Weekly Update: 01/03/2022

Time is a flexible thing. You can watch a thousand sci-fi movies and still that whole ‘relativity’ thing makes no sense. But if you got nothing else out of this pandemic, now you know what it might be like in a space ship approaching the speed of light: where one year can feel like an absolute century.

Below are some of the items I worked on. It is not comprehensive and it does not include items that I did not sponsor or play a key role in.

Many succeeded while others failed due to lack of support. All were ideas I deeply believe in and will return to. That’s worth mentioning because many great pieces of legislation take more than one attempt to obtain support, including in Des Moines.

Most of these were in my role as a member of your City Council, while some were things any private citizen could take on. Regardless, all these efforts directly benefit you, the residents of Des Moines, Washington.

Here are some things I worked on in 2021

Normally I am pretty scrupulous about providing links and citations for everything. I ran out of time and will have to circle back. If you see an item and can’t ‘Google’ the appropriate reference, please let me know.

Group stuff…

• I made sure to participate in Reach Out Des Moines (RODM). RODM is described as a ‘youth crime/violence reduction program’ for students in the Pacific Ridge neighbourhood and specifically Pacific Middle School. What that means in practice is that a bunch of people meet monthly to come up with ways to keep kids in school and give them after-school activities. It sounds so simple (and it is). And it sounds so not ‘public safety’. But it has reduced youth crime (especially violent offenses) by almost 70% from 2015 to 2019 and it keeps kids from getting into ‘the system’ which has permanent benefits that cannot be tracked. Best of all it is ridiculously inexpensive. The only downside is that it doesn’t include all of Des Moines–and that’s not a bad thing to consider for 2022.
• I attended the Des Moines Marina Association Meetings. Since the group is open to all residents, I would encourage anyone who cares about the Marina (especially condo owners in the Marina District) to join up. These meetings often were where the City first announced various aspects of the Marina Redevelopment proposals (and frankly, seeing information presented at a private organisation before it reached the City Council did not thrill me.)
• I attended the South King County Housing and Homelessness Partners along with Councilmember Buxton. This is our City’s collaborative effort with Auburn, Burien, Kent, etc. to tackle, well housing and homelessness. 😀
• I attended Destination Des Moines along with Deputy Mayor Mahoney. DDM organises most of the outdoor events that many of you think are organised by the City, including the Fourth Of July Fireworks, Halloween, Christmas Tree Lighting, etc. (you know, all those things COVID keeps ruining. 😀 )
• I was a member of our Transportation Committee.
• I was a member of our Environment Committee, which primarily oversees our Stormwater Utility.

Single event stuff…

1. Early in the year, Mayor Pina agreed to my proposal to add a New Business item to each meeting Agenda. However, he did so by simply announcing “this is what we’re doing” from the dais and that’s that. I proposed instead creating a new item for our Rules Of Procedure. My concerns were that it was not proper to give the Mayor the ability to change the Order Of Business unilaterally. I also felt strongly that if we did not make it a rule he could also take it away at will.  My proposal was voted down by all my colleagues. And of course, he did drop New Business at several meetings–again, simply by saying so. And I never want to miss an opportunity to repeat: that is not an authority given to the Mayor in Council-Manager government. But if you have the majority and no one is willing to object? You have the authority.
2. In February, I attended the University Of California Davis Noise Conference. This is the ‘premiere’ event in the group of people who study the effects of aviation impacts on communities. In addition to getting ‘intel’ from the FAA and various updates on research, the value of these events is that you learn what other airport communities and airport staff are doing across America. So when I propose something like the Port Package Update bill and air quality monitoring programs, I already know what is being worked on across America. I am the only Councilmember from Des Moines to attend.
3. Throughout the spring, I attended a series of conferences around the management of Marinas, including the Pacific Coast Conference Of Harbormasters. I was told I am the first Councilmember from Des Moines to attend any of these. Again, the Marina is a $4,000,000 business for us. I’ve enjoyed sailing around the Salish Sea all these years, comparing the various marinas from a boater’s point of view. But it’s a whole different thing when you start to learn how the management side works.
4. I proposed a directive to record Council Committee Meetings which passed. The goal now is to make that permanent when we go back to In-Person Meetings. At our ARPA Stimulus Meeting, I proposed funding to make that happen, but that did not even get a vote. Frankly, the sense seemed to be that, even though these are consider Public Meetings, some of my colleagues and staff kinda preferred the fact that almost nobody ever attended them. We need to fix that.
5. In June I proposed, and the City Council passed, a proclamation declaring the entire month to be LGBTQ Pride Month.
6. Throughout the year I worked with Rep. Orwall and the University of Washington DEOHS air quality monitoring in a couple of ways, both in contributing to the Budget Proviso language and then as a member of her UFP Advisory Group which last met in September.
7. In August, the Port of Seattle Commission approved a plan to expand the Port Package program to apartment buildings–most of which are in Des Moines. I’m mentioning this for a couple of reasons.
   • First of all because, well, because it was one of my original nags about Port Packages that began years before I was elected. Think about the area around 25th and Kent Des Moines Road. It’s right under the flight path. Almost all the single family homes received Port Packages twenty years ago. Not to put too fine a point on it, but these are predominantly white residents. While at the same time, apartment dwellers, who are predominantly people of colour, got zilch. That disparity may have been unintentional, but the implications are obvious. The Port was willing to consider this as an issue of equity. Everyone under the flight path deserves sound insulation.
   • Second, the Port used its own money to move ahead. It slow-walked sound insulation systems for years by saying that it would only do homes after it obtained FAA grant money. There was nothing in the regs that said that explicitly. So in addition to this project moving ahead, it set a precedent for future sound insulation projects like the Port Package Update program.

Anyhoo, a huge shout out to Commissioner Stephanie Bowman. This is what real equity looks like and she pushed for it even though it was the least sexy big ticket item imaginable. I mean, no big ‘Maritime High School!’ photo ops on this one. It was simply the right thing to do.   (Yeah, I know I went way into the rough on this one but this is $80 million dollars and those are the details that make things happen.)

8. I supported using a portion of our ARPA Stimulus spending to support Anew apprenticeship programs in the construction trades. My hope is to help them expand the program to create more Des Moines contractors–something that is very much on the Port’s radar–and also to get more kids into all forms of skilled trades. (Said it before, say it again, I went to trade school and then to college.)
9. At that same event I proposed a Utility Voucher Program, which was increased by Councilmember Martinelli, and passed.
10. I sponsored a grant to help Friends Of Saltwater State Park develop a new web site. There was also money set aside for two programs run by Trout Unlimited which will aid in salmon recovery–including an expansion of the very popular Coho Pen at the Marina. (If you wonder why I go on all the time about Saltwater State Park, it has to do with a whole other universe of environmental actions that need to happen in the waters in front of Des Moines. For example, there are literally thousands of old tires in Puget Sound at SWSP, Redondo and our Marina, placed there intentionally in the ’70’s. Oy.)
11. And finally on the ARPA Stimulus bandwagon, I developed a plan to hire an Environmental Strategist… which went absolutely nowhere. But it is probably the best idea I’ll ever have. Because the one thing I’ve come to realise is that we need someone with the environmental chops to develop a comprehensive plan to increase tree cover, restore sealife, coordinate with sewer districts and storm water, obtain proper mitigations with the airport–and then do the lobbying to make it all happen. The environment here is the long game.
12. At our last Budget Meeting of the year, I proposed several small amendments, one of which was to fix the City web site as well as provide a phone app to enable residents to report public safety concerns, file Fix-it requests and receive emergency alerts from any mobile device with a single click. The Mayor did not allow that to even come to the table, but given the recent increase in both crime and emergency requests, I am even more certain now that it was a good idea and I will be bringing it back.
13. In November I received my Certificate Of Municipal Leadership (CML) from the Association of Washington Cities. The AWC has a number of education programs like this (including one our Deputy City Clerk just received.) The CML is not anything super-difficult. It’s simply a way to stay on track with topics you should be studying as a matter of course. In some cities the majority of Councilmembers obtain a CML as a matter of course.
14. And in December, Rep. Orwall and Sen. Keiser reconvened many of the people who helped pass legislation to enable Port Package Updates. The Port was inching its way to properly funding the program, but COVID dropped a bomb on that. I don’t wanna jinx it, but I’m optimistic about 2022. 🙂 So if you are having problems with your Port Package, please contact SeatacNoise.Info and get on their list of.

Constituent stuff…

1. There were over 75 constituent requests I helped residents navigate. I did a double take when I looked at my calendar. No wonder I’m tired! 😀 And a word about that: a Councilmember cannot ‘intervene’ on anyone’s behalf. My ‘Dad Joke’ used to be, “I can’t fix your parking tickets.” I stopped saying that because instead of falling down laughing, many people seemed genuinely disappointed. And that indicated to me that we had some educatin’ to do.

But just because I can’t fix parking tickets does not mean you shouldn’t contact a Councilmember if you have an issue.

• First of all, we probably know how to navigate the system better than most people. You may not know who to call or what procedure to follow. We probably do–or know who does.
• And second of all, though we cannot ‘intervene’ we are tasked with oversight. If you’re having difficulties, the Council is unaware until you tell us. The Administration does not give us routine reports about services it provides or complaints they receive. But by cc’ing me on an issue, that allows me to monitor how we’re doing.

Anyhoo, among the various issues I helped residents resolve were:

• Business development
• Permitting
• Public safety
• Signage
• Tenant/Landlord Issues
• Trees
• Traffic calming

2. And last but not least, there’s this. And by this I mean this ‘blog’. Love it, hate it, it’s an objective fact that this blog was the single biggest draw to public participation at City Council and Committee meetings in 2021. Really.Public engagement is nowhere near where it needs to be, but more people are engaging with the City now. People think I’m exaggerating, but before I was elected, months and months would go by where I was the only person at a City Council Meeting who wasn’t paid to be there.Also, I want to mention that the whole idea of doing the blog is 100% Kosher for Passover. There has been this ongoing trolling of various sorts such as:
   • Doing a blog without my colleagues’ permission is ‘illegal’
   • Showing any public disagreement after a vote is ‘illegal’

   Neither of those are true. But over and over, colleagues and trolls would throw out this rubbish simply because they dislike it the way a lot of people say “Honey, let’s not fight in front of the kids!” But dislike is not illegal, immoral or even fattening. And saying so is two lumps of coal for you, from Santy. Because when people throw out that sort of crap, it’s basically daring me to publicly shame them, which I have absolutely no desire to do.

   And in conclusion…

   If I could accomplish only one thing (OK two things) during my time in office it would not be any ‘legislation’ it would be to convince people of this:

   • Good government works better. It saves money, serves more people. Swear to God. I know many of you (most of you) believe that “it’s not what ya know it’s who ya know”, but that is as wrong as when you try to steer your car against the skid. I know how ‘right’ that feels with every muscle in your being. It also yields poor results.
   • It takes a ridiculously small number of residents to change City policy on anything. But you have to show up and you have to do things a certain way. It annoys my colleagues and every municipal employee in the history of municipal employees to read that, but not because it’s untrue. Rather because no one (including moi) likes to be nagged. No one respects our staff more than I.

But our City is one big customer service center that you pay for. We’re here to serve you. You don’t have to feel sorry for us. Your job as a resident is to tell us when you need service and advocate productively for the things you want. As me Gran used to say, “I’m not a mind reader, JC.” 😀 And I’m always puzzled by people who feel guilty for reporting a legit issue.

Those of you who showed up this year now know what I’m telling you works, and in this age of cynicism and COVID, you have no idea how much I appreciate your willingness to steer with the skid.

Keep up the great work in 2022. 🙂