Now that the election is over, citizens can re-focus on the more immediate local issues that require their attention. Most important is the looming yet-to-be-officially-proposed-but-secretly-discussed-with-elected-officials "concept" of an 11-story casino hotel on downtown Davenport's limited riverfront.
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It's time for elected officials and city staffers to wake up with regards to funding tourism in the Quad Cities. Nationwide leisure travel has caught up with business travel, which has remained flat for the past two years.
It confounds me that many city leaders are framing the issue of a new casino hotel on Davenport's downtown riverfront as a remedy for the current riverboat casino facility, specifically the porte cochere that connects to the boat.
During last week's special meeting between Davenport's City Council and Levee Commission, Sixth Ward Alderman Bob McGivern declared that he wanted it made clear that the proposed casino hotel to be built on our downtown riverfront was in no way driving the Vision Iowa application currently in the works.
I want to thank all those who have called, written, and e-mailed me to express your thoughts, support, and encouragement of our efforts to inform the public about the 11-story hotel/convention facility/parking ramp the Rhythm City Casino wants to erect on downtown Davenport's precious riverfront.
It is expected that Hargreaves Associates' "RiverVision Final Report 2004," which is a collaborative plan for the Mississippi riverfronts of Rock Island and Davenport, will be considered for approval by Rock Island's city council on August 9, and Davenport's council on August 18.
Every year, weather permitting, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival is held in downtown Davenport's LeClaire Park. The setting is one-of-a-kind, a picturesque complement to our notable location - the only place where the Mississippi River runs east and west.
From the beginning, I have been a strong supporter of gambling in Iowa. I believe that the financial structure of gaming licenses, which provides for a percentage of revenues to be set aside for community reinvestment, came when Iowa needed it most.

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