I.C. City Council looks for ways landlords can help with public safety

Landlords in Iowa City may be asked to help the city respond to public safety concerns.

Among the ideas City Council members expressed interest in at a work session Monday night were requiring landlords to attend training courses and conduct background checks on tenants.

Another concept receiving support was having at least one police officer dedicated to working with juveniles and doing more to clean up graffiti.

Staff will research the ideas and bring back information to the council at an undetermined date.

The meeting was the council's latest attempt to respond to criminal activity in southeast Iowa City, although the proposals would apply citywide. The council recently deferred action on a juvenile curfew ordinance.

The landlord and juvenile police officer suggestions came from a trip Iowa City-area officials made in October to Davenport. As The Gazette reported in September, a Cedar Rapids contingent made a similar trip in the summer to study Davenport's landlord regulations and neighborhood policing efforts.

Davenport has an ordinance requiring landlords to attend an eight-hour course to obtain a rental permit. Topics covered include crime, nuisance, civil rights and housing code/fire awareness.

Davenport also requires background checks on rental applicants and, with the help of volunteers, provides the service free to landlords.

Iowa City currently does not require background checks by private landlords, but people receiving government housing assistance do undergo them. There are about 3,800 rental permits in Iowa City, although it wasn't immediately clear how many landlords there are.

Iowa City police officer Steve Fortmann, who made the Davenport trip, liked the idea of using an ordinance.

“It's not on the landlord; it's the law,” he said.

Council member Ross Wilburn said it also would force out-of-town landlords to have at least some local accountability.

Council member Amy Correia, who went to Davenport, stressed that it would take resources to do these things.

So too would having a police officer, or officers, dedicated to juvenile issues, Chief Sam Hargadine said. He envisioned it as a specialty position, with the person working with the schools and attending youth-oriented meetings.

The council said they'd work with the county and other area cities because their policies could affect neighboring communities. Representatives from Coralville and North Liberty made the Davenport trip.