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Gluba tells Davenport’s city administrator and city attorney to step down

The city council is expected to approve Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba’s public demand for the resignation of city administrator Craig Malin and city legal co...

Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba publicly called for the resignation of city administrator Craig Malin and city legal counsel Tom Warner.

Gluba made the announcement during a news conference held late Thursday afternoon, June 18, 2015.

Gluba is the third mayor who has led the city since Malin was appointed City Administrator of Davenport in August 2001 according to the city’s website.

Tom Warner has been corporation counsel for Davenport for more than seven years.

"They have fractured my faith that I must always have in them to conduct the City's business fairly and with confidence," said Gluba.

Gluba said Malin and Warner had "overstepped their authority" in connection with a contract for the extension of Elmore Avenue, a new road that will lead to the future Rhythm City Casino at the interchange of Interstate 74 and Interstate 80.

After Gluba's announcement, fifth ward alderman Barney Barnhill said the City Council was never informed that the city would be paying for work on the casino's private property.

"There are some of us that are unhappy about the fact that we weren't made aware of this, we weren't privy to it. And if the city administrator, as the mayor just said, deliberately kept this from us, then that's a serious problem," said Barnhill. "I will take full responsibility for being one of the ones that voted, it was a 10-0 vote, and we didn't know in terms of the extension what we were voting on at the time, because we weren't privy to that information."

Gluba said the work was costing taxpayers an extra $1.6 to $2 million.

Malin and Warner were also at the center of a lawsuit filed against the City of Davenport.  Malin signed a contract with Deloitte and Touche for an audit as part of the city’s efforts to purchase Rhythm City Casino; and Malin testified in court that Warner advised him to sign the contract and seek council approval later.

The deal with the casino fell through, and the contract with Deloitte and Touche cost the city nearly $390,000. However, the City, Malin and Warner won the lawsuit in February 2015.

A short time after Gluba's announcement, the city administrator's assistant published an agenda for a special city council meeting set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 19. at Davenport City Hall Council Chambers.  The agenda focuses on Mayor Gluba's request for resignations from Malin and Warner, calling for a no-confidence vote in resolutions to approve termination of Warner and Malin.

The agenda also included introduction of a resolution to appoint Corri Spiegel, Assistant to the City Administrator, as the interim city administrator.

A super-majority of aldermen, or seven members, would need to vote to dismiss Malin and Warner from their positions.

Thursday evening, a source told News 8 that several aldermen would not attend the City Council meeting so that a quorum would not be reached and no vote could be taken.

Malin and Warner could not be reached for comment.

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