Council Update January 18, 2008 • Goal Setting Continues Sunday – Goal setting for the 2008 – 2009 Council continues Sunday, with a worksession starting at 11, expected to end not later than 4. Lyle Sumek (flying out of MLI Sunday at 6:05) will be on hand to facilitate the session, and it is hoped the vision, mission and broad goals of the Council will be in (handwritten) final draft form by the end of the day. Staff will then be able to build a workplan to support the Council goals, and start shaping the FY09 budget in the direction of the goals. A final, typed document will be supplied by Lyle a few weeks later. The meeting is, of course, open to the public and there will be some food available. The current draft documents have been posted on the City’s website. • City Hall Closed Monday – City Hall and other non-emergency city facilities will be closed Monday, in observation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Rev. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is attached for review and reflection. • Next Council Cycle Moving Forward One Week – The February 6 Committee of the Whole / Committees meeting is moving to January 30 and the February 13 Council meeting is moving to February 6. This schedule change is happening so the Council can “swap” the January 30 “free Wednesday” for February 13. On Feb 13 – 15, Mayor Gluba will be leading the Davenport delegation including several aldermen at the annual Quad City Development Group facilitated lobbying trip to Washington DC, where, as I understand it, they make the laws and print the money. Briefs outlining Davenport federal funding priorities have been provided to QCDG staff for formatting into a Quad City region compilation. The briefs were attached to the 12/21 Council Update. As one might imagine, eighty plus pages of rigidly formatted bureaucratese is not the most scintillating document ever crafted, so Davenport also prepares a one page executive brief (with color and graphics!). Last year (after clearing the idea at a regional Mayors lunch in advance of the trip) we were even so bold as to pack a few projectors to display slide shows of Davenport and our project / funding priorities at the evening staff reception. We were the only group to do so, and gosh, did we get in trouble for that. • Legislative Forum Next Friday – Council members are encouraged to attend the Legislative Forum next Friday on the sixth floor of the County Admin. Building, starting at 3:30. The forum provides an opportunity for informal discussion between local officials and our local state legislators. The agenda, facilitated by Bi-State, will be released next week. Des Moines, where they also make laws and seem to specialize in taking money from urban areas? • Metro Coalition – The Coalition has chosen a partnership of Advocacy Strategies and Anderson Legislative Consulting to represent the Metro Coalition. A Friday afternoon conference call has the legislative agenda shaping up into an offensive and defensive game plan. On offense, the issues of alternative revenue (utility franchise fees), added funding for brownfield revitalization, increased local liquor license control, automated enforcement legislation and local control of smoking represent the consensus package. On defense, keeping an eye on property tax “reform” (including condo conversions) and public employee pension changes will be monitored by the Metro Coalition lobbyists. • Post Meeting Transit – Staff is arranging an option for residents who utilize Citibus to travel to City Hall for Wednesday meetings. Starting Wednesday, a bus will leave City Hall at 8:35 pm to transport transit patrons home. A one day advance call is required and the fare will be $1. • Budget Worksessions Planned – Staff is contemplating Saturday morning budget worksessions on February 23 and March 1, with a supplemental worksession Monday, March 3, starting at 5. With this schedule, the City Administrator recommended budget could be presented at the March 5 COW/Committees meeting, and voted on at the March 12 Council meeting. If need be, we could add an additional Saturday worksession on March 8. In addition to these full Council worksessions, Finance Director Guard and ATCA/Budget Manager Briley are available for individual presentations at ward meetings, at the request of aldermen. • Chief Recruitment Continues – Intensive background checks of the three Police Chief finalists continue, including on-site, face to face reference checks next week. The interview panel will be briefed on the reference checks Tuesday, January 29. If all goes well, a job offer could be made January 30. I was asked by one person why we didn’t complete background checks in advance. I explained that we did. The six candidates invited to interview were all subjected to a round of basic reference checks. The reference checks underway now are more detailed and extensive and are, in part, shaped by the interview process. Detailed, extensive reference checks are quite time consuming and it wasn’t very time efficient to conduct extensive checks on a larger number of candidates. The process to get to this point, in a nutshell, was as follows: o Recruitment profile built with public input o National recruitment conducted o 51 applicants submit resumes (resulting in an international field of applicants) o 40 applicants deemed to meet minimum qualifications and provided the opportunity to respond to seven questions (questions in the 11/15 Update) o 20 applicants supply written responses to questions (20 applicants are either no longer interested in the position, allergic to work or unable to write) o HR and Admin read approximately a one foot stack of paper, reviewing each page of 20 applicant submittals in response to the seven questions .. A hint: When we ask professionals with 20+ year careers to recount a mistake you have made and you answer “I haven’t made a mistake”, we (having made many mistakes ourselves) are somewhat skeptical. When you tell us “I work too hard”, or “I care too much” or some similar interview drivel for entry level positions, you only do a little better on the “insightful, forthright” checklist as the “I’m perfect!” applicants. Maybe next time… o HR and Admin combine their “yes” and “maybe” lists and …12 applicants remain o 12 applicants are phone interviewed by Karen Boyd and Chief Frese and (I trust them, it’s their call) … 6 remain .. Alderman Meyer asks if I know any of the finalists at a Council meeting. I think for a second before answering and – at the time not being able to recall a single name of the six remaining applicants (Karen and Mark briefed me on the six but I didn’t commit the names to memory) I answer no. Answering no, to a yes or no question was, for reasons unknown to me, not satisfactory at the time. Apparently, a blogger suggested that, during a single 2006 visit to Dayton, Ohio (that lasted eight hours or so, about four hours of which I was asleep) I became so enamored with the Dayton Police Chief, I made him (or her, I don’t know) an employment offer, in advance. I haven’t met the Chief of Police of Dayton, Ohio, much less any other officer of the Dayton force. I swear, I wasn’t even pulled over in Dayton… o One of the six candidates (the guy currently at Interpol) drops out and the “#7” candidate rejoins the field o The six remaining applicants supply references for checking, complete the StrengthsFindertm assessment and complete a PREVUEtm abilities, motivation and personality assessment. o An eighteen member interview panel is assembled o HR does excellent work in preparing for, and managing the logistics of the upcoming interviews o Five of the six remaining applicants arrive in Davenport for two days of poking and prodding, including a public reception for three finalists determined by the interview panel .. A very charming lady asks me to dance at the Redstone room as the band plays during the reception, but I decline, citing a local ordinance that prevents the City Administrator from dancing within municipal limits. OK, it’s an unwritten law…she gets the joke and smiles. o All involved are thanked repeatedly for their efforts, the three finalists return to their lives in progress and Davenport reloads for intensive reference checks. It’s not an easy job. Getting the job shouldn’t be easy. Stay tuned. • Pardon Our Dust – While we remodel the meeting structure to better serve you. A few notes / observations: o Alderman Announcements – It was expected the COW/Committees meeting would be a little long, so the “Petitions & Communications” portion was removed from the agenda when the new rules were adopted. The “Reports of City Officials” would be an appropriate place for announcements of upcoming ward meetings. o Presentation Length – There WILL NOT be long staff presentations in the future at COW / Committees. If the presentations (maximum of three) are expected to be longer than five minutes (individually) they will be scheduled for the Council meeting the following week, as those meetings are expected to be shorter. o Greensheets Out On Friday – Staff will do our best to get Council packets / “greensheets” out at the end of the day Friday, so the Council may have the weekend to review the material. There may be times when an evolving issue requires an update or a final greensheet on Monday, but the goal will be to get the packets out on Friday. On a related note, we are going to try to use the magic of Microsoft Word to highlight the most pertinent and timely information for Council review in greensheets. o Fifth Inning Stretch ? – As a suggestion, we may want to incorporate a “standard” break into the meeting after the Community Development committee. o Staff Summaries – The Menards rep’s “hey, I’d like some new zoning” approach hopefully will not be a common occurrence, but it may be helpful for similarly complex development matters to start off with a (very brief) staff summary of the issue before the committee, before the topic is opened up for discussion. o View From The Box – It does sort of bring me back to my hockey playing days. Those were good times – my longest, dearest friends are still the guys I bled with on the ice (or in parking lot scraps) decades ago. Cross checking, slashing and high sticking are for goons. Keep your head up. Play the puck, not the man*. Skate to where the puck will be (not to where it is). Good advice, timeless, and applicable to most endeavors. • Ice, Not So Fondly Remembered - The Public Works Street and Sewer Division spent the month of December through the New Year Holiday fighting snow and freezing rain. The cost of those storms was over $500,000. The thaw that followed cause havoc with the street network. From January 4 through January 10 the street division filled 2,247 potholes with 43.375 tons of hot mix and 10.66 tons of cold mix. There were 69 citizen requests in that period of which all were completed in one working day. Public Works has had five or six two person crews out trying to get the roads back into a fair condition for driving. • RISE Grant – In sum, the RISE grant was considered for placement on the agenda, but was deemed not quite ready as staff continues to work with a company that would place us in a better position to secure more funding for the project. Details are as follows on the CD Committee agenda (non)item regarding submission of a RISE grant for 76th Street: • RISE 50/50 grant applications are due twice a year – February 1 and November 1; 80/20 grants can be submitted any time when a viable business prospect arises. • Discussions had occurred at recent staff and Council meetings regarding moving forward with the extension of 76th Street sooner rather than later • To meet an application deadline of February 1 Council would need to approve the submission of an application at its January 23 meeting; greensheets for the COW meeting were due by noon Thursday January 10. • A ‘placeholder’ was added to the draft CD Committee agenda on the morning of Friday January 11 to ensure that action could be taken if needed. • Staff met after the 10:00 am agenda setting meeting on Friday January 11 to discuss the project and the potential for moving forward; it was determined that the project was not yet ready for submittal but work would continue toward project design and pursuit of business prospects that could boost the potential for a successful grant submission. • The ‘placeholder’ was removed from the agenda at 3:00 pm on Friday January 11 – the official agenda did not include this item. C&ED staff is actively working with a company interested in relocating to this area, which would allow the City to apply for the 80/20 grant opportunity. An application tied to the creation of jobs has a much higher chance of being funded due to the competitive nature of the 50/50 grant projects. Staff will keep the Council apprised of our progress. The item is not on the draft 1/23 Council agenda. • IT Training Space – The IT Department will be creating a small computer and phone training facility in the first floor office next to the Council Chambers. • QCT Stories – Tory is working on an article on the 2008 – 2009 Council’s approach to the Isle of Capri / Blackhawk issues and will likely be in attendance near the end of the Sunday session on goal setting to author a story for Monday. • Young Iowans Leave State, In Part, Due To Student Debt – So says the recently released findings of the Generation Iowa Commission. “Younger people are vastly more likely to leave home for urban centers where salaries – and their ability to pay down student debts – are significantly greater”, reported the commission. Iowa college graduate student debt load ranks sixth in the nation (averaging $22,926) and second in the nation for percentage of students (74%) with student debt. We keep exporting young Iowans with unlimited futures, at our own persistent peril. How about working to keep these kids in a particular urban center in Iowa – perhaps Iowa’s largest “Great Place” and the US Conference of Mayor’s “Most Livable Small City”? How about trading community service and a heartfelt commitment to a vibrant, growing home town in exchange for reducing your student debt burden so you don’t have to leave? How about capturing the lion’s share of 150,000 jobs that will otherwise go wanting in Iowa in five years with a nationally unique workforce development initiative? If we don’t shape our own future, it will be shaped for us. • Promise On Iowa Journal – IPTV’s “Iowa Journal” included a brief segment on the Davenport Promise as part of a show on, you guessed it, Iowa’s greatest export – our college grads. If any Council member would like a DVD copy, just ask Communications Director Nahra. • Sunday Viewing Conundrum – Barrett Jackson or Packers ? Packers Contributions to the next Council Update are welcome. Please direct any such contributions to the attention of Director of Communications Nahra by noon Friday. * Not blessed with skating prowess, when not pressed into service as goalie (the most miserable existence in sport) my only hope as a fourth line defensemen was to knock those fast, fancy skating forwards on their Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"