Money won’t buy trust after Davenport building collapse

The city of Davenport and the state of Iowa are putting together a financial aid package for people impacted by the May 28 building collapse. However, there are a number of Davenport residents saying say they don’t want money, they want accountability.

An Iowa task force has completed a search for survivors at the site of a partially collapsed Davenport apartment building and is moving ahead to shore up the structure so recovery efforts can begin.

Three tenants remain missing. https://t.co/IsHrLrBBtX

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 2, 2023

A protester, who will be called Joan, said, “I believe there should be some charges for what happened. I feel in my heart it’s murder. We feel like we’re being lied to, and we feel like none of our questions are being answered.”

Joan is one of the protesters who has been outside the Davenport Hotel building every day since its collapse. She didn’t want to be identified because she claimed the man who owns the collapsed Davenport Hotel, Andrew Wold, is also her landlord.

Joan said she feared what Wold might do in retaliation against her, and the only way she and her fellow protesters will be satisfied is if Wold and the property manager he hired to run the Davenport Hotel face legal consequences.

Joan said the city and Mayor Mike Matson, should also not be immune from the legal fallout following the incident.

The two biggest questions Joan had were: Why was the building deemed safe when it was in such an obvious state of disrepair? And how can the city ensure other buildings that were cleared by that same inspector are actually safe?

“We’ve been asking for the last few days for the mayor to come out and talk to us, but he won’t,” Joan said. “He avoids our calls and when we go [to city hall].”

To date, some former residents of the Davenport Hotel and others impacted by its collapse have said Matson refuses to meet with them directly. The city even barred one victim’s families from speaking during a news conference earlier in the week.

The public, including Joan, is not allowed into the city’s press conferences.

“There’s a woman outside saying ‘charge you with murder.’ So, what are you doing to restore the trust of the people who just don’t trust you,” Straight Arrow news asked Matson during a June 1 press conference.

“I’m not even going to answer something like that next,” Matson replied.

When asked if he plans to hold any town halls or other form of public meeting with Davenport residents concerned about building safety, the mayor said he spoke with families over the phone and holds press conferences.

To his credit, Matson did deliver some good news for those impacted. Thanks to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ disaster declaration and some funding from the city, impacted residents will get $11,500. Money that can be used on anything, because they need everything.

The city is also getting help from outside sources by reaching out to leadership in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

“The folks that did the work with Surfside, we just had a great conversation with their respective mayor’s office, their police, their fire, their emergency management, and all that to assist. And they continue to offer individual assistance in respect to police, fire, search, etc.,” Matson said.

In Florida, the partially collapsed Surfside Condominium building stood for over a week before it was demolished. In Davenport, Matson and the city had plans to start demolition just two days after the collapse. A woman was found alive in the building before those plans went into motion. So, the city said it’s taking every step possible to make sure things get done right.

“This will be like a dignified, archeological type of thing,” Matson said. “[We’re] going to pull pieces and sift through, with the respect and dignity, to try and find, if they are there, the remains of folks’ loved ones. That’s the level that we intend to do, because of what we believe we’re dealing with.”

The bodies of three men are still believed to be buried in the rubble.