Some bits of business…
Future Agendas
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.
Part 150 Study…
The airport has begun a new Part 150 Noise Study. ‘Part 150’ refers to a section of FAA regulations whereby airports analyse their noise impact on the surrounding community. Ho hum, you say? Well, for one thing a Part 150 Study sets the official noise boundary around the airport. If yer house is inside it, you get sound insulation (aka a Port Package). If not, you don’t. It does a lot of other stuff which I won’t get into here. But for that reason alone, you should show up to these public workshops hosted by the Port of Seattle on June 5, June 6 and June 8. https://www.portseattle.org/page/sea-part-150-noise-study
This Part 150 Study, is the beginning of an environmental review of the entire airport called the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP). And it is a very big deal. In fact, think of it this way: The 2024 SAMP is to the 1996 Third Runway what 2020 COVID was to the Spanish Flu of 1918. That’s not hyperbolic. It has the potential to be really bad. But it’s far enough in the past that it’s possible we won’t take it seriously enough–until it’s too late.
Marina Paid Parking
By the time you read this, Paid parking at the Marina will have begun. Please let the City know if you have any challenges. So far, the fob reader seems to be working flawlessly. But the paper reader has had a few flakes.
Des Moines Marina Sailors score in big race
Three Tree Point Yacht Club Skipper Gordon Kells-Murphy and the crew of Les Chevaux placed 2nd in their division of Swiftsure International Yacht Race in Victoria, BC. Swiftsure is a big deal in Northwest sailing and this is a major accomplishment! Some great video here.
City Manager Stuff
City Manager’s Report May 31, 2024
As usual, some great information. One bit of bad news: “…unfortunately, 2/3’s of the new Redondo boarding floats/docks needed to be removed as the new pile hoops were too tight, causing an unsafe condition during high and low tides…” I’ll let you know as soon as it’s good to go for the summer season.
The City also published the job listing for City Manager. If I read this? I’d apply. 🙂
Tax Levy Campaigning
You probably missed it, but last Thursday there was a Quorum Notice on the City Calendar, notifying the public that a majority (4) of the Council might be present at an event. The address was Deputy Mayor Steinmetz and the topic was ‘Levy Lid Lift’. Generally speaking, all electeds are discouraged from gathering together outside of meetings unless it is a holiday event where there’s low probability of politics. This may be legal, but given the Lid Lift vote was 4-3 I do not think it is a great idea for any faction of the Council to work collectively to support (or oppose) this ballot initiative.
When I voted ‘no’, I said that I would avoid campaigning on the topic–and I encouraged my colleagues to do the same. But less than 24 hours after the vote, the politicking began. And now this. So I’m re-thinking that position. This amplifies ‘partisanship’ that I’d hoped we’d all dial down in this transitional year. And it isn’t right for one ‘side’ to be applying resources the other side does not. It also makes me even more certain that I did the right thing (yes, after proposing the idea) still stand. In fact, I feel even stronger today than at the time.
One of the little ‘warning flags’ leading up to the vote was an apparent lack of enthusiasm from then Chief Gately. Having seen the previous (2006) Lid Lift, the Police Chief at that time could barely contain his salesmanship–as should have been the case here. His sudden departure may explain why he may have been less than gung ho. 😀
A more direct concern I had was that when we had our last Lid Lift in 2006, created exactly the kind of dedicated fund you may hear about soon. But within a year, the City still began siphoning off that ‘dedicated fund’, as they did with Marina money. As they say, “desperate times, desperate measures”. So by the time that lid lift expired in 2011, very little of the money was actually going for police. But this current ballot initiative would be permanent; not five years. So I wanted to make sure we had better guard rails in place than in 2006. Otherwise it would end up being just a generalised and permanent tax increase and I am not down with that.
Without confidence that we’ll really set aside that money for public safety and without stable leadership both at the Police Station and at City Hall, we have no business asking taxpayers for a permanent tax increase. When we have those in place? I’m in. But not until.
ADU RFI
I’ve gotten several responses to my request for interest in ADUs. THANK YOU! As you may know, we are updating our Comprehensive Plan, which will change City zoning rules for a generation. I don’t have to many specifics for you yet, except:
- There are a lot of you out there. But you have different needs. Many of you want to create multi-generational living so you can age in place with your kids and grandkids. Others want to create cottages on a large property to add income.
- I want you to have as much notice as possible when these hearings come up and I want you to show up so you can show the City that this really is a big deal.
I’m hoping the City can make these updates as flexible and inexpensive as possible.
This Week
. I encourage all parents to hear from two Highline School Directors. This is great community outreach.
Thursday 4:00pm Finance Committee. Finance Committee – 06 Jun 2024 – Agenda – Pdf This one also gets the Action-Packed Seal Of Approval!
Highlights:
- Parks and Recreation Finances
- 2023 Annual Financials
- Five-Year Forecasts
- With the Levy Lid Lift
- Without the Levy Lid Lift
- Closing the Budget Gap
- GENERAL FUND REPORT – APRIL 2024
- May 2024 Sales Tax Report
I am really liking the new Sales Tax report, which is an order of magnitude better than what we used to get.
There will also be a discussion on ‘bridging the gap’ which says:
Raising Revenues:
1) Review Parks, Recreation, and Senior Services program fees
2) Review possibility of raising B+O Tax Rates and Business License fees
Reducing Expenditures
1) Freeze Vacancies
2) Review Ongoing Long-term Extra Hires
3) Review Professional Services contracts
4) Restructure Departments for Efficiencies
This is getting interesting.
One last thing not on the agenda, but which matters. I recently saw a local realtor posting this graphic. There’s nothing unique or proprietary about it; many realtors do these sorts of infographics as part of their marketing.
You hear people talk about how tight the housing market is. But a flip side is that in recent decades Des Moines has had a remarkably consistent number of monthly property sales. Do the math. 45 sales a month translates to 2,970 homes every five years. That’s one third of our homes turning every five years. The city has become heavily dependent on taxes from real estate sales. If people stay in one place, the City suffers. I leave it to you to decide whether that is a good thing for neighbourhood quality. I just wanted to point out how complicated our mix of funding sources have become–and how tough the choices are.
Thursday 5:00pm Public Safety Committee (Agenda) Highlights:
GPS/Crisis response team update (PD) Staffing (PD)
Thursday 6:00 City Council Study Session (Agenda) Topics:
Ferry Update, Communications Study. Although these are both major topics, the packet contains no details. As has been the case for 4.4 years, this never makes me happy. I’m not getting too upset about it because Mr. George is the Interim City Manager. But I got something to say about this:
Think about every study session you’ve ever been in, say high school; college; a paid seminar. You always get the materials to be studied ahead of time. A study session without materials is just a blind lecture. And if I want a lecture, I’ll perform a seance and summon my mother-in-law. 😀
All comedy aside, here is a real question I am going to ask every finalist for next City Manager:
“Will you commit to a ‘no suprises’ policy, which will include providing, except in cases where truly impossible, every presentation to be discussed at meetings in the packet?”
Any applicant who says anything except, “Doesn’t everyone?” risks a thumbs down from moi.
There is also ‘Alley Naming’ behind the Theatre. Let’s see what the Council does with this! 😀 The Citizens Advisory Committee did a social media ‘survey’ and the top three vote-getters were:
- Backstage Alley (10 votes)
- Jack’s Alley (10 votes)
- Waterland Alley/Way (5 votes)
My preference is to name it “Jack’s Alley” for a couple of reasons. One, who doesn’t love 1Jack, right? And whenever a street has a name, it’s an opportunity to tell a story about that place. Finally, as a working musician, I find ‘Backstage Alley’ slightly confusing. If someone says ‘backstage’, I know what they mean–it’s the back of the stage. Duhhh. 😀 Anyhoo… this is one of those votes I’ve vowed to do whatever everyone else wants.
Saturday: South King Fire Open House 223rd and 16th Ave. Fire Engines? I’m so there. 🙂
Last Week
Monday 11:00am: Des Moines Memorial Drive Memorial Day Observance Sunnydale Elementary School, corner of 156th Street and Des Moines Memorial Drive, 15631 8th Ave S, Burien, 98148 to honour all our veterans who have given their lives in service of our country.
Tuesday: Port of Seattle Commission Meeting. (Agenda). Of note: The airport just hit the 2019 record of 1,240 average daily operations. To give you a sense of the growth, that is a 33% increase over the past 10 years. And the SAMP will increase that by another 33% in the next 10 years. Only a third of you have lived here since the Third Runway opened. And it’s hard to overstate how different the noise and pollution and economics have been since the Third Runway opened.
Wednesday: Reach Out Des Moines. Talking about plans for National Night Out. Coming soon!
Thursday 8:00am – Noon Redondo Curbside Chat with Des Moines Police Department. Come talk with our police at the Redondo Square Shopping Center on Pacific Highway and 272nd (on east side facing Pac Hwy.)
Saturday: Mt. Rainier High School Arts Festival Jazz Band. Most people don’t know that music programs in our schools are either suffering or non-existent. I do whatever I can to support and promote these events because I think every teenager in America should have the right to play a 2Benny Goodman solo! Keeeding. These kids sounded great. Follow their music dept. on Facebook. And here’s a Youtube video I found for your daily Duke Ellington fix. 🙂
‘Dry Stack’ refers to storing boats out of the water in racks. This makes sense for boats 30′ or less because most people do not actually use their boat all that often and (irony alert) sun and saltwater are really hard on a boat. 😀 If your boat is in such a facility, you call or text ahead of time, then the staff take your boat out of storage and it’s ready to go at the dock when you show up. When you’re done for the day, you leave your boat at the dock and the staff puts it back to bed all dry and toasty.1I didn’t want to post a piccie of Jack without his permission. But if you spend time on Marine View Drive, and spot a silver-haired gentleman with a really ornate bowling shirt? That’s Jack. He’s everywhere. 🙂
2The moment you start playing bebop, you automatically head down a road of heavy sarcasm. There is simply no such thing as an unironic jazz musician. The better you play, the worse it gets. 😀