Susan Mims, Rockne Cole, and Geoff Fruin Talk with Iowa Citians

Captions: 1. Geoff Fruin, Iowa City manager. 2. Susan Mims, Iowa City councilor. 3. Rockne Cole, Iowa City councilor. 4. Marcia Bollinger, Iowa City Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator.

Iowa Citians from different neighborhoods, including North Governor Street, Mosquito Flats (Park Place) on the Iowa River in western Iowa City, and Lucas Farms near Mark Twain Elementary School met to discuss neighborhood issues with Geoff Fruin, Iowa City manager; Susan Mims, city councilor; and Rockne Cole, city councilor.

Neighborhood issues brought by neighbors were published in a five-page handout. I came as a blogger and concerned citizen from the Iowa City Patch and a Daily Iowan reporter also came. Both the DI reporter and I found ourselves talking about our own neighborhoods, so we were hardly dispassionate observers.

Somebody mentioned the Kinnick Stadium “residence” – it might have been me; I don’t remember. Susan Mims said councilors are not permitted to comment on that. Apparently, the issue of whether the city was incorrect in designating an approximately 7,500 square foot structure built to resemble Kinnick Stadium a “residence” as opposed to party central, a possible nuisance property for neighbors, has still not been resolved, though it was discussed all evening September 14th.

Nancy Carlson spoke on the first issue, which is neighborhood "open spaces," which she would like to see as neighborhood parks, "three acres each per 1,000 people."

Susan Mims said Riverfront Crossings is the answer.

"Downtown isn’t the answer because parcels are too small," she said.

Rockne Cole agreed. He said that it’s hard to find open space downtown. Of course, downtown real estate is so valuable that greedy developers and city councilors sympathetic to millionaire developers like Marc Moen are more than happy to help those developers exploit open spaces and give them millions of dollars to do it besides. It's not just "hard"; it's a question of priorities, and those open spaces are diminishing rapidly as a result.

Rockne also mentioned Chadek Green Park and said the old water plant will be a park. He highlighted City Park and Happy Hollow Park.

Nancy Carlson objected that Riverfront Crossings Park is “south” and not relevant to most neighborhood parks.

I was delighted to hear that Riverfront Crossings Park is going to have a trail. That’s my bias: not just parks, which I tend to ride through on trails, but alternative and safe transportation for bicyclists and pedestrians. Parks make a pleasant and scenic backdrop for everyone to enjoy.

I believe it was Jerry Hansen who brought up the second issue: “What role do you see for the council and what are your obligations in dealing with unruly youth that [sic] are causing serious problems in several of Iowa City’s neighborhoods?”

Someone said that people have become afraid to walk in Wetherby Park at night. I added that we had a shooting in our southeast side neighborhood this past summer. A Cedar Rapids youth about 16 years old came to Esther Street or Esther Court around the corner from us and shot at youth in a low-income rental. No one was killed, but it was upsetting.

Rockne Cole mentioned that Henri Harper, a half-time community outreach officer working for the Iowa City Police Department, might become full time. Several people, including myself, spoke in support of making Henri full time. I said that he approached me Monday and asked if I would help him plan to take a group of youth with police officers on RAGBRAI. I told him that my husband Jim has planned our RAGBRAI trips for over 20 years and can even guess in advance which towns RAGBRAI is likely to pass through, and we would be glad to help. Henri often has good ideas for reaching out to youth.

When I was a social worker, a low-income client of mine in Cedar Rapids told me she rode RAGBRAI with the Dream Team from the residential program at Quakerdale and told me "it was the happiest week of [her] life." I told Henri about the Dream Team, which would be a good model for his effort.

Susan Mims said that activities make a difference. I thought of midnight basketball, proven to be helpful in urban settings.

The third issue, “What characteristics and experience do you see as critical in selection of a police chief for the City of Iowa City?”

Cole said he wants to see a police chief who has experience in an urban setting and is media savvy. He pointed to the recent shooting in the Ped Mall in downtown Iowa City just as the bars closed at 1:59 a.m. A 19-year-old youth from Cedar Rapids started shooting up the mall as hundreds of college kids and others were running and milling about in the area. The youth was caught but he’d tossed the gun, which as far as I know, hasn’t been found. One civilian was injured with a gunshot wound, one police officer was injured, and the alleged shooter was caught. The shooter refused to help police find the gun.

Mims said the police chief needs to be a communicator, appreciate diversity, and needs to get out in the community.

“It’s more expensive to do community outreach,” she said, “but it’s worth it. You can’t be someone who’s too defensive. You need to get on board with crisis intervention, including intervention with mental health and intoxication crises while de-escalating the situation.”

In answer to a neighbor’s question, she suggested using the

icgov.express

app to complain about neighbors anonymously. Mims said the housing code is not different for rentals versus owner-occupied homes. Inspections are complaint driven.

In the fourth and final published issue, Mary Murphy published a chart in Attachment B showing Iowa City’s population growth and loss in different demographic groups:

“Senior citizens and those approaching retirement age are by far the fastest growing age groups due to the aging Baby Boom generation and Iowa City’s allure as a regional retirement destination. Census data from 2000 to 2010 shows an 81% increase in the number of residents age 55-64, and a 26.5% increase in residents age 65 and over.

“According to the 2010 Census, Iowa City experienced a decline in residents between the ages of 35 and 54 years of age – an age cohort that we might think of as the ‘family’ years. The number of residents age 35 to 44 shows a decline of 13.5%, while the number of residents age 45 to 54 dropped by 6.9%. The only other group to experience a decline was the number of children 10-14 years of age, which dropped 8%.

“The 2010 Census shows that a full third of Iowa City households (9,488) consisted of single persons. Another 23% of households (6,426) are classified as non-family – that is, people living together who are unrelated by birth or marriage. In Iowa City the average household size is 2.22 persons, just below the state (2.41) and national (2.58) averages. More than half of all households in Iowa City are renters.

“The growth in the number of young adults and seniors, along with the changing size and configuration of households, has important implications for future development. Iowa City is experiencing increasing demand for higher-density housing located in walkable neighborhoods, especially those close to downtown and campus, and for more housing options to accommodate seniors and empty-nesters. Meanwhile, stable neighborhoods with affordable housing and quality schools are essential to ensuring that Iowa City remains an attractive place for families with children.”

Mary also shared anecdotal evidence of friends and neighbors who left the Iowa City area for Coralville and North Liberty. She asked that Iowa City try to keep the residents they have instead of just focusing on attracting new residents.

Susan Mims disagreed, saying that neighborhoods are "cyclical" and that eventually older residents are replaced with younger families with children. Anecdotally, we have seen some of that in our stepping-stone neighborhood on the southeast side, but our neighborhood is certainly not teeming with children as it was when our son was five years old 28 years ago. Though we are seeing millennials move into our neighborhood, not all of them have children. Retirees are moving into our neighborhood as well.