I am confused as to what the last election did to Shawn. It seems the “outspoken critic” of Malin on a regular basis is now giving him a positive review. If you haven’t seen the initial article that just tickled a little here it is…
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/11/16/news/local/doc473d39efd720b997719139.txt
Essentially, Shawn has been browbeating Malin, along with his buddies Lynn, Ambrose and Meyer, and is now blaming it on himself and the council. At least, that is how I read the passage in that article, that the council gives Malin no direction, and it is their fault.
So what is Shawn really saying? He likes Malin and the job he’s doing, even though he voted to fire the guy? In an April 17th article in the QCT, Shawn says: “I will grant that Craig Malin offers institutional knowledge,” he said. “It’s amazing the ability he has to get stuff done. The problem is sometimes in what that stuff is and what direction he wants to move.” Huh? So where does Shawn get this magical “he’s doing a good job” gameface?
It seems to me that Shawn might be a little frustrated. In my view, and I don’t think I’m alone, he is attempting to micromanage the city from his ward. Charlie Brooke tried to explain to Shawn why this was a bad thing when Shawn was fired up about taking responsibilities away from Malin. Here is a snip from the same April 17th article referenced above:
Alderman Charlie Brooke, 6th Ward, said a city with a $180 million budget and 900 employees would be a nightmare to run by a micromanaging elected body.“It needs a professional, a CEO, to run it, not 10 politicians elected every two years,” he said. “Nine of the 10 aldermen of Davenport have no experience running a business. Eight of the 10 have no real job at all. One is in jail. No other city in Iowa runs without an administrator.”Hamerlinck said his idea would be to keep an administrator but give the power to hire and fire department heads to the council and mayor.
Now back to the latest article where Shawn is quoted as saying:
“The biggest issue affecting the city administrator is a City Council that has refused to give him direct policy direction,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to tell him exactly what we want him to do, and too often, we haven’t.” Is that it? Is that the issue? Shawn, remember wanting to eliminate the position all together?? Here’s a clip from an April 14th article from the QCT:
Alderman Keith Meyer, 3rd Ward, who attended Hamerlinck’s meeting, told the Quad-City Times late last week that he will support the alderman’s (Hamerlinck's) efforts to eliminate the position. Aldermen Ray Ambrose, 4th Ward, and Bill Lynn, 5th Ward, also have positioned themselves in support of Hamerlinck.
So what do you want Shawn? Do you want the council to do everything, or do you want to just tell Malin what to do? It seems to me you should leave a significant amount of decision making in the hands of the person, whom you give glowing approval of that has “institutional knowledge” and not in the hands of 9 of 10 aldermen who “have no experience running a business.”
Links to the other cited articles:
April 14, 2007
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/04/14/news/local/doc462197afb7bf0094213189.txt
April 17, 2007
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/local/doc4624548342483807602860.txt
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27 comments:
NO kidding - where did any of htem get the he does a great job thing. What a bunch of Weeneys down there. Grow some balls fellas and dump the guy for out sake, we can't afford him anymore. It is too bad we didn't elect people with the guts to change this city for the better.
Not bad Thomas! I'm hoping your insight continues. I, as well as you, were curious/confused what exactly Shawn was trying to say. I see it as being a major "flip-flop." Is he tired of being on the losing side of almost every issue? Tired of being part of the "againsters" and wanting to come to the table of reason, or staying the course of more conspiracy? I guess time will tell......
Anywho, Great job Mr. Paine. Welcome, and God help you with your new endeaver!
Thoughtful, well written, well documented. And, I even agree with you.
I hope your not writing your blog at work on Davenport's dime!
To help answer your question, I can add a bit from my interview with Shawn that did not get into the story due to space constraints.
He said he remains in favor of switching back to a strong-mayor, weak-administrator form of government. He said he may continue efforts to convince other aldermen to support such a change.
Malin, he said, is simply exercising the power that has been (in Shawn's opinion) irresponsibly given him, so it doesn't make sens to berate Malin for acting on that power since it was freely given up.
Obviously, I couldn't make the article about Malin's review all about Shawn's political philosophies, but the above, I believe, accurately reflects the conversation we had,
Thanks for the input Tory. But then one needs to ask Shawn if he has talked with the "Mayor elect" to "discuss" this with him? It is just a little weird for the 2nd ward alderman take it upon himself to change a the form of government just because he doesnt like Mr. Malin. Or does he? doesn't he? does he?
Maybe Shawn wants to change the current form of governing to give more power to the mayor....
Can you say "Hamerlinck for mayor?" mmmmmmmm
The odd thing is about the QCT article and the statements of the aldermen is that they criticized Malin for not being directed by them. They blamed themselves for Malin's behaviors. They are the problem I guess, but we chose to re-elect most of them. We are the idiots.
Shawn is a most adapt chameleon. He blends with the prevailing public opinion to offer up an reasonable, measured demeanor. Given the opportunity he will satisfy his hunger.
Tory's conversation with Shawn, where he discussed his political philosophies, makes it clear to me that he isn't done with Malin just yet.
Hammerlink's goals haven't changed, he is waiting for enough support to resurrect his campaign to oust Malin. I suspect that he will not find the support he is looking for in the new council.
I share Charlie Brook's view of a strong administrator "CEO" with a council setting policy. In that role Malin has been effective, he just didn't have enough good directors on the board.
I guess I am just tired of the games of Shawn and the others. He acts like Moritz with his stupid games. We need to get away from that in this town. It is the smae old - I voted for your issue - so you vote for mine.
Keith
Of the mistakes made on the Council, trusting him rises quickly to the top.
You can't fool all of the people, all of the time, but might 74% of them. Like many folks in Second Ward,I was fooled.
I discounted the advice of long time friends,people he was in high school with, the wisdom of respected staff who worked with him on a regular basis and paid the price.
He gave numerous clues for what was coming. I talked to him about his regular habit of lying. he brushed it off saying, "I didn't mean what I said."
His lies built up like an inverted pyramid, and when least expected,( right after I had a beer at his house and got assurances of his support) he slipped around and stabbed me in the back.
Listening in the closed session meeting was enough to make one vomit buckets. As said before, the morals of a stone.
P.S. It is not suprising to see Tory Times in, defense. They are both big, big, big time liars.
I don't see how Tory's comments can be taken as a defense of Hammerlink.
"Listening in the closed session meeting was enough to make one vomit buckets."
How could you listen in on a CLOSED SESSION ??
It was most likely Keith at 12:53.
He would have been at the closed session.
Shawn is one of those snakes that will still bite if one was trying to help. I trust this guy as far as I could throw him.
Shawn isn't the only one that has flip flopped on a variety of issues, including Malin. Two others that were re-elected - Barhill & Ambrose actually flip flopped during the vote. Perhaps only those that are spineless are re-electable? Dunno. What does this say about our fine city?
Interesting to note that there are no comments of support for Hammerlink.
Keith-Tory isn't a liar. You just don't like him because he isn't a stenographer for your BS like your buddy Nicole. Also, Tory has an editor that requires facts and verifiable sources. Sour,sour grapes-make some whine.
Shelly - I think you re showing your true colors as well. We all get it - you hate Keith Meyer. Enough already. The problem is that you don't know what battle to fight. It is good to fight the bad liquor mart, but unless you do something about the out of control homeless population in your boyfriend's biz area, then you will not get rid of the mart. You continue to support efforts of JLCS and you don't seem to get it that the bums are drunks and criminals that hang out at the liquor mart. YOu are a smart person, but you don't seem to get everything - the big picture. Meyer does.
Anonymous-convenient handle! I don't hate anyone. I DO get annoyed by Meyer when he personally attacks people who don't kowtow to him. For those who continue to have a blind hatred of the work that JLCS does and see every poor looking man in the neighborhood as a product of their presence, you can continue to carry those feelings along with you. Growing Paines will soon find out that having a blog here means that most every thread will at some point wind back around to JLCS being the root of every evil in Davenport and that Meyer is the savior. I identify myself in comments because I am not ashamed of my views.
8:01, to accuse Shelley of not knowing how to pick her battles while speaking in support of Meyer may just be the most incongruous thing I've ever read on a blog (and I'ver read Meyer's blog). I don't know which big picture you think Meyer gets, perhaps one in the recesses of his own mind. This is a guy who voted against installing Alderman-elect Justin early so his ward could have representation until the new council is sworn in. Even if you don't agree with Justin's views, it's obviously the right thing to do. Meyer couldn't even see that, and you think he sees the big picture? I've heard people say that he's very intelligent, and maybe he is within the confines of his own brain, but every time he opens his mouth, imbecility ensues.
It can be JLCS or the Balcony House or the Vineyard or some other "mission" in the po neighborhood - the we will save you from yourselves mentality forced upon those of us who live there.The fact of the matter is that these organozations and people keep us poor here - more poverty or soup kitchens. More and more homeless people (criminals) coming here. It diverts from the ones who live here and need our help. It is a crime that so many people feed at these places. Instead of placing the trough out without any questions, let's start asking some. Where do you live, how long, where and when did you come to Davenport? Why? Ya got a criminal record, drug issues, are you a sex offender? etc. I want my neighborhood free from transients and people pissing in my yard. I want these people helped and not dumped on us. I have done my part but the bleeding hearts just feed them and let them go to my house.
I totally agree with you. I don't live near there, but I used to volunteer for 'the jlcs', well, I was an employee. The place was totally mismanaged and they wasted tons of money. We helped everyone and anyone and when a sex offender came along (a lot) - we didn't make a huge deal of it. People had no idea how we wasted the donations. Well, it looked like that to me. When that Des Moines group came to see our shelter, our Director actually told people to not complain about the bad stuff the men did in the neighborhood. They place was a mess. It had a bad impact on that area, it would any area. I wouldn't live there in a million.
I voted against installing Justin because the Council cut me off when I went to ask if Justin was planning on participating in the evaluation of Craig Malin that occurred fifteen minutes after he was installed. Keith
You can't base a vote to exclude the sixth ward's representation based on your personal litmus test regarding Malin. You were out of order because the vote was to seat the alderman elect to fill the remaining term of Alderman Brooke not on how he would fulfill his responsibilities as an alderman.
Keith, you need to take a deep breath, relax and go on vacation. Everyone will get along just fine without you.
Keith, Your vote was to install Justin to represent the 6th ward so they 6th ward would have a representative to represent the people. Period. So Jeff basically is not qualified to discuss Malin because he is newly elected official? Or, are you pissed because the council cut you off, and out of spite, you voted "no" to get back at the council? Either way, Once again, it is YOUR agenda, not Davenport's best interest so EVERYONE is represented at council.
P.S. My point is, you obstained from the whole discussion about Malin because of your tacky "law Suit" anyway. You are a true & true obstructionist.
This may be the best blog I've ever read regaurding City politics. I was beginning to wonder if anyone else noticed Hamerlinck speaking out of both sides of his mouth. At least he's starting to see the value of an administrator, but I wish so much that both he and Ambrose had gotten the boot this November.
Hammer is all over the place. Mostly he just likes to hear himself talk. Have you ever heard him vote without a long speech? I think there might be a place for him in politics when he matures and thinks through the effects of his actions. At this point he can't think past right this moment. We need long range thinking people making decisions for the future of our community. Hopefully the negativity of Hammerlink, Ambrose and Lynn will no longer make a difference in this community.
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