This video is one of a series of public comments I made at City Council Meetings starting in 2017 asking the City to change direction on airport policy. I referr to the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) as ‘4a.’ That’s because it is the fourth major expansion for Sea-Tac Airport since 1961 (there is a ‘4b’ tentatively scheduled for 2027.)
At that time the City had unveiled a whole new department, Emergency Management. I was arguing that the SAMP required the same kind of planning and responses. I said that we should hire a management expert–someone who understands not only current technical issues, but also politics and history. Their job would be to develop, implement and maintain a best-in-class ongoing strategy to reduce noise and pollution and obtain compensation for our residents.
Since airport expansions are announced many years in advance, you might think that gives us some advantage. However since all communities tend to deal with them in the same way, using the same outside consultants and usually at the last minute, the results have always turned out badly.
Rewind the video to the speaker immediately before me, Barbara McMichael of SoCoCulture. She mentions that tree cover has been rapidly declining in Des Moines. Put that together with all the water quality, fishing and shoreline management challenges we face (and that was before the sewer district issues), the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me to expand this job to manage all environmental issues for the City. They are all very complex, often frustrating, long game issues involving many agencies and sums of money a City like Des Moines do not have. And they are *often inter-connected.
Not one, three ARPA airport Proposals…
So at the September 16th City Council Meeting, my proposal for creating the position of Environmental Strategist will be discussed and hopefully approved. I hope you will read it carefully and then give your support by signing up for public comment at our 16 September City Council Meeting at 5:00pm. Your comments may be either written or via Zoom.
Former Aviation Advisory Committee member Steve Edmiston has submitted another, fairly detailed, airport proposal which I know has received a number of letters of support. Deputy Mayor Mahoney has also submitted a proposal to set aside $300,000 for a legal fund. I am happy to see both proposals because it means that the issue matters to the public. However, since there are now three “airporty” proposals out there, I have had any number of people ask me:
“What’s the difference, JC? Give it to me in twenty five words or less!”
And my first answer is, of course: “Read the proposal.” 🙂
Which is three words. (You wanted it simple! 😀 )
And my second answer is this:
What every airport community does is fight the battles that cannot be won and when they lose, simply quit or move; while at the same time, completely ignoring the very significant opportunities that can be achieved with proper ongoing management by a true expert.
This is not a war that one wins or loses. There will never be a magic bullet for Des Moines. Not a second airport. Not electric aircraft. Not mass transit. Not some major shake-up at the FAA. Not some grand legislation or regional partnership. Nothing.
Instead, let’s start with two simple premises:
- We’re on our own
- So long as there is a Sea-Tac Airport, we will face the challenges we now face.
This is an ongoing chronic condition with serious acute phases every decade or so called ‘expansions’. One way or another, we have to live with this condition. But how well we live with it depends a a great deal on our own efforts to manage the condition. We should have been managing the airport in this manner starting in 1959. But it’s never too late to start.
Again, please support this proposal by signing up to attend our 16 September City Council Meeting at 5:00pm or by submitting a public comment.
You can also express support by sending an email to all members of the City Council: citycouncil@desmoineswa.gov
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