MINUTES OF THE JOINT INFORMAL MEETING OF JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COMMITTEE (RENAMED JUSTICE CENTER COORDINATING COMMITTEE):
FEBRUARY 11, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Discussion: Utilization of the Vernon Research Group
Report on Activities of Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Coordinator Bob Elliott
Report from Alternatives and Treatment Opportunities Subcommittee
Report from Public Awareness and Information Subcommittee
Report from Facilities Planning Subcommittee
Additional Comments from Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Members
Discussion: Local Option Sales Tax Legislation
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 4:03 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee members present were: Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Coordinator Bob Elliott, Harney, County Attorney Janet Lyness, County Bar Association Representative James McCarragher, Professor Emeritus John Stratton, and Sullivan; absent: County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek.
Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Coordinator Bob Elliott said he met with Vernon Research Group Business Development Manager Susan Pfeiler-Todd. He said Pfeiler-Todd sent him two informal proposals and he would like meet with the core committee group for discussion and then to make a recommendation to the Board. The first proposal is a five minute telephone survey that would cost $19,000. The second is a twenty minute extensive telephone survey costing $30,000 to $35,000. He wants to get a sense of how valuable, how cost-effective, and how necessary the Board thinks that input would be. Elliott asked how the Board would like him to present the information. Neuzil said the process should have the core group presenting to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) and then bringing it the Board in informal and formal sessions.
R. Sullivan asked who the members of the core group are. Elliott provided a hardcopy of the committee list for the Board’s approval. The core group had asterisks on the list. Neuzil said one of Elliott’s first objectives was to confirm who is on the CJCC and each sub-committee and then determine what is lacking. Elliott said after he distributed the first list he met with Mindy Lamb and Jerri Allen from the Department of Correctional Services who had a lot of expertise in the area so he spoke with the respective subcommittee chairs to consider their membership on sub-committees.
R. Sullivan said he is concerned with decisions being made without the whole Board's presence. When he was first elected the Board, there was not good communication with the CJCC. The remedy was joint meetings, but if things are done and repeated 2 weeks later, it might not be productive. Elliott said the CJCC had a productive meeting, but they make no decisions, they can only recommend to the Board. Stutsman clarified Elliott meant core committee when he refers to the committee. Elliott said yes. Stutsman said the Board should give Elliott the opportunity to organize this before they discuss any changes. Elliott said he wants to hear opinions from the Board.
R. Sullivan said he has strong feelings. Stutsman asked if R. Sullivan is concerned he is not part of the core group. R. Sullivan said he does not understand having a core group. The problem in the first place was the Board had a committee gathering information and making recommendations, which were only being shared with one or two Supervisors. Former County Attorney Pat White said this project is the most important issue the Board members would face. Since it is an important issue, he is an advocate of joint meetings. That means the core group will have to have the same discussions two weeks later to inform the rest of the Board who could not take part. He said he supports joint meetings because issues should not have to be hashed out twice. Neuzil said the core group is composed of County Attorney Janet Lyness, County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, Harney, and Elliott. The core group is to allow Elliott the opportunity to get the process going and keep the group organized. He feels Elliott has used the core group as a sounding board. Stutsman was supportive of committee, because it is less cumbersome. She asked if R. Sullivan would feel better if there were two Supervisors on the core group. She said it was not an issue for her not to be included in the core group. R. Sullivan said what has happened in the past, decisions were made, then came to the Board where Supervisors were not in the loop. He said it is a mistake not to keep all Supervisors in the loop as much as possible. Harney said R. Sullivan is reading too much into it. The core group was assembled to have a discussion on the Vernon Group and how the County should proceed, but was still to be brought before the entire Board for a decision. It was a way to manage and get things moving.
County Attorney Janet Lyness said the core group was designed to fill Elliott in about the project and his responsibilities and give him people to ask questions. R. Sullivan said he means no offense, but has had items come to the Board the night of a meeting that he had never heard of. If it is a big issue he wants to be involved. Iowa City City Council member Connie Champion asked if the Board has time at their regularly scheduled meetings to discuss committee meetings. She said the City Council does not go to every meeting; they are all on committees and they report to the Council as a whole during Council time. Neuzil said they do, but the Board has officially combined the CJCC into a joint CJCC and Board of Supervisors process every month. R. Sullivan restated his position, saying he does not want to see his history with the issue, which is not good, repeated. Stutsman said there will be better communication and follow-through now that the CJCC has a coordinator. Elliott said he feels the Committee is more productive if it meets and discusses issues around a table. Board meetings are semiformal where the speaker is at a microphone and there is not the give and take. The decision is still with the Board. R. Sullivan said this meeting could be moved downstairs. Stutsman said it does not seem like any other Supervisors want to be involved in the core grou, so they should just add R. Sullivan. Neuzil said the core group members helped write the job description, so it was natural that they help Elliott in the learning process. He said the question is more if a core group will be necessary much longer.
Elliott said he is looking for the subcommittees to be doing the majority of the heavy lifting for the next couple of months He said the Facilities sub-committee (Facilities) has a great deal of information, perhaps all that is needed, so now they need to discuss to be able to make formal recommendations to the Board. Neuzil said it would be helpful to know how the list and the new committee were determined. He said he is confused about the purpose of the new External Funding/Grants subcommittee that is chaired by Facilities Director Dave Kempf, as he would put Kempf under Facilities. Elliott said Kempf is on Facilities. His thought on the External Funding/Grants Sub-committee is that it seems like there is between modest opportunities to little to no opportunity for any government grants. He wants to make every effort to investigate any available funding other than taxpayers' dollars. Harney said Kempf volunteered to work with County Treasurer Tom Kriz and Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson on that. Neuzil said he thought it was strange for Kempf to be looking into an area not in his area of expertise.
Elliott said if the Board is not comfortable with his suggests he wants to know. R. Sullivan said he has a meeting scheduled with Elliott, which would be a better venue for discussion. Elliott said he sat down with former Board of Supervisors Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan to write down who was on which committee but he missed Stutsman on the Alternatives & Treatments subcommittee (Alternatives). He wishes there were only four to five people on each subcommittee. For Alternatives, Lyness said having Lamb from Department of Correctional Services is probably sufficient. She offered to check with both people to see which would prefer to participate. Elliott said Allen had expressed interest in being on Facilities. Neuzil asked if Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne would be better suited to the External Funding/Grants Sub-committee instead of Facilities. When he looks at External Funding/Grants subcommittee, he thinks more of Kriz’s input should be on how to fund the project than how much room should be in the facility. Stutsman said the name of the subcommittee should be changed to Funding. Neuzil agreed, saying a funding subcommittee is appropriate, because the Board has to determine how to pay for the project.
Elliott said he liked having Kriz on one of the committees as an elected official other than the Board members. Neuzil said it would be good if all the County elected officials were on one of the sub-committees. In 2000 the County Attorney and Auditor were not on the same page as the Board of Supervisors, so it would be good to include the Recorder Kim Painter and Auditor Tom Slockett. Stutsman said Painter has fantastic writing skills and might be a great asset to the Public Information/Outreach Sub-committee (Public Information). Neuzil said the Board should invite Slockett to participate in the Funding subcommittee. Neuzil said he does not have an issue with larger sub-committees as long as the chair is able to divide the workload. Elliott said having a larger sub-committee provides a greater representation of concerns and suggestions, but it makes it harder for chairs of those committees to update all members who were unable to attend. Meyers said his name is not on the list and he would like to be on the Facilities Sub-committee. Elliott said that sound goods. Neuzil said it would be nice to have a Supervisor on each of the Sub-committees. Champion said Neuzil should be on Public Information. R. Sullivan said he will move to Funding.
Neuzil asked if John Neff was on Public Information. Elliott said Neff did not want to be on the committee but would available to do special services. Neuzil said he did not want to be on the CJCC, but does want to be on Public Information. He does not know if there is a CJCC any longer in the sense of seven members, because the Board is included. He is curious whether the Board wants to keep that structure. Elliott said, when the sub-committees meet, he would like a small group of people that can meet on short notice to bounce ideas off of. Neuzil said there could be CJCC and a full meeting with CJCC and Board. He thinks the CJCC needs to be restructured so that the chairs of the subcommittees would be involved. The CJCC would then meet with the Board. He said the meetings will be more intense in the next year and a half. Elliott said he has no investment in the committee structure, because the structure was given to him by the Board. Neuzil said the structure is three or four years old.
Alternatives Sub-committee member Dorothy Whiston said the CJCC came out of an earlier taskforce and there is strong feeling there should be community members on it. She does not care if she is on the CJCC, but there should be community representation. Facilities Sub-comittee Community representative Kara Logsden asked if the CJCC should be called the Justice Center Coordinating Committee, because the focus has shifted to a justice center. Elliott said it would be good to clearly define the committee’s name. He has been pushing for calling the Justice Center Coordinating Committee (JCCC). Neuzil reiterated the Board needs to decide who will chair the sub-committees and who would belong on the Justice Center Coordinating Committee. R. Sullivan said Sergeant Kevin Bell and Captain Dave Wagner are both on Alternatives, but only one needs speak for the Sheriff’s Office, so it would be good to move the other to Facilities. Both are intimately involved in the mechanics of moving prisoners. Elliott and Harney said Pulkrabek suggested they both be on Alternatives. Stutsman said Alternatives has really done their work and there is not much left to do. Harney suggested speaking with Pulkrabek about moving one. Neuzil said the Board would move Whiston to Public Information per her request.
R. Sullivan said it is vital for the Iowa City Chief of the Police or a top subordinate be part of a subcommittee. They often have questions about Iowa City and how they police, which the subcommittee members cannot respond to. Champion asked about including the Coralville Police Department then. R. Sullivan said the main concern is with Iowa City; there are a lot of misconceptions that only the Iowa City Police Department can answer. Champion said this was an issue discussed on the CJCC several years ago. She thinks it would be nice if a Supervisor called to make the request to participate. Harney said he believes the Chief of Police is willing to participate, but he wants to get to the point where they will be contributing something. Elliott said he considered representation from different areas, but one reason for representation from the City of Iowa City is the facility will be located in Iowa City. R. Sullivan said the argument the Board hears is the Jail is full of people Iowa City Police arrest from the bars. The only people who can address that factually is the Iowa City Police Department themselves. Harney said the Jail employees have come numerous times reporting it is not filled with intoxicated people. Neuzil said the Board needs an Iowa City Police officer to confirm that. R. Sullivan said the public has not gotten the message. Stutsman asked if the Board is trying to change how they do their work or get input. R. Sullivan said the Iowa City Police need to explain what they do and why and if it impacts the facility.
Elliott said Public Information is vitally important because when the County knows what and where they will build, the public needs to fully understand the reasons and need for the facility. It is important to have a committee of people who can communicate that to the public. One of John Neff’s final reports stated that 80% of people incarcerated in the Jail are not from alcohol-related arrests in Iowa City, which needs to be emphasized. Harney said he gets irritated when people say Iowa City Police is the problem, when there are University of Iowa Department of Public Safety (UIDPS) officers and Department of Correctional Services officers also making arrests.
Neuzil said the Board needs to decide who is on the Justice Center Coordinating Committee (JCCC, formerly CJCC). Champion said she thought the whole committee would be the JCCC with a core group or head group. Stutsman said that the first group listed would be given a different name, then and everyone would be on the JCCC. Elliott said he looks at the structure as all participants are members of the committee, but some are assigned to sub-committees. Neuzil said the structure should be a JCCC with seven people: a smaller group that could get together two weeks before the joint meeting takes place to put together the agendas and get organized. They would come to the joint JCCC/Board of Supervisors meeting. Everyone else would be participating on a sub-committee. Elliott said it should be made clear to the sub-committee members there will be time for minority reports at the joint meetings. He wants people to be able to share opinions about why they do not agree with certain decisions. Harney said he does not want anyone who comes to meetings to be left out.
Neuzil suggested the chairs of sub-committees be on the JCCC. Elliott said Neuzil has expressed concern with some of the chairs. Neuzil said it seemed strange Kempf would be the chair of Funding. Stutsman agreed it should be Kriz or Slockett. Neuzil said R. Sullivan could chair Funding, which would also put him on the JCCC. Attorney James McCarragher said Neuzil should be the Public Information Chair. Neuzil said he would rather not, because the Board should not have more than two Supervisors on the JCCC and there is value in getting citizens involved. He is hopeful Public Information will be a catalyst for funding or selling the idea to the public. If the County gets to a point where they consider bonding or a sales tax, a Supervisor cannot lead the effort.
Elliott said he is hoping Public Information will have a list shortly of all the groups in the County that they should be speaking to and who should carry out the message. Neuzil said the JCCC is Elliott, Harney, Lyness, R. Sullivan, Pulkrabek, and McCarragher. Another community member would be nice. Whiston nominated Stratton. Neuzil confirmed the committee members would be Lyness, Elliott, R. Sullivan, Harney, Pulkrabek, McCarragher, and Stratton. The duties will include assembling agendas and working with the Board. It would be similar to how they run meetings with MH/DS. Stutsman said there are people attending these meetings that would not need to be present for other meetings. Neuzil said the Sub-committee members would not be required to attend, but could come to the joint meeting. Elliott said would agree, as asking that the Board allows sub-committee members the opportunity to speak about issues from sub-committee meetings they disagreed with.
Neuzil said the Board needs to consider where the new Board of Supervisors Executive Assistant would participate. Elliott said he assumed that person would be who he worked most directly with. Neuzil said that will depend whether the person is from here and understands the issues. Elliott said he would like to get things moving, so when subcommittees are asked to present information they have the information and recommendations to make. Neuzil asked those attending to think about who is missing on the sub-committees. Harney said the Board should include the Coralville Police Department. Neuzil said the Board could consider the U of I Department of Public Safety, even though they have representation from the University of Iowa, and also the U of I student government. Elliott said it would be nice in sending mailings to have a group who is extremely representative of a variety of interests and concerns involved with the project, which is what the Board is trying to obtain.
Lyness said she sent out an email saying the subcommittee needs to meet in two weeks time. The Subcommittee will look at their December 2006 report to see if there is anything further they want to consider.
McCarragher said they need to get contact information before they move forward.
Harney said he has spoken with General Services Administration (GSA) Senior Property Manager Roger Foster. The GSA is willing to participate, but they cannot do anything further until there is a proposal from the County. He said Foster is developing a response letter to verify everything that has been discussed. Any information the GSA gets goes to their General Council. If the GSA decides to sell the property, they need to go through a disposal process, which is through a firm in Texas and requires giving federal and state governments the first options. The GSA needs more information about funding and parking, such as if the County is offering a ramp or other alternatives. They also want to know how the County plans to purchase the property. GSA also requested a concrete plan to send to their executive council for review.
Neuzil said it sounds like Facilities needs to get together to put a proposal in place. The County has worked hard to identify the location, but the County needs that land. Stutsman asked if the funding would be part of the bond. Harney said the initial thought was it would be part of the funding stream the County chose, but the GSA wants some guarantee this will move forward. Stutsman said Facilities may need alternate ideas of how to buy the lot, because there are a lot of ifs for GSA to base their decision. Champion said in order for anything to move forward the County needs the land, so they may need to provide parking for the GSA. Harney said one question the GSA asked was where the GSA could park during the transition.
Elliott said the lead group needs to determine a recommendation on the Vernon Group’s proposed options to bring forward to the Board. He said it will be helpful to tell Vernon Group what kinds of information the County wants rather than specific questions.
Neuzil said the Iowa City Council is coming to the Board to request a piece of sales tax legislation. The Board needs to determine how they would designate those dollars, if the tax would pass. One County need is a justice center and wants to know this group’s thoughts. The Finance Committee is meeting to discuss the needs and the Board will have an informal discussion on February 19, 2009. Champion asked what the County’s share would be. Neuzil said the tax will be based on 114,000 residents, 22,000 of which are rural residents that would generate an estimated $4.5 million per year for the County. If the sales tax lasts five years it would raise $22.5 million. Stutsman asked if Neuzil was saying the unincorporated area should pay for a new jail instead of giving property tax relief or improving roads in the unincorporated area. Neuzil said he assumes $22.5 million will not cover the cost of a jail and the money will be a fund to put towards it. The timing could not be worse for the justice center, because if it passes the County will only have $22.5 million raised after five years. If it fails, then it is even more of a message that people are not ready to support an additional tax increase for two or three more years. It questions whether the Board can afford a $60 to $70 million project. Champion said the City of Coralville brought the issue forward, which is why Iowa City was willing to put it on the ballot. Iowa City would use it for three major flood-related projects.
Elliott asked Champion of the Iowa City will be determining the form and whether there is a sunset. Champion said Iowa City will recommend a five year sunset. Neuzil said the Board determines the sunset. Elliott said, if it has any chance of passing, it has to have a sunset that needs to be specifically identified. Harney said he has concerns about the level of tax, because it is not enough to make a dent in the amount the County needs. Harney asked if Stutsman’s concern is whether one group will pay for the justice center. Stutsman said the unincorporated area will want roads fixed and property tax relief. Neuzil said, if the Board does not include the justice center and it passes, then the County should take the justice center off the table until the sales tax is finished. He does not think the Board will be in a situation to find funding. Champion said Johnson County is the only county that does not have a sales tax. Neuzil said Linn County does not currently. Champion said she wondered if this project would compromise a sales tax for the justice center. She said if it does not pass, in three to five years the County could propose a sales tax to pay for the justice center. Neuzil said it would only work if all the communities agreed to put their share towards the justice center.
Harney said it creates a huge problem for Facilities, because they cannot propose plans for a facility if they cannot pay for it. Champion said when people realize the County could pay for the justice center in three years they would get onboard. Neuzil said the question is what to put on the ballot for the County. He said if the sales tax passes without the justice center on the ballot, they will have to wait a long time and therefore utilizing Vernon Research Group services might be useless at this point. Elliott said Neuzil is correct. Everything needs to be on the table right now, because the County may come to an alternative that requires waiting, which he would hate to see. R. Sullivan said the rural vote will be independent of any other community. Neuzil said the rural residents would still pay it within the other communities and the funds go to Iowa City or Coralville. Stutsman said people look at what they will get out of it. Neuzil said because Coralville has a large retail entity, they are in the driver’s seat. Stutsman said it would be better to have all or none. The purpose of the legislation was flood relief. R. Sullivan said Marion stated how they would use the money if their tax passed, but said they would rescind the sales tax if Cedar Rapids voted it down. Neuzil suggested the County should do something similar, so that rural businesses are not disadvantaged, because their area has a tax while another does not.
Neuzil said the next meeting is Tuesday March 3, 2009 at 4 p.m.
Adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Casie Kadlec, Deputy Auditor, and John Deeth, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on July 10, 2009 at 2:00 pm.