A few local election things

City Elections

People are starting to announce that they're running for city council in various wards. Per QCTimes columnist Brian Wellner's twitter account, Bob Babcock will run in the 8th Ward and David Sodemann will run in the 4th Ward. This is in addition to already announced candidates Maria Dickmann in the 2nd Ward, and Kyle Gripp for At Large. I would imagine that most of the existing council will run for reelection.

Speaking of the At-Large election and the existing council....
Davenport Alderman Gene Meeker won't seek reelection -QCTimes

This would seem to open up the door for Kyle Gripp to slide into Meeker's spot, unless a more experienced, funded candidate pops up. I was a year ahead of Mr. Gripp at Central, so I'm seeing a lot of Facebook support from my circles, but I'm not sure whether he has widespread support or not. It doesn't matter unless others run, of course. I do like his enthusiasm for Davenport, but when he mentioned his disapproval of a city-own casino as one of his reasons for running, that lost him some points in my book. The process was certainly handled badly, but if done correctly, a city-owned, Restoration St. Louis-built, professionally-managed downtown Casino could have been great for Davenport. Instead we're getting a cookie cutter interstate casino, although at least it seems to be leveraging some development nearby. Additionally, its great that RStL has continued forward with the City Square and Scott Community College projects where the casino would have been.

I'll save the Mayor stuff for another post.

School District Stuff

What kind of insane rule is it that Davenport School Board members can't comment on Davenport School Board business, especially with an election coming up? How are we supposed to know whether to vote for people if they can't comment on major issues, such as the potential JB Young closing. Its always been strange that School Board elections and politics get so much less scrutiny/interest from the general public, despite a similar amount of tax dollars going to them as to the City of Davenport for most Davenport residents. The idea that the electorate can't distinguish between one member's opinion and that of the entire school board makes absolutely no sense. Talk about the opposite of transparency.