1 26 20 City Council Proceedings Official_SpecialCITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
SPECIAL SESSION
OFFICIAL
The Dubuque City Council met in special session at 1:00 p.m. on January 26, 2020 at
the Grand River Center, 500 Bell Street.
Present: Mayor Buol; Council Members Cavanagh, Jones, Resnick, Roussell, Shaw,
Sprank; City Manager Van Milligen, City Attorney Brumwell
Mayor Buol read the call and stated this is a special session of the City Council called
for the purpose of conducting a City Council Leadership and Governance Session.
WORK SESSION
Leadership and Governance Session
1. Leadership and Governance Workshop
Facilitator Lyle Sumek conducted a Leadership and Governance Workshop with the
City Council. Areas of discussion included:
The City Council reviewed certain sections of the Leadership and Governance Guide
2020 working document.
Section 2 Dubuque – City as a Team
The history, benefits and basic premises of the City Manager / Council form of
government.
Working model for Council / Manager: governance, management, service.
Combating intentional “dis-information;”
Governance vs. politics;
Responsibilities of a Mayor and Council;
Learning styles inventory conducted with Mayor, Council and staff present.
Section 4 Building Our Mayor-Council Team
Problem solving and decision making;
Conflict resolution and negotiations;
Conflict styles exercise conducted with Mayor, Council and staff present.
Section 5 Mayor and City Council: Critical for Judging Success and Desired Image in the
Community.
Leaving a legacy for the City of Dubuque;
The Mayor and City Council chose their top 12 of 27 responses provided from
Mr. Sumek’s, individual interviews;
What is your desired collective community image? The Mayor and City Council
chose their top 3 from 39 responses provided from Mr. Sumek’s, individual inter-
views and additions arising from discussion.
Section 6 House Rules: Code of Conduct and Civility
How do you want to be treated by Mayor and other Council Members?
The Mayor and City Council chose their top 12 responses from 33 responses
provided from Mr. Sumek’s, individual interviews and additions arising from dis-
cussion. The City Council then signed the compilation to be provided by Mr. Su-
mek.
The City Council broke for dinner from 5:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Section 5 Success in 2025 means --
Criteria for judging Mayor and City Council success in six months;
The Mayor and City Council chose their top 12 responses from 27 responses
provided from Mr. Sumek’s, individual interviews.
Section 7 Mayor / City Council / City Manager Protocols
The Mayor and City Council reviewed and edited the 10 protocols listed;
Discussion included: beginning with a trust for each other in terms of working
with confidential information, and the use of devices at the dais and/or in closed
sessions;
Suggestion to develop a brochure descriptive of Council duties and schedules for
candidates to familiarize them with the expectations of elected office ;
Consensus was reached for changing the start times of regular meetings to 6:30
p.m. to allow for hour-long work sessions, in-depth Q&A, and alleviating too
many off-Monday meetings;
Council Members questioned if their participation on their assigned boards and
commission could be by electronic means in some cases. It was advised they
check with the respective board or commission to arrangements or conflicts with
by-laws or meeting content requiring physical, in-person participation;
The City Council also reviewed the purpose and content of the Council Member
Reports section of the Council agenda.
There being no further business, Mayor Buol declared the meeting adjourned at 7:46
p.m.
s/Kevin S. Firnstahl, CMC, City Clerk