IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Council suspended its Truth and Reconciliation Commission for four weeks and plans on a joint meeting with the group once vacancies are filled.
Following two hours of public comment and another hour of council discussion, the council around midnight Wednesday voted 5-2 to suspend the commission until April 15.
During the suspension, the council will seek to replace three members who resigned from the commission. Some council members argued four weeks was not enough time while others responded to demands from the public that clear benchmarks be set for the commission’s return.
“This grieves me to my core that I, as a Black sitting mayor, have come before this council and asked for a suspension,” Mayor Bruce Teague said. “I am totally committed to the charge of the TRC.”