Some bits of business…
City Manager Stuff
City Manager’s Report March 22, 2024
On the dark side, some updates on the flooded Senior Center and the war zone that 24th Ave has become– avoid at all costs! Both make me scream as much as you. And apparently the Kraken are tanking–so I guess it’s still a bit early to switch out my beloved Red Wings. Hey, if you have anything else you’d like to scream about? (206) 878-0578.
On the brighter side, there is progress on the new Fieldhouse play equipment. It’s sorta post-modern, but whatever… the slide still looks totally dangerous–in a good way. 🙂
South End Transit
Of interest to me, and I hope you, if you live in the south end is this the South Link Connections Mobility Project which will “…address changing mobility needs and improve travel options for communities in South King County.” Blah, blah, blah. 😀 Basically, we need better east-west connectivity in the south end of town. If you live near 216th, you can take the 635 Shuttle from the Marina to the main Bus lines and the Light Rail. There is nothing equivalent for the rest of Des Moines–Kent Des Moines, 240th or 272nd. And there oughta be–especially with the upcoming Highline Light Rail Station.
There is an intense competition right now between various cities for who will obtain increased service from King County Metro. The meetings I’ve been to are pleasant, but frankly, everyone thinks their city is most worthy.
We need Des Moines residents to make some noise on this, especially that last one–the Mobility Board. If you can volunteer for it, please!
- Take a survey about your transit needs – survey deadline is May 10th.
- Plan to attend one of three upcoming Virtual Community Engagement Sessions on:
- Apply to join the Mobility Board (a paid leadership opportunity) by May 10th and advise Metro on community engagement efforts and the best ways to update our transit network.
Flag Triangle Project
The City is also doing a design survey for an update to the Memorial Triangle Flag. Take The Survey. There’s been some confusion over my support for ‘this’. I really don’t. But if the city puts out a survey like this, I do feel obligated to tell people. But additionally, I really think the City should’ve include these piccies from the February 22, Municipal Facilities Committee. Heck, if you don’t want it? Say that in your survey comments! There’s no rule that says you have to simply choose the options they give you. This is America. Feel free to draw outside the lines, dude! 😀
First of all, I know how much this means to Councilmember Mahoney. I take a similar interest in the Des Moines Memorial Drive Preservation Association for similar reasons. For those who don’t know the entire road was renamed Des Moines Memorial Drive to honour veterans of World War I. So, it should be designed as part of… wait for it… the Des Moines Memorial Drive Preservation Association. They are the non-profit responsible for the trees, the banners, the lovely WWI utility boxes you see along the road (and at the Triangle!) I have no idea why we haven’t worked more closely with them over the years and this is a great opportunity.
That said, I cannot support any design which encourages pedestrian activity. There’s simply too much traffic. I’d prefer that location be designed for special ceremonial uses only.
My other issue is that the funding comes from the $25 million bonds the council voted for last year along with funding for the Marina docks and the Steps and Redondo Fishing Pier. One reason I voted ‘no’ was because I thought we should deal with each item a lá carte. ‘Bundling’ may be OK for insurance TV ads, but not for public money.
So: if you want the Council to re-allocate some of that money? Don’t scream at me (206) 878-0578 😀 Also tell the Municipal Facilities Committee. They’re meeting on Thursday. 🙂
Paid Parking? April Fool! 😀
Apparently the web page I (and a whole bunch of other people) linked to last week is not ready for prime time. New gates are coming back. Soon. But apparently not on the 1st of April. In that case? Continue to enjoy the Marina now for free, Free, FREE!
This Week
Tuesday: Port of Seattle Commission (Agenda) For us, what matters is that the airport is moving forward with Phase III of its Baggage Optimisation program. Remember: Everything that makes your traveling experience nicer translates to more airport operations over your head. For me it means sitting through a six hour planning meeting.
Wednesday 6:00pm: Citizens Advisory Committee. Even if you’re not on the CAC, you can still show up to City Hall or watch live on the City Youtube Channel.
Thursday 4:00pm: Municipal Facilities Committee (Agenda) They will choose a chair (third times the charm! 😀 ) Of note is a report on the Beach Park Founders Auditorium. Apparently asbestos has been found and an engineer has been called in to do a structural eval. If you care about historical preservation? I’d watch.
Thursday 5:00pm: Economic Development Committee (Agenda) There will be a long-awaited discussion on short term rentals, a topic the Council has gotten a lot of letters on recently.
Thursday 6:00pm: City Council Meeting (Agenda)
Highlights:
Draft Ordinance No. 24-011 to make permitting the use or possession of fireworks on one’s real property a civil infraction. This is actually a consent agenda item, which I wish it weren’t. Not because I don’t support it. I already gave my 3slightly irreverent joke about growing another arm in order to vote twice. But it’s a big enough item that it should be discussed at a full meeting.- 2023 Annual Budget Amendments. Why are we still talking about 2023? Welcome to municipal budgeting, my friend. 😀 Did I mention we just had a State audit on 2022? I’ll get yelled at for over-simplifying, but in November we voted to loan our events dept. a 3bag o’ money from our storm water fund. (Did I mention that I voted ‘no’?) After we changed City Managers, the majority reversed course on that. Fine. Unfortunately, we left the accounting in place. This is not merely an ‘adjusting entry’. We need that dough in order to run our events this summer. I’m beating on this to emphasise that I hear your cries re. both biennial budgeting and the tax lid lift. People will say “Tighten your belt!” We already are.
- Biennial Budgeting. I think I’ve gassed on about this enough. All our peer cities do it. I support it.
- Property Tax Levy Lid Lift, First Reading. To my tremendous delight the format is my preferred option. I have no idea why, but it sure makes it easier for me to sell in a full-throated manner. Here goes nothing…
Not to rat anyone out, but… everyone on the 2006 City Council voted two snaps up for a dedicated property tax lid lift. Unfortunately, the 2006 Council worded it to expire in 2011. I honestly don’t know why. I do think it’s worth noting that they did so before the ‘great recession’. We were already in deep doo-doo before 2008. In fact, there was reason for optimism in the short window after that levy passed. Few remember now, but restaurant life on MVD was waaaaay better then. The sales tax figures prove it.
Even more unfortunately, IMHO, the 2012 Council did not bring it back on the ballot. That was the prob, Bob.
So it was the case that some of the loudest people already getting huffy about any notion of ‘tax increases!’ in 2024, were literally crying on the podium during public comment in 201x for the City to obtain more police! That is what makes Cms 1pull their hair out!
Another bit of pre-tax revolt? We just voted for that $25M bond. I have at least some sympathy for this argument. Although, haven’t I already mentioned that I voted ‘no’ on that last year? I believe I did. 😀 But here’s the thing that’ll really get yer sphygmomanometer spinning. We borrowed that $25 mil for capital projects (ie. to build something) not for salaries. In fact, we are prevented from using one-time money for salaries by Ordinance because it’s such crap financial practice! The whole point of the tax levy is to stop using one-time money–which is what got us into trouble in the 2000’s! If you want to spend part of that bond on a park or to buy one of the delapidated properties downtown? I would gro… wait, I already used the grow another hand joke. Sold!
I fully support this tax levy. But I do understand some of the initial negativity because the city should not have presented the idea before it had a benefits statement. 2What kind of salesman shows a potential customer the price tag before showing them the product?
But in this case, it’s a good product and extremely good value for money. 🙂
The Benefits
Here is one potential scenario; this is not a promise. It potentially funds four new officers! Woo hoo! But just as importantly, note the hard facts. It’s trying to plug some major funding gaps. Four police staff could go away if we don’t do something. We don’t have a fund to replace police cars! We need more court staff to process the bad guys. And, our share of SCORE Jail is going up and we need a place to put the bad guys. When I started pushing for this five years ago, it really was about increasing services. Now, unfortunately, this could be as much about not going backwards as it is going forwards.
Beware the budget weasels
Now, since I am a full-disclosure kinda guy, I have to tell you the one legit possible downside to the lid lift. Budget Weasels! There is always a chance that a future Council might use some accounting sleight of hand to transfer some of the money dedicated for ‘public safety’ into other accounts as the years go by. It’s not supposed to happen, but it can happen. As I’ve written many times, desperate people do things they swear they’ll never do. And City Councils are even more likely because it ain’t our money. I’m hoping that by telling you the risk, you’ll believe that I will do my darnedest to not let that happen. Of course, every cheap magician does that trick. 😀
But this is also gets to a disagreement I’ve had with my colleagues on the purpose of the Finance Committee. I believe that the Finance Committee has an obligation to improve our financial reporting, precisely to prevent any of that jiggery-pokery. The more clear and understandable we make our financials, the more likely both Cms and the public will be able to recognise (and raise hell) when something isn’t right. If we can’t promise to do do that, residents have every right to vote ‘no’. I don’t vote ‘yes’ on anything I don’t understand.
Last Week
I met with Harbormaster Scott Wilkins. If anyone needs any more stats as to how ‘communication’ worked over the past four years, this was the first time I’d been inside that office in four years. I walked by there almost every day, of course. And waved. From a distance. Like in a 60’s foreign film. Very bittersweet. 😀
Where was i? I mostly asked how our accounting systems communicate. Basically, we have several special purpose accounting systems: Marina, Police, etc. And they don’t really ‘talk’ to the main accounting ‘brain’ at the moment. Regardless, I would like to get a monthly report of how we’re doing in various categories: guest moorage, fuel, various slips, sheds, etc. and was told that was easy to do. Which is great. 🙂
Tuesday: I attended the signing for bill SB5955 (the Port Package Update bill.)
There is a lot of broader regional interest in the Port Package update program. That’s not so much because of ‘sound insulation’, which relatively few people near the airport are eligible for, but because it really is the first useful legislation on any airport impacts in decades. So the question is, What’s next?
To answer that, just follow Sea-Tac Noise.Info
Considering how difficult they are to get, the plastic BIC pens the Governor hands out are not as glamourous as one might think. I mention that because people who care about airport issues always assume that progress is impossible. That was never true. The real problem? We rarely get electeds at any level passionate enough to become subject matter experts and then pass that passion onto the next generation. That may sound harsh, but for example State Senators are part-timers–just like low-rent city councilmembers! They have day jobs, families, personal interests and often only a single staff member. If you look at the bills that pass, they tend to be relatively easy to explain, have broad appeal, or have one champion with real on the ground with expertise from their career. (Somehow) airport communities need to make sure that they have electeds at every level, carrying the flag from generation to generation. Senator Keiser, by virtue of her tenure and interest developed a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge on airport issues. Regardless of your politics, that will be hard to replace.
Wednesday: State Audit Exit Interview: The City receives a routine audit by the State every year. These are not what the public thinks, but that’s a rant for another day. This year we got what I was told was an unavoidable warning for recently shifting from an accrual to cash-based system. We also got three OPMA dings.
Thursday: Duwamish Community Hub KCIA Roundtable. King County Airport has an ‘airport roundtable’, sort of like our StART. Except that theirs kinda works. 😀 I like to attend on behalf of Sea-Tac Noise.Info once in a while to take notes because we’re both going through big master plan updates.
1Well, some. Sheckler had amazing hair right up to the end. 😀
2The irony is that, if we had the money to hire a communications team, we’d likely do a better job of selling this. Of course, that would mean we didn’t need the money for… Oh, never mind. 😀
3This gag just kills in Bollywood movies. Literally. Meet the great warrior goddess Kali.
Thanks for all the links! I signed up for one of the virtual community meetings on Transit. Will become more critical (to me and others in my age bracket) in coming years for sure.
Great! Convenient transit… especially in the south end, should be one of the city’s main strategic priorities. If you, or someone you know, can volunteer for the Mobility Board it would be a tremendous service. This is not just pacific hwy. Having a second shuttle would also benefit everyone from Huntington Park on MVD to Highline College.
No on any new taxes. Start having conversations with other cities and combine them. Des Moines is not sustainable and hasn’t been for years. Sea Tac has lots of $$. Running these small cities from the top down especially a small town like Des Moines that has no big business to support it isn’t working. We can’t even fill the 4 police officer positions open now and I think 4 are retiring. It’s time to at least open the door for those conversations. What do you think?
My job, as I see it, is to protect the future. We’ve needed to improve services for a long time. You made the motion for the 2006 levy, which was the right thing to do. Thank you. There are more people and more calls for service -today-, including (and especially) the south end of town. IMHO, the mistake was not making that levy permanent at the time. Re. ‘combining cities’, the most plausible scenario I can recall was an attempt at a ballot initiative in 1990 to create a -county- with the six cities. If there are Cms in other cities who have other thoughts, I am always open to hearing their ideas. I honestly have not seen much enthusiasm so far.
I am also angry about the closure for SO LONG of the Senior Center. I know of all the complications of repairs ;however it is not like it used to be when other options were found .We still need a Director and someone dedicated to serving Seniors. Kaylene Moon
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