Two private citizens and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council are asking the legislature to investigate Davenport’s refusal to provide information about settlements with three city employees.
Davenport is suing to prevent the State Auditor from getting access to ducuments related to the nearly $2 million worth of settlements agreed to before the Davenport City Council met in public to approve the payouts to three city employees. Michael Meloy is an attorney for a Davenport man who’s also being sued by the city over his attempt to obtain public records.
“Something doesn’t smell right here, ladies and gentlemen,” he said during a House Oversight Commitee hearing Wednesday. “Why is the city fighting so hard to keep these matters from the public eye?”
Meloy, in testimony Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee, said the city attorney signed off on settlements with two city employees in September and another settlement in October for the city administrator. All are related to alleged workplace harassemen, but the settlements were not announced by the city until late November. Iowa Freedom of Information Council executive director Randy Evans said these details should trouble every Iowa citizen and every legislator.
“In the city election in November, Davenport voters reelected the incumbent mayor and two incumbent members of the city council,” Evans said. “We will never know if the results of that election would have been different had voters known before they went to the polls that their city council had supposedly consented to these $2 million in lucrative settlements.”
David Sidran of Davenport told lawmakers he’s being sued by the city for asking for a document written by the city administrator that’s realted to her settlement. “I just had the audacity to legally request a document and I was sued by the city where I live,” he said.
Members of the House Oversight Committee used words like horrific, disgusting and disturbing to describe the alleged violations of Iowa’s open meetings and open records law. The panel will decide later whether to launch an investigation. A spokesperson for the City of Davenport declined to comment.