9 22 25 City Council proceedings Official SpecialCITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
SPECIAL SESSION
OFFICIAL
The Dubuque City Council met in special session at 4:09 p.m. on September 22, 2025, in the Q
Casino Reflections Room B.
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
The session was led by Lyle Sumek of Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc. City Council reflected on the
past year’s accomplishments, identified what they hope to accomplish over the next five years, and
outlined each of their top priorities for the coming year. The group also reviewed the City’s vision and
mission statements, noting that the term equity appears throughout. This raised concerns regarding
compliance with Iowa House File 856, which restricts certain activities related to diversity, equity, and
inclusion by public entities. Council members agreed that the most effective approach would be to
revisit the vision and mission statements for revisions during their governance session that will occur
in January. Brumwell advised that demonstrating progress and a good faith effort would help ensure
the City’s position is defensible in the event of legal scrutiny or public inquiry. Brumwell added that
having a plan in place for January reflects a good faith effort and emphasized that compliance with
House File 856 must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. It was also suggested that the word ‘equity’
be removed from all goal headings and descriptions where it currently appears. The meeting was in-
formally paused for dinner at 5:46 p.m. and resumed at 6:20 p.m. City Council reviewed Goal No. 1 –
Healthy and Safe Community, and Goal No. 2 – Financially Responsible, High-Performance City Or-
ganization: Sustainable and Effective Service Delivery , identifying their top outcomes, challenges and
opportunities, and actions for each. A short break was taken at 7:53 p.m., and the meeting resumed at
8:02 p.m. Following the break, City Council reviewed Goal No. 3 – Robust Local Economy: Diverse
Businesses and Jobs with Economic Prosperity, also identifying their top outcomes, challenges and
opportunities, and actions for each. Throughout the discussion, Van Milligen, Assistant City Manager
Cori Burbach, Police Chief Jeremy Jensen, Assistant Police Chief Joe Messerich, and Fire Chief Amy
Scheller addressed relevant questions from the Council.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mayor Cavanagh declared the meeting adjourned at 8:59 p.m.
/s/Adrienne N. Breitfelder, CMC, City Clerk