Weekly Update 08/25/2024

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Puget Sound Clean Air Agency explaining different types of air quality monitoring devices

Some bits of business…

It may seem like I’m reposting a lot of the same ‘stuff’. But that’s only because I’m reposting a lot of the same stuff.

Future Agendas

Future Agendas is the closest thing the City currently has to a calendar of upcoming City Council topics. It’s not dynamic, ie. you have to click it every time you want to see a new version. And it’s not always accurate. But until we develop a genuine calendar, this can be very useful if there is a particular issue you don’t want to miss.

September 5: Finance Committee Meeting cancelled.

The same history factlet as last week…

I wrote last week, that the correct way to pronounce ‘Des Moines’ is with the last ‘s’. Which was a joke. For the record, there is an official way to pronounce Des Moines and, one more time, here it is, circa 1996.

Scofflaw that I am, I definitely do not pronounce it correctly and likely never will do so. But what I was reminded of this week is that there are others who definitely do care about it.

Free Steering Wheel Locks!

I still have some free steering wheel locks. If you send me a note which demonstrates that you a) live in Des Moines and b) have a make/model of vehicle that is highly susceptible to theft (eg. in my case it’s been a Honda CRV and a Ford F150 😮 ) I’ll happily deliver one to you.

Free Trees!

There are also free trees. Yes, I’ve posted this before. And I’m gonna keep posting it until you sign up to get yourself a damned tree! 😀

Residents anywhere in the City of Des Moines are entitled to FREE TREES from Sound Transit as part of the new Light Rail. What is new this year is that Sound Transit has created a more convenient pick up system. So… sign up now and get your trees in the fall when it’s planting time. The sign up form has more information, but here are your choices…
–Bitter Cherry (~30’ at maturity)
–Cascara (~30’ at maturity)
–Douglas Fir (~120’ at maturity)
–Pacific Crab Apple (~35’ at maturity)
–Vine Maple (~25’ at maturity)
–Western Red Cedar (~150’ at maturity)

https://bit.ly/treegiveaway2024

City Manager Stuff

City Manager’s Report August 23, 2024

Always good info.

SR-509 Web Site

WSDOT has a new web site for SR-509. Oy, this gets complicated. It some of the first piccies that show the path of Stage 2, which is what most of Des Moines cares about since that is the path along 200th east to I-5. You should mos def check this out.

But it also has piccies of an upcoming Barnes Creek Trail. And for the umteenth time, every mega-project like SR-509 always comes with at least some ‘mitigation’. but, But, BUT… that mitigitation does not have to be where the mega-project is actually located. The uber-case in our area is that all the wetlands destroyed by building the Third Runway were ‘mitigated’ by building a completely new wetland. In Auburn. I reflexively vote against anything to do with these mitigations, not because I hate the environment, but because it shouldn’t be an either/or. We deserve both.

SCORE Deaths

According to this story in the Seattle Times, SCORE Jail has registered seven deaths since 2023. Which is about seven more deaths than the jail used to get. I’m a big supporter of SCORE. I believe in its mission and I think it’s been as good a neighbour as it can be. But this is troubling to me, and I hope it is to you as well.

This Week

Monday: My first meeting with new Chief of Police Ted Boe who was sworn in last week. May he have a long and productive tenure. The new logo on the other hand? I hope it takes early retirement. Soon. 😀

Tuesday August 27 6:30pm City Manager Candidates Meet and Greet Study up on each and get ready to ask your questions at the Beach Park Auditorium!

Wednesday: 5:00pm StART I dropped out of physics before I learned how to be in two places at once, so I’m not sure how I attend this and…

Wednesday: 5:00pm – 9:00pm City Council Executive Session In this marathon, we’ll be interviewing the four finalists for City Manager.

Last Week

Wednesday: King County Flood District Advisory Committee. Yes, yet another meeting to make up a ginormous budget shortfall. My completely WAG is that it will end up raising your property taxes by  less than $10 a year for the average homeowner . Or at least, that is what I voted to recommend, because that is what it will take to pay for the program through 2030.

This is Des Moines Creek, circa 2001–before the trail projects were completed, the buildings raised and refurbished, and whatnot. I think flood control is worth a few bucks, especially because in this case, the flood district tax is constrained to some very specific projects that I was able to review before I voted ‘yes’. 🙂

Friday: Duwamish Community Hub Listening Session. The Duwamish River Community Coalition is a comunity group that works to improve quality of life in the Georgetown and South Park parts of town, particularly the air and water quality. It’s a big deal being so near to Boeing and King County International Airport. They are conducting a community study similar to ones we’ve done here concerning ultrafine particulates that will hopefully benefit them (and us). UFPs are the main source of commercial aviation pollution. But until now they have not been studied thoroughly and therefore not regulated like auto emissions. The more we learn about UFPs the closer we can get to that regulation and mitigation.

Comments

  1. Horse Manure on the Des Moines pronunciation… I’ve lived around here for over 50 years and it’s been Deh Moinez for that long. Anybody pronouncing it without the S hasn’t lived here long!

  2. Free trees is a joke. If you plant them today as a teenager, by the time you retire, they might be the height of the trees that were cut down for a cheap Chinese storage warehouse or some other useless project.

    All these climate change proponents and politicians are also the ones that will cut down 100 foot trees for a sidewalk, Amazon warehouse for Chinese junk, or BIKE lane! SMH

    Don’t believe me? Just look at the roundabout project and side walks at I-5 and 145th. 800 mature trees slated for destruction…and I’m paying the highest gas in the nation because of climate change? Climate change hypocrisy!

  3. Why don’t we have a class action law suit against the Port of Seattle? They misrepresented the third runway, they screwed up peoples’ houses under the guise of noise mitigation, and they are killing us slowly…

    If a commercial business did this, the attorneys would be salivating, knocking down doors, putting up billboards and flooding the airwaves with ads …

    1. There -was- a class action suit over ‘reduced property values’ around 2014. It was thrown out of court because it is the -will- of congress to not allow law suits like that with the FAA or airports. Many cities have tried. Zero have succeeded.

      I advocate for airport things that can win. I know they are often not what people -wish- could happen.

  4. JC — As always, we appreciate your weekly updates.
    We have been out of town, but are back for the “meet and greet” with the City Manager candidates. I cannot find an announcement of the Community Panel that will be participating in some way with the City Manager Candidate interviews. I think that is a good idea, but believe it should be announced and described as part of the overall public engagement plan. If we missed that roll out/announcement – please disregard and let us know.
    Thanks,
    Bill Linscott

    1. To be clear: I pushed -hard- for this community panel. I made the mistake of -assuming- that it would be added to the City’s promotion of public engagement events. I apologise for not being more proactive.

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