I said much of what I have to say on this from the dais. But since so many people keep asking me about it (or are unaware of what happened), and since my peer on the Council Traci Buxton put out a blizzard of comments in defense of the votes, I figured I’d try to put my thoughts in a more organised fashion.
(By the way–I voted ‘no’ on both motions to increase Mr. Matthias’ salary. At the risk of sounding whatever it kinda saddens me that people read my comments and think I voted for the increases. C’mon, people! 😀 )
The issue begins at 2:13:00
My comments start at 3:04:00
The proposed change was a 5% step automatic increase, which was on the Agenda for a formal vote. I said from the dais that I do not believe in automatic raises beyond COLA. I believe that one’s salary should never ‘automatically’ increase; a new rate should be up for negotiation only after a proper review. So the problem is ongoing. Mr. Matthias is now at the extreme top end of salaries for a City of our size. Next year his salary will reach that of Cities many times larger than Des Moines, such as Tacoma! And it will continue to expand with each passing year. That is simply unacceptable, regardless of the quality of his work.
However, an even greater change to his compensation was the ad hoc motion by departing Councilmember Pennington to literally triple his severance package. That was the cash equivalent of over $200,000 approved with no staff research or prior notice (as always happens with an Agenda Item). No expenditure of that magnitude should ever occur without being on the official Agenda. Even during an emergency (like the recent Woodmont slide), an official memo will be presented for the Council to vote on. Worst of all, this motion was completely pre-planned by the five members of the majority to be presented this way, at the last moments of the meeting. This motion was unethical and damaged both our City’s reputation and the public’s trust in us.
The five members of the majority wanted the increase in severance pay not only to reward Mr. Matthias for his work (a sort of bonus), but specifically to make it difficult for future Councils to make a change. They said, from the dais, that they were concerned that a future Council might (foolishly) attempt to undo what they consider his indispensable work. The arrogance of this is truly profound. Mr. Matthias is the City’s Economic Development Director. That was his original position before being elevated to City Manager. Should a future Council wish to make a change in Economic Development, we’re now saddled with a large payout which would, indeed, make it harder to make a change–even if it’s in the best interest of our City. The current majority has thus handcuffed the flexibility of a future Council because ‘they know better’. This sets a terrible precedent.
Last December the same majority members of the Council were concerned that comments from the dais were going on too long. So they voted to add timers to limit comment to 4 minutes. 😀 Which is ironic since four of my peers went on for 1 hr and 12 minutes defending the salary increase. (That was the longest discussion period since last year’s salary increase.) And here’s my point: If you feel like you have to work that hard to convince the public to buy something? Maybe you should re-consider what yer tryin’ to sell. Even this weekend, Councilmember Buxton has been going full-throttle to defend the decision on social media. Fair play. My only objection to that is that she presents her views not as opinion, but as ‘transparency’. The word ‘transparency’ implies an objective presentation of facts, not merely the ones which support one’s viewpoint.
Finally, during the Council’s hour-long defense/sales pitch, they repeatedly used phrases such as:
“This town won’t succeed without Michael.”.
“If we lose Michael, we’ll go back to the way things were 25 years ago.”
“We’ve got to protect Michael no matter what it takes.”
Look, one always strives for a great working relationship, but there is a certain professional distance that one must maintain between any CEO and their supervisors for the good of the City. But the majority’s praise for our City Manager was so effusive as to cross that line entirely. Even if I agreed that Mr. Matthias’ accomplishments were as grand as they say, no one should be thought of, or presented to the public, as being indispensable to an organisation, and certainly not our city.
You’ll notice that I have not commented on the quality of Mr. Matthias’ work. I had several objections to his salary increases, based not on his work as an Administrator, but on his other official positions, as Chairman of our Aviation Advisory Committee and as his position as Economic Development Director. I do not think the City’s business and retail environment have gone in the right direction and I know that the City has not done a great job in improving the problems we are experiencing from Sea-Tac Airport. But most of my objections to the contract changes have nothing to do with performance and everything to do with the process. During my campaign I railed against a City Council that acts in a high-handed manner, without concern for the public’s opinion. Since the election, my peers have asked me about this. They have seemed genuinely confused as to what I was talking about. Well, this whole affair is exactly what I was talking about. And the fact that the current majority cannot recognise how tone deaf they are being to the public’s feelings means that we still have a lot of work to do in improving our relationship with our residents.
Mr. Matthias has done exemplary work in many areas (as I’ve said many times). The point of this post was not to complain about his performance or to impune his character. But the manner in which his Performance Review was handled was simply outrageous.
If yer looking for my post on our City Manager’s raise, it’s here
This Week
Monday I’ll be Olympia again, at a Stakeholders meeting with Tina Orwall on the whole Port Package Update bill. Some details here.
Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll also be in Olympia for the Association Of Washington Cities (AWC) events. Tuesday is a training session on parliamentary techniques, which sounds boring but if yer in the minority on a City Council, you need to learn all the rules in order to have any chance of making a difference. Wednesday is called ‘Legislative Day’ and it’s a chance for noobs like me to meet with not just Senators and Representatives, but also the people who run important departments like Transportation, Ecology, State, etc.
Tuesday at noon is a Port Of Seattle Commission Meeting at Sea-Tac Airport. I urge anyone interested in airport issues to attend or watch the LiveStream as there will be an update on the whole SAMP (airport expansion) projects. I wish I could be there.
Thursday is yet another all day schmoozefest–an annual Puget Sound Regional Council get-together in Seattle. Again, relationship building.
Somewhere in there will be a bunch of meetings with residents and our cousin Councilmembers in neighbour cities. 🙂
Last Week
Monday I met with Kent Councilmember Satwinder Kaur. She’s on the Sound Cities Association (SCA) Puget Sound Clean Air Committee and has done fantastic things with their local parks–including clean up and beautification efforts similar to what we’ve done at Midway Park. We talked about how we can work together to get pollution monitors installed around Sea-Tac Airport–something that was supposed to be part of the Third Runway mitigation program but somehow never got done. (Gee, I wonder why?) Without sounding too cynical, the reason it never happened is that, as I often say, “If there’s no data, there’s no problem.” Without pollution monitors, there’s no ‘official’ data. And without official data, there can be no State or Federal funding or legal action to improve the situation.
Tuesday I was at the South King County Transportation Board (SCATbd) along with Councilmember Mahoney. The PSRC (you’ll soon learn that they’re everywhere in these updates) is offering grants for bike and walking trails and at the last City Council Meeting I suggested that we apply for a portion of those to finish the Barnes Creek Trail and connect Kent Des Moines Road all the way to 200th! 😀
On Wednesday, I was back in Olympia to testify on behalf of the House Bill on Port Package Updates (HB 2315 ) introduced by Tina Orwall. The good news is that the bill passed out of Committee and is now seems to be moving forward with support from all sides. Fingers crossed!
Wednesday I had my first weekly meeting with the City Manager, Michael Matthias. There was some ‘air-clearing’. I claimed during the campaign that I had heard him make several dishonest statements. Accusing someone of dishonesty is a huge deal, of course so I completely understand why he’d be more than a little dis-chuffed. One of those involved a ‘Tree In Lieu Program’, which I said did not exist. He gave me a copy of the City Tree Regulations which describes this program. So I guess I stand corrected. I’ll just add this: I went to the City’s web site to look for the text from the printed page he gave me. I was really upset that I might have falsely accused him of something based on laziness on my part. However, I could not find the same text on the web site. So perhaps this is all a terrible misunderstanding. I do know that I’d be a lot more contrite if I knew why I couldn’t find the text on that web page. Perhaps this just underscores what I’ve been saying all along: We need a better web site. The inability to find information can not only be annoying, it can cause serious problems. Regardless, he has my sincere apology.
Wednesday was also the Highline Forum and the Port Of Seattle presented several items where they say they are trying to be more helpful on airport issues. I am (as always) skeptical due to decades of bad faith on their part. However, I must admit that the newer Commissioners have made more of an effort at communication. Is it enough? HELL NO! But compared to the way it was back ten years ago where Commissioners did not even pretend to care about the community, it represents at least some progress. So I try to tell activists: you’re not going all ‘Uncle Tom’ by trying to talk.
Thursday I met with our King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove. He is big on transit and we discussed ways to expand the Commuter Shuttle program to the entire City and to improve routes in the South end of town (Highline college to 272nd.) He fully acknowledges that current bus service is pretty out of whack: most of the routes are in the North end of town while most of the people who want to ride are in the South. This is another of those ‘gravity’ issues I often speak about. We must move the focus of key City programs southward–to where the people who need them are.
And then there was our City Council Meeting at 7pm. Video here.
That was so much fun I even made a separate post on it. 😀 By the way, I’m starting to notice now that a certain percentage of residents either don’t seem to get or fully appreciate my world-class sense of humour. So where I just wrote, “so much fun” what I was really saying is, “bloody fuckin’ horrible, mate.” 😀 But I don’t say that out loud because, you know, I’m a very polite guy. 🙂
Friday I met with Mayor Jim Ferrell of Federal Way and his (kinda) new Strategic Advisor, Bill Vadino. Speaking candidly (is there any other way?) Federal Way had not been getting great reviews from activists on its efforts to improve the noise and pollution from Sea-Tac Airport. All I can tell you is that Mayor Ferrell seemed engaged in the situation and clearly frustrated with the lack of progress. In other words, he is not happy with the status quo. He fully recognises that we’ve been spinning our wheels and says that he is willing to think about a new approach. We’ll see!
I’m not special, but the Staff certainly is!
I want to make a general comment on civic engagement. Last week, I got big ‘Thank you!’ moments from three residents that really I did not deserve. They had some really annoying complaints and reached out to me. A couple of days later? PRESTO! Problem solved. I’m a magician. Apparently, I run this town.
All I do is write down their complaint, then I go home and do what you (or they) could do: I call the City (206-878-4595), or fill out the on-line form and… A couple of days later? PRESTO! Problem solved.
See, I have no ‘pull’ with the City on day to day affairs. No councilmember does. Again, all I do is do what you can do.
I bring this up because I think there is a sense sometimes that nothing in government works well and you have to ‘know a guy’ to get anything done. Not true in Des Moines. In fact, a lot of routine issues get resolved very efficiently by our staff. You just have to know the City phone number (Again, that’s 206-878-4595 🙂 )
I think one thing that makes some people think that nothing works in government is because there are often lots of kerfuffles involving politics (see below). But the City staff who help our residents is not involved in any of that junk. Whatever shenanigans are going wrong with ‘big’ issues, you can count on the day to day stuff to be handled pretty well. (And in the unlikely event it isn’t I do want to hear about it.)
That said, I am happy to hear your concerns and make a call or fill out a form for you. In fact, I am glad to do it because it helps me know what’s going on in Des Moines! But I just want to make it clear that I have no special superpower. You get exactly the same service and I encourage you to give it a shot, then tell your neighbours. My goal is to build confidence in our City’s customer service and its great staff.
Monday: Happy Martin Luther King Day! Meeting with Councilmember Satwinder Kaur of Kent. She’s on the Sound Cities Association (SCA) Puget Sound Clean Air Committee. Regional organizations like this are something Des Moines needs to get more involved with. Just one, kind of a weedsy detail: there are no pollution monitors around Sea-Tac Airport! The closest one is in Georgetown, eight miles away. Small cities like DM never almost never get enough attention from regional planners unless we have our electeds on these committees. And that means housing, environment, transportation. We started engaging with SCA and PSRC tw years ago after a long absence–which is good, but we’ve got a lot of ground to make up.
Tuesday is another regional committee I’ve mentioned: South King County Transportation Board (SCATbd) ‘skate-board’. They cover all things transportation related. If you’re concerned about getting better bus service in DM, SR509, the airport… anything like that? SeaTac City Hall. 9:00AM.
On Wednesday, I’ll be in Olympia (again) to give public comment again on the House Bill on Port Package Updates (HB 2315 ) introduced by Tina Orwall. You can introduce a bill on either the House or the Senate side. Or you can introduce basically the same bill on both sides as Senator Karen Keiser and Rep. Orwall have done. This can increase the chances that the bill will pass, not least of all because it indicates that you can muster support in both houses. As with companion bill SB6214 my testimony will be to make sure that lawmakers understand that this bill is meant to help homeowners with real damage to their homes from poor installs–not just get people ‘new doors and windows’.
Wednesday is also my weekly meeting with the City Manager, Michael Matthias. A lot of this job is simply being made aware of what is going on and this is the chance to cover items that can’t easily be done via e-mail.
Wednesday is also the Highline Forum, a group of electeds from all the airport communities plus the Port Of Seattle started waaaay back in 2005. It meets every other month (is that bi-monthly or semi-monthly? 😀 ) The original purpose (I guess) was to foster good relations between the Port and the communities in the aftermath of the Third Runway Lawsuit. I think there has always been some hope (at least on the community side) that it would evolve into something more. What it is is basically information sharing and there is increasing talk of ditching the whole thing. (To give you a notion of where I stand on this, three years ago, I made a speech where I advised all City electeds to immediately adjourn to the IHOP across the street, and start a new group (without the Port) with the explicit purpose of negotiating a deal with the Port for ongoing compensation. Needless to say, that is not the official position of participating Cities. 😀 But it should be.)
Thursday I’m meeting with our King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove. And then there is our City Council Meeting at 7pm. Agenda here. There will be the annual performance review of our City Manager, which of course, is done in Executive Session. More on that below.
Friday I’ll be meeting with Mayor Jim Ferrell of Federal Way and his (kinda) new Strategic Advisor. (It’s worth mentioning that almost nobody you’ll read here is someone I’m meeting for the first time. I’ve been annoying electeds throughout King County for years. 😀 ) All I’m trying to do now is tell people, “Hey, I want to engage with you on shared issues besides the airport. And by the way… did you know thisabout the airport? 😀 )
Last Week
On Wednesday I attended a Reach Out Des Moines meeting at Pacific Middle School. As I said last time, this is a wide group of people who are involved with teens in every possible context, including Des Moines Community Service Officer Tonya Seaberry. The primary goal includes reducing juvenile violence in the Pac Ridge neighbourhood and nearby schools. But there are so many benefits to the program because the tools used to achieve this goal also end up improving school attendance, reducing hunger and on and on. Just one stat that CSO Seaberry presented: Juvenile Crime in Des Moines has gone down from 68 arrests in 2013 to only 17 in 2019. That’s truly amazing! And I hope the City can find ways to further their efforts.
On Thursday I was in Olympia to give public comment on SB6214. I wrote more about that (including a link to the view) here.
On Saturday I met with our new State Rep. Jesse Johnson (30th D) who was just appointed. He was previously on the Federal Way City Council and his background and passion is for education. When he ran for City Council he doorbelled over 8,000 homes. RESPECT! I gave him a rundown on airport issues (of course) and a little about the south end of Des Moines. He told me that, as a kid he used to train for track meets by running the Boardwalk. So he knows Redondo. 🙂
I also met with Mayor Matt Pina and newly elected Deputy Mayor Matt Mahoney. It was my second meeting with Mayor Pina since the election. The original purpose was to discuss Committee Assignments. As I said after the first CC Meeting, in our City, the Mayor chooses which committees each CC is on and that’s a big deal. The obvious way to choose people would be based on their desire and expertise on relevant issues. But, frankly, the Mayor could also choose people whose agree with his policy agenda and exclude CCs who do not. I am not saying that’s what’s currently going on in DM. I’m just telling you one potential concern I have with the current system and why I wish it were different.
It’s all about Timing, son
The thing I want to mention about the City Manager Performance Review is ‘timing’. Mr. Matthias’ contract says that any changes of terms (salary, benefits, etc.) should take effect in January. So the Council has previously done the annual review in December. But because there would be two new members on the Council, the previous Council thought best to wait until we were seated to give us noobs a voice in the review–for which I am very grateful.
However, it does put us new guys in an awkward position. We’re expected to review his performance with almost no time on the job–and that may make other Councilmembers feel like our opinions don’t matter as much. Of course I have real opinions about his performance in public settings because I have been so engaged in local politics over the years. However, I’m the first to acknowledge that that is far from a complete picture.
It would be better, in my opinion, to move these reviews (for all employees subject to Council oversight) further into the year–perhaps as part of the Budget process, so that new members of the Council have time to get a feel for the people.
On Wednesday, I’ll be having a weekly meeting with the City Manager, Michael Matthias. All Councilmembers try to have weekly contact to go over questions, concerns. I prefer to do these face to face.
I’ll also be attending a Reach Out Des Moines meeting at Pacific Middle School. This is a group of teachers and Des Moines Community Service Officer Tonya Seaberry, chaired by CHI Franciscan’s Cynthia Ricks-Macottan. The goals are to provide human services for children in the area–particularly Pacific Ridge. Programs include uniforms, camping, advocating for improved school bus service, etc.
Last Week
On Monday I attended the Dept. Of Commerce Study On Sea-Tac Airport Impacts.
Tuesday was the first Port Of Seattle Commission Meeting of the year. New Commissioner Sam Cho was sworn in. They had a party. The cake was merely OK. My public (and later private) comment, concerned enhancing the Port’s Noise Monitor Reporting system. This allows the public to track flights and their noise impacts. We need accurate tracking of noise impacts in order to pressure the airlines for meaningful changes to flight times and paths.
Tuesday afternoon I also attended the first Water District #54 Commission Meeting of the year. Relations with all the local utilities have been strained in recent years and I think they appreciated having a chat about how we can work together better. One issue, which I brought up at the City Council meeting, is our aging infra-structure. The Water Commissioners brought up the chronic complaints from residents on clogged drains, issues with pipes–all things the City can help with. And as the recent Woodmont landslides showed we need to work together to prevent future problems. (The City responded in a heroic way to that incident. But our goal needs to make sure we’re not repeating that heroism too often.)
Wednesday was my first meeting with the entire City Senior Staff. I have to say it was about 55 minutes of Councilmember Martinelli and I listening and about 5 minutes of me asking a couple of questions. As I said last time, I hope this is not an example of things to come.
Thursday I attended the State Second Airport Siting Committee. Des Moines is ably represented by Steve Edmiston as a (non-voting) Citizen Member, plus Sen. Karen Keiser and Rep. Tina Orwall. Just one stat: According to the State’s recent Aviation Capacity Study, the State will need at least the capacity of another Sea-Tac Airport by 2050. And if one were to build a new airport with the same capacity as Sea-Tac it would require at least 4,600 acres of land. Guess how much land Sea-Tac covers? 2,500. That’s right. The 8th largest airport in the country squeezes all those flights onto a footprint that is about half the size it should be. As decision-makers realized thirty years ago when they did the last second airport study, finding 4,600 acres of land anywhere was very difficult–which is why they gave up. Now? It will be impossible. I’m telling you this because I want Des Moines residents to recognize that, although we will likely get a second airport somewhere it will provide us with no relief. And I’ve been screaming about this for several years because that search distracts attention from other efforts that can help us. So let’s stop thinking about that study and move on.
Thursday was the first City Council Meeting of the year and the debut of Anthony Martinelli and moi. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SHOWED UP! 🙂
As expected, Matt Pina was re-elected as Mayor and Matt Mahoney was elected as our new Deputy Mayor, replacing outgoing Councilmember Vic Pennington. Councilmember Martinelli and I abstained. We both indicated that this was not a lack of confidence in either person; it was the fact that we both feel that the process is bad. I promised to give my complete support to Mayor Pina’s office–and I meant it.
However, what the public does not generally know is that councilmembers are not allowed to discuss the whole election process before the meeting. And after the nominations, the vote happens immediately. There is no campaign. No opportunity to interview the nominees. Which suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. No other ‘election’ you can think of happens that way.
Now: why do you think the rules are set up like that? Because the whole idea of a Weak Mayor system is that the Mayor is supposed to be a ‘ceremonial’ function. There is no accommodation for campaigning because the thinking is that the Mayor doesn’t really have any special ‘powers’, so what’s the diff?
Unfortunately, in practice, this could not be further from the truth. In practice the Weak Mayor system has evolved a bit like how the Senate and Congress have rules which give key figures (Senate Majority Leader, Speaker Of The House) tremendous control never imagined in the Constitution. More below.
My Take: Weak Mayor?
A key moment of the City Council Meeting was the comments by Mayor Pina. For some reason, the Mayor decided to respond for over nine minutes on three items which he implied were made by Councilmember Martinelli and I, although neither of us said anything like what he was talking about. I’m willing to attribute this to his being sick. But his comments were pretty extraordinary and bear mentioning…
Strong Mayor vs. Weak Mayor
The Mayor talked about why he feels we should not have a Strong Mayor system in Des Moines. The thing is: both Councilmember Martinelli and I agree. Strong Mayor? Bad idea. Neither of us advocated for such a thing. We specifically objected to the process by which the mayor is elected; not our system of government. Why Mayor Pina decided to do a tutorial on this is mysterious.
Executive Session
Second, two members of the public commented on the notion that too many decisions are made in secret. The Mayor responded by giving another tutorial on the process of ‘Executive Session’, using this ‘lecture’ to tell the public that their concerns were completely unfounded. I think this was a mistake. Although the public may have gotten some of the details wrong, their concerns about transparency are legitimate. During my campaign, even people who did not support me agreed that the Council often operates in a very secretive fashion. The Mayor could have responded by offering to really think about their concerns. More than a missed opportunity in my opinion.
Special powers of our Weak Mayor
Finally, when explaining his reasons for abstaining in the Mayoral Election, Councilmember Martinelli spoke eloquently about the special powers of the current so-called ‘Weak’ mayor system.
The Mayor controls the Agenda of every meeting (ie. the items that are discussed and then voted on; if it’s not on the agenda? It never gets a public discussion and it never has a chance to become law.) So that is huge. No other Councilmember has the ability to get an item on the Agenda without the Mayor or the City Manager’s OK. A group of three councilmembers can also get an item on the agenda, but in real life this rarely occurs unless sponsored by a particular committee.
Speaking of which, under our current rules, the Mayor has sole control over committee assignments–which is the other way that items get on the Agenda. So, regardless of one’s expertise, one may not be assigned to the committees that are the best fit. And if one is not on the appropriate committee, your ideas don’t get on the Agenda. The upshot of all this is that, if you aren’t on the Mayor’s good side, you may well never get your proposal to any kind of public discussion.
As with our current Congress, the Weak Mayor system has developed an elaborate set of rules which were not part of the original notion of that form of governance. And these rules afford a tremendous amount of parliamentary control to the Mayor and his majority. The rules were designed simply to keep meetings ordered, which is great, but they can also be used to concentrate power and limit the full range of expression of Councilmembers. Ultimately, I would like to see the rules return to their original format: a weaker Weak Mayor system–meaning a Council of seven equals where each member has the chance to get a full public hearing on ideas they think important.
Say it three times
For the third time ( 😀 ) , Mayor Pina will have my full support in his office. I bring all this up because none of it was mentioned by our City Attorney in describing the Office of Mayor. And I think the public deserves to understand that there is a lot more to the office than was described.
This is an ACTION-PACKED WEEK! 😀 Sprinkled throughout the week are short “Hi There!” meetings to various CCs in other airport communities. I kind of have a leg up in that I already know at least a few CCs in all six cities as part of my ‘airporty’ stuff over the years. But it’s important to me to get to know as many people as possible because I want more cooperation between the Cities on a whole range of regional issues.
Monday at 1:00pm I’ll be at a public meeting on the Dept. Of Commerce Study On Sea-Tac Airport at City Of SeaTac City Hall on 188th. If you are concerned about airport issues, I urge you to attend. Frankly, there are real concerns that the study has gone off the rails. This is a chance for the study team to provide some answers. Why you should care? The practical reason for the study is to get money for our communities to fight the noise and pollution. But there is a truism in politics: Without quality data there is no problem. And this study is not based on on new data. So far it has largely been put together with information going back as far as 1997. Think of it this way: If you are a lawmaker from Eastern Washington with no great concern about ‘airports’, it makes it hard for you to vote for money for Des Moines residents if you’re presented with a weak study. We need to fix this now. Even if you are not familiar with the issues, this is a good place to get up to speed.
Tuesday is the first Port Of Seattle Commission Meeting of the year. The new Commissioner Sam Cho will be sworn in. I’ll also be attending the first Water District #54 Commission Meeting of the year. Relations with all the local utilities have been strained in recent years over the utility taxes and I want to work on improving that.
Wednesday will be my first meeting with the entire City Senior Staff. In past years, City Council had much greater access to City employees for the purpose of inquiry. The new policy set down by our City Manager is to require that all inquiry go through his office. I’ve got literally years of questions I’ve been waiting to get answers to so it will be interesting to see how they handle that. One of my big campaign issues was transparency.
Thursday starts with a meeting of the State Airport Siting Committee. Our own Steve Edmiston is one of the sole Citizen Members (which is great). The thing to think about is: How will a second airport help Des Moines? It doesn’t help us if the airport is too far away or only handles a small number of flights. The challenge is, I’ll be blunt here: other cities aren’t stupid. They see how bad the relationship is here at Sea-Tac and they (understandably) are skeptical of a new airport next door with another Port Of Seattle.
Thursday is also the first City Council Meeting of the year and the debut of Anthony Martinelli and moi. (If you can’t be there, it’s on Channel #21) There will be a five minute swearing-in ceremony at the beginning which I hope you will attend. There will also be the election of the next Mayor and Deputy Mayor (whose identities, sadly are already pretty much a fait a compli.) There will also be a presentation by COO Dan Brewer on the Woodmont landslides.
And also, right away we’ll need to address the worst kept secret of 2019: Namely, the resignation of Deputy Mayor Vic Pennington.
I mostly took last week off. However I did have my first meeting with City Manager Michael Matthias and City Clerk Bonnie Wilkins who gave me ‘the tour’ of the City–from an economic development standpoint. As some of you know, Mr. Matthias is not ‘just’ our City Manager, but also our Economic Development Director so it’s important for me to understand what his vision is for growing the business sectors here. I am skeptical about several of the City’s current long-term plans, but the one thing we completely agree on is the concept of ‘steps’ connecting 223rd down to the Marina Floor. My hope is to focus his team’s execution on the ideas we all agree on.
Resignation
The replacement process for a City Councilmember who resigns is pretty simple: The City issues a call for applicants, then a few weeks later, the six remaining CCs will vote to choose a replacement. That new CC will serve out Vic’s regular term which ends in in December of 2021.
I gotta be honest: I am not a fan of appointments. They are inherently un-democratic. In Des Moines in particular, we have had far more than our share of un-elected CCs over the past two decades. In addition to the four or five appointees, if you throw in all the un-opposed campaigns it comes to a very small pool of people who have actually run competitive elections.
That said, this is your chance to apply and I urge you to do so. You can serve. Because, frankly, if you don’t apply, you’ll just get someone that the current Council has already pre-selected. I know that sounds snippy, but we always seem to draw from the same very small pool of people and it leads to a certain elitism and in-breeding which just ain’t healthy for a government of any size. If you don’t like how things have been going? That’s a big part of the reason. There was a lot of talk during the election about ‘diversity’. Well to me that also means a broader range of opinions. I ran specifically to provide a different point of view from the existing Council. And if you think that’s a good idea, you should think about stepping up as well. Because the fact is: running a campaign is work. This is the lowest bar of entry you’ll ever have if you want to serve.
My first meeting on the City Council will be Thursday January 9th at 7PM at City Hall (21630 11th Avenue Des Moines, WA 98198). There will be a brief ‘swearing in’ ceremony at the beginning. So… you know… mark your calendar. 😀 By the way, Des Moines subscribers to Comcast can watch this (or any City Council Meeting) on Channel #21.
This Week
Slow Week. I think the only vaguely ‘City’ stuff I have planned are meetings with Councilmembers. (Is it ‘Council Members or Councilmembers? I’m never sure.)
One of the things that doesn’t thrill me about how our type of ‘Council-Manager’ government works is the fact that the first few meetings are super-action-packed. For example, at the first meeting, one votes for a new Mayor, who then immediately assigns Councilmembers to their Committees. His/her decision. And Committees matter because legislation is usually brought forward from Committees. So if you have a fantastic idea regarding ‘economic development’, but you’re not on the Economic Development Committee? You’ll have a tough time even getting your idea turned into a vote-able piece of paper. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes procedural jazz like this that gets decided in the first few weeks. So my job is to figure out who wants to do what and see what Committees I can get on to get make good on the tons of wonderful things I promised I would do for you.
Last Week
Monday I was sworn in for realz as City Council Member Position #2. I immediately lost fifteen pounds. My hair grew back. And so forth…
I attended the Burien City meeting re. shutting down their Annex for various non-profits. I showed up partly to see if there were any opportunities for Des Moines to provide some assistance, but mainly to see how the City and residents would handle a tense situation. All Cities have their share of crises and frankly Des Moines meetings have often not gone well. So this was a bit of ‘look and learn’ for me. And I have to say that all sides really did a great job. I think the residents were polite (without backing down one inch) and credit to Mayor Matta: he showed empathy and gave clear answers. I am not sure where this goes, but whenever something like that goes well, it makes me feel good about ‘democracy’.
Tuesday was the last Salmon counting with Saltwater State Park and Trout Unlimited. This year was as terrible as it gets. I think the entire team only saw one specimen and… it was the wrong species for this time of year. So I’m doubly freaked out about what we can do about this. Many of you know that we have a hatchery at our Marina that releases tens of thousands of babies every year. But they obviously aren’t thriving.
Tuesday was also the the last meeting of the year for SCatBD (the County transportation board.) There were some good comments on making sure that the airport is near the top of the legislative agenda. There was also a lot of concern about I-976 and what it will do to local budgets. I made the following comment: If it was such a big deal for municipalities why weren’t Cities educating their residents about the importance of I-976? This is something you’ll hear me go on about a lot. If we want voters to engage we have to communicate a lot better what these State and Federal deals mean for us.
Tuesday was also a meeting of the Burien Airport Committee. They have not decided what to do re. StART and there was no update on their FAA lawsuit. I encouraged them to re-join StART–even though I do not think it is functioning properly right now. Frankly, I don’t think they care much what I (or Des Moines) thinks about this right now. But we need very much for the other airport communities to care. No City can take on the Port on their own. More soon.
Friday I met with State Rep. Mike Pellicciotti of the 30th District. I asked him if he could help get a Dept. Of Ecology water quality monitor in place for Redondo and he agreed to try. We also talked about his legislation to expand the noise mitigation boundary out from its current, Federally mandated, limit, out to Federal Way. As sort of ‘the expert’ on Port Package stuff, I tried to explain that it’s not just a question of changing that boundary–or getting a bag of money to provide insulation for more homes. There is a whole process involved in evaluating homes, deciding on what to do for each home, choosing contractors, providing oversight. None of that was done particularly well back when the Port was doing it to scale back in the 1990’s. And none of the Cities providing decent oversight. So we have a real job figuring out how to do this right going forward. This is a frustrating message for lawmakers who really want to help, but the complexity must be addressed now otherwise we’ll just be throwing money at the problem (see ‘Salmon Recovery’ above.)
Sunday I visited Des Moines’ newest tourist destination: the road closures at Woodmont. 😀 I hung out for maybe an hour between both sites and I lost count of the people who pulled up to take selfies. I had no idea civil engineering was such a hobby here. Putting my ‘engineer’ hat on what I see in our future dollar signs. Not just for these repairs; I mean long term. Make no mistake: this is a combo-platter of bad news. Frankly, a whole lot of the area was not engineered according to current best practice (eg. drainage). Plus the fact that a lot of this post-war infra-structure is reaching the end of its useful life (who knew that one has to actually replace sewers, drains, roads every fifty years or so, right?) And then there’s that pesky climate change: we have to expect much more severe rains like this and build tougher. Where will all the money come from? Hey don’t ask me… this is my first week on the job! But it’s definitely something I’m thinking about.
Merry Christmas
There, I said it. Feel free to translate to Hanukkah Tov, Happy Kwanza, Festivus For The Restofus or whatever your thing is. My thing involves playing at one of the Masses at St. Phils. If I can wake up on time. 😀 Maybe I’ll see you there.
But whatever your thing is, I hope it’s happy and safe for you and your family. I’ll probably take next week off to fish, drink, gain a few (more) unnecessary pounds. All in preparation for starting my new job as a public servant of course.
My first meeting on the City Council will be Thursday January 9th at 7PM at City Hall (21630 11th Avenue Des Moines, WA 98198). There will be a brief ‘swearing in’ ceremony at the beginning. So… you know… mark your calendar. 😀 By the way, Des Moines subscribers to Comcast can watch this (or any City Council Meeting) on Channel #21.
This Week
Busy week! Monday afternoon I will be sworn in as your City Council Member. (This is the ‘real’ swearing in; the thing on 9 Jan is ceremonial.) Apparently this is necessary so that I can deal with some emergency–you know, like *someone loses the nuclear football.
Monday at 1-3PM there is a round table at the Burien Community Center to discuss the closure of the Annex. This is a concern for the many Des Moines residents who use services of the organizations that are being kicked out.
There is also a City Council Meeting at Burien City Hall you may want to attend at 7PM to let their City Council know how you feel.
On Tuesday there’s not only more Salmon counting with Saltwater State Park and Trout Unlimited but at 9AM there is also the last meeting of the year for SCatBD at SeaTac City Hall. This is a big deal because the group will be discussing their legislative agenda for 2020. If you are concerned about any transportation issues–and that means anything from Shuttle Buses For Seniors to Light Rail to Sea-Tac Airport, show up and let your voice be heard.
Tuesday also has a meeting of the Burien Airport Committee at the Burien Community Center at 6PM. Again, the discussion will be about 2020. I encourage everyone who is concerned about Sea-Tac Airport to attend their meetings. They have the only properly functioning Airport Committee in the region and its something I am working very hard to try to bring to Des Moines. We should be leading the fight on airport issues.
Friday I’ll be meeting with State Rep. Mike Pellicciotti of the 30th District. Rep. Pellicciotti has been a big advocate for our region on airport issues and I want to discuss how we can extend the number of homes that are receiving noise mitigation as far south as Redondo.
Last Week
Tuesday there was the never-ending Salmon Counting. 😀 There was also the the last Port Of Seattle Meeting of the year and it was packed with people freaked out about the use of facial recognition at Sea-Tac Airport.
A quick word on this: People new to politics need to understand that there is often a double-speak. When the Port voted to approve the first policy in the nation on limiting the use of biometric scanning, what that really means is, “We are totally doing this.” 😀 I know that sounds cynical, but the Port is acting as sort of a ‘trial run’ for the rest of the nation on this stuff. The actual fighting is yet to happen and no one who cares about this issue should feel great about the Port Commission’s new policy. Quite the opposite.
Wednesday was the last StART Meeting of the year–which Des Moines is currently not a part of. Cards on the table, I was not a fan of withdrawing from the StART. Of course, I was never a fan of the StART to begin with. 😀
Thursday I met with Des Moines Aviation Committee member (and Quiet Skies Puget Sound founder) Sheila Brush. The thing I’m trying to get local activists to understand is that we need a different approach–there are waaaayyyyy too many groups going in waaaaaay too many separate directions (like the StART) and it’s diluting our effectiveness at just the moment in time when we should all be pulling in the same direction to fight the SAMP. I have no idea if I was persuasive, but we’ll keep at it! The job is to convince.
A short rant on ‘complaining’
Speaking of which, I get a certain number of complaints about my complaining. Before the election, most people only saw this guy in a Red Wings hat giving angry public comment at City Council Meetings. What they (you) didn’t see was all the stuff leading up to those comments. I wasn’t talking to the public, I was talking to the City Council about issues I had already communicated to them. You (the public) were walking in on the middle of a conversation. I never expected the public to ‘get it’. I expected the City to get it. I wasn’t being rhetorical. I tell people over and over: If I had felt listened to by the City? I would not have run.
(Lesson for incumbents: When someone repeatedly takes the trouble to make public comment on an issue, try really listening. Unless you don’t care about the risk of being replaced, of course. 😀 I’m not being snarky. Just something I’m telling myself going forward when I feel like checking my cell phone or otherwise not paying attention when the public speaks. )
Now, with what I’m writing here, I still get lots of very reasonable complaints about a lack of ‘context’. Eg. if I comment on the SR3 Wildlife siting at the Marina, you can’t see all the reasons for my concerns because you probably haven’t seen all the background–in fact, there is no public presentation available on line explaining what is going on. That’s partly on the City for not making that info available, but it’s also my fault for not providing more context. However, if I put in all the footnotes and background and ‘explainers’ on every topic (like the airport) I’d be here all day! But the point is very well taken and in the future I’ll try to do a LOT better with giving you links to places where you can read more.
Like I keep saying, I’m learning how to do this as I go.
This week I’ve been very remiss in replying to messages due to some sort of virus which has kept me trapped in a spot between “Lord, take me now!” and “Lord, if you get me outta this I promise I’ll be a better person!”… for the past 4-5 days. Apologies.
FYI…
South Seattle College is having a College Campus Tour on December 19th at 2pm. Speaking as a graduate of what used to be referred to as ‘trade-school’, I cannot urge you enough to attend this if you or your kids are thinking about one of their career-based programs. https://www.westsideseattle.com/calendar/south-seattle-college-campus-tour-dec-19
This Week
Tuesday is Salmon Counting (more below) and the last Port Of Seattle Meeting of the year. This meeting will concern a couple of things: First the Port is going ahead with design work on the SAMP, which is what caused Des Moines to withdraw from the StART. So the expansion is really happening. It’s no longer off in the future. The other thing to be discussed is also worrying: the airlines have been experimenting with facial recognition software, ostensibly to improve ‘security’. But this is also a fabulous way for them to improve the speed of getting customers through security (albeit with that pesky issue of eliminating one of the last shreds of personal privacy). My fear is that everyone is so desperate to get through lines faster that they simply won’t care. But we definitely should, not least because the more passengers they can move through security, the more planes they can move over our heads. http://meetings.portseattle.org/index.php?option=com_meetings&view=meeting&Itemid=358&id=1878&active=agenda
Wednesday I’ll be crashing a Des Moines Marina Association meeting. 😀 Also on Wednesday there is a Normandy Park Community Neighbors–that’s Melissa Petrini’s group working on issues of local crime and homelessness which I’ve mentioned before. There’s no speaker this month, but I encourage everyone to attend because it’s an idea I believe in. Building a strong base of people in Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Kent, etc. is what it’s going to take to get some real attention at the County/State level on these issues. In other words, if I can show my City Council that there are fifty people in Des Moines who will show up for these issues, it makes it a lot easier to get legislation passed. You are the key. 7PM. 801 SW 174th St. Normandy Park.
Ongoing, I’m having all sorts of meetings with various current and former business owners trying to educate myself as to what it will take to really make Des Moines a ‘destination’. Most of this discussion is on the down-low for now, but so far I’m encouraged in one sense: I don’t think I over-promised during the campaign. There’s this constant fear one has (or should have) that one’s campaign promises are simply impossible. Regardless of how hard you dig, as a candidate there’s a lot you cannot know. Now that I’ve won a lot more people are willing to speak candidly and that is a great help. More details to follow.
I always list my weekly ‘Salmon Counting’ with Saltwater State Park and Trout Unlimited. It’s not an ‘official city’ kinda deal, but I mention it because of my broader concerns about this place. As I keep saying, I view everything in Des Moines along a 25 year timeline. And the environment is a very practical part of that. How many people will want to engage in ‘eco-tourism’ or come here for a weekend get-away if the water quality continues to deteriorate?
Frankly, the news ain’t great. The counts at McSorley Creek have been exactly one live salmon in seven weeks. There were forty two all last year. Down from hundreds five years ago and thousands twenty years ago.
And that’s just one piece of the puzzle. There’s the shoreline and then the greater Sound of Poverty Bay and Three Tree. Also not having a good time in many spots.
The problem is that a lot of the big issues that Des Moines faces long-term are problems that Cities were just not designed to cope with. We usually leave things like ‘Puget Sound’ (and airports!) to Counties and States and Fed and lots and lots of other agencies. But there are times when those other agencies are simply not getting it done. If not, then what? Do we just say, “Sorry, not my job. Moving on…”?
Not to sound all high-falootin’ but again, looking forward twenty five years, it’s part of my public trust to do whatever it takes to protect this place so that in 2045, Des Moines–including all the waters, will be cleaner and safer than now.
Monday, I’ll be meeting with Bill Linscott of the Des Moines Marina Association. The Marina is near and dear to my heart and I look forward to being a strong advocate for sailors, boaters, fisher…er… people. 😀
Tuesday will be more Salmon Counting, which I’ll talk about next week because it’s one of those long-range things I hope to accomplish.
Thursday there will be a City Council Meeting @ 7pm. The big item will be a Study for a Passenger Ferry. This is a subject that has been discussed for-ehhhhhver and I hope a whole lot of you will tune in on Channel 21 or show up. http://www.desmoinesmail.com/WebPDF/Council/Packet_Archive/2019/120519.pdf As soon as the presentation is available, I’ll post it here.
Saturday I’ll be attending a training conducted by the Association of Washington Cities. Yes, you actually have to study a bit to take on the job of Council Member.
Last Week
I met with Tina Orwall on airporty stuff. She seems optimistic that we can get a first piece of legislation passed this year to help people with Port Package Problems to become eligible for repairs. Here is a follow-up letter I wrote her on strategy–a word we don’t often use around here when talking about our long-term relationship with Sea-Tac Airport. We must start thinking about a twenty five year plan for how we’re going to live together with less noise and pollution.
I also met with Mayor Matt Pina. And I gotta say, after hearing him patiently explain just a fraction of all the stuff I don’t know about I came away profoundly changed. Man, I’ve been wrong about soooo many things! All I can do now is try to learn what is really going on and work hard to help them…
Yeah… that didn’t happen. 😀
We’re gonna work together–very productively, I hope. But the main thing I came away with was that I do not misunderstand the Mayor and City Manager’s plans. And so my job is to attempt to change hearts and minds in the direction of the platform I ran on–the ideas you said you wanted me to address. We’ll agree probably 90% of the time because that’s how City stuff works. But I’m counting on them to work with me on that last 10%.
Thanksgiving Day I got accosted by about six neighbours still sore about the mailbox theft on my street. So I took some time to review the City’s Complaint Reporting. I gotta say, I commend everyone who slogs through the current system. It’s pretty rough even when I’m feeling calm. If I had just finished being robbed, I’d probably want to bash my computer trying to use this thing. I spent a lot of years doing software for customer service and my hope is to help the City improve all of this. You can’t expect residents to provide the data if the user experience is unpleasant.
Finally, I spent part of the holiday weekend on the other side of the Sound doing some fish…er… ‘waterside community research’. 😀 Here is an article from The Stranger about Bremerton and its attractions/challenges for people priced out of Seattle. I’m trying to visit electeds in cities similar to Des Moines to see how they see things. Bremerton especially interests me because they already have the Fast Ferry which will be studied at this week’s CC Meeting.
Burien v. FAA
Last Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled on the Burien Lawsuit with the FAA. This yet another one of those issues I have no idea how to put into twenty five words or less. OK, it involves changing one particular flight path for turbo-prop planes taking off. (See how unimportant that sounds?) So I always feel like a doofus trying to explain a movie you walked into 75 minutes late. I’ll just say for now that it goes to something I spoke at length with the Mayor about: the power of the Port and the FAA.
I used to live in Detroit. And for me, the parallels between ‘The Motor City’ and our relationship with ‘aviation’ in Seattle are striking. There was a sense of omnipotence the automakers had over the entire Detroit area for many decades. The idea that everyone had no choice but to put up with the good, bad and ugly for the ‘greater good’. So certain suburbs (especially a number of waterfront communities) were simply sacrificed. Sound familiar?
What I hope to convince my peers on the Council of (and other Councils throughout the region) is that we can do a lot more to push back against the airport’s negative impacts. It is possible because the attitudes of judges and lawmakers are starting to change–even in the last five years people in power are now a lot more receptive. The Burien lawsuit is just one step forward–it may not even turn out to be a permanent step forward–but it shows me that times are changing. It shows me that we will be able to make significant progress on reducing the noise and pollution. But only if we push a lot harder while the opportunities are there. Sister cities like Burien and SeaTac have done so much more and that is completely backwards. Des Moines should be out in front on airport issues. I can’t wait to do even more once I take my seat on the Council.
I am told that the expression ‘tough noogies’ is pretty old. I first heard it on an old Saturday Night Live skit where Bill Murray tortures Gilda Radner. It was funnier than that sounds, but judge for yourself.
Every frickin’ time I write anything I get at least one person who insists I either: a) didn’t include enough information b) over-simplified or c) just plain exaggerated. To which I reply, in my best Bill Murray voice: *tough noogies.
It is simply impossible to write anything for ‘beginners’ describing municipal government without a) over-simplifying b) constantly repeating the same things or c) unintentionally exaggerating at least once in a while. Not if you’re going to make a piece under 5,000 words.
Because, just between you and me and the wall, most registered voters have a really, Really, REALLY poor understanding how all this junk works. Heck, I’d be the last person to claim I understand how all this junk works. Doing something about that was one of the main reasons I wanted to serve on the Council.
The purpose of most of my writing here is to introduce these topics without assuming that the reader has any background. And to do that, keep things interesting, and above all keep things short, you have to cut corners.
As I get a sense that more people are engaged, I’ll try to add back in all the corners I’ve savagely chopped away at.
For now, all I can do is beg your pardon if you’re one of the few who is clued in enough to know which corners I’m cutting. I always try to emphasise: I’m learning a lot of this just like you are. Mistakes will be made. And crow will be eaten–with a smile. I hope you’ll come to understand and trust that it’s for a good purpose and that it all worked out well in the end.
And if not? Well…. 😀
No seriously… comments and critiques are always welcome.
