Title VI

CITY OF STORM LAKE

TITLE VI PLAN

City of Storm Lake

620 Erie Street

Storm Lake, IA 50588

 

City of Storm Lake

Title VI Policy

Adopted:  

 Title VI Policy Statement

The City of Storm Lake assures that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, or sex as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (P.L. 100.259), be excluded from or participation in, be denied benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity.  The City of Storm Lake further assures every effort will be made to ensure nondiscrimination in all of its committees, programs, and activities, regardless of the funding source.

The City of Storm Lake will include Title VI language in all written agreements and bid notices and will monitor compliance.

The City Clerk of the City of Storm Lake will be responsible for initiating and monitoring Title VI activities and is hereby named as the Title VI Coordinator.

This policy adopted by the Storm Lake City Council at their ______________, 2013.

                                                                       Mayor

Attest:

City Clerk

 TITLE VI AUTHORITIES

Title VI of 1964 Civil Rights Act provides that no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, nations origin, or sex be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal assistance (23CFR 200.9 and 49 CFR 21).

The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 broadened the scope of Title VI coverage by expanding the definition of terms “programs or activities” to include all programs and activities of Federal Aid recipients, sub-recipients, and contractors, whether such programs and activities are federally assisted or not (Public Law 100-259 {S.557} March 22, 1988).

TITLE VI COORDINATOR

The City of Storm Lake has named the City Clerk as the official Title VI Coordinator for the City, here after referred to as Coordinator.  The Coordinator is responsible for the following components of the Title VI plan for the City of Storm Lake:

  • Public Dissemination – The City of Storm Lake will disseminate Title VI Program information to City employees, sub-recipients, and contractors, as well as the general public.  Public dissemination will include posting of public statements, inclusion of Title VI language in contracts, and announcements of hearings, and meetings in minority newspapers when determined necessary and when funding is available.
  • Prevention of Discrimination – Procedures will be implemented to detect and eliminate discrimination when found to exist, including, but not limited to, issues of accessibility of training to all qualified City employees, utilization of Minority/Women/Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) contractors, public improvement, and material acquisition.
  • Annual Reports – The Coordinator will be responsible for insuring an annual report is prepared by October 1st of each year and made available to the general public via the City of Storm Lake Web Page.  The report will review Title VI accomplishments and goals for the previous year and outline plans for upcoming year as outlined further in this policy (see Annual Report Section of this Policy).
  • Remedial Action – The City of Storm Lake will actively pursue the prevention of any Title VI deficiencies or violations and will take the necessary steps to ensure compliance through a program review with the program administrative requirements.  If irregularities occur in the administration of the program’s operation, procedures will be promptly implemented to resolve Title VI issues and reduce to writing remedial action agreed to be necessary, all within a period not to exceed 90 days.
  • Complaint Handling/Investigation – The Coordinator will be responsible for handling any and all complaints to the City of Storm Lake and for the investigation and reporting of claims per this policy.

TITLE VI COMPLAINTS

Complaint procedures apply to all beneficiaries of the City of Storm Lake’s programs, activities, including but not limited to:  the public, contractors, sub-contractors, consultants, employees, and other sub-recipients of federal and state funds.

Eligibility – If any individual, group of individuals, or entity believes that they or any other program beneficiaries have been subjected to discrimination prohibited by Title VI nondiscrimination provision as a recipient of benefits and/or services, or on the grounds of race, color, national origin, or sex, they may exercise the right to file a complaint with the City of Storm Lake.  Every effort will be made to resolve complaints informally at the agency, recipient, and/or contractor level.

Filing Process – Complaints may be filed with the following agencies:

  • City of Storm Lake
  • Iowa Department of Transportation
  • Federal Highway Administration
  • U.S. Department of Transportation

Employees who receive notice of a complaint must notify the City Manager and City Clerk immediately upon notice of the filing or the notice of the intent to file a complaint or any related statutes complaint.

Complaints must be filed within 180 days after:

  • The date of the alleged act of discrimination; or
  • The date the person became aware of the alleged discrimination; or
  • Where there has been a continuing course of discriminatory conduct, the date on which the conduct was discontinued.

All complaints must be filed in writing on the official City of Storm Lake Complaint Form, and must be signed by the complainant and/or the complainant’s representative.  The complainant must set forth, as fully as possible, the facts and circumstances surrounding the claimed discrimination.

The official City of Storm Lake Complaint Form is available at the City Clerk’s office during normal business hours or online at the City of Storm Lake’s web page at www.stormlake.org/TitleVI.

Internal Complaint Processing – All complaints filed with the City of Storm Lake shall be handled in the following manner:

  1. The Coordinator, along with the City Manager, will review the complain upon receipt to ensure that all information is provided; the complaint meets the 180 day filing deadline and falls within the jurisdiction of the City.  This step in the process will occur within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of the complaint.
  2. The Coordinator and City Manager will then investigate the complaint.  If the complaint is against the Coordinator and/or the City Manager the investigation shall be done by the Mayor and a City Council representative.  A copy of the complaint will be forwarded to the City Attorney.
  3. If the complaint warrants a full investigation, the complainant will be notified in writing by certified mail.  This notice will name the investigator and/or investigating agency.  The City will copy the notice to the City Attorney and the Iowa Department of Transportation Office of Employee Service/Civil Rights.
  4. Upon determination that the complaint warrants a full investigation, the party who is alleged to have acted in a discriminatory manner will also be notified at this time by certified mail or personal delivery.  This notification will also include the investigator assigned to the complaint and will request an interview with the individual.  In the case that the individual is part of an officially recognized union the union shall also be notified by regular mail.
  5. Any comments or recommendations from legal counsel will be reviewed by the Coordinator.
  6. The investigator shall upon completing all investigatory work shall file a written report with the Coordinator or in the case where the Coordinator is the investigator the City Manager, who shall review the report within fifteen (15) days.  Any additional questions shall be returned to the investigator.
  7. Upon review and acceptance of the investigator’s report the City shall adopt a final resolution to the claim and notify all parties of the outcome of the investigation and the final resolution adopted by the City of Storm Lake.
  8. The complainant shall be given notice that they have the right to appeal the decision of the investigator and the City of Storm Lake.  The right to appeal shall be limited to within 180 days of the date of the final resolution.  Unless new facts not previously considered come to light within the 180 day appeal period the City of Storm Lake shall not reconsider the final resolution.


City of Storm Lake

Title VI Notice to the Public

The City of Storm Lake (hereinafter known as “City”) hereby gives public notice that it is the policy of the City to assure full compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, related statutes and regulation provide that no person shall on the ground of race, color, national origin, gender, age or disability be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 amended Title VI to specify that entire institution receiving federal funds, whether schools, colleges, government entities, or private employers, must comply with Federal civil rights laws, rather than just the particular programs or activities that receive federal funds.

We are also concerned about the impacts of our programs, projects and activities on low income and minority populations (“Environmental Justice”) under Title VI.  Any person who believes that they are being denied participation in a project, being denied benefits of a program, or otherwise being discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability, may contact:

Mayra A. Martinez

City of Storm Lake

cityclerk@stormlake.org

(712) 732-8000

 YOU SHOULD CONTACT THE ABOVE INDIVIDUAL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT NO LATER THAN 180 DAYS AFTER THE ALLEGED DISCRIMINATION OCCURRED, OR IF THERE HAS BEEN A CONTINUING COURSE OF CONDUCT, NO LATER THAN 180 DAYS AFTER THE ALLEGED DISCRIMINATION WAS DISCONTINUED.