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Mayor Gluba defends his actions after six aldermen speak out against him

The six aldermen who did not show up to a special Davenport City Council meeting called on Friday released a statement on Sunday explaining their reasons. The s...

The six aldermen who did not show up to a special Davenport City Council meeting called on Friday released a statement on Sunday explaining their reasons.

The six aldermen were Ray Ambrose of the 4th Ward, Bill Boom of the 3rd Ward, Bill Edmund of the 2nd Ward, Jeff Justin of the 6th Ward, Gene Meeker, Alderman at Large, and Jason Gordon, also Alderman at Large.

In a statement, the aldermen said they did not attend Friday's special meeting because, "we believed it was in the best interest of the City of Davenport" and that Mayor Gluba had acted hastily "without consulting a single member of city council."

The special meeting was called one day after Mayor Gluba called for the resignation of City Administrator Craig Malin and City Attorney Tom Warner. He said they had overstepped their authority in connection with a contract for the extension of Elmore Avenue to the future Rhythm City Casino site.

Mayor Gluba has since changed his mind and is now only calling for Malin's resignation.

"The decision to spend somewhere between $1.6 and $5 million was made my Mr. Malin without our consent, and he's only allowed to spend $50,000 with our approval," Mayor Gluba said. "I'll let Warner off the hook, [but] Malin knew exactly what he did and failed to tell us. As far as I'm concerned, he's got to go."

After signing off on the statement criticizing the mayor's actions, Ambrose said he hopes the weekend gave everyone a chance to cool off.

"A lot of stress going around between the Mayor and the aldermen but it has to do with eight years of hard work," said Ambrose. "Hastily made decisions are never good."

"We've got to have a thorough discussion and personnel issues should [not] be done not in public," said Ambrose.

There will be a press conference on the matter at Davenport City Hall at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

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