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Residents press Davenport council on alleged secret payment and urge action on homelessness
Summary
During public comment, a resident alleged the council concealed a $1.6 million payment and demanded transparency; other residents urged more outreach, blankets and winter shelter capacity as temperatures drop. Council did not directly respond to the allegation during the meeting.
At the Nov. 12 Davenport City Council meeting, public commenters used the allotted time to press the council on transparency and on homelessness response as winter approaches.
Cheryl Schengna (3rd Ward) alleged that council members agreed to keep a $1,600,000 payment secret from the public and criticized elected officials for lacking honesty and integrity. She said she reviewed transcripts from a prior Dec. 13 meeting and disputed how votes and remote participation were presented, calling for accountability. The transcript records no direct council response or correction to those specific allegations during the Nov. 12 public-comment period.
Separately, residents described growing homelessness downtown as temperatures fall. LeConah Dixon (Civic Ward) said she has seen more people living on Brady Street and urged the council to reach out and coordinate help, warning that criminalization and arrest are not effective solutions. Shauna (7th Ward) said she had been collecting blankets and expressed alarm that King's Harvest, a local shelter, appeared not to be opening for winter shelter; she urged donations and city attention.
Council members did not make substantive policy commitments on the record in response to the public comments during the meeting. No formal council action, investigation order, or staff directive tied to the $1.6 million allegation or to winter-shelter capacity was recorded in the Nov. 12 transcript.
