Weekly Update: 04/16/2023

This Week

Tuesday: Port of Seattle Commission Meeting (Agenda)

Beyond that? Not much official. But I am meeting with a whole bunch of swell people and if you’d like to be one of them? Let’s do it! (206) 878-0578.

That said, please check the PSAs. Lots going on, including the start of our new Food Truck Pilot Program at the Senior Center Tuesday at noon! (I have been pushing for expansion to food options here since for-ehvehhhhr.)

And, our next City Council Meeting, May 4 will feature the first reading on our proposed changes to Rules of Procedure. Some of those proposed changes are terrible and I urge you to read up now and attend.

Last Week

Thursday: Transportation Committee Meeting (Agenda) (Video)

Thursday: Environment Committee Meeting (Agenda) (Video)

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I would encourage people to watch both meetings and I’m going to mention them as one thing to make a couple of points:

• The staff acknowledges that they are focusing a great deal of attention on the Marina, the Steps and that urban creek ‘bioswale’ business for which we received $309,000 from the State to study last year. Remember: staff time, especially engineering is a fixed resource. When they work on all that stuff, it means they are not getting projects done in the rest of the city.
• Significant elements of the Marina plan (including the Steps) are now being discussed in the Transportation committee, rather than, as in the past, Municipal Facilities.
• I would have expected that the Urban Creek thingee would continue to move through the Environment Committee, but… who knows.

Said it before, say it again: that is why we need a Marina Committee and a Public Planning Commission. Now. By having these issues discussed in so many separate venues, it leads to confusion. It’s high time we have a single, master plan so that public understands and can comment intelligently on the big picture.

April 13 City Council Meeting highlights

Thursday: City Council Meeting (Agenda) (Video)

Praiselujah

The Mayor invited the local non-profit Praiselujah to speak about their work. He moved for the Council to donate $500 from our Hearts and Minds Fund to them. I was the lone ‘no’ vote. But I did vote ‘no’ because in addition to the ‘surprise’, I had never before seen it used in this manner.

Hearts and Minds (which used to be called ‘Hearts and Flowers’) has been around since I’ve lived here. It’s a private account funded by a (cough) ‘voluntary’ $25/month deduction from each CM’s paycheck. As the original name implies, it has been traditionally used as fund so that when someone of note in the City is ill or passes on, we can send them flowers. (I proposed such a thing last year when the Water District #54 Manager was hurt).

This is no reflection on the worthiness of Praiselujah. I am not wild about making Hearts and Minds a funding source for any non-profit. There are literally dozens of very worthy organisations in Des Moines and we have a mechanism for providing just that purpose. It’s called the Human Services Advisory Committee. 🙂

All that said, their mission is very important and I encourage you to watch their presentation and check out Praisealujah.org.

City Manager’s Report

Apparently the Pilot Ferry Project (Spring 2023 version) is steaming its way from San Francisco. The City Manager alerted the Council that he was going to sign the agreement before obtaining Council approval and then show it to us at our May 11 meeting.

Consent Agenda

I pulled Item #6 — We’ll be doing a Drone Show for July 4th; not fireworks. For some reason, it was decided last summer that Destination Des Moines would not be doing a fireworks show for 2023. Apparently some of my colleagues (Deputy Mayor Buxton?) saw/heard about drone shows. I voted ‘no’ because the time to bring this to the Council is not sixty days before the event. The time to bring this to the Council is six months ahead, with a full presentation so we can actually decide.

As to the merits? Drones are more expensive. Also, people love fireworks and they are a tradition, something I think we could sorely use a bit more of.

I asked if there would be, you know music, because the packet says

“Music can be paired with the drones through FM transmitters allowing spectators to watch the display from several locations.”

I was told there would be no speaker system. Frankly, it seems a bit more elitist if there is only audio which requires one to have some  form of personal ‘device’. Maybe I’m wrong. But it sounds (or rather does not sound) like being on an airplane with 200 other people watching the same in-flight movie with earbuds. Is that a shared community experience like being at a sports event or concert?

Every demo I’ve seen on Youtube has music.

And every argument about noise and pollution struck me as completely specious. The event is once a year.

Some of my colleagues actually mentioned safety. A professionally managed show is the only safe way to enjoy fireworks and those events have absolutely no influence on any of the ne’er do well activity throughout the rest of town–which I wish we’d crack down harder on, btw.

Actually, this is the perfect use case for a Citizen’s Advisory Committee. A drone show could be great. But… it’s just different enough from what people are used to that we should get a sense of public opinion before we do it.

Public Hearing DRAFT ORDINANCE NO: 23-021

CONTINUING MORATORIUM FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT IN THE BUSINESS PARK AREA AND ADOPTING FINDINGS OF FACT Staff Presentation by Community Development Director Denise Lathrop.

I voted against this six months ago because no explanation was given as to why. Not much else to say about this because we’re just gonna study this for another six months and no one showed up to object.

But… This is one of those Cassandra deals. I’ve seen this movie before and you haven’t, so any concerns I might have would sound shrill. But when we do these things with no explanation, something is likely coming down the road that you will not enjoy.

New Business

There were three items. The first two concern the Marina and, as with the two committee meetings above, they’re super-inter-related so again, I’m going to mention them as one. But first…

Out of order

There was a moment during the discussion where I interrupted the City Manager. It’s poor form to interrupt during any meeting. I was ruled ‘out of order’ by the Mayor, which was a reasonable call. I’ve done that maybe twice in my four years–and if we’re keeping score that’s actually less than most of my current colleagues. Nonetheless, it’s not cool. But in this case, the City Manager was repeating a variation on a theme that was worth interrupting…

There’s been this story that hundreds of people have been to numerous public meetings over the years and been given oodles of great information about the Marina. And whenever anyone says that from now on I’m gonna say something because that’s at least 3.5 Pinocchios.

• There have been three community meetings concerning Marina Redevelopment in the past six years. 2017, 2019, 2022. I’ve heard the City say that as many as five hundred people attended one of these events. That is physically impossible. There were actually about one hundred at each of these events. And most of them were the same people. And to my recollection, there was only a Q&A period during the one in 2022–a whopping 12 minutes.
• In the broad strokes, the City has known pretty much what it intended all this stuff to look like since 2017. The new park, that lighthouse dealio, the steps, parcel a, splashy pad, everything.
• Except for, the things that make money. The docks. The drystack boat storage. The boat launch. ie. You know, the Marina stuff.
• And yes there have been tons of confusing, officious meetings, like Thursday, where the Council discusses all manner of arcane details.

But at every turn of the road, the City simply refuses to provide simple, clear words and pictures of that master plan and broadcast that to the entirety of the City.

The lack of transparency is just wilful. You keep having dozens and dozens of confusing, opaque decisions, that keep pushing things forward, and then use the fact that you’ve had dozens and dozens of uninformative meetings to scold the public for trying to slow walk ‘progress’.

It is the City that has been slow walking progress.

If I ask you for (x) and you give me (y) and then I ask you for (x) again and you give me (y) and we repeat that dance ten more times? It is you who never fulfilled my request. You just gave me twelve of the same non-answers.

What brought all this to mind was that the City Manager scolded a public commenter for getting some minor details wrong. I urge you to read the letter for what he got right which is actually far more important.

Of course the public will get some details wrong! That’s exactly the problem. I mentioned the day’s committee meetings because there is no way to understand what is going on without watching all of it–which no one is going to do. Given the fact that information is being spread out among all these committees and funds and decision points, how could they not?

For me, this comes down to something very basic. Most people are not fortunate enough to have had a custom built house, but maybe you’ve gotten a new bathroom or a dormer addition. If this were 1973, the architect or contractor might show you some blueprints and a sketch. And unless you wanted to pay a ton of money, you’d take a few things on faith. After all, a bathroom is pretty much a bathroom, right?

But this is 2023 and this is the largest, most complex and most significant public building project in the history of Des Moines.

And I’m not excluding the Marina itself, because in 1970 there were no condos to contend with or pretensions of tying into the business district or 223rd Steps. The Marina was just what it says on the tin: a Marina. In fact, that is why it’s so challenging now. If you were ‘planning’ a waterfront hub for a city, with all the trimmings, you’d have a ton more land, totally different access points in and out, with a straight line into the water, and you might not put the boat service yard smack dab in the middle of the parking lot.

This project (or rather these projects) demand lots and lots of pictures and renderings. And the great news? In 2023, a teenager can now do3D renderings. Instead, we’re making our $800k decision on one drawing that looks like it came from Microsoft Paint.

MARINA DOCK REPLACEMENT AND MARINA REDEVELOPMENT REIMBURSEMENT

Staff Presentation by Finance Director Jeff Friend

The City has indicated that it wants to issue bonds to pay for five projects: docks and steps and a plaza and fishing piers and parking. This vote was not for those bonds. What it was (stick with me here) was permission to pay up front for various costs (like the design) which they intend to ultimately be paid for with those bonds. The City Manager needs permission to spend that money with the understanding that ultimately it will be repaid from those bonds when they are issued.

I would put it like this: You give someone $1,000 cash as a down payment on a car. You get a loan from a bank for the full amount and then repay yourself for the $1,000.

But the catch is that there is a sixty day window. If you don’t issue the bonds within two months, you can’t repay yourself.

So, in effect, we are agreeing on those bonds. Because no way in h-e-double hockey sticks do you agree to spend almost $800k unless the Council will issue those bonds.

This is one of those ‘small steps’ everyone talks about that aren’t really small steps. They commit us to going forward, before we have any idea what we’re paying for.

We could have simply paid for some renderings, taken public questions and then issued the bonds. But noooooooo….

MARINA STEPS PROJECT Design and permitting

Staff Presentation by City Engineer Tommy Owen.

The discussion was heated and I’ve already made it clear that one problem I have is that this picture is simply insufficient. Here is an example of the MSE wall I mentioned during the discussion. It’s called the Third Runway. 🙂 And I wasn’t being a drama queen. The reason you build an MSE is because it’s just about the most immovable design one can think of. That’s the entire point. If we’re committing to the footprint in that piccie, we’re really committing to that footprint. For-ehvehhhrrrr. So again, I want to see renderings. Especially if it involves people’s views and ¹ADA paths and all those pesky things like conduits and drains. 🙂

There was also some ‘blame’ directed at moi for the steps costing so much. Apparently if I hadn’t ‘led the charge’ against the hotel? The hotel developer woulda helped pay for the Steps–and maybe thrown in an elevator to help our disabled friends. So… it’s my fault. Or… yer welcome. You make the call. 😀

And somewhere during the discussion, the City Manager seemed to imply they were also looking at doing a parallel design for boat storage, which would be paid for in cash. Thanks for the heads up.

The project schedule says 30% by August. Great. So let’s just pay the guy to do some drawings, having a town hall, free drinks, snacks, maybe some dip (who doesn’t love dip, right?) then decide.

What I don’t like is how we’re conflating the bonds for the docks and all this other non-Marina stuff. We should definitely crank on the docks. In-water work can only be done within certain ‘fish windows’ (periods during the year which are not injurious to marine life.) I’m fully on board with any in-water work because… wait for it… that is what the Marina is for. Everything else, is optional. And since it is optional, we can afford to take a few weeks here.

In fact, that’s my biggest grouse. There’s this notion that anyone who is unwilling to operate on blind faith is somehow obstructionist. It’s not true. It’s like saying that you’re not really enthusiastic about flying the plane because you insist on doing that pesky ninety minute checklist before take-off.

Citizens Advisory Committee Appointments

We voted to approve applicants for the Citizen’s Advisory Committee. Sincere congratulations to all.

I provided a critique of the selection process last week (which includes the successful applicants for those who are curious) because it continued a long tradition of problems with all our advisory committees. From the dais, I pointed out that one of the appointee’s applications was completely redacted. And Mayor Mahoney said that was because she had a personal axe to grind with me. Well that’s different. But beyond that he also omitted any attached resumes so that most of the applications had no description.

Again, I congratulate the successful applicants. I am sure you will do great things. But this process is offensive, both to the office, and to the rest of the applicants–those who took the time to provide information and assumed they would be evaluated on a level field by the entire City Council. The idea that we would simply vote blindly for the Mayor’s choices is ridiculous.

And I respect the intelligence of all our applicants enough to know that they can understand the distinction I’m making here. I have a complete respect and appreciation of everyone’s willingness to serve, coupled with a complete lack of regard for this particular process.

Summary: The gun to the head.

I left out a bunch of stuff (including the airport legislation) and definitely gassed on here because the three meetings were a true combo-platter. We made some serious decisions on Thursday and because the details are hard to follow, I decided to try to convey the importance more than the a,b,c,d as I usually do. In one sentence: if you have concerns about ‘the Marina’ and now think everything is OK because ‘the hotel’ was ‘cancelled’, or ‘the Steps are on hold’, you are simply incorrect. Nothing is ‘cancelled’ or ‘on hold’. And now is the time to re-group and re-engage. I threw a lot of ‘stuff’ out here in the hope that, over the next few months we can get into some much shorter articles focusing on each detail I just mentioned here.

You’ll hear a recurring theme from me “another gun to the head”, because I have a dark sense of humour. 🙂 But it’s no joke. At the majority of meetings there will be at least one (and often several) items where the Council is told that we must decide something now, due to some deadline. But the deadline is actually imposed by the administration.

That happened six times at our last meeting. Praiselujah, Ferry pre-sign,  Drones, Marina Bonds, Marina Design, Citizens Advisory Committee. I voted ‘no’ on all six because they were all presented very poorly. And that matters because four of those votes should have been ‘yes’.

All that needed to happen was to improve the process, eliminate the surprises and the gun to the head. Give all of us the information we’re entitled to receive, with plenty of time to ask questions, or offer alternatives.

But I’ll keep saying it. If you want better government, you have to get in the habit of actually doing better government. It’s a habit; a muscle that has to be regularly exercised. If you constantly make the metric of success about the presentation, and make it ‘cranky’ to vote in a principled way, then when you actually need that ability? It’s not there for you.

In other words, people get so used to the fancy decorum, that leadership really starts to believe it can just come up with a hotel out of the blue. Why wouldn’t they think that when so many people have demonstrated, time and again, a willingness to die rather than to insist that process matters?

One last, minor detail regarding ‘decorum’. We’re actually in the minority of local governments now that take a vote to adjourn a meeting. It’s a completely unnecessary formality. When the agenda is complete, you’re just done.

What we don’t do, and we’re unique among any local government I know of, are ‘good of the order’ opportunities. In every other government there are always opportunities for discussion in every section of the meeting–including at the very end where the chair asks if anyone has anything they may have forgotten to mention or is of general interest “for the good of the order.” We don’t do that. But we do make a highly democratic show of deciding to leave.

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¹And just so ya know. There was this mention of a 5 degree slope for ADA compliance. The wall from Dock Ave up to Cliff Ave is over 30-ish ft. high? And the distance from Overlook I down to the Harbormaster’s house is like 300-ish feet. OK, 90 degrees on the back side,  take the cosine of the hypotenuse 😀 …. and…  anyone without a motor scooter should probably want to see some drawings. 🙂