It’s just a hat. 🙂 OK, it’s not just a hat. It’s the official hat of the 2001 Detroit Red Wings. 1The finest hockey team ever to lace up skates. This is a screen cap from the video of one of my over fifty public comments at 2Des Moines City Council–and that was before I
... continue reading.Policy
Veterans Day 2020
I always wondered why my father never spoke of his time in the Army. He spent four years in the Service during World War II and in addition to not talking about it he apparently kept no memorabilia of any kind. The whole thing was a complete mystery to me. The short version is that
... continue reading.State Of The City Presentation To DMMA (November 11, 2020)
Format Video1 Comment on State Of The City Presentation To DMMA (November 11, 2020)Back in November, Mayor Pina and Deputy Mayor Mahoney gave a presentation to the Des Moines Marina Association and it’s worth thinking about. I get comments sometimes complaining that all I do is bitch about picayune stuff like parliamentary procedure saying basically “Let’s talk about something real, Dude!” Well, this is as real as it
... continue reading.How I got so interested in Code Enforcement
1 Comment on How I got so interested in Code EnforcementIn 2010 I moved away for a year and rented out my house here. Now back then, in order to rent out yer house, the City required aspiring landlords to do a few things: you paid an $80 fee and you became part of a database with your current address and phone number so that
... continue reading.Better City Council Meetings #3: Informality
This is the third in a series of changes to our City Council Meetings I’d like to see. This particular change has to do with ‘relationships’ so it may well sound crankier than usual. It’s not meant to. Honest. 😀 But there is a thing that tends to happen with group meetings that is kinda
... continue reading.Puget Sound, Lead and Sea-Tac Airport
1 Comment on Puget Sound, Lead and Sea-Tac AirportI can guarantee you, in twenty years, people will look back at us and go, “How the hell did you live with all that noise and pollution? Didn’t you realize what it was doing to your kids?” At last Saturday’s beach Clean-Up event I had a fairly typical conversation about Puget Sound with the owner
... continue reading.City of Kent to add large, outdoor warehousing activities to B&O tax
Extension will increase revenue by about $2.1M per year by Steve Hunter Wednesday, September 16, 2020 5:28pm Business The city of Kent expects to receive an additional $2.1 million per year from its business and occupation (B&O) tax when it extends the square footage component of the tax to include outdoor warehousing activities. “The purpose is
... continue reading.OPMA violations for dummies
Leave a comment on OPMA violations for dummiesBetter City Council Meetings #2: Questions
2 Comments on Better City Council Meetings #2: QuestionsThis is the second in a series of changes to our City Council Meetings I’d like to see. This particular change has to do with questions from Councilmembers about both how the government works and the legislation to be decided on at each meeting. This series began as a result of the especially problematic at
... continue reading.Better City Council Meetings #1: Eliminate the presentations!
2 Comments on Better City Council Meetings #1: Eliminate the presentations!This is the first in a series of changes to our City Council Meetings I’d like to see. This particular change has to do with managing the length of meetings, which was especially problematic at the August 6th ‘Budget Retreat’ (Video). And before we dive in, I don’t want to be a tease, but I
... continue reading.