To the residents of Des Moines:
I’ve lived here long enough to see several scandals on our City Council. And the thing I’ve learned is that the public has all the tools it needs to handle them; quickly and efficiently. The best thing colleagues can do at those times is to stay out of it. That is tough because there is an irresistible urge to make a statement of values (especially for people of faith such as myself.) But the moment colleagues weigh in, the issue instantly becomes politicised.
My lived experience tells me that councilmembers should avoid even the appearance that they might be using scandal for political ends. There is a risk of engendering cynicism and that in turn actually hinders a resolution. I understand that will sound deeply unsatisfying to many. But my interest is always to find the best approach and, unfortunately, sometimes that will not be the popular approach.
I would remind the public that Councilmember Martinelli’s resignation was never subject to the City Council. State law wisely makes it the voters’ responsibility to change our City Council–either by election, recall or public pressure. If it were otherwise, council majorities would certainly abuse that power.
So I want to thank you, the community. It is your voice that has resolved this issue. In my opinion it was harder than it should have been and took much longer than it should have done. For that I am sorry.
I also want to thank Anthony Martinelli for hearing that community voice. Some of you may mock that sentence, but many politicians today seem to have lost the ability to hear that voice entirely.
As to the substance of the issue: if you are a regular reader, you will notice something missing in this article: the hyperlinks. Unlike every other article, where I scrupulously attempt to provide citations for everything I describe, this contains only two. My hope is that you will notice them, understand why I provided them, and avoided all others. For the first, I said everything I have to say about domestic violence a long time ago.
The second link contains some observations on our shared working relationship over the past two years, including a difference in philosophy that I think is important to make clear. Then follows a timeline of the past four months from my point of view. I include it because every day I am reminded how much the public misunderstands what happens off the dais. They correctly assume that it is significant. I believe that, to the extent possible, and without betraying confidences, we should provide a window into at least a portion of that world. It contains no hyperlinks.
Now what?
I believe the public voted for change in 2019; a set of positions and not any person. I also believe they were voting against something: the status quo. That only makes Councilmember Martinelli’s failure an even greater disappointment.
But if you share my deep disappointment, I ask you not to become (more?) cynical. Bear in mind that any significant change requires a willingness to fail. (And if you don’t believe that, just go to Youtube and look at how many test rockets blow up before even one gets off the launch pad.) In my opinion, the worst lesson the public could take from the past four months is that choosing someone ‘different’ is a mistake.
Instead, take this as a cautionary tale that Des Moines desperately needs more choice and new blood. There are many people here of great ability who are not active in civic life and it is time for them to step up.
I’ll have more to say about that soon, but for now:
- Think about applying for the vacant position on the City Council. Even if you do not think this is your time, if you have considered public service, going through the process is, in itself, a way to get started.
- Or tell me about someone in the community you think would be great for the role. Same advice applies.
- And call me if you have questions about any aspect of the process or what the job of Councilmember entails. You know where to find me. (206) 878-0578.
The City Clerk will shortly post an application for filling a vacant seat on the Des Moines City Council. If you want to get a head start on that? Email Bonnie Wilkins. Go get ’em.
As always, it is my honour to serve you.