Iowa City Council delays decision on removing Truth and Reconciliation Commission leader

IOWA CITY — The decision of whether to remove the leader of Iowa City’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be in front of the Iowa City Council again later this month.

The council met Thursday morning to discuss removing Amel Ali from the ad hoc commission after she used a racial insult against other Black leaders in the community and made inappropriate comments on a local podcast.

After a lengthy discussion about Ali’s leadership and the future of the commission, Mayor Pro Tem Megan Alter motioned to table the decision until council’s next meeting on Aug. 16. This motion passed 6-1, with Mayor Bruce Teague voting against tabling.

Council members want the commission to move forward, but they differ on whether that should involve Ali, who was appointed chair of the commission last month.

Some have said this is an opportunity for the commission to practice restorative justice. But other council members said they’re concerned this incident could discourage community members from coming forward to share their stories.

The Iowa City Council created the nine-member commission in 2020 in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The TRC’s mission is to gather testimony about racial injustices, foster ways for people to share their stories and encourage direct conversations in the community.

Calls for removal became public earlier this week when Johnson County Supervisor Royceann Porter said she learned of Ali’s comments through an anonymous letter and audio recording she received in the mail.

Some people at Thursday’s meeting spoke in support of Ali, who has apologized for the comments. They called the release of the podcast recordings a targeted attack meant to undermine the work of the commission.

The June 9 and June 16 podcast episodes of “Rock Hard Caucus,” on which Ali was a guest, are no longer posted online. The podcasts’s co-founders said the episodes were originally published behind a paywall.

Special meeting called

Teague said he intended to have a discussion about Ali’s leadership at the council’s next meeting later this month, but her comments at Tuesday’s council meeting prompted Thursday’s special meeting.

On Tuesday Ali said, “Despite the call by the mayor and others to have me resign, I can't walk away and turn my back on the trust, hope and responsibilities entrusted to all of us on this commission.”

An agenda for Thursday’s special formal meeting was distributed shortly after Tuesday’s meeting adjourned.

At the meeting Thursday morning, Teague played a recording of Ali’s comments. He also played a three-minute clip from the podcast. The clip did not include the racial insult.

Council has not heard or had access to the full podcast.

“That silence has been deafening,” council member Shawn Harmsen said about the podcast episodes not being available.

Commissioners haven’t discussed comments

Current commissioners — and some council members — said the TRC hasn’t had an opportunity to discuss what happened. The commission’s next meeting was Thursday evening. The agenda included discussion about “TRC leadership.”

Commissioner Daphney Daniel said the TRC wants to show the power of reconciliation and transformative justice.

Commissioner Mohamed Traore, who served as chair before Ali, said most of the commissioners have not heard more than a clip of the podcast.

“We haven’t had a chance to accurately discuss anything that’s a part of this,“ Traore said.

Justin Comer, producer of “Rock Hard Caucus,” said he was “aware that we were taking a risk by releasing this recording, paywalled or not.”

Comer added that the recording presented him with a decision “to either allow a hardworking, young Black woman to speak her mind and say what she feels needs to be said, or to hide it and suppress her truth.”

How to move forward?

Council member Laura Bergus advocated for allowing the commission do the work it was tasked with undertaking.

“We can turn to the commission — who we all verbalized that we trust, we have seen their progress, we know what they are capable of — and say this is your work,” Bergus said. “This community cannot heal, cannot move forward while this is just festering.

“They are getting to the work, and we should not shut them down,” she added.

John Thomas and Janice Weiner agreed, saying the decision to remove Ali has been rushed. Thomas pointed to the commission’s recent progress, including work on hiring a facilitator.

But Teague, Alter, Harmsen and Pauline Taylor had concerns about the commission and whether people will feel comfortable sharing their experiences with its members.

Teague said it’s not the responsibility of the commission to decide whether Ali should stay on or be removed. He added that there can be an opportunity for healing, but having Ali on the commission is not appropriate.

Alter acknowledged the long-standing tension between current and former commissioners. She — and other council members — said they’re concerned about the community’s willingness to engage in the reconciliation process after hearing Ali’s comments.

“It’s not about personal grudges,” Harmsen said. “ … It’s what has this done to the work the commission is supposed to be doing.”

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com