June 19 is Father's Day. In the last few decades, that has come to mean much more than it once did. Dad used to be just the guy who worked and kept the bills paid, while Mom took care of the home and children. But in recent years, dads have come to play a much more important role with their children.

If you're wondering why Governor Rod Blagojevich would flip-flop on his solemn vow to reform the state's massively underfunded pension systems, you don't have to look much farther than the most recent poll. A survey of 1,000 registered Illinois voters taken a week ago showed Republican state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka leading Democrat Blagojevich by almost 10 percentage points.

The Isle of Capri's (IOC) final draft of the proposed development agreement to build a casino hotel on Davenport's downtown riverfront was submitted to the city staff and council last Wednesday, May 18, during its regular council meeting.

The Davenport City Council has been hearing from opponents of the hotel on the riverfront since at least the fall of 2003. Many, many meetings have been held. A hotel somewhere on the riverfront has been mentioned periodically for 20 years. The vast majority of the opponents have been very vocal in their opposition for at least a year. The council has been studying the issue for over a year. The opponents have had ample opportunity to oppose and speak and petition and lobby and they have done so. There is no rush and no hurry. There is an attempt to delay and postpone the decision by the opponents, however, in the hope that this idea, like many others offered and studied in past years, will just fade away. They are right, because if Davenport delays making a decision, the business making the proposal, the Isle of Capri, probably will say the heck with it; if Davenport can't make up its mind, they can get a better return on their investment in Bettendorf (which signed its contract with a five-minute meeting no one attended and not even having discussed the exhibits) or Waterloo or anywhere else. It is time to decide and move forward.

Charlie Brooke
Mayor, City of Davenport

We Deserve Better Than Curent Proposal

Some supporters of the Isle of Capri's hotel proposal believe that business-development proposals must immediately be supported and granted assistance on their own terms. Based on the history of casino gambling in Davenport, the city should be more skeptical.

Of all the projects in Davenport over the past 15 years, this one requires the biggest concession, because the riverfront is our most valuable asset. The city should not accept the IOC's position that because it wants to be on the riverfront no alternatives need be considered. The IOC hasn't demonstrated that it needs the downtown riverfront or, frankly, that they deserve it.

This is a tough vote for Davenport's council, particularly given the fall elections. It's all the more objectionable, then, that the IOC has not begun the lengthy process of applying for an environmental permit. Given the proposed location of the project, it's not a slam-dunk. Why, then, is the council being hung out to dry?

Casinos are garish–look at pictures of the Isle's other facilities. The Bettendorf casino hotel, designed to attract moths at night, is no Westin or Marriott. Is it likely that the Isle would break with industry norms and build something truly classy on the Davenport riverfront? Moreover, once built, additional riverfront casino expansion will be difficult to refuse.

Davenport has momentum. We need no longer be the beggar. We deserve better than the current proposal.

Len Adams
Bettendorf