Weekly Update 05/03/2026

Some bits of business…

About the cover

“To Tree, or not to Tree. That is the question.”  It wasn’t until the kids left the house that I became a fan of Dad Jokes; for which they are grateful. But this Thursday’s meeting considers the first meaningful update to our Tree Code in decades. The current version is written in language only a lawyer could love. At first glance it reads as both caring and a good source of revenue for development projects. In practice it has turned out to be neither. The City has experienced a profound loss in trees, both quantity and quality since I’ve lived here. I urge residents to read the packet carefully, show up, and speak up.

Transportation Survey

Transportation Survey – City of Des Moines, WA

Take Out Des Moines

I promise this is the last week for TODM, but again, I kept Take Out Des Moines partly as a way to monitor the actual health of our retail sector. As I said, there hasn’t been a twelve month period since TODM began in 2020 where the list has not changed.

In addition to this being the final week for Marina Mercantile, the Fish and Chicken House on MVD has also announced its permanent closure.

You really do need a scorecard to keep track of what is available. Please subscribe and support our restaurateurs. 🙂

City Manager Stuff

City Manager Reports!  May, 1 2026

The highlight for moi is the updated Construction list. I know a lot of you are upset about various construction projects. But on the other hand, as dark as this sounds, if you’ve been following on about our finances, I’m going to channel my Jewish Grandmother here for a sec:

You should be glad we’re doing something for you to complain… 😀

It’s just a fact that there have been years where there was no construction, if you know what I’m saying.

That said, by all means, if there are issues? Please let the City know. (and cc me.)

This Week

Thursday

City Council Combo-Platter (Agenda)

5:00pm Committee of The Whole

The Council will be asked to sign on to a letter of support for not cutting out the Boeing Access Road station for Sound Transit. I have no objection. However, as I said three years ago after watching a previous Sound Transit Board Meeting, “We better get ours on-line by 2026 or we are screeeeewed.” 😀

None of the stations on the chopping block are ‘fluff’. Looking at it from 10,000 feet, the true demand of other stations is likely much higher. (Telling people in Ballard that they might get nothing is ridiculous.) The specific trade-offs are not as simple as that, but if BAR did not get done, it might mean more funding for projects near us. No way to know. But given how stratospheric the costs are, it has become a very bad, almost zero-sum game.

The big ticket item is our tree code. This has been a striking thing to me over the years. People love trees. But the fact is, tree canopy throughout the City has been in decline for decades–both in terms of quantity and quantity. But any talk of limiting one’s ability to chop down their trees has tended to bring out some… er… ‘feelings’. 😀

Tree Regulations Flyer

I’ll put it like this: we have to do something. Time and time again, residents have told us that they want us to retain and leverage the ‘character’ of Des Moines. But isn’t the character of a place defined by things like historic buildings, landmarks, and trees? I don’t see how one achieves those goals if we keep taking for granted so many of the things, big and small, that people moved here for.

6:00pm Study Session

Presentation of the big Strategic Plan. I’d love to show and tell all about it, but… it ain’t in the packet.

We will also have another Executive Session concerning ‘real estate’. These are becoming so hinky, I don’t even know what to say. And since they occur in secret, I guess that’s about it. 😀

Friday

Environmental Sciences Associates Webinar/Briefing

ESA is a mega-consulting firm used by many airports (including the Port of Seattle) to prepare large projects like the SAMP (Part 150 Noise Study.) My group STNI attends these events and tries to get some 1:1 QandA time to be up to speed on changes to regs that might impact residents near Sea-Tac. Lucky me, this is my turn.

Last Week

Tuesday

Port of Seattle Commission: The Commission voted to put a ton of money into  Grand Crossing project in Bellevue and it’s worth a few sentences.

There has been this nonsense over the past decade that the Port could not legally create various grant programs to provide more support to airport-impacted cities. This was so laughably untrue I never knew how seriously to take it. But what I’ve learned is that, again, if it didn’t happen in your time? It didn’t happen.

Many of you are old enough to recall when, in 2008, former King County Ron Sims worked out a plan to buy the abandoned BNSF rail lines and establish a bike trail system. Visionary! Unfortunately, the County had no money, so… they went to the Port of Seattle. And the Port agreed to fund the $107 million purchase. For bike trails. Some of it outside of King County!

Long story short, next Tuesday, the PortComms will vote to make one last investment and close the loop–Grand Crossing–essentially a glorified overpass to connect the west side of Bellevue to that east side. It’s a marvelous idea. I am totally jealous. I could also be outraged.

How do I get the City — and the rest of the Council — to also be outraged that a city as wealthy and plugged in as Bellevue, with none of the negative impacts from Sea-Tac Airport, can obtain so much largesse, whilst we struggle to obtain even $30,000 a year in Port grants for ‘economic development’.

As a city, our failure to ‘get out more’ has prevented us from seeing what was always possible.

Wednesday

I attended the last StART meeting which discussed the state (SEPA) version of the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP). Spoiler alert: there were no spoilers. And also no spoiler, the likely outcome is not great news.

Coverage from STNI: StART meeting April 29, 2029

Citizens Advisory Board meeting: (Video and Transcript) The highlight (for moi) was a discussion of ethics.