Now is as good a time as any to remind ourselves of the community issues that still need constant vigilance and nonnegotiable accountability. City Administrator Craig Malin figures prominently in this, as do the city council (both collectively and individually) and department heads.

If a city-related problem exists, there is a general protocol to follow. Contact your alderman so that he or she can delegate it to City Administrator Malin and to the appropriate department head(s). Requests from individual aldermen cannot legitimately be negated, refuted, or denied by the mayor or other aldermen. Each alderman is considered an employer of City Administrator Malin, department heads, and all city staff.

Most anyone paying attention to urban development in the Quad Cities is familiar with Dan Carmody. Carmody spent 18 years reinventing and re-energizing Rock Island as director of Renaissance Rock Island. He recently accepted a similar position in Fort Wayne, Indiana. (See "The Man Behind Rock Island Renaissance," River Cities' Reader, October 19, 2005.)

Over the years, the Reader has often written about Carmody's projects and ideas, including the most recently published "Vacation Manifesto: Radical Ideas to Grow the Quad Cities" (River Cities' Reader, June 14, 2006).

Davenport's Third Ward alderman, Keith Meyer, upon reading that "manifesto," requested that the city hire Carmody to speak to city leaders regarding his ideas and other important growth issues.

Subsequently, the City of Davenport Design Center hosted a presentation by Carmody, at the Figge Art Museum inside the Deere Auditorium last Monday evening. The event was billed "A Game of Twenty Civic Questions: a lively, interactive session that considers key questions for successful regional development with emphasis on urban core development and global issues."

In an election year, it is no surprise that the dial is turned up on the political rhetoric. But this year it is different, more exaggerated perhaps, because the stakes are so high.

I would characterize the difference in terms of party hostility. Both parties' participation in name-calling, derision, and personal attacks on opponents seems at an all-time vicious high. More important, however, is the lack of even the simplest debates on issues. The underlying cause is that both parties are in indefensible positions.

Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack arguably made his poorest political decision last Friday, when he vetoed a bill that would have strengthened the rights of property owners. House File 2351 provided for new restrictions on governments using eminent domain to condemn private property for economic-development projects, whether public or private.