3 weeks Ago By SARAH WATSON [email protected]
Eight months after a joint meeting with the Davenport Civil Rights Commission and the City Council, commissioners again are asking for resolutions to their executive director’s concerns. Members of the city council, civil rights commission, the civil rights director, the city administrator and the city attorney met Tuesday for almost an hour and a half to air and address continued friction between the civil rights director and other city staff. Civil Rights Director Latrice Lacey and commissioners presented the city council and staff with about a dozen requests of the administration, finance and human resources department.
Commission chair Mike Guster said the commission was looking for steps to improve workplace culture for civil rights staff, and to address problems of inadequate resources, communication breakdowns and other inefficiencies. Civil Rights Commissioner Frank Holley said the commission was looking for concrete timelines and resolutions to ongoing problems that the commission has brought up in the past. “One of the overlying issues here is the lack of attention to these issues,” Holley said.
“They have not been addressed. So, these issues have been here for a while and been on the table. This is not the first time they’re being addressed.
” Lacey said that while the city ordinance gives the director the power to “administer the budget,” the city finance department does much of the billing, invoicing and controls where budgeted funds go for the civil rights office. When she asked about funding, Lacey said, she received differing answers on how much funding the commission had to hire new staff members, leaving her unable to set salaries or recertify for federal funding. Lacey said she filed a complaint in April 2024 that is still unresolved over previous legal staff who she said opened confidential mail directed to the commission.
City Administrator Doug Maxeiner set a target date of May 9 to bring answers to the list of requests and additional questions to the city council. The council and commissioners set a date of May 20 to reconvene and discuss a path forward. The requests included: The Davenport Civil Rights Commission is an independent investigative agency overseen by a seven-member volunteer board that enforces Davenport's civil rights ordinance through investigation and education.
Paid administrative staff investigate discrimination complaints, provide mediation and educate the community. The mayor appoints commissioners, and the commissioners hire the executive director. The commission is authorized at six full-time staff, which was increased for fiscal year 2025.
Lacey and the commission have had friction with other staff at City Hall for years, and commissioners said they hoped having a new city administrator and new legal staff would help turn over a new leaf and build better relationships with the commission. Lacey said she isn't experiencing any current problems with the current legal staff, but there are still unresolved issues, such as with the mail, from previous staff. She said she had been trying to set up a meeting with city administrator Doug Maxeiner since February.
An issue brought up at the previous meeting was remodeling the civil rights office. The city has about $150,000 budgeted to put in a window so the administrative assistant can see who is coming in without needing to open the door and to redo the ceilings and walls so confidential conversations can’t be heard in adjoining hallways or bathrooms. Lacey said she was under the impression that the office would be getting new furniture, too, like other departments, but that the remodel now doesn’t include new furniture.
Watch Chad Dyson, Davenport Parks and Recreation Director, talk about the future amenities proposed at Main Street Landing. Davenport officials held a ground breaking April 3, 2025 to mark the start of construction on the new 10 acre riverfront park. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at 5th and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest.
More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest.
More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest.
More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest.
More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at Fifth and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. More than 1,000 people gathered at Davenport's Friends of MLK Park at 5th and Brady streets, and along the sidewalks of Brady Street to participate in the nationwide Hands Off protest. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
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