The Comeback Alderman: Keith Meyer

I decided that today I'd write a little bit about my own ward's Alderman, Keith Meyer. Obviously Alderman Meyer and I have different views on what is best for Davenport, and for the third ward. However, despite my early misgivings, I'm starting to feel like I have a pretty good Alderman representing me, even if I wish he'd vote yes a few more times.

Early in his first term, Keith made the mistake of writing and reciting a little poem. Honestly, I wasn't as offended by the slight racism of the poem as I was by the fact that this politician wouldn't know better than to read something like that. He was instantly marginalized by most of the council and the Mayor, and I figured he'd never recover. There was, however, a bit of a backlash of people that thought the incident was blown out of proportion, and who probably don't like Alderman Howard anyway.

Alderman Meyer also made himself popular with quite a few Taylor Heights folks when he blocked construction vehicles from starting early on the hated Cobblestone Terrace project. He won reelection against a well-spoken and well-qualified challenger, Bill Boom, in the last election, so obviously he has the support of slightly over half his ward's voters.

One of the best things I've been seeing with Keith lately is his presence on the blogs. He's practically an omnipresent force who people can address questions or comments to on nearly any thread, and receive a reply within a day. I know of a number of issues that he's worked to take care of after hearing about them on SoLo or other blogs. I'm not sure why he hasn't started his own blog, because with the time he seems to put in online I believe it would put Hamerlinck and Frink's blogs to shame.

During the recent Malin controversy, I felt he was making a valiant effort to separate discussions of who is going to sue who from discussions over whether Malin screwed up. However, there are clearly still people who don't take him seriously, although fewer than I would have guessed there'd be right after the Black Christmas poem. My only beef with Alderman Meyer lately has been that he can try to micromanage too much. During a recent meeting, he questioned Dee at length on various technical concrete/asphalt issues. While I applaud his passion to keep an eye on staff, at some point you have to trust your staff who have education and training in specific technical areas.

I suspect that as more residents move into downtown, and the 3rd ward demographic changes to include a greater number of younger urban pioneer types, Keith will eventually lose to a challenger who is more willing to invest public money in downtown development. However, until the population changes that much, he is absolutely representing what the majority of the people of his ward want. The people of the 3rd ward seem to want lower taxes and fees, and someone to keep the council and staff on their toes. I only wish that people understood better that most Alderman on both "sides of the aisle" are just trying to do what the people of their ward want, even if other wards may not agree. That's how our system is designed.

I may not vote for Keith, but I do believe he's doing his best to represent his ward.