Amel Ali resigns from the Iowa City Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Amel Ali submitted a letter of resignation to the Iowa City Council on Tuesday, leaving the Truth and Reconciliation Commission two months after she became embroiled in controversy.

In an email to the City Council and city staff, Ali, the former chair of the commission, said she was resigning effective immediately. Ali had served on the commission tasked with helping Iowa City deal with a history of racism and injustice since it was created in 2020 after protests around the U.S. in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

"I feel very lucky to have been a part of a first-of-its-kind TRC in the state of Iowa," Ali wrote. "I am forever grateful for all of the knowledge and learning that happened over the last two years, even during times of turmoil and frustrations."

In August, Johnson County Board of Supervisors Chair Royceann Porter called on the Iowa City Council to oust Ali from the commission or for her to resign after Porter said Ali insulted her and other members of the Black community on a podcast. Emotional debate consumed the Iowa City Council for weeks until it ultimately decided to table a motion to remove Ali.

It never became clear whether Ali used some of the more serious insults she was accused of, but audio was played at one City Council meeting that revealed Ali called one community leader an "old fart" and questioned the value of his experiences living as a Black man at the time of Emmett Till's murder in Mississippi in 1955.

Ali also issued several broad apologies for saying what she did on the subscription-based podcast, called "Rock Hard Caucus." She refused to resign, instead calling for a restorative justice process to heal wounds.

Ali said in her email that, while she is closing this chapter of her life, she is excited to pursue other opportunities and wished the remainder of the TRC her best.

Ali is the second person to resign from the nine-member board since Porter came forward with her allegations. Daphney Daniel cited personal reasons for her resignation. The TRC is still working through a proposal to hire a facilitator, an effort Ali largely spearheaded as chair of the commission.

The TRC meets next on Oct. 6.

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'I don't want it to fail,' Amel Ali speaks about resigning

Ali told the Press-Citizen on Wednesday she is leaving the TRC so she has more time to pursue other work, but also thinks the TRC will function better without having to deal with past issues.

"I want them to be able to navigate going forward without feeling like there is always this elephant in the room, and I think that that is their best chance at progressing," Ali said.

Ali said she believes the TRC will still have difficulties, since it is a novel venture in Iowa.

"I don't want it to fail. I don't want anything negative to happen," Ali said. "I think that, with time and coming to a common ground, especially after the (facilitator) proposal is passed and approved, it will be a driving force for the TRC."

Ali said she discussed resigning with most of the other TRC members, city councilors and city staff before she sent the email.

She said she plans to pursue more advocacy work in Iowa City or at the University of Iowa. She said she wants to use her experiences to help educate people and change policies, which she said could also intersect with the racial justice work she was involved with on the commission.

"Where my passion lies is in mental health and public health advocacy," she said.

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Iowa City Councilors, TRC member react to Ali resigning

The Press-Citizen spoke to two city councilors and a TRC member after Ali's resignation. Most expressed optimism that the commission can find a way to move forward and still help Iowa City address systemic racism.

TRC Commissioner Kevo Rivera said he's learned with truth-telling processes that it is hard to predict what will come, but moving forward, the TRC will be focusing on getting its facilitator proposal passed and trying to model to the community what restorative justice processes will look like.

Rivera said, while he isn't sure if he has confidence in the TRC and its facilitator proposal moving forward, he is still committed to push it through.

"At this point, my function on the TRC is to ... continue to hope the process will work out without necessarily any expectation and to do my best to help it," Rivera said.

TRC Chair Chastity Dillard declined to comment.

Janice Weiner, who was one of the two Iowa City Councilors who helped draft the resolution creating the TRC, said from her perspective the City Council gave Ali and the TRC the space to make their own decisions. She said it became increasingly clear that, despite the hard work Ali put in, the controversy that was stirred up from the podcast made it difficult for her to serve on the TRC.

"I think this will give space for things to move forward, give space for the TRC, for other actions and activities that have been stalled. I also think (Ali) has the potential to be an amazing leader going forward and I'm glad she is taking the time for herself to work on that," Weiner said.

Weiner said she thinks the remaining TRC commissioners are committed and have the ability to push present the Iowa City Council with a budget proposal soon.

Iowa City Mayor Pro Tem Megan Alter said Ali's resignation shows how unique of a community Iowa City is, allowing Ali to take the last several weeks to come to her own decision. She said many other communities wouldn't have allowed Ali to make the choice on her own.

"I wish her really well and I think she served such a pivotal role on the TRC after its rocky start where it had drama in it. She helped pick up the pieces," Alter said.

Alter said there is much work to go around to address systemic racism and it shouldn't all be taking place within the TRC.

Alter said she does think the TRC will be able to accomplish this goal and agreed with Weiner that the remaining TRC members are committed to it.

"They are in a position to regain focus and I think they have actually been able to forge an identity and a voice, multiple voices since they are not a monolith," she said.

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George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Amel Ali resigns from Iowa City Truth and Reconconciliation Commission