Iowa City City Council members express support for improving diversity in government

Iowa City City Hall was standing room only as members of the public shared their views on racial equity in their community and plans being laid out to increase diversity at the local government level.

The report follows a study carried out by Iowa City's Ad Hoc Diversity Committee - formed in 2012 - and presented last year to the council that detailed a considerable lack of diversity among members of Iowa City boards and commissions and city staff as well as disproportionate arrest numbers for people of color by the Iowa City Police Department.

"It obviously demonstrates and shows a disproportionality," Iowa City Equity Director Stefanie Bowers, said Tuesday of the report.

In response to the report, Iowa City staff have recommended the council work on five elements in regard to diversity including increased conversations in the community, accountability of city departments including the police department with body cameras and further involvement with the St. Ambrose study, outreach with the community, staff training, and justice through initiatives like the community ID program. The council expressed support of all recommendations.

Several members of the public expressed support for six recommendations made to the council by Councilor Kingsley Botchway, which include publicly acknowledging that racial inequities exist in Iowa City, adding public oversight or inclusion in the city's Diversity Task Force, use a racial equity tool kit in budget and council actions, develop different ways to incorporate the minority community, work with other governmental bodies on racial equity, and follow through with the overall action plan for the police department on racial disparities.

Alecia Brooks, with the Black Voices Project and Iowa City Coalition for Racial Justice, commended the interest expressed by some of the councilors, naming Botchway and Jim Throgmorton directly, but challenged the entire council to ramp up their involvement and move from discussion to action.

"Equity is an important and highly relevant point of discussion," she said. "Too many disparities in this area exist and it's time to move beyond simply emailing ideas along."

Other members of the public, including Carolyn Porter, a program coordinator with The Dream Center, expressed concerns with interactions with local police officers and a hope that the city will follow through with plans to increase accountability and diversity awareness within the department.

'I want to really be able to feel free and not be held in some type of bondage of fear,” she said. 'We want to see the institutional racism stop.”

Iowa City Manager Tom Markus said the efforts will need to adapt with the community and will admittedly take time to see results.

"This isn't going to be resolved in one, two, three, four meetings," he said. "It's going to have to evolve with our community to make sure we make real progress."

Mayor Matt Hayek also noted the long road ahead of the city for change, adding that community involvement, at a regional, multijurisdictional level, will be vital.

"This is certainly not the first and absolutely will not be the last point of engagement with the community," he said. "It's a step in a series of steps we hope to take as a city."