Apparently, Phil Yerington would like a lot of people to forget a lot of things. He's also forgetting a lot of things himself. A Google search is not his friend.
People like me, who support things like River Renaissance and a lot of what happened with downtown during his time as Mayor, should forget/ignore all the stuff he's saying now. Now he's against that kind of stuff. Of course, its not his fault, because he claims that River Renaissance got magically changed between his being for it and it actually being built.
According to him, as he says in his opinion column for the Dispatch/Argus, it was "butchered." To the right is a very early rendering of River Renaissance. Sorry about the glare, and the fact that I didn't get the whole poster in the shot. It shows 2 parking garages, a (different looking) skybridge to the casino/riverfront, the River Music History Center (RME), an uglier Figge, and the AgTech Center (New Ventures Center). Hmm... how is that different than what we ended up with? I fought hard for River Renaissance, and it turned out damn close to what it was planned to be. Yerington is banking on people not remembering his "get off your barstools" comment, and his rabid support for RR. For people who do remember, he's claiming it didn't turn out the way he wanted it.In his same column, he suggests the casino move to the 53rd and Eastern land, forgetting that some of it has already been sold to developers, and much of it is currently being turned into a park and branch library. There's that bad memory again.
In the QCTimes article announcing that he's running, Mr. Yerington makes the jaw-dropping statement of “The current aldermen have spent too much time fighting among themselves and have forgotten there’s a town to run,” he added." Speaking of forgetting, he's apparently forgotten being sued by Niky Bowles, trying to get Gibbs fired from the PD, getting rid of former PD Chief Lynn and hoping to get himself hired as the new Police Chief, and many other things. So for those who want city hall to be less of a circus, Phil would like you to forget most of what happened while he was Mayor last time. He would apparently also like people to forget the half-dozen controversies he's been involved in since leaving the Mayor's office, some of which have never even come to light.
For people on the "other side" from me, Mr. Yerington would like you to forget plenty of things also, or at least believe that he's changed his mind about almost everything. For those of you who generally find yourselves agreeing with the Lynn/Hamerlinck/Meyer side of the council or supporting Niky Bowles-types, Yerington would like you to forget the following:
- That he hired Craig Malin (but he's sorry now!)
- Him calling Niky Bowles "evil" and "a cancer"
- His aforementioned support of River Renaissance
- Him being mentioned in the same sentences (and lawsuits) with Bob McGivern
- His statements that he'd run if Bill Lynn didn't
- His earlier statements that he wasn't going to run for city office at all
In short, whether you support downtown, don't support downtown, want city hall to be more of a circus, or want city hall to be less of a circus, you all have reasons to forget voting for Phil Yerington.
24 comments:
I wouldn't even try to argue with anything you've said about Phil. In particular, I agree that "the circus" at City Hall wouldn't improve a whisker if he's returned to the mayor's office.
I think its been said before but it appears to be time for a good old fashioned carpetbagger to move into the city and run.
Phil has got my vote...
He is a stand up man and some of you are just afraid to hear the truth. Phil speaks his mind and is a very honest man.
QCI,
I agree with everything you've said. A good synthesis and convincing argument for anyone.
QCI, this is probably the best blog you have written so far. Beautifully stated and researched. This guy is the biggest joke in the Davenport political arena, dare I say worse than Meyer. I was so pissed when I read his column in the Leader last Friday. I thought “You lying bastered”. It’s amazing how he twisted the truth.
Great post QCI. I absolutely agree and don't believe Davenport has that small of a memory.
What I love about Phil is his short-term memory. He states he has changed and matured, different hairstyle and temper if you will.
But wasn't it just last year, that Phil was leading a group a special secret agents, uncovering all the waste and illegal activity at city hall. Wasn't it Phil and company that promised breaking news of corruption???
What all of this comical activity (not just Phil, but the whole thing) proves is it's time to go back to partisan elections.
Can we all agree, that no matter how goofy things were, non-partisan elections has only fueled the fire for the un-bathed and ill-informed. Don’t we think, the drama of city hall has just gotten to be too much; regardless of the cast of characters.
I like Phil, and wish him luck. But history has shown Davenport voters have little tolerance of Mayors running amuck. Pat Gibbs nor Yerington couldn’t get elected to the County after leaving the 3rd floor office, and Brooke nearly lost a safe 6th ward seat. Hell, a tested politician like our current Mayor couldn’t even survive in the wave pool of un-organized alderman.
If you ask me, the only real salvation for Davenports future, is to bring back partisan politics.
George
After reading this this AM I emailed the address I found and will be signing to support this man. I also did a Google seaarch and found much positive but with the looks of this you have a vandeta against this man and only looking and posting the negitive EVERYONE has positive and negitive
George - good to hear from you and know that you are still out there, we have missed you in "blogland"...
As someone who moved to the QCA after Yerington left office I am perplexed by his actions. If he is such the civic activist where was he when the biggest project of his career (RR) was being 'butchered?' Why wasn't he using his clout to keep the project pure?
I read his article in the Leader and it only proved to me that the man doesn't do any research or even reads the blogs.
I'll stay in Rock Island.
To: Stay in RI
You are reading One sided info. You state you did not live here when Yerington was in office so you do not know or understand what he went thru. I read elsewhere today that IF YOU ALL remember when he took office all the files disappeared this man was not given a fair shot from the beginning
Where has he been though? Why didn't you address that? Where was he at the RiverVision meetings, the casino meetings, or any other downtown meeting?
At this time he is NOT an elected offial. He does not need to be at any meetings.
The current Mayor is running or ruining the city.
It would matter if yerington was there or not what has happened in the past few years is NOTon him he has not been in office.
#1 All concerned citizens should be at these planning meetings, especially ones considering running for mayor.
#2 It's probably politically safer to hope people forget things than to be labeled as a flip-flopper.
Maybe his decision in running for mayor took place within the past week?
So maybe thats why he has not been at prior meetings.
Why not just give the man a shot we all have our opinions and we can use those on voting day.
Why sit here and try your hardest to slander someone you do not know
Guess that politics for ya
If he isn't concerned enough to come out to try and make Davenport better when he isn't Mayor, why is he concerned enough to run for Mayor? Could there be other reasons he's running? He's been concerned enough to constantly work against the current administration, and write columns for the dispatch.
I'm sorry quadcityimage...
And where on the ballot is your name.
What do YOU do for the city?
If anyone would like to help support Yerington please email phil4mayor08@aol.com
Why don't you pick a name and use it?
Despite attending quite a few meetings and doing my best to move Davenport forward, I still don't presume to be involved enough to run for Mayor.
I agree with Pioneer and QCI. If he wants to be mayor he should have been active in the community prior to now. Not just complaining from the sidelines.
And George, you seriously think we don't have enough trivial junk to bicker over and we need to add a word behind each candidates name to add to it? Exactly what is the republican or democrat way to solve crime? I'd say a better answer to our circus of city government is 4 year terms so people can actually accomplish something while in office. As it is now the only way to make a name for yourself is to destroy something, there's no time for anything else.
11:19 AM
What I know about Phil Yerington is only what I read in the papers about 'faxgate' and his own articles about how things are wrong with downtown while showing that he hasn't done research that I would expect from a high school reporter.
But that's just my opinion from what I see from the other side of the river.
Staying in Rock Island.
Phil is like a very large 10 year old boy that just never grew up from there. On a one to one level he's likable and I personally think he's a little lost. As a leader, it just doesn't work. He can't stick to the same story within a few weeks. Like I'm not going to run if Lynn runs and then well I'm going to anyway? I'm sorry Phil but leadership and credibility aren't your strong suits. And I still remember his public tiff as mayor with one alderman that yielded an all time low of Phil making fun of that alderman's child in a public forum. That's kind of like the "your momma wears army boots" thing only lower when you're insulting a kid you don't even know. Phil Yerington 2.0 is not the answer to Davenport's image problems.
I just want to point out that I said people "considering" running for mayor ought to attend some of these meetings. Hopefully those who have announced they are running already have a strong enough grasp on the issues that they may not need to attend.
I agree with Gina there was just as much bickering when Phil was Mayor. What actions has he done to demonstrate that will change?
He has endorsed Davis, Lynn & Gluba, now he looks around and see no better candidate then himself. Very Cheney of him!
The role of partisian politics is not to fight crime a R or D way, but to organize, vet candidates and bring a more professional demeanor to the process. I'll sign that petition!
www.pyerington.com
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