Govern for inclusivity, justice and sustainability

In a guest opinion for The Gazette last January, I wrote, 'First you campaign and then, if elected, you have to govern.” Change would, I wrote, proceed incrementally 'in a way that builds on what is already great about Iowa City but also leads in a creative new direction.”

So, what has the Iowa City Council accomplished over the past year? And what do we hope to accomplish in the coming one?

We have had a very busy and productive year. Perhaps the most significant actions include:

(1) adopting a new strategic plan, which identified actions we would take to forge an inclusive, just, and sustainable city;

(2) hiring a truly outstanding young man, Geoff Fruin, as our new city manager;

(3) adopting a comprehensive Affordable Housing Action Plan and several specific actions contained in it;

(4) creating a new Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant Program and testing a new Racial and Socioeconomic Equity Toolkit;

(5) approving the hiring of an outstanding new chief of police;

(6) significantly increasing the diversity of our police department;

(7) hiring a consultant to help us devise new 'Form Based Codes” for the Northside neighborhood and the area around Alexander Elementary;

(8) taking major steps toward making Iowa City a Gold Bike Friendly City;

(9) requiring recycling facilities in multifamily units;

(10) adopting a carbon emission reduction goal and setting related actions into motion;

(11) supporting a tremendous amount of construction, including 'The Rise at Linn and Court,” the Hilton Garden Inn on Clinton Street, town houses and a new parking structure on S. Dubuque Street, and a proposed seven-story building at 7 N. Linn St.;

(12) honoring the prior council's contractual commitments to 'The Chauncey”;

(13) enabling completion of the First Avenue railroad overpass and (almost) the reconstruction of two blocks of Washington Street;

(14) facilitating good progress toward completing the Gateway Project;

(15) permitting Uber and similar companies to operate in Iowa City; and much more!

Looking ahead to the coming year, we'll proceed step-by-step toward fulfilling our strategic plan priorities. Key elements of our Affordable Housing Action Plan will be enacted. We'll work with the city manager and new police chief to reduce disproportionality in traffic stops, searches, and arrests. We'll work with other key stakeholders to provide homeless people with stabilization and recovery services in a single 'Access Center.” With the help of a consultant and a community-based advisory committee, we'll determine how best to achieve our carbon emission reduction goal. Several major development projects will be (or nearly be) completed, and we expect to see several major new development proposals come our way. We look forward to working with the developers and the public to ensure that their projects will serve Iowa City well.

But the political context for our work will be quite different in 2017. In my January 2016 Op-Ed, I wrote, 'we are not completely the masters of our own fate. We will encounter unexpected events.” Sure enough, just such an event took place on Nov. 8. The shift in political control produced by that election will present us with major challenges over the coming year. Like former heavyweight boxing champ Mohammad Ali, we'll have to be nimble on our feet, adjusting quickly to adverse circumstances and unexpected opportunities as they arise. And we will need the help of this beautiful and diverse community of which we are a part, especially with regard to protecting the most vulnerable of our residents.

' Jim Throgmorton is mayor of Iowa City. More information: www.icgov.org