City Council, Position #2
At our last City Council Meeting there was a contentious discussion about providing public comment. But the problem of transparency and public engagement is actually far more profound and I am concerned that the discussion made it seem more trivial than it is. There is no obvious way for a member of the public to
... continue reading.Alright, alright, I’m late again. But in my defense, it was filing week for candidates and I seemed to have wall to wall phone calls with people who were thinking about running for various offices. Frankly, it’s kinda refreshing to have people ask for your opinion–since it happens so rarely on my own Council. đ
... continue reading.I think there is a misunderstanding about the whole ‘public comment’ vote near the end of last week’s Cit Council Meeting. There seems to be a perception that the issue is just one more personality conflict over some minor ‘procedural’ deal. It was not. This is a difference in philosophy so basic that we cannot
... continue reading.OK, I took last week off. And half of this week off. I feel bad about it because the last City Council Meeting mattered and if you didn’t watch, you should. But… apparently not bad enough to not take the week off. đ It’s weird (in a nice way) the number of notes I get
... continue reading.We have this Council Rule #19, which no other City has, where a Councilmember is limited to speaking more than twice on any issue… and no more than four minutes. It was introduced at this meeting, right after CM Martinelli and I were elected in November 2019 (Start at about 1:53): I hope you watch
... continue reading.He led the Proud Boys in the Capitol riot and shamed his town Richard Read May 16, 2021 14 min read In this article: Ethan Nordean Leader of the âProud Boysâ neo-fascist and accused political terrorist Ethan Nordean, speaking into a bullhorn, leads the Proud Boys’ march on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A
... continue reading.Public Service Announcements Last Week Tuesday: Port Of Seattle Commission Meeting (Agenda) Wednesday: Sea-Tac Airport Round Table (StART). Both of these were very consequential for Des Moines–especially if you’re concerned about Port Packages, the obvious recent uptick in flights from the airport, plans for a second airport (somewhere?) and what the cities are doing (or
... continue reading.If you’re 99% of Des Moines, you have no idea that the Marina Redevelopment is going on. Last month, the City asked for questions and comments from the public which I urge you to read. But I am pretty sure you weren’t aware of that because the only outreach was in the form of flyers
... continue reading.Public Service Announcements Last Week Monday: Destination Des Moines. Planning their summer and fall events, which sounds like a lot of fun after the past year. Tuesday: South County Transportation Board (SCATBd). Thursday: Municipal Facilities Meeting (Agenda) There was a discussion of the Marina Redevelopment and and update on the passenger ferry. Thursday: Economic Development
... continue reading.This is the second half of our response to the April 15th State Of The City presentation. Part 1 discussed our objections to the way it was carried out. Here we’ll talk about some specific policy differences. For those of you short on time, you can follow along with this presentation packet. As noted last
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