Well, good evening, everyone, and welcome to the City Council meeting for a Wednesday, March 11th, 2026.

We're happy that all of you are here this evening.

We will just have a brief moment of silence.

All right, thank you for that.

Please rise.

Alder Woman Burkholder is going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

Under God, indivisible justice for all.

Thank you.

Would uh the deputy city clerk please call the roll.

Pardon?

Here.

All the way.

Present.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Greg.

Newton.

Present.

Here.

Job Jen.

Here.

And Berkeley.

Here.

Thank you.

And good evening, everyone.

We welcome everyone to tonight's City Council meeting.

Both those that are here in person or those that might be watching online or a mobile device.

We value your comments and opinions.

Please remember that when you address the council, you are sharing your thoughts with fellow Davenport residents and viewers throughout the region.

City Council meetings are live streamed and recorded for later viewing on the City of Davenport's YouTube channel.

We appreciate your engagement in city government and ask that your participation reflects our shared goal of making Davenport an even better place for everyone, especially these young artists that are with us tonight.

So again, thank you for being part of tonight's meeting.

Before we get beginning just a couple of reminders, please silence uh any phones or mobile devices so they do not disrupt the meeting.

Uh if you wish to speak on an item listed on the discussion agenda, you're encouraged to do so during discussion of that item when it is on our agenda.

There will also be an opportunity to address the council during the public with business portion of the meeting later this evening.

When speaking, please come to the podium, wait to be recognized by the mayor and address the council as a whole and not to any one individual.

And uh please limit your remarks to five minutes.

Thank you.

Will an alder person move approval of the city council meeting minutes for February 25th, 2026?

So moved.

Second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The minutes are approved.

Is there a city administrator update?

Mayor, uh just very briefly.

Uh recognition this evening.

Okay.

No new hires, uh, no uh retirements.

We'll do a free promotion.

Uhara Jackson was promoted to fire lieutenant.

We have AJ Peterson uh promoted to firefighter engineer, and Mason Paulie uh with the police department was uh promoted corporal.

Thank you.

Excellent, and congratulations to those employees.

Thank you, Tim.

Well, then alder person move approval of the report on the committee of the whole for March 4th, 2026.

So moved, second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That is approved.

We have one appointment this evening.

Uh the appointment is uh to the Quad City Garage Policy Group, and it is Jeff Wolf, the transit operations supervisor.

Would someone move the appointment?

So move.

Second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, same sign.

The appointment is approved.

All right.

So what we're all here for tonight, right?

We have a very special presentation this evening.

Uh we're so thrilled to welcome students, their families, and staff from across the Davenport Community School District this evening to celebrate the incredible talent featured in the annual Art and City Hall exhibit.

Uh the first year we did this was in 2011 to honor Youth Art Month.

Uh observed each March to celebrate the visual arts this year's exhibit showcases 24 pieces with uh representation from every school in the district.

Each artwork was selected by the students teacher and will be on display in City Hall for the coming year.

Uh again, I want to thank and the council wants to thank all the students, the families, the teachers, the principals, the school staff, school board members, and superintendent uh TJ Snetcloff for continuing to uh the success of this program year after year.

Um I will meet Rudy Newkirk up at the front.

She's the fine arts specialist for the Danport Community School District.

Uh she oversees the collection of student artwork for the display, and we will uh hand out the recognition for these students.

So I will meet you up front.

Oh right there.

Okay.

I'm I'm not sure.

Perfect.

You go ahead, and I think you've got the order, right?

Yes.

Perfect.

Um, first I would just like to say thank you so much for helping celebrate Youth Art Month.

The 2025-2026 theme is this is my Davenport.

So thank you so much to the City Council for your partnership with Davenport Community School District for directing attention to the value of art education, for encouraging commitment to the arts by students, community, organization, and individuals everywhere, and increasing the community's understanding and interest in art and art education through involvement with the exhibit.

Thank you, students and art educators for your work and being here tonight.

And thank you to Davenport's Community School District Administration, School Board, and Building Principals for your support of fine arts education.

Thank you to parents and families and friends for being here to celebrate the students and their work and accomplishments of being selected for this honor.

Now we will go on to the awards.

And I do once we get done with all the present um presentations.

So go ahead.

First, we have Evelyn Tower from Central High School.

This watercolor.

This watercolor painting is of the Fairmont Cemetery in the west end of Davenport, Iowa.

With this piece, I tried to focus on the foliage and the way of light passes through the trees and around the headstones.

My reference was a photo I took near the sunset just before fall.

The area holds a special place for me with it being the home of my grandma.

This is being this is being the summer days I took I look back on my family being together.

Tasty freeze in hand and being told by my dad how much she would have loved this days like these stick with me, so I decided to paint this genius peaceful place.

Perfect.

Congratulations.

Sorry.

I took on a challenge of perspective art with drawing the first national bank.

My reference photo was a three-point perspective.

It was really hard, but with patience and guidance from my teacher, I was able to have a complete piece I liked and could be proud of.

Bryson Lorenz from North High School.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Owen Porter from Creative Arts Academy.

I connected with faith and love, and I used it in my poem because I am trustworthy and loving.

Peace means to me no matter peace means to me no problems, no fighting, just love.

One peaceful person in my life is my mom because she organizes activities for kids and cares for them, but she still stays calm.

We need friends and family to live in peace.

I am proud of my neighborhood because it has a community pool, so everyone can have a place to swim.

You can become a peace builder in your community by volunteering at nonprofit organizations like an animal shelter.

Ready?

One, two, three.

Perfect.

Congratulations.

La Shane Putnam from Smart Intermediate.

I use my unique style to create how I see not only Davenport but the world through my eyes.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Annalisa Ewing from Sudlow Intermediate.

I made a painting of an idyllic summer day in the Midwest.

I used acrylic paint on canvas board.

All right.

Ready?

One, two, and three.

Gracie Conley from Williams Intermediate.

I wanted to make buildings that represent my positive personality.

This includes colorful buildings and fun activities to do with friends.

Lily Johnson, Wood Intermediate.

I chose this place in Davenport because that's where my family likes to go and do things together.

Veda Cabrera from Adams Elementary.

I chose popcorn Charlies because they have so many popcorn and candy flavors.

I love how it's family owned.

I would love to try all the flavors.

Harper Porter from Eisenhower Elementary.

I drew the modern Woodman baseball stadium.

I drew it because I used to go there with my mom and her friends when they're when there were games.

Hannah Segelhorse from Harrison Elementary.

I picked the Putnam Museum for my Davenport landmark because my family and I go there a lot.

It's a fun museum to visit, and we always learn something new.

Kaliliana Brown from Hayes Elementary.

I showed a selfie of me by the Mississippi.

I like the river.

I have been in a car over the bridge and seen the birds fly by, just like in my artwork.

I picked the Centennial Bridge because I just loved how beautiful the picture looked.

I drew many pictures of land, but nothing like this.

This is why I picked this picture.

Joanna Prince Agbaja from Jefferson Elementary.

I only picked the Centennial Bridge because the Centennial Bridge has five different sizes of the arches.

So I did the same for the water.

I'm really happy I won.

Sunset looking at Centennial Bridge in winter.

Edie Ludgate from McKinley Elementary.

I drew my art teacher, Mrs.

Chalice, and myself.

I drew myself giving her a present.

I chose to draw Mrs.

Chalice because I love art and want to be an artist when I grow up.

Alex Tomlin from Walcott.

My art is a choice of my heart.

It is the bike trail.

On the bike trail, I like to find bugs.

And last but definitely not least, Isla Mitchell from Wilson Elementary.

I chose this location because my family and I like to go there.

I'm so sorry, I think we might have accidentally skipped over West High School.

I sincerely apologize.

Estefani Nagrit Vargas from West High School.

This photo I took inspired me in many different ways as I enjoy a lot of movies.

It affects me by having a creative brain.

I was walking downtown in the city of Davenport, and this alley called to me.

I thought to myself it looks like a scene from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in New York City.

How dare you?

Oh, it's taking care of us.

Alright, we have some of you guys all start sliding on this way.

There we go.

Okay.

All right.

Ready?

One, two, three.

Thanks, guys.

All right, as the uh students and their families leave council chambers, we'll give them just another five or ten seconds and then we'll reconvene here.

All right.

Uh are there any petitions or communications from council this evening?

Alderman deskheads.

Yeah, I'll give you a lot warning out.

Um I've had a couple constituents contact me.

One received it uh question by mail, and one received it by uh uh text on a phone.

They're seeking unsolicited information about uh one taxes and the other was potential sale of a property.

So I want to let everybody know, and you hear this everywhere, but if you get unsolicited questions, personal questions of a nature, be very careful, don't answer them, check them out to the best ability, but make sure you're getting something legit legitimate and some something that you've asked for.

So I don't know if the other wards are getting that, but that's two in my ward now.

So just letting everybody know to be aware that there are scams out there and and they're trying to get information from people.

Okay, and the next thing is the next third ward meeting will be this Monday, March 16th at 6:30 here here at City Hall.

Um, it's gonna be open.

Anybody's welcome to come, talk about where we are, where we're at, and maybe where the ward's going as well as the city again.

That's this Monday, the 16th of March at 6:30, right here in Council Chambers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Alderman Vasquez.

Anyone else?

Alderman Blunt.

The uh the next fifth ward meeting is gonna be on Thursday, March 26th, at Celebrities Beauty Supply at 1600 Harrison Street.

The owners will be our hosts, that'd be uh Lonnie and Constance Westerfield.

The again the time will be from five until six.

Among the special guests we'll have will be uh Sergeant Andrew Harris from Davenport Police Department, and again that's gonna be on Thursday, March 26th, from 5 until 6 at Celebrities.

And thank you, Alderman Blank, Alder Woman Newton.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just a quick comment about tonight.

I thought very impressed by the art displayed tonight, but honestly, even more impressed by the manner in which each child describe their art and um explain to us how they see Davenport.

I think as a city we need to do a better job of telling our story, and it's quite refreshing to hear from our future leaders how they see Davenport.

Um so maybe if we can reach out to the school, see if we can get consent to post them.

Um not not just the art, but actually each child description of how they see Davenport.

I thought that was incredibly powerful tonight, listening to each and every one of them, and great story.

I mean, stories shared of how they see Davenport and how Davenport is home.

Thank you, Mayor.

Absolutely, thank you.

Anyone else from council?

I would just share that um we made a very short trip to Chicago yesterday to uh meet with our bond rating agencies, SP and Moody's.

Uh and I just I think we had two productive meetings.

I want to thank uh Basha and her team, uh City Administrator Gleason, Alder Woman Newton, who represented us as the chair of the finance committee, uh, and myself.

Um again, I I think we'll uh we we've already got a uh a good bond rating and potentially we'll get uh slightly better bond writing, but regardless, I think we will come away with a positive outlook and um some good news for our capital uh uh improvement budget in the bonds that we sell to fund a portion of that.

So again, thank you to staff for that uh productive day.

Uh seeing and hearing no one else from council, we'll move on to our uh discussion agenda.

Uh the first item is a third consideration ordinance for case ORD 25-03, being the request of leverage holdings LLC to amend chapter 17.08 entitled uses of the municipal code of Davenport, Iowa to allow wholesale establishment as a special use in the C3 zoning district and add principal use standards for wholesale establishment.

Is there anyone from the public that would wish to address this item?

All right, is there anyone from uh I guess uh is there a motion uh for third consideration?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Is there anyone from council?

Seeing and hearing no one, would you call the roll, please, Brian?

Vasquez?

Yes, Job Jen?

Yes, Holloway, yes, Blum, yes, R done, yes, T done, yes, lean in.

Yes, Burkholder, yes, and Newton.

Yes, nine answers, Your Honor.

Thank you.

Item number two is a first consideration of ordinance for case ORD 26-01, being the request of Palmer College of Chiropractic to amend the campus land use plan generally bounded by West 12th Street, Harrison Street, 6th Street, and Pershing Avenue, Ward 3.

Is there anyone from the public that would wish to address this item?

Dennis Mark Yori, the Chancellor of Palmer College.

I appreciate your time, Mayor Gordon and Council to hear us, and I'm here in support of our proposal and any questions you might have.

I may be able to address.

Alright, thank you.

Is there anyone else from the public that would wish to address this item?

Seeing and hearing no one, uh, would a motion uh would an alder person move first consideration?

So moved.

Second.

Is there any discussion from council?

Seeing and hearing no one, Brian, would you call the roll?

Basquez?

Yes.

R Dunn?

Yes.

Blum?

Yes.

Job June?

Yes.

T Dunn?

Yes.

Leanen.

Yes.

Newton?

Yes.

Holloway?

Yes.

And Burkholder.

Yes.

Nine yeses, Your Honor.

All right.

Third item is a first consideration of ordinance for case REZ 26-01 being the request of Palmer College of Chiropractic to rezone 208 East 11th Street, 1111 Perry Street, 725 Perry Street, 727 Perry Street, 739 Perry Street, and 822 Pershing Avenue from our multifamily residential district to our 4C single family and two family central residential district to IC Institutional Campus District.

Ward number three.

Is there anyone from the public on this item?

Well, an alder person move first consideration.

So moved.

Second.

Is there any discussion from anyone on the council?

Seeing and hearing no one, we'll call the roll on this one, too.

Holloway?

Yes.

Blunk?

Yes.

Lean in.

T Dunn?

Yes.

Basket?

Yes.

Joven?

Yes.

R done?

Yes.

Burkholder?

Yes.

And yes.

Nine yeses, Your Honor.

All right.

Thank you.

Item number four is a first consideration.

Ordinance for case ROW 26-01 being the request of Palmer College of Chiropractic to vacate Palmer Drive between Brady Street and Perry Street and the southern 60 feet of the 20-foot wide alley right-of-way located in outlaw 20 of LaClaire 2nd edition.

Is there anyone from the public on this topic?

Would an alder person move first consideration?

So moved.

Is there any discussion from council?

All right.

Seeing and hearing no one.

Brian, would you call the roll on item number four?

Workholder?

Yes.

Lean in.

Yes.

T Dunn?

Yes.

Blum?

Yes.

Holloway?

Yes.

That's good?

Yes.

Joven?

Yes.

Newton.

Yes.

And Arda.

Yes.

Nine yes, Your Honor.

On item number five is the first consideration ordinance for case ROW 26-02 being the request of Palmer College of Chiropractic to vacate East 10th Street between Perry Street and Pershing Avenue and the adjacent public alley right of rights of way located north and south of East 10th Street and outlots 30 and 31 of LeClaire's second edition.

Is there any public with comment on this item?

Would an alder person move first consideration of this ordinance?

So moved.

Second.

Is there any discussion from anyone on council?

All right.

Seeing and hearing no one.

R Dunn?

Yes.

Lean in.

Yes.

Newton?

Yes.

T Dunn?

Yes.

Holloway?

Yes.

Job Jinn?

Yes.

Blunk?

Yes.

And Burkholder.

Yes.

Nine yeses, Your Honor.

All right.

Our final item.

Is there a motion of approval of all items on the consent agenda?

So moved.

Second.

Second.

All in uh let's call the roll on the consent agenda as well, Brian.

R Done?

Yes.

T Dunn?

Yes, sir.

Burkholder?

Yes.

Lean in.

Yes.

Newton?

Yes.

Job Jen?

Yes.

Blunt?

Yes.

Holloway?

Yes.

And Basquez.

Okay.

I have a question.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

Item 21.

Does that include this as well?

On the consent agenda?

I want to make a comment about that.

Can I do so?

Point of order.

We're in the middle of the vote.

Yeah.

I I mean I think we're pretty much done with the roll call.

There'd be an opportunity, I suppose, that uh councilor or mayor with comments at the end.

Paul Alderman does.

May I ask a question though?

Did we give an opportunity to have comment before we took the vote?

I don't call that.

We don't do okay.

It's a consent.

Okay.

I need your vote basket.

No.

On the no consent agenda?

No.

I have a question about 21.

Okay.

So eight yeses and one no, your honor.

All right.

Uh next is the public with business.

Is there anyone from public?

Please just step forward, state your name and address award.

Yeah.

Right there.

Mayor and council.

My name is Austin Turkle.

I live in Ward II at 2428 West 47th Street.

My ancestors settled in eastern Iowa and Southern Illinois well before 1861.

I stand before you to provide a technical statement for the public record regarding PM two point five pollution and its biological impact on human, plant, and animal life.

PM 2.5 re refers to particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller, about 30 times smaller than a human hair.

According to the EPA, PM 2.5 is a primary public health concern because it bypasses a body's natural filters.

These particles travel deep into the alveoli.

Tiny air sacs in the lungs that act as primary site for gas exchange, which causes PM 2.5 to directly enter our bloodstream.

Scientific studies link exposure to premature death in people with heart or lung disease, non fatal heart attacks, and irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma and decreased lung function.

When these particles enter our body, they trigger oxidized stress and systematic inflammation.

This isn't just a cough.

This is a full body immune response.

This leads to vascular constriction and most critically plaque instability, which causes arterial plaque plaques to rupture, causing immediate heart attacks or strokes.

Long term exposure even causes DNA damage, contributing to cancer.

Plants breeze through tiny pores called stalma.

PM 2.5 particles physically plug these openings, suffocate in the plant, settling on leaves, creating a dust film that blocks sunlight, preventing photosynthesis.

As PM 2.5 settles on the plants and in water, toxic components like mercury or lead bioaccumulate.

When animals eat these contaminated sources, the toxins move up the food chain.

PM 2.5 also changes the pH in soil when it rains.

It's called wet deposition.

And in the end, and it often ends up in lakes and streams, creating eutrophication, leading to toxic allergy blooms and depletion of water's oxygen levels.

This is a local concern in Davenport.

Our children and elderly breathe these particles from tire and breakware, diesel exhaust, fugitive dust, and wood stove heaters every day.

By ignoring these standards, we ignore the lives of our most vulnerable residents.

I am stating this for the record tonight so that this so as that this council votes on infrastructure and traffic projects, it cannot claim cannot be claimed that the city was unaware of the dangers of PM two point five.

That's all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else from the public that would wish to address council this evening?

All right.

Seeing and hearing no one.

Uh are there any final comments from council members uh or the mayor this evening?

Alderman Vasquez.

Yeah.

Um last week the questions were asked about uh the all the attorneys, the attorney's pay or city attorney.

And and looking back at it, this is this is my opinion on what happened last week.

I think that if any citizen asks a question that they deserve an answer.

That leads us to a discussion about the decorum.

Decorum goes both ways.

We ask the public be responsible in its actions and discussions for everybody.

That also applies to us, in my opinion.

Your city council, whether the public or council, we must always be respectable of others' opinions, whether we agree or not, and our actions must reflect that.

The count this council is still new.

We face challenges left over from the past, and we have challenges ahead of us in the future.

Sometimes we too need understanding.

I will say this.

As a member of this council, the discussions that we have made have been carefully considered.

We have all asked questions, we have weighed the answers, and I believe we have made the best decisions possible for our city.

We cannot let past mistakes, we cannot forget them.

We must keep them in mind.

But we must all go forward.

In the interest of transparency, I was going to move that that the item be placed on discussion and that we work together to provide the best answer legally possible to the questions that were asked.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else from council?

Alder Woman Newton.

I would request that either our administrator or uh council Huff, can you please send my colleagues a copy of the council rules of order, the rules of decorum, and the code of conduct so that they have them readily available?

I think it would be helpful for the council to have that, especially since some of those were passed before their time, so they understand how procedurally things work.

I will make sure that all periods items are placed in each station of the dais before that.

Thank you.

All right.

Anyone else from council?

All right.

Seeing and hearing no one, is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All right.

We are adjourned.