I've grouped them into major themes of "Quality of Life", "Economic Development", and "Government Efficiency". Through these explanations, I hope you'll get a better sense for my thought process and overall philosophy of the role of municipal government in our daily lives.
We live in a vehicle-based society (for better or worse) and it takes a toll on our social interactions and mental well-being. Serving on the city's Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee has shown me that we're making great strides (if you'll excuse the pun) to make our streets more walkable and bikeable, so those who choose to can safely leave their cars behind. I'm especially encouraged by the paths along the new University Avenue and future First Street Corridor. Still, I'm very concerned that cars don't stop for pedestrians at crosswalks as required (especially near UNI) and as a frequently bus-rider and walk-to-work-er, I'm generally concerned about distracted driving and the safety of our bicyclists and pedestrians.
I also support the MET bus service (and am a regular rider) and would love to see it be a more practical option for people who want to leave their car at home (or not have one in the first place). I'd love to see actual signage placed along the routes, along with real-time views of bus locations like other cities have. It's no fun to be standing out in the cold, wondering if you might've already missed the bus! We need to invest in our public transportation in order to lure folks away from their own steering wheels.
Updated: March 30, 2019
During my city council campaign in Summer-Fall 2017, the new fireworks law and its effects on Cedar Falls residents came up frequently during my doorknocking. Based on the input I received then, and from the information I've obtained since then (from residents, Cedar Falls Police, fireworks dealers, and policymakers), here's my position on the use of fireworks within city limits:
Fireworks are part of our national heritage, and if used responsibly and lawfully, I believe we can preserve the rights of fireworks proponents while respecting the concerns of opponents. Neighborly consideration and safe practices would ensure that a ban is unnecessary in Cedar Falls, and I hope that we can reach a workable community consensus in the coming years.
Created April 4, 2019
My Short Position:
I strongly support the city's efforts to create a modern city code which can serve as a platform for sustainable economic development, increased government efficiency and improved quality of life for residents. The new Downtown Visioning process is a critical part of developing this code, and I'm excited to be a part of it.
Background & Explanation:
Our current zoning ordinances are based on a framework that was built in 1970; since that time, the philosophy around urban planning has evolved away from zoning large swaths of land for only one use (i.e. 'carpet zoning'). On April 2nd, 2019, the community kicked off a "Downtown Visioning" process to explore how we, as residents, want to experience our downtown in the years ahead. It's a big deal for me, because our downtown was the main reason we chose to live in Cedar Falls, and why we bought a house just seven blocks away.
I can express my own views on what I'd like downtown to look like in the coming decade, but what really matters is the consensus from residents. It's very important that you participate in the Downtown Visioning process these next few months, because the input will influence policymaking for years to come.
If you're looking for some specific positions and philosophies from me about downtown issues, check out my related positions on:
I'll also note that I'm a fan of the Strong Towns organization, a non-partisan group which seeks to spark conversation and critical thinking about the right and wrong way to carry out development and urban planning. Take a look at their blog -- one of my favorite topics is the dangers of stroads (I'm looking at you, West First Street) ... and over the last couple of years, I've been interested in what's coming out from Congress for the New Urbanism (with a desire to innoculate our downtown from the risks of the McMain Street).
Over the couple of months, I've been studying the concepts of the Smart Growth Manual that Mayor Brown gave all the City Councilors...I see some interesting ideas that I believe are worth discussing as part of recodification effort...I built a database to track resources on these topics, and have tagged the ones that I think are related to downtown at https://citygrowth.robgreeniowa.com/tags/downtown. I listed my interest level in discussing each topic, based on how practical they might be for our downtown. I look forward to discussing some of these as part of the Downtown Visioning process!
I should note that, when it comes to urban development, some of the detractors of the concepts in the Smart Growth Manual say it's part of a UN-driven global effort to force people into high-density apartment living, like a Soviet-era metropolis. I appreciate that some people really like their subdivisions and suburban living....I just want to make sure that's not the only game in town, and that poeple still have opportunities to live affordably, close to (or even inside) our downtown area like my family does. I'll be bringing that up as part of Downtown Visioning, and if you disagree I hope we can talk about it so I can better understand your point of view.
And along those lines --- these are some tough, complicated concepts. I'm constantly learning, and challenging my own assumptions on urban planning. It's a fascinating topic, but my only expertise is that - like you - I'm living it everyday as a resident. Let's share resources and ideas, for the best outcome for Cedar Falls.
Main Street is no longer the highway that justified its current configuration. If the costs aren't significantly higher than a straight rebuild 'as is', then I support reducing the number of lanes from 6th Street to 18th Street, in order to 'reconnect' the eastern and western sections of the Overman Park neighborhood by removing the highway-level roadway that separates them.
I don't have an opinion yet on roundabouts for the 12th and 18th Street intersections. I need to know a lot more about the costs for implementation. I do see that roundabouts tend to minimize traffic by eliminating the 'platoons' of cars that all move together due to signalized intersections.
Finally, Main Street from 18th to Seerley should be reconstructed "as is". Because of zoning, this stretch of road has a very different character (commercial) from the stretch going northward from 18th (residential). I don't believe we should be entertaining lane reductions from 18th to Seerley.
I believe that our current neighborhood association structure is lacking; as past president of the Overman Park Neighborhood Association, I was surprised to see that, in neighborhood briefs to city council, only North Cedar, Overman Park, Community Main Street and College Hill had a seat at the table. And these groups briefed City Council only irregularly (once a year at most).
I follow neighborhood association activities around the country in order to learn best practices, and the most successful ones have a defined city component (usually in the form of a volunteer neighborhood services committee). As your At-Large city council rep, I would advocate for establishing a similar committee for Cedar Falls, comprised of the leaders of each of the neighborhood associations, along with a city staff member and the Iowa Regional Council of Governments (INRCOG). This committee would exist to foster communication between the associations, as well as to apply for and distribute grant funds to support city-wide neighborhood development projects and coordinate events like National Night Out.
To make this idea happen, we'd ideally need new neighborhood associations for other areas of the city. While the city isn't responsible for creating them, as your At-Large rep on City Council I'd take on the challenge of identifing and recruiting potential leaders and helping them to organize and establish their organizations. And I believe the city can help by establishing recognized neighborhood districts (similar to what's already been done unofficially by the Tourism and Visitors Bureau). These new, official neighborhood districts could then be the boundaries for the new associations, as the non-governmental means to address neighborhood issues and advocate for improvements and services.
Infilling our existing neighborhoods though rehabilitated homes (like mine!) and appropriate new construction would lesson the demand for new infrastructure. While I'm not saying the city should have a direct role in some of these efforts, how can the municipal government set the stage to allow these kinds of activities to occur organically? I understand that we already provide a tax credit for converting homes back from rental to single-family, but are there other actions the community can take to make our original neighborhoods more attractive to families and others moving into the Cedar Valley?
Having spent significant time in cities with roundabouts, I've grown accustomed to them and appreciate not having to idle at a stoplight. As I understand from reputable statistical sources, roundabouts are generally safer than intersections due to lower collision speeds and the far-lower risk of head-on collisions.
That said, I don't believe that roundabouts are appropriate in certain areas, and if used, they should be kept as simple as possible (multiple outlets like we have at University & Boulder are just confusing). And as we build them, we ought to keep the center circle as simple as possible -- large obstructions or complex landscaping are a needles (and expensive) distraction.
The strategic planning team spent a year building the Community-Wide Strategic Plan, and I think it's a great document overall. The city should appoint an implementation team to see it through -- monitoring efforts, celebrating achievements, and addressing problems. As your At-Large representative, I'd encourage frequent engagement with plan stakeholders to ensure they know the city is committed to the plan's success.
Updated 4/10/2019
I believe the city has a strong role to play in promoting vibrant, resilient neighborhoods. That includes investing in infrastructure, fostering neighbor-to-neighbor connections, and partnering with neighborhood associations to address neighborhood needs.
As mayor, I'll proudly and actively serve as your "Neighbor-in-Chief", spearheading efforts to:
Neighborhoods are a key building block of a community; the City is currently engaging in a code modernization effort to help build the kind of community that fosters healthy neighbor relationships...I fully support that effort, as I've described elsewhere. And while the city government certainly shouldn't be putting on neighborhood block parties, it also should avoid placing obstacles in the way of neighbor-driven efforts (like charging a fee for barricades to close off a street for a block party). The mayor should be actively seeking ways to help foster active, healthy neighborhoods with the support of the City Council. And finding ways to spotlight neighborhood success stories -- because (as I learned in the military) what gets celebrated gets repeated.
I'm a neighborhoods guy...I've spent the last few years working to map and name our neighborhoods; I've also been a moderator and community lead on Nextdoor.com for the past five years. I've seen how neighbors can help neighbors in the 2016 floods...in clearing fire hydrants after heavy snow....in welcoming a new family down the street...and myriad other actions both large and small. That's the Cedar Falls I want to live in, and I hope it's the one you want to live in, too. If so, I hope you'll elect me as your Neighbor-in-Chief this November.
I strongly support incentivizing new development within our existing infrastructure, and am very happy about the construction of new retail / residential both next to University Book and Supply, and in the existing Great Wall plot in College Hill. As we seek to draw in the millennial generation into our community, I believe that closer-knit communities are going to be a key attraction. I believe that business expansion will occur in southern Cedar Falls regardless of incentives, so instead I support incentivizing in downtown Cedar Falls, North Cedar, College Hill, University Avenue, and Thunder Ridge in order to promote the use of our existing infrastructure whenever possible, and to reduce sprawl.
Having traveled the country as a Coast Guard officer, I've passed through plenty towns where the downtown area cratered due to sprawl and poor development & zoning decisions. I want to make sure that doesn't happen to our downtown; part of that is by developing evenly in all directions from downtown, as much as possible. I'm greatly encouraged by Main Street's continued renaissance, the gem that is our Cedar Falls Public Library, and the new investments in North Cedar Elementary, Center Street, and University Avenue (which, on the map, is still toward Cedar Falls' center). As your at-large rep, I'll be eager to explore ways to continue both infilling businesses in our central Cedar Falls infrastructure, as well as encouraging growth north of University Avenue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like expansion will happen regardless in southern Cedar Falls, because of the money to be made there....which is why I believe on City Council we need to ensure that's not happening at the expense of the rest of our residents' quality of life.
Thanks to our speedy internet, infrastructure, and the 'moving in' of professionals from around the country (particularly at UNI and John Deere) we have a very healthy but stealthy community of remote-workers, who are bringing in paychecks from Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis and elsewhere to spend in the local community. I would like to explore avenues for spotlighting and supporting these workers; one such possibility is offering a 'corporate discount' of sorts for recreation center workout passes, or a paid childcare area at the public library (similar to what's available at the rec center) so that our remote workers can have a change of scenery while they research. I'm not saying that either of those are great ideas at this point, but just as examples of what we should be exploring. The goal? To help new residents quickly and easily bring their jobs with them, rather than to have to find new work locally!
I support spending of TIF-UD funds only on projects which directly promote the economic development of our industrial parks, with an emphasis on the under-developed Northern Cedar Falls Industrial Park.
Background: When the original Industrial Park Tax Increment Fund (TIF) districts were created, the purpose was to spur economic development in our two industrial parks. In 2011, the decision was made to combine them into a Unified District (TIF-UD), connected by a ribbon of Highway 58. That ribbon solely exists to make the TIF area "contiguous" (one single blob) as required by state law. So, though it would be legal to spend money on projects along the ribbon (but outside the Industrial Parks themselves), it's not in keeping with the spirit and intent of the TIF-UD. For this reason, regardless of a project's overall merit, if it does not directly relate to industrial park development, the money for execution must be found elsewhere.
In Waterloo, there's recently been some concern over the use of incentives to lure businesses into a new strip mall area on Ridgeway. The Courier editorialized that it wasn't appropriate to grant tax incentives to shift businesses from one location of the city to another, and I completely agree. Those kinds of incentives should be used to bring in new businesses and strengthen the tax base in the long-run...not just shift it around.
Our municipal code exists to protect the rights of individuals, to establish boundaries of municipal government operation, and to promote the health, safety and welfare of residents. In situations where ordinances are open to interpretation, city council members are entrusted by residents to show wisdom in determining the most prudent course of action.
The City Council must understand and follow the letter and intent of our code -- rather than to defer to precedents, the interpretations of others, or to apply a 'liberal interpretation' of the code (which adds unwritten stipulations or qualifications to the code, or neglects aspects of it). Only once the proposed action complies with the code as written, should council address the merits of the issue at hand.
City Council sometimes revisits ordinances in response to actions or proposals; opponents claim that the City Council is modifying the code to serve the interests of a few. While the ordinance change process could be abused in this manner, I also appreciate that the code doesn't anticipate every situation. A few obsolete ordinances do exist (like a prohibition on tying a horse to a telegraph pole), but unless the ordinance is unfair, injurious or unconstitutional, the most practical time to revisit an obsolete ordinance is often when a real-world situation requires it. This doesn't mean re-writing an ordinance to benefit just a few, but instead it should result in bringing our code up-to-date with current societal standards and expectations.
We currently use a proprietary web system from a company in Kansas City called CivicPlus. Cedar Falls touts itself as having a world-class internet and a tech infrastructure to support it, which makes me question why we have to send money out of state for web development, when we could be doing it right here. Certainly MuniCode (which I love) and other custom web apps need to be retained, but I believe we could create a better, more responsive and mobile-friendly system by partnering with our talented UNI staff and students. And save money to boot! I appreciate there may be legal reasons we have to stick with our current system, but as your at-large rep I'm certainly going to be banging the drum for improved web services...both for increased convenience for residents, and greater efficiency for city staff.
[UPDATE]: The city did update the design of the website this past August. I'm pleased with the mobile-friendly design, but still would like to harness local development talent for building a new web environment, rather than be locked into CivicPlus.
The council chambers are our city's main public venue....we make major decisions, recognize accomplishments, issue proclamations, and give the public a chance to voice their concerns there. I support spending funds to improve the technology of the facility, like an Elmo projector so that people don't necessarily have to submit their documents to city staff days before a council meeting. If we're not screening what people say before they're allowed to go up to the podium, we shouldn't have to screen what they show (beyond a cursory check to ensure its appropriate for a general audience). Also, better microphones that will pick up at a range of heights, so that an already-nervous member of the public isn't interrupted to be told to raise or lower the wire mic. Also, on the virtual side, I will advocate for city council meetings to be posted to YouTube for easier sharing and starting/stopping at certain points.
The existing video streaming service built into the website is incredibly not user-friendly; the last time I checked, it only worked in Internet Explorer.
If you attend city council meetings, you'll probably agree with me that they're not designed to give the general public a good idea of what the heck is going on. I love when Frank Darrah jumps into a city council briefing by city staff to request clarification on complex terms as needed, just to ensure that everyone understands the context and meaning of the discussion. I think we need a lot more of that, because the meeting content can be hard to follow along with sometimes. For instance often a property will be listed for rezoning or some other change, but those of us in attendance will have no idea where this address is. Or the council will vote on some new ordinance, without even stating how the new ordinance will change the old, even what the language of the new ordinance is. As your at-large rep, I promise to keep my "interpreter" hat on -- to seek to understand and describe the context of a vote, what it means in the overall story of our city's development, and what the vote actually 'does'.
This is a big, complex topic, and I've gone into detail on it at www.robgreeniowa.com/fire .
As an academic researcher, and the head of our regional Code for America chapter, I've seen the amazing things that can happen when government data (like crime reports, housing statistics, and social services data) are freed through the web (when appropriate, of course). We shouldn't be afraid or embarrassed by our data, but instead should be allowing data to be repurposed for the sake of research and civic improvement. Oftentimes there's no additional cost to 'setting data free', but instead it's just having the will to do it. I would love for Cedar Falls to serve as a model community for transparency in our government operations, as well as in our ability to reuse all this information that's being collected at public expense.
For metrics on how we're doing, I'm using the Sunlight Foundation's City Open Data Census site. By December 2021, my goal is for Cedar Falls to have open data for nearly all of these areas.
Below are the comments I made in the Public Comments section of the 11/5/18 Council meeting.
Last year, during my council campaign, I was informed that the addition of PSOs would augment -- not replace -- our career firefighters. I was fine with this because as a commissioned Coast Guard officer, I learned first-hand that redundancy is more important than efficiency. But recently, I found out -- through a Courier article -- that not only are PSO’s replacing firefighters, but they’re also being put in supervisory positions over them. Moreover, the Mayor and city staff state that they are following Council Directives to do this.
I would like to know what these directives are, because the guidance found in our annual Council Goals document are fairly ambiguous, stating only to:
I don’t believe these general statements can be used to justify the kind of major staffing changes we’ve seen in the last month in response to five firefighters quitting. If more detailed council directives exist, I’d like to know what they are. Actually, I need to know what they are, because, by law, the City Council is responsible for the safety of Cedar Falls residents.
Section 2-631 of the city code states specifically,
“All final authority over the administration and policy of the Public Safety Services Department shall be retained and exercised by the city council.”
This sentence is a reminder to Council that we have a special duty to remain vigilant about how public safety - whether it’s fire response, medical calls, or police tactics -- is carried out in name of the residents we represent.
For me, this responsibility comes down to having a specific council-approved plan. I’m highly concerned that I can’t tell residents what to expect public safety to look like in five years. I’m concerned that I’m learning of changes to this critical program in the newspaper. I’m left asking, with these changes to Public Safety, where will we be when we get to where we’re going? And how will we know we’ve gotten there? As residents and taxpayers, you deserve to know the city’s answer to this, and your City Council has a clear duty to find out. Otherwise, the Council risks abdicating its public safety responsibility to an unelected Public Safety Director -- and effectively handing him a blank check.
For that reason, I ask the council to support the development of a Public Safety Five Year Strategic Plan, similar to plans developed by Public Safety departments around the country. A detailed plan that acknowledges the stated concerns, and allows residents to understand -- after public input, solid research, and council approval -- where we’re going, when we expect to get there, how we’ll do it, and why. The residents we represent -- and our public safety professionals -- deserve no less. Failure to do so risks more of what we’re seeing before us tonight.
As I mentioned in the Quality of Life section, I support FF2025, and believe those strategies aren't just 'guidelines', but should be part of how we measure our effectiveness. At Rod Library @ UNI (where I work), we have a very detailed list of goals, objectives, strategies and tactics, and my own performance eval is based in part on completing the tactics I'm assigned to. I would like to see us as a city hold ourselves accountable to hitting our marks in 2025...both as a motivator for future activity, and simply as a validation that we'll accomplish what we set out to do.
Updated: March 17, 2019
The short position:
I support cross-training police officers as firefighters, but believe we should maintain (and actively support) a core group of career firefighter/rescuers in Cedar Falls. I disagree with the concept of replacing career firefighters with Public Safety Officers on a 1:1 basis. I don't yet have enough information to have an opinion on the overall validity of the program & its direction, and still want Public Safety Services to present a Five Year Strategic Plan to make its goals and strategies clear....and for City Council to vote on that plan on behalf of residents.
The long explanation:
As residents, we cannot reasonably expect a single Public Safety Officer to be both an expert firefighter/rescuer and an expert law enforcement officer. And in situations where lives are on the line, a "jack of all trades" just won't cut it.
That said, I'm not seeing with the available information that we should dismantle the 'PSO Model' outright. I do support cross-training our law enforcement officers to support our career firefighters (which is what I understood the PSO program to be, two years ago)...and if there's a pay bonus and a new title for cross-trained officers, so be it. But a simple one-for-one replacement of career firefighters with patrolling Public Safety Officers doesn't seem to be a wise move in the long run.
One of the main reasons I'm pushing for a five-year strategic plan is to allow residents to truly understand what this PSO Model is, and where City Hall is headed with it. While I appreciate that building safety codes, new construction materials, and safer appliances/'fire-starters' have lessened the overall risk of life-threatening fire, there still is a philosophical question to be answered, of how much risk we're willing to expose our residents and our firefighters to, in the name of cost-saving? Even if all occupants are saved, is it still a 'successful firefighting evolution' if a home is severely damaged? Do we simply say, "That's what insurance money is for"?
I believe a reasonable first step in determining the way forward is to understand where we're headed with the program, and why. I discussed this in my Public Safety Strategic Plan issue statement. An impartial mayor is in a strong position to facilitate these discussions on behalf of Cedar Falls residents, but it's ultimately the City Council who should decide what our Public Safety program looks like in the coming years, and to give a full accounting to our residents (as partners and stakeholders) of the rationale behind that decision.