22
Nov
2005
Once again, residents of Davenport demonstrated their disgraceful lack of patriotism with a pathetic 18-percent voter turnout for the November 8 city-council election. For those who did not bother to vote this time, keep your complaints to yourself from here on out. You are part of the problem, so shame on every last one of you.
For those who did vote, kudos for your civic self-respect, for underscoring the meaning of democracy, especially for our soldiers abroad, and for expressing your wishes for the future direction of Davenport.
The margins were so small that those voters who stayed home instead of casting their ballots are more culpable than ever for what happens over the next term. For example, current Mayor Charlie Brooke ran for Ward 6 alderman and won by fewer than 10 votes against a complete unknown, Dale Gilmore. Let's hope Brooke gets the message that his abrasive manner with the public and his consistent lack of regard for public consensus nearly lost him a seat at the table. This narrow victory is a mandate for Brooke to get in line and start behaving like an elected official by representing the public instead of the special interests he has cleaved to in the past.
One might argue that Brooke and the other incumbents who were reelected have more support than the margins indicated. Hooey! If more of the public had voted, my bet is that the house would have been cleaned, resulting in a much clearer picture of public sentiment. The incumbents are well aware of the citizens' dissatisfaction with and resentment over council approval of the new stormwater utility fee and the building of an 11-story casino hotel on Davenport's downtown riverfront.
Interestingly, Ward 3 Alderman Keith Meyer was reelected in spite of the deliberate attempts to marginalize him by his peers on the council (with the exception of Ray Ambrose and Bill Lynn) and by some on city staff. Meyer's constituency obviously appreciates that he does his homework on issues, asks relevant questions, and is not in the least bit intimidated by the special interests that surround him at city hall. The public needs to get behind Meyer in demanding answers to the many questions that go unanswered because his peers have traditionally not joined him in his challenges for disclosure of information and data necessary in making good decisions.
The systemic problem that exists with voters today is the perceived disconnect between their individual votes and the conduct of elected officials. Rather than understanding that each vote has enormous weight and can contribute to control of elected officials' conduct, voters choose the path of apathy, convincing themselves that their vote doesn't matter because politicians are a dishonorable bunch who will do what they please once in office.
While it is true that at least seven of the current 10 aldermen, as well as the mayor, have no small measure of dishonor, the voters had the opportunity to extricate them from positions of representation but failed to do so. And even though the Davenport council will have some new faces, many of whom were recruited by DavenportOne and coached by Victory Enterprises, these individuals could very well turn out to be nothing more than go-fers for the exclusive agendas of DavenportOne. Let's hope this is not the case; we want genuine leadership next term that appropriately represents the public's interests.
If there was ever a time to get civically aware, it is now. The only chance Davenport has for a decent future based upon representative governance is for the public to be present and accounted for, ever-watchful of the last days of the current council and the future conduct of the newly elected aldermen.
The new council may have the opportunity to repeal the stormwater utility fee, or at least reduce it to something more reasonable and affordable.
There is still time to stop the casino hotel from occurring, as well. Isle of Capri has submitted its permit application to the Corps of Engineers, so public hearings will be held shortly. The public can weigh in at this level and, hopefully, will have the ear of a much more intelligent, engaged body than we had with the current city council, who did so little due diligence and were admittedly woefully uninformed. They approved the project regardless because seven aldermen were too lazy, and too intimidated by DavenportOne and Isle of Capri, to muster any meaningful objection. Aldermen Howard, Barnhill, Moritz, Englemann, McGivern, Ahrens, and Buschek, with complete support from Mayor Brooke, fast-tracked this $48-million nightmare in just under three weeks - perhaps one of the most diabolical strategies to ever occur in Davenport politics. And it isn't over by a long way.
The fear is that this current council will make every effort to approve as many of the necessary items for Isle of Capri as it can before the new council comes on board after the new year. The only thing to prevent this would be strong public solidarity that won't be ignored. City Administrator Craig Malin has abdicated the public process once too often, so he can no longer be counted on for citizen advocacy. In fact, rumor has it that Alderman McGivern intends to introduce $30 million to $40 million in bonding for Prairie Heights during the December 7 council cycle for approval in one reading. This should not be allowed to occur, and the public should insist on a proper public process or suffer the consequences.
For those who did vote, kudos for your civic self-respect, for underscoring the meaning of democracy, especially for our soldiers abroad, and for expressing your wishes for the future direction of Davenport.
The margins were so small that those voters who stayed home instead of casting their ballots are more culpable than ever for what happens over the next term. For example, current Mayor Charlie Brooke ran for Ward 6 alderman and won by fewer than 10 votes against a complete unknown, Dale Gilmore. Let's hope Brooke gets the message that his abrasive manner with the public and his consistent lack of regard for public consensus nearly lost him a seat at the table. This narrow victory is a mandate for Brooke to get in line and start behaving like an elected official by representing the public instead of the special interests he has cleaved to in the past.
One might argue that Brooke and the other incumbents who were reelected have more support than the margins indicated. Hooey! If more of the public had voted, my bet is that the house would have been cleaned, resulting in a much clearer picture of public sentiment. The incumbents are well aware of the citizens' dissatisfaction with and resentment over council approval of the new stormwater utility fee and the building of an 11-story casino hotel on Davenport's downtown riverfront.
Interestingly, Ward 3 Alderman Keith Meyer was reelected in spite of the deliberate attempts to marginalize him by his peers on the council (with the exception of Ray Ambrose and Bill Lynn) and by some on city staff. Meyer's constituency obviously appreciates that he does his homework on issues, asks relevant questions, and is not in the least bit intimidated by the special interests that surround him at city hall. The public needs to get behind Meyer in demanding answers to the many questions that go unanswered because his peers have traditionally not joined him in his challenges for disclosure of information and data necessary in making good decisions.
The systemic problem that exists with voters today is the perceived disconnect between their individual votes and the conduct of elected officials. Rather than understanding that each vote has enormous weight and can contribute to control of elected officials' conduct, voters choose the path of apathy, convincing themselves that their vote doesn't matter because politicians are a dishonorable bunch who will do what they please once in office.
While it is true that at least seven of the current 10 aldermen, as well as the mayor, have no small measure of dishonor, the voters had the opportunity to extricate them from positions of representation but failed to do so. And even though the Davenport council will have some new faces, many of whom were recruited by DavenportOne and coached by Victory Enterprises, these individuals could very well turn out to be nothing more than go-fers for the exclusive agendas of DavenportOne. Let's hope this is not the case; we want genuine leadership next term that appropriately represents the public's interests.
If there was ever a time to get civically aware, it is now. The only chance Davenport has for a decent future based upon representative governance is for the public to be present and accounted for, ever-watchful of the last days of the current council and the future conduct of the newly elected aldermen.
The new council may have the opportunity to repeal the stormwater utility fee, or at least reduce it to something more reasonable and affordable.
There is still time to stop the casino hotel from occurring, as well. Isle of Capri has submitted its permit application to the Corps of Engineers, so public hearings will be held shortly. The public can weigh in at this level and, hopefully, will have the ear of a much more intelligent, engaged body than we had with the current city council, who did so little due diligence and were admittedly woefully uninformed. They approved the project regardless because seven aldermen were too lazy, and too intimidated by DavenportOne and Isle of Capri, to muster any meaningful objection. Aldermen Howard, Barnhill, Moritz, Englemann, McGivern, Ahrens, and Buschek, with complete support from Mayor Brooke, fast-tracked this $48-million nightmare in just under three weeks - perhaps one of the most diabolical strategies to ever occur in Davenport politics. And it isn't over by a long way.
The fear is that this current council will make every effort to approve as many of the necessary items for Isle of Capri as it can before the new council comes on board after the new year. The only thing to prevent this would be strong public solidarity that won't be ignored. City Administrator Craig Malin has abdicated the public process once too often, so he can no longer be counted on for citizen advocacy. In fact, rumor has it that Alderman McGivern intends to introduce $30 million to $40 million in bonding for Prairie Heights during the December 7 council cycle for approval in one reading. This should not be allowed to occur, and the public should insist on a proper public process or suffer the consequences.
