Stuff open thread

 A person has been arrested in the Sav-A-Lot shooting. Here’s the QC Times take on the story.  Barb Ickes also has a take on it. Both are from today’s paper.

This weekend was busier than usual. We had several irons in the fire, just hope we got to all of them.
 I have a few things I want to talk about so, in no particular order, here they are-

 To the person or persons who have been vandalizing my truck, stop. It has been humorous up till now, if it’s a problem you have we me come up to the door. We’ll go out in the alley and resolve the problem. If you’re just someone who enjoys damaging other peoples property, I will catch you, and you won’t like how it ends.
 We just found out a friend of the family died unexpectly recently. My condolences to the family. I’m being a little cryptic, but I’m sure his family will understand.
 It would seem that some people who use the skatepark don’t want it to be around long. When you destroy property, drive cars on the aprons and grass, and make a mess, you will lose the skatepark. Security issues are going to have to be addressed, and problems resolved. If not our million dollar skatepark will be history. The apathy shown by both the City and Police adminitrations illustrate they obviously don’t care what happens in or to the park. That’s sad.
 Since the Mark was renamed, some posters suggested naming the skybridge. I like the idea. If we think about long enough, I’m sure we could come up with something that would stick. The Police Union is starting a petition to get the tax allocation on the ballot. They want a vote on allocating 10% of the 40% from local option sales tax designated for capital improvement to go to the hiring of more Police Officers. With the City Council not coming to an agreement on this, I hope you get it done. I know I would vote for it.
 Lastly, to the guy getting released from prison for the attempted murder of my family and myself. You are coming back to Davenport in the work release program. keep your nose clean, and don’t mess up your parole.
Comments on any subject are welcome.

Skatepark, shooting, and a park

 The rumor about the fight at the skatepark is true. It has not been confirmed as a stabbing yet, but was person was treated and released from a local emergency room for a cut on the hand. This cut was reported to have happened during an altercation in the park. Police reports are not available as this is an open case. As soon as we know more, we will let you know. As to the Guardian Angels patroling the skatepark, to my knowledge they don’t. That being said, now that the first group has graduated it could happen.

 The shooting around the Save-A-Lot parking lot last night if just more proof to me that there is still a crime issue in our city. I also still believe the crime map in the QC Times is misleading because it doesn’t include assaults and aggravated assaults. Since these two are usually the highest numbers perhaps the paper couldn’t list all of them on the size map they’re using. I commend the QC Times for putting the map out every week. I would just caution readers that it’s not 100% of the crime in our city.

 Also after looking over some of the information about the lawsuit filed against the city involving the little park at 11th Street and Mound Street, we are still digesting the information. It was a busy weekend. I am waiting for confirmation on certain parts of the information, but my opinion is the city is going to lose this one. One part that didn’t make sense to me was notching the deck and roof for a high-voltage utility pole. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

 That’s our take, opposing views and comments on any subject are welcome.

Angel graduation

 The local Guardian Angels held their graduation ceremonies today. It should get coverage on Channel 4, Channel 6, Channel 8,  Fox 18 news on TV,  and in the newspaper.  Around 15 graduated and awards were given to people who have helped the organization.   There were more public attending than alot of thought, and thanks to you for showing up. As I mentioned earlier my son and myself didn’t graduate, and I’m fine with that. We made a decision and were told it could cause us not to graduate. I do not regret my decision, and even though it cost us our graduating, I still stand by it. I believe everyone has a certain code of ethics and morals, with difinitive lines they won’t cross. I will continue to patrol with the Guardian Angels, just not as a graduate. We still believe in the group and the standard it has set for itself. Only time will tell if I myself will graduate, in the meantime Congratulations to all who did graduate. 

Docs plan

Jim “Doc” Davis

 Ten Point Plan 

Plus Ways of Completing Each

Within 6 Month Time Period

 Start of Mayoral Term January, 2008 in the City of Davenport, Iowa

1)      Public Safety – CRIME :  The number one concern in Davenport AND surrounding areas is: Crime & Violence and How are we going to get a handle on this problem?

a)      Increase patrolling of 10 areas of concern in squad cars, on bikes and on foot.

b)      Meet with Neighborhood Watch Groups, hear their concerns. Recruit from their neighborhoods volunteers who are considering training in the Guardian Angels so that we can start patrolling there. Guardian Angels train in self defense, CPR, Safety Patrolling and citizen’s rights.

c)      The N.E.T.S. Program (Neighborhoods Energized To Succeed) is helping energize residents to take charge of their neighborhoods.

d)      Continued promotion of the Guardian Angels, Neighborhood Watch, V.I.P.S., and N.E.T.S. Programs to increase their numbers by referencing the importance of volunteering.

e)      Business owners and workers can voice their concerns and ways for safer neighborhoods.

f)       Continue the Graffiti Task Force to eliminate offensive gang logos, pictures, scribbling, etc. from structures around town.

2)      Bring Businesses and Jobs to Davenport

a.)    I will help phone, set up meetings with companies and interest them in locating in Davenport along with Davenport One and others who are interested in more commerce. We will find agreeable terms for both sides and have businesses come to Davenport, our shining Midwestern city, located on the Mississippi River.

b.)    Tax incentives help businesses move to Davenport resulting in more jobs and taxes for our city.

c.)    Getting a handle on the crime situation, businesses may look more favorably toward Davenport.

3)      Health Care in the Work Environment and Home – Promote health in the work place and at home. Healthy habits help promote increase productivity, less down time due to sickness, a calmer atmosphere.

        a) Promote on the job exercising several times a day to keep oxygenated blood flowing throughout our body (sitting on the job is very energy draining).  Other countries do this; they find it very rewarding, invigorating and helpful in reducing work related injuries and sickness in general.  Various health providers – chiropractic, medical, physical therapy, naturopathic and others will enjoy coming to us to “show and tell” healthy habits.

b)  Promote the positive reinforcement of knowing the benefits of smoke free work places and home.

 c) Help eliminate the “couch potato syndrome” and move to the outdoors by joining one of the neighborhood walk groups or health clubs. You do not know what health is until you get healthy, (“I didn’t realize how out of shape I was” is a common realization).

c)      By joining a patrol of your neighborhood that suits your time schedule, you will become healthier by getting outside and by being with like-minded people volunteering for the good of all. There’s a lot to be said about volunteer therapy.

d)      Ride with the New Mayor on the Bike Path and City streets. Increase cardiovascular and increase oxygen to all areas of the body. Discover the benefit of increased Energy.

e)  Patrol the streets with the New Mayor and improve your health while you are at it.

f) Join the Guardian Angels and have Free Self-Defense Classes weekly (a $45 value, each week). Learn to be safe with some of the experts with knowledge of over 28 years of experience.

4)      Citizens of Davenport involvement : I would like to see more people coming to Ward meetings and give their input. I currently go to all the Ward meetings that are held and listen to people’s concerns. I will continue to be present at these Ward meetings as Mayor of Davenport. If you cannot come to City Hall, we will come to a location near you. Tell us how you would solve that problem; as you know, city officials do not have all of the answers. We will bring those concerns and answers to city council meetings at city hall.

5)      Gambling – I feel that we should encourage the gaming house to move to the Interstate north and northwest of our city if they choose to even stay here. The River Center, even though we subsidize it, has been linked to Family Events; we can promote more usage of this facility in the coming months and years. To change the River Center to gambling would be like renaming The Mark of The Quad Cities. The gaming business already has its big location in Bettendorf upstream, and Jumers has their location southwest of here, 10 minutes away, on I-280 down stream; triangulate and you get North Davenport on a busy I-80 route; the gaming houses would then draw from the entire metro area and everyone traveling East and West across the United States. If downtown Davenport is more desirable for them, why not build a gambling hotel like they promised some years ago? Why not renovate the Blackhawk Hotel, which is one of their concerns. There are two vacant lots near the River Center- the parking lot east of their Blackhawk Hotel and the other across the street where the former Vale Apartments were located.

6)      River Front Development – Let’s continue developing our river front with whatever money we receive for that purpose. The buildup can be over time if we need to slow the developments due to a loss of revenue, just like the rest of us slow down our spending when times get tougher on our billfolds/purses.

7)      Our Children – How do we keep our kids in school, all the way through college?

a)      Let’s start our “Davenport Promise”, something similar to the “Kalamazoo Promise” which is a great boon to that city. This would help promote continued learning, bring people and businesses to Davenport to take advantage of this offer and reduce the “Brain Drain” that occurs when people move out of Davenport for brighter horizons.

b)      Let’s continue having Davenport residents from all professions talk to every one of our students in grade and high schools, encouraging them to stay in school and get that coveted college diploma.

c)      As Mayor, I will gladly talk to Our Kids, at the schools about the importance of continuing education.

d)      As Mayor, I will be available to attend all (where possible) school functions deemed important having the Mayor in attendance.

8)      Skate Park – Skate Park is a skating arena; the kids come to skate and eat and skate some more. We can have installed around the perimeter, 9 tables (or a few more) with concrete slab for each and a 2-pole V-shaped corrugated roof for the much needed shade at this park for a lot less than the $375, 000.00 that is currently being entertained at City Hall (bids would be accepted). Here’s my bid: $25,000.00. We could hook up to the city and have a block and mortar restroom built if need be later. The city can issue a vending license to someone interested in selling dogs, burgers and beverages; keeping our kids safe from crossing River Dr. We can continue having the Port-A-Restrooms on the site. We will install poles for lighting, so that the older kids can skate all night if they wish. I think a large number of skaters would welcome the cameras.  It is their park, created by us and given to them to enjoy. We should ask them for their concerns on safety.

9)      Efficiency in all departments – I will help find an independent assessor who will charge a very reasonable fee to look at each department and make recommendations for more efficiency. Becoming more efficient, the savings can be applied to other areas.

10)  Health Care for everyone – Go to your neighborhood chiropractic doctor, or go to your neighborhood medical doctor and tell them the New Mayor sent you for a Free Spinal/Stress Exam. Hopefully both will do a public service deed, an exam, and you will learn whether you’re stressed or not and maybe learn how you could have a more stress free life. Being that stress is the number one killer, it is wise to learn how to manage it more effectively.     –   Doc Davis For Mayor

 Comments are welcom

JLCS and the Angels

 Looks like there’s a whole lot of things going on besides the Bix. It appears that JLCS is in trouble. Could it be the citizens of Davenport were puposely misled by both the City and JLCS about Cobblestone Terrace. Now that the orginization has recieved a letter of non-compliance from the IRS, which the City ignored by the way, and the old director is in Des Moines; is the handwritting on the wall? And how does JLCS get away with having employees, and a family with no income in these buildings. Is the city going to bail this organization out again? It seems they have a history of not listening to residents in situations like this. Maybe it’s time for a change.

 The local Guardian Angels chapter, the first in Iowa, is graduating this Sunday. We don’t know how many yet, but we wish there were more. Some of us have been there since the beginning, in the drizzle on the first patrol. It has been an interesting part of our lives ever since.  A big nod to the Guardian Angels.

 It also seems that our city has acquired another lawsuit from the east side. I for one hope these lawsuits get taken care of. If nothing else, this is an interesting place to live. A big thank you to those who keep us informed, comments are welcome.

It seems that snarky beat me to the JLCS post this morning.

Tooth, Alderman and weekend

 Today I had a tooth pulled at the Dentist. In my 56 years of being around, it was my first. The pain isn’t near what I thought it’d be, but it has caused me some problems. Because of having my tooth out, I have to figure out what soft food is. They weren’t any help in the Dentist office. They did rule out tacos, potato chips, jerky, fried chicken and french fries. I guess I’ll go out cruisin and see if I can find a soft food joint, or a book on it.

 Also it seems funny to me the Alderman Meyer is getting all this flak about trying to keep the skatepark in one piece. Some are saying he was mad and loud. Well, duh! Did anyone think to ask how many times he asked these mental giants not to do what they were doing? You can talk to some of these banger wanna-bes until you’re blue in the face and not change anything. If an older, hearing impaired, probably smaller man intimidated these kids, maybe they shouldn’t be out that late. I also don’t believe the part about the bad cussing. Now if I was down there, people would know there was cussing involved. I don’t have the patience of Alderman Meyer when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing.

 This weekend is going to be busy for us with the Bix Fest and everything else. I think I figured after we get up tomorrow morning, we’ll end up with 4 or 5 hours sleep by Monday morning. I have to learn how to say no sometime. So comments on any subject is welcome.

Buddy and the skypark (skatepark)

 Buddy Walker has died. My condolances to the family. He was a hell of a drywaller and died too young. I won’t be able to make the funeral, but you’ll be in our thoughts and prayers.

 Since the skatepark is in the news, snarky has a couple of posts on her blog also, I thought I’ d post a little about it. As a commenter on my last post mentioned, there was a car seen on the cement apron. My son was at the skatepark at the time and informed me there was also  another car on the grass at the same time. If the expected restroom complex and other amenities are going to be added, something has to be done about this destructive behavior. Everyone thought the big problem would be grafitti. If they are tearing up picnic tables, garbage cans, the grass and concrete now; what would it be like with $10 million of improvements all around it? The solutions offered in the last post all had merit, but I believe if someone doesn’t get to problem solving things will be too far gone to repair. With an apathetic City Administrator, and a Police Chief marking his time to retirement at least Alderman Meyer is trying. Whatever your opinion, comments are welcome.

—————–Addendum——————————————-

 Since it is now public information, and aired on the radio, I thought I’d mention the latest from City Hall. The City has to pay Ford Motor Credit Co. $272,246 due to an illegal tax. This tax is called a loan agency tax. While we are assured by City leaders that won’t effect us, it begs some question. How many loan agencies are eligible for this refund? How can an amount this size not effect the budget? And lastly; how could the City collect this tax and claim to not know about it? Leadership as usual.

 Little is being said about the new PD headquarters either. The City Leaders with all their knowledge and courage backed down from the union on demands that only union people unload and set up the furniture in the new Police Station. While this will amount to a difference of $12,000 over non-union set up; do you really have to be union to install office furniture? This is a right to work state and the union isn’t supposed to be able to do this. If this is the best negotiating the city leaders can do, I’ll bet they’re a blast at a poker party. It’s getting interesting.

Bush Library flooded open thread

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DESTROYED BY FLOOD —   Crawford, Texas — 

  A tragic flood this morning destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush.   The flood began in the presidential bathroom where both of the books were kept.
Both books have been lost.    A presidential spokesman said the president was devastated, as he had almost finished coloring the second one.
The White House tried to call FEMA, but there was no answer.

Malin was what?

 According to the nomination letter, Craig Malin had many firsts. In 2004, because of Malin, Davenport was the only city in Iowa to hold a successful Vison Iowa referendum. Malin singlehandedly saved Prairie Heights and got everyone loving it. Malin was responsible for RME, the Figge, and New Ventures. He also opened up the closed minded city government, and reduced crime by 12% with nearly 10% fewer city employees. He also made sure Davenport was the most efficiently managed city of its size in Iowa, gave us the lowest tax rate in the state, and did twice the normal improvements to infrastructures. The city council was so impressed by this, one of the first things they did after the election was offer him a new and improved contract. I would really be impressed, if any of that was true.

 The letter was supposedly drafted by by Malins assistant Robin with some help from Aderman-At-Large Howard. To read a copy of said nomination letter go here. I have to wonder if Alderman-At-Large Howard would help draft such a letter today.

 Fast foward to 2006. The city is set to lose grant money because nobody knows what the Riverboat is going to do. Prairie Heights is still prairie, the RME is floundering, the Figge is a dissapointment to some, and New Ventures fell off the radar. City govenment is more closed than ever, people in some areas of our city don’t feel safe,  we don’t have an effiently managed city, we don’t have the lowest tax rate, we have no infrastructure repairs, and his contract is coming due again. Add to this, his lawyer fees for a lawsuit, his closed door policy, and his wanting to give people who can protect his backside a diamond covered benefits package, and I don’t think he’d win the award this year. I think it’s time for this self-serving, egotistical, official to move on down the road.

What Davenport needs is a Redneck city government. When you’re done laughing, think about it. A redneck isn’t afraid to take a stand on an issue, they respect the law, know how to work hard, love and have and will fight for our Country, don’t trust wordy people and like to sleep on something said by same, usually have Bibles and guns in their homes, and are honest. Of course that would mean getting used to seeing the City Council dressed in blue jeans and ballcaps, but I’m willing to make the sacrafice for the good of our city. And if we throw in an intellectual or two, it could be interesting. That’s my take on it, your comments are welcome.

29 kids drunk, 2 dead, year in jail

A story caught my eye in the Chicago Tribune, by Courtney Flynn and Andrew Wang,  about parents who permitted underage drinking in their home. This usually would be a story I’d pass on, except for the mention of 29 kids in the basement, and two kids getting killed in a car wreck on the way home.

 It makes one wonder what sort of neighborhood this family lives in that 29 kids can be getting blasted on beer and rum in the basement, smoking pot,  and the parents on the first floor don’t have a clue. How big is that house?

 While this happened October, it was in the paper today because the parents were found guilty of allowing underage drinking, endangering the life of a child, and obstruction of justice. And for that the worse they can get is a year in jail.