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(from City of Davenport Media Release)

March 6, 2009

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Clarke has accepted an offer of employment to be
Davenport Public Works Director at a starting salary of $117,000, City Administrator
Malin announced.  Mr. Clarke is expected to start work in July, following retirement
from twenty eight years of service to the nation in the Army.  

LTC Clarke is currently serving as Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District. He has served in Iraq and
Afghanistan, serving as Chief of Construction for Afghanistan and the surrounding
region.  LTC Clarke has a degree in Civil Engineering from Old Dominion, a Masters
Degree in Engineering Management from California State University and has
completed the program at the Army Command and General Staff College.   LTC
Clarke has experience as a Director of Public Works in Taegu, South Korea and Fort
Stewart, Savannah, Georgia.  He has significant, hands-on experience in preparing
for and responding to emergencies, including a wide variety of natural disasters. 

In February, a thirteen member interview panel interviewed five semi-finalists
including LTC Clarke from a field of 32 applicants in a highly competitive national
search.  

LTC Clarke spoke highly of the Davenport Public Works Department, noting
"Davenport is a nationally accredited department through the American Public Works
Association and is a recognized regional leader at the forefront of best practices."  He
added, "I have been all around the world I'm happy that I'll have the ability to stay
in the Quad Cities after I retire from the Army.  I'm looking forward to moving to
Davenport and starting a new chapter in my career in public service".   

City Administrator Malin thanked the members of the interview panel and all the
members of the Public Works Department, for exceptional work through the past few
months.  He specifically thanked Dennis Ryan for his outstanding continuing service
as Interim Public Works Director.     

Questions may be directed to City Administrator Malin at (563) 326-6139 or LTC
Clarke at (309) 794-5253.

I'm a Ron Paul supporter and a member of Opt4Better, which opposed the
Davenport Promise program.

I take issue with your comments. I am not opposed to city, county, state, or
national government. I am opposed to government that oversteps its
constitutional limits and violates its charter. I'm certainly not opposed to
progress.

But a program that takes from one and distributes it to another is not
progress.

Please don't disparage Ron Paul supporters. Dr. Paul's campaign was the only
one that demonstrated any honesty. And if you noticed, virtually all of his
predictions and warnings are happening before our eyes.

I hope he runs in 2012. I can only speculate what our country will look like
then. If we still have one.

Mike Angelos
Davenport

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