DAVENPORT, Iowa — It was the headline that made waves in Quad City circles, thanks to some choice writing from a veteran local reporter.
Ed Tibbetts has been reporting on politics, trends and happenings at Davenport City Hall for more than 30 years. A former Quad City Times reporter and editorial page editor, the now-retired Tibbetts is a member of the Iowa Writers' Collaborative and a freelance journalist who publishes the Along the Mississippi newsletter on Substack.
In his Substack newsletter, Tibbetts has been writing about the ongoing turmoil at Davenport City Hall that began ramping up following the Davenport building collapse in May 2023. The incident left three people dead and one survivor was left with a life-altering injury from the collapse after needing to have her leg amputated at the scene. All tenants were left without a home and without their belongings.
The building has since been torn down, with all the rubble shuttled to a Scott County landfill. As of the date of publication, a total of nine individual lawsuits have been filed in the aftermath of the collapse, all of them consolidated into one due to having similar issues of law and fact.
Following the collapse, residents staged several protests, calling for answers from Davenport city officials.
In the months that have followed, several top Davenport officials have left their posts, including long-time city attorney, Tom Warner, and city administrator, Corri Spiegel.
The latter's departure was marked by a $1 million payout for emotional pain and suffering due to prolonged harassment by current and former elected officials and an additional $600,000 for lost wages. As part of the buyout, Spiegel agreed not to sue the city.
However, the plan to pay Spiegel was revealed to have been in the works before Davenport's 2023 city elections in October, yet not announced to the public until after all the ballots had been counted. In fact, the sparse details the city did disclose about the settlement — footed by taxpayer dollars — was not released until the day before Thanksgiving.
In sum, Tibbetts wrote: "In my 35 years in Davenport, I've never seen anything like it."
As he continued to follow the fallout of City Hall's turmoil, Tibbetts published a series of articles about the secrecy and gray legalities (in some cases, what appears to be illegalities) surrounding Davenport's elected officials.
He published headlines such as:
Tibbetts joined The Current on News 8 to discuss his writings, as well as the unprecedented situation unfolding in Davenport. He says he doesn't throw around a word such as "stench" lightly, but still felt it was appropriate in this context.
He's calling for more transparency from the city's elected leaders as well as more information around what life is like at City Hall.
Tibbetts is curious about why Spiegel got so much money, especially considering two other city employees also reached harassment settlements for $157,000 and $140,000. Those details, of course, were found out thanks to emails secured by a member of the public.
"So far, they appear to be keeping their promise to freeze out the public. The council has circled the wagons, and we aren’t invited inside. They’ll spend our tax money; they just won’t let us in on the basis for their decision," Tibbetts wrote in his article from December 15.
You can watch his full interview in the above video.
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