Blog
Remembering Clemens Allen Erdahl
Iowa City lost a legend last week. On October 2, 2019, Clemens Allen Erdahl died at the age of 71, just short of his 72nd birthday. Clemens served on the Iowa City Council from 1977-1985 and practiced law for more than 40 years, representing some of the most difficult...
Vote Your Vision and Values
I have been relatively pleased with this fall's city council election. The candidates have been focused on the issues, and at least publicly, negativity has been relatively modest. I don't care if that is how politics is done at the state and federal level, that is...
The Many Benefits of Right-Sized Traffic Lane Widths
On a seemingly boring, but actually very interesting topic... traffic lane widths. Tonight, we did not have too many dramatic topics, but we had an interesting discussion during our work session on lane widths in residential neighborhoods, and arterial streets. This...
On saving regenerative agriculture in Johnson County
On saving regenerative agriculture in Johnson County... On Thursday, September 14, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors will be considering Grant Schultz' application to rezone Versaland from Agriculture to Agricultural Residential. Hearing begins at 5:30 PM....
On Permaculture and Zone 1 – An Approach to Changing our World
Last summer, I read "The Permaculture City" by Toby Hemenway. "Permaculture" is a system of food systems design which uses Earth's natural systems as its model. Hemenway's magnum opus was "Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture," which completely...
Honoring Martin Luther King Jr – We must help bend the arc of justice by working together.
With MLK... it is always hard to know where to start. Very few in history have ever so effectively combined ideas, action, eloquence, courage, and passion for justice for all as he did. The only modern figures that I know that come close are Gandhi, and Mandela. You...
Sanctuary Cities
On "Sanctuary Cities"... A lot of people have been asking questions about our discussion on whether Iowa City should formally adopt the "Sanctuary City" designation as a response to the President-Elect's campaign promises relating to immigration enforcement... So I...
On Grace, Redemption, and Ascension – Remembering Weston Noble
Weston Noble recently passed away on December 21, 2016. For those of you who didn't know him, he was a remarkable man. He was best known as the conductor of the Luther College Nordic Choir for more than 50 years, but that was only one part of his life. He was a band...
Think of all we could achieve if…
For the first time in quite a while, I went to church, voluntarily and on my own volition. And it felt good to be there with my friends, big Sis, and neighbors. Nora had fun too (Mara couldn't go because I only gave her 10 minutes notice that I was going!). Brothers...
Commentary on Iowa City’s new artistic downtown bike parklet
Thank you for your thoughtful comments on Bike "Parklet" today. Great discussion today on FB. My view? I support it because it ADVANCES cycling infrastructure downtown. It moves us forward, providing over 40 cycling slots instead of parking for one car. We may not...
