Hello Des Moines, At 1PM today the City Council received a ‘Significant Incident’ email from Chief Of Police Ken Thomas. These messages are typically two sentences describing an event that may attract public notice. We do not get detail because that is not our role. Today’s message informed us only that Councilmember Martinelli had been
... continue reading.Public Safety
Sharing? It’s the latest craze at City Hall
This is one of about a hundred e-mail exchanges I’ve had since being seated that make no sense to me. Five minutes from our Budget Retreat… At our 08/05/21 Budget Retreat, Councilmember Luisa Bangs responds to Chief Thomas’ report on emphasis patrols for Redondo: CouncilmemberAnthony Martinelli also expresses concerns about provided extra attention to Redondo:
... continue reading.Committee Video Recordings
The City is making good on a proposal I made at our June 20th City Council Meeting to publish the video of Committee Meetings. The first batch are now available on the Des Moines Councilmember Youtube Channel. Go get ’em! Thanks to Councilmember Martinelli and Deputy Mayor Mahoney for supporting the idea. And of course,
... continue reading.The Truman Show
1 Comment on The Truman ShowI occasionally hear from critics that I make too many things ‘public’. Why aren’t I trying to communicate with the administration or colleagues? The fact is that I do that. Whether I want to or not. 😀 My life as an elected in a very public and very hostile work environment sometimes remind me of
... continue reading.Constructive Criticism
I got the following message from a resident the morning after our last City Council Meeting : “It looks like you guys were getting along. What happened?” 😀 I can only speak for myself: I self-censored. I avoided several uncomfortable conversations that should be happening. Frankly, some nights? I just don’t feel like fighting. Administration
... continue reading.Yes, but it’s a dry heat…
1 Comment on Yes, but it’s a dry heat…I hope you’ve survived the heat. And if you haven’t? Well, you’re not reading this anyway, so… 😀 Is it just me, or does it feel like these low-rent ’emergencies’ are basically coming somewhat constantly now? I ask because I’ve had this *bee in my bonnet for a long time about the topic of Emergency
... continue reading.The Minority Report (Part 2 of 2: Policy)
This is the second half of our response to the April 15th State Of The City presentation. Part 1 discussed our objections to the way it was carried out. Here we’ll talk about some specific policy differences. For those of you short on time, you can follow along with this presentation packet. As noted last
... continue reading.Letter of resignation from Des Moines Diversity Task Force: Meg Tapucol-Provo
4 Comments on Letter of resignation from Des Moines Diversity Task Force: Meg Tapucol-ProvoSubject: Stepping down from the DMPD Diversity Task Force To: Chief Ken Thomas, Des Moines Police Guild, City Council, etc. To the Members of the Des Moines Police Department Diversity Task Force, I am regretfully writing to inform you that I am stepping down from the Diversity Task Force. In joining this Task Force, my
... continue reading.Des Moines Police Department Historic Officer Staffing Levels
Staffing levels of the DMPD have varied quite a bit since 2000. They began a gradual decline due to various changes to the State taxing system (eg. I-695, liquor tax claw back) but made a come back in 2006 with a voter-approved special purpose property tax lid lift Ordinance 1375. However, the levy expired in
Why I support police reform but voted against pre-paying for body cameras
1 Comment on Why I support police reform but voted against pre-paying for body camerasAs I’ve written and testified, I am a strong advocate of police reform. I was the lone vote against the motion so I figured I should explain a bit. And I want to stipulate that body cameras will likely be in all Cities (including Des Moines) at some point. Point by point Let’s begin by
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