Karl Rhomberg

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Davenport
resident Karl Rhomberg is running for the position of Scott County
Supervisor.  Karl is running for an open seat against three
opponents; the top two vote getters will be elected.  Election Day
is November 2.



Karl Rhomberg is
running for County Supervisor because he cares about people.  He
has dedicated his life to service to the public, in
government and commerce, both as a previously elected official and a
businessman.  His goals are to increase citizen participation
in the Scott county government and to make government more accountable
to
the citizens.


Rhomberg wants
to focus attention on more public recreation.  New opportunities
can include new and improved parks with ATV trails, bicycle paths, bridle paths for
horseback riding, and hiking and nature walks. Plenty of baseball and
soccer, too.  He'd also like to revisit the NASCAR race track
development that was abandoned a few years ago.



Leadership.  Rhomberg believes that Scott county does not provide the leadership that would bring smaller
communities into the mainstream.  He proposes hiring a grant writer funded
by the county to assist the smaller towns with finding matching funds
for their worthwhile projects – everything from parks to sewers. 
The county should be the umbrella organization for the whole county
instead of hiding from its responsibility.



Mental Health.  Rhomberg says Scott county spends a great deal of money on mental health and the county
nursing home, Pine Knoll.  He believes that it is essential to make sure that conditions for
the less fortunate citizens are more than just adequate and that
training and equipment are always available to the people caring for those less fortunate.



While on
the Davenport, Iowa, City Council, Rhomberg helped lead the movement to
maintain the historic Mississippi riverfront access.  “We
eventually voted down a $65 million dollar concrete floodwall in favor
of flood plain management that accepts the natural behavior of the
Mississippi River.  We saved millions, protected nature, and are
now the premier location on the Mississippi for people to interact with nature,” Rhomberg explains.



In the
1980’s, Rhomberg helped create and fund – through City General Obligation Bonds
– a $3.5 million revolving loan fund for first time home
buyers.  This opened home ownership opportunities to more than a
thousand low- and moderate- income people at a time of record high
interest.  He also sponsored and passed a condominium conversion
ordinance that limited the conversion of apartments into condos at a
time of tight rental conditions.  This protected the ability of
low-income people to find adequate rental housing.



But Rhomberg's experience, though impressive, doesn't end there: he also helped
to reclaim the historic Adler Theater, to stabilize and preserve John
O’Donnell Municipal Baseball Stadium, to remodel the historic City Hall,
and to build the Ground Transportation Center, the first River Center and the
current Police Station, among many other projects.  He was
instrumental in what he likes to call “badgering” the city council to increase funding from less
than $125,000 per year for housing rehab assistance during his first
term to well over $1,000,000 per year five years later.  Today,
much of this function is performed by non profits; but in 1978, none of
it existed.