Alderman Bill Lynn

THANK YOU!
I want to thank all the people who supported me with donations, yard sign locations, letters—emails—phone calls of encouragement, and their vote in this election to rehire me for a third term. I also want to thank the people that welcomed me into their home when I knocked on their door and took the time to speak to me. Last, but not least, thanks to all the people who helped me with the details of the campaign.
I want to apologize to my constituents. I have not been able to actively add items to my website nor have I been able to publish my newsletter. I have had some health problems since last September.

I have finally gotten them resolved. I am in the process of catching up with a large number of projects. My highest priority was doing work for you on the council so I was able to attend most meetings and represent you. I plan on getting back to publishing the newsletter and keeping the website up to date.

If for any reason I did not return a call to you in the past months it was probably because of poor health. I apologize for that, but I think I was able to return almost all of my calls. If you have any concerns please call me or email me.

During the lasts campaign I have shared with you what I believe were my accomplishments over the last two years. I have also shared with you some of the issues I believe are facing our city and I have explained how I believe they need to be fixed. These issues are
          • crime
          • growth and jobs
          • improving city services

Crime
I outline in a separate document on this website the problem and the solution, but in short we must
           • restructure the police department
           • put more police on the street.
           • move to a zero tolerance policy for crime
We have been told we must prioritize calls and not be concerned about small crimes. This is a losing policy and it has been shown to not be effective in fighting crime. Zero tolerance policy has shown to be effective. If we reduce crime we will increase our population and increase property values and tax revenues. I will begin to push for these items and with the hiring of a new police chief I believe this is an excellent time to make those changes.

Growth and Jobs
We must concentrate on increasing jobs in Davenport. I explain how in a document on this website but the major points are
           • Become friendlier to small business
           • Make city hall friendlier and easier to deal with
          • Create a one stop shop for business

We have spent millions downtown to increase our population and make our city grow and it has not worked. Davenport’s population has only increased by 1000 since 2000 (about 1% which is less than the growth rate of the state.) We must improve the climate for business in Davenport and concentrate on helping small businesses grow. The best indicator of a vibrant economy in cities across the U.S. is the growth of the small business community. We are only hospitable to very large businesses and that is not where the growth is. We must make this city a place small businesses want to locate. I cover this in more detail in my document on jobs and growth.

Improving City Services
We must improve customer service in our city. It has deteriorated, and it must be reversed. We must make it clear that you, the citizens, are the customers of the city. They work for the citizens, not the other way around. Unless we do this, people will continue to find this a very inhospitable city in which to live. I outline this in my document on improving customer service. Reduce Taxes and Fees I believe along with these three issues we must work on reducing taxes and fees. Our property taxes are higher than surrounding cities. This reduces our competitive advantage. While it is nice to talk about providing amenities in Davenport, when we do it with tax money, we simply encourage people to live in other cities and just visit Davenport. I pledge to work to eliminate the storm water fee and to reduce property taxes. This can only be done if we improve our budget making and improve efficiency. This can be done with methods I outline in the document on zero based budgeting on this website.