City of Davenport, IA
11/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/13/2024 16:58
New City Administrator Doug Maxeiner plans to focus on the future
The City of Davenport's new City Administrator, Doug Maxeiner, is getting settled into his new leadership role. He comes to City Hall with 32 years of experience in local government.
During an interview on November 13, 2024 with local television news outlets, Doug answered questions about his first couple weeks on the job, meeting his new team members, and setting his priorities.
"I'm meeting with the elected officials, my team members, and department heads, trying to assess what they see as challenges, what's important, and what they think I should be focusing on," he said. "My overriding thought is that with everything that's happened in the last two years, I really want to get back on a positive trajectory and make sure that people are confident the City is working for them."
Doug's previous experience includes his last role as City Administrator in East Moline, Illinois. When he retired from public service in September 2023, he planned to step away from local government for good. Instead, he discovered that he didn't like sitting on the sidelines.
"I thought I was ready for retirement, but I failed at retirement pretty miserably," he explained. "I found that I missed the daily interaction with people, with the elected officials, and trying to make a difference. When this job came open, I thought about it for a long time. I knew there were some challenges, but I kind of thrive on challenges."
Doug said he doesn't plan to dwell on the past in his new role. While there are lessons to be learned, he said there is urgency around other issues. Those include working with the Davenport City Council on some big projects already in motion, like the relocation of Davenport Junior Theatre, assessing bids on the Main Street Landing project, and making decisions on how to spend the remaining ARPA funds.
"I'm here to try to make sure that we head back in the right direction," he said. "We want to move forward with making sure that people are confident that the City is working in their best interests."
Photo credit: WQAD
During an interview on November 13, 2024 with local television news outlets, Doug answered questions about his first couple weeks on the job, meeting his new team members, and setting his priorities.
"I'm meeting with the elected officials, my team members, and department heads, trying to assess what they see as challenges, what's important, and what they think I should be focusing on," he said. "My overriding thought is that with everything that's happened in the last two years, I really want to get back on a positive trajectory and make sure that people are confident the City is working for them."
Doug's previous experience includes his last role as City Administrator in East Moline, Illinois. When he retired from public service in September 2023, he planned to step away from local government for good. Instead, he discovered that he didn't like sitting on the sidelines.
"I thought I was ready for retirement, but I failed at retirement pretty miserably," he explained. "I found that I missed the daily interaction with people, with the elected officials, and trying to make a difference. When this job came open, I thought about it for a long time. I knew there were some challenges, but I kind of thrive on challenges."
Doug said he doesn't plan to dwell on the past in his new role. While there are lessons to be learned, he said there is urgency around other issues. Those include working with the Davenport City Council on some big projects already in motion, like the relocation of Davenport Junior Theatre, assessing bids on the Main Street Landing project, and making decisions on how to spend the remaining ARPA funds.
"I'm here to try to make sure that we head back in the right direction," he said. "We want to move forward with making sure that people are confident that the City is working in their best interests."
Photo credit: WQAD