Saturday, April 14, 2007

Saturday Open Thread

Update to post below: Chicago will be the US bid for 2016! -SI

Frequent commenter Hoganj300 dropped me a line, hoping for some discussion on the 2016 Olympics. Its a little outside of normal QC-based discussion, but it would have an impact. That is the year that Chicago and LA are competing to be the US city to again compete against cities from around the world. Hogan was saying how much Chicago hosting the Olympic Games would help the entire Midwest, and I heartily agree. It would probably be the best and sometimes only chance for many of us to actually see the games in person, and could really show the world that we're not "flyover country."

He also wondered if this kind of an event and all the infrastructure work that goes into it could be a good chance to expand public transportation, such as Amtrak routes. I'm hoping that we have Amtrak service in the QC area long before 2016! If we do have some sort of train service to Chicago, hopefully the Quad Cities could work together and market themselves as a day trip for the visitors from around the world. Lake Michigan is great and all, but there's something about the Mississippi. Of course, that all assumes that Chicago beats LA, and then beats cities from around the world. Chicago is clearly a world-class city, and its so vibrant and bustling even without a major event going on that I imagine it would be quite a scene with hundreds of thousands of visitors from almost every corner of the world. So here's hoping for Chicago.


For those of you that don't feel like talking about an event 9 years and (potentially) thousands of miles away, this is an open thread.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

When is Davenport One going to go WITH the neighbors of the 3rd Street Liquor store and demand that their licenses be revoked immediately-Davenport One recruited this business to that spot against the wishes of the neighbors. Now we know that he lied on his business license, his liquor license, and should be shut down. It has been nothing but a magnet for crime, violence, and open drug dealing since it arrived-with the blessing of Davenport One. Gene Meeker showed him the building and recruited him to move in. They should step up and demand that the City do the right thing for the neighborhood. The last time I checked on this, I was told in the City Clerk's office that City Legal was waiting to take action until they knew the outcome of the Federal Court action. Even if the license was not in his name-there are all kinds of inconsistencies in his story-the license holder had to know that the application was fraudulent. Or maybe he just doesn't even need a license-that was the case with Sugar's. They operated for more than two years without any kind of license. I know that the Council is distracted with all of the other business, but the needs of residents should not be ignored in this case.

Anonymous said...

I agree Shelly. If we can't shut down this business, then we are in real trouble. It shows us why Davenport is more attractive to slumlords and shady businesses then real tax paying businesses. You can do anything and get to be a business owner in this city. Deal drugs, allow guns, allow thefts and robberies, protitution,etc. If there is a liquor license or a rental license involved then by all mean do what you want to do, states the city staff and aldermen.

Enough is enough. It isn't rocket science to understand that these illigitemate and substnadard businesses do nothing to attract good ones.

QuadCityImages said...

It should really be easier for the city to go to a judge and be like, "This business does 10x more harm than good to the city" and shut it down. They could have used that against Sugars, Aardvark Auto, the "Labor Ready" liquor mart you guys speak of, and I would say even the landlord behind the Shricker, Linden, and 14th and Gaines building.

Instead if took forever to shut down Sugars, a business known far and wide to be doing flat out illegal activity. At least the state helped shut down Aardvark...

Anonymous said...

QCI-the point is that this is another example of needing a good and pro-active legal department. After all the haggling and second and third and fourth chances that Sugar's had with the City and the prodding by the neighboring businesses-in the end, the landlord didn't want to lose his building and evicted them. We found out that they hadn't had any license to do business for more than two years-you'd think legal would have seen that little detail at some point!! Oh, by the way-Chicago got the Olympic vote.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I wonder who Chicago had to bribe at the USOC to land the bid?

Anonymous said...

Hey - the city did the nuisance abatement and the rental revocation that property across from Olsen last summer. The lady appealed it to the District court and then conceded to the place being a nuisance. The problem is that we do not have an aggressive and proactive legal dept. There is a code section on nuisance abatement.But, we can't seem to get to that section when we don't have a good mechanism to collect information to secure an abatement. No good reporting system and staff too disconnected from each other to look at the big picture and connect the dots.

cruiser said...

As Guardian Angels we patrol past that store 3 or 4 times a night. We were stopped by a policeman in a patrol vehicle Saturday night, who told us he went in to buy a soft drink and got funny vibes. He said everyone was acting antsy, but he couldn't arrest them for that. He also thanked us for being out there. Everytime we patrol by it, people start scattering as soon as they see us. People with legitimate business in an area don't do that. That place can't be good for the area.

Anonymous said...

The place is a crime magnet. These rental buildings around itis a hell hole too. Who owns it?

mrc said...

i lived in chicago last summer, and they did a great job with the gay games -- which drew tens of thousands, and was seen as a sort of mini-rehearsal for the olympics. the city handled it easily.

as far as the qc being a draw -- yes, i think you hit it right on the nose. when i was living in europe, people all knew about and were curious about the river, and its history. hopefully there will be some riverboats left in 2016!

Anonymous said...

Regarding 3rd Street

Alderman Meyer:

We have to do a little be more investigation on this now that he's pled
guilty, but there is probably enough to move to revoke his license on
the basis of his not being a person of good moral standing.

Brian Heyer, Assistant City Attorney
City of Davenport, Iowa

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me-MORE investigation. He PLEAD GUILTY in federal court to lying about his name and Social Security number. I don't think it takes a law degree to figure out that lying on an application for a business or liquor license should negate the license. What is the legal department waiting for?

Anonymous said...

Shelley where is your law degree from?

QuadCityImages said...

Apparently you didn't read what she said... "I don't think it takes a law degree to figure out that lying on an application for a business or liquor license should negate the license."

I don't know if its city legal, state laws, or what that's holding us back from going after bad businesses, but we need to start cracking down, or changing laws.