Some bits of business…
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.
Who is running?
| Position | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *Harry Steinmetz (206) 387-1333 hsslaw@me.com https://www.steinmetzfordesmoines.com | David Denino (206) 414-8569 david.denino@gmail.com https://www.electdaviddenino.com/ | |
| 3 | *Gene Achziger (253) 941-3785 gene4DM2025@gmail.com | ||
| 5 | Pierre Blosse (346) 298-1984 pierre@pierrefordesmoines.com pierrefordesmoines.com | Lloyd Elliott Lytle Jr. (323) 605-5548 lloydelytle@gmail.com lytlefordesmoinescitycouncil.com | *Matt Mahoney did not file for re-election |
| 7 | Robyn Desimone info@desimonefordesmoines.com www.desimonefordesmoines.com | *Traci Buxton did not file for re-election |
City Manager Stuff
City Manager Report – September 26, 2025
The Marina dock replacement is on schedule! You can watch videos of progress in action here: https://www.youtube.com/@CityofDesMoinesMarina
There is also a new Community Survey. Yes, we did a parks survey and a communications survey just a couple of years ago, but well… new management, right? 😀 This one also asks for your ideas on a broad range of stuff like event planning and programs for kids and seniors and it”s all great. 🙂
And… since you can never take too many surveys, this is my personal fave, this concerning some big improvements at the Beach Park. Take the Beach Park survey!
Light Rail Opens December 6, 2025!
https://www.soundtransit.org/southkinglink
Restaurants!
There have been more restaurant changes in town. So this is a good time to remind you of the local restaurant guide TakeOutDM.Com or TakeOutDesMoines.Com. There is a sign-up form which emails signees when various establishments are offering specials! If you are a new restaurant owner, you should also let them know when you are having said specials so they can spread the woid.
This Week
6:00pm Tuesday: Part 150 Workshop at Parkside Elementary School. If that doesn’t make any sense, or if you can’t make these events, STNI did a very good article on how it all works here.
Thursday: Study Session – 02 Oct 2025 – Agenda Highlights:
Planning Commission: We will finish our discussion on a Planning Commission. Where we left it was having seven members, people who actually live here. My suggestion was that it consist of people not on other committees.
Legislative Agenda: This is similar to previous recommendations, but the airport piece, near and dear to my heart, is noticeably better. Most I support, some I do not.
- We will continue to advocate for more state effort to help recruit more police officers. Absolutely. 🙂
- We will continue to support allowing cities to raise property taxes by as much as 3% (not 1%). I will continue not. 🙂 This is one tax we should sell to voters.
- Support State funding for a City-led, independent airport community impacts study to evaluate the ongoing impacts of the SAMP. Excellent, Wayne. 🙂
- Support further enhancements to SB5955 and RCW53 to provide more opportunities for sound insulation repair and replacement, and to also allow unconstrained funding for mitigation of the public health impacts of airport operations. Most excellent, Garth. 🙂
- Support the joint StART Airport Community Legislative Agenda. I do not support this.
- Support historic preservation funding opportunities in Des Moines. You bet! It shoulda started with the Masonic Home 🙂 (sorry, that leaked out.)
- Ferry Development Electric passenger-only ferries. I fully support electric ferries that are paid for and run by someone else. 🙂 As I previously reported, Tacoma is working on a $4,000,000 pilot program. Great. If they make it work, we should absitively and posolutely piggy back on that.
Friday
I’m attending the University of Washington Ultrafine Particle Study group. This began several years ago to help researchers discuss a strategy to address community impacts around the airport.
Last Week
Sunday
I attended the 50th Anniversary of the Mt. Rainier Pool. OK, technically I stood outside and talked with three residents. 😀
But my point is this: They saw the door was closed and were too polite to walk in. 😀 That’s Des Moines! But any time I get a chance to schmooze with residents is a good time.
Two people spoke about their use of the pool for therapy. My niece (in a wheel chair) benefited from that and ADA stuff is always good to hear about.
The pool is already (technically) at end of life so in addition to the celebration, it’s now time to figure out its successor.
Tuesday
Port of Seattle Commission Meeting covered grant funding to cities and non-profits (among other things). Coverage from STNI here. One tiny detail I found interesting: the Port Commission openly discussed FIFA World Cup more as a cost rather than a revenue opportunity. The notion being that it may require significantly more public safety/security, while the benefits will likely go elsewhere (Seattle.) To which I say, “Now you know how it feels.” 😀
Wednesday
2:30pm Highline Forum (Agenda)
6:00pm Citizens Advisory Board meeting. Agenda, video and transcript
Thursday
6:00pm City Council meeting. 6:00pm Regular Meeting – 25 Sep 2025 – Agenda – Pdf Recap below…
September 25 City Council Meeting Recap
3:47:22 of side-splitting entertainment for the entire family.
Regular Meeting – 25 Sep 2025 – Agenda – Pdf
We had a proclamation declaring October Domestic Violence Awareness month. As many of you know, my wife was very active on that issue years ago in Burien. My only note is that we provide support for only a handful of women and we should be able to do more. It’s one of those costs you don’t see for being constantly broke.
Public Comment
We had one comment re. Redondo public safety which I wanted to mention.
In creating the STNI movie about the airport, I interviewed basically every County elected going back to the 1970’s. And when they hearken back to 1995 – the year Redondo became a part of Des Moines – the unanimous sentiment was this: “Good luck with that.” 😀
Every, and I do mean every concern people have today, they had back then. Policing. Traffic. Storm Water. Flooding.
I’m not writing this to tell you that you shouldn’t advocate for your neighbourhood. I’m just saying that the City expends a ton of effort on the area. Many times we haven’t made the right choices, and you should definitely make it clear if we’re not providing good service. But regardless, the area will always present a tough set of challenges because it’s trying to serve several purposes that are in tension with one another.
My personal take is that a visible police presence is better than any automation. But until we have more money this may be the best we can do.
City Manager Report (Public Safety)
We had the most in-depth discussion of policing in my tenure. And the first discussion in my tenure mentioning service levels instead of officers per thousand. I don’t want to pay for a study. But I would like to get a sense of officer well-being.
There was a presentation on Animal Control, something I, and so many of you are super-concerned about. Some options are presented in the packet, which you should read carefully. Bear in mind, we may not have the money for all this. But the new pet licensing program DocuPet looks like 30 grand more than last year so there’s that. 🙂
I have asked the City to investigate a hybrid option – ie. a way to have a Des Moines staff member or group of partially-tasked staff to provide local services with broader coverage than CARES.
Consent Agenda
We voted to spend $425,000 to purchase 16 acres of land near Redondo, mostly with a conservation grant with a match from the Storm Water Utility Fund. This is kinda ‘phase one’ of DPW Slevin’s plan to create a comprehensive tree management plan throughout the City – something I fully support.
Short Term Rentals (second reading)
The Council voted to approve a short term rentals ordinance. This was distinct from the Amenity Rentals discussion. My contributions to the discussion were to get better noise language and to obtain language to make the minimum stay at least one night. It may have seemed overkill, but my concern was that people would ‘pay for a night, but use by the hour’.
As I said last week, this is an experiment. We could have done nothing and that would not have been a ‘ban’. People are already doing this and the City would have had to create a law to prevent that. The practical effect of this law is to bring in more revenue.
But on the other hand, as with marijuana, people may still continue to provide the product without creating a legit business.
My concern is that the feedback I’ve heard is clearly from people in separate bubbles. There are people working hard to do their AirBNB who just assume every other purveyor is just as great. Then there are people adamantly opposed to anything — because they haven’t met the people who do it right.
Revenue Enhancements
And last, but certainly not least, we discussed ‘Revenue Enhancements’. I tried to hint that this was being teed up last time with this image. 😀
As I said last week I felt this was backwards. We should have been presented with the expected budget shortfall first. That said, apparently, the shortfall is about $2,000,000. Even after the new warehouse tax. Oy.
The one final decision we made was to raise our sales tax by a whopping one tenth of one cent which will be dedicated to public safety. A State law passed a few months ago authorises this and I’m fine with it because apparently the City took my suggestion and put a practical example in the presentation…
| Title | Description | General Fund | Other Stuff | Annual/ Monthly | Constraints | Soonest Implemented? |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | Public Safety Sales Tax | Adds 0.1% sales/use tax dedicated to broadly defined criminal justice purposes. Raises sales tax from 10.2% → 10.3%. | 450000 | Annual | Public Safety (restricted) | Jan 1, 2026 (ordinance by Oct 18, 2025) OR Apr 1, 2026 (ordinance by Jan 6, 2026) | |
| * | Open Spaces Transfer to SWM Utility | Transfer ownership/maintenance of undeveloped City-owned open spaces to Surface Water Management Utility. | 100000 | Annual | General Fund savings (shifted to SWM) | Near-term (policy decision required) | |
| * | Water/Sewer Utility Tax or Franchise Payment Increase | Increase franchise payment (currently 6%) or replace with higher utility tax; renegotiate 3 of 5 franchise agreements expiring in 2026. | 900000 | Annual | General Fund (franchise/utility tax revenue) That is the MAX and is HIGHLY variable. Depends on negotiations varying from 0-900,000. | Must give notice by Dec 2025; new agreements start June 2026 | |
| 24-Hour Traffic Safety Cameras in School Zones | Operate school zone cameras outside school hours to capture regular speeding infractions. | 500000 | Monthly (initial; declines over time) | Restricted (traffic safety use) | Implementation once program expanded & infrastructure ready | ||
| * | Additional Traffic Safety Cameras (3 sites) | Install 3 new traffic camera locations (max allowed by law). | 2000000 | Monthly (initial; declines over time) | Restricted (traffic safety use) | Dependent on installation and compliance | |
| * | Increase Car Tab Fees | Raise vehicle registration fee from $40 → $50 (max allowed). | 250000 | Annual | Transportation benefit district (TBD use, typically roads/transportation) | Immediate (Council action required) | |
| * | In-House Production of City Currents | Produce newsletter internally, reduce pages (32 → 12). | 40000 | Annual | General Fund savings (communications budget) | Quick operational change | |
| * | Impact Fee Analysis & Adjustment | Review and potentially increase traffic impact fees and/or add new impact fees for parks, recreation, open space. | Unknown | One-time per development | Dedicated to capital projects (impact fee funds) | Requires study & Council adoption | |
| Citywide Tax on Paid Parking | 10% parking tax for City-owned and private paid lots. | 50000 | Annual | General Fund (tax revenue) | Quick implementation after ordinance adoption | ||
| X | SWM Utility Tax Increase | Increase Surface Water Management utility tax above current 13%. | 50,000 per 1% increase | Annual | General Fund (tax on SWM revenues) | Immediate once approved | |
| 1790000 |
Another one I supported was a $10 increase in car tabs. This is sort of a hill to die on for me and one of the only taxes I suggest you support. Why? Because it’s fair. It’s $10. It’s only for people who drive. And it’s only to fix roads. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and we have a ton of roads to fix.
There were several other proposals to add more speed cameras and the deal with speed cameras is that the money from them is severely constrained. You can only use it for traffic calming, not police officers, not even road repair. And frankly, there’s only so much traffic to calm.
Then there are proposals to increase utility taxes. I am not jazzed at all for the simple reason that, over time, we have negotiated different agreements with each of the five special purpose districts.