Some bits of business…
Future Agendas is the closest thing the City currently has to a calendar of upcoming City Council topics. It’s not dynamic, ie. you have to click it every time you want to see a new version. And it’s not always accurate. But until we develop a genuine calendar, this can be very useful if there is a particular issue you don’t want to miss.
Update: We just deep-sixed our standing committees. But for what it’s worth, each committee’s planning calendar here. 🙂
Call To Action: Port Packages!
The Governor’s proposed budget cuts the $1 million in funding that was secured last for fixing failed port packages, which were meant to insulate homes from airport noise but have deteriorated over time. Please mail key these legislators and let them know how important this funding is for our communities.
Call To Action: Save State Funding for Port Package Updates! – Sea-Tac Noise.Info
City Manager Stuff
City Manager’s Report March 14, 2025
The highlight is that the City is now offering an e-mail sign up for her City Manager Reports. Hopefully, this is only the first step towards a complete suite of better recip… er… on-line services. 😀
This Week
Wednesday: Regional Transit Committee. Essentially, this group advises the County Council on bus services.
As the 800lb regional gorilla, ‘Seattle’ gets a lot of grief. But as with so many things, there are two sides to every story. In terms of regional planning, Des Moines is considered a ‘transit oriented community’ – the idea is to provide workers for the region. But for the past several decades, we’ve shown very little interest, either in building housing or more transit. So, bus service naturally focused on Seattle – where there is more obvious interest and demand.
Everyone, include moi,can argue that we need more routes. But we struggle to provide actual evidence that they would get used. How do you model demand for areas which not only have no service, but also do not show evidence of providing more housing to fuel that demand? As we approach our upcoming Comprehensive Plan, we need to have serious discussions on this. Transit depends on housing.
Every election cycle, candidates for County Council always tell me how great our Marina is – which is not where the need for transit or housing) are. Since this is an election year, my hope is that the new batch will visit the areas where the County can actually help.
Saturday 9:00AM – 3:00PM: Recycling Event (Marina)
Unlike other events, the list is specific so check carefully. Batteries. Electronics. Wood. Mattresses. Appliances. Scrap metal. 4Nuclear waste.
Last Week
Tuesday: Port of Seattle Commission (Agenda) This meeting included a summary of the Port’s various grant programs — including the FAA-funded sound insulation plan for the year. Spoiler alert: once again, nada for us.
Wednesday: Emergency Management Advisory Committee The group had a very interesting after-action report concerning last November’s 1bomb cyclone. What we experienced as mostly some fallen trees and a day of power outages was a true regional emergency up on the north and east side of the County. Several cities activated their Emergency Operations Center. What I found fascinating is that when they opened their warming centers, they laid out tables with rows of power outlets to let people charge their phone. Which they could easily do because proper emergency centers have tons of backup power. This was brilliant! A zero-dollar way to provide a real community benefit. When we have our next genuine emergency, the one thing everyone will need is a way to keep their cell phone charged.
Thursday: Transportation Committee – 13 Mar 2025 – Agenda
Highlight: Review of capital project progress, including the Memorial Flag Triangle and 24th Ave. projects. (Why the Memorial Flag Triangle is a ‘transportation’ project? ‘Vanity Project Politics’ as one of my colleagues put it. See below. This was a much deeper dive on both projects than the full Council got so watch this meeting.
Thursday: Environment Committee – 13 Mar 2025 – Agenda We did a review of our NPDES permit, which included some recent enhancements worth talking about. But first, a grouse and a compliment.
- Last month, Councilmember Mahoney and I were the lone votes against ending regular meetings of our standing committees. I can’t speak for him, but for me both these two meetings demonstrated why it was premature. Each of these allowed for much deeper dives than any ‘committee of the whole’ will do — especially with our stupid ‘meetings must end by 9pm or we’ll all die!’ rule. One only develops fluency on complex issues by visiting with routinely.
- The compliment is for our surface water team. When I first moved here, the engineers I got to know (sorry) seemed to view environmental regulations as ‘a pain in the butt’. That’s a quote, btw. At the time, a common view was that surface water management was literally that – managing the flow of water to maintain the built environment. Anything ‘environment’ was something of an add-on. The current team has never given me that impression – in fact, having consistently demonstrated a desire to go above and beyond in improving environmental processes. Or, they’re much better actors than the civil engineers I used to run into. Either way, I’m sold! 😀
The NPDES process now includes trees and wetland restoration as integral components. I’m over-simplifying here. The City has a Federal permit to manage all the waters in the City. And that permit requires us to demonstrate various ways we’re improving that environment. But now, Now, NOW! We can get credit not only for ‘water’ but also the inter-connected tree canopy and surrounding land as one holistic thing! You have no idea how happy this makes me. I’ve heard over and over from planners that one needs to consider the entire system.
One reason I watch the airport is that (literally) everything environmental is downstream of the plateau on which it sits (prox. 400 ft above us.) For example, the City is just beginning to study and test PFAS chemicals now. As users of tens of thousands of gallons of the stuff in firefighting operations, the Port of Seattle started freaking out about it (and shutting down their water wells) a decade ago.
I have no idea how an airport committee (see below) can work this kind of issue better than our own engineers in tandem with a properly functioning environment committee.
Saturday: 33rd Legislative District Town Hall, Highline College. The crowd was almost entirely supporters of our representatives so there was none of the ‘heat’ you might have expected on issues like ‘homelessness’ which has garnered so much local media attention. Still, worth watching for answers from all three.
One thing I try to get across to residents is that our State electeds often focus on issues of personal interest to them, as much as, if not more than, the interests of Des Moines. That’s not a slam. One works hard to get elected and one should further issues of personal importance. However, we (the City) have to fight for their advocacy just as hard as anyone else because, if an elected is passionate about (x)? That is what they focus on. And frankly? Thank God. As just one example, if our electeds only responded to what their city councils proposed, there would have been none of the airport legislation passed during my tenure. Fact.
The other thing? The 33rd Legislative District should be the poster-child for ‘diversity of opinion’. The district stretches from Kent to Normandy Park and the opinions are often night and day based on neighbourhood. If you disagree with their position on any issue, you may not like it, but rest assured there is just as large (or larger) constituency for that position elsewhere in the 33rd. Most legislative districts in WA are homogenous — not the 33rd.
Council Meeting Recap
Once again, we hit the three hour limit, and once again, due to poor time management. And once again, the presentations the Council saw were not included in the packet. These ‘details’ happen so often it’s no accident. Sorry. Not sorry. But if there is a ‘theme’ it was Councilmember Mahoney’s night. Regular Meeting – 13 Mar 2025 – Updated Agenda
Public Comment
Des Moines Yacht Club announced the upcoming Opening Day. More soon.
Des Moines Memorial Drive Preservation Association (DMMDPA.org) showed up in support of the Memorial Flag Triangle. Check their web site to learn more about their great work in support of World War I Veterans.
There were several Redondo divers who showed up to support the Sixgill Shark thing below.
City Manager
K4C
We voted to join the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C), a County group that helps identify projects to help with climate change (duh, right? 😀 ) Joining was something I first proposed back in 2020 so I had no comment. The annual cost was always 1negligible. The opposition was “we can attend meetings for free.” And I was like “Yes, but we can’t actually get in on any of the programs for free.” 😀 It was code for “we don’t care about that climate-changey jazz.” It’s a good thing, and yes I know I sound like a broken record, but being five years behind schedule gets old. (Conversely, that’s also why I gush so hard when our surface water team gets ahead of the curve on environmental issues. 🙂 )
Sixgill Capital of the world
Councilmember Mahoney has championed making Des Moines the Sixgill Shark Capital of the World. Apparently, these sharks are a highly prized sight for divers in Redondo.
There was the notion of some sort of commemorative sign – akin to ‘Waterland Way’. And some sort of event on July 6. And then something to do with helping some other (perhaps private group?) create some ‘swag’ (t-shirts, mugs, etc.) I found it all pretty vague. And puzzling… because those sharks are off-shore of Redondo – nowhere near Sixth Ave. But he insisted. ‘Sixth Avenue’ it must be – and the rest of the gang went along with it.
March 13 Attachments Sixgill Shark
I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: we don’t compromise. Rather than simply proposing the idea, then having the City bring back a specific proposal, he insisted that it had to move forward tonight. Forget that.
This all sounds harmless, but it was 40 minutes of the Council’s time. And it follows a long string of promotional ideas like Cape Cod In Des Moines, Men In Black, Burning Boats, Premiere Waterfront Destination, FIFA, etc. that also add up to fun for a small number of people but never seem to create that ‘destination’ magic. But perhaps one reason it does not happen is because we constantly indulge in this kind of ad hoc jazz rather than developing a for realz marketing plan.
Passed 6-1.
Consent
I pulled an item asking for an additional $130k contingency (ie. ‘just in case’ money) for the Redondo Restroom. Basically everything to do with the 2023 bond money is going over budget — except the one project I support borrowing money to fund (dock replacement).
I also want to briefly note an item that, unlike that bond stuff, and with my complete agreement, floated under the radar – as consent items should. However, I do have to acknowledge that it could come off as kinda sneaky – being added to the agenda on Tuesday. There is always a fine line between ‘transparency’ and not having people go absolutely mental whenever anyone mentions the word ‘homelessness’. But this is that line for me.…
The Council voted to fund a $75,000 cleanup of a homeless camp behind Parkside School. If you live in the area, you know it’s already been cleared. The money is for environmental remediation. $75,000 seems like a lot, but in fact, is nothing as these things go. The (cough) ‘low’ cost is the signal that it is not some crisis. It just costs a lot of money whenever you have to hire cleanup specialists. As to the former ‘residents’, they are human beings, and in my opinion nobody should consider living in a wetland to be their best option. I will be asking for more detail soon and I’ll report back — but only if there is actually something worth reporting beyond this. We provide people with services. We provide the environmental cleanup. Thanks to the City for doing all that. Moving on. 🙂
Items/Votes
Flag Triangle
Pro tip: Always. Bring. Piccies. 😀 I’m on my third City Manager now and for whatever reason this is still like pulling teeth. But despite the fact that this has been going on for years, I don’t think any of us (including the public) has a clear understanding of how this thing will look.
Like the Sixgill thing, this began as a personal project for Councilmember Mahoney, back when he was mayor. But in this case, it was originally funded with the same bond money as the docks and marina steps. Terrible. We have absolutely no business borrowing money (with interest) for a public park when there are grant funds to be had. (Ironically, Councilmember Achziger seemed to have objections to using park grant funding. 😀 )
The original design was crazy expensive and it should never have been trotted out as a ‘park’ or talked about as a place for people to picnic. Anyhoo, the City did not provide a presentation, so here’s a reminder from the January Municipal Facilities meeting, where the cost was $424k and got no bids.
It’s since been scaled back several times, but it’s still gonna be crazy expensive because every not-a-park project now costs a fortune. And the flag pole needs replacing. But here’s the winning bid of $453k. I guess. 😀
Despite the improvements, I remain skeptical because there are also three proposed parking spaces (not in the piccies, grrrr….) I did not express it well at the meeting, but in my opinion, there should never be parking anywhere near that triangle. I don’t want to encourage parking or congregating anywhere near such a traffic-intensive spot. It should be a place for special events and that’s about it.
But this constant pressure to “get ‘er done” by Memorial Day only adds to the heartburn. After all, the traditional celebration of World War I is not until November. Perhaps because Mr. Mahoney’s seat is up for election this year. Who can say? 😀
I also wanna throw in another grouse about ‘committees’ and ‘compromise’. With a properly functioning committee, and two tablespoons of compromise, this woulda been sewed up a long time ago and before it got to the dais. The absence of piccies, the lack of clarity, the failure to compromise, has turned what shoulda been a simple, elegant monument to veterans into an unnecessary, years long kerfuffle – including this meeting. No one will remember the cost overruns or the animus; they’ll just enjoy the monument. And that’s why we’ll keep doing projects in this verkachte manner over and over. All’s well that ends well!
Airport Committee Structure
Last October, Councilmember Mahoney asked the Council to support resuscitating our airport committee. Despite rumours to the contrary I was not a fan because airport issues – including the Sustainable Airport Master Plan are not something any citizen group can tackle effectively. Not to mention that the Federal portion of the permit is likely to be approved even before the committee meets. Oops.
This was our fourth meeting on the topic and my colleagues have narrowed it down to five residents, or business owners, who may or may not know anything about the airport, or may or may not have interest in the topic, so long as they are not a member of a group, but definitely not a member of our City Council. Oh, and it may be temporary. Or permanent. Although it will definitely include the one remaining StART member. Because everyone else quits.
You can’t make this stuff up.
This is is yet another attempt to appear like we’re doing something useful to respond to the negative impacts of the airport – while actively making things worse for our residents. It is contemptible greenwashing. My colleagues and our staff know about as much about airports as I do about sixgill sharks.
One thing I can tell you: like warehouse taxes, dry stack, and it’s money we left on the table years ago in favour of rubbish ideas that have left us poorer in health and economics than 20 years ago.
If you care about the airport: Sea-Tac Noise.Info
24th Avenue Budget
Having run out the clock, rather than extend the meeting properly, we voted in 12 minutes to spend $1.2M extra to get the 24th Avenue project moving by October. 40 minutes to market a fish. 12 minutes for a $1.2M cost overrun. That money will come from next year’s road budget. Hopefully, we will recoup that money from Puget Sound Energy, who we appear to blame for everything.
This lack of regard makes me even more nervous about dumping standing committees. I encourage you to watch the Transportation Committee meeting above for a (slightly) deeper dive.
But the overriding sentiment seemed to be, “Hey we have to spend it, so why talk? We can ‘finger point’ later.” Rubbish. As with the airport, or flag triangles, if you never look back you will keep making the same mistakes. Over. And over.
And ‘blame it on PSE’ is simply incorrect. The project began in 2020 – when I was on the Transportation Committee. There have been many issues along the way. Here’s just one. Over my strong objection, Councilmember Mahoney rallied support to override our 3own ordinance, which requires us to underground utilities like that. It was a cost saving measure – instead choosing to give over that money to – wait for it – underground the utilities behind the Theatre. (now known as Backstage Alley). Long time readers will remember that the completely bogus rationale was that by so doing it would turn the alley into an entertainment spot, something like Post Alley in Seattle. Does this look it’s going to become Post Alley any time soon? Whenever anyone tries to tell you how un-developer-friendly we are here? Point them to Backstage Alley. We should have simply done what our own ordinance specifies – underground those utilities and provide the benefit our children.I only voted ‘yes’ on this as a measure of faith in our new Director of Public Works. If this were twelve months ago, I woulda voted Hell No.
But this, “It happened before my time” business has already started to get old.
Passed 7-0.
1You know it’s a significant weather event because it has its own Wikipedia page.
2Even a micro-park like Cecil Powell will run close to $1M these days. And that’s without ‘tariffs’ on steel and lumber.
3By ordinance, uilities are supposed to be undergrounded. It basically takes two votes of the City Council to override that. But as with so many ordinances meant to provide some form of consistent ‘discipline’, if you look at our track record, we always seem to find ways around it. In this case? It was exactly what it looks like: valuing a commercial alley more than school children.
4Just wanted to make sure you were still awake. 🙂
Thank you very much JC for all this candid information. You do an excellent job of what’s really happening at those meetings and in our city.