MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
OCTOBER 3, 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Vernon Research Group Representatives Monica Vernon and Susan Todd: Countywide Assessment On Criminal Justice Issues.............................................................................................................................. 1
Report from Alternatives and Treatment Opportunities Subcommittee........................................ 5
Report from Public Awareness and Information Subcommittee.................................................. 5
Additional Comments from Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Members.......................... 6
Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 4:04 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee members present were: County Attorney Janet Lyness, MECCA Executive Director Art Schut, John Stratton, University of Iowa Representative Larry Wilson, Sheriff’s Captain David Wagner, Johnson County Public Defender Richard Klausner, Sixth Judical District Judge Douglas Russell, and Iowa City City Council Member Bob Elliott.
Harney introduced Vernon Research Group Representatives Monica Vernon and Susan Todd. Vernon explained that the Vernon Research Group is a 20 year old market research firm, which is headquartered in Cedar Rapids and does research for cities, counties, and quasi-governments. Vernon commented that as a county government, Johnson County must do the very best for its citizens and taxpayers. Vernon said that market research can provide suggestions for recommended routes, using scarce tax dollars. The Vernon Research Group conducts citizen attitude studies for future planning purposes, issue identification before balloting, the study of enhancement options for public transit systems, taxation threshold analyses, which provides an idea of how much taxes people will bear, and referendum and ballot initiatives. The Vernon Research Group has conducted research for the City of Ames, a Communications Study for the City of Dubuque, and visioning studies for the City of Marshalltown. Vernon said that the Vernon Research Group tries to get at the truth.
Vernon recommended that research be done for Johnson County to investigate opinions toward a jail facilities location, what kinds of components should be included in a criminal justice campus, options that citizens would support, attitudes toward County expenditures and priorities, opinions of other issues in the County, citizens' likelihood to vote, and what kinds of information would improve their likelihood to vote. Todd reported that it may be that Johnson County needs a new criminal justice facility, but voters might reject bond issues for a new facility because citizens have other concerns.
Vernon said that the Vernon Research Group does quantitative and qualitative analysis. Vernon remarked that qualitative questions help understand all of the ways that a citizen might answer a question. Qualitative Analysis allows one to understand the range of issues at hand. Once the range of issues is discovered, data can be quantified to understand the most important issues according to citizens. Quantitative analysis allows for the prediction of future behavior. Todd stated that the Durrant Group is already conducting some focus group qualitative analysis, which the Vernon Group might be able to assist with for combined efforts. Vernon said that they would suggest telephone data collection, in order to include all demographic groups. Vernon reported that telephone data is still the surest way to collect data. Vernon stated that they generally have two presentations, one that would allow the Board and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee to discuss the data with the researchers and one that presents future implications of the study. Vernon reported that it typically takes eight weeks to do a good research job to allow for representative data collection, data analysis, reporting, and further data collection if needed. Vernon said that a research project for Johnson County would be expected to take eight weeks.
Todd commented that Vernon would share similar research and findings from Story County. Todd stated that Story County shares similar population and vote issues that Johnson County experiences as a university town. Neuzil remarked that approximately one third of all voters in Johnson County from the year 2000 no longer live here, which might include several hundred voters that voted against funding a Justice Center. R. Sullivan said that some who did not vote in 2004 might vote the next time this issue is on the ballot. Vernon said that the best way to handle this would be to take a smaller sample of those who voted in 2004 and then a majority sample of those currently registered voters. Vernon said that this is a sample population issue and can easily be dealt with. Vernon commented that Johnson County probably feels the generational changes more than most other communities, as Ames did. R. Sullivan stated that it wasn't just generational changes resulting for the university population. He remarked that in 2000 North Liberty had 5,500 residents and now there are 9,500 residents. Vernon said that some segmentation could be done to ensure that residents who voted in 2004 are included in the random sample of Johnson County residents.
Vernon stated that the Story County was interested in constructing a fire station, a new school, a recreation facility, and a nature preserve, but could not prioritize. Vernon said that there were very different demographic groups supporting each of the projects, but no majority for any one project. Vernon reported that voters in Story County had rejected a bond issue for a new school three different times. Vernon said that her group surveyed the area and found that safety issues that arose with needing a new fire station were of most concern to the majority of voters. She stated that her group's results were within two points of the actual vote. After the bond for the new fire station passed, the Vernon Research Group was able to prioritize the remaining projects. Vernon said that they held several town meetings with residents of Ames in order to assist in prioritizing these projects. Vernon also explained that they had done research in Cedar Rapids a few years ago to determine whether voters would vote to build a new Kernel's Stadium and a pool. Originally both of these bond issues were to go on the same ballot, but after doing some research in the area the Vernon Research Group found that if both issues were included on the same ballot, neither would pass. The Vernon Research Group recommended that the issues be put on separate ballots for different time periods. Eventually, the Kernel's Stadium passed on bond issue and the pool passed on a one-year local options sales tax.
Iowa City Council Member Bob Elliot asked how many telephone survey problems the research group has found if done in a politically active year. Vernon responded that it is more difficult in a politically active year, but they typically find that people are more interested in local politics or local issues. Vernon stated that the group would certainly use a random sample from land lines; however land line use is down. Vernon said that they will supplement this by doing an internet survey. Elliot asked if Vernon knew which percent of households are doing away with land line phones. Vernon said that those 18-34 are more likely to use cell phones only, but that this group is also the most internet savvy. Vernon said that using an internet survey in addition to a land line survey is a good way to get a more diverse population. The last time the Vernon Research Group used an internet survey to supplement a land line survey they got a sample of an additional 1,000 people. Vernon admitted that the internet survey is not a perfect solution, but it is better than not surveying the 18-34 age group at all. Meyers asked if there is a way to ensure that people cannot skew the surveying by taking it more than once online. Vernon responded absolutely. Vernon said that there are ways of giving each survey taker an id.
University of Iowa Representative Larry Wilson asked about surveying with cell phones. Vernon clarified that cell phone surveys are not done. She reiterated that surveys are done using land lines and the internet. Vernon said that those who are cell phone users only tend to be equated with high internet usage. Wilson asked how the Vernon Research Group reconciles knowledge based positions with those that are not. Wilson said that some people may not know about the proposed jail. Vernon responded that they will ask the survey respondent what their experience is with the issue. She said that they might ask if the survey respondent has been inside the current jail facility. Vernon then said that they will report the findings through those that have experience with the jail issue and those that do not. County Attorney Janet Lyness asked if the survey would be publicized through email. Vernon responded that they would probably publicize the internet survey through local media. She added that the survey would be accessed using the Vernon Research Group's website so that those taking the survey know that a neutral third party is responsible for the survey results. This will also ensure that all responses remain anonymous. Todd reported that the research group has conducted several internet studies in Linn County.
Vernon stated that they recently conducted a "yardy" study in Linn County to assess the safety of the yard carts used by residents of Cedar Rapids for recycling purposes. Vernon reported that the survey could be taken using the research group's website or by calling the research group. Additional measures were also taken to ensure that the survey sample represented a cross-section of residents. Stutsman asked how the research group came up with survey questions. Vernon responded that they would have a Project Definition Meeting with the Board and committee to determine what types of questions should be asked and for what issues questions should be asked. The Vernon Research Group has several survey writing experts, including herself. Vernon commented that question writing is essential to ensure that the questions are clear and that they are not leading. Survey drafts as well as the final survey will be given to the Board and the committee. Vernon stated that to conduct good research there should be marriage of the Board and Criminal Justice Coordination Committee who understand Johnson County and the Vernon Research Group who understand market research.
R. Sullivan said that ultimately the voter will only have two choices on the ballot, but that many issues will be involved in their decision. He asked how the research group accounts for the many issues facing the voter. Vernon said that conjoint methodology means considering jointly, which is trade-off methodology that would determine the very best combinations of attributes for the jail. Some of these components would include size, cost, and location. Up to six components would be included in the study. After the data analysis is completed, the research group would be able to inform the Board which combinations of attributes were most appealing to the survey respondents and at which price level. Vernon added that laptop computers could be set up at various Johnson County locations to ensure that a wide group of people are included.
Wilson asked if the survey could be skewed toward the right or the left based on its methodology. Vernon responded that both poles should be included and that is the reason for using both the land line and internet method. Vernon said that residents who have positive views towards the proposed jail and those that have negative views will be included in the survey sample. Different types of questions and topics should be included in the survey to account for the different views also.
Vernon explained that the survey respondent would be given hypothetical voting choices including different options for the proposed justice center and different prices for each of the options. Vernon commented that each survey respondent will hypothetically vote approximately 20 times throughout the survey. Vernon said that this is a good way to understand which choices and options taxpayers are willing to vote and pay for.
Harney asked how long the survey results would be valid. Vernon responded that for a constantly changing population such as Johnson County's, the survey shouldn't be used after two to three years. Vernon said that the survey results will be most accurate if done within a year to a year and a half of the vote. Todd stated that the research group can send the Board and committee more information as needed.
Harney remarked that the presentation was very interesting. Neuzil asked what the ballpark cost for this project would be. Stutsman responded that she thought it would cost between $18,000 and $20,000. Meyers said that the exact amount would depend on the length of the interviews and the number of questions. Neuzil said that he thinks timing is a big question for this project. Neuzil stated that he did not think that the County is ready for this to be done yet, but might be more ready once the Durrant study is completed. He said that he thinks surveying will be the next logical step after the Durrant study is completed. Harney agreed but said that it might be beneficial to do this now while Durrant is currently looking at target groups so that the two groups could share the data each has collected. R. Sullivan stated that it will be important to include the key players such as the Sheriff and the County Attorney to ensure that the options survey respondents are to consider when taking the survey are feasible for the County Attorney and the Sheriff. Stutsman commented that it might be pointless to do a study with only a few options available to the respondents. R. Sullivan remarked that he was trying to throw ideas out.
Elliot said that it might be more appropriate to use the services of the Vernon Research Group after solid alternatives have been decided upon. Elliot added that the cost does seem high, but is obviously a lot less than spending money on a failed vote. Neuzil said that it is also a good idea for the committee to keep an open mind about this project. He thinks that Durrant will include several possibilities for the justice center in their report and hopes that they do. Neuzil added that he thinks one of the failures of seven years ago was that the starting concept and the ending concept never changed. Harney noted that Durrant's report is due back in December. Neuzil asked if Durrant had visited the Courts and jail. Lyness reported that Durrant has visited her office and the Clerk of Court.
MECCA Executive Director Art Schut reported that the Alternatives Subcommittee has not met recently. He stated that the group will do reports and assessments the next time they get together. Neuzil said that he thinks it would be good for the subcommittees to make a list of the treatments and alternatives that have been tried in Johnson County that the ones that haven't been tried yet. Johnson County Public Defender Richard Klausner said that the drug court will be starting soon and is one of the alternatives that the Alternatives and Treatment Opportunities Subcommittee researched.
R. Sullivan said that the Vernon Research Group will be good for the Public Awareness and Information Subcommittee. Klausner announced that the Iowa City Human Rights Commission is sponsoring a two hour presentation by Anthony Haughton this evening October 3, 2007 at the Iowa City Public Library from 7-9 p.m. Haughton will discuss the disparity of African Americans in Iowa jails and prisons. Klausner said that this is one of the issues the Public Awareness and Information Subcommittee will continue to address in the future.
Klausner also announced that the Johnson County Bar Association has put together a committee which will focus on the courthouse side of the proposed Justice Center. Klausner was recently asked to serve on the committee. Klausner said that he will bring the committee up-to-date on the work of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee and hopes that the two can work together in the future. Sixth Judicial District Judge Douglas Russell remarked that the committee was formed for purposes of educational and lobbying efforts on behalf of the proposed Justice Center. The committee is intended to include senior members of the Johnson County Bar Association that are willing to be with service groups and committee organizations in order to make presentations, gather information, answer questions, and assist the Board of Supervisors in the Justice Center Effort. Russell said that the committee will be ready when the time comes to meet with community residents and discuss the legal aspects of building a new justice center.
Stutsman asked if the committee’s focus will be on the courthouse or the jail. Klausner responded that it is not clear yet. He said that these are issues that can come together or remain separate. Klausner said that he hopes the group will focus on both aspects. Stutsman added that it would be good for the Vernon Research Group to determine whether the community supports building a new jail, a courthouse, or incorporating the courthouse into a justice center. Judge Russell said that the committee will decide on a point of view later, but that it does not have one now as it is just forming. Judge Russell said that he feels the Johnson County Bar Association's Committee will be a good ally for the project. Neuzil said that the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee has been committed to the concept of a justice center from the start; however the committee was started to discuss the problem of the overcrowded jail. Judge Russell said that there are many opinions out there.
Harney stated that he has been talking with Elliot, who's term on the Iowa City City Council will soon expire. Harney stated that Elliot is possibly willing to take the lead for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee. Elliot is not committed yet, but is certainly interested. Neuzil and Stutsman agreed that that would be a good thing. Harney said that Elliot has followed through with many of the committee meetings. Judge Russell added that the proposed justice center needs its own leader, as the justice center is only one of the responsibilities of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee. Stutsman asked if Elliot was interested in the coordinator position. Harney responded that Elliot was.
The group discussed scheduling the next joint meeting between the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee and the Board of Supervisors on December 5, 2007. Stutsman stated that the Board has JCCOG on the evening of December 5th, creating a conflict. The Board discussed the possibility of waiting until the Durrant Study was completed to meet again.
Adjourned at 5:17 p.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By John Deeth, Recording Secretary