29 Apr 2026

The City of Davenport Can Still Choose Openness: Supreme Court Victory Doesn’t Change the Path That Has Always Been Available to the City Council

By Ed Tibbetts
24-1160 City of Davenport v Office of Auditor of State of Iowa Oral Arguments Brett Eilliot March 31

The Iowa Supreme Court, in mid-April, sided with the City of Davenport in its quest to keep secret the recordings of closed city council sessions, which State Auditor Rob Sand sought access to as part of his inquiry into the city’s payment of $1.9 million to three former employees in 2023. 

05 Jul 2025

Iowa's Fangless Watchdogs: The GAO, Which Saves Taxpayers Billions of Dollars Per Year, Is Under Threat, but the So-called Fiscal Conservatives in Congress Keep Mum

By Ed Tibbetts
Government Accountability Office Frontage 2022

Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation love to cite the GAO. Since the dawn of DOGE, they have increasingly styled themselves as watchdogs against wasteful government spending. And in the process, they frequently turn to Government Accountability Office reports to criticize government spending. Why wouldn’t they? The GAO, along with inspectors general, are the ultimate pros at finding waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.

29 Nov 2023

The Stench at Davenport City Hall: A Lucrative Payout Is Cloaked in Secrecy

By Ed Tibbetts
What a Crock Davenport City Council Corri Spiegel Settlement 2023

What a crock. Last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, when they knew hardly anybody was paying attention, Davenport city officials announced they were giving departing City Administrator Corri Spiegel $1.6 million. The city said $1 million was for the emotional pain and suffering that Spiegel suffered, which the city council said in a statement was due to “prolonged and documented instances of harassment” by some elected officials over the past eight years. They didn’t say what the offending behavior was.

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