To help ensure some stability in the Davenport City Administrator’s office, the city is offering an annual salary between $200,000 and $290,000 for a new administrator to start this spring.
New Davenport Mayor Jason Gordon met the media Tuesday afternoon, January 6th, with the City Council, who will all be sworn into office at the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting Wednesday, January 7th, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 226 W. 4th St.
The 2026-27 City Council includes four new aldermen: Paul Vasquez (Ward 3), John Blunk (Ward 5), Mark Holloway (Ward 7), and Matt Lienen (Ward 8). In brief remarks, Gordon said he’s looking forward to hiring a new city administrator as the most important first task of the council.
“We're priority prioritizing stability, continuity and ingenuity in that position,” Gordon said Tuesday. “Stability and continuity are pretty important in my opinion. And so we need to make sure we hire someone that's going to be with us for a good period of time to provide some stability that we really haven't had in the last couple years. So the process follows city code. It's currently on schedule.”
Interviews with administrator candidates will be in February and the city expects to have someone in place by May.
Interim city administrator Tim Gleason has been in the role since late November 2025. He came to Davenport from his role as City Manager in Decatur, Illinois, where he was for 19 months and before that was City Manager for Bloomington, Ill., for six years.
Together, Gleason and the new Davenport Council will jump right into the FY 2027 budget process.
Gleason will serve in the interim role for at least six months while the city conducts an executive search for a permanent City Administrator.
Gordon – who served as Alderman At-Large from 2010 to 2017 -- is Client Development Manager for the engineering firm Terracon, responsible for the entire state of Iowa. Past professional experiences include Vice President of Business Development for Valley Construction, Vice President of Public Affairs for the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, and District Representative for former Congressmen Jim Nussle and Jim Leach.
On his campaign website for mayor, Gordon said: “The last few years of Davenport government have been marred by infighting and finger-pointing, a secretive and large payout to the former city administrator, and overall divisiveness. It’s time for a change!”
Since 2023, the city has had four city administrators (including former administrator Corri Spiegel, who got a $1.6 million payment from the city over harassment claims). At Tuesday’s press conference at the Davenport Police Department, the new mayor appeared with all eight aldermen, including four new council members.
“They're all excited to get to work on behalf of the citizens of Davenport. I'm excited to be able to work with them,” Gordon said. “I've met with all of them prior to tomorrow night's meeting just to get a sense of what their priorities are and where I can be helpful to them. As you know, I don't get to vote. So it's imperative that I work with this council and understand what their concerns and priorities are and do what I can to help them.”
The special committee to interview candidates and recommend a city administrator consists of four aldermen (Jazmin Newton, Mark Holloway, Jake Burkholder, and Tim Dunn), plus seven city residents, who represent areas of finance, municipal and/or business administration.
The mayor and city council will vote on the final candidate, which requires a 2/3 majority to hire, Gordon said. He doesn’t have a specific start date yet for the new administrator, but the city previously announced a new person would begin their job in May 2026.
Gleason succeeded former city administrator Doug Maxeiner, who was hired in September 2024, and announced last July he would resign from that position citing significant health issues. When Maxeiner (former city administrator in East Moline and Moline) was hired, the Davenport council had approved a three-year employment contract with him, following a previous interim who served after Spiegel’s departure in November 2023.
“Council and mayor and staff are committed to team building and goal setting,” Gordon said Tuesday, noting they will hold goal-setting sessions on Jan. 23-24. “So this falls under high-performing government for the city of Davenport. So we recognize the importance on building a strong team on day one. We've, I think candidly already been doing that in advance of our inaugurations.”
“We have a lot of new faces, some of them are still looking to find the bathrooms in City Hall,” the mayor said. “I think that would be a good experience for us to just get on the same page, and particularly as we head into a budget process and some of the other things that we'll have to do early in the year.”
“I think it brings some energy, some excitement, new ideas and new initiatives, so I’m looking forward to it,” Gordon said of new council members.
After the City of Davenport agreed to pay three settlements to former employees due to harassment claims in 2023, Allen Diercks sued saying the settlements were never approved in an open city council meeting. A judge late last month agreed with Diercks’ claims that the settlements worth $157,000 and $140,500 with former administrative assistants Tiffany Thorndike and Samantha Torres violated open meetings rules.
A third settlement with former city administrator Corri Spiegel was made around the same time – that one worth $1.6 million – but was deemed OK with the district court.
To see the Committee-of-the-Whole agenda for the Jan. 7 meeting, click HERE.
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