Iowa

Over 200 people showed up to this Iowa City public input meeting

Published

1 year ago

August 2, 2024

Over 200 people showed up to this Iowa City public input meeting

More than 200 people show up for public input meeting

More than 200 people showed up for a public input meeting about affordable housing on Wednesday evening at St. Patrick’s Church in Iowa City. (Meg Woolard/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — More than 200 people showed up for a public input meeting this week on affordable housing and how Iowa City should use its federal housing funds.

The Wednesday evening meeting at St. Patrick Church in east Iowa City was arranged by Escucha Mi Voz, a service organization that assists immigrant workers with housing, health services, legal aid and community organizing.

City staff, county officials and Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague were on hand for the session where members of Escucha Mi Voz provided personal testimonies about their renting experiences in Iowa City.

The stories included details of poor treatment from landlords, lack of access to affordable units, crowded apartments and inability to qualify for existing city rental support programs.

Escucha Mi Voz also offered formal recommendations on how to improve affordable housing access in the city. Among the ideas:

Prioritize rezoning with a focus on high density multifamily developments and allocate funds for affordable housing outside of the voucher system.

Work with organizations with a demonstrated need (like Escucha Mi Voz) on housing projects outside of the voucher system.

Negotiate a 20 percent donation from developers to support affordable housing projects in the area.

Update the city’s definition of homelessness to include those living in households with double occupancy or more, which educational institutions are using.
Assume immigrant workers and families are low to moderate income and to accept self certification for city housing assistance programs.

The money, the plan

Iowa City receives more than $1 million a year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of its Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership Program.

The funds are expected to be used to improve the living conditions of those with low to moderate incomes, people with special needs and people experiencing homelessness.

The city is updating its City Steps 2030 planning process to cover fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

The plan is expected to be ready sometime in March or April 2025. The city will send the plan to HUD in May 2025 and, if approved, it will be put into action at the start of the fiscal year on July 1, 2025.

This week, the city held two other public input at the Ridge Neighborhood Center and at the Broadway Neighborhood Center. City residents also can fill out an online survey on how the housing funds should be used.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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Iowa

Ben Kueter earns top-10 in return to Iowa men’s wrestling lineup

Published

5 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Ben Kueter earns top-10 in return to Iowa men’s wrestling lineup

Iowa heavyweight Ben Kueter is back and feels better than ever | The Gazette

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Iowa

Semi-truck crash causes Iowa power outage impacting hundreds

Published

17 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Semi-truck crash causes Iowa power outage impacting hundreds

TAMA COUNTY, Iowa — A pair of power outages left more than 700 people without power in Tama County Friday afternoon.

Alliant Energy says the larger outage, just north of Garwin, was caused by a semi-truck striking one of their power poles. That outages impacted 690 customers as of 5 p.m. Friday.

The smaller outage impacted roughly 36 people in Tama. The outage was caused by equipment needing repairs.

Alliant says crews are on site and working to fix both outages.

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Iowa

Iowa Great Lakes businessman Butch Parks dies at 81

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Iowa Great Lakes businessman Butch Parks dies at 81

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (KTIV) – The Iowa Great Lakes community is remembering Leo “Butch” Parks, a longtime lakes-area businessman and founder of Parks Marina.

He died Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the age of 81.

Parks established the marina on East Lake Okoboji in 1983, growing it from a small fishing boat operation into a business with marinas, sales, service, rentals, storage, and popular destinations like the Barefoot Bar.

Parks and his wife, Debbie, also owned Okoboji Boat Works for 23 years.

Funeral services are set for Friday, Jan. 16, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spirit Lake. It will be followed by a celebration of life at Snapper’s restaurant in Okoboji that evening.

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