Next week, the Davenport City Council will vote on terms to renew the QC River Bandits' lease for John O'Donnell Stadium for their 2002 season. The current lease amount was based upon a false belief that by giving the team owner Kevin Krause a reduced rental rate, we would keep the River Bandits in Davenport.
This year's November elections are proving to be quite interesting indeed. Local politics is often a microcosm of how it works on the state and national level, so it is important to scrutinize the process. Last week, in an unprecedented political maneuver in which Democrats behaved like schoolyard children, the Democratic Central Committee PAC ousted one of its own (Bob Yapp, who is now running for mayor as an Independent) for openly criticizing the PAC.
Last week's cover story and editorial in the River Cities' Reader regarding DavenportOne elicited a phone call from a Davenport city staff member who was concerned that commenting on DavenportOne's first year in operation without disclosing certain facts relative to the Reader appears to be a conflict of interest for this paper.
As readers can see, our cover story this week features the first anniversary of DavenportOne. While congratulations are definitely in order, it was somewhat shocking for me to note the enormous weight DavenportOne gave to the City of Davenport's deal with Sentry Insurance as somehow being a feather in its own cap.
On June 16, 2001, the world dimmed when my friend, Chris Wightman (50 years young) passed away. Chris was not your average bear. He was the epitome of kindness, gentle compassion, and true friendship. As one acquaintance put it, "Chris was a blue chip guy.
On Monday, June 18, Davenport Mayor Phil Yerington announced that a candidate has been chosen to fill the vacant position of city administrator. Craig Malin, currently the Douglas County Administrator in northern Wisconsin, has a long list of favorable credentials responsible for a unanimous recommendation from the 14-person search committee appointed by the mayor to find the best candidate for the job.
A friend of mine attended a luncheon recently, at which a spokesperson for MidAmerican Energy told the audience that her company was preparing its customers for the same cost increases next winter as those we experienced this past season.
There is no more denying it. It is time to take the blinders off and face the discouraging truth about the current Davenport City Council. With the sole exception of 5th Ward Alderman Wayne Hean, this council betrayed us for the second time by voting for development along or near 53rd Street, giving developers a leg up utilizing public financing tools meant for blighted and neglected neighborhoods.
The Davenport City Council proceeded with approval of two rezoning petitions on behalf of THF Realty for a Super Wal-Mart located at Elmore and 53rd Street without several of the conditions of the zonings in writing.
The opinions of the Quad City Times editorial board are often a source of amusement for those of us who bother to educate ourselves on the issues that concern Davenport taxpayers. This entity's blanket support of Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement Districts (SSMIDs) for THF Realty to pay for infrastructure improvements that provide access to their own development of a Super Wal-Mart and Home Depot is but one more confirmation of the QC Times' editor's philosophy, that ads are news too.

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