Let’s talk about vouchers for a few minutes. What are vouchers? They are the bills the City has to pay. The City Council votes to approve these payments as part of the Consent Agenda generally once a month. Vouchers are one of the most important parts of running a City. And in Des Moines, they’re
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The Hat
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.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
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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
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OPMA violations for dummies
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Better 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
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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.Tearing down the Van Gasken House makes Des Moines poorer
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Bring Back City Manager Reports
2 Comments on Bring Back City Manager ReportsMy second motion at the 7 May City Council Meeting was to direct the City Manager to provide weekly reports. This actually was the practice for many years (and continues in many other cities our size and larger.) It was cut back to a Monthly Report in 2018 and then dispensed with entirely in February
... continue reading.It’s about the policy, not the person
1 Comment on It’s about the policy, not the personWhen I ran for City Council, I ran for policies, not against a person. I could have run against any of the three incumbents and had similar results. Because the public is ready for change. Last Thursday’s reappointment was also not about the person, it was about policy. The current majority did not want change and
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