Civil Rights Commission

CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING CITY OF DAVENPORT, IOWA Tuesday, December 9, 2025; 12:00 PM Virtual Via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84869608008?pwd=MUhuMUNSUnp4WlZndk9tbXZiMlY1UT09 I. Roll Call Virtual Via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84869608008?pwd=MUhuMUNSUnp4WlZndk9tbXZiMlY1UT09 II. Approval of Agenda III. Approval of Minutes A. October 2025 Closed Session Minutes B. November 2025 Minutes IV. Director's Report A. November 2025 Director's Report B. November 2025 Case Status Report V. New Business A. E-0131-0070-17 B. Iowa Office of Civil Rights Contract VI. Old Business VII. Public Comment and Presentation VIII. Adjourn IX. Next Meeting  City of Davenport Civil Rights Commission Department: Civil Rights Action / Date Contact Info: | 12/9/2025 Subject: October 2025 Closed Session Minutes Attachments: None  City of Davenport Civil Rights Commission Department: Civil Rights Action / Date Contact Info: | 12/9/2025 Subject: November 2025 Minutes Attachments: 1. Minutes 11:2025  Commisisoners Present: Frank Holley, Je Transou, Glenn Petersen, Michael Guster, Ethelene Boyd Commissioners Absent: Charlene Upchurch-Taylor Others Present: City of Davenport Approval of the Agenda: Motion by Commissioner Holley, seconded by Commissioner Peterson, all voted in favor. Approval of the Minutes: September 24, 2025 Motion by Commissioner Boyd, seconded by Commissioner Peterson, all voted in favor. October 14, 2025 Motion by Commissioner Boyd to approve with correction of typos, seconded by Commissioner Holley, all voted in favor. September 9, 2025 - Motion by Commissioner Holley to approve with necessary corrections and seconded by Commissioner Boyd, all voted in favor. Director’s Report - Director Lacey reports on the Joint Session with the City Council, she states that the Commission was provided with an update on the gures to move to Fire Station 3, the gures were roughly 1.2 and 1.8 million dollars respectively. Director Lacey stated that she requested a breakdown of the gures as it seemed to re ect a much larger scope project than that requested by the Commission in the document submitted in August. Director Lacey reported that the breakdown she received contained only general information and did not clarify whether the quote addressed the Commission’s speci c requests, which were limited to items expected to t within the Commission’s budget. She was asked to provide the City Administrator with an outline of the Commission’s needs so sta could identify additional alternative locations. The Director noted that she had already completed and submitted this outline after the Commission approved it in August 2025. She proposed resending the previously submitted document, as the Commission’s needs have not changed since then. Director Lacey also presented on the budget request discussed during the Joint Work session. Director Lacey stated that during the joint session, she learned that on October 30, 2025, $35,702 was added to the Fair Housing account’s budget from the 75,383.24 leftover in salaries in FY25. Beginning in October 2024, Investigator position postings were removed from the hiring system due to an error by Human Resources. E orts to restore the postings or begin recruitment were subsequently delayed due to city sta ’s administrative reviews of hiring processes, position classi cations, and salary considerations. As a result, the Commission was unable to utilize the personnel funds originally budgeted for investigative sta ng. During this period, the Commission continued to receive complaints and meet its statutory obligations; however, the inability to hire investigators led to a growing caseload and longer processing times. Although hiring options are now reopening, the operational impacts remain. On October 30, 2025, $35,702 from the FY25 balance of $75,383.24 was added to the Fair Housing account. The remaining $48,700.64 is needed to address the consequences of the hiring delay and will be used to obtain temporary investigative support through short-term appointments, limited-hour positions, or contracted services. Case Status Report: The Director states that there was one new housing case, six intakes, four for EEOC and two for ICRC. A. PA-0009-0003-25 - The Commission voted to take this matter to public hearing. The motion was made by Frank Holley, seconded by Ethelene Boyd and all voted in favor. B. The motion was made by Frank Holley, seconded by Ethelene Boyd and all voted in favor to submit the proposed request for the carryover of the FY2025 remaining funds for employee salaries be carried over to FY2026 to allow the Commission to facilitate the e orts to address delays caused by a lack of su cient sta ng. ffi fi ff fl ff ffi ff fi fi fi ff fi ff ffi fi  C. The Commission would like to move forward with the prospective move to former Fire Station 3. The Commission requested Director Lacey to submit another request, asking for more speci city as to what the estimates relate to, as the documentation submitted does not clearly convey the scope of the project. D. Closed session to discuss litigation with counsel - On a motion by Commissioner Holley and seconded by Commissioner Transou the Commission moved into closed session at 1:11 p.m.; at 1:30 p.m., the Commission returned to open session and voted to approve hiring counsel to represent it in an appeal. At 1:34 p.m., on Motion by Commissioner Holley and Boyd the meeting adjourned. Next meeting is December 9, 2025. fi  City of Davenport Civil Rights Commission Department: Civil Rights Action / Date Contact Info: | 12/9/2025 Subject: November 2025 Director's Report Attachments: 1. December 2025 Director's Report DIRECTOR’S REPORT FOR THE DAVENPORT CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION FOR November 2025 I. CASE STATUS 1. No “right to sue” letters were issued in the month of November. 2. No cases settled in mediation or conciliation in the month of November. II. OTHER ACTIVITY 1. The Director completed case processing documentation. 2. The Director sent the correspondence to City Administrator Gleason on the followup to the November Joint Meeting regarding finance and relocation. 3. The Director worked with outside counsel to compile materials supporting legal matters pertaining to the Commission. 4. On November 3, the unit clarification petition with the Employment Appeals Board (EAB), citing the Commission’s status as a separate employer as the basis for removing the positions from the existing bargaining unit was tentatively approved. It was finalized on November 18, 2025 according to the online filing system. The Commission has not received any updates from city staff on this matter. 5. The Commission received an update on the property proposed for the office relocation, Assistant City Administrator Gleason stated that she had not received the Commission’s August 2025 information from former City Administrator Maxeiner, and the bid related to a larger, general remodel, rather than being tailored to the specific requests submitted by the Commission. 6. The Director has not received commitment from the CFO to attend the Commission meeting to go over the answers to the questions posed following the Joint Work session with the City Council, the initial request was for attendance at the November meeting. 7. The Director was notified by the Human Resources Director that Human Resources could not process a personnel action, due to the current state of residence of the staff member. Two after the request for further information on an expected timeline for processing the personnel action, the Director received an email stating that the Commission would need to hire a consultant to ascertain the appropriate manner to hire the employee, the options given were: 1. Engaging an outside consultant with specialized expertise in California hiring practices. 2. Establishing a direct contract with the individual to provide services. 3. Partnering with a staffing agency with a local office in California to employ this individual. This directive appears to conflict with the city code which states that the Director of Human Resources shall “provide staff services for the City and for various boards, consultants, study commissions and other governmental agencies regarding personnel needs and problems.” Dav. Mun. Code § 2.50.050(E). The Commission relies on HR to fulfill this statutory responsibility, which includes supporting the onboarding and employment of Commission staff regardless of their state of residence.  8. It appears that the ongoing delays due to a lack of response from Human Resources, slow processing of personnel actions by both Finance and Human Resources, have continued. 9. There remains no resolution to the internal complaint regarding the interception of the Commission’s confidential mail, submitted on December 20, 2023. 10. The Director continues to monitor COVID-191 rates and its impact on office functions. 11. The Director worked on case resolution documents. 12. The Director worked on litigation. 13. The Director continued reviewing applications for the open positions. 14. The Director continues to work on the update of training materials and professional development opportunities related to the staffing realignment related to the forced departure of the Asst. Director/Housing Programs Manager. 15. Housing Analyst worked on housing investigations. 16. Housing Analyst worked on housing inquiries. 17. Housing Analyst worked on case resolutions. III. OLD BUSINESS 1. Ongoing discrimination, harassment and bullying of Commission staff. 1. Retaliatory actions against Commission staff and further examples of different treatment. 2. Legal Department refusal to accept Commission referral. 3. Use of racial slurs in City Hall. City’s failure to initiate complaint investigation. 4. Investigation of hostile working environment, still no findings over a year after the initiation of the investigation. 5. Continued refusal to process vacation correction, despite receiving their legal opinion which clearly indicates that the Commission’s procedure for processing the correction was appropriate and the subsequent resolution directing the reversal of any decisions infringing on the Commission’s decision making authority. 6. Constructive discharge of Commission employees. 7. The Commission continues to face delays and obstructive actions by City Administration that have hindered resolution of matters previously presented to the City Council. These actions appear to be intended to undermine the Commission’s mission and reflect ongoing retaliation and retaliatory harassment in response to substantiated complaints of discrimination and harassment. 8. Office Relocation - The Director conducted a preliminary accessibility audit of the property, there appears to be sufficient room for the Commission and it appears to be able to be updated within the budget set for the office remodel. The city submitted a copy of the preliminary report of the property, which appears to highlight the same issue included within the preliminary accessibility audit submitted by the Commission. There is an updated assessment of the property which outlines a substantial remodel of the building, beyond what was requested by the Commission. 9. Council Resolution - The resolution was passed July 23, 2025 however past actions have not been corrected. 1 Also, measles, influenza and RSV. IV. NEW BUSINESS 1. New staff.  City of Davenport Civil Rights Commission Department: Civil Rights Action / Date Contact Info: | 12/9/2025 Subject: November 2025 Case Status Report Attachments: None  City of Davenport Civil Rights Commission Department: Civil Rights Action / Date Contact Info: | 12/9/2025 Subject: E-0131-0070-17 Attachments: None  City of Davenport Civil Rights Commission Department: Civil Rights Action / Date Contact Info: | 12/9/2025 Subject: Iowa Office of Civil Rights Contract Attachments: None