City Council, Position #2
Non-partisan. Independent.
Next City Council Meeting is May 22, 2025
Working hard to support local businesses!
An advocate for airport issues!
Lasts Week: Council Meeting. St Anne's Hospital, 24th Ave Street, Compost Procurement. I note the passing of Des Moines Area Food Bank founder Carol Davis. Podium-reform. Some speechifyin' about Public Safety, Redondo and National Night Out....
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More Primary info! This Week: Council Meeting. St Anne's Hospital, 24th Ave Street, Compost Procurement. A different kind of traffic (improving retail in Des Moines.)...
Route 635 is a shuttle bus that transits from Angle Lake Station down to 216th and Wesley. It was created as a funding match partnership with the City in 2018. This year, KC has taken over 100% funding, which is great.
| JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUNE | JULY | AUG | SEPT | OCT | NOV | DEC | ANNUAL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 78 | 827 | 1,234 | 1,451 | 1,624 | 1,492 | 1,961 | 2,932 | 1,937 | 2,084 | 1,695 | 1,488 | 18,803 | |
| 2019 | 1,827 | 1,528 | 1,981 | 2,381 | 2,331 | 1,860 | 2,235 | 2,297 | 2,165 | 2,902 | 2,571 | 2,660 | 26,738 | |
| 2020 | 2,552 | 2,544 | 1,761 | 634 | 896 | 1,117 | 1,590 | 1,669 | 1,868 | 1,346 | 1,195 | 1,184 | 18,356 | |
| 2021 | 1,216 | 1,126 | 1,454 | 1,535 | 1,455 | 1,494 | 1,565 | 1,640 | 1,689 | 1,377 | 1,384 | 1,058 | 16,993 | |
| 2022 | 1,171 | 1,226 | 1,498 | 1,320 | 1,333 | 1,520 | 1,558 | 1,802 | 1,567 | 1,576 | 1,702 | 1,623 | 17,896 | |
| 2023 | 1,643 | 1,685 | 2,020 | 1,858 | 2,120 | 9,326 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 8,487 | 8,936 | 9,948 | 9,179 | 9,759 | 7,483 | 8,909 | 10,340 | 9,226 | 9,285 | 8,547 | 8,013 | 108,112 |
From Metro’s point of view this is the ‘multi-modal transportation’ that a passenger ferry is definitely not. The combination of shuttle buses like the 635 is a low cost way to move a bajillion people into Seattle (and eventually Tacoma and Everett)l, which is why it’s essentially free for seniors and kids and heavily subsidised for low-income households. The 635 is the last mile that makes mass transit realistic.
The only problem I see with it is that there isn’t a second shuttle being planned to come on line with the Kent Des Moines Station in 2026. There needs to be a loop from the new station to Highline College and Judson and the Marina and the south end of Des Moines–just as there now is for Angle Lake and Wesley at the north end of Des Moines. In terms of efficiency, cost and equity that is where our multi-modal transportation dollars should be going.
More Primary info! This week: Port Commission votes on 'accelerated sound insulation'. Last week: All the thing I didn't do here so we could work on our movie. Some thoughts on fireworks enforcement in particular and problem solving in general....
PSA Update. Last Week: 07/13 Meeting; Comp Plan intro. Growth Management. ...
News: The sailin' life fer me. PSA Update. This Week: 07/13 Meeting; Comp Plan intro. Growth Management. Last Week: Post-drone thoughts on the environment. FAA Noise Review. King County Health. ...
The drone show was an experiment--and an expensive one at that. I do not believe it provided nearly the entertainment value of fireworks and cannot do so without spending several times the money. So in 2024 I propose a different experiment using those same drone funds: Firm enforcement of illegal fireworks....
News on Boil Water Notice, North Sea-Tac Park, Ferry Cancellation, New Police Chief Tim Gately This week: Meeting on Rules of Procedure, Economic Development meeting on Comprehensive Plan Last week: Taking a bit of a break. :)...
News on Boil Water Notice, North Sea-Tac Park, Ferry Cancellation, New Police Chief Tim Gately This week: Meeting on Rules of Procedure, Economic Development meeting on Comprehensive Plan Last week: Taking a bit of a break. :) A bit of a rant on our flag pole....
These numbers surprised me. I’m not sure why because, until I saw this I honestly had no idea what to expect. And I’d be interested to know what you think. Higher than you thought? Lower? About what you expected?
Arrests for possession and paraphernalia are both coded as VCUSA. It took a bit of work from the public records office to tease out the distinction. That’s actually what got me wondering about this–why are they linked together?
| Paraphernalia Only | Drug Posession Only | Both | Information-N/A | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 20 |
| 2019 | 5 | 16 | 12 | 33 | |
| 2020 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 36 | |
| 2021 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 17 | |
| 2022 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Totals | 17 | 63 | 32 | 3 | 115 |
The argument I used to have with our last Chief of Police was over statistics. Not their validity, but rather how important it was to provide them.
He was not a fan of providing this sort of information. But for me, it’s very important. And since they are not hard to prepare I never understood why we wouldn’t provide them.
One theory is that, for some people ‘safety’ is not a numbers game; it’s a sense of well-being. If you provide a table showing that there are fewer crimes of a certain type, that may be irrelevant if people don’t feel safe. In fact, it may even anger some, “Don’t tell me things aren’t as bad as all that!”
I don’t know what to do with that because Des Moines–like every City– spends every dime possible on public safety (always over 50% of our General Fund.) And you have to have some way to determine how best to spend limited resources.