Some bits of business…

City Manager Stuff

City Manager’s Report January 24, 2025

This week features our ‘new’ logo. 😀

It also highlights an award for our harbormaster so glowing I needed sunblock to read it. 😀 But it’s also kinda true. The Des Moines Marina has had any number of challenges over the years, but customer service generally hasn’t been one. Some people don’t enjoy my little joke, but a Marina is essentially a floating parking lot for Lamborghinis. It’s a high touch biz. Anyone who has spent time at more than like two marinas will tell you that the customer service experience is not the same. And most marinas are not responsible for the front yard maintenance of an equally particular residential community. So, there’s that. We take all this for granted and we should not.

This Week

Tuesday: Port of Seattle Commission (Agenda) . Not much for us. The Commission was supposed to get a report on the SIRRPP (Port Packages) in January. But they didn’t say which January. 😀

Thursday: 6:00pm Study Session – 30 Jan 2025 – Agenda – Pdf Originally there was one item and one word. ‘FIFA’. And my first thought was, for the first time in five years, I should try to book an evening dentist appointment. 😀 But fwiw, https://www.lumenfield.com/fifa-world-cup/2025-fifa-world-club-cup-seattle is pretty fantastic – three of the best teams in the world will be in Seattle and seats are available.

And then a second item was added which does matter. I am absolutely furious. And you should be too because, regardless of the merits, this is yet another BLIND SIDE!

The item in question is one more piece of WSDOT surplus property from what was going to be SR-509 20 years ago. It triggers me because the same stretch of land across the street is Des Moines Creek West. Cues scary music. Dunh, dunh, dunnnnnnnnnnnnh!

This whole item is misleading and disrespectful and it begins with the image in the packet – more of that ‘leading the witness’ business. When you’re presented information in this narrow manner, someone is basically leading you to make a decision. But to me this is like a doctor making a health recommendation from one x-ray without regard for the entire body.

WSDOT first contacted the City last October, asking for $5.350,000 for what looks like less than six acres. They would prefer an answer by January 31st. But this is the first the Council has heard about it?

Here is the current Barnes Creek Trail 216th – 220th segment, which runs parallel to much of the surplus parcel. This woodland is what the community expects for the area.

• 

• 

It’s one piece of a puzzle; a trail that was planned to go from at least Des Moines Elementary to Kent Des Moines Road through the center of Des Moines, hook up with the Des Moines Creek Trail to 200th and finally to the entire King County Lake To Sound Trail system. That was supposed to be the dream.

Start here. See how it’s right next to the Barnes Creek Trail segment?

Now step back. It’s easier to see the ‘swath’ of forest where SR-509 was gonna go. That’s Barnes Creek.

Now step back to the original ‘plan’ – a trail heading south to Kent Des Moines Road. That‘s the Barnes Creek Trail.

The ‘dream’ has never been fully fleshed out. But in some way, it’s meant to provide an amenity every bit as amazing for the center of Des Moines as the Marina or Redondo are along the water – frankly, a much larger swath of families. Where are we at? Those four blocks from 216th to 220th, which may now be at risk. Every other aspect is undetermined.

WSDOT is working on another piece, from 220th south – but it’s their show.

Des Moines Creek West is a hope and a prayer. Des Moines Creek Business Park has been a complete disaster.

What absolutely infuriates me is that this is yet another ginned up “we gotta decide!” moment that the Council should not have to decide now. WSDOT surplus offerings take years to prepare. It is being presented with a one-day deadline, none of this context, and no other options — not even an easement to acknowledge preservation of the trail because the City is just presuming the outcome. One shouldn’t have to ask these questions. They should be in there. We’ve known for years all these surpluses are coming and we should have had a policy in place a decade ago concerning the entire trail.

The City will argue that we can’t afford it. True. We’ve blown our wad on so many other things. But we should at least try. This is the kind of project that has historically been funded by State and County grants. If you have the time. It is the lack of time that is the real problem.

However, I’ll close with something micro-positive. In the last decade, WSDOT offered us the same opportunity wrt the north side of the street (ie. Des Moines Creek West.) The City Manager of that time simply did not respond – thus handing it over to the Port of Seattle. So, I guess even presenting this to the Council means were now ‘more transparent’? Woo hoo.

Reason #327 why we need a public planning commission. And an election. Every meeting I keep trying to say ‘slow down’. And every meeting, it’s just Pow, Pow, Pow.

Saying you can’t stop the train is the strategy to keep the train going in exactly the same direction it’s been going for a very long time.

Last Week

Monday: Martin Luther King Day at Northwest African American Museum. I always try to recommend a book and this year it’s Death of a King, the best short volume on MLK’s real philosophy; not the made-up ‘saint’ he has seemed to become.

Tuesday: Burien Airport Committee (agenda) Our City Council seems hell bent on re-creating a new airport committee in Des Moines. I encourage interested residents to show up for BAC meetings (third Wednesday every month 6:00PM) to see what such a thing can (and cannot) do for us. I favour creating a joint committee; rather than separate groups, because frankly, we’re much stronger as a shared voice. But again, the lack of strategy here is the strategy. We haven’t wanted to do anything meaningful on the airport for over a decade.

Wednesday: ZEV Car Share Ribbon Cutting at the Marina. Sign up for a membership here: Zev Co-Op.

Wednesday 2:30pm Highline Forum (at Sea-Tac Airport)

Thursday: I testified at the State Environment Committee on behalf of HB1303. The CURB Act is the most important piece of environmental legislation you haven’t heard of. When/if passed into law, it will require developers of mega-projects (like Sea-Tac Airport) to provide an enhanced environmental impact statement – specifically to address community impacts. It’s exactly what was missing in the SAMP Draft EA.

Thursday 4:00pm Municipal Facilities Committee – 23 Jan 2025 – Agenda

Their first meeting of the year, so mostly planning calendar, but an interesting update on the Flag Triangle.

Thursday 5:00pm Economic Development – 23 Jan 2025 – Agenda

Their first meeting of the year, so mainly planning calendar. It is so fundamentally different from EDC meetings from the last regime it is Must-See-TV. And despite my above screed on Barnes Creek, I want to acknowledge the wonderful potential I heard. Truly. That’s the problem I’m currently having with the new regime. It swings so hard back and forth between terrible and wonderful it’s making me seasick. And I fished for a living. 😀

But in fact, it was so hopeful?

City Council Meeting Recap

Thursday 6:00pm Regular Meeting – 23 Jan 2025 – Agenda – Updated

Public Comment

Last week I (cough) ‘challenged’ Redondonites to show up if you care about the Fishing Pier. And you sure did! There is nothing like a land use decision to concentrate the mind. 😀 But still, I say the same thing: Public. Planning. Commission. As with all land use decisions, you shouldn’t have to get worked up.

A number of people walked out in a huff for not being able to provide public comment.  As I often say when it comes to your City government, you’re often looking in the wrong direction. It is not unheard of for governments to time-limit public comment on huge issues with dozens of commenters. But in this case, there were maybe a dozen commenters. Frankly, there was plenty of time to accommodate all commenters.

Said it before, say it again, what is abnormal about our meetings is the 9:00PM hard stop. For a variety of reasons, a super-majority of the Council are becoming increasingly averse to ‘long’ meetings. So, the Mayor’s goal seemed to be to finish the meeting early enough to accommodate a follow-on Executive Session (private meeting) and still get outta Dodge by 9:00PM. That is new and worrying trend. In the past, it was just assumed that if a meeting went long, it went long. If a Cm needed to leave? No one’s stoppin’ ya, pal! 😀

The social norms, the expectations of what this job means keep slipping. We need to end the culture of the hard stop.

City Manager presentations

Animal Control Update: A crisp 3 minutes on life (mostly) post-Burien Cares. So far, the news is as good as can be expected. The Waterland Blog originally got a couple of details wrong in their coverage (apparently corrected) but it was enough time to create the usual social media frenzy.

We’ve lost a drop-off service for stray pets, which is troubling – especially with reductions of service @ RASKC. But we do have coverage for serious issues. It’s not nothing. And this is where we are for now.

At the risk of sounding defensive, when people scream “the council doesn’t care” about issues like Animal Control it gets on my last nerve. We are seven very different people. Or haven’t you noticed by now? 😀

In the case of Animal Control, I vigorously opposed outsourcing ACO services and have never voted for any reduction in service levels. I worked me arse off on that. But the Chief of Police at that time wanted to outsource ACO hard — telling the Council, with zero evidence, of an expected $300,000 cost savings! I got nowhere because I had no backup. When we vote on certain things (like Redondo), it packs the house for public comment — and the Council usually listens. That’s backup. However, when that ACO thing happened, only one person showed up. And sadly they chose not to provide public comment! No backup. Frankly, girlfriend, that’s how you lose ACO services. The Council responds when people show up and speak their mind.

Legislative Issue Update on HB1380 I want to express my admiration for our lobbyist for not making more out of this than it is, but HB1380 concerns the right of people to sleep in public places and without fixes it is worrying in its scope of ambition. I am not freaking out because I want to note that it has strong sponsorship in all area legislative districts. So IMO the correct move is to try to fix it rather than to scream into the void and lose any chance of compromise.

New Business

Transportation Impact Fee Reduction For Early Learning Facilities.

Being the child hater I am, I voted no.  I felt it was a $95,000 discount for a single use case and for an unfunded mandate. The State law which made such discounts possible was meant to incentivise developers. Fine. But in this case we were offering a retroactive discount to a project already in the works.

The City provided numbers as to relative costs in other cities – and even without the discount we were squarely in the middle. But that isn’t the issue. It should also have provided a comparison of efficacy. If other cities already have a discount? We should be able to see how many new projects have opened or are likely to open as a result of that discount.

Contrary to the City’s presentation, the developer felt our fees were exorbitant writ large. But the City already has generalised incentives in the toolbox. My skepticism has to do with past projects that provided big incentives with too little return. This discussion was about encouraging Early Learning Centers.

The public told us no new taxes. Fine. That makes it incumbent on the City Council to be frugal and ask for evidence, even on very well-intentioned programs.

If the State wants to promote Early Learning Centers? Fine. Give us the $95,000, not a guilt trip. 🙂

City Logo Discussion

In the toughest budget environment in years, we’ve already ‘invested’ 10 Gs  on a Mission Statement. So why wouldn’t we do the same on a new logo and branding discussion?

In a Hail Mary effort to avoid wasting an hour and tens of thousands of dollars, I asked the Director of Public Works for the number of signs in town that already have the little green/red sailboat. I blindsided him and I apologise. I was thinking if we had even a vague idea how much it would cost to re-set every sign in town to a new logo, it would incentivise the gang to simply go with that. My wag guess is that there must be at least a few thousand. And my other wag guess is that four-colour signs probably cost $2o0. Do the math.

Additionally, have you walked around our city recently and seen how much dough we’ve already spent in the last decade on stuff like ‘the gateways’ at 216th and KDM? People just love image and branding.

Frankly, I could care less. A true re-brand costs a fortune. And I’d rather do nothing than waste one more centavo.

And I disagree with my colleagues. A city is not a ‘brand’. It’s a place. For me, ‘the brand’ was always the places. I like the current flag for one thing: 1889. As much as anything I used to feel like that was ‘the brand’. When I moved here it had more interesting ‘stuff’ per square foot than any surrounding area. It didn’t need too much new stuff. It just needed to preserve and refresh what it had and build from there. So much for that notion. 😀

Redondo Fishing Pier Replacement Project

I (sorta) owe the DPW a second apology. I asked him to confirm on camera something the contract is fairly clear on: that this contract was only structural. I just needed him to say that it would not change the look because you have no idea how many revisions that deck went through to get salmon-approval. 😀 This is the last rendering I remember. The majority of the deck is see-through, which salmon apparently really need.

I also got my little speechifyin’ in here. As much as I value the Redondo Fishing Pier, I am slightly queasy about any vote that has to be done tonight. Or else! I know some of my colleagues often feel the same, but it’s like the learning center thing. Passion often trumps consistent discipline.

There are these competing energies: strategic planning vs. gettin’ shit done! Spending $11,000,000 and doing the docks should be more than enough initiative for one year. We may end up doing three : Docks, Redondo Fishing Pier, Marina Steps. For me, it’s too much. Oh, and we have the 24th Ave mess to clean up.

My only disagreement with some of my colleagues is that the Redondo Fishing Pier is not a revenue driver. That is not what a park is. There was a time when Redondo was a revenue driver. Here it is. Get it? Everything you see as fishing pier, MAST Center, Salty’s was built on very old piers for a revenue driver that is never coming back – at least, not that kind of revenue. And all of it costs a fortune both to build and to maintain.

I want the City to slow down. Not stop. Slow down. Do one major project a year. Not three. If we do all this stuff, it’s riskier and it can’t be undone. And right now, a lot of it is not being thought of strategically. People want the Pier? Groovy. But the area is changing We’ve seen Salty’s close. And there are likely other big changes coming. If I were Emperor Shaddam IV, I would make it clear to residents that we are doing something – in the 2026 fish window. But since we have to pay a ton of money for re-design work anyway, we should take a breath and consider how the project might be improved to fit the changing waterfront.

This is worrying

I had planned to finish up my rant… er… dissertation… on Marina planning, but as you can see, stuff happens. At the last Highline School District Board Meeting, two of the five directors resigned, including our own District #5 Director Azeb Hagos. Imagine if three our Council resigned in one night. It says something.

I cannot speak for either of them. But Ms. Petrini’s statement speaks for itself and I urge you to watch it.

In May of 2022, I asked, nagged, wheedled, cajoled, pleaded, and begged Azeb Hagos to apply for a vacancy on the Highline School Board. And when she got appointed, I thought it might be the biggest accomplishment in my (cough) public service.

Thirty years ago the schools here were pretty good. Objectively, they haven’t been for a very long time. It is my belief that our city cannot thrive without quality schools. And both women focused on the basics – which in itself was controversial. Coming from Ireland, which is not exactly wealthy, but does have a superior education system, this drives me crazy.

I’ve heard some jabs about them as ‘quitters’, which is insulting and always comes from people who did not know them or tend to make jokes like “You couldn’t pay me enough to deal with that kind of shit show! Haw, haw, haw.” Exactly.

If it were possible, school board is an even more thankless job than City Council. The meetings are loooooooooooooong, at odd hours, pay so low it wouldn’t even cover child care costs, and filled with hours of platitudes rather than actual policy. What’s more, I think some people might find them lonely. Almost no one watches. Voters in Des Moines have no idea what is going on at HSD — most reflexively support bond issues based on the lovely flyers — as do I — because it seems like the right thing to do, not based on much knowledge of the circumstances.

I do not believe we can improve our schools without creating a space for voices like theirs in leadership. I also believet their resignations have implications for cities like Des Moines. If people of their quality, do not feel supported, the people who should run for office will simply choose not to. Or at best, will not serve with the passion necessary to take us where we need to go.

I wish I had been following more closely. I wish I could have been more encouraging. But that is what people who run for office and want to effect change need: Support. Encouragement.

It should not be this hard.

I salute borh women for their exemplary service and I sure hope their talents find outlets somewhere else. Soon. 🙂

Some bits of business…

City Manager Stuff

City Manager’s Report 1.10.25

Best. Gift. Ever.

Said it before, say it again: if you do whatever this is, you’ll get any number of nice surprises. I got this late-arriving, and totally unexpected ¹meme-pillow 😀 from someone who follows our City Council. I cannot stop laughing. It represents a tone I wish the City Council could embrace. We obviously disagree. But we don’t have to take things (or ourselves) quite so seriously.

This Week

We have no meetings this week.

Tuesday: Meeting with UWDEOHS. They did a paper last autumn that improves on the work they’ve done, not only to demonstrate the dangers of ultrafine particles, but also to show that they can distinguish between the source of those UFPs. Normally I provide links to papers like this, but this one is pretty dry. Hopefully, Des Moines will obtain the first fixed-site monitor in the area in 2025. That will help close some of the remaining gaps in the science and make regulation of aviation pollution possible.

Tuesday: Port of Seattle Commission.  Their first meeting of the year. Unlike us, the agenda is fairly light. The only thing of potential interest to us is a renewal of their 30-year agreement with Midway Sewer. Said before, say it again, everything that runs off the plateau, water, sewer, storm water, is something the City of Des Moines needs to keep an occasional eye on.

Wednesday: Regional Transit Committee. First meeting of the year. RTC’s job is to provide recommendations to the full King County Council which governs Metro. I’m part of this because obtaining ‘last mile’ service for the south end of Des Moines is pretty important. What good is having a Light Rail if people can’t get to/from it in Des Moines?

Wednesday: Middle Housing Community meeting 5:30 – 7:30pm Senior Activity Center 2045 216th St.

Last Week

Monday: City Audit Entrance Conference. And wouldn’t ya know it? Like us, they got a flag too! 😀 Every year the City is audited by the State and this is the beginning of that process for 2023. I covered this last week. SAO Entrance Conference 20250106.

Monday 3:00pm: Grand Opening of Jumpin’ Jambalaya Kitchen at Highline College Building 8. I want to mention this because the new 236th College Way road is such a great opportunity. Being able to access the campus directly from Pac Highway should be a game changer.

Thursday: I met with Mayor Ferrell of Federal Way to discuss Federal Way’s strategy re. the Sustainable Airport Master Plan. The Mayor is quite the football enthusiast and referred to the SAMP using the phrase ‘power sweep’ – which I need to look up. 😀

Thursday 4:00pm: Transportation Committee (Agenda) First meeting of the year was basically setting a planning calendar. Unfortunately, there was a glitch in the Youtube feed so no video was recorded. Grrrr….

Thursday 5:00pm: Environment Committee (Agenda) Also, our planning calendar and a much more thorough discussion of the Estuary presentation the full council saw at 6:00pm. But watch this one as it is much more in-depth.

This is no joke. An ongoing challenge with the Beach Park, nay the entire Marina, is flooding and climate change. Keeping the park (and those lovely historic restorations) going was always gonna be expensive. But now that we understand how quickly sea level is rising and take into account that one of the original purposes of restoring the Creek was salmon recovery, the discussion is about to go next level.

Salmon recovery and flood control are often in tension with one another. So, it’s a bit weird to see grants for both purposes in one project. Although it’s not because ecosystems don’t compartmentalise like that. In fact, the ‘estuary’, the mouth of the creek, is the interface between salt and fresh water. But there’s no clear line between ‘salt’ and ‘fresh’. It’s all one thing.

Eventually we will need to remove as much of the artificial sea wall (‘rip-rap’) surrounding the estuary mouth. Eventually the estuary will look more like the tidal marshes and Blue Heron Sanctuaries at Nisqually and Everett.

This will have impacts for nearby homeowners, condo dwellers, and all denizens of the Beach Park. It also calls into question our events planning program at the Beach Park and basically everything near the Marina. I strongly encourage you to read this portion of the packet carefully.

Council Meeting Recap

Thursday 6:00pm: City Council Meeting Updated Agenda) Usually the first meeting of the year is fairly benign. But not this one. In fact, this one gets the Pee Wee Herman Action Packed Seal of Approval!

Public Comment

There was  a very enthusiastic public comment re. the Des Moines Flag is (or perhaps technically, the ‘seal’.) And of course, when you Google “seal Of Des Moines, WA” you get this.

In addition to the vexillogical, there were three other comments all from people in Redondo. What got me going on the ‘flag’ thing is that when the City proposed a park district at Redondo, I had hoped there would be at least one nod to the fact that Redondo is in Des Moines, eg. putting up the City flag! If we want to tie the community together, we do need have shared symbols.

Ferry Presentation by Peter Philips

This presentation was not only a sales pitch and a ‘surprise’, the entire stats page was a pack o’ porky pies, mate. I mean everything. ‘Unique’ visitors actually included repeat visitors. ‘100% utilization’ was more like 70%. And I still have no idea what ‘utilization’ means.

Costs? His sheet says $296,000. Here’s the more realistic numbers from the actual contract.

The latest is that King County will be doing a ‘test’ ferry run from Pier 50 to Des Moines. Which is just another sales pitch.

ZEV Car Share

There’s been this green electric car near the Harbormaster’s building for several months. It’s an electric car you can take for a few hours up to a week using a phone app. You sign up for a one-time membership fee ($500?) and then you get a fairly low rate. Zev Co-Op Grand opening is January 22nd. Here is a coupon for your first ride.

Public Records Fee Schedule Update

I’m not grousing about a rate increase. But this is exactly the kind of thing I wish the Finance Committee would discuss before bringing to Council – especially on an already packed agenda. There was this thing about 1,400 hours of staff time. OMG! Enormous! Until you do a bit o’ division and realise that it’s only .7 of one full time staff member – and a public records officer is a state requirement, not a luxury.

City of Des Moines Mission, Vision & Values

The Council voted for this. I voted ‘no’ because I do not believe this should be our mission. An audience member seemed puzzled that I did not take credit for correcting the grammar in the original blurb. I did not take credit because that correction came from ChatGPT.

As I tried to explain, wanting to prevent the City Council from signing off on something embarrassing is not the same as supporting a bad policy.

The fact that the Council spent $8,000 on this endeavour and ended up with ₂almost exactly what we had before should be what we focus on more.

Des Moines Marina Steps Project

I’m gonna be honest here. I walked out of this meeting triggered. The initial essay I wrote, which would have been more than appropriate in the previous regime, today would read as unfair given the newness of Ms. Caffrey and her team.

The problem, of course, is trust. All seven of us voted for Ms. Caffrey, but for very different reasons. And with each passing week, and especially at critical presentations like this, we all look for ‘signs’ as to the kind of leadership she will provide.

But there was an over-stuffed agenda, a ton of ‘surprise’ info, a lack of answers to longstanding questions, coupled with helpings of mis-information. All perhaps understandable one-offs for a new leader walking into a situation like this. But also eerily reminiscent of the last regime. 😀

I’ve strongly advocated for giving the new CEO a lot of time to learn the City and develop her own approach. However, I acknowledge that during this period a lot of bad can happen. Given the past decade or so, it’s tough to sit quietly and be patient.

And then there was this:

If you take $2 million out of the project, is it still acceptable and does it meet the requirements that was intended as a signature project? If you take $4 million out, my belief is that it wouldn’t, but we could probably go that far and end up with a staircase.

I object, your honour. Leading the witness! 😀

Frankly, I’d hoped this little budget problem would afford us a chance to look at things a bit differently. This is the fourth major version of ‘Marina Redevelopment’ since 2017. The whole notion of ‘placemaking’ only began in 2024 – as a response to public criticism of both the new design and the bond sales. In short: the new design seemed to require new justifications.

‘Placemaking’ implies that somehow a ‘staircase’, ie. connectivity between the downtown and the Marina, is secondary; that the Marina needs to be dramatically enhanced with a bunch of doodads in order to be successful and to draw people here.

That was never ‘the plan’. Going back to master plans three decades old connectivity was the main goal of any improvements to that central core! And newsflash: People already love visiting the Marina and the Beach Park.

Thought experiments: Just how many new visitors would be attracted by a splash pad or a jungle gym than would otherwise occur? How much new downtown revenue would be required over time to break even on those add-ons? Would it not be better to be patient and apply for grants to add park amenities over time (as we have done everywhere else in town)?

If the project were scaled back to a simple, elegant, and truly ADA-friendly way to transit between the downtown and the Marina – and came in under budget that should be more than enough success.

And the funny thing? That was the original mission going back three decades.

Des Moines Creek Estuary Project Update

See above in the Environment Committee.

Telecommunications Franchise Agreement with Ezee Fiber and Ziply

This kinda/sorta blows my mind. As of today, there are a ton of gaps in broadband coverage. In the past, new providers treated their coverage areas as state secrets. The rep for Ziply stated on the record: they intend to provide 100% coverage to Des Moines. I don’t want to give a hard date, but it’s so much faster than previous rollouts of Comcast or Centurylink it was hard not to raise an eyebrow. But if it turns out as advertised, this is tremendous news. One important value proposition for Des Moines should be remote work and/or businesses that can support Seattle without requiring commuting.

But wait, there’s more…

The discussion of logos was postponed until the 23rd. There was also an announcement of a ‘Non-Profit Summit’ which I don’t quite get. But Cms Achziger and Grace-Matsui seemed to be aware of it and supportive.

If you don’t get the gag, it’s sort of a Japanese version of the Real Housewives yelling at Smudge meme I’ve used a couple of times.

²As a civic-minded Des Moines, I know you are aware that our previous statement was “Create a vibrant, inviting, livable, safe and sustainable waterfront community, while embracing change for the future and respecting our history.”

Some bits of business…

I gave new City Manager Katherine Caffrey the best gift ever. Two weeks off from the wonders of me. And then welcomed her back with a 3,000 word essay. Break’s over. 😀

Duwamish Head

A couple of people asked me “What happened to the sailboats?” This race, usually one of the best of the year, was marred from the start by bad weather. Started late. Got scrubbed at the mid-way point. So, if you were wondering why you did not see boats sailing across the finish line in late afternoon, that’s the deal. To be clear: by ‘bad weather’ I only mean no wind. In sailing wind is the only thing that really matters. Cold and rain are generally no impediments that cannot be overcome by purchasing muy caro (and muy macho) gear. 😀 The main races are in winter is because this is usually the time of the best winds in Puget Sound. Just. Not. This. Saturday. 😀 Still, a great time and some great piccies at the Three Tree Point Yacht Club Facebook Page.

Yelling Fire in a crowded tax season

I don’t wanna be that guy, but many of you received your Fire Benefit Charge details. Despite voting to approve it, the statements have been greeted with surprise, confusion, and in some cases buyer’s remorse. I won’t get into South King Fire’s business (mainly because ¹I want someone to show up if my house is burning 😀 ) However, to the extent it affects the City, it’s still an interesting discussion.

First, despite what you may have heard, when the Finance Committee initially proposed our ill-fated property tax levy back in January 2024, no one was considering how it related to the FBC. However, somewhere in April-ish SKF was the origin of the strategy to place the levy on the ballot twice, ie. if it failed in August put it back on the ballot in November. I strongly disagreed and in fact, my colleagues (in private, of course) seemed to agree. But the administration heeded their advice, based on SKF’s ongoing success in getting their ballot initiatives passed. And apparently that was enough to get some of my colleagues to …er… ‘reconsider their decision’ 😀 on the ‘second try’ thing.

The first I heard of the notion of using the FBC as a sales tool for our property tax levy was from former SKF Chief and former councilmember Vic Pennington. But that began after the August 6 election. The notion was that the FBC would ‘free up capacity’, and thus be a net zero for residents even with the property tax levy.

It is understandable that proponents would want to provide new sales arguments after that fail. But honestly? That never would have occurred to me. My mind just does not work that way.

Say it out loud, “Even with the City’s new tax, you’ll still come out ahead so long as you vote for this other tax (..er… ‘fee’). But you gotta do both!” Which sounds like something a former SKF Chief might say. 😀 (Sorry, Vic.) But seriously, making one tax contingent on another did not seem like a great idea. Especially if you’re not 100% sure about the effects of that other tax.

I applaud SKF for acknowledging their ongoing funding issues and finding a creative solution. There are some great aspects to the FBC (eg. Port of Seattle property is tax-exempt but is subject to the FBC. Wish we could do that!) My concerns, which I stated at the presentation SKF gave to the City Council, were two-fold…

a) The FBC seemed hard to calculate. I think they coulda provided some sort o’ calculator on their web site to allow voters to instantly know how it would affect them before they voted. Check this out:

FBC = √square feet* x (18)* x (category factor) x (response factor) x (risk factor)  x (fire flow factor) x (discount)

“I’ll take Polynomials for $400”, Alex. 😀

b) Also, and this may just be me, the ‘risk component’ felt uncomfortably like insurance. It is quite understandable to charge many fees based on usage (water, electrics, sewer, etc.) Up to a point, one can choose to conserve those things. However, First Responders like police and the brave men and women who are gonna save my house (in spite of this article!) provide an intrinsically different service. To me, what they do feels more like a responsibility we should all share in equally. For example, I’m trying to imagine how it would be if police were funded on a similar model – charging residents a variable rate for public safety based on the current crime stats on their street or whether or not they own a private security system. Not a fan.

City Manager Stuff

Even with her well-earned break, Ms. Caffrey has really set the bar with her City Manager’s Report January 3, 2025 The promo for the Des Moines Historical Society is always welcome. One minor complaint: either the piccie of the boy with a salmon is a stock photo or I’m ratting her child out to DFW for fishing out of season! jk.

This Week

After several much needed weeks off, once again the games begin, ²Maximus… 😀

Monday: City Audit Entrance Conference. Every year the City is audited by the State. This is for 2023 and it is routine – nothing like the archetypal “OMG, we’re getting audited, Frank!” 😀 As I keep saying, the City’s books are surprisingly complex, so the State rotates the areas it reviews every year, covering most aspects in sort of a 3-4 year cycle. It will also add on any potential weaknesses it noticed from the previous year. In general, these are fairly uneventful. The last noteworthy ding (‘finding’) was 2020 and that was not particularly serious. Very few Cms show up for these. I do because, well… I guess I have nothing better to do? 😀

Monday 3:00pm: Speaking of good (and Creole) food! Grand Opening of Jambalaya Kitchen at Highline College Building 8.

Thursday 4:00pm: Transportation Committee (Agenda) First meeting of the year is basically setting a planning calendar.

Thursday 5:00pm: Environment Committee (Agenda) Also, our planning calendar andA the Estuary presentation the full council will be seeing at 6:00pm? Not sure why the redundancy. But it is important, I guess. I will be asking my colleagues for their ideas. I have a couple.

I think it’s a fine time for a top-up. 🙂

Thursday 6:00pm: City Council Meeting (Agenda) Usually the first meeting of the year is fairly benign. But not this one. In fact, this one gets the Pee Wee Herman Action Packed Seal of Approval!

The issues range from the sublime to the rid… er… less sublime 😀 and include:

• Ferry Presentation by Peter Philips
  Inshallah, may I serve long enough to see this guy not get another ‘six month’ contract. This was a topic of that 3,000 word essay. If I had a dime for every vote the Council has taken in my tenure that were ‘just a small step, we can always change our minds’, I’d have a lot of dimes.

• Public Records Fee Schedule Update
  This is something the Finance Committee discussed last year. My only gripe is that the specifics of the proposal should also be first vetted by the Finance Committee before going to the full Council. If we are not capturing our costs, obviously we should have that discussion.

• City of Des Moines Mission, Vision & Values
  Inshallah, may I serve long enough to see us notice that the majority of the city is nowhere near the water. And have the ‘vision’ to do something about it.

• Des Moines Marina Steps Project
  Inshallah, may I serve long enough to… OK, I’ve beaten on that expression enough. This was also a part of those 3,000 words. When we voted for those bonds in 2023, we were told that they had to be applied to these specific projects. And we were specifically told that the project had to be bid as one all-inclusive deal. And yet, the agenda now talks about breaking the project into smaller pieces or even backing away? How are these things even possible, Grasshopper? And if so, why are they now only possible simply because we came up short on the dough-re-mi?

• Des Moines Creek Estuary Project Update. This is no joke. An ongoing challenge with the Beach Park, nay the entire Marina, is flooding and climate change. Just keeping it (and those lovely historic restorations) was always going to be expensive. But now take into account that one of the original purposes of restoring the Creek was salmon recovery. And to do that, eventually we also need to remove the artificial sea wall (‘rip-rap’) surrounding the estuary mouth. How it will impact nearby homeowners and denizens of the Beach Park is going to be an interesting discussion. If you live or use the Beach Park, I strongly encourage you to read this portion of the packet carefully.

• Telecommunications Franchise Agreement with Ziply
  I confess, as of this writing I have not finished plowing through the thing because these franchise agreements go on for pages and pages. But I will. People have screamed about both a lack of coverage and choice in broadband service here for decades and I do intend to read this thing carefully because having those things really is a strategic interest for the City. One important value proposition for Des Moines should be remote work and/or businesses that can support Seattle without requiring commuting. Without much better broadband we cannot do that. To me those services are just as important as physical links (like a ferry).

• Council City Logo Discussion
  In another hard hitting issue, we will be discussing some form of coherent branding? Actually, this does matter to me in the sense that we have a zillion web sites and brands. And in many sections of the city we literally don’t say ‘Des Moines’. Eg. the new Redondo restrooms will say ‘Redondo’ which is ridiculous. If we spend over a million dollars on a bathroom, I want visitors to know who the hell paid for it! 😀

I’m also not thrilled that over the past two years the City unilaterally embarked on its own ‘temporary’ branding, which is now all over the place and cost however much it cost. Frankly, I wish we had that moolah back in order to pay for all the new branding.

I’ll be honest: I kinda like the old brand. I tend to favour older designs (buildings, logos) because although they may look ‘stodgy’ for a few years, over time they tend to look better and better.

However, I will be moving to have this opened up to the Arts Commission for a public competition. As we have done with other public arts projects. We have a ton of talented professional artists in the area and I’d rather have them take a whack at it than the seven of us who are definitely not artists.

• Non-Profit Summit Hosted by Des Moines City Council
  I have no idea what this is. I can guess. But any agenda item called a ‘Summit’ with no description deserves a bit of mockery.

Last Week

• I spent a certain amount of time on STNI stuff, including this letter to our State legislators calling for a revision to the law to open up Port of Seattle funding to cities like Des Moines for aviation impacts. The letter gets a little (ok, a lot) into the weeds, but besides ‘the noise’ there are many other problems in our relationship with the Port. A big one being that there is no path to funding to compensate for the harms caused just by being next to the eighth largest airport in America. This legislation is meant as a path to at least partially addressing that.

I also put out Part Deux of my year-end grab back. It contains gems such as

You call this a Happy New Year? 12/31/2024 – JC Harris For Des Moines, Washington

• New Marina Parking Rates
• An article on Oklahoma City which funds downtown projects in a very cool way!
• Some stats on property values, commercial, home, tax-exempt and how we compare with the rest of King County.
• Some gossip on three new businesses!
• An update on Middle Housing
• And an AI Generated Christmas Card I will treasure for at least 361 more days. 🙂

¹A certain staff member referred to me recently as ‘Maximus’. I assume because the character spends most of the movie being tortured to death?