Weekly Update 12/07/2025

Some bits of business…

Strategery

The City is taking community input on the first Strategic Plan since our founding in 1959! Take this ten minute survey and let us know what your long term vision is for Des Moines. There will also be a town hall at Des Moines Elementary on December 9. Deets to follow soon. But for now? Fill out the survey!!!!

City Manager Stuff

City Manager Reports – December 5, 2025

The highlights are several holiday events and a special Camp Khaos for during the school break!

This Week

Monday

4:00pm Airport Committee The committee seems to be interested in developing a public outreach program? 😀 I was not thrilled with their last meeting so that ’emoji’ was me trying to be light-hearted. How’d I do?

Tuesday

10:30 Flock Camera Security Q&A There have been numerous articles and law suits over the license plate reading cameras. These are not frivolous. However, the police say that the benefits–especially in reducing auto theft–are unquestionable. This is a chance to talk with Flock management. My question is very simple, and it’s one I haven’t been able to get to for six years: data retention. At this moment I have no idea how long our police keep any personal data on file. I want Flock–and every public safety agency–to make it clear that they eliminate all traces of data after a certain, public, length of time.

12:00pm Port of Seattle Commission

6:00pm-8:00pm Town Hall Des Moines Elementary School to lay out our Strategic Plan. I have absolutely no idea. But the City Manager says there will be ‘kids activities’. And in addition to being a geezer, I’m also just a big kid at heart. See you there. 🙂

Wednesday

Emergency Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) last meeting of the year. Here’s a short video on the Emergency Operations Center doing a practice session for FIFA!

6:00pm Citizens Advisory Board (Agenda) The main thing seems to be a discussion of their Draft Plan for 2026.

Thursday

6:00pm City Council Agenda

Last meeting of the year and the current Council–the 412th since the incorporation of our fine City. 😀 No, actually I think it’s 35th.

Highlights

Many of the items are final votes on things we discussed last week–see below for the Meeting Recap. But of special interest.

We will approve the second year of our first biennial budget. As I wrote below, I am not happy with the reporting, which does not adequately convey our long term outlook. It’s tough because all administrations need to put forward a positive face. There has been very little interest in this since the demise of the Finance Committee. Hopefully next year.

Animal Control. This will be better than what we have. Not as good as the original CARES contract. And not the full ACO. But given the slow uptake of the new pet licensing program, it’s the best we can do. Hopefully we’ll be able to get another upgrade once that revenue improves.

Planning Commission. After a dozen years, it will be back. It will not contain the Comp Plan element I’d hoped for. But again–hopefully it’s just REV1.

Dan Eernissee, Economic Development Consulting. Some of you remember Mr. Eernissee was a finalist for the job of City Manager. This year he is back as a consultant to do a ferry economic benefits study. Am I thrilled at any of that? No. The last time we ‘studyied’ the subject it enabled something really bad. But since every independent study has made clear that this is a terrible idea, if it turns out different, I will not be happy. 🙂 Also, his contract seems to include some money for a separate scope of work on economic development ideas in the rest of Des Moines. Again, I hope it is kept well-away from the ferry idea. Speaking as a recovering consultant it’s tough not to conflate two such tasks and for that reason it’s generally always better to hire separate people. But we do need that kind of work. Hope springs eternal.

(It’s the season of hope. 🙂 )

Last Week

Wednesday

I attended the Light Rail preview and schmoozed with any number of big shots. I wrote about it on Facebook so no need to repeat.

However, I was taken to task for saying that “kids and geezers like me ride free, Free, FREE!” 😀 Unfortunately, my informal humour, spelling, sartorial accoutrement, and manner of social discourse will always strike a few as both uncouth and not a ton of laughs. Which is fine. 🙂

But whether or not you embrace the geezer in me, what matters is that ORCA cards are great, and the discounts even better. There are several sources for details which do not over-simplify as I did, but unfortunately, they all make it a bit more complicated than it should be. Nevertheless…

How to pay | Fares | Sound Transit

Thursday

6:00pm City Council Meeting

Regular Meeting – 04 Dec 2025

Recap below.

Friday

Jurassic Parliament. This is a parliamentary procedure class I took when I was first elected. There are no requirements for getting elected. No tests. You’re only ‘required’ (which isn’t some enforceable law, btw) to attend a four hour training–essentially on not breaking the law in such a way that gets your city in trouble. You? Well, good luck. 😀 Anyhoo, most electeds also take this class, which teaches you how to conduct a meeting.

When I first got on the Council, I asked that the class be brought here. Crickets. To her credit, our new (it’s been a year so that’s not true) City Manager, made it happen and I appreciate it.

But in a slight bit of irony, this was the first time in six years I’ve been late., tardy, unavoidably delayed, for any City event. 😀

December 4, 2025 City Council Meeting

 

Highlights:

5:00 PM – 5:50 PM COW

Item 1: Wesley Master Plan Introduction – In case you hadn’t noticed, Wesley has been rebuilding and expanding the entire campus over the past decade. This is the next phase.

Item 2: City Currents – Well, I got that wrong. I thought we had agreed to shift the quarterly magazine from print to mostly digital. Apparently, the only change is that the City will be doing the preparation in-house and then outsourcing the postage. This will save some money (good) but it doesn’t address any of the issues with printing and mailing a bajillion copies to people who never see them. It also does not expand our reach. It should be our goal to get every person in town on our mailing list. But (sadly) a small number of people just cannot see the value of focusing on digital. It’s weird to me because every person I know, has a cell phone, so the nostalgia leaves me cold.

This makes me wonder how much better our new web site will be. It means that we are not actually embracing digital. We’re still having to be dragged, kicking and screaming to it.  One other thing: the previous electronic version was not disabilities-friendly. I literally could never read it–that’s why I always request PDFs.

6:00 PM – 10:00 PM: Regular Meeting

Public Comment

There was a passionate comment concerning our Flock Cameras. See above.

City Manager

3rd Quarter Financial Report. I had one of my little ‘moments’. As I just said, I’m losing my sight. I cannot see the presentations on the Big TV so I look at the version the City provides in the packet. I referred to a mistake in the packet which always provokes one or two snickers. My hope is that next year the City will start locking down the packet when it is issued–as I first asked for six years ago. 🙂

That said, I’ve had some internal bickering over the quality of the financial reports. One issue I have is that the next round of dock replacements were scheduled for 2032. The financial forecast only goes out to 2031. How can you plan for the future when electeds never have to even see what it looks like. Get it? The report shows that we’ll spend a crap ton of money on the Marina in 2025-2026 and then it will look to you as though it’s ‘profit’ out into the future. Which would be lovely except that the various Marina repairs and upgrades are only half done. We simply haven’t put them on our financial reports. That’s why we never save for the future here.

Consent Agenda

• Item 4: Co-Living Housing Ordinance – 2nd Reading
• Item 5: Adoption of 2026 City Council State Legislative Priorities
• Item 6: Collective Bargaining Agreement – Police Guild – the agreement seems to give us three more years, which is good, because it’s felt like one bargaining session after another since I’ve been on the Council. Because public safety is always over 50% of the budget, we need some kind of ongoing certainty if we’re ever going to get more officers.
• Item 7: Boundary Line Adjustment with Normandy Park — Check out the maps. When you visit the Beach Park, I bet you didn’t know that you’ve been ¹trespassing on Normandy Park land all these years!

 

Public Hearing

Item 1: Planning Commission Ordinance – 1st Reading – I’ve wanted this since it was abandoned in 2012-2013. Now that it’s ‘back’ I’m a bit wistful given that we’re doing this (like so many things) in the wrong order. My sense is that it will be tough to know an effective scope of work until we have the Strategic Plan in place.

Item 2: Amended Transportation Improvement Plan (2026-2045) – this item is to add more support for ‘ferries’ writ large. I was the lone no vote. After talking with every real transporation planner, the response was unanimous: we need a shuttle bus service in the south end; not ferry.

That’s the difference between policy and politics. The correct policy is shuttle service. What my colleagues have been successful at is convincing the County not to do that. Frankly, it comes down to this. They have to do what our Council asks; whether it’s the right policy or not. Democracy.

Unfinished Business

Item 1: City Council Compensation Framework and Survey Discussion — I was the lone vote against creating a new Salary Commission. See essay below.

Keen-eyed observers will note that the first meeting of the month would normally be a COW followed by a Study Session. This was one of those load-balancing issues I go on about all the time.

Ironically, the Council discussion about ‘salary’ was cut short without highlighting one detail. We budget–and schedule for–forty meetings a year (a bit more than three a month.) Residents ask me all the time where is the third meeting? The fact is, we never have ‘three a month’. This year will end with 32, I think? Which is typical. The reason the meetings get so jammed is because we don’t even follow that schedule. And we ended all our committees. Over-worked my heinie. 😀

New Business

Item 1: Animal Control Discussion Regarding Potential Contract with Burien CARES – the much-desired ‘return of animal control’. It never completely left. But it has been terrible. IMO, this simply brings it back to a passing grade. However, I want to remind readers why it went away: our budget. And so far, DocuPet, which is supposed to provide some of the dough, does not seem to be delivering. Here’s the deal: We stopped actively collecting seven years ago. And when you don’t collect? People stop paying. It will take a while to get the woid out and make people understand: everyone needs to license their doggies and kitties!

Item 2: Creating a Public Safety Sales Tax Fund – 1st Reading – speaking of which, this is the other piece of the funding pie for Animal Control and GPS Monica long-term. We’re going ahead as if it’s a done deal, but as of this writing, there is still some question as to whether our implementation plan, which requires state approval, is a go. Hope so. 🙂 😀

Executive Session

Pending Litigation RCW 42.30.110(1)(i) – 10 Minutes. Nothing to talk about since it’s both secret and like most ESs, a complete non-event. 😀

The CEO

Over the holiday I wrote the essay Pay, value, the SAMP, and the future. Last week I excerpted the first third–my opposition to pay increases for City Council. Here is the second third–my opposition to the City Manager’s pay increase.

For years there have been grave concerns over transparency across multiple domains. One was the 2016 hiring process for City Manager. To address that, last year’s process was really protracted. The entire Council wanted to make sure the public was fully informed and involved in that decision – including compensation.

But last Thursday, we sat for forty minutes in executive session, came out to an empty room, and in five minutes, approved three motions to increase compensation; not even waiting until the next meeting for the scheduled vote to to give the public a chance to weigh in. The desire to move this forward quickly and quietly was so obvious, the Mayor asked for a motion to end the meeting — forgetting to have a final vote authorising the City to prepare the contract. To his credit, the City Attorney did the right thing and double-checked to see if the Council really wanted to do it this way. Write-up and signatures. 10:00pm. All in one night. No one watching.

That is not transparency.

After one year (original agreement), the City Manager’s pay jumps from $245,000 to $269,000. And $6,000 more per year retirement funding until 2030. And three months extra severance (about $67,500.)

Earlier in the meeting, during our Budget discussion, our Finance Director acknowledged something many of you already know: the State of Washington is in a recession. Again, in my opinion, the optics are terrible.

How many of us get those kinds of boosts after one year? In this economic climate? In an organization that may well be losing as much money next year as in 2025?

During the hiring process, one of my colleagues wanted any reference to CEO—chief executive officer—changed to ‘chief administrative officer’. To say that I disagreed would be an understatement. I don’t even like the word “manager” for this role.

To me, a “manager” of 160 people connotes running a Safeway, not a complex organization representing so many long-term strategic interests. More than one of my colleagues refer to themselves as fellow employees.

I don’t think most people really think of their electeds as ’employees’ or would say it serves the public well. Though we often disagreed, former Mayor Pina used the metaphor of the coach of a professional team—with seven owners representing shareholders (you the voters.) That sounds closer to the mark. The Council sets goals. But the coach leads and develops the winning strategy. They’re not managing a store.

And we’re not employees. We’re the oversight. We must stand apart. I’ve been saying that since I ran for office. Frankly, it’s disturbing to hear newer Cms still calling ourselves ’employees’.

One truth is that, in her initial contract, the Council gave Ms. Caffrey almost everything she asked for. Another is that she got thrown into the deep end and could not possibly know ahead of time what she was getting herself into. I am extremely sympathetic. But I have to represent the interests of the residents who told me very clearly: be more cautious going forward.

The changes she has made thus far are great, but they are reactive, not proactive. That is no disparagement. On the contrary, her tasks during this first year have been neither ‘easy’ or painless. But though hard they were straightforward for any skilled manager: cut costs, rebuild customer experience.

The leadership—the CEO part—really begins in 2026. There must be new revenues. There is the SAMP. These are issues that are not easy. They are Mortal Kombat Level 23. And she needs to handle those effectively, sometimes despite the Council. Because frankly? We’ve had decades to act on various systemic issues and rarely had the will to do so.

(Note that the SAMP was announced in ¹2012 — and yet we literally waited until two weeks before an appeal deadline to act. And then act poorly.)

In other words, I see a great manager. But there has not been enough time to see a great CEO.

Nobody wants seven bosses. But City Councils generally do want leadership. Because, again, we are part-timers. We try, but truthfully, we are not always as well-prepared as we would hope to take on these challenges. We should come to grips with the reality that we are not a ‘small town’. We are often required to make decisions as complex as those of towns 2-3 times our size.  The danger, of course, is that is why we’re so easily bamboozled. When you make big-town decisions with a small-town mindset you are asking for trouble.

A leader is the person who gets to the airport solutions we should have had decades ago. A leader is someone who implements better accounting practices that help both the public and the Council see information they don’t know they need–so we can finally stop deluding ourselves. A leader is a mentor, one who doesn’t control, but helps decision makers see all the possibilities—not just the ones inside the bubble.

But we are gushing so hard to have a better communicator, we can’t see we’re engaging in exactly the same irrational exuberance as last time. People really should read the reviews of Mr. Matthias. Right up until the end, they were just as gushy.

We are, after one year, giving her larger increases than the ones people used to get so upset about. Discuss.

Not to sound snippy, but when he got his big pay days, (the ones that seem so much smaller now) the Council could at least try to justify it by saying that he’d put in several years and (cough) proven his economic genius. And at least then, everyone was required to vote in a full room. Not like people trying to slip one by at 10:00pm.

We always talk about wasteful spending at the federal government, the state government. During Ms. Caffrey’s hiring and in her initial review, the Council directly addressed salary inflation at the director level. These kinds of decisions make that even more challenging.

Look at what we do, not what we say. Last Thursday we seemed on the verge of giving ourselves automatic raises, during a financial crisis. We used the same rationale to give our City Manager about $100k in extra compensation — after one positive year.

(One other thing. Perhaps one reason some colleagues jones so hard for increasing the property tax cap is not because we can’t simply go to the voters. More likely it is because they like the word ‘automatic’. Automatic means “we can do it without having to convince anyone.” Get it? “It’s not us. It’s just automatic.“)

As with her predecessor, my colleagues have expressed concerns about her feeling appreciated. Perhaps even using Des Moines as a quick ‘resume-builder’ before jumping ship. This year was the resume builder? Have you seen our books?

But OK, taking those concerns seriously, perhaps this example might prove instructive – for all parties.

Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg took a much smaller initial package than his ill-regarded predecessor—recognising he had some serious trust building to do. But the board also included some pretty sweet, and specific, performance bonuses for future years. To my mind, that is a better way to compensate and show commitment to a leader you want for the long haul.

Better communication is great. But if you want someone who leads, you have to treat them like a leader–and then have the courage to evaluate them like a leader—not a manager. Both sides should have some skin in the game.