JC Harris For Des Moines, Washington
City Council, Position #2
At last Thursday’s regular City Council Meeting you saw me, for the first time, get truly fed up. In the past, I’ve tried only to react only to the most severe attacks. But the events of last week caused me to do something I never expected to do. I pulled the Voucher Report from the
... continue reading.Unfortunately, this is yet another one of those situations where the public tends to think, “I don’t care who’s right or wrong. I just want you to stop arguing!” But it matters. There has been a slow, drip, drip break down in the proper functioning of our government, by every Council, over the past 20
... continue reading.Today I was very happy to see the City of Des Moines flying not only our nation’s flag, but also those celebrating Pride Month and Juneteenth. A dear friend of mine is going under the knife today. (People my age don’t have surgery. We go under the knife.) Another expression people of my age have
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I struggled to not publish this. I ran for office in 2019 to improve transparency and reduce the rubber stamping. But after almost two and a half years, I gotta say, things may actually be getting worse. But this has become truly alarming. Perhaps my colleagues are simply unaware of how business is supposed to be conducted.
... continue reading.The City of Des Moines has a Spirit Of Des Moines Award for people who have made big contributions to our community. (It’s described in Appendix A of our Rules of Procedure.) There’s a “person of the year” version and a “lifetime achievement” version. It’s supposed to be given out every year? Or two years?
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At Thursday’s meeting, I introduced an item of New Business. Basically an ‘undo key’ on Ordinance 1539 from 2012. Or to put it another way, to re-instate Ordinance 1407 from 2007. To be less confusing: We used to have a section in our building code (Ordinance 1407 from 2007) which required sound insulation in all
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Following the shooting of a dog by DMPD that had gotten out of its yard, the City Council created an Ad Hoc Committee to do a lessons learned and establish policies going forward. The story of ‘Rosie the Newfoundland’ got national press coverage and led to a legal settlement with the owners. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/des-moines-to-pay-51000-over-fatal-shooting-of-dog/
