By Austin Petroski
Incumbent and newly elected Iowa City city councilors met Monday to discuss future plans for the city.
Jeff Schott, director of the University of Iowa Institute of Public Affairs, sat with councilors, and he will assist the City Council in creating a strategic plan for 2016 and 2017.
“This is to get you a good idea of what your priorities are and strategic ideas are,” he said.
City Manager Tom Markus said the strategic plan was important for the city moving forward.
“This sets the stage for the next two years on what we are going to do,” he said.
Outgoing and incoming city councilors spoke about what pleased them about the city and what issues they believed are plaguing the area.
Mayor Matt Hayek, who did not run for re-election, said he believes the city is pleased with the direction of the city the past few years and felt that collaboration was key.
“The most important dynamic is strong collaboration with city staff,” he said.
The incoming councilors also spoke about what they believe can be done to improve the city.
“I believe that focus on leadership in environmental issues is important,” incoming Councilor Rockne Cole.
Incoming Councilor John Thomas said transportation issues will be important to him.
“I am very interested in land use of transportation issues,” he said.
Incoming Councilor Pauline Taylor, a former nurse said, that health will be important to her future council work.
“I want to keep Iowa City healthy,” Taylor said.
Councilor Jim Throgmorton, who was re-elected to a difference seat and is likely to become mayor, proposed the idea of two new special committees for sustainability and social justice and race equity.
“This would be a signal to the city that we’re taking their concerns seriously,” he said.
Throgmorton said that the sustainability committee could help identify cost-efficient means to eliminate carbon emissions and identify an attainable goal by 2030.
Use of a local-option sales tax was also on the future planning agenda. Most of the councilors believe there was going to be a future need for such a tax, which voters rejected in 2014.
“I want to keep it on the back burner, strategize it, and know how to use it when we need to,” Markus said.
The council also spoke of accomplishments over the past two years, including the city’s AAA bond rating.
“Don’t take the AAA bond rating for granted; this is really important,” Schott said.
The group also spoke about low voter turnout in the recent election, which was just over 15 percent. Councilor Terry Dickens said the dearth of voters was displeasing and felt that many people just do not care about the council.
Throgmorton said reaching out to constituents is crucial.
“Our responsibility is to get out to them,” he said.
Correction: In a previous version of yours article, the DI reported that Terry Dickens was not re-
elected. His seat was not up for a vote in the previous election. The DI regrets the error.