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ITEM 2. OUTSTANDING STUDENT CITIZENSHIP AWARDS -Helen Lemme
Elementary
Hayek: Good evening everybody. I'm Matt Hayek, and this is the City Council. And you
guys are from Lemme I hear! What are you, the Leopards? (several responding)
All right! (laughter) Well, it's a great honor for us to have you here this evening.
You've been selected by your school to come and address us and... and the TV
audience and tell us a little bit about yourself, so, why don't we just go in order
and you can read your, uh, remarks, and then I'll show you the award we're giving
you.
Turner: Hi, I'm Natalia. Citizenship to me is all the pillars of character wrapped all in
one. Lots of people have different definitions of citizenship. But I think that if
someone is a good citizen they respect rules and they treat others the way they
would want to be treated. They are responsible for their actions and they
(mumbled) the teacher assigned them. I think that I am a good citizen because I
show good character and I do the best I can to do the right thing. I know that not
everyone is perfect, but I...really, who is. Nobody is. I (mumbled) where I
wasn't being a very good citizen, but I put those thoughts behind me and take a
step forward and I think about all the things I could do to show everyone around
me that I am truly a good citizen. It's great to be a Lemme Leopard! Thank you.
Herting: Hi, I'm Claire Herting and I was selected to win this award. When I found out I
had won, I also found out I had to give a speech on what citizenship was. So here
it goes. The definition of citizenship in a dictionary is the character of an
individual, viewed as a member of society. Behavior in terms of the duties,
obligations and functions of a citizen, but to me, I think citizenship is doing the
right thing, helping others, using the right judgment, being respectful and kind,
knowing your place in the world, and doing everything you can to be the best
version of yourself. In my head I believe I follow those expectations for myself.
I'd like to thank my classmates for voting for me. Thank you. It's great to be a
Lemme Leopard!
Ostedgaard: My name's Ella and I want to thank my classmates and my teachers for picking
me to pick this year's Outstanding Citizen Award. I am honored that I was chosen
because the six pillars of character are very important to me. They are guidelines
to be a good person and I try to show them every day. I think I was chosen
because I was trust...because I am trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair,
caring, and a good citizen. I always try to do the best I can in school, at home,
and in public. This award means a lot to me and I want to say thanks again,
especially to my Principal, Mr. Bacon. It's great to be a Lemme Leopard!
(laughter and applause)
Hayek: Well those were fantastic presentations, and you three are excellent
representatives of your school and of the School District, and if the parents and
the teachers, uh, of you are in the crowd, I thank you for appearing and for
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City Council meeting of Apri16, 2010.
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supporting your children. We have, uh, citizenship award for each of you, and
I'm going to read it and then hand it out to you. It says: For her outstanding
qualities of leadership within Helen Lemme Elementary, as well as the
community, and for her sense of responsibility and helpfulness to others, we
recognize you as an outstanding student citizen. Your community is proud of
you. Presented by the Iowa City City Council April 2010. Congratulations!
(applause)
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ITEM 4a. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA).
Hayek: This is an opportunity, uh, this evening for members of the public to address the
Council regarding items that are not on the agenda. So if you've got something
you'd like to bring to our attention, please approach the podium, uh, sign in, state
your name, and please keep your remarks to under five minutes.
Cohen: There's two of us. Do we get ten?
Hayek: Sorry, Leah (laughter)
Wright: Nice try!
Cohen: I'm Leah Cohen with the Downtown Association, and I'm here tonight to
introduce you to, well, amongst a few things, I wanted to introduce you to Nick
Arnold who is our new Executive Director, and we were able to do athree-quarter
time right now with the Downtown Association, so we're very excited about it,
and just wanted to give Nick an opportunity here to say hello.
Arnold: Hello, um...not much to say, keep this very brief. It's day two, so I know I have a
lot to go to school on yet, but looking forward to working with all of you at the
Council and the City staff, as well. We've got some exciting things, um, coming
up and hopefully we'll be able to keep downtown Iowa City vibrant and uh,
cultural and economic hub of the area. So, thanks for your time. I think Leah has
a few things to address with you, but um, I'll go ahead and yield back to her.
Hayek: Welcome, Nick!
Arnold: Thank you!
Cohen: Thank you, Nick, and welcome aboard. We'll be seeing a lot of him around the
streets downtown. I wanted to address Council tonight on, um, a couple of things.
One, the good thing, is, um, we do have in two weeks we have River Feast going
on again this year, and that's where the restaurants come out into the street to
introduce themselves to the people, um, it connects with the RiverFest that goes
on with the University. We also have, um, I believe it's on a Thursday night,
Apri122nd, um, it'll be 4:00 to 8:00, and we also have Last Lecture. Again, will
be downtown. That is going to be at Share this year at the Sheraton. And, um,
we're pretty excited about that also. I haven't heard what the announcement is on
who the last lecturer is this year, but um, River Feast, we've been working for
couple of years now with them, um, to...with Student Life, and it's kind of a
good-bye to their students is how they look at it, where we do our Taste of Iowa
City in the fall to say hello to the new-coming, incoming students. But I wanted
to address Council a little bit tonight in regards to RiverFest. Um, I personally,
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and several members of our board, have worked with RiverFest this year, trying
to get it downtown. Um, the process and what's happened with it has been very
frustrating for me, and I think it's important that Council knows and understands
what...what we deal with and how we deal with it, and this isn't the first time
we've dealt with something like that and... and um, I think it's important you
know. We had...we'd been working on it for a while. The University students
that work with it were very excited to try and bring the whole of RiverFest
downtown this year. They wanted to close off a street, put in the rides, um, they
have their music events that goes on, all those sorts of things, and we had what we
felt was put together process, um, through what...what, my understanding is the
process and what we usually do is we go through Kathi who is Dale's...right arm
or whatever. Um, who works very well with us in regards to these things, and
you do the application and then it goes to whoever it goes to and...and it
continues from there. Um, we had worked very hard with Kathi in changing
streets, doing all sorts of things too because is on Sunday. We felt that this
is a three or four-day event with RiverFest, that we really wanted to work with
director said he would work with us, that they would do whatever they
needed to do to make this happen. Um, so we thought that we had the application
done and in order. In turn, last week I got a letter that it was rejected, and there
were reasons for the rejecting on it. Um, there was not, in fact I sent back an
email saying, you know, what can happen here, can you get staff together, can
you, you know, whatever. I got a hold of several people in regards to it. It was
very, very disappointing to RiverFest staff because they had worked very hard
and they thought it was a done deal with the application. So, um, I know there's
two sides to every story. The short part of this is we lost RiverFest downtown this
year, and it was...devastating to all of us. It was a decision that was made by
them on Sunday. They couldn't wait any longer. Um, when we got the rejection
letter, or the denial letter, email, and I contacted different people and did what I
thought I could do. I never heard back from a person. I never heard can we have
a meeting, can we do anything. These are the things that cannot happen in our
community. As president of Downtown Association, it..it is my job to do what I
can do to help our merchants downtown, and I think it's all of our jobs. Um, I
just...I just can't tell you how frustrating this is to me right now that this
happened, but it did happen and..: in analyzing this process that we went through
in looking at it, very briefly what...what I think happens in the process is these
applications, and anything that's new goes to a higher level that is very detailed,
by many people, and maybe it's too much detail. Maybe it's too much of
everything, I don't know, but...but that's where the process quit for us, was at that
level. Um, there was a comment made that this is something that should be held
in the park. Um, if you're a merchant downtown, you never want to hear of
anything being held in a park. We want people downtown. I don't care who's out
at City Park. And, I think it's important that the Council knows and understands
the roadblocks that we come up against, um, we had a problem with, um,
Celebrate the Season where we wanted to bring the horse and buggy downtown,
and we went all around and round and round, and where we got it in the end, we
ended up getting what we wanted, and it worked perfectly, um, but...but I feel
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that...that Council...we would appreciate some sort of direction by Council to
City staff, that we're here to work with people, we're here to bring to our
community what we can bring to our community, and instead of roadblocks, I
would have liked to have heard let's have a meeting, let's see how we can work
this out. And that did not happen. So I think it's important, I'm asking City
Council to address your leaders, to address the people we employ here, and make
sure that we all understand that we want to be a'yes' community. We don't want
to be a'no' community! And now more than ever for all of the merchants
downtown, I think it's essential that each and every one of us sees this. So, I just
wanted everybody to know that we're fortunate we have River Feast going on yet,
and we have Last Lecture, and we're happy about that. Um, the other issue, very
quickly, is...
Hayek: You're coming up on your five minutes.
Cohen: Yeah, I know it! I know it! We're going to...we would like to see something
going on with the aggressive behavior downtown. Um, we sent the letter in
October. I know it takes a long time, um...I just would like to see Council move
forward on some of those issues that you have agreed to do, or have consented to,
so that we can start addressing that also, as spring is here. It's beautiful
downtown! Spring is here! People are out and...and we just want to make sure
everybody's comfortable. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you, Leah.
Dilkes: Hi, um, my name is Quinn Dilkes. We're here, asking you to put the issue of
Sunday bus service on your agenda. As you know, we've gathered over 900
signatures on our petitions. This being a project that was initiated by a Quaker
earth care group. A number of others have helped us though, uh, with this
project. I want to say before I go on that I do appreciate that Iowa City, for a
town of its size, for years and years has had pretty good bus service. Um, I grew
up in Iowa City and uh, remember well 65 years ago when I was six years old
being so proud of myself cause I could take that bus downtown by myself, and
um, my mother was a widow. She, um, couldn't afford a car. She worked seven
nights a week, and um, every night she would be out there under the streetlight,
waiting for a bus to take her to work. So that was late night as well as Sunday bus
service, um, that I understand was a private bus service, which folded I think in
the early 80s and that's when the City took over, um, and since then I...over the
years off and on, continue to ride the bus and appreciate it, but the trouble is Iowa
City keeps getting bigger and bigger with more and more, uh, bus dependent
people and um, the bus service hasn't kept up, uh, in some cases it's shrunk. I
think this is a particularly serious in the last ten years of...of failing economy,
with more and more people simply can't afford a car. If they have a car, they can't
afford the gas. So, a lot of people that signed our petition, um, work on Sunday,
and they would say to us, but my life doesn't stop on Sunday. I have to go to
work, but they don't have transportation other than, uh, a taxicab, which takes a
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huge gouge out of their already, uh, inadequate, or small, income. Um, a lot of
unemployed people that would like to take anentry-level job can't, uh, it's not
feasible for lack of transportation. Increasing number of homeless that are
obviously desperate for, um, expanded bus service. So we, um, we put petitions
in places like the Crisis Center, uh, the Homeless Shelter, Free Lunch, places like,
uh, the Broadway Neighborhood Center and we'd go back and pick them up and
find they had filled up just very rapidly. We could have left a lot more, the need
is so great. A lot of, uh, other groups that need expanded bus service include
young people, especially young people who don't have parents with a car to cart
them around wherever they want to go on Sunday. Um, one of the groups that's
been the most enthusiastic of our signers is, uh, African American teenagers
waiting for the bus downtown, and I saw this happen over and over. One of them
would sign the petition and then go dashing around, find all of their friends and
say come on over here, you've got to sign this. This is really important. Same for
old people. I live at Ecumenical Towers, um, senior housing downtown, and
many of us are not eligible for SEATS bus, and depend on the bus, so I have a lot
of signatures from Ecumenical Towers, especially my friends there. Um, people
with disabilities, uh, need Sunday bus. Um, mothers and fathers with small
children that would like to take their children to the play area or the Library on
Sunday, no transportation so they're stuck at home. Many, many people that want
to go to church can't go because they don't have transportation. And, um, then
there are the people that can afford a car, and uh, gas who sign for various
reasons, um, one because they're concerned about the environment and know that
automobiles are one of the greatest emitters of green house gases in the world and
that we desperately need more public transit. Um, many of them prefer
themselves to take the bus because they're sick of the car culture, the congestion,
hassle with parking and the proliferation of parking garages. So, um, those are
just some of the people that have signed and that obviously need expanded bus
service. We do feel it's a timely issue because, um, well, the, um...is it the City
Steps document, I believe, has a, um, survey from 2009 of...with a lot of requests
for expanded bus service.
Hayek: Ma'am, you're going to have to finish up your...you're up on your five minutes.
Thank you.
Dilkes: Okay. Can I say one more sentence? (laughter)
Hayek: Sure, that's fine!
Dilkes: Um, and the Obama administration is, um, very interested in expanding, uh,
public transit, so hopefully that could mean, eventually anyway, more options for
funding opening up. So we really hope you'll recognize the urgency and...put
this topic on your agenda.
Hayek: Thank you.
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Anthony: Hello. My name is Lisa Anthony. Thank you for the chance to address the
Council. I'm also here to talk about the possibility of Sunday bus service. Uh, it's
coming up on five years now since I've owned a car. I had to sell mine because I
couldn't afford to have it repaired and make it safe. I have two children and uh, I
used to think it would be...it wouldn't be possible to live without a car. I've found
that it is possible, but it takes...requires alot of time and a great deal of effort to
accomplish, uh, daily life, um...I am grateful that we have as good a bus service
as we do in Iowa City. The drivers are incredibly professional. They're safe.
They're clean. For the most part they run on time. Uh, I live on Taylor Drive and
I'm fortunate because there are two bus lines that run fairly close, and for the most
part I'm able to accomplish things I need to do, but for example a... an
appointment on the west side of town that lasts an hour requires three hours of
time using public transportation, but I can get there. I ride my bicycle and I walk
and it's great that we can put the bikes on the front of the buses to get around, um,
last fall I went to Hy-Vee on a Sunday afternoon on my bicycle and a woman
approached me and asked if I'd like to sign a petition to bring Sunday bus service
to Iowa City. It was Quinn and I was so thrilled because I didn't know anyone
was trying to bring that about. I know there was a car co-op in the works at one
time, which folded. So I signed the petition and I asked her if it was possible for
me to help gather signatures, and I did, and that was a very interesting experience.
I talked to students, uh, residents, um, grad students who had to walk in the bitter
cold to get to research positions on Sunday, people who worked in Coralville but
lived in Iowa City and had to make that, literally make that trek back and forth to
go to work. Lot of people who worked on Sundays said they couldn't get to work,
or you know, I mean, they got to work, but they had to take a cab, which as Quinn
already said, takes a lot of, uh, money from the wages. Today I did a little
research on line to just compare the price of bus fares around the state of Iowa and
we have the lowest rate at 75 cents per ride, uh, $1.25, $1.50, $1.70, Cedar
Rapids, Council Bluffs, places like this, so we could raise bus prices if that would
help, um, I also think evening bus service is a fantastic idea. Of course there are a
lot of free cultural events downtown on the weekends that I can't access because
of the...because of lack of transportation or Saturday night the latest you can get
home on the bus is 7:00 P.M. During the week it's 10:00 P.M., and there's
nothing on Sunday. So I always know that on Sunday I'm going to be at home,
and can't go anywhere with my family, unless we walk or ride our bikes. So...uh,
I know we had five, uh, trolley car lines in Iowa City at one time, until 1930 I
think, and I'd love to see those come back too, but that's for another meeting.
Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you.
Pannell: Hi, my name is Jessica Pannell, and I'm with Quinn and Lisa today to ask for the
Council to consider Sunday bus service on their agenda. I thank you for receiving
our petition. I believe that if we had spent more time on this petition we would
have had thousands of signatures. We had to stop at a certain point so that we
could actually bring it to the Council. Um, I had a... an amazing experience
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walking up and down Davis Street. I live on Sandusky Street, um, and that's...my
neighborhood is, um, populated by people, many of whom don't have cars for
income reasons, um, and walking up and down Davis Street, I... spent two hours
in two blocks and got 50 signatures, and um, I would have gotten more, but
people wanted me to come into their homes and sit down on their couches and
give me food and tell me exactly why and how they needed Sunday bus service.
They told me that they needed Sunday bus service to get to work. And as Quinn
and Lisa mentioned, cab fare was eating up any income they made from it, so it
wasn't, you know, they really were only accepting positions, um, on Sunday so
they could work the other days of the week. Go into a job interview and say, I
can't work on Sundays, and see if you get another interview. Um, they told me
they wanted to be able to, um, go to their places of worship on Sunday.
Particularly the elderly, um, and the SEATS bus is wonderful, but it doesn't take
you everywhere, uh, it does take you to doctor appointments, but it doesn't
necessarily take you to the other, um, things that you'd like to go to, to visit your
grandchildren. Um, they also mentioned to me that, um, getting to the grocery
store can be very difficult, uh, when you don't have a car on Sunday. You can try
your best to plan on Saturday night to get enough groceries to go through, but
everybody runs out of something, um, and has to get to the store. Um, important
to me as a parent is, uh, people who have small children, and I'm just thinking
about the number of bitterly cold days we had this winter, and thinking about
running out of diapers, um, if you've ever had a newborn, you understand that you
can plan the best you can and stockpile the best you can and some days you have
blow-outs, and you have to get to the store, um, and if it's Sunday, you're stuck!
Unless you can find a friend with a car and um, somehow bundle that baby up to
get outside, and walking is not an option. Um, I also wanted to mention, um, that
I work with people with disabilities, and many of those people cannot drive
because of a mental or physical disability and uh, they too want to go to their
places of worship and to the grocery store and to all of the places that everybody
else goes to, and um, some of them have staff people who can drive them, and
some of them live independently and don't, and so they're stuck on Sundays. Um,
and then the last thing I wanted to mention, um, especially as the Downtown
Business Association is here today, um, it's really important for downtown
businesses to be able to have people have access to the businesses as much as
possible. Um, I can think of the Old Capital Mall businesses, the ped mall
businesses, uh, people that would, uh, love to see more customers in there on
Sunday spending money, which is good for our economy and good for our
community. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you very much.
Anthony: (away from mic) or say one more thing.
Hayek: If you can do it real briefly, but we have other people (both talking)
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Anthony: I will. I just wanted to say that riding the bus is environmental stewardship and
every chance to do that is...is a good idea. The Library, so many places, and
University students. They have Cambus service on Sunday, but if they don't live
in the center of town, how can they access it? Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you.
Shipley: Uh, hello, my name is Jeff Shipley. I live up the street in Gilbert Manor. I just
wanted to quickly comment on, uh, last night's. discussion on the City's
hydro...hydrofluoric acid policy and discussion that was had, um, I'm just going
to touch on a couple of compelling topics that weren't really addressed to the
benefit of the public. Um, first this was kind of touched on last night but I wanted
to flush it out a little bit more. Uh, the dosages and the inability of the progenitors
of this policy to...to monitor the dosage, um, we kind of talked about how it's in a
lot of different products, it's hard to really keep track of how much you're taking
in, and it seems to me to practice sensible medicine, it's good to follow up when
you're ingesting a substance which has emitted physiological effects on the body,
and going along with this, um, over exposure to this chemical, this fluoride, uh,
admittedly causes fluorosis, and this is, uh, the cracking and discoloration of the
teeth, and this link is rarely disputed on either side of the debate and so when you
have, uh, you over exposure to this, the overdose, causing visible damage in your
teeth, you just wonder what else could it be affecting in the human body. Uh, and
again, um, a big...big thing which really needs to be talked about is the
representatives from the EPA's union, urging, uh, their administrator to re...re-
evaluation this policy, uh, citing a link to osteocarcoma, which is a crippling bone
disease which afflicts young males. Um, again, the career of John Calkuhn from
New Zealand, he was the principle dental officer who actually made his career on
instituting and creating a lot of the fluoridation systems in New Zealand, and then
as the prime dental officer, after reviewing a lot of the data, he actually switched
his position and said he dreaded what he accomplished earlier in his career, and
he's one of the leading international advocates against this, uh, policy. So, uh,
actual concerns do exist, um, and again, I did want to thank you again for at least
spending some time on the matter. Um, but the reasons that were given for
continuing this policy are somewhat troubling. Uh, there was an analogy made
between uh, this policy and the compulsory vaccinations in public schools, and
that kind of strikes at, uh, you know, the notion or the principle that others can
protect your health better than you can, and when...when you kind of logically
extend this and see really what you're admitting to and what the possibilities
of... of agreeing to that, you can imagine how awkward and how tense it would
be, um, if someone said you had to take a vaccination or... or, uh, face, you know,
severe civil penalties, and so this really...really strikes at, um, the idea of self-
ownership and the ability for an individual to control their own destiny. So it's
really important that these things are talked about. Uh, the other theme from last
night, uh, which is that, you know, the CDC says this is great. The ADA endorses
it. We're just going to listen to the experts, um, and we're just going to listen to
the experts and defer our discussion and our opinions to them. And this is kind
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of, really something which I think is very dangerous in this society, is just kind of
stay back and let other people make your decisions for you. I mean, listening to
the experts got us policies like the invasion of Iraq. Listening to the experts got
us the near, uh, financial meltdown of our... of our, of the system in 2008. So,
experts can be wrong. They're just people, and often times they've been proven to
be wrong, and one of... say one example, uh, of the Environmental Protection
Agency and how they've betrayed their constituents, uh, in New York City in
2001 after the Trade Centers came down there's a lot of dust in the atmosphere.
Christine Todd Whitman, the EPA Administrator, told New Yorkers that the air
was safe to breath. Um, and either, I mean, that wasn't true. Now there's 50,000
sick and dying rescue workers in New York City, uh, who were failed by their
EPA and either deliberately lied to them or completely failed in their objective to
protect the environmental standards of that community. Um, so, yeah, and I
think, you know, if there...if there was a debate on this openly, if the CDC or the
ADA ever allowed there to be one, um, you know, I think a lot of these facts and
exposing these shortcomings would really be, uh, exposed. Uh, so... so those are
my opinions. Thank you much...very much for listening to them. I'm not trying
to nag you guys or anything, uh, I just needed to get that off my chest, um, I'm
very thankful to live in a country where I can freely express my opinions to you
guys so, uh, yeah, and since I have one moment left, I just wanted to thank Connie
Champion for sticking up for the taxpayers last night, uh, the concern that
excessive taxation and property taxes, and in general, can really hurt people and
be a big burden resonates very strongly with me, so thanks for that. All right,
that's it. Thanks again.
Hayek: Thanks, Jeff.
Gwinn: Hello, my name's Joe Gwinn, um, just a resident here in Iowa City. I've lived
here all my life. I'm a full-time student and I'm in the...I'm also in the National
Guard, and uh, me and my...my two roommates behind me, uh, we're here to, uh,
appeal a snow removal fine that we got hit with in February. Um, yeah, um, we
got the initial notice...we got the initial notice on February 4th and so right away
that night we, me and my roommate Sean Barry, uh, shoveled the walk, had it all
looking nice and good, and as everybody here knows, we got hit with a lot of
snow throughout the whole winter and um, on the bill, or on the...on the notice it
said we had 24 hours to remove all the snow, which we did it in, you know, that
night, which only took us... fifteen minutes for the two of us to do that. On, uh,
on...we got hit with a bill on February 1 lth, which was one week later for, uh, a
24-hour notice, but within that week, um, with all our stuff going on it snowed.
We had a weather report that said it snowed anywhere from six to ten inches
during the six days that was in between this time, so we're here to appeal
that...appeal this, a $195 bill that we got hit with.
Hayek: You're welcome to continue and...and take your five minutes cause you're
entitled to it, but the way this works is that snow estimates work their way up to
the Council level at certain intervals.
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Gwinn: Okay.
Hayek: And that's when we take them up, and if enough of the Council decides at that
time to take a closer look at your particular case, we ask staff to give us their side
of the story, then we have more of an information sharing hearing.
Gwinn: All right.
Hayek: So, if you're aware of that, that's fine, uh, but either way you're welcome to
continue and take up your five minutes.
Gwinn: Okay. Uh, I do have a question though, uh, what's the timeframe that...that that
would come back up to the Council for you guys, or for us to come back and
then.. .
Hayek: Yeah, I don't know what the timeline is, but uh, our Attorney can...
Dilkes: Did you put your name down? Why don't we get your phone number and your
address and then we can call you.
Gwinn: Okay. I'll just write my phone number on my (mumbled)
Hayek: And staff will contact you and give you more information about how this works.
Gwinn: Okay.
Berry: All right, my name is Sean Barry. Um, I'm one of Joe's roommates, as well, um,
I've lived here my whole life and I guess I'm concerned as well, because it costs
$195 to (mumbled) of uh, sidewalk and three bags of salt they said they...said
they used, and that's just...bit of a concern of mine that they overcharged us, and
then for the administration fee, instead of, uh, $75, and I think that's a little absurd
because we just received the bill on...the 23rd of March, and that's about six
weeks or so after they said that we didn't do the snow removal. So...why is it that
it's $75? So...I just want to voice my concerns and hope that you guys can
consider our thoughts and...I also want to add that I work full time and I'm a part-
time college student so I'm really busy and so are they, so that probably doesn't
have any justice but just wanted to voice my concern. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you, Sir. Anyone else wishing to address the Council during community
comments? Seeing nothing we'll move on.
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ITEM 4b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE FINAL PLAT OF WAL-
MART SUBDIVISION, IOWA CITY, IOWA (SUB10-00001)
Hayek: Uh, just for the public's information, the preliminary, well, Jeff, are you here?
Are you going to explain this?
Bailey: Move adoption of the resolution.
Wilburn: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Wilburn. Discussion?
Davidson: Uh, good evening, Mr. Mayor and Members of the City Council. I'm Jeff
Davidson, the Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of
Iowa City. Item 4.b is the final plat, uh, approval of which has been requested by
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Uh, the purpose is to create three commercial lots at 1001
Highway 1 West, property's approximately 25.16 acres in size, and is zoned, uh,
CC-2, Community Commercial. Uh...there is the location diagram, uh, just to
orient everyone. This is, uh, if I can get the...there it is. Uh, this is Highway 1
along here and then this is the, uh, final plat, uh, this is the existing entrance point
at, oops, at Highway 1. Uh, and you can see the, no, darn it. You can see the, I
won't touch it, you can see the three lots that would be created, um, by the
requested action. Uh, in January you approved amendments to the Conditional
Zoning Agreement, uh, for this property and the preliminary plat. Uh, at that
time, again, for the plat being...the purpose of the plat being to construct the three
lots. Uh, this will allow a new Wal-Mart store to be constructed on lot 1, and then
allow the sale of lots, uh, 2 and 3, if the owner would so desire. Uh, you will
recall we had an access issue easement which was resolved at the preliminary plat
stage satisfactory. Uh, the analysis section of the staff report, which you should
have received, indicates that we are, uh, recommending, well, that it's in
conformance with the preliminary plat, which you approved. We were awaiting
review of construction plans and legal papers, uh, those are both in order. And so
our recommendation is to approve, uh, this will enable the building permit to be
acquired for the Wal-Mart store, and again allow lots 2 and 3, uh, to be sold if
that's the owner's desire. Any questions? Thank you.
Hayek: Uh, the applicant's attorney's here if there are any questions for him. Okay. Roll
call. Item 4.b passes 7-0.
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ITEM 5. APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND
ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 2010
MUSCATINE AVENUE WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT PROJECT,
ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY
EACH BID, DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO
BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS.
a) PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: For the public's knowledge, this, uh, project includes installing a water main along
the south side of Muscatine Avenue from First Avenue to Arthur Street. This is a
public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Public
hearing is closed.
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Wilburn: Move adoption of the resolution.
Wright: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Wright. Discussion? Roll call, please. Item
passes 7-0.
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ITEM 6. APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND
ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE
SYCAMORE STREET FROM LANGENBERG AVENUE TO U.S.
HIGHWAY 6 IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT
OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING THE
CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME
AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS.
a) PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: Uh, this project involves the reconstruction of Sycamore Street from Langenberg
Avenue to Burns Avenue, and pavement repair work from Burns Avenue to U.S.
Highway 6. This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open.
(bangs gavel) Public hearing is closed.
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Bailey: Move adoption.
Wilburn: Move adoption.
Wright: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Wright. Discussion? Roll call, please. Item
passes 7-0.
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ITEM 7. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 1 ENTITLED
"ADMINISTRATION," CHAPTER 4, ENTITLED "GENERAL
PENALTY," SECTION 2D TO PROVIDE THAT THE CIVIL PENALTY
FOR OVER OCCUPANCY OF A RENTAL UNIT BE $750.00 FOR FIRST
VIOLATION AND $1,000.00 FOR SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT
VIOLATIONS UNDER BOTH THE ZONING CODE AND THE HOUSING
CODE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Bailey: Move first consideration.
Wright: Move first consideration.
Hayek: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Wright. Discussion?
Champion: (mumbled) question. Is this fine on the landlord or the tenants?
Wright: I think on the landlord.
Helling: Uh, I believe it would be on the landlord.
Champion: But what if he doesn't know that it's being over-occupied?
Helling: I'm sorry?
Champion: What if he doesn't know it's being over-occupied?
Dilkes: Well, I mean, you have to prove the charge. You have to prove the over-
occupancy, and I think it can go against the resident or the landlord.
Champion: Oh, okay. Okay.
Helling: Depending on which code...
Dilkes: Yeah!
Champion: Okay.
Hayek: The zoning code already has this. This is making the housing code in sync with
that. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7-0.
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ITEM 11. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN
AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A COST REIMBURSEMENT
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA,
JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA AND THE JOINT EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES ASSOCIATION OF JOHNSON
COUNTY (JECSA).
Wright: Move adoption.
Wilburn: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Wright, seconded by Wilburn. Discussion?
Bailey: Just for the public's information, this is for training so we're ready to go for the
Joint Emergency Communication Center when it opens and... and commences
providing services.
Hayek: Reimbursement for overtime spent by our employees training with the
Association.
Wright: The Center will be opening July 1.
Bailey: Yes!
Hayek: Roll call, please. Item passes 7-0.
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ITEM 12. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 4, ENTITLED
"ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES," CHAPTER 5, ENTITLED
"PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS," SECTION 8 ENTITLED
"PERSONS UNDER 19 YEARS OF AGE IN LICENSED OR PERMITTED
ESTABLISHMENTS: OF THE CITY CODE TO PROHIBIT PERSONS
WHO ARE UNDER THE "LEGAL AGE" (CURRENTLY TWENTY-ONE
(21) YEARS OF AGE) FROM ENTERING OR REMAINING IN
ESTABLISHMENTS WITH LIQUOR CONTROL LICENSES OR WINE
OR BEER PERMITS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10:00 P.M. AND
CLOSING. (PASS AND ADOPT)
Wright: Move adoption.
Champion: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Wright, seconded by Champion. Discussion? (unable to hear person
away from mic) Yes! Just one second, uh, you can go ahead and make your way
to the podium, but I've said this the first two readings and I need to say it again
tonight to be consistent. Now is the opportunity on this agenda item for members
of the public to address the Council on this item, before we discuss it ourselves,
uh, I would ask that you, uh, sign in and state your name if you wish to address
us. Uh, and to be consistent, we're going to ask everybody to keep their
comments to three minutes or less.
Brown: I'm Mark Brown, and I am in favor of 21, but...but my solution is to (unable to
understand) instead of taking people to jail, why don't you (mumbled) community
service in Iowa City, rather than telling people go sit in jail (mumbled) why don't
we do community service. A lot of (mumbled) community service (mumbled) 21
but....but (mumbled) was concerned. People will (mumbled) and John's
(mumbled) how bout addressing the (mumbled) like John's (mumbled) other
places, besides bars. (mumbled) Hy-Vee and... (mumbled) from John's and drink
(mumbled) Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you, Sir.
Whitten: My name is Blake Whitten. I'm a Professor at the University. I'm here to speak
on behalf of the silent majority of the University community. Somebody has to
be willing to speak up and say in reference to the children's story, that "the
emperor has no clothes." I presume that you are all familiar with that children's
fable. Ladies and gentlemen of the City Council, uh, when it comes to the 21-
ordinance and speaking metaphorically of course, uh, you are wearing no clothes.
Were you to conduct an anonymous opinion poll of University professors, I
suspect that you would find that professors are more or less split on the 21 issue,
much as are the other townspeople of Iowa City. Today I bring a message to you
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Page 18
from the rank and file of the University community. This includes students and
professors such as myself. The message is this: leave us alone. Stop harassing
us. Um, and while you're...while you're at it, stop harassing the businesses that
we chose to patronize. More than that, start showing us... start showing that you
appreciate us. Uh, without the University community, downtown Iowa City
would be an economic wasteland. Everybody knows that. In the spring the
University has student ambassadors that give tours for perspective students and
their parents around the University. At some point they end up out in front of the,
uh, Old Capital building on the Pentacrest, and the student ambassador will point
to downtown and will say something to this effect: one of the great things about
coming to Iowa is that Iowa City has a real downtown, and the townspeople
welcome us. The townspeople welcome us. And yet, it is the avowed goal of this
City Council to "change the culture" of downtown. I've got news for you - we
don't want to change the culture. We like it here. Iowa City is a precious gem of
a community, and we all need to defend that. Connie Champion in particular,
who I've never met, has been quoted in the local press as making some obnoxious
and insulting comments about our students. Supposedly they are "party students."
The implication being that they don't work hard, that they're not concerned with
academic achievement. I teach large classes of these students, sometimes
hundreds in a semester. They work hard! It made me wonder, maybe it's been so
long since the City Council Members themselves were in college that they have
forgotten just how much hard work it really is. And if to balance the hard work
and stress associated with school some students occasionally go downtown to
enjoy themselves and blow off some steam, well, that's all part of the American
dream, isn't it? And that's all part of a healthy lifestyle. Isn't it? I have students
in my classes right now who are enlisted members in the U.S. Army. That means
that they might be called overseas in a matter of months to defend your freedoms,
and yet the best response that this City Council can muster is to disrespect,
disenfranchise, and discriminate against an entire two-year age bracket of our
young adults. Shame on you! Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you, Professor.
Mason: I'd like to offer a slightly different viewpoint. Uh, Sally Mason, President of the
University of Iowa, and it's a pleasure to be in front of the Mayor and the
Councilors tonight, and I appreciate this opportunity, and I am here this evening
to express my support for the ordinance that would make the minimum bar age
21, entry age 21, from the hours of 10:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M. Alcohol is indeed a
common part of the college experience, but too many of our students drink too
much and in ways that are way, way, way too risky. Accessibility is one of
several empirically established predictors of high binge drinking rates and simply
put, more students consume more alcohol where and when it's easier to obtain.
Now if the City implements a minimum bar entry age of 21, and we
collaboratively take actions, other actions, I think we have the opportunity to
significantly reduce the total volume of alcohol that's consumed by students. And
I think that would be a good thing for our community. We at the University are
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Page 19
prepared to redouble our efforts to reduce the harm that alcohol inflicts upon our
students. These collaborative efforts will include tougher sanctions for relevant
offenses that occur off-campus, developing tenant-neighbor responsibility
educational materials, developing more attractive late-night entertainment
opportunities in multiple venues, and requiring all entering undergraduates to
complete the Alcohol EDU program, which is an online educational program.
Instituting a minimum bar entry age of 21 in our community, I believe, will
provide a very, very bright future for the University of Iowa and for the Iowa City
community, and I thank you. And I thank you for your support! Thanks!
Hayek: Thank you, President.
Rocklin: Good evening. My name is Tom Rocklin. I serve as the Vice President for
Student Services at the University of Iowa. I'd like to amplify a bit and extend,
uh, President Mason's remarks. We've been spending some time in the last few
months examining our code of student life, the document that sets forth our
expectations for student behavior. And I expect within a relatively short time to
receive a proposed draft that will extend the jurisdiction of the code to all of
Johnson County for most infractions. This is a significant commitment on our
part. It's made possible only by the fact that we have hired additional staff for the
Student Conduct Office and that we're investing in IT infrastructure to add
efficiency to the process. But it's an important investment, it's one that will help
our students be safer and healthier. So it's one we're enthusiastic about. I would
like to switch gears for a moment and talk about our students in a different light.
It is indeed unfortunate that our discussion of this ordinance is focused on, uh,
problems instead of accomplishments among our students. I think you know, as
well as I do, that we have tremendous students at the University of Iowa. Every
year we have the privilege of announcing that our students have won prestigious
national scholarships, Trumans, Churchills, Youdofs, Fulbrights, and the like, and
every year our students provide leadership in a wide array of very worthwhile
efforts on and off campus. We have brilliants artists, performers, and young
scholars at the University of Iowa, and we have student athletes who excel on the
field or court, and in the classroom. Now I probably get to meet more of these
students, and particularly students, uh, who might not get the headlines, who
might not be receiving, uh, reward, than many of you do, and I can tell you that I
go home nearly every day impressed with one or more of the students I've met
that day. These are students who've made good choices, choices that moved them
toward success. Now in my job I also deal with students who have made poor
choices, choices that ultimately disappoint them, their families, and me. What I'm
asking you to do tonight is to vote for an ordinance that will help create an
environment in which it is easier for students and other young people to make
good choices than it is to make bad choices. It's really just about that simple.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you, and thank you for your work on
this issue.
Hayek: Thank you.
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Stutts: Uh, hello Council, it's an honor to address you. My name is Jarien Stuffs. I'm a
concerned citizen. I'm here of course to talk about (mumbled) Iowa City citizens
must be 21 or over to gain entry into bars. Um, I understand that the University
plays a major part in this decision, but there is a lot else at stake here as I know
some of you have heard before, one of these concerns about passing this law is the
effect it would have on Iowa City's creative culture. I know this has been touched
on before, but I think there are a few areas that could be elaborated upon further,
um, I will say I am against changing the entry age of bars to 21. We essentially,
by doing this, would be discriminating against an even larger age group of people,
up through age 20, and basically preventing them from participating in an
important part of Iowa City culture, which is not only a culture that Iowa City is
well known for in the Midwest and in some areas, um, nationally, but something
that is important for the growth and development of young people. It may sound
perhaps trivial or forced to say young people must get into bars, but it's not that
simple. The point is, this...bars are essentially the only venue that regularly
provide a...music and entertainment that young people like to go to. It's in a
psychological, sociological sense one could argue this is important for
psychological and sociological growth for young people, as we see it. It's
basically somewhere to hang out that's cool that has something going on that will
draw our interest. Um, now I am aware that there are specific early shows that
can go on at bars before 10:00 so that people under 21 can get into and there are,
um, as far as I can tell there are special exception that a venue owner can make a
request of the City to make an exception on a specific date to allow people under
the age to get in for a certain event, but what it comes down to is Iowa City has a
vibrant nightlife every single night. There are local rock bands, D.J.'s and hip-hop
artists, dancers that want to perform every night. At the Mill, next week I believe,
there's a poetry reading from the University's own Writer's Workshop. So
changing this law will be limiting the ability for basically Iowa City citizens to go
out and participate in a type of culture that's important to them, every single night,
and it is unrealistic to expect a venue owner to try to request an exception every
night of the week. There is local smaller performances going on every night.
They can only do that, only hold an early show or make a special request,
realistically, every so often. And...essentially it's uh, a very important part of
Iowa City culture and if we eliminate basically young people and teenagers from
being able to participate in this, it will make us all...it'll be worse for us all in the
long run. Young people are one of the primary consumers of music. It will
basically reduce the number of performing artists in Iowa City, which do
contribute to Iowa City's economy in the long run. We may not see it right away
(mumbled) who aren't necessarily a fan of rap or hip-hop or D.J.'s electronic
music, but that is part of what gives Iowa City the creative reputation that it has,
and in the end this will reduce the draw of... students from other areas of the
country who want to go to the University. It's not just about drinking. It's about
participating in this culture that is important to young people, and in the end that's
going to detract from the reputation and thus eventually the economy of Iowa City
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Page 21
for everyone. So, I urge you all to rethink passage of this 21 ordinance. Thank
you very much for your time.
Hayek: Thank you.
Wandolowski: Hi, I'm Dave Wandolowski. I've actually (mumbled) a couple of these things, uh,
the last couple weeks, and uh, I (mumbled) we're just like, you know, eventually I
feel like I should come down and say something, and actually (mumbled) it was
like, maybe I'll get up this time and so, um, I'm a student at the University of
Iowa, of course, and I'm 20 years old. So, the one thing is this ordinance,
particularly for me, doesn't necessarily affect me because by the time we come
back and since I've heard the date it'll probably get in place is June, I'm going
home. By the time I get back I'll be 21. But I'm still against it because first of all
one of the great things about this town is its nightlife. Uh, there was a lot of
schools I visited and they all had, you know, the drinking atmosphere, cause you
know, sadly you know, whether we like it or not, in college that's, you know, the
stereotypical thing, you know, we see it in every movie, on TV shows, everything.
You go to college, everyone drinks or does things. We don't like to the extent it's
gotten to, and I understand, you know, you don't want these kids getting arrested
or getting sick, going to the hospital, and that is a very...a fair argument. But my
case is, most of these, you know, big cases that, you know, we hear about, it's not
the majority of the group, and more times than not, it's the same kids, it's the same
couple of kids that you know that are trouble and that just haven't learned their
lesson. And that's, I think it's more of a big problem with just the education of
alcohol, instead of just being there. Um, my other point is...it's...it's kind of like
I feel like (noise on mic) money, since you know there's a big push that when we
come back they're going to pass a referendum, and then what happens if it passes
and then it's 18. So then instead of just 19 year olds you've got 18 year olds in
there. So that includes, you know, very young freshman coming in, and even high
school seniors. And like I'll admit you know probably the first time in a bar, you
don't know what you're doing, you know, you're just like you're kind of there,
you're just like I can't believe I'm in a bar, you know, but you know, you put these
younger kids in there like...like 18 will cause...like I think could cause trouble,
but I think 19's a good enough age and people, I think at this time in our life, we
kind of realize, you know, maybe one time...maybe we drink a little too much,
but most of us learn from that mistake. And, uh, another point that was made is
that, um, you know, if we do overturn it, we should come up with ideas, and one
of mine is, you know, this is technology used at Brunswick Zones. I don't know if
you guys have those here, but all over Naperville. It's basically, and I've seen'em
in Florida, it's a wristband. What they do is there's a bar code on it. What you
can do is scan it and kind of set up a drink minimum to each wrist band. You
know, maybe five to six drinks. What that does is, you know, maybe the young
person comes up to the older person, say hey, can you buy me a drink, but that
person maybe wants a beer later. They're like, well, if I give this kid a drink then
maybe I can't have a beer later. Like, you can set it to a decent limit, like maybe
three to four drinks, you know. That may hurt the economy of the bar, but also it
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Page 22
keeps enough people coming in to balance that out. So, you know, and also with
house parties, there's (mumbled) sorry, there's a lot worse things that happen at
house parties than at a bar, and everyone I know (mumbled) the police say, oh, we
can handle it. Um, I have nothing against the Police Department but it's not like
he's going to say this is going to be trouble, and most kids these days know that
unless they have probable cause to get in your house or they hear from a neighbor,
you know, they're not going to get in the house, and since we mostly live with
college, other college students, they're not going to tell on each other. And that's
just kind of my fear, that it's going to go into the house parties, stay in these
family's neighborhoods, you know, and it could just get worse. So I feel like if
we stay where it is and just have a continued intellectual conversation that we can
build on a better result. And so that's why I'm against 21. Thank you for your
time.
Hayek: Thank you, Sir.
Steadham: Good evening. My name is Marni Steadham. I'm a student here at the University
of Iowa. I'm also the President of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and yes, I'm
21. Now, one of the things that I've come to realize is a bad idea is to assume any
sort of...poor motivations on behalf of anyone enacting any sort of policy. So I
want to start off by saying that I think that both the Council and the University
have an idea that they're going to be protecting students from harm, even though
that might be a conflation between underage drinking and dangerous drinking,
and I think this is a conflation. Now, that being said, there is significant support
from the University, yet they've completely failed us. They've failed to
implement a life saving Good Samaritan policy which for those of you that don't
know, that would be a medical amnesty policy ensuring that individuals who
were...in this case drinking underage, could call for medical help and not risk any
sort of legal repercussions just for seeking that out. So the very least we should
probably think about having that first. So, I guess what I'm saying is that this
insinuation that we've done everything, that we've looked at everything is a lie.
And yes, we've been in contact with the University over this. Such a policy has
shown to have effective results as well. Ina 2006 study conducted by the
International Journal of, um, International Journal of Drug Policy, Cornell
University's emergency room calls nearly doubled upon implementation of a
Good Samaritan policy. So basically what we have is this idea that young people
are incapable of learning, of doing the right thing, of making these decisions, and
yet we're not giving them anything to make those right decisions or to make those
decisions easier. We're all coming from this culture where what we had growing
up was in most cases DARE, it's most cases 'just say no,' just do this, and we all
know that that's not going to happen; clearly, it's not happening..And, while I'm
sure that Internet education is a wonderful thing, I don't think that you can learn
what alcohol poisoning looks like through that. And so I just think that there's
more that can be done and this whole idea that, oh, we've tried everything is a
complete lie. Thank you for your time.
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Page 23
Hayek: Thank you.
Hansen: Hi, my name is Sarah Hansen and I thank you for allowing us to talk with you this
evening. Just wanted to clarify one thing, based on Ms. Steadham's comments
about a medical amnesty or Good Samaritan policy. Uh, I'm in the Vice President
for Student Services' office and we are currently finalizing our Good Samaritan
medical amnesty policy. It will be in place by fall semester. We do note that
that's an important step that goes hand-in-hand with any, uh, other policy changes
that we've been discussing. I just wanted you to know that. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to address the Council on this agenda item?
Okay. Sir? Don't, hold on, don't talk till you get up to the podium, please! We'll
wait for you! (unable to hear person away from mic)
Brown: I don't (mumbled) one person going to die very bad on the ped mall and...and
(mumbled) in Iowa City. I don't know but (mumbled) (difficult to understand)
Hayek: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address the Council before we close the
discussion and have Council, uh, deliberate?
Buzard: Hi, my name is Christine Buzard and I'm a freshman here. I spoke at the first
meeting. Um, and I just wanted to reiterate that I'm against the, um, 21-ordinance
for two main reasons. One is I don't think that it's going to accomplish what you
want it to accomplish, which is stopping the drinking. I think that you're under-
estimating the student body in thinking that it will. And I think that there will be
a lot of unintended consequences, mostly in the areas of safety and in the
economy of Iowa City. And, I would just like to mention that I am disappointed
that our City Council has the need to bypass the democratic process because you
know that if it went to vote it wouldn't pass, because it's failed twice. And there
will be a referendum, and I just feel like there are (coughing) I'm sorry! There are
other options, and there is time to talk about them, but that's not the route that we
are taking. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to address the Council on this before we close
the public portion of it? Okay, we will close public discussion and at this time the
Council can discuss it.
Karr: Can we have a motion to accept correspondence?
Wright: So moved.
Wright: Second.
Champion: Well, I guess I'll...
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Hayek: Just a second, moved by, uh, Wilburn, seconded by Wright to accept
correspondence. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay.
Motion is unanimous.
Champion: I...I might just start, because I'm really insulted that anybody thinks that I said the
students are irresponsible. I have never said that. I have eight kids, 17
grandchildren. I work with University of Iowa students all the time. When they
need help with a project or want me to interview them, etc., I do it all the time. I
love students. I would not be in Iowa City if it wasn't for the University of Iowa.
I have called bar owners who overserve these students irresponsible. That I
definitely have. And I have called overindulgence of alcohol irresponsible
drinking. I have never called the students irresponsible. I...I'm going to vote for
this. As I've stated before, we've tried a lot of things. Nothing has worked. The
problems are getting worse instead of better, and I think if we can just prevent
people, young people, young adults from going to bars immediately when they
arrive in Iowa City and start this drinking culture that is very harmful to them in
the long run, especially academics fail, uh, they get in trouble sexually, they get in
a lot of other problems, and I think it's time that we try something that has worked
in other places and the DI yesterday had, um, some very good writing about how
it has worked in other places when they changed to 21, and I think you're under-
estimating the student body here at Iowa. I think they will find other things to do,
that will better prepare them for the life in the future, uh, so I just had to clarify
that I have never said a student is irresponsible. There, I said my say! (laughter)
Wright: Well, I think we've all, uh, spent quite a bit of time thinking about this privately,
uh, discussing this with community members, uh, discussing it amongst ourselves
the past couple of meetings, um... it still boils down to the same issues, uh, when I
examine this. The...alcohol culture or drinking culture, whatever we'd like to call
it in downtown Iowa City, in Iowa City proper, uh, is a serious one. We have a
tremendous problem with underage and binge drinking, um, we've tried lots of
things as Connie has alluded to, uh, nothing has really changed this. Access is,
uh, one of the keys to binge and underage drinking, um, and I think we do need to
change the culture downtown. I don't view this as harassment of anyone. Uh, I
believe that if nothing else this is going to eventually make the culture downtown
a whole lot more friendly for everyone. If you've been downtown late at night, it's
not a lot of fun anymore. Uh, it's kind of frightening as a matter of fact, uh, it's
way more than just blowing off steam. We have some... some serious issues
going along with, uh, significant overindulgence, uh, of alcohol frequently with
folks who are underage. Uh, in terms of the culture in Iowa City, there are
alternatives. I think particularly once 21 is in place and we see that the world has
not come to an end, we'll have opportunities for non-alcoholic venues to succeed,
uh, in downtown Iowa City. They haven't had a chance frankly, uh, because
they've had to compete with bars, uh, they had the music and while when you go
into the bar for the music, frankly, people drink in bars. That seems to go hand-
in-hand. Uh, there's the possibility of no-alcohol nights. We've talked about that.
I don't think it's going to wreck the culture of Iowa City at all, um, as it is right
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now, we have a culture that, uh, is wrecking lives and it's wrecking our sense of
community, and I think we've got to make a pretty dramatic change. So
obviously I will still favor 21-only. I've favored it for years, and I'm very hopeful
that this will be a positive thing for the community.
Mims: I'll go next. I will continue to support this, uh, as I mentioned at one of the
meetings, my first involvement with this was three or four years ago, with the
community task force which addressed this back in 06 or 07, and again, um, as
people have indicated, and the University has indicated numerous times
(mumbled) as I heard way back then, accessibility is one of the biggest issues.
Um, none of us sitting up here expect this to be the panacea, the, you know, the
silver bullet that's going to solve all of our problems. It is one measure that we
can take to hopefully reduce, um, some of the drinking, some of the excessive
drinking, um, and maybe to help young people get started on a little different path
when they come to town for the first time and finding some other, uh, interesting
and entertaining venues, um, and get them off on maybe a better start, um, so I do
think access is a big issue. A number of people tonight have commented that we
haven't done anything else, and we haven't tried anything else, and I... Connie's
sat here longer than any of us in terms of listening to these discussions, and
certainly I think there've been lots of efforts to try a lot of different things in this
community and things have not gotten better. They have gotten worse. Um, I
thought the DI had a very interesting, uh, set of articles yesterday, particularly one
on Lincoln, Nebraska, and how much success they had had, but if you missed one
little piece of that article, you missed an incredibly important point. The vast
majority of their bars have gone voluntarily 21. I think that is huge. They have
not passed an ordinance, but they have, through cooperation with their city and
their bar owners, they have gotten most of them have gone voluntarily 21. I think
that is a significant point in looking at the, uh, progress they have made in
addressing alcohol issues in Lincoln, Nebraska. We have not seen that kind of
support or progress, uh, through the bar owners here. And I think that is why we
are at the point we are at of saying we are going to take it, uh, to the ordinance
level. Another issue that we've heard, and I heard this again three or four years
ago and we keep hearing it now. We are a destination community. Because we're
a Big Ten university town, we are always going to be a destination to a certain
extent, and that's good. But when it is people coming in, uh, either to prey on our
students, um, or to again excessively drink and cause problems in the community,
we don't need that. Um, I do have a concern and I mentioned this late in the work
session last night. I would like the Council, uh, after this is done to have some
discussions with the police, with legal staff on some other exceptions that we
might be able to come up with for, uh, cultural venues where they are serving
alcohol. I don't know what we can do, but I think it's something that we should
discuss. I'm willing to bring the bar owners in and, you know, whether it's
physical separation of areas. I think we need to talk about it. I don't know if we
can come up with anything. I'm also concerned, um, that as a city that we look at
how we are going to be enforcing, uh, the 21 ordinance. I mentioned last night,
and got some surprised looks I think from Council Members, and I heard recently
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from a couple youngsters. I say youngsters -young adults - um, and I don't know
how common this is, but being banded as 21 when they showed I.D.'s that they
were not 21. Showed their real I.D. that they were not 21 and being banded as 21-
year-olds. We need to be aware of that and...and see what is happening. I hope
it's not a prevalent issue, but I think we have to be aware of it, um, and address
that. So I will be supporting it.
Wilburn: I will continue to support this, um...having the legal age of entry be, which is set
by the state. We're not debating the legal age here, and um, if you are, um,
considering and discussing whether someone was in the military, those type of
things, um, you know, that this is not the forum for that. State sets the legal
drinking age at 21. The state also requires the City Council to approve liquor
licenses and through law enforcement to monitor those liquor licenses, um, that's
not something that we asked for, and uh, and frankly not something that we
probably look forward to. Um, but be that as it may, uh, it is a responsibility that
we have and it's difficult and challenging. Each person who sits up here on the
Council through the years has to make the decision as to how they are going to,
uh, both honor that responsibility, um, from the state, but also to consider how
they as a Council Member and a representative of the community are willing to,
uh, address both some of the positives and some of the negative things that occur
related to our monitoring of the legal age, which again is set by state. This is one
of multiple, um, ordinances and modifications of policy that have occurred, um,
over...this is the third or fourth generation of, uh, of us modifying or looking,
exploring, looking at, uh, the legal age of entry in this community. And, uh, those
consequences have both been directed at the liquor license holder, the bar owner,
um, both people of age and uh, under age that are, uh, overindulging, uh, and in
the case of minors who are consuming illegally. Um, and Susan brought up I
guess what this, related to what as a Council Member and as a community you're
willing to sanction and you talked about some of the illegal activities of
providing, um, alcohol for those who are under the legal age. Those sanctions
don't cover just downtown. They cover, uh, people of all ages and wherever you
might be in the community. For example, if you are, um, drinking and drunk
while you are driving, it doesn't matter which age you are. There's a consequence
for that. Making the age of entry, um, you know, in this case it's at 10:00,
consistent with, uh, the legal age of entry is one thing that has not been attempted,
and that's something that I think has been an impediment and a barrier and a
difficulty for, uh, not only from the enforcement end, police, but in terms of
prevention and treatment, and education from some of our, uh, public and private
non-profit entities that have to address the negative behaviors associated with
consump...overconsumption of alcohol and illegal consumption by those who are
under legal age. So this is something that I have consistently been willing to do.
There have been, um, people in the community of all ages that have addressed this
issue, and people, uh, can, reasonable people can disagree, um, as to what they're
going to do, but again, as someone that is, uh, and has sat up here, um, this is
something that I feel, um, is, um, a responsibility in terms of addressing some of
those illegal behaviors, which um...people who are against making it consistent
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with the legal age, um, in the state point out things that can, negative things that
have happened at house parties. Well those things happen in the downtown area
too, um, at the lowest point in this community we saw a bar, uh, set people on
fire. That was a low point for me in this community, um, the old Etc. bar where
this had happened, um...people are frequently pointing out some of the fights and
um, sexual assaults that happen in homes. They've happened in the downtown
area. We've had riots in the downtown area that started in the downtown that
have flowed over to University Hospitals. And again, it's up to us as individual
Council Members to decide how and what we are willing to, uh, agree and to
sanction, and I as one Council Member am not willing to, uh, sanction the ease of
access for those who are under the legal age. Uh, I want to thank President
Mason for your appearance, your support of the Council's effort in this area. Um,
and uh, already thanked some of the other folks, but thank the people of, uh, both
opinions and both sides who have agreed or disagreed with this, uh, for the most
part I had pointed this out that we've had three or four different gyrations of
discussing the legal age, uh, this has been one of the more...the most respectful
conversations that we've had and as a Council Member I'm very appreciative of
that, whether (mumbled) or not. Um, so thank you.
Hayek: I, uh, I too appreciate the comments of everyone and appreciate the University
leadership, uh, being here and supporting us, uh, but I...I appreciate the presence
of everyone, not only at this reading, but at the prior two readings and the wealth
of information and perspectives, uh, that has been provided to the Council through
the media and through the normal channels here at...at City Hall. To me this is
an issue of...of law enforcement. Uh, we have, uh, as a city tried, uh, countless
things over the last decade or more to try to curb underage and binge drinking.
Um, and they have as you've heard from others, uh, proven to be ineffective for
the most part, and uh, in fact have resulted in the City being sued, um, over our
efforts to address these problems. Um, this is also a matter of safety and public
health, uh, not only for the University and for the, uh, students and families who
are part of the University, but for the rest of the community, and indeed for
communities around the state. Um, it is not just a few students who are making
bad decisions. Uh, it can't be that when 70% of the undergraduate population
binge drinks on a regular basis. That's more than twice the national average! It
can't be that when the under-21 age group dominates the alcohol related
ambulance calls in Iowa City. It is...it has gone well beyond that and that is why
we're having this conversation. Um, we, uh, I think the Council will, uh, explore
the cultural and music-related options that presently exist, and might exist, and I
know that the University is interested in partnering with...with us on that.
They've...they've made those statements. But, after all we've been through and
all we have tried, I come to the conclusion that going 21-only is a logical and
prudent step to take, and I will support this.
Bailey: Well I'll continue not to...to support this, um, after all we've been through and all
we've tried, I can't scapegoat a particular age, um, a group of young adults for,
um, a culture that we all acknowledge that we have here. We have a problem
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drinking culture here, but it's not specific to this age group, and I think that...I
think that they are serving as scapegoats for some of the... some of the things that
we cannot seem to be able to address in this community. Um, it's curious to me
that we are telling young adults that the only way that they can make responsible
choices is to have someone else limit their access to those choices. Um, they're
going to have a rude awakening if they think that that is what adulthood is,
because unfortunately it is not. I think that there are better ways to do that, um,
this is clearly going to pass. This is clearly going to change our neighborhoods.
It's clearly going to change our downtown. I don't know in what direction. I'm
hopeful, I'm always optimistic. I wouldn't be up here if I weren't an optimist.
Um, we had some good discussion last night about our concerns about
neighborhoods, and I hope that people will follow through with their
commitments and their interest, because what we're trying to do on one hand is
actually invite people to be owner-occupied close, owner-occupied residents close
to the University and through our major employment centers, and on another hand
potentially sending people, uh, a greater number of house parties, a greater, um,
disruption from house parties, into those neighborhoods. That doesn't make sense
to me. So we're going to have to address it, and we're going to have to have the
resources to address it. I would also like to respectfully challenge the University
to consider, um, the other areas in which we perpetuate a drinking culture through
some of our other activities in this community, some of which are connected to
the University. I think that merits, um, some examination and some, um, concern
and looking about how we can have alternative, um, entertainment for some of
our other activities and encourage, um, responsible behavior of all ages, including
our alums. I mean, I think that that's a consideration. I could tell you stories
about, you know, father-son bonding in our neighborhood, but it involved
excessive drinking and some pretty disgusting behavior by older and younger,
um, people associated with the University of Iowa. That's something we need to
change...if we're going to actually address this problem. And I think that we're
all interested in addressing this problem. I think we just all have different ways of
coming about it. So if we can remain clear and together on that commitment to
address the problem and create a good community, I think that, um, we can move
forward well together. It concerns me, somebody said something about a sense of
community, um, I think potentially this is very divisive when we are, um,
scapegoating a certain group of young people. Young people that we want
to...we want to have them, you know, graduate from the University, perhaps go
out and see the world, come back here for graduate school and live here, I mean,
we really...we really need to recruit these people back, so we need to figure out
some way that we can work together, as a community, to address the broader
issue of excessive and irresponsible drinking, that doesn't confine itself to one age
group.
Dickens: I'm just going to keep my comments short. I will continue to support this, um, it's
not an easy decision having been downtown for as many years as I have, uh, I
worry about the business owners, but I don't think it stops here. We will continue
looking at this, even after it goes in June 1st, and see what we can do to make the
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businesses...have achance to survive and I know Susan's brought up bringing up
the, uh, different venues that we can do. I think that's very important that we just
don't stop there, and I'm just going to leave it at that.
Hayek: Any further discussion?
Wilburn: Uh, Mr. Mayor, I would just .encourage, um, down the road whether it's the
summer or whenever, if the Council, um, puts it on a work session or, uh,
discusses some of the, uh, venue and cultural, music things that Susan brought up
to try and review, uh, if it's available, the material transcripts from when Council
first discussed a 21-ordinance and then, um, there wasn't support for that and the
mayor at the time negotiated 19 because those issues were discussed and it was
part of how it evolved to 19, um, in the first place, but I...I think there could be
some (mumbled) prior to (both talking)
Champion: It's a good idea. I also want to point out that in the 12 years I've been on Council,
I have never had as many people approach me about this subject, and (mumbled)
almost everyone who has approached me thinks it's time. People who agree with
me for the past 12 years that let's try to work this out without changing the age,
have now changed their mind like I have because we all want this town to be
livable for everybody, including young people and older people, and so I think
it's...I think it is time. I think the town is right, it's time.
Hayek: Anything further? Roll call. Item passes 6-1, Bailey in the negative.
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ITEM 16. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION.
Bailey: I'm interested in putting on a work session the discussion of Sunday bus service. I
was wondering if other people would like to do that as well.
Wright: Definitely!
Bailey: I...for my sake, I'd like to see some numbers. Basically I think that that would
start the discussion well.
Hayek: Great. (several talking) Okay.
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ITEM 17. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF.
Hayek: City Manager?
Helling: Nothing.
Hayek: Assistant?
Fosse: I do have one item. Uh, you recall that the Library to Public Works department
worked to receive a collaborative grant for $57,000 from the ICMA and the Gates
Foundation. Uh, folks from the Gates Foundation will be town on the 22nd and
23rd of this month to look at some of the successes that this grant has been used
for, and in doing so, they'd like an opportunity to meet with one or two of you, uh,
if... if time permits and it works out for your schedules. Uh, Jennifer will follow
up, Jennifer Jordan will follow up with a email to you, and if you're interested in
meeting with them, uh, just respond directly to Jennifer. Thank you.
Wilburn: What day is that again, Rick?
Fosse: Uh, er, April 22nd and 23rd.
Hayek: Thank you.
Fosse: It's framed around Earth Day.
Hayek: Thanks, Rick. City Attorney?
Dilkes: I just want to, um, make one correction. I misspoke last night when I told you
what the fine was for Disorderly House. It's...the maximum is 625, not 500. Um,
we changed that when the State increased the, um, amount the cities can charge
for simple misdemeanors, but it's still within the judge's discretion.
Hayek: Okay. Motion to adjourn.
Wilburn: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Mims. Discussion? All those in favor say aye.
Opposed say nay. We are adjourned.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the regular formal Iowa (;ity
City Council meeting of Apri16, 2010.