If you want to understand the power elite in Iowa City, attend City Council. This is what Gage Miskimen’s Chauncey to go Forward 11/9 interviews is about. Accordingly, council 2016 won’t affect the progress of the $49 million project scheduled for June. The election over, all is forgiven on the “Core Four” side — Rockne Cole states that there are some positive aspects to the project; but from Mayor Matt Hayek’s camp, “I knew there would be opposition to anything associated with developer Marc Moen, regardless of the merits.” I take exception to this.
Marc Moen is not to blame for the malfeasance of former/present members of City Council. He is a businessman and the mayor and members City Council were open for business. And most of the anger I hear expressed against Moen is unwarranted. He was/is not an elected official of the city, so he had no fiduciary duty but to make a profit for himself and his associates. I like rich people myself, and hope one day to join their ranks.
Iowa City voters don’t object to Moen as a developer but to the methodology used to select the Chauncey and to the unsustainability of a FAA mandated 15, formerly 20, story building. Bill McKiben stated on Talk of Iowa that 7 stories is the limit of sustainability — above that, it’s a burden. The problem is that only in the Third World are skyscrapers valued for their urban status.
According to Jim Knapp, Hayek went the extra mile in making sure that Moen’s gargantuan won even though he said, “I knew we would take a political hit if we selected another Moen project, but the proposal was clearly the best. That’s why it received my support.”
The location of the Chauncey also attracted scrutiny because Moen owns property at Burlington and Clinton Streets — now being used as a parking lot.
The controversy over Chauncey is also caused by disrespect felt by members of Trinity Episcopal Church because as a courtesy — no personal consultation came from Moen himself about plans for the Chauncey, whose great height will overshadow Trinity and Gilbert Street. Moen depended on Hayek to bulldoze the congregation — and persuade them to be docile — went so far to tell the church that the Chauncey with its upscale tenants would enhance Trinity’s membership.
Attorney Christopher Warnock filed a petition to review the legality of what Trinity saw as illegal actions by the City; Warnock states, there wasn’t enough community involvement and they were concerned with the high level of public funding — $15 million is coming from the City, and its lack of adherence to Iowa City’s Comprehensive Plan.
The Comprehensive Plan is worthless — since it changes at every City Council meeting in which it is reviewed. And like Winston Smith job in Orwell’s 1984, Development Services Coordinator John Yapp’s job is to drop the former plan down the rabbit-hole to be replaced and revised instantly.
City Manager Markus says that the Chauncey is a sign-sealed & delivered deal — awaiting the “effect of the elections on the project.” Trinity has 30 days to appeal. I urge the church to read Luke 18 before making any final decision. Like Shelton Stromquist stated in a recent Op-Ed, Hayek “is as much in the hip pocket of local developers and the Chamber as any of the members of his anointed slate or those that have come before.
Mary Gravitt
