8 20 24 City Council MinutesCITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
SPECIAL SESSION
The Dubuque City Council met in special session at 4:00 p.m. on August 20, 2024, in
the Grand River Center. The meeting was originally scheduled for Room #4 but was
relocated to the River Room due to maintenance issues.
Present: Mayor Cavanagh; Council Members Farber, Jones, Resnick, Roussell,
Sprank, Wethal; City Manager Van Milligen, City Attorney Brumwell.
Mayor Cavanagh read the call and stated this is a special session of the City Council
called for the purpose of conducting annual goal setting.
GOAL SETTING
SESSION 1 OF 3
Mayor Cavanagh provided introductory remarks, summarizing last year's
accomplishments and current challenges.
Facilitator Lyle Sumek, of Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc., reviewed the following sections
of the Leader's Guide 2024 Working Document for input from the City Council:
• Section 4 - Performance Report 2023-2024 for City of Dubuque
• Section 5 - Looking to Dubuque's Future
Assistant City Manager Cori Burbach reviewed proposed definitions for the five pillars
the city aims to uphold to create an equitable community and organization of choice:
resiliency, sustainability, equity, transparency, and compassion. The City Council
discussed the definitions and proposed refining the definition of compassion to include
empathy, as well as replacing "the desire to alleviate distress" with "the desire to help."
City Manager Van Milligen stated that the definitions will be presented at a future city
council meeting for the City Council to formally adopt.
Assistant City Manager Burbach suggested that city staff incorporate the word
"belonging" when discussing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals. The City Council
deliberated on the terminology and endorsed the inclusion of "belonging."
Mr. Sumek reviewed Goals #1, #2, and #8 in Section 7 — Plan 2024-2029 for City
Council input.
City Council recessed for dinner at 6:10 p.m. and reconvened at 6:39 p.m. to
continue discussing the goals.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mayor Cavanagh declared the meeting
adjourned at 8:48 p.m.
/s/Adrienne N. Breitfelder
City Clerk