Hawkeye Reporter

Following an unusually heated exchange at a Waterloo City Council meeting last month, the mayor and a longtime resident appear to have put aside their differences.

The disagreement occurred Oct. 7, during the public comment portion on the Fair Chance Initiative, also known as the “Ban the Box” ordinance, which changes how employers can learn about a job applicant’s criminal history.

As resident Larry Bedard spoke against the ordinance during his time at the podium, he made remarks about young adults wearing hoodies being “up to no good.”

His comments prompted a rebuke from Mayor Quentin Hart, who advised Bedard that it was a blanket, negative comment. After a few minutes, he asked Bedard if they could meet offline for a civil conversation.

Both the mayor and Bedard told the Hawkeye Reporter that no subsequent meeting occurred, but that they did see each other at the Nov. 4 city council meeting.

Bedard, whose family's land donation has helped build homes on the city’s east side, said he chose to express his opinion in the Waterloo Courier and that he didn’t want to further discuss the exchange with the mayor.

“So much for freedom of speech for a 76-year-old man in Waterloo, Iowa, who never knew that some black and even some white people treat the hoodie as a revered piece of cloth worn throughout the year and yes even on those hot summer days,” Bedard wrote.

Mayor Hart said right before the Nov. 4 city council meeting, as he was coming out of his office he saw Bedard, spoke to him, and “Everything was cordial.”

He acknowledged the exchange at the Oct. 7 meeting was unexpected. “I’m not placing any judgment on Mr. Bedard, but (his comments) touched me,” Hart said. “I don’t want a child walking around with a hood to be judged. I don’t want young people to be criminalized based on what they look like.”

Hart, who on Nov. 5 was elected to a second term in an uncontested mayoral race, said he was glad Bedard stuck to the issues at the Nov. 4 meeting.