By Neetish Basnet – Data reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal Jun 4, 2023 Updated Jun 5, 2023, 2:54pm PDT More than 80% of Seattle metro area homeowners and renters support building denser housing in their neighborhoods, according to new Zillow research. However, their support is conditional. 2023 SUBSCRIBER STUDY Improve Your Experience By Taking A Short Survey Share your feedback

Fentanyl has devastated King County’s homeless population, and the toll is getting worse

May 21, 2023May 24, 2023

External Articles, Public Safety

Addiction, Drug Possession, Drugs, Seattle Times

1 of 11 | A candlelight vigil in December by Women in Black honors homeless people who died in 2022. Deaths by overdose have skyrocketed. (Daniel Kim / The Seattle Times) By Anna Patrick Seattle Times staff reporter Before the pandemic, most fentanyl-related overdoses reported in the Seattle area involved people with homes. They started

Seattle’s proposed tree ordinance is the legislative equivalent of a chain saw

May 19, 2023May 24, 2023

Environment, External Articles

Seattle Times, trees

Follow up to this: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/enforce-seattles-tree-ordinance

Regular Meeting – 04 May 2023 – Agenda – Pdf-w full comments

Airport, History

An excerpt from STNI: The Chicken or the Egg

JC Harris

2 Comments

As many of you know, my day job is working with SeaTacNoise.Info. We have an upcoming documentary on the community history of Sea-Tac Airport. I'll be publishing a series of 'excerpts' and here is Part I: The Chicken or the Egg--1949-1990, which basically answers the questions: Who was here first? And: How did we let an airport so close to so many people get so big?...

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Transparency

Court Lobby December 8, 2022

April 18, 2023April 30, 2023

Marina Combo Platter…

April 10, 2023April 10, 2023 JC Harris

2 Comments

Here is a page from the current Capital Improvements Plan (CIP), for the ‘Marina Steps’. The CIP is the ‘bible’ for a City. It’s what the City uses to budget projects throughout Des Moines. Transportation, Parks, Marina, Storm drains, you name it. This is one of those things we are legally required to review and

Economic Development, Marina, Transparency

City Currents Spring 2023 – Less politics, more cooperation, please

April 2, 2023April 6, 2023 JC Harris

Ad Hoc Rules of Procedure Meeting #3 Post-game

March 23, 2023March 26, 2023 JC Harris

Seattle utilities consider massive efforts that could help green our grid

March 22, 2023April 22, 2023

Environment

Climate, Pacific Northwest Magazine, Seattle Times

March 22, 2023 at 7:00 am The $2 billion Goldendale Energy Storage Project proposes to generate 1,200 megawatts of power with pumped-storage hydropower, using upper and lower reservoirs above the John Day Dam. Leaders of the Yakama Nation say the proposed location is sacred, holding archaeological, ceremonial and First Food gathering sites… (Washington State /

Ongoing Stuff

Get vaccinated! Yeah I know you’d like to forget about it, but there are new variants and the infection rate is climbing. Fortunately, there is an effective booster, which is recommended for people 65 and older and those who are immuno-compromised. It is available now, effective, free and you can get your appointment today here and here , including walk-Ins at SAFEWAY, Walgreen’s, Rite-Aid, SeaMar and Healthpoint.

Sign up for the King County Code Red Alert program. When you sign up for Code Red you’ll be notified immediately when there is a possible health threat. After the recent ‘Boil Water Notice’ I received just a few grouses that ‘it did not work’. I’m 99% certain that the problem is that you have to actually sign up for an account. Do It! There is this ‘guest’ option which is stupid and should not even be an option. Everyone who had an account in their system was notified. If you’re like me and signed up ten years ago (after the last notification), go to the site immediately and verify your account. Ten years is a long time for any computer system.
Check out the 223rd Green Street Project web site and take the 223rd Green Street Survey before December 11th!
Check out the Des Moines Marina Steps web site and take the Marina Steps Survey.
If you’re interested in any of our Kids or Senior activities, you can sign up here.
Learn more about our Comprehensive Plan and take the Housing Action Plan Survey.
Take the City Communication and Engagement Survey
Give blood! Schedule an appointment today. There is a CODE RED emergency shortage.
Masonic Home! There is a petition for those who are interested in historic preservation of the property. If you have questions, don’t contact me. Contact Barbara McMichael and Lloyd Lytle Jr
Community Service Officer Tonya Seaberry wants to hear from neighborhood groups interested in establishing block watch programs: Tseaberry@desmoineswa.gov or 206-878-3301.
City Of Des Moines Minor Home Repair Program: Low to moderate income households can get grants to do all sorts of necessary repairs. Email Tina Hickey (206) 870-6535.
Every home should have a Carbon Monoxide Detector–especially during the colder months! Full stop. If you need one but money is tight, South King County Fire And Rescue will get you one. Just call their Community Affairs Office at 253-946-7347.
And last, but not least: If your home has Port Package (sound insulation system) that is having issues, please go to SeatacNoise.Info

How to attend meetings and provide Public Comment

City Council Meetings are scheduled for Thursdays at 6:00PM at City Hall 21630 11th Avenue S., Suite #C Des Moines WA 98198. They can also be viewed live on Comcast Channel 21/321 or on the City’s YouTube channel. Committee Meetings are either at 4:00PM or 5:00PM, also on Thursdays.

You do not have to sign in to attend a meeting!
The sign-in sheet is only for people wishing to make a Public Comment.

There are three ways to provide Public Comment:

In person: Show up a few minutes before the meeting and sign the sheet. Public Comment is usually conducted at the beginning of the meeting.
By e-mail: All e-mails sent to citycouncil@desmoineswa.gov are considered public comment. They are instantly available to all members of the City Council and the City Clerk who includes them into the record of public comments at the next meeting.
By US Mail: Attn: City Clerk Office, 21630 11th Avenue S., Des Moines WA 98198 no later than 4:00 p.m. day of the meeting. Please provide us with your first and last name and the city in which you live.

All letters or e-mails requesting a specific action are referred by the City Clerk to the appropriate City department.

If you would like a follow up from me, personally please indicate that or call me (206) 878-0578.

The Clerk does not read e-mails to the Council in full; only the subject line. However, we do see them as soon as you send them. Your comments are added to the Agenda Packet available on the City web site following each meeting.

How to view public comments, correspondence and meeting materials

The City publishes a meeting agenda on the Friday (six days) before city council meetings. On the day after the meeting (Friday) the City updates that same file with all the slide presentations, the correspondence, and a list of the people who signed up to give public comment at the meeting. Currently, there is no button on the web site that says Show me the meeting comments for xx/xx/xxxx. You just have to know that this is the procedure. Below is a recipe to get you there.

Go to www.desmoineswa.gov
Once there, hover over Your Government and then click Council Meeting Center. (Or, you can skip Step #1 and just click on Council Meeting Center.)
Select the meeting date you’re interested in from the Schedule Of Meetings calendar.
Click on Regular Meeting for the meeting date you want. In this case, December 1, 2022.
Click the Agenda Packet link under “Print Verson”.
You can also select a meeting using the list near the top. You can also use the left and right arrows to select older meetings.
Once the agenda packet loads, there are two links we’re interested in:
- Correspondence to view all e-mails received by the City Council since the last meeting.
- Comments From The Public to view a list of the people who spoke in-person at the meeting.

Policy

Seattleites support denser housing, but only up to a point, survey finds

Fentanyl has devastated King County’s homeless population, and the toll is getting worse

Seattle’s proposed tree ordinance is the legislative equivalent of a chain saw

Regular Meeting – 04 May 2023 – Agenda – Pdf-w full comments

An excerpt from STNI: The Chicken or the Egg

Court Lobby December 8, 2022

Marina Combo Platter…

City Currents Spring 2023 – Less politics, more cooperation, please

Ad Hoc Rules of Procedure Meeting #3 Post-game

Seattle utilities consider massive efforts that could help green our grid