This Week
Thursday: 4:00PM Economic Development Committee Meeting (Agenda) (Video). Staff will provide an update on the Fast Ferry Service Pilot Project.
Thursday: 5:00PM Municipal Facilities Committee Meeting (Agenda)(Video)
- The new Park will be getting the following Story Pole:
Thursday: 6:00PM City Council Meeting (Agenda) (Video) Some highlights:
- The City Manager will give an update on the Ferry Pilot which has now completed its second week.
- Washington State Opioid Distributor Settlement Agreement.
- There will be a new “Cash Handling” presentation. Every time I think “Legacy” has stopped being a thing? It’s still a thing. 😀
City Council Meetings are scheduled for Thursdays at 6:00PM at City Hall 21630 11th Avenue S., Suite #C Des Moines WA 98198. They can also be viewed live on Comcast Channel 21/321 or on the City’s YouTube channel. Committee Meetings are either at 4:00PM or 5:00PM, also on Thursdays.
Last Week
Monday: Masonic Home SEPA Public Comment Meeting (Video) If you want to comment, you have until August 25th. Here is all you need to know.
Tuesday: King County Flood Control District. You tend to see the same people on a lot of these meetings. Unlike our City Council Meetings, I almost never speak at meetings 1elsewhere. But this was one time I felt I had something to say. Much of our grid is at or nearing end of life. Inflation this year is 400% higher than two years ago. We could start a project today and by the time it’s done, the cost might triple. Dinky cities like DM need some form of price certainty. If we run into problems on a project, we should have some opportunity to recoup those overruns.
Wednesday: Reach Out Des Moines. The attendance from National Night Out was excellent! Our leader Brenda did something very cool: she offered to start some form of community meetings. And I offered to tag along.
Friday: South King County Housing & Homelessness Partners (SKHHP). After three years? First budget!
What we owe the future
Most people, for various reasons, have a very strong ‘now’ and ‘me’ bias. I’m sure you are absolutely fabulous in every way that fabulosity can be measured. But, just speaking statistically, very few of us save for retirement, start writing our term paper until December, Read the instructions, Quit smoking, Or, dare I say it, show up for City Council Meetings. 😀
That does not mean that we don’t do many, many wonderful things for our families and for our community. We certainly do. But… somehow… someway… they tend to be… in some fashion… About now. And about us.
Many people tend to think of local government as handling a very narrow range of issues: Permits, Potholes, Public Safety and Parades–with a sort of a customer service counter for handling immediate problems. So we only tend to complain when a specific problem affects us. And by then it’s often too late.
In fact, Cities like DM are designed to push those biases. The ‘big picture’ is supposed to be left to the State and Federal Governments. Local law strongly favours the present and the rights of individuals over concerns about “the community” and “the future”.
Recently, my daughter has made me aware that she is not entirely happy with this state of affairs. This change of heart may have begun shortly after new human beings started popping out of her body. But it really kicked into gear (for some reason) when the COVID bailout money started flowing. It occurred to her that I’m not going to have to pay for it. And she is not going to have to pay for it. Instead, her children are going to have to pay for all the money we’re putting on the credit card now.
So, she has started entertaining the notion that whether or not she has access to this, that, or the other wonderful thing now (or in her childhood) may be less important than whether or not her children’s children will have the same (or better) opportunities.
In short, she has begun adopting the philosophy that we owe certain things to the future.
On its face, that sounds very nice. Everyone is ‘deeply concerned’ about something called ‘the future’. But imagine how radical it is if you actually try to do it. It would mean that at every meeting, every decision would have to take into account people who have not been born or have not moved here. You’d have to pretend that these people are at the table and that they get a vote.
Maybe it sounds absurd (or arrogant) to try to predict what ‘future people’ want. But actually, it’s not all that hard to a first approximation. You could do a lot worse than to suggest that they will want as much (or more) of what you like about Des Moines and less of what you don’t.
How can I say this so confidently? Empires may come and empires may go, but when it comes to local government, NIMBYs are forever. 😀 In 50 years, transportation may be different, homes may be different. But people who move here will still want a nice view. Clean air. Quiet. A sense of safety. Good schools. Parks for their kids. Etc. Etc. This is not rocket surgery.
But at the end of the day, it’s like saving for retirement or studying for that term paper. If we really care about giving ‘the future’ a seat at the table, it means giving up a seat.
So when I talk about historic preservation, it’s because my kids loooooved that stuff–and every Sunday I see people flock to the old Covenant buildings. When I get upset about the airport, it’s the same deal because my kids can’t stand how noisy it’s gotten. When I grouse about that Ferry thing it’s not because I don’t see the entertainment value. It’s because I know it’s taking money from something else.
I’ve said it before. Everything I do politically and 2activistically is because we had a nice time here and I feel an obligation to pay it forward.
I’m not stuck in the past. It’s just that there are certain qualities that made Des Moines so great for us. And those features should be maintained and enhanced because the future will appreciate them as much, if not more, than we do.
When you see something “Oooh, cool!” like the Ferry Pilot, I’m not trying to guilt people into thinking about the how much money we’re taking from the future in order to give you a free ride? (See what I did there? 😀 )
Whenever we vote for something, I’d just like people to ask some basic questions:
- Is this thing paid for?
- Where is this money coming from?
- What are we giving up to do this?
- What are we getting in return beyond the “Oooh, cool!” factor?
- Where will this take the City in 25/50 years?
Those are questions parents ask–Mature individuals who have future people to think about. And just so you understand: in college I spent a lot of nights playing in a punk band, drinking, smoking, not wearing a seat belt, and definitely not studying until December. Things worked out OK. But… it wasn’t exactly a fantastic strategy. I just got lucky. Real lucky.
I grew up (sort of) and started seeing things a bit differently. Probably about the time some of those future people started popping out of my wife’s body.
1I know what yer thinking. 😀
2I just made that up. Feel free to use it.
All letters or e-mails requesting a specific action are referred by the City Clerk to the appropriate City department.
If you would like a follow up from me, personally please indicate that or call me (206) 878-0578.
The Clerk does not read e-mails to the Council in full; only the subject line. However, we do see them as soon as you send them. Your comments are added to the Agenda Packet available on the City web site following each meeting.