These are the two statements I made during the 2 Feb City Council Meeting on 'censure'. I wrote them like this to conform to our current 'four minutes at a time' format.
The first makes clear that there is no merit to the accusation and discusses the complete overreaction by the Council and government as a tool of bullying and intimidation.
The second discusses how tricky it is to push back against such an allegation and how this form of attack is just one instance of a pattern of deceptive government that must be changed....
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Pg 40. The Whereases of my Censure Resolution. It's quite a thing to see totally untrue statements in an official resolution....
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This is the State bill which funded the $309,000 grant from the Department of Commerce to study an Urban Creek (bioswale) along 223rd Street as part of the Skylab Marina Redevelopment drawings. (Search for “Des Moines”) This is how ‘the sausage’ is made. Cities request monies for various pet projects in the form of grants
I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that there is a lot of interest in the whole 'bioswale' and 'urban creek' discussion from the September 27, 2022 Marina Town Hall. Because nothing gets me excited quite like having a few drinks and talking about drainage. :) The problem is that every scientist you speak to tends to respond "Hell yeah!" They may even talk in terms of 'Environmental Justice' and 'under-served communities' which might create the impression that any concerns about 'costs' are reactionary and anti-environment. Au contraire......
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Some pre-meeting information and two suggestions for residents interested in the January 26th Study Session on Marina Redevelopment...
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One of my attempts from the January 12, 2023 CIty Council Meeting to get the Council to adopt a more transparent process and get more people engaged in the public process wrt the Marina. We could simply adopt my Marina Town Hall Proposal from 2021 and get 90% of the way there....
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The Council used to do these Saturday morning planning retreats off-site, which means that there is only audio or no recording at all. This is Part 2 of a very significant planning meeting concerning the Marina. In the words of then Harbormaster Joe Dusenberry, “What do we want the Marina to be?”
The topics are all mainly about the Marina, but about the 1:05:00 mark, when the Mayor is wrapping it up, City Manager Piaskecki raises a final discussion about ‘Communications’, including: improving the City’s web sites, ongoing complaints regarding Comcast, the need to improve Internet options, and for the City to improve public outreach....
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A list of key events in the history of the Des Moines Marina beginning with 2007 Master Plan, which laid out the broad outlines of the current waterside and landside options. Water side topics include removing the Sling launch, passenger ferry service, dock and seawall financing. Land side topics include segmenting the floor into separate funds, public vs. commercial uses, connection with 223rd, paid parking, boat storage, retail and restaurants....
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