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Committee on Human Rights annual reports, 1963-1967, 1992-2009

1963-09-09 -- 1964-09-04 First Annual Report Of The Iowa City Human Relations Commission Page 5

-5-

Perhaps the best way to report the work of the Commission is to describe it under these four headings: Surveys, Study Work, Meetings and Distribution of Information.
There would not, of course be any reason to study, meet and inform in the matter of a fair housing ordinance if such an ordinance was not needed in Iowa City.
First it had to be determined whether such was needed. The most conclusive evidence we could have would come from the extensive survey of landlords which was referred to earlier in this report. Added to this was a survey of approximately 30 Negro families of Iowa City and their experiences in their search for housing. A sampling was also done by an independent group which consisted of telephone calls of private owners who had listed homes for sale in the local news paper on a given day. The only honest conclusion which could be drawn from these surveys indicated that Iowa City had a noticeable and real weakness in its attitude toward housing of minority groups. To correct this situation and to form better attitudes and more fair treatment many things must be done. A fair housing ordinance is only one part of the total picture and only a beginning, but it is most likely the best and most effective way to begin in any community. The needs of the community as shown in the surveys and the attitude of many local groups definitely indicated that the City Council would eventually be faced with the problems of a fair housing ordinance. Once the Commission was sure of this it began a rather intensive period of study, directed mostly to the various kinds of fair housing ordinances, how these could be best adapted to Iowa city, whether a City had authority (home rule) to create such laws, and especially what is the most desirable method of enforcing such an ordinance. In the months of study much time was given to the following:

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-5- Perhaps the best way to report the work of the Commission is to describe it under these four headings: Surveys, Study Work, Meetings and Distribution of Information. There would not, of course be any reason to study, meet and inform in the matter of a fair housing ordinance if such an ordinance was not needed in Iowa City. First it had to be determined whether such was needed. The most conclusive evidence we could have would come from the extensive survey of landlords which was referred to earlier in this report. Added to this was a survey of approximately 30 Negro families of Iowa City and their experiences in their search for housing. A sampling was also done by an independent group which consisted of telephone calls of private owners who had listed homes for sale in the local news paper on a given day. The only honest conclusion which could be drawn from these surveys indicated that Iowa City had a noticeable and real weakness in its attitude toward housing of minority groups. To correct this situation and to form better attitudes and more fair treatment many things must be done. A fair housing ordinance is only one part of the total picture and only a beginning, but it is most likely the best and most effective way to begin in any community. The needs of the community as shown in the surveys and the attitude of many local groups definitely indicated that the City Council would eventually be faced with the problems of a fair housing ordinance. Once the Commission was sure of this it began a rather intensive period of study, directed mostly to the various kinds of fair housing ordinances, how these could be best adapted to Iowa city, whether a City had authority (home rule) to create such laws, and especially what is the most desirable method of enforcing such an ordinance. In the months of study much time was given to the following: