, not quite a (laughs) representative yet. Uh, lookin'
forward to takin' office in January, and I represent the north part of Iowa City, essentially kind
of from I-80 south, over to where it meets up with Mary's, uh, Mary's district.
Teague/ Great. And then we have Representative, uh, Dave Jacoby.
Jacoby/ Thank you, Mayor and City Council. Dave Jacoby. I represent Coralville, uh, the western part
of Iowa City, and Penn Township. Looking forward to the discussion to see what we're gonna
need to do this session.
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Teague/ All right, and then we have Senator Kevin Kinney.
Kinney/ Hi, I'm Kevin Kinney. I, uh, represent, uh, western and southern Johnson County. I don't
have any of Iowa City. Uh, I've got the ... well close (mumbled) Lake Ridge and, uh, the
fairgrounds, and the ... so like I'm close. Uh, I'then have Washington County and Keokuk
County.
Teague/ Great, welcome to all of you. Is there any, uh, delegates that I've missed? All right, and then I
did wanna acknowledge our lobbyists, uh, that is also on the call today. We have Jim Carney.
So if you can wave your hand, Jim Carney. Great! And then our other legislative, uh, lobbyist
is Doug Struyk and Jenny Dorman. And I'm not sure if they're ... all right! There we go. Yes.
So welcome to each of you. All right. Well, excited to have this opportunity to talk to you all
because City Council, the Iowa City City Council, has some legislative priorities, as many of
you know, um, and they're... some are pretty bold and, uh, some won't be surprising, but I'm
happy to know that our lobbyist is here today and present. Um, I think as we go through this,
um, certainly I want to have ... want us to engage in conversation. So what I might do is just go
through each topic and then we have our Councilors that are present. Um, I wanna make
sure ... I... I do see Councilor Thomas. His video isn't showing. Um, I'm going to have our
Councilors just wave their hand because I don't wanna take, um, take for granted that everybody
knows all of our Councilors. So, I'm Mayor Bruce Teague. I'm going to have Councilor Taylor
wave her hand, and then Councilor, uh, Wiener wave her hand. Councilor Bergust... Bergus, and
then Councilor Mims. And then Councilor John Thomas, who video is not showing right now.
Um, he is also on the call. Um, are there any other ...um, I don't think we have our Mayor Pro
Tem here today. Um, but Zoom is a little interestin', of course, we have to adjust a little bit,
um, but we have some legislative priorities. And so the first one is, um, support for climate
action initiatives, and, um, I think what I want to do is, uh, just kind of open that up and, um,
just have, uh, some of our representatives talk about what their plans are, um, in supporting this.
Fruin/ Mayor, would it... would it be helpful if, uh, I gave just a quick overview of the sections as we
went ... went through, just in case folks don't have that document in front of `em and for the
public that may be listening?
Teague / Yes, yes. And if they didn't have the document, sorry about that. We, uh, try to email it to
everybody.
Fruin/ That's okay. I... I think everybody has it in email, but they might not have it, uh, right in front of
`em this morning. Um, good morning, everybody. Uh, my name is Geoff Fruin. I'm the City
Manager here in, uh, Iowa City. The, uh, City Council declared a... a climate crisis, uh, last year
and we have a climate plan that we're working diligently on, uh, here in Iowa City. We're
asking for a few things, uh, for your consideration. Um, one would be, uh, a push for the State
to create its own Climate Action, uh, Plan. We think that's imperative, um, to... to get some
leadership on the State level on that topic and allow various programs to filter down to cities.
Um, while this doesn't require legislative, um, efforts, um, we do also encourage the State to
adopt the 2021 International Energy Code, which we feel would go a long way to ensuring, uh,
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that our buildings are following the ... the best, uh, practices, uh, that are out there. So any
assistance that you could offer in ... in working, um, with, uh, the State to adopt that would be
fantastic. And then the last item is ... is that, uh, un ... unlike other building codes, uh, currently
the City does not have the ability to make local amendments to the energy code. And, uh, we
would like to see that authority going forward, so that if we wanted to be a little bit more
aggressive in some areas with our building standards that we would have that flexibility to do
so. Again, we ... we do have that flexibility with other building codes, but that does not exist
with the energy code.
Jacoby/ Thank you for the walk-through, Geoff. I think the ... the key point for me is allowing cities,
local governments the ability to make those amendments. And as we know ,we've had a history
in the legislature, uh, saying we support local government and then maybe not necessarily do
so. Sol...that... that's a key to me and I will bring that up on every front. Uh, it...it...whether
the State adopts the plan or not, I think it's real important that we allow cities, counties, local
entities the ability to make those amendments, if it helps our community.
Bolkcom/ Um, this is Senator Bolkcom. Um, last week we had a tour led by the Johnson County
Energy District of...really important projects going on in Iowa City, and one of the things we
talked about was the energy code and the need for the State to update it and also the need to
give local communities more ... more flexibility or basically more authority to have a stronger
code if they want one, and so I think we should ... we should push for that. The last time the
State, uh, put together a climate plan was back in 2008 and 2009. Uh, it was a plan that
recommended about 56 different action items. I think if you were to go back and look at how
we've done, you could find maybe three or four of those 56, uh,items moved forward. So, we
really have a lot of work to do in this area. Um, one of the ... one of the policy issues this session
that's also of interest to folks is, uh, with the federal solar tax credits expiring at the end of next
calendar year. The State has a small $5 million solar credit that either needs to be decoupled
from the federal, uh... uh, credit or...so that ... that's an issue, and then there's interest to see if we
can boost. It's been phenomenally successful in, uh, putting renewable energy projects on the
ground, but it's been a really important employment and, uh, economic development tool, which
is (mumbled) actually affected, um, all 99 counties. I think in the big picture on this, we have a
Republican legislature who's shown very little interest in doing anything on this issue. Uh, the
good news is that I think the Biden administration will be aggressive here, and its my hope that
whatever kind of infrastructure plan comes forward that it's a green infrastructure plan that
allows us to ... states and localities to ... to improve our investments in ... in energy efficiency and in
renewables.
Mascher/ I was just gonna comment that, um, many of us have worked on the bottle bill and expanding
it, uh, for many years and have looked at that as something that should be on the agenda and
something that we should be able to get bipartisan support for. There have been a number of
proposals out there, everything from increasing the bottle, you know, the deposit and including
more, uh, varieties of cans and ... and bottles. Obviously there's a lot that still go into the, uh,
waste stream that could be, uh, put into the bottle bill if we would take the initiative to do so.
There has been some movement in terms of, uh, the drop boxes and some of you are familiar
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with that and are aware that, um, this has been done in some other states where they have
locations in local areas where people can bring their bottles and cans back to that wouldn't
include the stores, that wouldn't necessarily be brought back into the actual, um, supermarket or
marketplace where you bought them, but there would be availability for getting those deposits
put into the drop boxes and then there's a variety of ways to get your dollars back from that.
And I know that, uh, those initiatives have been shared with us and we've been up to the Can
Shed in Cedar Rapids, where a lot of our cans and bottles go, but right now, um, only about
60% of our cans and bottles are being recycled because, um, we have not upgraded that whole
system. So to me, that is something that, uh, we need the partnership with the distributors, the
grocery stores, the citizens, and just to educate people about that. I know more people are
putting those cans and bottles just into their recycling bins, as opposed to taking `em back to the
stores, because, um, again, we haven't done what we needed to do to upgrade... update that. So
that's an area that, um, a number of us have worked on and will continue to take a look at. Um,
we were getting some traction last year and then, as you all know, everything shut down in
March, and then when we came back in June, no one was willing to take it back up again. So
we're hoping to work with some of the same legislators who were interested in doing that. We
need the penny, um, increased to be able to make it profitable for those who are taking those
cans and bottles back. Uh, there has been some interest in moving from five to 10 cents in
terms of the actual deposit you pay. So those are all discussions that I think'il be on the table
and, uh, your help and input would be appreciated.
Bohannan/ This is Christina Bohannan. Um, I just wanted to add a little bit. I ... I totally agree with Joe
about the, uh, solar tax credit. Uh, that's a priority for me, personally, um, and it's something
that, um, that I wanna work on. I think, um, you know, right now there is a huge waiting list for
people who want, uh, to invest in solar energy and wanna get that tax credit. It's capped right
now at $5 million, as Joe said, um, and that's just ... that's a really small amount, uh, when you
look at our overall budget and ... and how we might invest, uh, in the kinds of state that we
wanna see and ... and the kinds of energy we wanna see. So, you know, I'm really hoping ... and
it's also an area where we might get some bipartisan support. Uh, it was, uh, there was a time
when they were thinking about phasing that out and actually the pork producers teamed up with
the, um, with the solar energy folks and and, um, and ... and saved it. And so, um, you know,
because... because a lot of pork producers use solar energy, uh, in their, um, on their farms and
so, um, that says something that ... that I think maybe there... there's some hope for. Uh, I agree,
um, that, you know, the election did not go the way we hoped. And I know a lot of people in
Iowa City worked really, really hard to elect people who care about climate change and wanna
see action on that. And unfortunately that's not what happened. So, uh, we will, uh, do the best
we can to get, uh, to get some of this, uh, stuff done.
Teague/ Great! Great, great, great! Thanks. Uh, as ... as you all know, uh, the City of Iowa City has
been a fore ... have been on the forefront of trying to make some climate action changes, and so
anything that you all can do this legislative session would be very much appreciated. Um (both
talking)
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Mascher/ Bruce, can you tell us a little bit about, I know you've been using, um, solar on some of your
newer buildings and obviously geothermal has been a part of your, uh, construction plan for
quite some time. Where are we on that and what is being done locally?
Teague/ (mumbled) Go right ahead, Geoff.
Frain/ Sorry, Mayor, I didn't... didn't mean to cut you off.
Teague/ No, go right ahead!
Frain/ Mary, the Council created a Climate Action Commission, which is now a standing, uh,
commission for the City. Uh, that ... that group is charged with, um, overseeing our ...our local
efforts. Um, we have, uh, created a Division of Climate Action within the City Manager's office
and now we have, uh, dedicated staff. Uh, currently it's a ... it's a team of two. We're authorized
to add a third person, uh, as well. So we'll have folks dedicated to that effort, and really we're
lookin' at things, um, all across the spectrum. We are, uh, doing what we can when we're
building, uh, a public facilities to ... to make sure we're building energy efficient buildings. Our
Public Works building, uh, new Public Works building on, uh, Gilbert Street, has won some
energy design awards this year for, um, for leadership there. Um, we're also trying to
incentivize the best we can private development. Again, we can't ... we can't manipulate the
energy code to require higher levels, but we can incentivize and we've done that on several
projects. Uh, beyond that, um, I'd say, uh, much of our focus has been on transportation,
improving bicycling infrastructure. Um, Council's really looking hard at our transit system
right now and really trying to make investments to ... to bolster ridership, uh, on transit. And
then we've had some really good success with ... out, uh, with our waste diversion efforts, and it
was encouraging to hear the conversation on the ... on the bottle bill. Um, our ...our team, uh, at
the Landfill, um, has been workin' really hard to ... to boost our recycling programs. We now
have curbside compost that has been wildly, uh, successful. Um, we're seein' our yard waste
numbers go up too, and that's just allowing us to ... to divert, uh, from the landfill and create
compost for the community. So, uh, there's probably about 30 to 40 different steps that we've
taken so far, but, uh, those are ... those are some of the highlights.
Bolkcom/ Before we leave this one, um, just a couple comments. Um, really congratulations to Iowa
City and the Council for their leadership in the ... in the climate area. You... you've been doing a
fantastic job across all those areas that Geoff mentioned. I think they...two action items I come
away with on this is the, uh, bill draft on adoption of the 2021 energy code at the ... at the State
level and giving local governments more authority to go further on energy efficiency and energy
code, uh, enforcement.
Teague/ Great. All right, movin' on to the next item. Um, support for reform measures to reduce racial
disparity in criminal justice systems and address systemic racism. As we know, um, there's an
over representation of, um, people of color, um, in the criminal justice system. Um, some of the
things that the Council would like to see, um, is definitely a, um, decriminalization of small
amounts of marijuana. Um, we know that the Governor has a focus committee and we do
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support the recommendations issued there on the criminal justice reform to promote, um,
unbiased policin', which include requirin' and automating data collection on race, ethnicity
from traffic, and adoptin' a ... a statutory ban on disparate treatment in law enforcement
activities. Um, we also, um, would request that the State really consider doin' a community
review board, um, statewide and correspondin' legislative priorities, to ensure these bodies have
adequate oversight powers. So those are just a few of the things. I know there are some other
things that I might have, um, and Rachel, I know that you're here as well. She's the Assistant to
the City Manager. So please feel free to chime in as well.
Fruin/ Mayor, if I may just expand on one of those items really briefly, um, and that is the, uh,
Community Police Review Board. Um, Iowa City's had a ... a Community Police Review Board
since 1997. Um, in recent year ...in recent years, uh, University Heights has added one as well.
Um, I think the City of Coralville, um, is, uh, just about to, uh, move in that direction, and we
see Cedar Rapids and other communities across the state doing this. As ... as we're seein' CPRBs
kind of proliferate throughout the, um, throughout the state, I think every city is going through
this struggle of what are... what are the State laws that restrict the various authorities that
these ... these boards can have, and, um, I think it would be really helpful, um, perhaps as a ... as a
study item for the State to ... to do a comprehensive review of community police review boards
and analyze the ... the typical powers that they have across the ... across the country and compare
those to ... to current laws that we have in place, that... that... that may be restricted, or overly
restricted. I know for Iowa City, there's been a long conversation over a decade or more about
expanding the powers, but we frankly don't have the ability to expand those powers. So, um,
we don't have specific recommendations on ... on how to do that yet, but with so many cities
going in this direction, I think it would be really prudent for that ... the State to do a ... a
comprehensive review and ... and hopefully from that develop some recommendations on, um,
either legislative changes that are needed or...or steps communities can take to create an
effective CPRB.
Mascher/Geoff, did you have specific recommendations on what the local, uh, control issues would be
and what they are seeking?
Fruin/ (mumbled) we're in the process of that, uh, now, Mary. Actually the CPRB has been asked by
the City Council to ... to kind of develop, um, that list and ... and from there we're gonna go
through and ... and see what's possible, based on the current framework, and, uh, what ... what law
changes would be needed, uh, to expand those powers. So, um, I expect we'll probably have
that list, uh, in the next 30 days and then, um, maybe ... maybe come January, early February,
we'll have a pretty good idea of what we might be looking at there.
Mascher/ And then, Geoff, are they working on that with your top 10 cities in the state, the ... your group
that meets to deal with governmental issues for all of `em. It just helps if there's a unified voice
on that, as opposed to, you know, every city having their own list. And so I didn't know if that
was part of the legislative agenda for those large cities or not.
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Fruin/ Yeah, it's ... it's really not this year, Mary, but ... but several of those cities are... are considering the
CPRB right now. So I ... I think, uh, it's probably gonna become, uh, an issue that, um, has a
little bit more focus, uh, in ... in 2022, as cities kind of work through this process right now. I
think for 2021, um, it's ... it's probably gonna be hard to get, uh, get all the cities together on this,
just because it's ... it's so new for so many cities, um, and they're... the... the conversations are still
ongoing in those communities. So that's why I was thinking some type of...of statewide study
committee, um, might kind of tee things up for the following legislative year and in ... again,
2022.
Teague/ All right.
Jacoby/ Yep. Is it possible to share, uh, what cities you do know are working on this too, or is that...
not yet, uh, progressed far enough for other cities to get involved?
Fruin/ Yeah, right now I just know, uh, Coralville and, uh, Cedar Rapids, and that's just because of what
I've, you know, been able to pick up in the ... in the media. Um, I'm not sure where... where other,
um, cities stand right now, um, but my guess is you're gonna... you're gonna start to see at...at
least a handful of these pop up, especially as more cities do it. As you get Cedar Rapids, as
Coralville, U Heights, Iowa City, um, cities become a little bit more comfortable takin' these
steps when they see other cities take `em. So I ... I think you're just gonna continue to see that
number go up.
Kinney/ Geoff, I'm interested to see if Doug or, uh, Jim have had any of these types of conversations,
uh, with any of the Republican leadership, uh, because I ... I can see this really going nowhere
this year.
Carney/ I personally have not had any conversations, um, yet... about... about these issues. Doug, I don't
know, have you?
Struyk/ (mumbled) ...have had some cursory conversations on ... on, you know, sentencing reform, the...
the decriminalization of marijuana, and... and also on ... on the citizen review boards, um,
specifically on citizen review boards, if that's your question, Senator. Um, there was a little
reluctance to go ... there's reluctance to go too far, um, and ... and basically turn it into a ... a hiring
and firing board, but there's interest in ... in looking at it. Uh, can't say that that's definitive
on ... on we're going to be ... we're gonna be taking something up, but it is, uh, there ... there is
interest in reviewing it.
Kinney/ We've had some ... some conversations with ... with the ... the Republican leadership and ours
are... also people on the Judiciary Committee about some of these, and I just ... I ... I would like to
think that they would talk about them or discuss them, but I ... I just can't see them taking any
action on any...
Carney/ We have had conversations with Brad Zaun about decriminalizing, you know, small amounts
of marijuana. Um, you know, that ... I don't know if you were involved in that, Doug, or not.
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Struyk/ No, and we're meetin' with him again tomorrow, but he's filed bills in the past to lower
the ... lower the penalty.
Dorman/ The profiling issue is something I think that they... there's more interest
Struyk/ Right and ... Jenny's speaking. She says the profiling (mumbled) profiling aspect is something
that there's a lot more interest in.
Camey/ We are meeting with Brad tomorrow and we can certainly address these issues and bring `em
up again.
Bolkcom/ I think the, uh, you know, it's ... it sounds like from Senator Kinney's comments where we're
gonna revert to basically normal behavior in the Iowa General Assembly on these issues. I
mean, it took the murder of George Floyd for us to pass some very basic kind of restraints on
the use of force and in (mumbled) police officers the ... the idea that we shouldn't hire bad apples,
uh, that had trouble, you know, officers that were... had... had issues in other places. So, you
know, we did that. You know, I'm ... I'm hopeful that the Governor's task force on criminal
justice reform, which is gonna snake some recommendations, will be at least a vehicle to talk
about, uh, these racial disparities, uh, in the criminal justice system. Uh, racial profiling is one
of the issues that they're going to kick out. I don't ... I don't know if it's racial profiling where it's
a meaningful racial profiling effort, where we actually collect data on the actions of individual
officers, so that the police chief or the sheriff has some management tool, if they have an officer
or two on a force that, uh, predominantly, you know, uh, is interested in black Iowans, all right.
So I hope we can get that going. On the ... on the issue of decriminalization, in the past I think
the bill we passed was we were gonna de ... decriminalize essentially enough marijuana that you
would find in a joint. Right, five grams or so. And ... and I think that's an important step. We
have some of the most harsh marijuana penalties in the country, uh, and they're really expensive
to ... to enforce, they're... we had five ... more than 5,000 marijuana possession convictions last
year in Iowa. 5,000 ... that's an enormous waste of money. Um, so I think there will be ... whether
Brad, you know, we obviously need to get the chairpeople of these committees. Senator
Kinney's the ranking member on Judiciary in the Senate, and has done a good job pushing these
issues along, but it would be great to see a ... a decriminalization bill. There will be a bill to end
marijuana prohibition put forward and ... and the creation of social equity investments in ... in ... in
disenfranchised communities regarding the enforcement of these marijuana laws, and we'd be
happy to have any language on police citizen review, uh, in terms of trying to ... trying to use the
Governor's energy around this. If there is a bill. I assume there's gonna be something... that we
could try and see if there's a way to hook some of these other ideas into it.
Teague/ We also want the legislators to be aware of disparities when it comes down to mental health
care, um, when we're talkin' about, um, interactions with law enforcement, and so, um, we
would like for the State to really consider, uh, lookin' at mental health and intervention
programs that will help decrease hospitalization or jailing, um, as well. So that's also a priority
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that we want, uh, considered as well. I'm gonna go to the next item, which is to ensure (both
talking)
Mascher/ Bruce ... Bruce, before we leave that, um, you might wanna mention our new access center and
what that's going to contribute too, because that's been a lot of work at the local level, both with
our City Council and our County Supervisors and all of those law enforcement entities who
have worked on that for the last ... boy do I wanna say at least five years, I know, if maybe not
longer, but that's an effort. And I think right now there's no State funding that goes to those
entities, and that's something that we should also be looking at, because those kinds of jail
diversion programs are going to make a big difference in terms of who actually goes into the
prison system and what we can do to keep people out of that. So you might wanna mention
that. Yeah (both talking)
Teague/ Yeah, thanks for mentionin' that and I know that Councilor Mims has been, uh, the City
Council representative with the access center. So I might just offer opportunity for Councilor
Mims.
Mims/ Thanks. Yeah, um, and I certainly haven't been involved in it from the very beginning. Um, it
started out with a lot of our providers of services, um, and people from the County, I think, that
really got things started. When Jessica Peckover was with the County, she was in the jail
diversion program, and that really kind of kicked things off with a visit to San Antonio and what
they were doing down there, and it's kind of, you know, gone from there, but in a nutshell what
it will be is a pla... it'll be for services for adults only, not children. Um, so 18 or over, and
either the police can drop people off, a person can walk in themselves, a family member can
bring somebody in, and it's for, uh, somebody who is ... is not in need of, um, emergency medical
care ... so much as like physical, major physical injuries, um, and who is not needing to go to jail.
In other words, they are compliant, um, are not seen to be a danger to other people, but having
kind of an immediate, um, mental health crisis. So they have, um, observation. They
have .... and I don't remember all the terms. I'm not in the medical profession (laughs) Um, so
they... anything from sobering to less than 24 hour stay, to up to I think it's 72 hour, maybe it's
five days, um, and so we've got Abby Mental Health is involved. We have a lot of the local
providers. Um, and I'm (mumbled) Mecca comes to mind and they changed their name years
ago (laughs) So, you know, so we've got a lot of local providers, and the goal here is to keep so
many of these people that are ending up in the emergency room or in the jail out of there, and
getting them the immediate help they need for that mental health crisis, but then a key part of
that is what the providers call, um, a warm hand-off, making sure that we do everything we can
to get them connected to the services in the community, uh, for ongoing help and assistance. So
really excited to get that opened up in January. Um, you know, Iowa City and the County and
the other municipalities have chipped in for the capital costs, but the real concern is the ongoing
funding. So, as you mentioned, Mary, you know, getting some additional funding from the
State., um, or from the various regions that provide that sort of funding is gonna be really
important. We just...we just don't know yet, um, how much reimbursement there's going to be
from the various insurance companies, um, or from Medicaid. So, that is ... is a definite concern.
The one other piece that I would add is that the ... the facility was built large enough that our low
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barrier winter shelter will have space in there as well. So really excited to see that get going. If
you're down on the south side, it's on Southgate Avenue, um, on the north side of Southgate
Avenue. You can't miss it: big, long building, and, uh, they're getting things wrapped up ready
to open hopefully in January.
Teague /Great.
Bohannan/ (both talking) If I could, I just wanted to add a couple things on that. That's great, Susan.
I've been hearing a little bit about that but I hadn't heard the full thing. So that's... that's
wonderful to hear. Um, so just a couple things on racial criminal justice I ... that I have been
working on. I have to think about whether, uh, you know, any of these makes sense now with,
uh, you know, that we're not gonna be in the majority, but, um, just a couple things. One is, um,
reducing or eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for some offenses. Uh, you know,
that's... that's really a problem, uh, for ...for a lot of people. You know, we end up with a lot of
people in jail who really don't need to be in jail or for longer than they need to be, um, and
again, with those, uh, racial disparities, that ... that's a ... that's a huge issue. Um, the other thing is
is a compassionate release, uh, statute for, uh, people to get out of prison when they're, uh,
essentially terminally ill. Iowa's the only state in the country that does not have one. Even the
federal government has adopted, uh, that now, and so that's something that I've been looking at.
And then the other thing is, um, potentially, and I think this is the hardest one, um, is a lifer
review, uh, bill. So I've been talkin' to some activist groups about, um, about a bill that would
provide review for people who have been sentenced to life, uh, provide review at 25 years for
people who have had really good behavior, um, and are no longer a threat to anyone, and to
have a, you know, to have a meaningful chance for review at the 25 -year, uh, mark. So, um, I
think that, you know, in the age of COVID, with so many people in jail, and now, uh, getting,
um, seems huge numbers of people now who were getting COVID while in jail, and this was
not part of their sentence. Uh, they ..they did something. They... they're in jail. They're... they're
serving their sentence, but ... but, uh, potential for dying from COVID was not ... was not part of
their sentence. Um, and ... and so, you know, I'm hopeful that, you know, we'll start to rethink a
little bit about, uh, about who's in jail and how long they need to be there and ... and so on, um,
after ...after all of this. So those are just a few things that I've been working on. Again, I don't ... I
have to think a little more now. Um, I was hopeful that we would be the majority and there
might be a little more opportunity to do some of these kinds of things, but ... but those are just
some thoughts as well.
Teague/ Great. All right. When we're talkin' about public infrastructure facilities and fiscal reserves,
um, I'm gonna actually have our staff kind of lead us through this one, but this will be, uh, we
want to ensure continue fundin' of commercial and industrial property tax replacement
payments, and I'll probably have Geoff take us through that and you can also take us through
REAP, as well.
Fruin/ Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Well, um, conversation on the backfill probably isn't, uh, isn't a
surprise to ... to our delegation. I just wanna remind you all that the, uh, 2013 property tax
reform is still being implemented. Um, and actually the ... the toughest year, uh, is still ahead of
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us and that's in fiscal year 24, when we're going to see that multi -residential rate match up with
the residential rate, and we could, uh, we could see a pretty significant challenge in that year,
depending on where that residential rate rests. Um, so what's happened is every few year, uh,
every year, that multi -residential rate has dropped 3 to 4%, and so that's another 500,000,
$600,000 off of our ...off of our tax, uh, income every year, but that last year, the reform, we
could see that instead of a 3 to 4% drop, it's ... it's possible that we could see a 6 to 7 to 8% drop,
which would be really challenging to ... to budget for in that year. So that, um, that backfill
remains ever so critical, uh... urn, and, uh, for us, uh, just to put some ... some comparative
metrics around it, it's ... it's the equivalent of station ... of, um, operating one fire station. Uh,
when you look at the number of firefighters it takes to offer a 24/7 station and then the supplies
and... and equipment that they need to do their job, without that backfill it would be the
equivalent of us just taking one of those fire stations off our books. Um, we operate four fire
stations now. Um, we would like to get to five in the next decade. We've been buying some
property to be able to do that, um, but that staffing challenge is real. So, um, we ... we certainly
urge you to keep that backfill in the forefront of your mind and ... and make sure that, uh... um,
that remains, um, in the queue to be provided to cities. And then on the ... on the REAP side of
things, I think all of you are familiar with the REAP program. The City has benefited
tremendously from the REAP program in recent years. Uh, Hickory Hill Park, Terry Trueblood
Recreation Area, and just this year, uh, we received a REAP grant for Whispering Meadows,
um, which is a wetland area on the southeast side of Iowa City. Um, as we kind of amp up our
climate action efforts, this, uh, this program has really proven to be, um, a ... a great benefit
for ...for us and I know other cities feel the same way. So this is just one example of...of where
the State can show leadership in climate action, because that's exactly what REAP delivers on
is, uh, localized climate action progress. So, uh, we'd ask, uh, that ... that you, uh, keep that
important program, um, in mind as you're... as you're involved in ... in budget allocation
decisions.
Jacoby/ Well, thank you for that information and, uh, how it affects Iowa City, especially with the
apartments, the, uh, residential, non-residential, and the 2013 tax bill, uh, and thank you to the
setup for negotiating the backfill piece. Uh, it's still in my recollection maybe the worst tax bill
in the history of Iowa and the setup was successful in getting the backfill portion on there to
help protect cities and counties. Uh, it's gonna depend a little bit on, uh, REC, revenue
estimating conference, meeting here, I believe, on December 11th to see where our numbers are
right now, as far as the funding streams for the State of Iowa. I think, and it's my belief, there'll
be another run at eliminating the backfill this year. I think it's gonna be an annual event and it'll
be on ... eliminating the backfill as a whole,but second, also maybe eliminating backfill for what
is perceived by some rural Iowans, uh, as over -helping some of our successful urban areas. So I
think we're gonna have to keep an eye on that. Again, I think the REC revenue esti ... (garbled)
coming up will be very important. It's been painted as a rosy picture with our budget so far.
Frankly, I don't see how it can be in the time of the pandemic. Uh, the State budget is
dependent heavily on two items: state income tax and sales tax, and corporate income tax is a
distant third, and I ... I know that we're remaining (clears throat) excuse me, keeping doors open
for businesses, but I cannot believe that our funding streams are going to be that strong for the
next two years. So it'll be helpful to have Iowa City keep us up to date, and also, you've got
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three good people in Des Moines who are on the Zoom today that stay on top of this to make
sure that that backfill does happen.
Bolkcom/ Yeah, just ... just to add on to Representative Jacoby and... and for people on the call. Some of
us have been around a while. Representative Mascher and Jacoby and I all voted no on the
2013 historic property tax bill, um, a bill that just keeps on giving, unfortunately. Um, I think
we need to be vigilant on the backfill, you know, we ... it's obviously every session we worry that
it's gonna go away. Uh, and we need to be vigilant. Uh, I think the ... the big ... the big tax policy
question I think this ... this session that's gonna impact a lot of things is potentially the
Governor's Invest in Iowa tax shift plan. Essentially it...it raises a whole bunch of money, uh,
by raising the sales tax 1 %, but it also cuts income tax by amount greater than the amount of
money that's gonna be raised by the sales tax. So it's essentially this ... this big tax shift. In
Iowa, our income tax is moderately progressive ,in that people that make more pay more for
State services. This is going to shift it to a very regressive tax scheme where it's gonna impact,
uh, you know, working people more who are gonna dig deeper to pay for basic, uh, basic things
they buy, and so when you think about if...if there's gonna be no new State revenue coming in as
a result of this tax shift, we're gonna assume about $180 million worth of spending for
environmental programs, and one thing that's in it. We just talked about mental health. It also
reduces local levies by about $80 million, very stable money that has been used to fund our
mental health system would be supplanted by State revenues. Well, if the State is giving up
more revenue than it's taking in through this tax shift, it's gonna be really, really hard for the
State to assume $80 million worth of ongoing mental health funding. So, it...I... I encourage
folks to pay attention to this. It's... as it's written now it's ... it's gonna really undermine our
mental health system, and it's gonna put a strain on just about everything we do, if we assume
basically $260 million worth of new spending with the IWILL, or the environmental spending,
plus mental health, uh, with essentially no new State revenue.
Struyk/ Mayor, this is Doug Struyk. A couple... couple things to add to what Senator Bolkcom and
Representative Jacoby stated. Um, yes, definitely backfill will be on the burners to consider
this year, uh, whether it's phased out. Uh, three or four years ago they had a proposal that
would have treated us ... cities that were growing faster than cities that were ... other cities, uh,
would actually have taken more of a hit. We're ... we're gonna be on the lookout for those
obviously and ... and there'll be a lot of pressure on it because of the budget, depending on where
the REC comes in. A couple things we wanted to make sure our legislators know about
and... and Geoff and his team definitely know about `em. Last year the Department of
Revenue's omnibus bill, which ... which parts of it were incorporated into the omnibus tax bill,
but not all of it. There were two provisions in there, uh, that we want to refresh your
rec... recollection on here. Um, the first one dealt with the business property tax credit, which
was also part of the property tax bill in 2013. Uh, Department of Revenue, um, wants to
streamline the paperwork that's part of that application process. In fact they want to do away
with the application process and simply apply that, uh, apply that level across the board to all
commercial and industrial property. Uh, the issue that comes up, uh, why we would be
concerned with that is the mechanism that they use, uh, basically creates a second backfill, and
if the State chooses not to fund that anymore, I ... it adds another $132 million, uh, to funding
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that's in jeopardy, depending on how the State chooses to fund it. So it would basically double
the backfill. Revenue has said that was simply a placeholder, uh, provision that they want to
come up with a better way of doing it; uh, however, that language was in there and it gave us
concern. Uh, an idea on a better way to address that would be akin to the homestead tax credit,
where if the State doesn't fund it fully, then the credit is reduced, not the amount of money that
goes to local governments. The second piece, and this is a follow up to what Geoff said on
multi -family residential, uh, there's some difficulty with multi -family residential properties
in ... in rural counties being able to do proper equalization orders. The language in the bill last
year, again, that was not passed, uh, but from the Department of Revenue, would have
immediately rolled all multi -family residential property into the residential classification, and it
would have done that, uh, one, that would have immediately taken it down to the residential
level. So it would have taken it for paying on 72% valuation down to 56% valuation. That
would have been, for Iowa City ...I don't know, Geoff, 5, $6 million get, uh, by flipping a switch.
Um, we ... we agree that you gotta have a proper equalization order, but, uh, phasing that in
immediately, uh, did not work. So we anticipate those two issues coming up again and, uh, look
forward to workin' with you to make sure that we actually have a mechanism that
doesn't... doesn't, uh, doesn't take a huge hit out of our budgets.
Teague/ Thank you. So, uh, the next one that, um, we're... we're... a part of our legislative priorities is
protecting Home Rule authority for local governments. Of course, this is something that, um,
we've been fighting (mumbled) been mentioned already here, um, throughout this call, um, and
this ... this local control does include flexibility in local buildin' codes, revenue options, and land
use decisions, and the preservation of cities authority to restrict housing discrimination based on
source of income. And so it's, at least for Iowa City, we believe that, um, we know what our
residents want and having that local control will just really help, um, in doin' some of the
aggressive things that we need to do here locally. The next one we have is support for
University of Iowa Student Government, um, and ... and their proposal was a rental property
move -in checklist, and this was actually introduced in Senate File 2216, um, and Iowa City did
support this, uh, proposal, and this will require landlords to provide and use an inventory
checklist at the start and end of a tenancy and include a process for implementation. So one of
the concerns with ... with, um, some of the tenants is there's unfair withholding of their rental
deposits, and so this is somethin' that we are promoting as well. The next one we're promoting
is support for legislation protecting the rights of manufactured housing residents, and I know
that many people on this call have been a part of this. Um, I know, um, Representative Mascher
specifically has been very vocal about this and this one is really related to, um, rent protections,
including a statewide cap on frequency and percentage of increases, and lengthen notice periods
of proposed increases. (coughs) Sorry about that! Um, uniform good -cause eviction statewide
standards, fare -free, um, regulations, including standardized time frames for assessin' late fees,
and fair lease provisions, and effective enforcement mechanisms, to combat illegal provisions.
Um, this, um, we also want, um, whenever a manufactured housin' is put up for sale, that
residents have the right to first refusal, um, to purchase the property, um, and be protected from
premature eviction, durin' pursuit of local ownership. Um, so those are a few of the things that
we are, uh, talking about on this item. I know that, um, this has been introduced and it's in
House File 2351, um, and it address many of these that I mentioned already.
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Mascher/ Bruce, I was just gonna mention that the whole delegation has really been on the front line on
this, and obviously all of us have mobile home parks in our areas, and this has been an
agen... agenda item that Zach Wahls really and truly had been working on, um, a year ago, not
last session but the year before, and we thought we'd had a compromise and then that got blown
up at the very end, but, um, this is somethin' Joe and Dave and, um, I know that, uh, Vicki and
Zach and Amy have all been working on. So I just wanted to make sure and Kevin too, because
Kevin's got areas over in the rural area that are affected by this, especially in the Clear Creek,
um, area, but I ... I just want ya to know that we will continue to push on this. There's, um, a
very strong lobby and ... and Doug's still on the call. He can vouch for this as well, with the
mobile home industry and those folks that own those mobile homes, um, contribute a great deal
to make sure that they're protected at the expense of the citizens, and that's what we've been up
against is trying to get some reasonable, uh, provisions in the law to protect those folks who live
there, because right now they're being exploited and taken advantage of, and the increases are
absolutely atrocious. And it just seems that there has been no reg ... (garbled) at all and it's
something that we definitely need to get a handle on, but, um, we ... we have people in all parts
of the state who are affected by it and yet we haven't been able to get something through. I
know with the shortened session last year, it really clamped down on anything that we could get
in terms of moving forward, but it is certainly a high agenda item for many of us, and will
continue to be so. So thanks.
Teague/ Uh huh.
Mascher/ Joe, Dave, I don't know if you wanna mention or say anything. Kevin.
Bolkcom/ Well ... well with the new session, um, you know, the bills have been introduced (coughs) that
we've had some ... some interest in. (mumbled) have to be reintroduced in January. We need
to ... we need to figure out which ... which vehicle there ... there is available to us and ... and get that
introduced in both the House and Senate, so we can get ... get some attention to it.
Kinney/ I spoke with Zach about this ... issue the other day, and I was telling him we need to break it
down further. We need to just go after smaller parts of it, um, through amendments and ... and so
forth. Uh, kind of look at it as a different strategy, and I think and ... because, uh, two years ago I
thought we had an agreement, uh, and it, uh, like Mary said, it blew up and, uh, it was kind of
funny last year when we were workin' with the different groups. It seemed like Joe Kelly had,
uh, a lot of influence about what was going on.
Teague/ Well, we'll appreciate any type ... oh, go right ahead!
Bohannan/ Oh, sorry. I was just gonna say since I haven't, uh, had the opportunity to work on these
things before, I know everybody else has. But I just wanted to say I'm ... I'm very, very
supportive of this. Um, I've actually lived in a ... in a trailer park like this, uh, where, you know,
I owned ... my parent ... my family bought me a trailer when I was in college and I lived on
somebody else's lot and you know, the ... the rent could just be increased, uh, by a lot, uh,
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with ... with hardly any notice, and it puts people in a very bad, uh, very bad position, and so,
um, so I ... I'm fully supportive of this and ... and I really hope that we can bring it up, but you
know it's... Kevin, um, his ... his suggestion about breaking it up, I think, is intriguing. I think
maybe we could see if we can make some progress that way. But, um, yeah, I'd love to ... love to
work on this.
Kinney/ You know, this has been going on for years. Um, I first got involved with this at the Sheriffs
Office down with the Iowa City Regency Trailer Court and, uh, how they were coming in and
fore- closing and... and so forth on trailers, and, uh, we're ... we're dealing with same ... some of the
same issues we were from, oh, eight, nine years ago when we were ... when we were having
problems at the Regency, uh, and, uh, there again it's an out of state company from Colorado
that owns that and, uh, they do some very... practices that are not ... to me not ethical.
Teague/ Well, I know that the residents and, uh, definitely this Council appreciates any work that you
do on this. It is definitely, uh, become a challenge within our community and we need some
help, um, from our legislators to make some changes here. All right, um, the next thing that we
are, um, one of our legislative priorities is really to suggest to the State to look at promoting
equitable access and affordability of high speed broadband internet, includin' sustainable
investments in cities critical technology infrastructure. So one of the things that, um, our city,
um, has kind of looked at internet access as bein' a basic need. Um, as we know, everybody, uh,
we're on internet now, right? Um, the schools during COVID-19, um, whether a hybrid and
now locally the Johnson County schools aren't in school session anymore. So they're relyin' on
internet, uh, services and so, uh, we really want the State to take some measures which will
expand that high speed affordability broadband, um, and ci... and cities specifically low and
moderate -income Iowans in urban neighborhoods. Also, we would like for the State to consider
some incentives for public/private partnerships and ensure reasonable local flexibility in
communities, work towards cost-effective universal broad... broadband access. So, um, just
wanted to bring it up because I'm not sure how many people are thinking about this, but, um,
internet and access is, um, it...it really is a way of life now.
Jacoby/ Well I think we're all thinkin' about that, Mayor, especially with the pandemic. Uh, I think on a
good note, everyone agrees that we need broadband expansion. Where it really comes apart is
who pays for it. And I'm so glad that you brought it up. It's not only our rural areas. We have
some broadband, uh, areas that are ... areas that need broadband within cities, in Des Moines and
locally too. It's about affordability, and I don't know about you, I just looked at the bill we paid
last month. Whoowel You know, it's not cheap, It does cut into the family budget, and if
there's anything the pandemic has shown us is how valuable broadband is for education, how
valuable broadband is for small business, and, uh, we ... we're ... and also how valuable our public
schools are, how valuable it is to have kids in school and have that broadband access for all
students. So I think it's gonna be one of the top three things that we're lookin' at this session.
And thank you and the Council so much for bringing it up. Frankly, a lot of things that you and
the Council have done, uh, I will plagiarize this session for bill drafting and also a reminder too.
One of the ... one of the newly elected representatives in the House, workin' on some of these
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issues happen to be a former Iowa City Mayor, and so he's very helpful with a lot of the things
that we've talked about today.
Teague/ Great.
Bolkcom/ Yeah, the ... the broadband conversation is typically been around, you know, getting... getting
service to people, but as Representative Ja... Jacoby notes, uh, you can have service, but not be
able to afford it. It's gotten extremely expensive for just basic intemet for folks, and maybe it's
time we start thinking about, uh, the ... the, you know, the importance of (mumbled) universal
access right and that we ... we start thinking about cable service and intemet service, like a
regulated monopoly. You know, we ... we have electricity, uh, regulated in Iowa as a monopoly.
Um, we ... of course you need ... you need electricity basically to live in Iowa, you need water,
you need sewer, these kind of services that everybody needs, but maybe it's time to think about
municipalization of...of intemet or...or regulating it as a monopoly that it is, and ... and thinking
more about affordability as much as we think about just having a line run to your house.
Teague/ Mm hmm. Great. All right, the next item, uh, that we're ... have for our priorities is the support
for the continued, uh, excellence of the State's primary, secondary, and higher education
institutions, and advocate for additional educational funding. So Iowa City does encourage the
State to expand access affordability and quality of early childhood education and care. Um,
specifically, the City supports increase reimbursement rates for childcare assistance providers to
ensure families with parents who wish to enter the workforce can find and afford quality
childcare. Um, and the other thing that the City encourages the State to do in relationship to
higher education is to carefully consider and support the legislative and financial priorities of
the University of Iowa and Kirkwood Community College.
Mascher/ Bruce, I can start with, um, just saying that obviously early childhood has been a passion of
mine for a long time and it's something that I feel we have been really negligent on as a state in
addressing some of the critical needs there. Um, we have had proposals to deal with the
(mumbled) which has affected a lot of our low-income families, whose parents actually tum
down raises or don't take promotions because they'll lose their childcare. And again, we know
that that is just wrong. Um, we have had, uh, legislation and proposals for a number of years to
address that. Last year it was in the pipeline. We had passed legislation in the House. Um,
because of the shortened session it got shut down and we didn't take it up in the Senate, and, uh,
they didn't have the opportunity to vote on that. But there were many proposals in terms of
working with businesses, to be able to support those who would have childcare facilities within
their businesses, and how to, again, make sure that we, um, allow that workforce to exist.
Obviously, if we keep women out of the workforce because of childcare, that creates a problem
in terms of who's available to work. And we know there's a worker shortage in Iowa in so many
areas. And during this pandemic, women have been disproportionately affected. More women
have stayed home and gotten out of the workforce as a result of this pandemic, and again that
affects them overall in terms of their ability to earn money and ... for the family, and, um, we've
got to address that as well. But in terms of, you know, I've been a big proponent of the local
option sales tax and looking at how we can utilize that in our areas, not only for childcare, but
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also for food security, for housing security, all of those issues that disproportionately affect our
minority communities. I don't like regressive taxes either, but if we utilize it and put it towards
the community groups that need it the most, I think it can benefit everyone. And that's where
I'd like to hear some kind of an update on where we are with the local option sales tax. It's a
source of income for us in terms of a steady source of income. I know there are lots of needs
out there and we need to discuss those. Obviously, we need the support of the Supervisors and
our City Councils in getting that on, and I know you've had that on your work sessions as a
priority item for some time. But I'm just curious if you can update us on where we are with
that, and then I just wanted to comment about community colleges, K-12 funding, um,
universities. All of that has been a priority for our legislative delegation and we have gone to
the wall to try to make sure that we get the best funding possible. That has not always
happened, and we have taken hits, especially for higher ed for quite some time. And, uh, those
are the kind of things that are on our agenda and I just, uh, wanted you to know that we won't
stop. That's too important and we know what a ... what a priority it is for our community.
Teague/ I wonder if Geoff or, uh, Councilor Mims can kind of talk about, um, what Representative
Mascher just mentioned about, um, just get an update. (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, local option sales tax is, uh, on the Council's pending work session topic list. It was
somethin' identified in the City Council strategic plan as a ... as a needed point of conversation.
Uh, certainly no...no decisions have been made and ... and my guess in terms of time frame
would be that, uh, as we get into our budget deliberations in January and February, and we look
at all the needs and ... and the resources that the Council will hone in on that, uh, on that
conversation. Um, locally outside of the ... outside of the City Council, there's... there's growing
conversations within the ... the non-profit, um, world and within the ... kind of the economic
development world. And we're seein' those two groups kind of come together, um, at the same
table to talk about how best to utilize local option sales tax, because those... those initiatives are
blurring. What is good for social service now is really good for economic development. That
hasn't always been a realization, um, but childcare is economic development, um, and ... and
food security is economic development, and so we're seein' kind of a coalescing there. And
in ... in ... in my view, that's a real positive thing that can ... that can kind of, uh, make ... make policy
decisions easier at the ... at the City Council level. So, Mary, a ... a crystal ball would be, you
know, some real discussions in the late winter, early spring, um, about LOST. And if there's a
decision to move forward, uh, it would be fall at the ... at the earliest before something could be
put before the voters. Um, just a reminder for everybody that a couple years ago, the ... the State
Code, um, covering local option sales tax was amended and now 50% of the proceeds need to
be dedicated to property tax relief. Um, that was something done when there were some ... some
changes made for the Des Moines metro area, that those same changes would apply to us. So,
you know, depending on ... on what other communities around us adopt, we could be looking at a
local option sales tax revenue stream of anywhere from probably 5 to 10 million. It really can
fluctuate that much, depending on who's in and who's out, um, and then you gotta take half of
that essentially off the board for ...for property tax relief. So that gives you an idea of the ... the
type of revenue stream we're lookin' at.
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Teague/ All right. Thank you.
Kinney/ One of the ... one of the things that Mary was talking about, even outside of Iowa City, because
I had, uh (mumbled) rural town hall meetings and kind of the theme of that that I had gotten out
of that from Sigourney or Washington, uh, County was the economy and there's not enough
early childhood daycares. There's not enough housing. So the problems you're having in Iowa
City that is something I see that maybe the the rural and urban, uh, communities could work on
together. Uh, because it's ... it's one of the first things that they mentioned in those meetings that
I had with the, uh, the people from those communities also.
Teague/ All right! The next thing that we want to bring before you all is the, um, this is really related to
COVID-19, the pandemic, and, um, we really do encourage the State to continue investin'
available CARES Act dollars and other federal funding into local municipalities to support our
residents and businesses during this recovery period of COVID-19 pandemic, but we also want
to emphasize, um, that cities should have the flexibility and the funding. Um, so directin'...have
that flexibility for cities to decide how they utilize the funding. Um, because we could address
some of those, um, inequitables that happen locally here, where we see the needs, and so, um,
that is somethin' that we're also asking for our delegates to be supportive of. And then lastly is
the support for the legislative efforts of the Iowa League of Cities and the Metro Coalition. So
we're a part of that organization, or these organizations, and so the priorities that they put forth,
we ask that you all, uh, consider supporting them as well. Other than that, that is all of our
priorities that we wanted to bring before you today, and if there is any further thoughts or
topics, please feel free.
Mascher/ Um, I just wanted to give a shout out. Geoff knows ... I've bugged him for I don't know how
many years about McCollister opening up and it's open now and I can't tell you how excited...
Laura's smiling. I can see her over ...um, it's been long awaited and it is really and truly a well
designed road, and if you haven't been on it yet it's worth your trip to even just go and check it
out. I've got twin grandsons who are now driving with permits and they absolutely love it.
They said, `Grandma, this is the best road in Iowa City.' (laughs) And I said, `I'll make sure
and pass it on to the Council at our, uh, City because they'll appreciate hearing that, and it's just
so nice, Geoff, that you'll finally be getting Christmas cards from Langenberg Avenue (laughs)
They've been taking it out on Geoff for the last, I don't know how many years, Geoff. Ever
since they opened up Langenberg, but, um, it's good to have it done and I just wanted to thank
everybody. We're so proud of what you have done locally with the Black Lives Matter
movement, with all our ...of our environmental issues. Um, you have been leaders and I just
want to make sure everybody on this call knows that we appreciate that. We pay attention. I
went to a lot of the speak -ups and got a chance to hear from community members. I know,
Laura, you've been involved in that. Susan, your work with early childhood and all of the
mental health issues. Um, I know Janice has been involved in those things as well. Pauline. I
just want to make sure everybody knows that we are paying attention and we do appreciate all
the work that you do. Um, I'm excited about our new police chief. Uh, there's so many things
that are happening in town right now and within our communities that we should all be really
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proud of So I just wanted to give a shout -out to all of you and let you know how much I
appreciate you. Thanks!
Bohannan/ I, if I could, I just want to reiterate, to just echo what ... what Mary said. You know, I think
that, um, especially as sometimes we don't have the leadership in Des Moines that we ... that we
want to see with the Governor, with the pandemic response, um, even around, you know, racial
policing issues, those kinds of things. Um, you all have really, really stepped up. I mean, it's
been incredible how the City Council and the Johnson County Board of Supervisors both, uh,
have ... have led during really difficult times and ... and it really has not been easy. I mean,
I've ... I ... I saw a lot of it. I witnessed it, um, and you guys have been amazing. And so, uh, hats
off to you. Um, and ... and I'm really lookin' forward to workin' with you. This is very exciting
for me. Um, I appreciate your ...your recommendations. They ...they resonate so much with my
own priorities and I know the priorities of everybody else here as well, and so, uh, thank you so
much, and, um, really lookin' forward to workin' with you.
Mims/ I would just like to say, Mary and Christine, right back at all of you, because I just wish we
could of, you know, gotten you a majority, uh, so you could be a little more successful in trying
to get some of the work done that you want to do, and I can only imagine how frustrating it has
been for the last few years, um, sitting there in the minority and just feeling like things are
stonewalled, and so thank you for your efforts, um, as you continue to support us and all the
people of the state in Des Moines. So we really appreciate all your efforts too.
Weiner/ So I just wanted to add that I don't know how COVID is gonna play in the ... in the legislature
Us year since there are various, apparently various views on it, but, um, one thing that ... that
we've been lo ... that we've been able to look at, and I'm hoping will work at a state level too is
looking at where the intersection between helping folks because of COVID and some of the
other issues come into play, whether that's childcare, whether it's the situation in the prisons
with, um, disproportionate number of people of color in prison, and the huge outbreaks in the
prison, or funding of cities, because it's not just our city or...that ... that needs ... that needs the
(mumbled) other funding. It's virtually every municipality in the state right now in order to
keep going. And so I'm hoping that intersection can ... can at least help move the dialogue
forward.
Bolkcom/ Let me ... let me echo the congratulations and ... and support for the City Council in all the
work they've done this summer on Black Lives Matter and ... and certainly the pandemic, and
also your staff, Geoff and his team, have just been amazing. Um, I don't know what inning
we're in with the pandemic. If we're in the fifth inning yet, but obviously it's gonna ... we still
have a lot of work to do in terms of looking ahead at the ... at the coming year with ... with fast
vaccine distribution and... and the like, but couldn't be prouder of the work of the City Council
this year and looking forward to working together next.
Taylor/ Thank you, Senator Bolkcom. I ... I wanna echo everybody else's, uh, comments about
appreciating what you all have done too, um, there in Des Moines, and I ... I think I can speak for
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others that knowing that we have ... you have our backs and you're supporting us, uh, helps us to
do what we can in the city too.
Teague/ Well thanks, everybody, for bein' a part today and our ...to our legislative delegates. We really
appreciate you being here. We know that January 11 th will be here before we know it. And so
we really, um, do wish you all of the energy to work together, not only within our, um, across
the aisle and to really figure out how to make... everything work for Iowans, and so thanks to
you and thanks to our, uh, lobbyists that have joined us today. We really appreciate the
opportunity to engage with you all as well. Other than that, we wish you an awesome and
amazin' Monday and we will see you later. Bye.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work
session of November 23, 2020.