HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - September 14, 2022, Special Meeting of the Ames City CouncilMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
AMES, IOWA SEPTEMBER 14, 2022
The Special Meeting of the Ames City Council was called to order by Mayor John Haila at 3:06
p.m. on the 14th day of September, 2022 in the Water Treatment Plant Conference Room, 1800
East 13th Street. City Council Members present were Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen, Gloria Betcher,
Amber Corrieri, Tim Gartin, Rachel Junck, and Anita Rollins. Ex officio Council Member Bryce
Garman was absent. City Manager Steven Schainker, City Attorney Mark Lambert, Assistant
City Manager Brian Phillips, Assistant City Manager Deb Schildroth, and Human Resources
Director Bethany Ballou were also present.
COUNCIL TRAINING SESSION BY JOSHUA BARR – MITIGATING POTENTIAL
HARM TO COMMUNITIES UTILIZING COMMUNITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
TOOLS IN THE POLICY & DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: Mayor Haila introduced
Joshua Barr, of Raising the Barr, LLC. Mr. Barr described his background and expertise and
asked the Mayor, Council Members, and City staff to briefly introduce themselves. Mr. Barr
explained that the objectives for the training would be to: 1) Create context for understanding
why we need to work to achieve racial equity, 2) Introduce the Racial Equity Assessment
Toolkit, and 3) Provide an opportunity to practice using the toolkit.
Mr. Barr described several key turning points in U.S. History with respect to racial equity,
including the Civil War, late 1960s, 2008 housing crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Capitol
insurrection, and the murder of George Floyd. He then illustrated the differences between
inequality, equality, equity, and justice, and stated that justice was addressing the system to
ensure equal access to both tools and opportunities.
The presentation turned to the demographics of the state of Iowa, with Mr. Barr describing the
diversity of Iowa as compared to the rest of the nation, and the projected growth of the state’s
population from different racial groups based on birthrates. There is a cycle of populations
leaving where there is no investment by the community, which causes more populations to leave.
Mr. Barr indicated that change at one end of the spectrum is individual-level mitigation. These
individual acts are downstream change and have limited effects. Institutional change, which uses
existing tools in ways that affect outcomes, is mid-stream change. Structural change is upstream
change, which transforms systems.
The meeting recessed at 4:08 p.m. and resumed at 4:16 p.m.
Mr. Barr explained that people naturally default to what they believe should be right, even when
presented with facts to the contrary. He emphasized that one purpose of the racial equity tools is
to ensure that we consider what might be in our “blind spots.” The six purposes of equity
assessment tools are: 1) Identify issues and barriers to goals and minimize them, 2) Identify any
potential blind spots or biases, 3) Intentionally seek to decrease unintended outcomes, 4)
Increase consciousness and awareness, 5) Get input from the community, and 6) Create
conditions where all people in the community have the opportunity to thrive.
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The presentation turned to when equity toolkits should be used. Mr. Barr suggested they should
be used: 1) When there are certain community goals to be met, 2) When we know or suspect
there is a problem, 3) When we want to see if we have a problem, and 4) When we want to
analyze a new service, policy, procedure, or budget decision.
Mr. Barr asked the City Council to write down issues they want to address in the community. He
read aloud a selection of the issues submitted. There were several submissions each related to
housing, mental health, transit, climate change, economic equity, and feedback from residents.
Mr. Barr then turned to the three types of equity tools. The first tool he introduced is “Targeted
Universalism.” The first step in this tool is to define a universal goal. The second step is to
measure how the overall population fares relative to the universal goal. Then, the performance of
population segments relative to the universal goal is measured. Step four is to understand how
structures and other factors support or impede group progress relative to the universal goal.
Finally, targeted strategies can be implemented to allow each group to achieve the universal goal
based on their need and circumstances. Mr. Barr compared this process to the NFL draft, where
the team that needs to most help is the team that gets the most desired talent in the following
year, to level the playing field.
City Manager Schainker indicated that one of the challenges with implementation is that there
may not always be data measuring the performance of different segments of the population. Mr.
Barr suggested that Iowa State University students may be a useful resource to research such
data. Council Member Betcher indicated that her impression was that the answer to the inequity
identified in step four is often money. This is a perennial challenge to addressing issues we might
face in the community.
The second model presented by Mr. Barr is “Results-Based Accountability.” This model starts
with the end in mind by asking: “What conditions do we want for our community?” After that
question is answered, you must ask:
• How would you measure if you are better off?
• How can you measure the quality and quantity of your work?
• How are you doing regarding these measures (quantitative and qualitative trends)?
• Who are the partners and what are their roles?
• What works (best practices, processes, and/or policies)?
• What do you propose to do, in what timeline, and in what budget?
Mr. Barr explained that racial equity tools pay attention to race and ethnicity while analyzing
problems, looking for solutions and defining success. The tools analyze data and information
about race and ethnicity, understand disparities and why they exist, look at problems and their
root causes from a structural standpoint. The tools also shed light on racial dynamics that shape
social, economic, and political structures. They also point to intersectionality.
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Mr. Barr stated the rationale behind a focus on race as opposed to other aspects of diversity as a
key driver of equity issues. He indicated that race has been a principal force in building,
sustaining, and shifting social and political structures in the United States.
The Council Members discussed the challenges they have experienced in engaging with the
public, and what they perceive has led to those challenges. Mr. Barr suggested it may be helpful
to have a list of individuals in the City organization who are ambassadors to specific populations
or communities. It is important to ask who is not in the room and identify how to connect with
them. Mr. Barr noted that everyone wants to be seen, heard, and acknowledged. This is a way to
build back trust and increase engagement.
Mr. Barr explained the importance of having all the components to manage complex change,
which are: vision, skills, incentives, resources, and an action plan. Council Member Betcher
mentioned that her impression from the training is that each of the tools described requires
engaging and asking the community. Council Member Junck stated that she wondered how many
aspects of the current Municipal Code have been adopted without considering equity.
The meeting recessed at 6:07 p.m. and resumed at 6:29 p.m.
COUNCIL GOAL UPDATE SESSION: Mr. Schainker reviewed the status of the goals
adopted in January 2022 and emphasized that staff is not requesting to add new goals.
Council Member Gartin asked whether this would be a good time to propose a program to fund
rehabilitation projects in low- and moderate-income homes. Mr. Schainker responded that this
proposal would be best brought up again during the Council’s Budget Guidelines session in late
November. Council Member Corrieri indicated she would discuss this issue with the Story
County Trust Fund and would suggest a proposal to partner with the City should be sent by the
Trust Fund to the City Council.
Mayor Haila inquired about the status of the Baker Subdivision. Moved by Gartin, seconded by
Corrieri, to direct staff to provide an update to City Council on Baker Subdivision with regard to
the development of single-family homes.
Vote on motion 6-0. Motion declared carried.
Mr. Schainker reviewed the progress towards completion of the Climate Action Plan tasks.
Council Member Gartin asked if there was interest in revisiting the list of initiatives pertaining to
greenhouse gas reduction he had sent to the Council several months ago.
Mr. Schainker asked if the Council wished to review how well members have interacted with one
another in the past year.
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ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:52 p.m.
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Brian C. Phillips, Assistant City Manager John A. Haila, Mayor
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Renee Hall, City Clerk