We have a real crisis in Davenport relative to traffic on 53rd Street. Not only is it becoming increasingly unsafe to traverse that sector of town, but the Davenport City Council has every intention of making matters worse.
All Alderman Brown needs is an ottoman and a pillow during council meetings as he reclines back in his seat, hands behind his head, and appears to be sound asleep. He rarely comments on any of the issues. Yet he is one of four aldermen who have perpetrated destruction upon an individual life at city hall.
My grandmother passed a year ago March 27, 2000, but it seems like last week. I am amazed at how intense the memories still are, and of course the pain of her passing. I loved her so much, and delighted in her persona.
During this week's Community Development Committee Meeting there were five discussion items, but only one item (designating the Annie Wittenmyer complex as an historic district) received any discussion whatsoever on the part of the committee aldermen.
The hypocrisy and self-serving nature of the Quad City Times' editorial page knows no bounds. Case in point No. 1: Editor John Humenik's posturing on "An emotional price for finding the truth," which appeared last Sunday.
I had an epiphany sitting in last week's regular Council Meeting. I finally realized that there are a paltry few individuals on the council who are actually qualified to be aldermen. A city of nearly 100,000 citizens, with a managed budget of approximately $100 million, requires people with more experience in business, city planning, administration, finance, and leadership.
In the past several months, petitions from two separate developers (THF Realty-Wal-Mart, and Jersey Ridge Partners-Steve Schalk and associates) for rezoning of nearly 300 acres north of 53rd Street, between Elmore and Eastern avenues, have passed through Planning & Zoning without most of the crucial questions being answered.
In an unprecedented act, Alderman Sherwood, with the support of Aldermen Moritz and Brown, pulled a power play that reinstated City Attorney John Martin with sanctions after Martin had proffered his resignation.
Can a politician be more obvious in his efforts to further his own political career than Alderman Roland Caldwell during last Wednesday's City Council Meeting? The platitudes were flowing like syrup on pancakes from most of the aldermen, but especially from Caldwell, who is seeking the Alderman-at-Large seat in next month's special election.
It didn't even take a week for the public's worst fears to be realized regarding the recent censorship of Davenport's "Public with Business" portion of council meetings. At last week's Community Development meeting, chaired by Alderman Bill Sherwood, the cameras were turned off during the "Public with Business" segment as promised, whereupon Alderman Sherwood proceeded to ignore citizen Niky Bowles during her allotted five-minute presentation by taking a call on his cell phone.

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