MEMO: Davenport council, mayor assistants ‘out indefinitely’

clarification: An earlier version of this story included the names of two Davenport employees who have been placed on administrative leave. City officials on Wednesday issued a statement that the employees were “compelled to take leave due to a work environment that was no longer tolerable, resulting from the actions and behaviors of multiple elected officials." After receiving this statement, TV6 has decided to no longer name the employees in stories.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Assistants to the Davenport mayor and city council are “out indefinitely”, according to a memo sent to an alderman late last week, saying not to contact administrative assistants.

It’s not clear why this was stated in the memo and the City of Davenport has declined to comment.

In the memo, questions were raised about two top administrative assistants.

The memo stated that two employees would be out indefinitely. One of them handles day-to-day services for the council, while the other reports to the mayor.

The memo didn’t give any reason for why the city administrative assistants would be out.

City Administrator Corri Spiegel wrote to the elected leaders that they were instructed not to communicate with either employees in their city capacity or personally.

Additionally, Spiegel told council members to talk to their city lawyer, Thomas Warner.

Warner declined to talk to TV6 on Tuesday other than saying that the two are still city employees.

Warner declined to confirm the document’s authenticity.

However, two separate sources told TV6 the memo was legitimate.

The document goes on to say that the council’s voicemails and emails will continue to be checked.

Council meeting to discuss ousting member

The City Council will hold a special city council meeting on Thursday to discuss removing one of their own.

On the agenda, it calls for the removal of Derek Cornette from the Office of Seventh Ward Alderman.

Cornette was one of two aldermen who were placed on a “communications protocol” earlier this summer.

More information on the “communications protocol” that Cornette was placed on can be read, here.

Statement from City of Davenport about assistants

On Wednesday, the city released the following statement:

This statement is hereby released by Davenport City Administrator Corri Spiegel and Corporation Counsel Tom Warner, with authorization and consent from the two impacted City of Davenport employees:

On Friday, September 1st, after 8:10 AM, one or more members of the Davenport City Council unilaterally made the deliberate choice to leak a highly confidential personnel notification concerning two dedicated employees.

Subsequently, numerous media outlets have pursued this matter, fueling unwarranted speculation surrounding these employees’ absence.

This reckless release of confidential information represents a grievous violation of their employment rights and an egregious dereliction of duty.

It is essential to recognize that these employees were compelled to take leave due to a work environment that was no longer tolerable, resulting from the actions and behaviors of multiple elected officials. Regrettably, the act of disclosing this information serves as additional vindictive retaliation against already victimized employees.

The media, more focused on sensationalism than ethical fact-finding, has been utilized as an instrument to exacerbate the harm.

The sincere hope is that those promoting a false narrative will have the decency to publicly apologize to the affected employees, extend their apologies to the impacted families, and promptly issue a formal correction statement.

Due to this being a confidential personnel matter, no further comments will be made.

Leaked memo:

Mayor and City Council Members,

Effective today, Friday, September 1, 2023, [two employees] will be out of the office indefinitely.

You are hereby instructed not to attempt to communicate with either employee in their City capacity or personally. Any information you wish to receive from them must be requested through Corporation Counsel Warner or myself.

I will make arrangements to have voicemails received into the office logged and distributed on a daily basis, as well as any e-mails received into the general mailboxes.

Any further questions should be directed to Corporation Counsel Warner.

Corri Spiegel