A response to the Mayor's recent editorial in the City Currents Magazine where he again uses that forum to make the case for his policy preferences. I reject using public money to promote a political agenda. He goes on to scold the public for not being more supportive of the City's Marina and economic development plans. I offer some notes on how our downtown got to where it is and some practical suggestions for improving the downtown and Marina without spending millions of dollars....
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Weekly Update: 03/26/2023
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This week: Port of Seattle Commission meeting. Hoping for some good news on sound insulation. Last week: Rules of Procedure Committee meeting Thursday. A whole bunch of talking about airporty stuff in Olympia--including air quality monitors, impact fees and Port Packages. As usual. :D ...
Categories Transparency
Ad Hoc Rules of Procedure Meeting #3 Post-game
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The third Ad Hoc Rules of Procedure meeting was, in some ways, the most chilling yet. It began with an argument over recording the meeting and went downhill from there. I strongly urge people to listen to 20:00 where the City Attorney uses a recent Supreme Court case to argue that the Council has an unlimited right to censure a member for basically any reason it chooses--including displaying any form of 'dissent' following the meeting or any form of 'criticism' of staff'. Though the term 'staff' was left undefined. There was also a lengthy discussion on 'hats'. As the kids say, "Mask off."...
Weekly Update: 03/19/2023
Leave a comment on Weekly Update: 03/19/2023Highlight this week: Rules of Procedure Committee meeting Thursday, 3:30PM at the Police Station. Last week: airport advocacy in Olympia. Port approves more projects leading to expansion. Reach Out Des Moines. ...
Categories Transparency
Ad Hoc Rules of Procedure Committee Meeting #3 Pre-game
Leave a comment on Ad Hoc Rules of Procedure Committee Meeting #3 Pre-gameMy thoughts on the draft version of our new Council Protocol Manual (previously known as our Rules of Procedure.) There will be a meeting of the Ad Hoc Rules committee on Thursday March 23 at 3:30PM and I strongly urge you to attend....
Weekly Update: 03/12/2023
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Last City Council Meeting featured two housing issues. Orcas. An essay on how we got into the mess we're in with the airport, which is really another land use issue, why we continue to handle it incorrectly... and something about casinos? :D Why I'm on the fence about HB1110 and multi-family housing....
Weekly Update: 03/05/2023
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Next City Council Meeting features two housing issues. Last City Council Meeting featured 3:40 of goal setting. An essay showing one example of bullying off the dais and how it makes it tougher for residents to get what they want....
Evil and irresponsible actions
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An essay describing one example of the off-dais bullying, misinformation and why that makes it harder for residents to get what they want. "We are also aware of your efforts to... create division in the... community. I demand you stop such evil and irresponsible actions."...
Weekly Update: 02/26/2023
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This Week: City Council meeting features 'goal setting'. I offer a review of last year's similar meetings--and how the Communications Consultant deal got started. Last Week: City Council meeting features Future Cities, communications consultant contract and more cop cars. A follow up to last week's essay on The Hard Fork, which for Des Moines means not making the same mistakes over and over... and over....
Weekly Update: 02/19/2023
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This Week: City Council meeting features Future Cities, communications consultant contract and more cop cars. Last Week: Port of Seattle Commission Meeting, Highline MAST meeting on Water Quality. A link to an essay on the Hard Fork. An engineering term referring to the decision to move in a new direction and the most successful case study I can think of: Microsoft....