HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-16 TranscriptionFebruary 16, 2010 City Council Special Work Session Page 1
Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Dickens, Hayek, Mims, Wilburn, Wright
Staff: Helling, Karr, Dilkes, Fosse, Knoche, Davidson, Elias, O'Malley
Council Appointments:
Hayek/ ...and we're going to get as much done as we can, uh, before 7:00 and if need be we'll
adjourn back to the work session after our formal. So, uh, first item is Council
appointments. Item 18 of the regular packet, uh, references a request to appoint someone
to the ECICOG. There's an email from John Yapp from, uh, earlier this month. This is
the assessment structure issues.
Champion/ Oh, right.
Hayek/ I haven't talked to anybody about this. Susan, do you have any interest since you're
already.. .
Mims/ Well, I was going to say, if nobody else wanted (laughter) if nobody else wants it that
probably makes as much sense as any; since I'm the representative to ECICOG. Yeah,
I'm willing to do it.
Champion/ Great (both talking)
Mims/ Unless somebody else wants to jump forward...
Hayek/ I sense people would be grateful if you took that on.
Champion/ Thanks, Susan!
Hayek/ ...general support for that? (several responding) All right! Thank you, Susan!
Mims/ You're welcome!
Hayek/ Next is agenda items.
Agenda Items & Info Packet:
Dickens/ I just would like to bring up the possibility of looking into the...letter that was sent to
all the...a bunch of the bars, and things about, uh, the machines that are paying out
tickets (mumbled) into that further. I've had quite a few calls from, like the American
Legion, several (mumbled) how that's looked into.
Dilkes/ That's in the Info Packet discussion...later on your agenda here.
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Hayek/ So...why don't you table that, uh, Terry. Anything else on the agenda? Hearing none,
uh, couple of these bullet points are actually specific agenda items, so we will take those
up. Next is the, uh, post-Council policy regarding voting by representatives appointed by
the Council, which is agenda, uh, item number 16. Are there any questions about what
staff has come forward with in terms of text?
Council Policy re• Voting by representatives appointed by Council (Res. 01-169) fa~enda
#16L
Wright/ I think this answers the concerns that we had about the policy.
Bailey/ I...I get what we're trying to go for, but I'm not sure its, um, I don't know. I'm not sure
it's easy. I would almost be more comfortable just rescinding the resol...current
resolution that we had, since it seemed like, my understanding of the history, it seemed
like it was developed for one particular situation.
Champion/ Two situations.
Bailey/ Okay.
Champion/ But I agree with you, it was evolved for two very specific situations.
Bailey/ And you know policy that is directed at very specific situations is often, you know, not
very flexible for... you may outgrow it, and we may have reached that point, because my
concern with this...although it does get at what we've been discussing, um, in the
situations, and let's take JCCOG for an example, there's not an opportunity to caucus and
discuss. There's not a deliberative process. Um...we all know that what may seem like a
good idea at the moment with a little bit of reflection or discussion with colleagues,
um...you may see some other positions. So, it, um...it...it misses that. So I would be
willing just to rescind the current resolution and...and see how we fare.
Champion/ I agree.
Hayek/ Now if we do that as I understand it, that would allow us to take a vote in advance of, for
example, a JCCOG meeting in support of a particular funding structure, and then any one
of us go in there and (several talking)
Bailey/ ...and...I'm...I'm not fond of that, and I would hope that we would be consistent with the
decisions that we make on Council, but on the other hand, I...this is...I don't know, this
is problematic as well. From my perspective.
Champion/ Well, I've been on the Council for 12 years and I can think of only two situations
where this would have been valid, um...one...was one time we decided to make the
resolution. The other time we hadn't taken a formal vote and somebody gave away a
million dollars of our money, but that resolution didn't help, because we hadn't taken a
formal vote. So, I would say that it's pretty worthless...right now.
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Hayek/ That what's pretty worthless?
Champion/ This whole ordinance or whatever you want to call it, resolution.
Bailey/ Resolution (several commenting)
Hayek/ Well, what do the rest of you think?
Mims/ I don't have a strong opinion. I guess not having worked with it long enough, I
don't...have a real strong opinion either way.
Wright/ (mumbled) the current resolution is not working.
Karr/ Mike, do you have your...
Wright/ Oh, I'm sorry! (noise on mic) The current resolution is not working. We have good
evidence of that at the JCCOG meeting last time around, uh, and...whether we choose to
just repeal it, or repeal it in favor of this one, I...I would certainly like to see it go.
Bailey/ I...I...I'm not sure that the current resolution isn't working. It depends upon what your
objectives are. But, actually, insofar as that objective of looking out for the interests of
the City, those...those interests can be financial, um, and we go into a situation and vote
on something that supports us, and they can also be working with the other entities in
Johnson County, which is a less, you know, is something that you really have to...kind of
work in situation... at the situation, and have that ability to be flexible, and I'm not sure
that...I don't know.
Wright/ (both talking) right now we have no flexibility.
Bailey/ Right. And... and this doesn't give us flexibility either, because if you come up with an
idea and you have the majority of Council Members and I...I see some issues with it, for
example, that I don't think it's...it's something that we should go for, I'm now bound to
support an idea at...at that meeting, that the majority of Council is going for, that I may
see as problematic, and we could discuss that at some point, but...you know, I don't think
that this gives us the kind of flexibility that we should have as policy makers either. I
guess I trust my colleagues...is what I'm kind of saying.
Hayek/ Ross, where are you on this?
Bailey/ Yeah, I mean, you've been through this, Ross. (laughter)
Wilburn/ Thinking back...the...opportunity for disagreement that was present before, uh, if we
go back to that system is there, then it's just a matter of what, uh...um, consequences to
that individual Council Member, should they choose to go against...the existing
Council's policy at the time, and (mumbled) recourse really...would be, uh, if it's a case
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where the City of Iowa City loses a million dollars for a certain project, then there's
opportunity, whether the public decides that's not something that they want that particular
Council Member to do, they have an opportunity at the polls. Now, then it's just a matter
of that person also takes the risk of, uh, their...not going to abide by current Council
policy, then they perhaps break some bridges in terms of trying to work or get support for
a particular project or policy, so there...there are consequences there, it's just a matter of,
um, how a particular individual Council Member should they chose to go that route, um,
how they interact and...with the Council at the time. You know, if they're...if it's going
to make, uh, hard feelings and obstructionist actions happen so that meetings last until
1:00 in the morning again, um, you know, that's...maybe something could be revisited,
but you know if someone wants to, uh, go rogue, as you put it, um, you know it's just
whether or not, um, people feel that, um, they want to take that chance, whether they
want to chance trusting colleagues, I...I don't sense it would be an issue, but uh, but you
never know! I'm not...I'm not...I'm not opposed to, um, rescinding the existing one, just
as long as everyone is aware that, uh, if we're going to try and work as colleagues, then
we try and work as colleagues. I...I don't sense that'll be a problem with this group.
Whether it will for another Council, who knows.
Hayek/ I think where I am, I mean, I...the reason I was interested in this is because I felt that our
inability to engage in the give and take in those...in, for example, at JCCOG setting, um,
didn't help us in terms of relations with our neighboring municipalities, so wanted to
create some flexibility there, um, I hadn't even thought initially about the prospect of an
individual Council Member effectively putting the kibosh on the action of a majority of
Councilors, in advance of that meeting, and that's where we came up with this idea of
flexibility, as long as a majority are present at that JCCOG meeting, um, to allow the give
and take, but in a way that would still reflect the wishes of the majority of the Council.
So that was the reason for the proposed balancing act so to speak, but if there's not
that... if there's really not that interest in that second part, then.. .
Wilburn/ You know, the opportunity for, um, you know, hard feelings with other...entities in the
County is present regardless of this. It comes up in other ways, uh, there are policies
that...that, uh, past Councils have tried to put forward to the group, to see if there was
interest in, uh, collaborating or working together, before we took action here, to see if it's
something that impacted the rest of the county. For example, the housing study. Um,
you know, we brought it forth to the rest of the group, um, and there was, um, my
perception, polite interest by other entities, as long as they didn't have to pay for the
study. And I believe we paid for that study, didn't we? (several responding) So, now are
the others going to be angry with Iowa City Council because of that... so I think
that...that goes both ways in terms of, uh, whether an entity is...is upset, you know, it's,
uh, fortunately with the, uh, you know, the beginnings of the Joint Communication
Center it's a little bit more positive about (mumbled) as opposed to related to the housing.
We can go back to the smoking ban. That was another area where other entities, um, you
know, weren't necessarily interested and Iowa City was at the time. So that...that
dynamic is possible, regardless of whether or not, uh, anyone here feels constricted,
restricted by the existing policy.
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Bailey/ Well, and I certainly understand what you were going for here. I mean, you talked about
it, I mean, it's clear and this could...you know, really get at that, but...in reading this I'm
just wondering if the time for this resolution isn't over. I mean, I've had a very different
experience on Council than probably, you know, others, in that I...I didn't have the
difficult years. So (laughter)
Champion/ Well they're here now!
Bailey/ Really? (laughter)
Hayek/ So (several talking)
Bailey/ So, you know, I...maybe...maybefust eliminating this altogether and see how we move
forward and see what difficulties come up. Once again, I don't think designing a policy
for a couple of instances or a couple of examples is...is usually a very good way to go,
and I think it...it has run its course and served its purpose, and maybe it's just time for it
to be done, and not to pile on... changes on it.
Hayek/ Mike?
Wright/ I'm okay with that.
Bailey/ I'll be the first to bring it up if we have some problems (laughter). I don't know!
Hayek/ Well, my sense is that there's not a change in opinion about... about the first part, that we
want to do away with current policy. The question is the second part. Do we want to
then impose this...this structure?
Bailey/ Well, and....when we go into those meetings I do want to continue to have those
discussions. I do want to continue to have an understanding of what we as a group
understand is the best approach for the City of Iowa City. I do want to go into the
meeting understanding where everybody is. Um, I think, um, and...I suspect I'll probably
stay there, but I... if others feel that there's another sort of way to go, I'd be interested in
hearing that, but not necessarily being bound to their opinion, as they put it forward, even
if they have other Council Members with them.
Hayek/ Would this impact whether we take votes in advance of those meetings, on proposed
funding, um, projects?
Dilkes/ I think it...it could, I mean, I think where Council is under the existing policy is
that...we want...to give you the opportunity to invoke this rule, and by...and the way we
do that is to put it on the formal agenda. Um, I don't know that there's any...
Hayek/ ...the current (several talking)
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Dilkes/ ...the current, existing one. I don't think there's any requirement that you vote on those
ahead of the JCCOG meeting. Jeff?
Davidson/ Yeah, there's not a requirement, but what we've run into in the past, and we want to
not run into in the future, which means we'll probably continue to bring them for you as
this group, uh, to consider is that...we have had some instances where...when we as staff
got around to implementing a project, say a STP or transportation enhancements project,
and we found that there was really not... at least unanimous support on the part of the
City Council for the project, leading us to then have to go back to JCCOG to, uh, have
the money redistributed and we always end up with less, uh, when that happens. So,
consequently, to make sure that you are fully committed to the projects before the action's
taken at JCCOG, I imagine we'll continue to bring them to you, just to get that
concurrence ahead of time.
Wilburn/ I remember those days now too, now that you mention it. So...
Hayek/ Jeff, you're probably the one with...with the most direct experience in terms of Council,
JCCOG...do you have any thoughts on where this seems to be going?
Davidson/ Um...yeah, there's a pretty broad history here, and...and I...I would tell you I'm still a
little nervous about it, um, but it's purely a matter of public policy. So, you know, it's
completely under your jurisdiction, and if you all...I have not been party to these last
couple meetings that you've had, which I guess have gotten pretty heated, and I
understand fully the desire to, uh, you know, have a fully cooperative, uh, relationship, so
I guess if you rescind it and then you have another issue, you can always bring it back,
so...
Bailey/ Uh-huh.
Wright/ True.
Bailey/ And we've got the language here if we felt that this needed to be pulled out, we can bring
it back out.
Hayek/ That's fine. So how should we proceed on this item?
Dilkes/ I think that item you could just put consider a resolution repealing Resolution #01-169 on
the floor.
Wright/ As an amendment you mean?
Dilkes/ No, I don't think it needs to be amended. Just put that resolution repealing it...move that,
and vote on that.
Champion/ (mumbled)
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Hayek/ Stop after the reference to 169.
Wilburn/ Yep.
Hayek/ Everybody comfortable with that? (several responding)
Bailey/ We can give it a go!
Hayek/ See if we have to woodshed down the road.
Bailey/ See, those are the consequences...much better than resolutions.
Hayek/ Okay. Uh, anything else on that? Moving forward, community sustainability plan,
which is Info Packet #5.
Community Sustainability Plan (IPS):
Nations/ Hello. I'm Brenda Nations, and uh, what I'm going to talk about tonight is our moving
forward on our sustainability plan. It's aoommunity-wide plan. A little history on
this...um, we got to this place by the Mayor signing the Mayors' Climate
Protection...Protection Agreement in 2007, and as a result of that we had a resolution to
join ICLE, which is organization for local governments, and uh, that citizen motion for
the five milestone process that we've been taking part of, and we, uh, we finished our
baseline greenhouse gas omissions inventory so that was the first milestone that we
completed, and we were the first city in Iowa City, uh, to have accomplished that and
published our results for that. So the next...we're undertaking the next two steps, which
are, uh, developing a plan to meet the reduction target, and to adopt omissions
reduc...reduction targets, such as 20% by 2020, or 10% by 2030, or an example like that.
So, the sustainability plan should be a part of this process and will accomplish the next
two, uh, milestones for that. Um, we've hired, uh, a third party, uh, to help us on this.
The IDM from Cedar Falls in, uh, and they're a part of...going to help us in part of this
process. It's athree-level, uh, inventory of our community. The first part that we're
going to, uh, we're just about to embark upon is to have a steering committee appointed,
and they're going to be community leaders from different key organizations in our
community to help us create a vision for the plan, and one of the reasons we need to
involve the whole community is the greenhouse gas inventory was both for the
community-wide for within our city limits, as well as the City government operations,
and the City government operations was only, um, less than 5% of the total greenhouse
gas inventory. So, excuse me, so we need to involve the...our community to complete
the 95% of the...the effort. Um, once the steering committee has a vision of the plan, and
wants to, uh, decide on what topics to include on that, we're going to have subcommittees
that will help us, uh, focus on different strategies to, uh, focus on and commit to, and then
at some point we'll have public input, uh, to be incorporated, as well. So a sustainability
plan can include a lot of different topics and we're hoping that the steering committee
will, uh, help decide what those topics are. With the sustainability plan, um, it involves
social and economic, as well as environment...environmental topics, um, these are
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different examples of what we hope to include in...in, um, in the sustainability plan. So
the sustainability plan will be both community-wide, and also the government portion
will include these topics as well. So for the City government, um, it will...what part it
will take will be the including, um all of our environmental initiatives from different
departments and have one main goal that we'll be focusing all our efforts towards. So
part of that will be assessing what...what we have going on, um, already, and then move
towards, uh, one overall goal. We hope to use this to also coordinate various sources of
our funding, um, for example, in public works we had the EECBG or the Energy
Efficiency and Conservation block grant, and with that we've done eight different energy
audits on our City facilities, and we hope to reduce energy, um, in those facilities. We
have Eco-Iowa City that's working with the public for, uh, sustainability efforts. We
have LED lights in our parking ramps and other...lots of other different projects, and
we'll hope to include all of these in our plan. So, uh, we hope to be finished with the plan
within the next year. We're hoping that it takes about eight to twelve months. So, are
there any questions?
Champion/ Brenda, how have you incorporated using our industrial users of energy? Are they
not part of this?
Nations/ Yes, they'll need to be a part of this and we're hoping that we can have big industries be
apart of the steering committee.
Champion/ Oh, okay! Thank you.
Nations/ So, and we're also...with the sustainability plan each, uh, municipality, there's other
municipalities in there that are working on their greenhouse gas inventories, but we've
been working together to kind of communicate where we are and how, um, Johnson
County has done their government operations, and they're hoping that with, uh,
everybody finishing their inventory that we can do a county-wide inventory, as well. So,
they're the first county in Iowa to complete their inventory.
Hayek/ Fantastic!
Wilburn/ I just want to say thanks for your continued work on this (mumbled) not only impact
our community's future energy security, but it's...it will have, uh, kind of change the way
we as a community think about our energy use. The impact..you have impact on the
environment, there will be fiscal, um, you know, um...issues that...that come with this,
in terms of potential savings, uh, not only for us, but for business in the area. Uh, so just
keep moving forward. Well done!
Hayek/ It's an important area for us to...to lead in. (several responding)
Wilburn/ Potential economic development opportunities and...yeah.
Hayek/ Thank you, Brenda.
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Nations/ Thank you.
Hayek/ Okay. Next is the City Manager search, RFQ review, which is Info Packet #2.
Karr/ Do you want to do the Info Packet discussion first, and then come back to that, because I
don't think you're going to have enough time before the meeting to get into that.
Hayek/ That's fine.
Karr/ I mean, I know... Mr. Dickens had something for the Info Packet, if you want to do that.
Hayek/ Yeah, maybe we should try to figure out what we can knock out before 7:00 and then
pick up the rest...why don't we skip that and look at just general info packet items, uh,
from both the February 4 and 11 packets.
Information Packets Discussion (Feb 4 & 11):
Dickens/ I just had brought up, I've had several calls from the American Legion about the...the
gaming machines that are for entertainment that give out tickets. Uh, a letter was sent
out, discussing how the tickets are being used and apparently there's some question about
violations in using...how the tickets are used, and I didn't know exactly if we wanted to
talk about it a little more or whether that was an area that we want to discuss just the
machines themselves or... if there's any... consensus on whether we want to touch it or
not.
Hayek/ I've also gotten input from, or calls, uh, I haven't met with these groups yet, but...but
(unable to hear) the same groups probably that you are, Terry. What do you think?
Mims/ I don't know how we...I mean, I'm willing to discuss it. I'm not sure, and maybe at some
point when we have time, if we want to talk about it, Eleanor can give us some help
on...I don't...I don't want to see having games in the downtown bars with the college
students where they're getting tickets and turning them in for alcohol. Now, legally can
we make any distinctions between those bars and something like the ones we're talking
about? I, off the top of my head, don't see how, yet I understand the concern from
people.
Wright/ Actually you say that very nicely. I don't...I don't see any way to, excuse me,
differentiate between the American Legion and the Sports Column or one of the other
downtown bars. I think for this type of thing it's probably going to have to be all or
nothing.
Champion/ But I think you're sending that...at some club people aren't overindulging, well, they
are (laughter)
Wright/ But I think the same laws apply no matter what type of...
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Champion/ Exactly, exactly! So, I...I have a hard time separating the two.
Hayek/ Maybe the thing to do would be to...to give Eleanor's office an opportunity to just get us
a memo to start with on...on whether there could be a parsing of this. My suspicion is
that there could not, um, that's essentially the request we're getting from these...from
these entities.
Dilkes/ So the Council is interested in parsing with respect to which establish...the type of
establishment you're talking about? I...
Hayek/ Or what if any options there are.
Dilkes/ Well, there, I mean, I think from a drafting perspect...perspective there's a number of
options. You...you could, for instance, exempt gaming devices from the ordinance. You
could, um...I mean, I think I have to have an idea of what you're wanting to do before, or
what a majority of you are wanting to do before I...
Mims/ I'm not sure we know yet.
Hayek/ I'm not sure either. I mean, I haven't even spoken to these groups...
Dilkes/ Right.
Hayek/ ...they know this is in the packet.
Dilkes/ But that...
Dickens/ It seems to be...
Dilkes/ ...the problem.I have, I don't know what I'm supposed to be addressing, in terms of...
Dickens/ ...and how the tickets are being used. It seems to be, that's the major thing that I've
heard, and...the way the ordinance reads, there's so many other parts to that. You said
that you could pull that just one section out, but then you open it up to all those other
areas, which becomes a little (mumbled)
Dilkes/ Right, I mean, I think...maybe we have a work session discussion and...and I'11...I'll
have enough information to kind of respond.
Hayek/ That'd be fine. By then I'd think we would have met with these groups and got a sense of
where they're coming from, as well. So...is there support for that? (several responding)
Okay. Anything else on the Info Packets? Either one.
Wright/ Just quickly, on the, uh, I saw we had another PAULA report this month. Are we going
ahead with the appeal on the, uh, decision?
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Dilkes/ Yes we are. Final briefs are due, um, March 5th I think, and so there could be a decision
by the Administrator any time after that. I suspect it'll take a little time, but...
Hayek/ Also note in the February 11th packet there's an invitation to attend the National League
of Cities conference in March. If anyone is interested in that, you can talk to me or you
can talk to Marian. Anything else on the Info Packets? Try to squeeze another bullet
point or two out and then take a quick break before 7:00. Council time.
Council Time:
Bailey/ I have one quick...I'll try to make it quick. Um, I've been monitoring a particular Senate
study bill. It's about the 500-year flood plain management, and I was just wondering if
we...I'm sure staff is monitoring this as well, and the Metro Coalition is monitoring. I
didn't see that the Metro Coalition has weighed in, I didn't...Des Moines has weighed in
against early on. This deals with what can be built in the 500-year flood plain. There
seems to be after...as it went through funnel, some compromise about three-feet of fill
and those sorts of things, but do we as a City have concern because we're not only talking
about the flood plain of the Iowa River, we're talking about flood plains, I assume,
throughout the community, and what impact would this have. Um, League of Cities has
weighed in against.
Wilburn/ At minimum, the...uh, Metro Coalition's lobbyist has registered undecided...at a
minimum. Was it undecided (both talking)
Helling/ Undecided or monitored.
Wilburn/ Yeah.
Bailey/ I didn't see any registration, but I (both talking)
Wilburn/ ...had a meeting on Friday.
Helling/ Right.
Wilburn/ The days are blurring together. We had a meeting on Friday and (mumbled) monitor,
uh, is working with the League in terms of monitoring, and they've had some
conversations with (noise on mic) there's five or six specific representatives (mumbled)
but they're monitoring, so...
Bailey/ Good. I think that this might have potential, huge impact for us, but as long as you're
discussing it, I think that that's...that's where we need to be.
Wilburn/ Yeah, we're discussing it. It's being monitored, and it was a question of what the, I
think there were some changes...
Bailey/ There were.
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Wilburn/ Yeah, and that's...
Bailey/ I think that they're getting to a compromised situation so...so perhaps that will work for
us. Okay. That's all I wondered. Thanks.
Wilburn/ And I believe, uh, there was a majority of the, um, Coalition of cities that were, uh, had
some specific concerns.
Bailey/ Yeah, given... given.. .
Wilburn/ Yeah.
Bailey/ Yeah, given the river locations, yeah, like most of their downtowns -Waterloo, Cedar
Rapids, yeah. Okay, thanks, not that Waterloo's...
Hayek/ Any other Council time...items? (several talking) Okay, why don't we...
Karr/ We'll just recess until after (both talking)
Hayek/ Yeah, until after the special formal, so let's be back here and ready to start at the top of
the hour. (RECESS TO FORMAL)
City Manager Search/RFQ Review (IP2):
Hayek/ Do we want to go back to the city manager search item? Why don't we do that. That's
IP, uh, 2. Eleanor, do you need to walk us, or Marian, walk us through this?
Karr/ Uh, well, basically, uh, Eleanor and I, uh, took the RFQ that was fairly recent, made very
minor adjustments to it, leaving blanks for, uh, dates that we do need to talk about, uh, we
did do a cover memo with a proposed timeline, and...after our discussion this evening we
look forward to you inserting dates into those blanks and letting us know if you want any
other changes to the RFQ and it's ready to go.
Champion/ Great!
Bailey/ I just have an issue with the timeline. I think the RFQ looks good!
Champion/ Yeah, I think it's fine.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Champion/ It's basically the same one we used.
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Karr/ It's basically the same one. We just, uh, updated it a little bit with some figures, uh,
perhaps some different name changing of, uh, certain things, but other than that it's
basically the same shell.
Hayek/ Where do the public sector list, uh, public sector executive search firm list come from. Is
that.. .
Karr/ The public sector, uh, search firm list was updated from the last time, as well, and that was
done, uh, primarily with the assistance of our Personnel department and I think they just
did an executive search, uh, through a number of web sites. This is the search that we
will...this the search firms that we will send it to you. We also have additional ones that
have contacted us, that are not listed here, and certainly upon request we'll mail one out
to everybody, and we'll also make it available on the City web site.
Bailey/ So it'll be on the City web site, so search firms can call.
Karr/ Yes, that's correct.
Bailey/ I think that's great.
Dickens/ (mumbled) we talked a little bit about that.
Karr/ Do what?
Dickens/ About the League of Cities in Iowa.
Karr/Um, I don't know that there's going to be time to meet the publication deadline for the
League. It hadn't gone to the League of Cities, uh, we did not publish the last time.
Now, if you wish to publish we can certainly take a look at what that does to the timeline,
but the publication timeline's a little different than just the mailing.
Dickens/ Right.
Karr/ We didn't do it the last time that way.
Bailey/ Well, and maybe use the League of Cities, or the search firm uses the League of Cities as
they search. We don't...maybe that's not...we don't need that for the searching for the
search firm.
Karr/ The publication could certainly be used for candidates, rather than the recruitment (both
talking)
Bailey/ Right!
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Wright/ One thing that caught my eye when I was just reading through the, uh, um...the draft
(noise on mic) talking about the background information about Iowa City, and this is
probably a small thing. Do we really have a major art gallery at this time?
Bailey/ Yeah, I was wondering that too, but I wasn't going to quibble.
Champion/ We have a flooded one!
Bailey/ We have a major art collection!
Wright/ We have some of it. A lot of it's in Davenport now. Including the, the uh, cornerstone
piece of the gallery.
Karr/ We certainly can change that, or delete it if you'd like.
Hayek/ How about numerous art galleries?
Wright/ We do have a number of galleries.
Mims/ That's nice.
Karr/ How about taking out 'major' and putting plural art galleries? (several responding)
Wright/ We will have one again one of these days, but it might be a while.
Karr/ Sure.
Hayek/ Anything else regarding the proposed draft?
Champion/ I just have a question about the, um, executive search firms. I mean, I don't care how
many things are sent out, but...
Bailey/ Connie, I'm having a hard time hearing you. I don't...know why. I'm sorry.
Champion/ Oh! (noise on mic) I mean, are we really going to hire someone from California?
Karr/ Well, I think I wanted to clarify something. These are the headquarters for all of these.
Champion/ Oh, okay, okay.
Karr/ Often there are regional offices that we will send it to the headquarters and the regional
office, there may be connections to the Midwest or other states (both talking)
Champion/ ...pay expenses for them.
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Karr/ Yes, and...that's certainly something that you can take a look at in your next phase, but I
know there are a number of them who have additional representatives that are not at the
home office.
Champion/ Okay, okay. Thank you for (mumbled)
Dickens/ (mumbled) find them on line (mumbled)
Karr/ We could, yes.
Dickens/ I mean, us personally, just doing (mumbled)
Hayek/ We might just want to wait and see who applies and then look at that and then when we
make our individual picks to Marian.
Karr/ And then also they may include that information when they do their proposal. They may,
it may come out of the regional office or they may note that the, uh, the staff that they are
presenting will be coming out of Chicago or wherever.
Champion/ Great, okay.
Karr/ So you may just want to wait to see not only if they responded, but how they respond as far
as their personnel.
Champion/ I'm willing to wait.
Hayek/ Okay.
Bailey/ Can we talk about the timeline?
Hayek/ Yeah.
Wright/ Let's do.
Karr/And again, one final thing, please let me know if you're being contacted or if there's anyone
not on the list, please forward them to me, give me name and address and I'll be happy to
send it out.
Hayek/ Okay, timeline.
Wright/ You have a suggested, uh...
Karr/ I have a proposed one.
Wright/ ...response, is that...
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Karr/ What I did is I took a look, again, at the times that we had last time, uh...
Bailey/ Two weeks, two week turnaround?
Karr/ It's roughly, uh, I had hoped to be able to get it out tomorrow, so it'd be from the 17th of
February until, um, about three weeks.
Champion/ That's three weeks.
Bailey/ And that's what we did last time, right?
Karr/ Yes.
Wright/ And you got good responses last time?
Karr/ We got 28 responses...we sent out 28. We got 11 last time. We certainly can lengthen
that if anybody... (several talking)
Wright/ As long as it's adequate time.
Karr/ And again, these people are in the business of making these type of proposals so I think
it's...it's often simply a matter of how they wish to...
Champion/ They just fill in the blanks.
Karr/ We certainly can. It's totally your call. (several talking)
Wright/ The sooner the better!
Karr/ But I believe there are some issues...timeline?
Bailey/ The second is my issue. I can't...I'm not in town. That's all, I mean, I could meet that
evening, but I don't think we want to spend Friday evening together, but if you want to
I'm good. (several talking)
Karr/ And it's...critical Ithink that we include in the RFQ when we would be taking, talking to
them about interviews, because it may make a difference on personnel and them
scheduling it. So I think it's critical before we send it out that we have a decided date for
interviews.
Champion/ What about April 1st? April Fool's Day?
Hayek/ I can't on that day.
Champion/ Okay.
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Hayek/ I could the day before that, which is Wednesday, but that may not be enough time for
them to make arrangements to get out here.
Champion/ Well, that would be (several talking)
Bailey/ Oh, wait, what are we on? Never mind. (several talking)
Hayek/ JCCOG that day too.
Dickens/ 4:30?
Wright/ What's the following week?
Bailey/ I could do the 9th. If... if, having a week, if somebody... Friday is a good day... if Friday
is a good day generally for people.
Champion/ April 9th? Is that what you're suggesting?
Bailey/ Yeah, it's just this...I'm presenting a workshop on (mumbled)
Hayek/ Well, we could push it back one week to the 9th?
Karr/ We could push it back. I'm just going to check and see (mumbled)
Bailey/ Does that pass...
Karr/ April 9th...we would not make any other adjustments, to leave the same thing and just
have the difference between the 22nd? And then they would have more than ample time
to make...(several talking)
Hayek/ Okay.
Karr/ Make no other adjustment, but the April 9th? (several commenting)
Bailey/ And that'll be a daytime meeting, right?
Karr/Uh, I think it's preferable to do it during the day, uh, if possible, so that people can make
arrangements to travel back then that same day.
Bailey/ Do we anticipate day-long or half-day?
Karr/ That depends on how many you'll be interviewing.
Bailey/ Okay. (several talking)
Champion/ Five interviews is a lot to do in an evening. It's better to do them (several talking)
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Karr/ Well, and necessarily we're not deciding on five. You're providing a list of the top five,
and then you'll discuss it amongst yourselves and you may decide to do less than five or
more than five, so...
Champion/ Okay, got it.
Bailey/ ...and then we'll know, okay. Thank you.
Hayek/ Why don't we keep open the entire day (several talking) if we're looking at three or four,
we should be able to do this in half a day, I would think.
Bailey/ I would prefer afternoon if we go with half day. I don't know what others think, but that
would be...that would be my preference.
Hayek/ Okay.
Karr/ To a certain degree, if we can save on some expenses of them flying in and flying out,
there may be some...
Bailey/ Right, but I mean I think if they would be able to get in that same day, if we did it
even...even mid-day, and they would be able to get out (several talking)
Karr/ Exactly, that's my point.
Bailey/ Oh, that's right! It's hard to get out of Iowa (several talking)
Karr/ And we can certainly work with them to put those individuals first and (mumbled) (several
talking)
Hayek/ Okay, so let's just leave the entire day of the 9th open.
Bailey/ So this will go out right away, this...okay.
Karr/ You've made just a very slight change. We should be able to get it out tomorrow, yes.
Hayek/ Good!
Bailey/ And it begins!
Hayek/ Anything else on this issue? Thank you for the draft.
Wright/ That was pain free!
Budget Priorities:
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Hayek/ Okay, now let's jump down to budget priorities. And we're taking up the, uh...
Bailey/ Can I just say I was surprised that nobody was here for the budget public hearing? Okay.
It's not a budget priority (several talking) well at some time we can recombine the public
hearing and the vote (mumbled)
Summary of Pending Work Session Issues (IP3):
Hayek/ Okay, uh, summary of pending work session issues, which is IP3. We worked on this a
fair amount recently so this is pretty up-to-date, but any comments or suggestions?
Bailey/ Can we schedule a legislative update from Metro Coalition, Ross?
Wilburn/ Sure.
Bailey/ I don't know when would be a good time. Would others be interested in doing that?
Champion/ Yes.
Hayek/ Sure.
Bailey/ We could do federal and state, if that interests people. I know that the...(several talking)
Wilburn/ No problem!
Bailey/ Thank you.
Hayek/ And I can't remember if we, um, I know we talked about keeping crime as sort of an
ongoing pending issue, and I can't remember if the decision was to leave it on the list or
just make sure that we got periodic updates.
Wright/ Um, actually speaking of that, what does anybody know is happening, uh, with
the... Safe Neighborhoods Coalition, that might (several talking) I'd like to check in with
them.
Helling/ Yeah, there's a, uh, I think it's the 26th...I believe that there's a forum...yeah, and I plan
to attend that. It's on a Friday, I believe, um, and that's Neighborhood Centers and I also
signed the invitation on behalf of the City and uh, United Way. And it's to try to pull
some people. together. Also internally, uh, I have a group that's meeting and they're kind
of doing some homework, but will be getting back together shortly. Between the two of
those things, I think we'll be ready to give you a further update in terms of what's going
on in the neighborhood and community.
Hayek/ You had given us a memo back in November with (several talking) and I thought that
was very helpful.
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Helling/ Yeah, and I...I would want to follow the same format and just kind of add to (several
talking)
Champion/ Thanks, Dale.
Karr/ And then we'll be adding the gaming devices to the pending list too, that discussion.
Hayek/ Uh-huh.
Karr/ That we talked about earlier.
Upcoming Community Events, Council Invitations:
Hayek/ Okay. Anything else? Um, upcoming community events, Council invitations. We've
kind of gone over this already a little bit. Are you doing KXIC in the morning?
Wright/ Yes, I will be at KXIC tomorrow morning.
Karr/ And I do have the schedule with me so if there's anyone else would like to sign up for
upcoming Wednesdays...for KXIC, that'd be great.
Discussion of Meeting Schedule (IP4):
Hayek/ All right. Why don't we look at the meeting schedule. IP4.
Karr/ Again, I...I contacted most of you, gotten, uh, some availability, some scheduling issues
and have a draft in front of you. Um, again, it's a target, something just to start focusing
on for discussion. Um, there were some overlap of absences, and when that occurred I
tried to schedule it around it, thus causing some rather unique calendars.
Bailey/ Do we want to go in chronological or...
Hayek/ Let's just start with April.
Bailey/ I can't do the 27th. Are we going to have electronic (both talking)
Wright/ ...electronic?
Karr/ We should have...we should have electronic available, it should be installed this week.
Bailey/ Okay.
Karr/ And we'll have it tested, so we'll see.
Bailey/Good.
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Karr/ So...the 27th if electronic is available, or do you wish to...
Bailey/ If it's a short agenda, I might be able to be here. But...if it's not, I'll do electronic. It's
always hard to know what a short agenda is, but if it's (both talking)
Karr/ We'll take a look at that and see what we've got. Okay.
Hayek/ Do we assume that then the Monday, the day before is the work session?
Karr/ Yes, yes.
Hayek/ Okay.
Karr/ Yeah, and please let me know if that's a problem. Yes, always assume a work session
before the...before the circled one. I could put a square around...a triangle!
Champion/ I'd like mine color-coded.
Helling/ Oh, you have the 31st marked a holiday so.
Karr/ Yes.
Bailey/ And consistently I cannot do second Tuesdays. I'm just out of town, period.
Karr/ So, the only reason I suggested the 11th was not to have...we have some conflicts with the
18th and 25th of May, so I suggested the 11th, not to have back-to-back meetings, uh,
with Regenia potentially being gone, we certainly could look at May 4th, or we could
take a look at the other ones, but there are some scheduling issues in May.
Wright/ What were the issues with the 4th and the 25th?
Champion/ Well the 4th is just the next week.
Karr/ The 4th is just back-to-back.
Wright/ Oh, yeah.
Karr/ And the 25th, uh...
Champion/ It'd be back-to-back.
Karr/ ...uh...
Helling/ Well, relative to June it would.
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Wright/ Oh, to June, okay.
Karr/ Yeah, if it was...yeah, with the first of June it would. Um...is there any interest (several
talking) I'm sorry?
Hayek/ And you know (both talking)
Karr/ Yeah, Matt has a problem, so I mean, do we wish to go with...
Hayek/ We could do the 4th.
Karr/ The 4th?
Champion/ We just have a meeting on the 27th though.
Bailey/ Let's not have a meeting on the 27th.
Karr/ April. If we go back to April...yeah, I...I think...um, Apri1...20th we have potentially
Terry and Matt with conflicts on the 20th.
Champion/ What about, um, the 10th of May, Regenia, could we do a combined work session
with a meeting?
Bailey/ That would work for me.
Karr/ Ah, okay, so keep the same week, but combine it onto a Monday rather than a Tuesday.
Bailey/ I can always, well (mumbled) I should not say always.
Karr/ Adouble-header on the 10th?
Bailey/ Uh-huh.
Karr/Okay? We can do that. Uh, so we'll have one meeting in May, and then June we're back to
a regular schedule sort of speak of 1 and 15.
Helling/Now June 1st would be combined, right?
Karr/ June 1st would be combined because the 31st would be a holiday. (several commenting)
Hayek/ Okay. Then 14, 15?
Karr/ Uh-huh.
Hayek/ Okay. July.
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Bailey/ Can't do the 13th.
Karr/ Yes, that would be a problem for Regenia, the 13th, um...
Dickens/ The 7th I'll be in Kansas City.
Karr/ And the 27th, Terry's gone (several talking)
Hayek/ Uh...
Karr/ And what date...
Hayek/ Summer's a time ofdouble-headers. Do we want to take...
Bailey/ Can we do adouble-header on the 6th?
Karr/ Um, Mike, do you want to do adouble-header the 6th of July? You had a conflict.
Wright/ Well, it may be conflict (mumbled)
Karr/ But it'd be adouble-header maybe.
Wright/ But if I'm in New York City then...
Karr/Oh, it's the old I'm in New York City! Um.. .
Wright/ If that works for everybody else, because our plans are still (mumbled) and it depends on
Michael's summer school schedule so...go ahead.
Karr/ No, I'm just looking at some other dates so Regenia won't...um...we also have the...I was
going to say you could June 29th cause you've got extra, there's extra Tuesdays in June.
Bailey/ Oh, let's do that!
Wright/ That...
Karr/ Or you could do adouble-header on the 12th, instead of the 6th.
Bailey/ Let's do the 29th and then people could take long...(several talking)
Karr/ Let me just see, yep, I'm sorry, I was...yep. Nope, 29th won't work. Mike and Ross both,
that won't work. So what about the...adnuble-header the 12th?
Champion/ The 12th is a Saturday!
Karr/ July.
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Champion/ Oh, July!
Hayek/ You're welcome to show up then, Connie (laughter)
Wright/ That would work.
Karr/ Double-header the 12th and then it doesn't conflict with any? (several responding)
Hayek/ Yeah, I'm in there.
Karr/ And then does the 26th and 27th still work? (several responding)
Dickens/ I will be gone then.
Karr/ That's right. And what...what dates are you gone, Terry? The 27th.
Dickens/ I leave the 24th through the (mumbled)
Karr/ Um, because Ross is gone as well then. So that...I'm sorry, the 24th through the...(several
talking)
Hayek/ What about 19th? Another double-header?
Champion/ Well...
Karr/ It's a week apart.
Bailey/ Why don't we go with July as only one meeting (several talking) and then go with two in
August, which sometimes we do.
Karr/ Does the second one in August work for you though?
Bailey/ No.
Karr/ But the first week doesn't work for Connie. So we can go to 17 and 31.
Champion/ Yeah.
Bailey/ Yep!
Hayek/ Okay.
Karr/ Let me just double-check my notes.
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Hayek/ So that's 16, 17 and 30, 31 (several talking) so in July we have one meeting, a double-
header on the 12th.
Wright/ 16, 17 (several talking)
Hayek/ ...easier to plan.
Karr/ Um, as soon as you...any of you have absences in June, July, please let me know as soon
as possible because I think it's going to be even more so that we, for the consultant to
keep the consultant apprised of your schedule.
Hayek/ Yeah, we have, uh, meetings in excess of these. (several talking)
Karr/ I don't think we can, cause I don't think until you hire a consultant (several talking) no. I
think it'd... just so you... as you.. .
Bailey/ ...hire a consultant based upon their cleverness with working with our schedules.
Karr/ But as you do set some dates, please let me know so we can see what blocks of time work.
I'll do a revised schedule and put it in Thursday's packet.
Hayek/ That what you need? Thanks everyone.
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