More than 200 people show up for public input meeting

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:

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

MADISON, Wis. (WEAU) – WMTV reports wanted man George Hartleroad is in Dane County Jail after running away.

Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes confirmed George Hartleroad was charged and sentenced in Chippewa County.

WMTV reports police officers stopped 71-year-old Hartleroad for not having a rear reflector on his bicycle in West Des Moines, IA in June.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Hartleroad ran away from a halfway house he was supposed to be living in and never came back in July of 1995 from a Madison halfway house in 1995 when he was under community supervision.

WMTV reports the D.O.C. offender page shows that Hartleroad was convicted of endangering safety by conduct regardless of life, false imprisonment and possession of a rifle in 1983. CNN reported that Hartleroad is a convicted rapist in Wisconsin.

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