Promise me this

Davenport sure lost out on a great opportunity with the special election for the Promise.

Whether you were for it or against it is irrelevant for this discussion.  I won’t even give my thoughts on that aspect since there have been more than enough people telling you what an idiot you would be to vote for or against it.  And this is how we lost our golden opportunity.

For as long as I can remember, politics in Davenport has been contentious.  There have always been two sides pitted in a battle to the death against each other.  Rather than grow out of this adolescent stage of development, our city has stagnated and spent entirely too much energy on arguing amongst ourselves.  This energy is needed to energize the renovation and progress our city is so wanting.

I love Davenport.  I think it’s a beautiful place.  I think most of the problems we have stem from a negative attitude which is firmly rooted in the past.  It’s true, many of our neighborhoods saw decline in the past.  It’s true, we’ve had crime problems.  Instead of giving up on areas, on people and on the city itself we should be looking at all of the solid positive areas we have and expand on them.  Just look at the interest in downtown.  It’s not the desolate Sin City some would have you believe.  It’s doing pretty darn well.

And so I come to my disappointment with the Promise election. 

Let’s start with the mayor, who I adore.  I think he’s done a terrific job in leading the council toward behaving in a positive way without all the embarrassing public tantrums.  He’s kept disputes behind closed doors while allowing for discussion of issues.  Good job.  Bad job on his role in the spin on the Promise.  When the opposition is faced with a coalition of D-One, City Council, QCTimes, Firefighters union and more, basically the entire power structure of the city, is it really necessary to participate in so called news stories which put out the most ridiculous spin on the issue?  The only thing that accomplishes is enraging the other side and further driving a wedge down the center of our city. 

Next, let’s talk about the opposition.  Where exactly were you when this was being discussed prior to making it onto the ballot?  Were you a part of the discussion when the decisions were being made on how to fund this proposal, or whether or not it was viable at all?  I don’t want to imply every person has to be involved in every issue, but we need some serious ideas on economic development in Davenport.  Some very good people spent their time and energy developing this.  Where were your critiques during the planning stages?  And what are your alternative plans for bringing people to our city?  To attracting jobs?

On to Ken Croken.  Those opposing his ideas are against progress?  Need I say any more?  This guy was not the right spokesperson, obviously.  Again, he did nothing to bring anyone over to his side by saying this.  He would have been much more effective had he acknowledged the opposition’s fears and points and found a way to counteract them.

QCTimes.  What can I say.  They need to get their reporters back to a Journalism 101 course and learn the difference between opinion and news pieces.  They also need to start properly labeling opinion pieces as such.  This would account for say, 90% of what is written.  They have really lost respect from their readers.  The fact their stock is trading at $.29 is of no real surprise.  Print journalism is suffering and I suppose making things controversial sells.  It also turns of past and potential customers.  And again, it does nothing but drive a further wedge.

Liberals/libertarians; spenders/againsters;  We can keep labeling until our fingers fall off.  What we need to do is put the label on ourselves of Proud Davenporter and start acting as a unit.  Sure, we have different ideas on what is needed and how get there.  We have different ideas on what improvement means, and what priority we should have in our future.  But we all share the common goal of the desire to make the city the best it can be.  So why not get off our collective asses and start looking for solutions which can benefit everyone.  Until both sides are willing to come to the table and treat the other with respect, Davenport continues to lose.