*Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Update: 03/12/2022: At the Thursday March 10, 2022 I said I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of competitive elections in Des Moines over the past ten years. I was wrong. Make that twenty. And three of those winners resigned. Some
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My preferred Council Appointment process
Digging back into the cobwebs of history, I have researched several other appointment processes (we’ve had five in the past 25 years.) And there seems to have been a system for having eight (8) applicants which worked well. I’ve decided that this is my preferred process, not just because it seems fair, but because it
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Dear Applicant: There may be a quiz
Leave a comment on Dear Applicant: There may be a quizDear Applicant, Thank you for stepping up to serve the City Of Des Moines. Since you have applied for the open City Council position, you will be interviewed at the Thursday February 6 Study Session. According to the Agenda, I will have an opportunity to ask you one question. I can’t tell you what question
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Upcoming Study Session: Councilmember Appointment
2 Comments on Upcoming Study Session: Councilmember AppointmentHi, Normally I try not to bug you more than once a week, but the upcoming City Council Meeting (Thursday February 6 @ 7PM) is so important I want to strongly encourage you to attend. Agenda is here. At that Meeting (referred to as a Study Session), the Council will take up a single issue:
... continue reading.Over-compensating?
3 Comments on Over-compensating?I’ve gotten at least two dozen phone calls and messages from residents since last Thursday’s City Council Meeting where our City Manager, Michael Matthias had his annual Performance Review. January 23, 2020 City Council Minutes January 23, 2020 City Council Packet. I said much of what I have to say on this from the dais.
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Tough Noogies
1 Comment on Tough NoogiesI am told that the expression ‘tough noogies’ is pretty old. I first heard it on an old Saturday Night Live skit where Bill Murray tortures Gilda Radner. It was funnier than that sounds, but judge for yourself. Every frickin’ time I write anything I get at least one person who insists I either: a)
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Resolution 19-113
I kinda wish I didn’t have to write this, but we’re getting off to a bad start council-relationship-wise. I have tried to be as friendly as possible during this transition but this Resolution is pointed directly at Mr. Martinelli and myself and it’s exactly the kind of good-ol’-boy nonsense I ran against so I feel
... continue reading.Whether Information Learned In An Executive Session Is Confidential
AGO 2017 No. 5 – Aug 3 2017 Attorney General Bob Ferguson OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT—PUBLIC MEETINGS—CONFIDENTIALITY—ETHICS—MUNICIPALITIES—CRIMES—Whether Information Learned In An Executive Session Is Confidential 1. Information learned in a properly-convened executive session of a governing body of a public agency is generally confidential. 2. The disclosure by a municipal officer of information learned in
... continue reading.Letter to the Waterland Blog by Mayor Dave Kaplan on 2016 Budget
State voters, Legislature have taken away much of Des Moines’ income by Mayor Dave Kaplan For the past several months, the City Council has been working to address our long-term financial issues through the 2016 budget process. In conjunction with our economic development efforts, which is the key to making the City financially sustainable in the
... continue reading.Competitive City Council Races (Part II)
1 Comment on Competitive City Council Races (Part II)As I wrote in Part I, we’ve had forty two City Council races or vacancies in the past twenty years, only seventeen competitive races and only thirty eight (38) candidates that may be called ‘competive’. And since many of them obtained office running unopposed or via appointment, the number of candidates who have been tested
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