The December 11th, 2025 De Mo City
Council meeting is now called to order.
Council member Mahoney is now going to
lead us in the pledge. Please stand if
you're able.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
>> Yes.
» Well, welcome tonight on this dark,
rainy, cold night. I we appreciate you
all being here so much. Uh, I just want
to give a special shout out to my family
back there coming tonight. I appreciate
them being here. Thanks. Uh, if you're
attending on channel 21 or watching
online, please recognize that we can't
attend to our phones from the dis. So,
if you have any technical problems while
you're watching the meeting tonight, you
can email the city clerk at city clerk
at de moinewah.gov.
Please let the record show that all
council me council members are present
and that council member Nutting will be
participating remotely.
Do [clears throat] we have any
correspondence not previously received
by council?
>> No, mayor.
>> All right. Thank you so much. So now
it's time for comments from the public.
Tonight we will we will have two public
hearings uh will where there will be
separate public comment and that's uh in
regard to our budget amendments and a
Wesley master plan. Uh please understand
that when you do come to give public
comment, we cannot uh we can't respond
or interact with you. However, we do
take note of what you say and we welcome
your input.
Uh we ask that if you come forward,
please keep your comments respectful. Oh
yes. And then if you have comments with
regard to the those of two public
hearing segments, we ask that you hold
those public comments until that segment
so that your public comment can be part
of the record. Thank you so much. So now
if you do come forward during this
portion, we ask that you keep your
comments respectful and you can keep
your comments to three minutes. Please
state the your name and the where you
reside, the city where you reside. So,
we have several people up tonight. First
up is Chris Delar Roza. Come on up to
the podium.
» Hello, my name is Chris Del Roza, a
resident of De Moines. I'm following up
on my public comment for the last
meeting concerning the 13 flocked
cameras operating in the city. As
detailed in my written statement emailed
to you and the chief of police, the the
continued use of these cameras pose an
unacceptable risk to our citizens due to
security settings that include the use
of multiffactor authentication, MFA,
Washington Public Records Act ruling,
vulnerabilities of human misuse, and
physical hacking.
I want to highlight a critical point
that the chief of police and I discussed
after the last meeting.
If the city is using standard MFA where
an officer just taps uh approve on their
phone to type in a code uh that is not
secure for fishing. Only fishing
restricted MFA which requires a physical
security token or smart card offers true
protection against human error and
hacking. My purposes tonight is to
request a formal time timeline for
action. Council, I respectfully ask for
clarification on the timeline for this
action. Specifically, when will a
resolution or motion to decommission and
remove and permanently disable the 13
block cameras
be placed on upcoming council agenda for
official vote? So, pretty much asking
when are we going to see this on the
agenda? We urge you to follow the clear
president set by your peers in Olympia
and Redmond to protect the citizens and
safety of the privacy. They disabled
their cameras. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Chris. Next up is Dave
Kaplan.
» Good evening, council. Uh Dave Kaplan,
resident and former council member and
mayor, not wearing my work hat tonight.
Um, I wanted to say a few words
regarding public service. First, I
wanted to thank um all seven council
members for their service to our
community. I think people uh don't
understand the amount of hours, the
amount of reading, the amount of
engagement with the public, not only at
the council meetings, but otherwise. Um,
and all of that goes into your ability
to be able to do the job that you chose
to do. Uh, which is not an easy job.
there are a lot of decisions that you
wind up having to make that are the
benefit of the city as a whole uh that
might impact the neighborhood. Um but
because it's to the benefit of the city
of the whole those are the kinds of
things that you wind up having to make
those tough decisions about. There are
other things where where there are
tradeoffs where there are no good
options and yet you've done that. I'd
like to particularly call out Council
Member Mahoney and Mayor Buckston and um
both have served with distinction uh as
mayor and as council member for the last
eight years. They you can argue about
the way the they approach things some a
little more robustly than others. Um,
but both of you have exemplified
leadership in terms of moving the city
forward on important issues,
particularly regarding economic
development and diversifying our
community, making it a place that people
will want to come visit as a way to help
sustain the city's finances going
forward. And um, you know, there's been
a lot of back and forth over the decades
in that regard. and I appreciate the
fact that you've continued the effort to
try and make sure that the city is a
place that people will want to come to
regardless of what elements are included
in that. Um, I'm personally very proud
of the fact that we went forward with
the steps. Um, for decades I heard about
the need to connect the downtown and the
marina. Heard it from the marina owners
and heard it from boat owners and heard
it from the people in downtown, the
businesses in downtown. you're finally
you that's moving forward. It's
something that needs to happen. It's
something that needs to support the city
as a whole. Things never change unless
you take the first step forward. So,
from the bottom of my heart, I want to
thank you for your service, all seven of
you, for the service on the council and
for you two in particular, for the very
hard work you've done over the last
eight years to make our city that much
better. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Dave. So appreciated.
Next up is Betatina Carrie.
» Good evening everyone. I'm Betina Kerry
and a resident of the Marina District
speaking as myself.
But um tonight I'd like to uh talk for
all of us to celebrate someone who has
led our city with heart, vision, and
unwavering devotion to community. Mayor
Tracy Buckton. Tracy has lived in De
Moines for more than 40 years and she
has poured her that love into our hearts
every day of her service. Since joining
the city council in 2017 and becoming
mayor in 2024, she has guided us with
grace, steadiness, and a remarkable gift
for bringing people together. This past
year, she was also elected as president
of the Sound Cities Association. A
tremendous honor for leaders across 38
cities who recognize what we've always
recognized about you, and that is that
you're compassionate, collaborative, and
incredibly effective.
And as you prepare to leave office in
January, I want to acknowledge you as a
council member and also to acknowledge
council member Matt Mahoney for his
contributions and partnerships alongside
you and during this chapter. Um I've
only been here less than three years and
it's been amazing to watch what's gone
on in here. And he is also in part
responsible for helping me see De
Moines's true potential.
the reason I proudly call this my
forever home. Mayor Tracy Buckton,
you've done an amazing job. Matt
Mahoney, former mayor, you've done an
amazing job. We are grateful and we
celebrate you both tonight. Thank you so
much for your leadership.
>> Thank you, Betina.
Next up, Chuck Coleman.
Good evening, Madame Mayor, city
council, city manager, and the public.
Uh, happy holidays and merry Christmas
to everyone. Uh, Mayor Buckton and
Council Member Mahoney. Uh, this is a
letter that was from the Redondo
Community Association. Uh on behalf of
them, we want to extend our sincere
appreciation for your years of service
to the city of De Moines and to our
waterfront community. Public leadership
requires resilience, patience, and no
small amount of personal sacrifice. We
are grateful for the time and energy you
devoted to the city during your tenure
on the council and as mayor. You're
consist you consistently showed up to
meet with our community to listen and to
engage especially during moments when
Roondo was seeking direction, clarity,
or simply a hearing. We noticed and
appreciated your willingness to be
present. You played a role in bringing
strong administrative leadership to the
city, notably with the hiring of city
manager Katherine Cathrey, whose impact
on the city has already been
significant. Your support of efforts to
improve safety, including the
installation of speed cameras and
recognition on the on the boardwalk as a
park are deeply appreciated. We are also
grateful for the support you lent to
city initiatives that lifted up Red
Roondo's unique identity, particularly
recognition of the sixgill shark, the
partnership with the mass center, and
the rebuilding of the fishing pier.
These efforts help shine a light on a
part of the city that has had great
potential and they are contributing to a
growing sense of pride. As you step away
from elected office, we want want you to
know that your efforts had an impact.
The relationship between Roondo
residents and the city is stronger, more
engaged, and more forward moving today
than it ever was. We appreciate your
role in that progress and wish you the
very best in whatever comes next. Thank
you.
>> Thank you, Chuck.
>> Next up, Judy Gran.
» Hi, my name is Judy Grandandy and I live
in De Moines. Um, earlier today I sent
all of the city council members, the
police chief, the city clerk, and the
city may manager an email today about
the flock safety cameras, which use the
automatic license plate recognition,
also known as ALPR technology. This
technology is used for mass
surveillance, and 13 cameras have been
installed throughout De Moines at an
annual cost of $37,500.
This surveillance system compiles
mountains of sensitive data about De
Moines residents locations into an
easily searchable database. The system
is an enormous target for abuse both
internally and externally. The system
can also be physically and/or
electronically hacked. Um, a recent
Scadget County court case proved that
anyone can request access to APL ALPR
data through a Washington public records
request. Residents in Olympia, Redmond,
and other Washington towns have
requested to have their flock cameras
deactivated or suspended because of the
many opportunities for abuse. I'm
requesting that the city council call
for a vote either today or at the first
city council meeting in January to
decommission the De Moines flock
cameras.
Please respond to my quest to my email
if you have any questions um and to let
me know what your response is to my
request. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Judy.
Next up, Tina Orwell.
That's senator in baby talk. [laughter]
Tina Arwal. I have the honor of
representing the 33rd legislative
district in um in Olympia and I live in
the beautiful city of De Moine. And I'm
here tonight to thank um you mayor and
council member Mahoney for your service
to our community. Um I have been so
impressed by your presence in De Moines.
I think of all the activities and events
um you've been there. You've been there
for the community. You've also been in
there for the community in things that
people maybe don't often see like around
domestic violence and supporting
survivors. I also want to thank you for
your partnership on the airport. Uh, one
of the things, um, Mayor Buckton is when
we worked on fixing the failed packages,
you showed up in Olympia and your
testimony and support was critical to
moving that bill. So, I just want to say
you both have been outstanding leaders
and you're going to be missed and I know
you're still living here. We're still
going to tap you, but again, your your
service has really made a difference to
our community. Thank you.
>> Thank you. [clears throat] Very
meaningful. Thank you, Tina.
So, uh, is there anyone I normally ask,
is there anyone who came tonight wishing
to speak during public comment and
didn't recognize that you needed to sign
in? This is an opportunity for you to
speak if you'd like.
Okay.
Next up is our regional committee
reports. We're not operating uh accord
on our traditional committee uh modality
right now. Uh but we do have uh
committee uh council members who serve
on committees out in the region. So this
is a time for them to report out about
uh subjects at those tables that might
be of interest to our citizens. Is there
any council member that would like to
report out right now? Council member
Harris.
>> Uh thank you. Um, Wednesday was supposed
to be the last meeting of the emergency
management advisory committee. However,
the meeting was scrubbed, sort of moved
to something else because the uh
emergency operations center was
activated due to the flooding and all of
this stuff. Um I just wanted to note
that um especially for incoming council
members um based on what uh Mayor Kaplan
said um you can do things um these
little things in regional committees
that make a difference. when I got
involved with the EMAC
there, frankly, there's been a code
alert um notification system for phones,
but it um
didn't work all the time as well as it
should have. And um you know, one of the
little things contributions we've been
able to make is to get that fixed. And I
encourage everyone who has not signed
up, please sign up for code alert. It is
for more than floods. It is things like
these storms and it provides resources
to people um in any kind of emergency
situation like this past week. So um
please as you come into the council
consider that there are other services
that will benefit beyond um just what
happens up here every couple of weeks.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. Council member, anyone else?
Council member Mahoney,
>> I attended today the last um Puttown
Regional Council Transportation Policy
Board and really the big subject was the
regional transportation plan. That'll be
released next week to the public and
everybody will have until the end of
January to respond. And so it was a
great honor to be on that and try to
influence uh as much as I could to
benefit our city. Hopefully my
conversations about fairies and so forth
uh had some hit some hit some land and
we'll see what happens. Not that that that's like a bad pun or crossover.
But anyway, [clears throat] it was uh it
was an honor to finally get on. I tried
for six years before I got on it and I
was really glad that I I could I could
get that influence at that level. Thank
you.
>> Well, you were a good pick for that. I
appreciate your expertise that you built
over the years here. So, thank you for
serving. Anyone else?
All right. So, we'll move on to the city
manager's report. I'll pass the baton to
city manager Katherine Capri.
>> Uh, mayor and council, we have one item
on the agenda that is very important
that we're going to get to in just a
moment, so do not leave everybody. But
before that, uh, Victoria Andrews from
our citizen advisory board. Last night,
we had our last meeting of the year. And
so, uh, as a representative from CAB,
Victoria is going to give a brief kind
of overview on some of the things CAB
did this year and then we'll move into
the highlights of the city manager
report tonight.
>> Thank you, city manager Cafrey, and good
evening everyone. Uh, I am proud to
represent the citizens advisory board,
the CAB or the CAB for this report to
the council. Three of you are intimately
aware of what we have been doing. And I
want to begin by thanking our board
liaison, council member Oxiger, outgoing
mayor Buckston, and especially our
chair, deputy manager, deputy mayor
Steinmets. Thanks to to former mayor
Mahoney for launching us into existence
in 2023. And I want to express our
appreciation to our staff liaison, Tara
Vaughn, and to Alex Reyes and Bonnie
Wilkins for the administrative support
they're providing to Tara and our board.
For those of you here or watching who
may not be aware of what the CAB is, we
are two dozen current and retired
professionals from a variety of public
and private affiliations. We volunteered
for this board because we all want to
provide meaningful emphasize support to
the city and we've pushed hard for that.
We recognize and appreciate that the
city is allocating staff resources to
this body and we want to prove we are
worth the investment. I believe that
after the last six weeks we have
demonstrated that we are and that we can
do more. We were challenged to engage
with citizens around the survey that is
kicking off the city's strategic plan
called charting our course. Colleen Gant
abley chaired our efforts to engage with
as many citizens as possible. First our
neighbors, then our networks. Then
working behind the scenes, Colleen
enlisted us to distribute surveys at the
holiday farmers market, the food bank,
both libraries, four senior living
communities, daycare centers, and at the
tree lighting. We helped the city garner
around a thousand
» surveys. and city manager Caffrey said
that number would not have been possible
without us. The survey input will help
the council and staff crystallize what
our citizens think of De Moines's
currently and what they hope it will
look like in 5 to 10 years. A word that
came up the most often in describing the
current city was potential.
Some see that as a negative. The cab
sees that word as a positive and we say
yes. How can we help? The CAB
restructured and expanded this year. In
addition to representatives from the
nine neighborhoods, it also has members
at large. And within the board are three
subcommittees. Each presented their 2026
work plans at our meeting last night.
Briefly, the arts subcommittee chaired
by Jeff Cromp has done an amazing amount
of work in a very short time. They have
six really excellent bands under
contract for the summer beach park
concert series and are seeking
sponsorships to help offset the cost as
well as planning a poster contest to
promote the concerts. A sculpture walk
is planned on April 25th to coincide
with international sculpture day walk.
In the works is a jazz blues festival in
Backstage Alley with the CAB and the De
Moines Legacy Foundation as co-sponsors.
They're also working on finding local
businesses to sponsor new artistic
utility wraps, summer flower baskets,
and Christmas decorations. And a digital
short video contest for high school
students on why they like living in De
Moines is another idea the group is
considering. The human services
subcommittee is chaired by Karine
Anderson Ketchmark. Their purpose is to
recommend grant funds to nonprofits that
can demonstrate they provide safety net
services to our neediest citizens, those
dealing with homelessness, mental health
issues, domestic violence, sexual
assault, pregnancy, or food insecurity.
The city's budget for these grants is
not large, so it partners with a South
King County consortium of neighboring
cities to pull funds for a bigger
impact. In the past, a full-time staff
member attended monthly meetings,
coordinated the grant process, and
produced financial and service progress
reports. The subcommittee evaluated and
prioritized the grants proposals, and
made a final recommendation to council
on which would best serve our residents.
Staff support now has been reduced but
not eliminated.
And we are currently in midf funding
cycle. So each member will likely be
assigned to review a number of proposals
after applications go out in March.
Summer should be busy before the final
recommendations are made in the fall.
And finally the senior services
subcommittee is chaired by Eileen Evans.
They are planning periodic meetings to
lay liaison with Wesley Homes, Judson
Park, Huntington Park, and the Adriana,
sharing information and soliciting ideas
about events they are interested in
because other CAB members are part of
these communities. There's a lot of
collaboration going on with this sub
subcommittee as well as the arts
subcommittee. For example, finding
volunteers willing to transport
residents who are in catered living so
they can attend summer concerts. The
volunteers of the citizens advisory
board have each demonstrated how much
they care about our city. We ask the
council and staff to, as I put it, use
us, and we do feel we have become a
valuable partner to supplement what the
staff of a city our size is able to do.
We're all excited to help with the
strategic plan process, to solicit
community input on how how budget
dollars should be spent, and to keep
pushing to find ways to engage
uninvolved citizens. Thank you so much.
Victoria. Appreciate
it.
>> Okay, I am actually going to come down
to the podium for this next.
don't normally come down here so this
feels different but um we are going to
recognize um council member Matt Mahoney
and then maybe you'll agree to a picture
when you get this lovely um more than a
plaque I don't know what else to call it
glass sailboat um and then we can move
on to Mayor Buckston and then we'll do a
brief recess so family and friends can
take pictures and things like that so uh
I'm Katherine Cafrey I'm the city
manager um but on behalf of staff. We'd
like to recognize council member Matt
Mahoney for his service to our
community. Matt has been part of the
city council since 2018. He served as
deputy mayor from 2020 to 2021 and then
mayor from 2022 to 2023.
Matt, your impact is visible across our
community. You helped lead the
revitalization of the memorial triangle.
You championed the Marina steps. You've
strengthened the city's partnership with
the Mast Center. and you've supported
the development of a passenger ferry.
You took on quality of life issues like
championing legislation to ban
aftermarket mufflers. You also carried
forward important traditions and
touchstones in our community. You've
continued the recognition of Steven J.
Underwood's legacy and you have uh
advocated for veterans uh in a multitude
of ways and you have been um a
consistent leader organizing our
Veterans Day event each year. So, these
contributions will continue to shape De
Moines long after your term. And while
all these accomplishments matter, when I
reached out to senior staff and asked
them to share some of their kind of
favorite things about you, um what staff
spoke most about was the kind of leader
you were. You were a champion for staff,
not blindly, but with a real respect for
the work it takes to keep this city
running. You recognized effort,
encouraged us to think boldly, and
trusted that we could rise to the
challenge. Your integrity and
willingness to stand for what you
believed in, especially when it meant
choosing the harder path, left a strong
impression. We also saw the very human
side of your service. Your eagerness to
help community members whenever you
could, even when it sometimes caused you
a little trouble. Your generosity, I
will say this staff person said you were
particularly generous with your scotch
collection. I can't really speak to
that, but apparently he is. uh and your
deep unwavering support for everything
wide. So from the mass center and SR3 to
coastal cleanup and tenant associations,
our marina team in particular um shared
how much your engagement has meant to
them. So Matt, thank you for your
leadership, your conviction, and your
support for this organization,
especially during my first year here. Um
we are grateful for your service and
wish you the very best.
» [applause]
» and and council. I was thinking when we
break for the reception, we could do
like full photos with you all, but
» [clears throat]
» Mayor, do you want to say anything about
Council Member Mahoney and then we'll
talk about
>> Oh, heavens. Uh, oh my goodness.
Well, in this in this playing field as
far as um people that I met, he was the
first to become my friend. And um I felt
like a like a brother kind of. I mean,
we ran at the same time, got elected at
the same time. We've been to every we
were at every single council meeting all
along the time that we ran together and
championed a lot of the same things. I
thought a couple of other things,
Waterland Way, I mean, that was kind of
born out of and a real champion in a
backstage alley. So, I have appreciated
Matt so much, his support. I mean, that
guy, I've been jealous at how prepared
he can come to to a meeting and how
eloquent he can be in supporting the
things that are important to him. He's
above and beyond. Uh, anybody who gets
him for the energy of the rest of his
life is blessed. and so I've been really
honored to serve alongside of him. Thank
you, Matt.
» Yeah, I I wanted to to share a little
bit about um I met Matt during the 2017
campaign when I ran the first time and
somebody else beat me
and she's gone on to great things. Uh
but Matt Matt and I during the campaign
kept showing up at all the same events
and we started talking. and and we
actually became friends uh during that
process. Um he's really just a great guy
who's full of energy and was always
concerned about what he thought was best
for De Moines and how to do that and how
to get people how to bring them along to
his vision. Uh, I think one thing that
hasn't been mentioned here tonight is
that when Matt became mayor, it was
during COVID and it was during a period
that was incredibly
uh turbulent. Uh, that was then followed
of course by hyperinflation
and budgeting became a nightmare. uh and
yet he managed to sort of keep that
steady
pace uh keep things on a very steady
course uh for the city of De Moines. Um
and I think that you know we forget
sometimes what happened u but boy he did
just an incredible job of sort of
keeping a lid on everything. The other
thing, Matt, uh, that really stands out
is Matt is the kind of guy to just take
the bull by the horns and deal with a
problem. Um, and he'd certainly done
that on a number of occasions. It
stepped on some toes uh, occasionally,
but he is also the one uh, that
recognizing that the former city uh,
manager needed to leave uh, and went in
and negotiated that exit. Uh, and you
know that just that's a hard thing to
do. I don't know if everybody recognizes
how difficult that could be. Um,
particularly somebody that had sort of
been an ally. Uh, but it was time and
Matt saw that and he just took the lead
uh and managed to do that. He has uh, as
I me has been mentioned, he was deputy
mayor and then became uh, mayor. He's
always been focused on economic issues.
Uh
he's a veteran and championed the
Veterans Memorial. Uh he was actually
the one that made the motion to take
$100,000 away from the steps and put it
towards the Redondo Pier so we could get
it done. And that is one of the things
that has really characterized Matt's
time on the council is getting something
done and seeing the path to do that. So,
I just want to say, Matt, thank you very
much for your time. You've been a good
friend, and I appreciate it.
» So, we would like to recognize Mayor
Tracy Buckton for her service to our
community. Tracy has been a part of the
city council since 2018. She served as
deputy mayor 2022 to 2023 and mayor 2024
through 2025.
Tracy, your leadership has made a
lasting impact on De Moines. You were
fiercely committed to improving our
community engagement and communications.
You always make sure residents feel
informed and connected. You advanced the
public park zone speed safety program.
You've championed the steps. You've
supported the passenger ferry. And you
continue to work with regional partners
to really bring services to De Moines.
You've also strengthened our regional
presence. You've helped moved Skip
forward and represented our city as vice
president and now president of the Sound
Cities Association, which is a
collection of 38 cities in King County.
And Tracy is the president. Your
advocacy from human services and mental
health support to small businesses and
public safety have shaped our city's
direction in meaningful ways. So many of
the comments I heard from staff were
about who you were as um a guiding force
for our organization. They consistently
shared how seriously you approached the
responsibility of being mayor, how
intentional you are in your decisions,
and how deeply you care about serving
the community well. They talked about
your sincerity, your authenticity, and
the genuine way you showed up for
people, whether in big moments or small
gestures.
Man, I kind of tear. I got to stop
looking at you. Okay, I'm going to look
over here. Uh Tracy's engagement with
the community was unmatched. You were
truly everywhere. You were listening,
encouraging, making people feel valued.
Your support for employees has been
evident. Your enthusiasm for our
waterfront has brought energy and
momentum to ideas that will shape our
future. And on a personal note, I was at
the Sound Cities Association annual
meeting last week where Tracy was
recognized for her service and their
executive director began his comments by
saying, "Oh, cry. Working for Tracy
Buckton is one of the best things that
happened to me this year." So, let me
now say, "Working for Tracy Buckton is
one of the best things that happened to
me this year." So, I am forever grateful
for you being you during this past year
of tremendous transition in our
organization and community. We thank you
so much and wish you all the best with
what you do next.
[applause]
» [applause]
» Thank you.
Photoshop.
So, I don't know if the council wanted
to say anything. Yeah, go ahead, Deputy
Mayor.
Yeah, I just want to echo that working
with Tracy is one of the best things
that's ever happened to me. So, she is
um
she has truly taught me the power of
kindness
both in this job and other things. And
it's really um you know, her tenure
began in 2018 after what was really just
a great campaign between the two of us.
Uh we talked about the city, how we saw
it, and the future. Um and that's the
way campaign should be. It shouldn't be
about criticizing uh other people. So,
um Tracy and I don't always agree on
everything. Um but, you know, we are
usually able to work it all out. Um and
even if we ended up on the other side uh
of of issues, that never carried over.
uh her commitment to,
you know, local improvements,
her commitment to municipal facilities,
community programs, on top of her
regional leadership that she brought to
this job. I mean, you know, every mayor
everywhere.
It's just absolutely amazing the
connections uh that she's been able to
make. Uh and her style of constantly
reaching out, constantly talking to
people um has really, I think, brought
this city back together uh in a way uh
that it desperately needed to do. And
so, um, I just want to say that I
really, really appreciate everything
that Tracy has done. Her focus on
economic development, environmental
stewardship, public safety, and building
those regional partnerships has made De
Moines a better place and a place that
people want to come to. So, uh, thank
you very much for your time.
>> Appreciate you.
>> Thank you.
I didn't know we were going to make
statements, so so I'm not as prepared.
Um, you guys
>> notice you're going to make statements
>> in this particular area. Yeah. Um, but
no, uh, this city's fortunate to have
somebody like Tracy that loves this city
so much, you can only hope you get
somebody like her in the future. Um
she's one of those people that is so
kind and um I almost in some ways I
might have been the bad cup when she was
the good cop. Um, and [clears throat] so
be it. But you need that yin and yang.
And we were we were an effective team
together in that regard. And uh, we saw
the same visions of the city and we
could see the repeated struggles and the
in cycle of insanity. We continued to
follow and we knew we needed to break
that. And uh, I just appreciated that
she was steadfast in that vision as much
as anybody was. And uh
from the bottom of my heart, we weren't
as close the last couple years. We had
our differences, but one thing that I
can say about Tracy that
uh that is genuine is that she never
stopped loving this community and being
everywhere and every in every place and
her enthusiasm
was at an affection level stronger than
any co could ever be. Thank you.
[laughter]
» Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Well, if you want to take a quick break
for some photos. Absolutely. A quick
break about 10 minutes.
Do you mind doing the photo real quick?
Oh, yeah. Grab our
family members.
The De Moines City Council meeting is
now called back to order. The next item
on our agenda tonight is the consent
calendar. Could the clerk please read
the calendar for us?
>> Item one, approval of vouchers. Item
two, approval of minutes. Item three,
creating public safety sales tax fund.
Second reading. Item four, 2026 vehicle
purchase. Item five, 2026 to 2027 on
call on on call consultant agreements
for civil engineering services. Item
six, planning commission ordinance,
second reading. Item seven, marina steps
innovative storm water bio retention
testing on call general engineering
services task assignment with Somas.
Item eight, animal control contract.
Item nine, 16th Avenue, pipe project
consultant on call agreement task
assignment for engineering services. And
that concludes the consent agenda.
Mayor,
>> thank you so much. Do I have a motion?
Council member Mahoney.
>> So moved.
>> Do I have a second?
>> Second.
for Deputy Mayor Steinmets. Is
there is there an item that any council
member wishes to pull?
All right. All in favor, raise your
right hand.
It looks like it's unanimous. Thank you
so much.
>> Yeah. Excellent. Okay. Up next is uh
public hearing number one in regard to
our bianial budget. The purpose of this
item is for the council to consider
amending the 2025 2026 bianial budget. I
will now open the public hearing.
We'll begin with a staff presentation
with finance director Jeff Friend.
>> Uh good evening, Mayor uh council.
members of the public and also I'd like
to add a happy holiday season for
everybody. Uh Jeff Friend, finance
director, uh presenting the 202526
banual budget amendments. Uh this is the
second reading. The first reading was on
November 13th uh last month.
We're going to begin with an overview um
a little refresher with about the budget
u bianial budgeting process. Uh then
we're going to talk about the general
fund, spend some time there since the
general fund is our daily uh day-to-day
operations, and then uh finish up with
uh some slides on the other funds
outside of the general fund. So bianial
budgeting, biianial budgeting, I don't
know why I can't say it tonight. Uh what
it is, budgeting two years at a time
instead of one. So u municipalities have
uh a choice the state uh allows. You can
budget annually uh for one year at a
time or bianually uh budgeting two years
at a time and uh early last year uh the
council approved the change from
budgeting annually uh to bianually. So
this is our first the 202526 budget is
the first uh bianial budget uh the city
has done and how it works is year one uh
which is uh in this case with this
budget was 2024. So that is when the
budget is adopted. So council approves
the budget for both years. Uh so last
year uh about a year ago uh the council
approved uh the budget for 2025 and they
approved the budget uh for 2026. all at
once. Uh year two, which is this year
2025, uh state law requires that a
midbian review is done. So we review the
revenues, expenditures, and priorities
uh and make adjustments as needed. So um
if you do budget two years at a time,
you can't adopt a budget for two years
and then do nothing for a year. Uh and
the reason you would want to do a mid
bianium review anyway is because you
learn more as time progresses. You know,
different uh transactions occur and
whatnot.
So bianial budgeting the advantages were
it saves time and resources. It improves
long-term planning. Uh it enhances
oversight and it's less there's less
politization uh of the budget process
because it does not occur during an
election year. So it saves times and
resources and enhances oversight.
They're kind of related because uh
department heads and uh staff members
who are managing a budget spend less time doing paperwork uh with this
process than if they had to build from a
budget from scratch every year and
enhances oversight because they're not
doing all that uh paperwork uh every
year. That gives them more time to over
um have oversight over the performance
of their programs. and where we are now.
Uh we are at the tail end of the midbian
review. Uh so we reviewed the um 2026
budget and we have recommended um made
budget amendment recommendations. Uh I
want to clarify is not a new budget. So
we're just making adjustments to the
budget that was adopted uh for 2026 uh
last year and also for 2025.
So this is a schedule that shows the
timeline of the med bianium review and
you are here December 11th we're at the
end.
So um there's a lot of work that went
that took place before we got to the end
to the second reading of the amendments.
Um, beginning earlier this year back in
July, uh, we did a call uh, to out to
departments uh, for amendments and
adjustments. And then in late July into
August, um,
I believe it was July, oh, August,
around August, we had budget meetings
with each department and, uh, went line
by line through the budgets, uh, looked
at their projections. Uh, when we got
into September, we updated the forecast.
Uh then if you were at earlier meetings
uh you might have seen uh we had public
hearings in regard to property tax
levies and also u there was a budget
presentation to the citizens advisory
board. So all of those things took place
earlier this year. uh we got into
November. November we had the first um
reading of the budget amendments for the
bianial budget and now a month later due
to the you know Thanksgiving holiday and
whatnot uh we are at the second public
hearing for the amendments.
So on to the general fund
um the general fund in the budget
amendments. So we're working on both
years and amending them both. So, uh,
adjustment to revenue, we are
increasing, uh, overall revenue for, uh,
2025 by about $95,000
and in 2026, we are decreasing our re
our expectations by about $317,000.
Um, I want to also comment that the
details of everything is in the packet
uh, in the agenda item. And so, these
slides are very much an overview and and
highlights u of those amendments. So it
doesn't have the slides don't have
everything but they have the most uh
pertinent items that we felt should be
on display on the slides. So uh 2025 um
the reason you might see the schedule on
the bottom of the slide uh that shows
the revenue categories of uh sales tax
and BNO tax there and those reductions.
Um, so
you say, well, you're reducing it a lot.
Um, in that 2025 column on the right,
yet on the schedule above, it says we're
increasing it by $95,000. So overall for
both years, um, we needed to adjust our
expectations for sales tax and BNO tax.
And we have different types. We have
regular sales tax and BNO tax and
one-time sales tax and BNO tax. And the
difference is is if there's a project uh
construction project happening in the
city that's permitted at $50 million or
more, we consider that to be one-time
funds. So that's not something that's
going to happen every day. So we we
classify that one differently. And then
regular sales taxes that you buy
something from Amazon, uh the city gets
sales tax. That's just regular sales
tax. You know, if you go shopping in the
city or do online ordering. So that's
the difference between the two. We break
them out on the accounting side. And the
square footage tax we've talked about in
a few meetings uh this year. That's a
new tax that was uh adopted at the end
of last year, implemented for the first
time this year. So in regards to all
these taxes, you'll see that the sales
tax for one-time uh transactions and BNO
tax also for one-time transactions uh
are being reduced this year. that they
were just um BNO regular BNO tax was
just over budgeted and then the one-time
sales taxes because we didn't have we
had projects that were on the horizon
but we weren't too clear on the the
timing of when they were going to begin
back when we were budgeting in 2024. Uh
so those uh we hadn't seen the revenue
come in yet. So that's why we have to
reduce our expectations for that. Um the
square footage tax again um it was an
issue of difficulty of ramping up that
tax this year uh implementing it uh for
the first time and uh believe in the
first quarter we had collected $30,000.
Um and as you can see we budgeted 840 so
it wasn't a great start. Um by the
second quarter we had 103,000 but
through November we had about 300 uh I
believe 26,000. So, um, through all the
work of of getting businesses to comply
with the tax and collecting that tax,
uh, it seemed like reality was saying
$515,000
was a more realistic expectation than
$840 and $865,000.
Uh and then lastly um yeah then sales
regular sales tax um for 2026 we were
reducing by $70,000 uh just because of
economic uncertainty. Uh uncertainty has
just been a key word in discussing the
economy this year uh like with our
broker that we invest with. They said
they have almost like a swear jar for
anytime anybody says [laughter]
uncertainty. Um so we just we did a
minor reduction. We expect it just to
kind of stay flat hopefully. Um, but we
didn't want to overestimate
um how well the economy would do or
sales tax growth. If it if it comes in
higher, that's great. Um, but we didn't
want to rely on revenue that might not
be there.
Okay. For expenditures, um, I mentioned
that we had department uh budget
meetings
uh where we had line by line review uh
with all the leadership of each uh
department. Um, so that was the initial
uh approach. Uh then when all that
information is collected uh the
assistant city manager, city manager and
myself uh three of we look at everything
and then that's when we that's when
decisions are made. Um because these are
really requests by the department. Um
but we see how everything shakes out
once we gather everybody's information.
And then so after that took place um
following the city manager's direction
uh departments were asked uh for
scenarios where they cut just across the
board 3% of their budget and 5% of their
budget. So and again not that that we
didn't incorporate every suggestion but
again that was just again we pull that
together see where we're at um and then
more decisions were made and that those
are are reflected in these amendments.
But the goal throughout the whole
process is to minimize the impact of
city services as much as we can. So we
look where there can be cuts, you know,
look at where maybe that somebody's
projecting less than what was budgeted
for their expenditures and and go from
there.
Um cost drivers. So what's the challenge
for the city is I believe I heard the
word nightmare earlier in return uh in
regards to budgeting uh is inflation.
So, uh, we've had a lot of inflation,
uh, this decade and, uh, so it's been,
it was on the decrease a little bit at
the end of the last year and creeping
up, uh, throughout, uh, this year since
April. Um, not as high as it was a
couple years ago. Uh, but we still have
to deal with inflation. Uh, we also have
bargaining bargaining agreements. So,
the the city has three bargaining units
um, to negotiate uh, collective
bargaining agreements with. Uh, health
insurance premiums. I'm sure a lot of
people know those were uh shot dramatic
increases this year. And also uh Score
Jail has had some challenges of their
own and the city is an owner city of
Score Jail. So um they had a contract
from the state that the um state
withdrew. So that got um was about three
and a half million of revenue that they
did not receive. And also their
insurance is going up about 150%. So,
there's some cost challenges that the
jail has. Uh, and that filters through
to the owner cities and the owner cities
pay based on how much we use the jail.
And that's where we're thankful for the
city of Auburn because they use a lot of
that jail. So, [laughter]
[clears throat] I live in Auburn, so you
know, as a taxpayer, not too thrilled,
but as a finance director in city of De
Mo, pretty happy. Um, general
expenditures. So total adjustments
overall for both years in the general
fund would be an increase of $718,000
in uh 2025 but a decrease of 340,000 um
next year. So for 2025
um we have some unbudgeted items. And
when we do budget amendments, it's
because things usually it's something
happens that we didn't anticipate. Um so
for example, the homeless encampment
cleanup wasn't on our radar in 2024. um
but it occurred. Uh so we incurred that
cost. Um the body cam refresh is another
example. However, that item is also
being paid for um with grant funds that
are budget amendment on the revenue
side. So that's really not costing the
city anything, but we do need to capture
it in the budget on the expenditure
side. Well, on both sides, but um the
police salary, that's again um that's
kind of a placeholder for the collective
uh bargaining agreement. that's um
between the police guild and the city.
Um so the guild members have been paid
according to the old contract all year
and we've got to catch them up once
everything's in place. Uh so that
they've been paid throughout 2025 at
what the contract stipulates. Um staff
reduction costs were not included. Um we
there was a couple of director positions
that were um terminated and there's
employee contracts related to those and
so those um need to be included in the
budget as well. Uh for 2026 um
we have a number of decreased um
expenditures at least as far as what
we're planning. Um so there's extra
higher wages for the 52,000. There is a
position um that uh is no longer filled
uh no longer needed. Um we have some
public defenders expense that we'd like
to move from the general fund to um a
new public sa sales tax sa public safety
sales tax fund which we'll see a few
slides from now. Um insurance costs
we think it looks like we're going to
have a little bit of a decrease next
year. So it was decreasing about 37,000.
Um and then uh city currents uh will
also be um produced in-house instead of
um outsourced to a printer. Um and then
some lease I'm sorry police leases also
we'd see a reduction of 80,000. So so
those are some of the highlights of the
um reduction in expenditures and the
bottom line you see there is a
contingency and it's not a reduction but
that's an increase of 50,000 and our
next slide I believe talks about that.
Um, so budgeting a contingency.
So a contingency is defined as a
potential occurrence of a negative event
in the future. So it's a little bit like
a rainy day fund, but it's building a
little bit of a buffer in the budget for
when something shows up that we're not
anticipating. Um, we have a pretty tight
budget. So when something unexpected
happens that maybe there's a lot of
dollars attached to it, it really
affects our city because we're not, you
know, we're not a large city. So, and we
have a tight budget right now. So
unexpected things um
have an impact. And so one of the ways
to budget and kind of plan for that is
to have a contingency built in. So it
builds flexibility, strengthen
stability, um and it would we'd like it
to increase over time. So you saw it was
$50,000.
That's not a huge amount of money. we'd
like to see it grow over time to at
least, you know, maybe 200,000.
Um,
and then one of the things I had read is
like, well, why would you budget for
this now when things are tight, why not
wait for when things, you know, you have
more resources, things are good. But
when the comment was, when things are
good and you're not really worried about
anything, you tend to not, you know, you
tend to forget things are nice. And so
even if you take a little baby step when
things are tough, at least you're
building in your dis discipline when
you're thinking about how important it
is. So that's why we decided at this
point in time to budget um $50,000 for a
contingency.
And also that last line says it requires
council approval for expenditure. So
that budget line can't u be there's no
expenditure is going to be coming from
there unless it is approved by council.
As uh previously mentioned, health
insurance costs have increased. So this
year uh Kaiser Perente uh we saw an
11.6% increase in premiums. Uh Regents,
I should rephrase that for next year. We
see these uh increases. Uh Regents is
going to go up 8.7% and the left trust
is going up 5%. Um so this of course
puts a burden on the budget. uh because
in 2024 we weren't really seeing you
know we wouldn't have known that they
were going to go up this much. Um one of
the strategies that we addressed this
with uh in the budget amendments was
that non-represented employees
um actually in practice this is being
implemented. Uh the non-represented
employees are going to increase their
share of that premium uh by 3%. So the
city pays one piece of the premium the
employees pay pay another. the employees
will be paying 3% more than they have in
the past.
Um council budget uh this is aside um in
the first reading there was an initial
um proposal of $5,000 increase for
training and professional uh development
and then uh 30 about $3,700 uh for a
potential membership dues to the
National League of Cities. Uh following
that um proposal, there was council
discussion. Uh that council discussion
has resulted in an increase in training
and professional development of $9,000.
And it is um
and to not include the U NLC membership
at this time. So on the schedule above,
you can see that the new training
professional development at $9,000 for
next year is an increase.
This is the forecast uh based on our
projections uh with the um revised
budget. So the first column is the
amended annual budget for this year. Uh
the second column is projected actuals
for this year. Third is the revised
budget and then the forecast is from
2027 out. Um what we do in in this the
[clears throat] forecast that has a
beginning cash balance and an ending
cash balance which you see in yellow. um
at the end of every year and this is per
the the uh municipal code is um there's
a requirement that states that the
city's fund balance for the general fund
or um operating reserves need to be
16.67. So those are two metrics. Um we
report on a cash basis and so we try to
look at the cash uh balances. Um cash
balance uh percentages as you see along
the bottom of the schedule tend to be
lower than they would be for the fund
balance. And we do calculate both after
the year is done. Um because the fund
balance because it involves more items
from uh the balance sheet. Uh it
involves more than cash. it tends to be
higher. Um, but we want to focus on cash
because we want to have a strong cash
position because we know if that's
strong, we have enough resources for our
operations. Um, the 16.67%
um
is a um recommended threshold by the U
government finance offices association.
It basically means you have enough to
cover two months of expenses. Uh so
looking at these columns you see none of
those numbers are above 16.67%. Uh we
have a goal of getting our cash above
that so that we have enough cash to
cover two months of expenditures. But it
does grow in the next um couple years
according to the forecast. If you look
at the ending cash balance that's shaded
in yellow uh projected actuals would
have us at 3.3 million. Um we began at
two almost 2.9 million so that we would
have grown about 461,000
uh in our cash position and then u the
revised budget if things were going to
go according to plan as of course they
always go according to plan
[clears throat] we'd end 2026 with a
cash position of 3.6 million. So, um,
so that goes back to our overall goal of
stability is really if we build our cash
balances, we're going to be that much
more stable.
So, key highlights for the general fund
uh is improvement to the city's ending
fund balance and cash reserves. Uh, we
want to align uh revenues with more
conservative expectations.
Uh we targeted expense reductions with
minimal service impact and uh we
introduced uh a contingency.
So this reflects the administration's
long-term strategy to stabilize the
city's financial foundation over the
next several years.
So that was the general fund and we'll
go pretty quickly through the other
funds.
Uh public safety sales tax fund. I
believe that was last week that um this
fund was created and approved uh after
two readings by the council. Uh we
anticipate about $450,000
of uh annual revenue and the anticipated
expenditures would be about 240,000 for
a sworn police officer, 100,000 for
animal control and about $110,000 for
public defenders. So, if you remember
from the general fund slide, um we
decreased the public defenders uh
budgeted amount
in the general fund uh for next year by
110, but we're adding it into this fund
for 110. And as far as public defenders
costs go, um the reason that's important
is there the state uh mandated a
decrease in the case load for public
defenders, which is going to increase
the number of public defenders, which
will increase our costs. Um, currently
there's an RFQ that the city issued uh
for a contract of the services that are
currently working through. So, we'll
have more information on what those
costs actually will be uh early next
year
on the marina.
Uh the real highlight here uh for next
year is you'll see monthly mortgage rate
increase resulting in million dollar uh
increase in revenue. Um, and then you
can see expenditures, capital
improvements. Uh, we're increasing the
budget there, $820,000.
And the $820,000, I believe, represents
uh expenditures related to the tenant
restroom
service water management uh similar in the sense that we're increasing uh
the budget in 2025 and 2026 uh related
to capital improvements. So what we um
this year the capital improvements plan
was passed for 2026 to 2031
uh and money moves around between
projects um and things change timing of
projects changes and so what we want to
do is we want to bring the budget into
alignment with the capital improvements
plan. So as a result you'll see changes
in the budget here uh for both years for
the capital improvements uh for service
water management and then next year also
you'll notice a department of ecology
grant and local grants um there's
expected revenue of 120,000 $190,000 so
we want to increase the budget for that
on the horizon.
So uh February
uh there during the February study
session there's a planned overview for
of long range financial forecast and
revenue enhancement options. Uh so in
the last uh few months uh staff have
brought revenue enhancement options to
council uh for uh feedback. uh that
study session we're going to I believe
we're going to present them all um with
a model uh to see their impacts um and
get more feedback then uh so we'll
include a high level forecast uh through
2040 for the general fund marina and
surface water management and again as I
mentioned uh there will be a model that
will be very dynamic because my
department is making it so make it good
capture everyone's attention but um no
it'll be uh help see like well if we do
this revenue option and not that one.
What's the impact on the numbers and
then um we can see it in that model and
we can say welcome to our world in
finance. So
um that brings us to the final slide
that has the motion.
All right,
it's now time for the public comment
portion of this public hearing. Please
recognize that we'll not be able to
interact with you or answer any
questions during the segment, but your
comments will become part of the public
record on the subject and we'll
thoughtfully note your input. Please
keep your comments respectful. Please
state your name and city of residence
and you'll have three minutes to speak.
Okay. Okay. So, no one signed up to
speak. Is there anyone who didn't sign
up to speak who wishes to speak on this
subject?
Second call is anyone who didn't sign up
or wishes to speak on this subject.
Third call. Is there anyone who didn't
sign up to speak and wishes to speak on
the subject?
All right, council. Now it's time for
questions. Do you have any questions?
Council member Harris.
>> Um, yeah. Thank you so much. Um, can you
sort of provide a brief overview of what
goes into developing the forecast? like
how do you know what's going to happen
in four years?
>> That's a good question.
>> Thank you.
>> Well, I'd probably preface it by saying
you could you you would do when you do a
forecast, what you're doing is you're
applying the trends of right now
uh to the data going forward. So it's
not that I know what's going to happen
in four years, but we can see what four
years from now would look like if the
trends of today held. Um so
one of the probably the first step we
would do is um just look at our do
historical trend analysis and see um
like for sales tax for example, how is
it growing? You know, we can look at
that from month to month. Um so what are
those trends? Um, and then there's also,
uh, King County has an economist that
issues forecasts. So, there's also like
the state, so we can look at what
information they're working off of that
can inform our forecast. So, um, it's a
little bit of looking at our own data,
paying attention to what's happening outside the city, you know,
with the county and those things, and
then we kind of we bring that together.
Um,
and then that would form the forecast.
But it's I mean I just would reemphasize
that we're we're applying the
information we have today and then
that's why we do budget amendments
because 10 months from now that
information is going to be different. So
it's always the when you forecast the
clo the the more years you go out the
less valuable those years are. So um
because you don't because you don't know
the future basically. But when we
forecast, we'll we'll take what we know
today, apply those trends to the next
few years, and then if those are
alarming, then you know, you can take
action, and if they're, you know, what's
really the purpose of the forecast?
>> Yeah. No, I'm not I that was that was
meant to be a softball then, believe it
or not. You know, um I mean, is it just
more of like well, you know, inflation
is 2.8
or bond yields are this or whatever, but
it's not like um I I I'm just always
wondering if anybody ever goes back and
says, "Gee, I wonder, you know, how did
we hit them?" I I'm I've got airport on
the brain and I'm just always stunned at
how they can forecast 20 years out
>> within like a percent, right?
>> And I and but other things is a
crapshoot. So I just was wondering if
there was any accepted, you know,
boundaries for what you guys do and
that's all trying [clears throat] to be
>> No, I I when I think of forecast, I
think of of uh finance people doing
forecasts in 2019,
you know, so they might have had their
trends that year, but they didn't
wouldn't know what's coming the next
year. So
>> brother, you [clears throat] whistle and
Dixie. Thank you so much.
>> Right. Thank you. Any other questions?
uh along those lines. So what one thing
that you are are you saying that uh you
can't include let's say our planning
department has a backlog of pretty
significant projects coming forward. Uh
you can't really feasibly put that into
your forecast because you don't know. In
other words, there are things that can
come forward to interrupt
uh a challenging forecast, but you're
not allowed to to take this these other
projects that are coming forward that
might make a difference,
>> right? So, I think
yeah, when we forecast especially for
the I mean the general fund's all
operations
>> too concerned with projects um pro
forecasting for like u surface water
management, we'd probably have to
you know, leave out the capital piece or
have an average or something like that
because like you said, timing they can,
you know, a project can change when it's
going to start. You know, that it's hard
to forecast for those.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um, any other
questions? And looking at Jeremy, excuse
me, council member nut.
>> Okay, you're good. All right. So, I'll
[clears throat] now close the public
hearing.
Is there a motion? Yeah, I think. Thank
you.
>> Yeah. I move to enact draft ordinance
number 25-092
relating to municipal finance and
amending the 2025 2026 benial budget
adopted in ordinance number 1813.
>> Have a second. Deputy mayor Steinments
for the second. All right. Any
discussion?
Uh council member Harris. Uh, I would
like to make a motion to um require a
super majority of the council to approve
use of the contingency.
» Do I have a second?
Motion fails for lack of a second. Any
other discussion?
>> Council member Mahoney.
I just want to commend staff, your
leadership, city manager Jeff, as we
were talking earlier about the fact that
you really address the tough issues and
it's always a challenge and it doesn't
make the job easy and I just want to
thank you for that. Uh, you know, you
were when we were discussing options and
we and you brought up the bianual
budget, I thought it was a great
suggestion. I'd actually been told
otherwise before and I I'd never been
convinced of it. I just thought your
leadership here in this in a very
difficult time. I want to re reiterate
in the last five years if you look it up
inflation rate is 25%. and our revenue
maybe went up three. And um and that's
not counting some of the things we may
have done otherwise, but it's a tough
window and it's to come in and walk in
being the bearer of bad news on a
regular basis is got to be a damn tough
thing. And um I just want to commend you
and your team and the rest of the staff
um for the great work you did in this.
Thank you,
>> Council Member Grace Matsui and then
Deputy Mayor Ste. Thank you for the
presentation. I I I hope that with um
this opportunity for us to make
amendments to look at updated
information and data that it goes to
show that you don't set it two years in
advance and forget about it like a Ron
Poil commercial. You actually have to
come back and talk about the budget,
update it on a regular basis, whether
it's a two-year budget or a one-year
budget. And so, thank you so much for
making sure that it's in the forefront
and that we um aren't uh neglecting
something that really needs to be um
nurtured and a regular basis. I
appreciate it.
>> Thank you, Deputy Mayor Steinmets.
Yeah, [clears throat] I think you've
done a wonderful job of kind of laying
this out and
I think it's always been understood
um that a bianual budgets need still
needs an update, but it's a lot easier
to do an update than it is to start from
scratch and try to do it all over again.
Um, you know, I worked in the state
legislature on the staff for the Senate
Judiciary Committee, and every year
there are amendments to the budget that
change the various programs. And boy,
we're going to see some this year uh in
the state legislature again. Um, because
some of the assumptions that were made
just didn't hold true. Uh, but they were
made in good faith. Uh, and I think
that, you know, you're doing the best
that you can under the circumstances. uh
keep giving us the news that we need to
hear and you're doing a great job of
that and I appreciate it. I think this
is a good solid um set of amendments to
the budget and I appreciate everything
you've done. Thank you.
>> Uh before I call in you, Council Member
Harris, uh checking with the other two
council members. Council member Nutting,
do you have a question or discussion?
No. Council member Oxiger. Okay. Council
member Harris,
>> thank you. Um, I want to highlight
something that uh, director friends said
about politicization.
I was struck by that. I wish we had
enough money to uh, be politicized. Um,
but the thing the the the thing that
the politics are that we focus on now.
Um, I my mentor really stressed
behavioral economics. Um, people are
dressed up. It's festive. Um, nobody
there's never a good time to be the
Grinch. Um, and well, some of us are
dressed up. Uh, but the thing is, um, I
have seen this movie for 30 years.
What the politicization
I said that right? um is that everybody
when you're in local government, your
entire bias, you're like is to promote a
positive image in a way that if you're
in a state legislature or uh you can you
can have debates and you're not worried
about image. Um but there's just this
constant thing of trying to put the best
face forward of the city and that is
what makes it happen every five years.
You just you can't manifest
a sustainable budget through positive
mental attitude. Um but the focus on
like this time will be different. you
know, thank goodness we hired a new city
manager or it's a new year or whatever.
Um, that contributes to it happening
over and over again because people
always
will be that that's just how what humans
do. They always think that this time
will be different. I'm special. Now is a
new year. And it's just it's human
nature. Um I think it's the we are doing
so many great first steps this year.
We do a great first step like every five
years. Okay. And we never get to step
two. And we should have the humility to
recognize that and just it it you know
this is fine but um
it
it's a pattern and um and we should have
that humility to be able to say okay um
let's just
relax a little bit and um but just
speaking you know just in closing I uh
this entire process. We're going to be
talking about the economic development
grant.
It's backwards.
It is it it echoes
like three economic development
interventions since I've lived here. And
I wish people could understand that this
is kind of a groundhog day and have a
little empathy for me
having watched the same movie over and
over again. Um I want to be positive but
um
there is something about this that is
just so it's such a recursive deal. Um
and anyway,
>> all right. Thank you. Thank you, council
member. So, I'll say I I'll be a
representative of someone who uh
disagrees on that a little bit and uh I
feel like we're headed in a different
direction. It's a different season. It's
postcoid. We've got different challenges
and uh in the same way we do have to eat
food every morning. There are repetitive
exercises to solving problems. And so,
we've got to make good decisions to be
healthy moving forward. And we're making
some good decisions. So I I am the
eternal optimist but we're existing here
and we've got good leadership, strong
leadership, good transition going and I
believe in these people to solve these
problems. I believe in the staff and I
believe in this leadership and I believe
in the people at this dis and I believe
in those that are going to be here in
just a few more weeks. So I feel uh
these people are undaunted and will
forge forward and do well for this city
and I am unconcerned about naysaying and
doomsaying. So this is good progress and
I appreciate the ca the candid approach
here tonight and I appreciate it being
uh showed the truth and it gives us
something to work on and look forward
to. We've got lots of strategic and
innovative people up here. Uh up here,
down there. So, and thank you all for
being that way. Uh all right. So, we
have a motion and a second and
discussion. It looks like we I'm going
to wrap up discussion here and take it
to a vote. All in favor, raise your
right hand.
Council member Nutting, Council Member
Oxiger, Council Member Harris. Oh, it's
unanimous. Okay. Thank you. Motion
passes.
All right.
Okay. On to public hearing number two.
This is in regard to our west the Wesley
master plan. The purpose of this item is
for council to consider the approval of
the master plan amendment application
titled Wesley Homes phase 5. Please note
that this is a quasi judicial public
hearing. As such, the council has added
responsibilities and there will be some
notable formalities.
I will now up open the public hearing.
We will begin with a staff presentation.
Senior planner Jason Wy. Thanks, Jason.
>> Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, City
Council, everyone. My name is Jason Wy
as mentioned, a senior planner, and our
applicants, uh, HBL will be following me
with a presentation as well tonight.
So, let's see. Where's the clicker?
What is a master plan? What is the
purpose pursu pursuant to the the city's
municipal code? The purpose of a master
plan is to define the development of
property, promote compatibility with
neighboring areas, and benefit the
community with flexibility and
innovation.
Here's a nice illustration created by ah
Bill that gives you an overview of the
entire Wesley campus.
Um in the forefront here you can see
what has recently been completed of
Wesley. Uh you've got the gardens
building, the garden cottages,
brownstone building north of 216th
across going across on the skyway you
have the existing terrace building and
terrace cottages. Um, back in 2015,
a master plan was passed by council that
um allowed the first three phases of
construction, which is um the area in
the forefront that has been completed.
There is a current phase going on uh
improving the interior of the terrace
building. And now we're on to
what is the um subject of tonight is the
fifth phase. And that if you look on the
upper right hand corner, the creek side
building is the main main centerpiece
there. Um there's also a smaller um
maintenance building, some recreational
improvements, landscaping, etc.
Now, this is looking at the northern
area north of 216th.
You've got the terrace building on the
left, terrace cottages. You've got on
the right hand side in white, you've got
the um layout of the new creek side
proposed creekide building and the
maintenance building. North of that
there are some um carports in Brown
north of the terrace building
that's going on existing uh parking
area. You have recreational areas that
they're adding uh exceeding the amount
that's required by the city. There's a
little blue area there in the middle
that is a new pickle ball court. You've
got uh I think to the left botchi ball
court and then north the barbecue area.
North of the Creekide building you have
a dog run and you also have walking
paths through through an abundant amount
of landscaping
more than what's required by the uh by
the city. Um so
a little bit more about the landscaping.
Um so yes there's more than than what's
required by the city. What's required by
the city are the per is the perimeter uh
buffer uh landscape strips 10- foot wide
landscape strips. Um that's for
screening uh the rightway as well as to
the east we have some multifamily and uh
so th that landscaping must comply with
uh the municipal code and there are
strict standards um that it must comply
with and staff has reviewed I've
reviewed and uh feel like it is um
uh good it is sufficient for master plan
approval at this time. It'll continue to
be reviewed with civil plans during the
uh building permit phase as well.
And there's additional planting as I
mentioned um that some of it voluntary
uh and AH bill will speak on that a
little bit more as well.
This is looking north from the parking
lot adjacent to 216th at uh the new
Creekide building. It is a new 106 unit
independent living housing building. Um
it will be
close to 65 ft in height. The lower
level level will be a parking garage
with 106 uh parking spaces. The new
there's a new maintenance building I
mentioned before in carports.
Uh all bu all new buildings will have a
combined footprint of approximately
55,000 square feet.
I mentioned the recreation areas
uh more than what's required by the city
and landscaping again uh more than
that's required by the city. uh and it
includes over a 100 trees.
Now, this is the total count for the
entire Wesley U campus. The Creek Side
there is circled in red. That is the new
um project that's that tonight we're
concerned most with. So in total there
will be 497
independent living units, uh 50 assisted
living units, 26 memory care units, and
uh 72 skilled nursing fac uh facility
units. And those are actual units,
walled units. There was a question about
that last last week.
So
the decision criteria for approval,
number one, the master plan development
plan includes a general phasing timeline
and a bill will speak to that in their
presentation. Two, the plan meets or
exceeds the current regulations for
critical areas. Um, it was reviewed by
staff and it does comply.
There is sufficient capacity in
infrastructure in the transportation
system
and that was reviewed by staff and uh it
does comply. It is sufficient. There is
sufficient capacity within public
services such as water, sewer and storm
water. That again was um reviewed by
staff and it is sufficient. The plan
contains architectural design and site
design standards, landscaping provisions
for open space um etc. Uh and that has
all been reviewed by staff. Um it will continue to be reviewed during the
building permit phase as well as design
review phase. That's a separate
application.
The plan incorporate incorporates crime
prevention through environmental design
and that was reviewed by our police
department and um it was approved.
So, and then number seven, it actually
does not apply to this use. Um, there
are no laboratory uses.
This will be the motion um after
we get through everything.
>> All right. Thank you.
Great. Um, thank you. Uh, thanks for the
record. My name is Wayne Carlson. I'm uh
with AHBL
and uh I am a uh a planner and uh we are
providing uh civil structural planning
and landscape architectural services on
this project. Um, also here uh with us
uh this evening for any questions you
might have would be uh Steve Nornis who
will also be uh sharing in this
presentation uh with me um Heather Dart
uh executive director of of the campus
uh with with Wesley. She's here in the
audience as well as uh Chris Christine
Tmaine uh who is the vice president of
marketing and development with Wesley.
So, uh, my my presentation, uh, you
know, in terms of being respectful of
your time, I watched, uh, the the study
session that you had last week. And so,
we, uh, Steve and I have, uh, really,
uh, uh, fashioned our presentation
really to address the questions that the council had without, uh, trying
to duplicate, um, just the summary of
the project that that Jason uh, and and
city staff has already done. So, uh this slide is is a quick summary
showing us uh showing our consistency
with um the the development standards
and those uh those citations. And so, uh
again, we're proposing uh to to to be uh
be meeting uh the the height actually
being below the the the adopted standard
um meeting setbacks. You'll see
impervious surfaces. Uh we're about 20%
less uh than uh what what we would uh be
in terms of what we're replacing. Uh
parking meeting the parking standards.
Uh recreation space. We are proposing uh
essentially about double the common
recreation space. Um private recreation
area and then uh perimeter buffers. And
I'll I'll address uh perimeter buffers a
little bit more um on on the next slide.
Uh, Council Member uh, Harris had some questions regarding uh, landscape
uh, that I that I also wanted to
address. And and this uh, slide
advancers got a kind of handy uh, a
little uh, uh, red light here. So
hopefully people can kind of see this,
but uh,
maybe maybe not.
>> There it is.
>> There. There you go. Yeah, took a second
to to warm up, but uh one of one of the
questions uh was re re uh related to uh
to to tree replacement and uh you know
how many of these trees are being uh
placed on the the being furnished uh as part of this design. So a total of 99
uh additional trees are provided uh
going to be provided on the site. Now
the there will be 22 trees removed and
the city's uh standard is a 3:1
replacement. So of those 90 of those 99
trees uh 66
would have been required um anyway. So
um and then 81 trees uh essentially are
being uh proposed exclusively exclusive
of required rightway buffer and uh and parking lot uh internal landscaping.
So uh 18 additional trees beyond what
would uh otherwise uh be required are uh
included within the landscape plans that
our our landscape architect uh designed.
Uh in addition, there's probably there's
more than uh 2100 uh shrubs and ground
cover uh uh you know, plugs and and and
plants that are going to be part of that landscape design.
So, with this, I want to turn it over to
Steve just to to kind of talk about uh
some of the other elements uh that were
addressed in last week's uh presentation
uh for you.
» Good evening. Um, my name is Steve
Nornes. I work with Senior Housing
Partners. I've been the developer on the
Wesley campus. I started with this in
2017, similar to your time and working
with every phase and really glad to be
here tonight. Uh, just real briefly,
Wesley started 1944 and it was a place
that we wanted established where for
retirement, where seniors could live and
of all faiths will be uh recognized.
Kevin Anderson would like to be here
tonight, but he's on vacation. And but
Kevin has taken the torch and as we've
gone through, we said, "We're going to
need to remodel the campus. We can make
it more um uh modern and make it more
have available for seniors." And so
that's what we've done and made made the
changes. And so um and there are
pictures just about lifestyle. And as we
are developing uh it's just now bricks
and mortars but again it's developing a
place to live and a place where people
can enjoy life with community and
choice. So this is a picture that goes
back to 2017 before just for those who
this is what the gardens was in the
middle cottages surrounded the rest. The
terrace is to the right and the green
building is the care center which we're
going to demolish and build to do
independent living. And then you saw it
earlier, but here's another look of the
site. We really tried to set the campus
up to look at the Puget Sound, and this
is all remodeled with skilled nursing. A
question came up from last meeting. Are
the skilled rooms uh private? Uh all we
have 72 skilled beds, and they're all
private rooms. Um in the care center, uh
and this new building here has assisted
living, memory care, independent living,
and we have town homes in Brownstones.
We also put in the bridge which connects
the campus. And you've seen this slide
before. We're talking about the upper
part, the creek side. So,
architecturally, this campus, this p
this new design is going to match the
rest of the campus, the exterior
facades. And this is an evening picture.
Uh, every apartment's going to have bel
uh porches and balconies. Uh upper
leftand corner, you can see there's an
that's going to be an area where
activities can be. It's a lounge and so
people can be up there entertaining and
meeting with friends. I think the um the
reason why why are we doing it uh
there's a wait list currently there are
390 people are on a wait list today the
market studies have said if we go out
and do this this see what's available
there's a need for additional 360
apartments uh to fill and it really fits
with our mission statement to continue
providing choice in the area the project
timing is we like to start in the first
quarter uh second quarter April of 26
it's a 19month construction. The overall
project cost is $93 million and the
construction portion of it is just under
$60 million.
And then the real benefit to the
community, uh it's it at peak time,
Walsh construction, as it said be at
least 60 full-time employees. Uh the
housing, uh typically in our model, 70%
of the people who move in come from 10
to 15 mile radius. So that means 70
people or 70 homes will be moving over
that will be resold. Um we're going to
complete the master plan. Uh we continue
to be good neighbors uh for serving
residents and number employees. So
really this is about community. It's
about housing. It's jobs. It's about
completing the campus and it's really
about continuing the legacy of uh
Reverend Lauren Stanley. So just uh glad
to be here tonight and and thank you for
having us present.
» Thank you. Do you have another component
of the presentation right now?
>> That's all done. Okay. So what the next
up is uh council consideration. So I'm
going to read following are the rules of
order um in conducting tonight's public
hearing which is quasi judicial. All
council members should now give
consideration as to whether they have
one a demonstrated bias or prejudice for
or against any party to the proceedings.
Two, a direct or indirect monetary
interest in the outcome of the
proceedings. Three, a prejudgment of the
issue prior to the prior to hearing the
facts on the record or four, exparte
contact with any individual excluding
administrative staff with regard to an
issue prior to the hearing. If any
council member should answer in the
affirmative, then the council member
should state the reason for their answer
at this time so that the mayor may
inquire of the administration as to
whether a violation of the appearance of
fairness doctrine exists.
So, have any of you had any discussion
on this topic or do you feel you have an
actual or the appearance the appearance
of a conflict of interest? So, I'm going
to call on each of you individually.
Deputy Mayor Steinmet,
>> I don't believe it's a conflict, but I
would at least let people know that my
mother is on the waiting list for at
Wesley, one of those 38.
Um, that's fine. Thanks for disclosing
that, but that's fine. You can Council
member Mahoney,
>> I do not.
>> Council member Grace Matsui,
>> I do not.
>> Council member Nutting,
>> I do not.
>> Council member Harris,
>> nope.
>> Council member Oxiger,
>> I do not.
>> Thank you. So, now it is time for public
comment portion of this public hearing.
Please recognize that we'll not be able
to interact with you or answer any
questions during this segment, but your
comments will become part of the public
record on the subject and we will
thoughtfully note your input.
All comments by proponents, opponents or
the public shall be made from the podium
and any individual making comments shall
first give their name and the city in
which they reside. Individuals will have
three minutes to speak. No comments
shall be made from any other location
and anyone making out of order comments
shall be subject to the rem subject to
removal from the meeting. There will be
no demonstrations during or at the
conclusion of anyone's presentation. It
is not necessary to be a proponent or
opponent in order to speak. If you
consider yourself neither a proponent or
opponent, please speak during the
proponent portion and identify yourself
as neither a proponent nor an opponent.
» Okay. So, since we did not have anyone
sign up to speak,
uh,
I'm going to ask, is there anyone who
did not
who would like to speak on the subject
but did not realize they needed to sign
up in order to speak?
Second call. I think I have actually
four calls on this, right? Just three.
Okay. Is there anyone who wishes to
speak who did not sign up to speak?
Third call. Is there anyone who wishes
to speak who did not sign up to speak?
Okay.
Now I will inquire of the administration
as to whether there have been any
misstatements of fact or whether the
administration wishes to introduce any
material as to the subjects raised by
opponents or proponents or opponents or
during the presentation or alter in any
regard initial recommendations.
No. Thank you.
Council, do you have any questions?
Please, questions only at this time.
Council member Mahoney and then council
member Harris.
>> So, I was reading the letters that you
sent out recently. I think it was
yesterday. And the only question I have
is particularly from the tribe, one of
the tribes. This is a previously developed site we're talking
about. Correct.
>> Correct. And was this type of
exploration for indigenous archae
archaeological
evidence done before or was that
something that wasn't done in the past
when this maybe have been built?
>> That's a good question. I don't know if
it was done in the past. Um, this is a
somewhat standard comment that goes out
to a lot of for a lot of our projects.
Um
there's a another project that we're
working on that um we had to address
that as well as a condition um that
condition for the Madera um for another
project. We conditioned it um for them
to the de developer to get an
archaeological survey. Sorry. So I
believe that was a request by
Snowqualami tribe was it?
>> Yes. So that's my question. I assume
that that's good request is going to be
honored. Um obviously what would be the
process should they discover something
>> typically they would stop work and and
then follow the protocol which you know
I'm not totally familiar with but they
would have to stop and
um
>> similar to what we have
>> a survey even if they don't find
anything they're still required to do an
inadvertent discovery plan so a plan is
put together um on what what will be
done if something is found. So that's
part of a standard requirement.
>> All right. Thank you.
>> All right. Council member Harris.
>> Thank you. Um just along and this may
just be me nerding out. Um is there
anything um just looking at the property
that um are all are all the surveys are
they similar? You know, in other words,
is there something unique about the
property that might
cause delay to the project just in doing
the evaluation or is it just
>> So, we wouldn't know until an evaluation
is done. If an if an evaluation is done
um because this is a heavily already
developed site, we as staff I wouldn't
expect to see an issue at this site. Um
but like like was mentioned, Snowqual
Colony Tribe puts that request or
recommendation on every project that
they get noticed on. Okay. And the other
thing is does the uh comment from
ecology regarding arsenic does that pose
any potential challenge? It came in kind
of recently. That's another common uh comment that we get for a lot
of projects and it's not a big issue.
They will have to do go through the
process of um cleanup.
>> Okay. But it's just a known process.
>> It is.
>> That's it. Thank you.
>> Thank you. I'm checking with council
member Nutting.
No, you're good. Okay. Uh, any other
questions?
All right.
I will now close the public hearing.
Is there a motion? Council member
Mahoney. I move to approve draft
resolution 25-120
approving the master plan amendment for
the proposed Wesley Homes project LUA
2025-000026
subject to conditions set forth in the
resolution.
>> I have a second. Looks like I have a
second from Council Member Nutting.
Thank you very much. Discussion.
>> Council member Harris. Um, aside from my
uh, you know, just concerns because the
creek side is touchy for me. Um, if it
turns out, you know, analogous to the
terrace project, it will be spectacular.
Um, it's been a I I can't say enough
good things about it. Took a long time,
co and so forth, but um, the inside is a
place that you'd want to live and um, it
just
it's just a wonderful uh thing. So,
thank you.
>> Thank you. Any other comments? Council
member Mahoney and then Deputy Mayor
Steinmets.
>> Wesley's a great neighbor in our
community. Um throughout this process,
every development's been a upgrade in
this community. um uh particularly this
being on the other side with the terrace
and the fact that uh we all lobbyed to
get this uh the skybridge which ensured
their safety is going to be a great
connection. So I'm thrilled um for
Wesley itself and its residents and the
additional people that they're going to
be adding to their community. Um I
welcome in advance because I won't be
here to do it later.
Deputy Mayor Stemet.
>> Um, I want to echo a lot of those
sentiments. Um, everything that Wesley
has built has been really, really well
done, well executed. The building of
that sky bridge was amazing to watch
those beams go up. I remember being
there uh and you know it really even
though you were building across a busy
street, it was of a minimal disruption
uh when you did it. So I think the
process by which Wesley has taken on
these projects and executed them uh
really is to be commended. Uh it's it's
good and uh 160 more units of
independent living is just great. So I'm
sure the u the wait list will be very
glad. Thank you.
Uh any other comments or discussion
down the line? Uh all right. Well, mine
uh I am amazed at the hurdles that uh a
developer needs to overcome that we
commonly don't even see come through our
emails which we did this week in regard
to this. And it gives me and especially
your answers tonight. Uh this is common.
This we get this all the time. Uh it it
breeds a new appreciation for cultural
environmental protection, the processes
that we've got going on all the time
that when something goes in and
something happens, all this stuff h all
these hurdles have have been overcome.
Uh I I appreciate the work on behalf of
developers. It's so daunting to to get a
project done with that in front of you,
but it's just a reminder to the
community all of the boxes that are
being checked when something does happen
and something comes into the community
and the environment is disrupted. Uh
Wesley's a fantastic partner and the
residents there make great neighbors.
Very excited. Okay, all in favor raise
your right hand.
Uh looks like it is unanimous. Motion
passes. Congratulations. Thank you for
your time.
All right. Uh, next up is new business
and the first item is a grant acceptance
and economic development grant from the
port. The purpose of this item is to
seek council acceptance of Port of
Seattle phase three grant funding. And
we're going to begin with a res
presentation with city manager Katherryn
Caffrey and economic development
consultant Dan Ernesy.
And I'm not sure, mayor, if you want to
call up both items since they're sort of
related or
>> Well, I was going to open with this
presentation, have the discussion and
vote, and then skip the presentation
part on the next item. We'll just go
straight to a motion and discussion.
>> Oh, okay. We'll do the two presentations
back.
>> Yeah, you'll do the whole presentation
in as a group right now.
>> Sounds great. So, I'll start this. So,
this is really two items. The first one
is accepting a grant and then the next
item is what we're going to do with that
money if the council chooses to accept
it. So, um you all are probably familiar
with this because for several years the
city has received these funds. The Port
of Seattle does a two-year economic
development grant program. You can see
what the goals are there. Uh it is
available to the 38 cities in King
County that are not um uh Seattle. It is
not competitive in the sense that how
much money you're allocated is a
formula. Although it is not competitive,
there are requirements as to what you
can and can't use it for. Uh in previous
years, the city has used it for studies.
This is not a study. This is actual
implementation. So this is hiring
someone to do the work. So you'll see
here, this is the grant formula. Uh what
the city would receive from the port is
$68,800.
uh it requires a 25% match from the city
that those funds were included in the
proposed budget out of professional
services and then another 17,000 that
can be an inind match. So the total
value is about $103,000 and the total
kind of cash value is around 86.
So, because this year we were not
eligible to use these funds for a study,
and I think there's definitely some
study fatigue, we're actually looking at
hiring someone to really go through some
focused downtown work. As you all may
recall, the city does not have dedicated
staff for economic development. So, this
is actually a really positive way for us
to get the benefit of having someone um
in our organization doing this work
without having to hire the full-time
employee, which at this time the city
does not have the funds for. I also want
to talk a little bit about where this
focus area came from. So, we frequently,
and we heard it Tuesday night, hear
about vacant lots downtown and we hear a
lot about revitalizing the Marine View
corridor. And so what this is really
doing is getting updated information on
who owns property there because some of
that has changed hands over several
years and we don't have good records on
that. Really getting into contact with
business owners as well as prospective
real estate developers. Um and the hope
is to really get insight from what their
needs are to incentivize development
there to inform council policy
decisions. So occasionally I'll hear
comments of, you know, looking at zoning
downtown and things like that. It's
important that we know if the council is
going to embark on that, somebody's
going to be there at the other end to to
take advantage of that. So this is
really working on that. Uh so it's a lot
of real outreach candidly, a lot of
conversations, a lot of talking to
people, a lot of sitting with them to
understand why are they not developing,
what has stopped them in the past. So
it's pretty time inensive work.
Uh the timeline is that uh if the
council accepted the funds, we would
really start in January and expend them
over the year. The deliverables are
again really really valuable information
that could then like I said inform what
the council chooses to do especially in
light of the strategic plan where I
think it won't be a surprise to anybody
that economic development downtown
vacant lots I fully anticipate is going
to show up there in some way. So this is
sort of giving us an edge on that.
So, I'm gonna transition over to Dan and
let me kind of in um Can you give him
talk about what his role is? So, Dan
Ernesy uh has a consulting firm where he
has, you know, he'll talk about his
background, but really over about 20
years of experience in economic
development in this region, which I
think you all are familiar with. And so
Dan and I began meeting probably about a
year ago talking about how De Moines
could really start tackling this when we
did not have the funding for a director
level position. And so this is a
arrangement where Dan would really kind
of function as a fractional employee for
us at that really high level. So he
would be executing upon both this grant
as well as there are some additional
services in here to look at like pack
highway and some other areas that are
separate from the grant but are funds
that we would you know do in his total
contract. So the contract by and large
includes the port grant project but then
there's some other items we added on
there as well. So I'll let him talk a
little bit about his agreement and then
we can answer questions about both of
them. Dan
Thank you very much. As Katherine said,
Dan Ernesy, I'm
familiar [clears throat] with De Moines
from from birth and I'm very happy to be
here. So, thank you, mayor, deputy
mayor, council members, staff, and
public who have stuck around. Um I
thought when I came in there were a lot
of people for my presentation but
[laughter]
the so the proposed contract as was said
is a flexible leadership partnership
delivering tailored director level
strategic economic development guidance
without the overhead of full-time
position. cities around Washington
uh are having the same struggles that
you are having with finances because of
the 1% cap largely and I have been serving cities for 15 years
and I see a real need especially for
small cities to have
um just professional economic
development support
but they can't afford it and So if I can
be of service in that way in this stage
of my career, I think it's just a great
opportunity for me and a and a great way
to serve these cities. So the contract
details are basically runs through the
end of 2026, not to exceed 96,000, which
kind of in my head is roughly about
right for a city. It's about three bucks
per person who live in the city. you
know, it's just that's that's an
investment that is
kind of a logical investment of a
baseline. Um, the positive with this
particular contract is almost entirely
funded through this grant with the Port
of Seattle.
This is me. Uh, my experience
successful is one of those words that
every project we did made money. I was
an employee um and that's thus I'm still
working um 15 years of economic
development leadership in for cities
after that. So about a decade in real
estate development and 15 years specific
expertise especially in transit oriented
development and highway corridor
redevelopment
um and have done a lot of work with
groups like Urban Land Institute uh and
was on a national
um panel that examined how to do healthy
highway corridors.
Interesting facts. Grad of De Moines
Elementary, Pacific, I would say junior
high, Mount Reneer High School, and
University of Washington. I believe in
one-page strategic plans and uh spend a
lot of time trying to boil down uh
thoughts and do a really concise
statements. And I love metaphors and I
love van diagrams. I'm going to share a
van diagram in a moment but the metaphor
is uh that of economic development being
uh a lot like a surfer in that one can't
control all the macro events that are
happening in an economy.
But a good surfer like when they feel
the wave starting to surge, they try to
just get their surfboard up and going.
So then that can
capture the energy that is in that
system. And some of those waves are
positive, some are negative. You know,
sometimes it it can be something like
the pandemic. Sometimes it can be
something like interest rate changes and inflation. Sometimes it can be uh a
big macro effect effect like uh online
shopping and how that is affecting our
retail corridors and and downtowns. So,
uh, the ven diagram is one that I've
developed over time to just talk about
what how I, uh, how I think economic
development works. And I call it
disciplines of an economic catalyst. I
like the word catalyst more than a
developer because, as we just witnessed
with the Wesley group, they're the ones
really doing the development and doing
the investment. My job really is the guy
um up on top of the
kind of the cliff with the big boulder
and just giving it enough of a nudge
that that the private sector and the and
the market economy can really take over
and and the gravity can move things
forward. So what are those real key
projects that a city can do for example
that will then like the first domino
falling can knock over a lot of things
and and attract a lot of investment to
the city. So, three things I see. One,
uh, infrastructure. You got to put the
tomato cage on the tomato when it's
small. And it's same thing with
infrastructure. I I mean, the one we have so uh
prevalent in our in our world right now
is light rail. And congratulations on
the opening of the new station and what
I would call Midway Drive-In. And uh um
it's awesome. And uh but that's you know
obviously overkill for the size of of
the population around around you know
Highline community Highline College uh
sorry um right now but it is anticipated
that that will be serving a much larger
population as the Pugesound region
grows. So that's something that is a
system that has been built to support
healthy growth. placemaking, the one on
the bottom, things that really create
tangible growth and and and tangible
value. And the example I always give is
a farmers market.
We moved a farmers market into a
downtown. I can tell you that
immediately the apartments around
started to advertise that they were
walking distance from the Sunday farmers
market because they understood that that
amenity added value for their residents
and it allowed them to I you know I
don't know if they upped the rent but it
allowed them to keep tenants longer and
keep happier tenants and they probably
you know overall
those that are closer to amenity ities
do charge more rent and so those kind of
things that you know I'm I'm pretty
fussy about placemaking it has to really
be tangible has to create tangible
things supportive businesses
um it's a lot of businesses you can't do
you can't provide like handholding for
every business in the city so you really
have to be concentrated on those that
broaden economic opportunity create more
jobs create better jobs create um and
those that you know oftentimes fit in
those other categories that the
placemaking business you know the
quarter deck isn't maybe the biggest
business isn't employing a lot of people
but it has a little something that
really helps the city of De Moine right
so those are the kinds of uh specific um
targeted businesses that I think you
want to support now the overarching
thing that you do along top of that is
tell stories and the the result of those
stories should be to attract investment
and so you know just the examples I I
put up there but building systems you
might be telling the story hey did you
hear about the light rail station that
just opened in de mo is now allowing us
to get to downtown and getting to sea
jobs and so forth very predictably in
you know x number of minutes and it's
further helping people who don't want to
have a car or can't afford to have a car
to really easily um have transportation
at a a reasonable price. Um tangible
value placemaking. Hey, did you hear
about our our new uh stairs that are
going to be able to walk right down to
the marina and you're going to have a
little slide or whatever. I'm I'm not
sure what exactly you're having. You're
obviously having some storm water
management. Um but I probably wouldn't
talk about that. Um the storytelling for
the supporting business. Well, you know,
we've got these Wesley has been just an
investor in our community for decades
and they're continuing to invest. They
found that their investment in the past
has paid off. We've supported them in
that. They're investing another close to
hund00 million. That property once built
will probably be worth more like $140
million. That goes right on the tax
rolls and we're so proud of that. So, so
it's not like you're making up stories
about this. You're telling stories about
the very economic development work that
you're already doing. So, that's that's
what I do and that's what I see and what
I look forward to doing here uh both by
providing support
uh generally.
[clears throat]
You're in the middle of a strategic
planning process which is fantastic. And
I think over the next year, my hope is
that there would be an economic
development strategy that would really
complement that um and really take
advantage of some of the assets that are
in the city. Um evaluate uh marketing,
recruiting leads for cities. A lot of,
you know, you talk in economic
development, most of your work is in um
existing business, you know, helping
them expand, helping them invest,
helping them survive sometimes. Um but
there's also that kind of fun job of the
recruiting and so as there are I I will
be um able to to provide that service um
as appropriate and collaborate with
economic regional partners, everybody
from the big big people like uh greater
Seattle partners to the to the uh
chamber and so forth um locally and then
perform other duties as as signed in
writing. And then as as uh city manager
uh Katherine has already said the poor
Seattle grant will be really the bulk of the work. Um this is the proposed
motion that they had me put in here and
uh any discussion I'm think I'm I along
with city manager are happy to answer
for both both um both motions.
So uh as you so there are two motions
one presentation we're going to take
them one at a time. Uh so this first
motion is about accepting the grant. So
we'll open for questions to either one
of them uh with regard to the acceptance
of that grant. Any questions?
Okay. Uh deputy mayor Simments.
Um, is the port putting any restrictions
on the money in the way that we use it?
Is there anything that um,
>> you know, is sort of somewhere in the
background and have we looked closely at
it to make sure that, you know, the port
is not always our friend?
>> Well, we've actually received this, they
agree, but we've actually received this
grant from them multiple times in the
past. It's it's pretty flexible, but
when I on this um presentation went
through sort of the encompassing what
the work would be, that was our
application. So, um as long as we
produce that work and deliver it to
them, it's it qualifies. Um also, we
cannot do a study. So, uh they do have a
rule that you can only do studies I
think like once every several times you
get the grant. So, the last effort that
was done prior to my arrival was a
study. So this is really actually I
think more appealing and that we're
actually going to get somebody like
executing.
>> What was that study and what happened to
that data?
>> Well, I'd be happy to share. So that
study was done uh it's about sort of
general downtown development. It was
done candidly during the transition
period and I think the the the work
product quality was not um I think as
helpful as it could have been and it
absolutely did not reflect the entire
council's views. I would be happy to
share it with you all and I think you
will get a sense of what I'm talking
about.
>> Thank you.
>> Any other uh any other questions?
Okay, thank you. Do I have a motion?
Uh, Deputy Mayor Stein, let's go ahead.
I move to accept the grant funding uh
from the Port of Seattle in the amount
of $68,800
and authorize the city manager to sign
the economic development partnership
agreement um parenthesis P-0000322557
close parenthesis uh substantially in
the form as attached.
>> I have a second.
>> Second, Council Member Mahoney. Any
discussion?
Uh, okay. Council members.
>> All right. Uh, well, my comment is this
is exactly the type of thing that ports
are supposed to do according to the
RCWs. Fostering economic growth,
stimulating businesses, promoting
tourism, and using its powers to
encourage development. So, I appreciate
that's exactly what we're using this
for. So, uh, with no further discussion,
take it to a vote. All in favor, raise
your right hand.
Uh, okay. Council member Nutting,
Council Member Oxford, Council Member
Grace Matsui, Council Member Mahoney,
Deputy Mayor Ste, and myself. All
opposed. Council member Harris. Motion
passes. We move to the second subject.
We've had the presentation. This is in
regard to the economic development
support services contract with Dan
Ernesy. Uh, do you have any questions,
Council Member Harris?
>> Uh, good to see you again, sir. Um, are
you currently employed with the city of
Everett?
>> I am.
>> Okay. Will you continue in that? Is it I don't know how this works. So, is it
that kind of normal for your world?
>> Well, it's not normal. It's it's a it's
a situation where the um
because of financial
constraints at the city of Everett, they
suggested that I could go to a
lower pay. I'm at a part-time pay rate
there so I could grow my consulting
business simultaneously.
So it's with what full disclosure that
I'm going forward, but it is unusual.
>> Um, uh, have you had discussions about
this being a or do you think of this as
a one-time kind of a deal or is an
ongoing renewable
thing or have
>> I'll answer that one. So the contract
before you is a one-time um, and I think
what we want to see is how this goes and
see what kind of direction and plan
comes out of it. and then the council
can give us instruction on how to move
forward.
>> Um, and one last thing you mentioned,
um, transit oriented development. Um,
how do you feel about a shuttle in the
south end of town
to supplement the light rail? You
mentioned it as being the light, you
used the word, I believe, overkill of
that light rail station relative. I I
assume you meant to
>> uh council member Harris
>> I would I would uh relegate that to a
different discussion right now. We're
just trying to decide if we're unless
you substantially feel like this is
going to affect your opinion on whether
you want to vote in favor of this or
not. It's a different discussion.
>> It's a weird thing because it's sort of
a job interview. I mean it's unusual for
us to have a presenter who is not
actually within the employee of the city
of De Mo. So, um, I withdraw. Thank you.
» You know, we actually do have
consultants that work for us for a whole
variety of areas. We have a consultant
that works for us for some strategic
communications. We have them in other
areas. So, this is actually not an
unusual arrangement because there's so
much discussion about economic
development. I thought it would be great
for you to hear from the actual person
that would be doing the work.
Okay. I'm going to move to the next uh
next comment. Uh we are still right now
on questions. So a qu uh deputy mayor
Stemet
>> Mr. NY does your um consulting firm have
staff other than you
>> that'll be working on this? Not at this
time not, but I I anticipate
uh recommending to the city that if
there are other
u either people or companies that could
be sub
could fulfill the the overall scope
better than I could that the city would
contract with them directly um rather
than than through my company so they
could get, you know, direct service and carry over. I especially with the uh
couple of the uh the port grant
deliverables. I think that you know you
don't necessarily want to pay your
director to do all the work. And so
anywhere there can be efficiencies or
cost savings for the city that's
strategic, I will definitely recommend
that. Um but not uh right now I don't
have any staff.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Yeah, you bet.
>> Any other questions?
Looking up to council. Okay.
All right. Uh, we'll move forward to the
motion. Do I have a motion? Council
member Mahoney.
>> I move to approve the professional
services consultant agreement with
Ernest Cy Consulting for the economic
development services in the amount not
to exceed 96,000 and further authorize
the city manager to sign said contract
substantially in the form as submitted.
Do I have a second? Looks like a Deputy
Mayor Simons for the second discussion.
Uh, Deputy Mayor Simments.
>> Yeah, I'm I'm really excited uh about
this. I think this is a um
a subject matter that the city needed to
address at a professional level and has
needed to address that at a professional
level for a very long time. Um, as
indicated,
all small cities are going through very
similar issues and um, trying to pay
another director level salary to bring
in somebody on the staff is just really
difficult. Uh, and we can't find the
funding for it and I think this is a
wonderful solution. I am very pleased by
your connection to De Moines. Um, I
remember the uh interviews from
[clears throat] earlier uh and and I
have no doubt uh that you really love
this city and you will do the best you
absolutely can for it. Thank you. I
intend to vote for the contract.
>> Thank you. Any other comments or
discussion? Council member Harris and
then uh Council Member Mahoney.
>> Um I want Mr. Ernesy to know how much I
appreciate him. Uh and um I will be
voting no because for the same reason
comments I made during the budget. This
is entirely
backwards. It is a groundhog movie that
I've seen over and over again. Um I will
note that our last city manager had
three degrees from Cambridge and we've
gone through all kinds of stuff and uh I
believe you know it's an unusual thing
for us to have any kind of input into
hiring of staff but um I really
I think the public needs to be sold on
what we plan to do supposedly the
strategic plan but over the course of
the year we've done everything and then
put that at the very end of the pipe and
so to my mind it makes it
basically cosmetic and um I don't feel
great about it the the things that need
to be done in the study which the public
um those are really useful things to do.
Um there is valuable data gathering that
should be done, but this is far too
expansive and um it it's the kind of
thing I am having these echoes of the
Holmes group and um Peter and this
turning into the never ending story and
just
>> Okay, there. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh Council Member Mahoney,
>> I have to be honest. I have one concern.
It's the choice of college you went to.
Um, [laughter] you could have gone east
and had a much finer education, but you
know, [laughter] there are those that,
you know, we tolerate. Um, I'm just
kidding. Uh, no, I uh and and our mayor
knows this particularly
uh as I as coming through the leadership
in the council,
I think we were that voice a lot of
times trying to sell this city. I was
always try I was meeting different
developers and people that might be
interested in investing in the community
facilitating meetings with them kind of
selling selling the city to have
something more templated is going to be
a great benefit. Uh we were kind of
inventing it along the way and we did do
bad and we had a couple good chances at
some of the development. Of course, CO
was kind of a stick in that, but but to
be able to have something a little bit
more concrete to sell the city because
we do have a lot to sell and I think
where we're headed is in the right
direction. Um, you you know, I was
impressed with your services or what you
offered us when you applied for another
position and saw the experience and the
value get that and I know the city
manager and I had a couple conversations
about you and what you could provide to
the city and I agreed with it. I think
you can bring a great asset to our
community. Uh the the bonus is you grew
up here, you know it, you do want to see
the city succeed more than more than
just what I say the average consultant
we might hire. And I think that's a good
thing.
Repeat or no repeat, you offer something
in a changing time and a skill set that
this city needs. And you come at the
right place at the right time and and
I'm looking forward to it. So I'm going
to support it. Thank you.
Right.
Okay. My comments uh after reading the
scope of work which were was uh the
scope was up on this uh slide there of
the bullet points of the things that
this contract's going to provide. So I
am so excited to have this support. Uh
I appreciate the character and the
candid uh information about I mean just
standing there offering. I'm not going
to take a cut of any kind of revenue
here that I don't need to. Uh that that
says a lot about the kind of service
that we're going to get here. And
honestly, I think that this his work is
going to inform our strategic plan. I
don't think it's an inappropriate uh
inappropriate order. And uh
I'm very I'm I'm thankful that we're at
this juncture and we can make this
decision tonight. So
without further ado, all in favor raise
your right hand.
Council member Nutunning,
[clears throat] Council Member Oxer,
Council Member Grace Matsui, Council
Member Mahoney, Deputy Mayor Steyets,
and myself. All opposed, Council Member
Harris. Motion passes. Thank you so
much, Dan. We're excited to have you
aboard.
Appreciate it.
All right. Next up is uh new agenda
items for consideration. Uh, I think
you've heard me talk about this several
times. This is an opportunity for
council members to present something
they'd like to have appear on a future
agenda. Any council members have
something they like they would like to
propose?
All right, moving on. Next up is an
opportunity for council member to give
us their reports. And tonight we're
going to start with council member Grace
Matsui.
» Thank you. Um,
I had the opportunity to uh uh go out
and see some folks at some events this
week. It's been a reactivation, I guess,
of a lot of our social calendars. I know
there's plenty of community events that
are coming up as well. I want to say a
special thanks to all the staff who
helped out at our town hall and talking
about the strategic plan. The kids
corner looked like it was a hit. Uh
there were lots of engaged folks putting
um their vote up and talking to folks. I believe you probably had a a lot of
cookies go out the door and water handed
out as well. I was very encouraged by
the participation uh by the willingness
of folks to come out on a Tuesday uh
evening and and talk about how they see
De Moines now and what they would like
to see in the future. And uh I hope
folks saw the all the council members
who were there and uh how much we are
listening and really wanting to uh stay
in tuned uh with what our community's
visions are and what some of those
challenges are. I will say that some of
those forced question activities were
very difficult. Um and uh I'm hoping
that we can find ways to accommodate
both. And many of you who are here in
the room were there to see some of those
things where you have to wrestle with uh
preserving open spaces or development
and how do you have those things at the
same time and we were forced into a
choice and it was very difficult. But I
guarantee that those are questions that
will wrestle for years to come. So I
appreciate that. I hope that you all
have um lots of great uh family time in
the next month and uh that is the
conclusion of my report.
>> Thank you, Council Member Nutting.
» Nothing this week, Mayor. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member. Council
member Harris,
>> thank you. Um I uh watched the uh well
first of all um forget that I I watched
the uh the citizens advisory board um
meeting today and I want to just note
how thoughtful so many of the uh
comments were. Um
uh one person made a really good remark
about the uh survey that did get a lot
of uh feedback and she she said why
wasn't the airport
mentioned and I I I love that because
it's um it's the thing that somebody if
you're an outsider you just within five
minutes it's like that's it.
But we're so inured to it. I think it's
not that people don't care about it.
It's that I'm pretty sure whoever came
up with a survey just they're inured to
it or they think there's nothing that
can be done about it. Uh [clears throat]
the same thing with so many things
around here. I heard a discussion of um
of potential and the city manager, you
know, interpreted that as
disappointment and other people said,
you know, no, it's more positive. But um
it's not disappointment so much as just
being inured
to [laughter] just it's this chronic
thing. It's like having if you're lucky
enough to have children, they reach a
certain age where you go, "Come on, man.
Are you ever going to get a job?" You
know, and um that's the thing. There's
just this
people just get inured to stuff. Um a
couple of members mentioned better
outreach and I really appreciated that.
Um we have this
we're in this bubble frankly and um when
I started going to St. Filamina so many
years ago it was like 90% people who
look like me English speakers 10%
Hispanic uh Spanish speakers and now
it's flipped
it by rights it should be a uh it should
be the whole thing should be a Spanish
language um thing um
but and and that is a hub for a a large
population that will basically you will
never see on Marine View Drive or um I
mean you may be at the beach park on a
Sunday and there are a dozen um
communities that I have you know had the
um privilege to get to know over the
years um that are not represented
and that they're not going to be part of
a survey. It's not that it it it's just
there has to you have to decide do you
want to actually capture the entirety of
the city or do you want to make it more
of what you already like about it but
it's self- selecting
the I spoke with a couple of county
council members this week and you know
everybody talks about how we
[snorts] South King County has grant
money available. People just don't apply
for it.
And we should take note of that and
somehow um reform how we
part of deciding what we want to be is
going to be deciding do we want to
actually represent the people who are
here
and do we actually want to attract a
wider cohort of people to the town
because that's really what's going to
you know determine how much economic
development you can do. Do you really
want more people to come here? It's it's
a real question and I don't think we've
addressed it at this point and
I sure hope we uh start taking that
seriously. One
>> Thank you, council member. You need to
wrap up one last sentence, please.
>> I wish our budget included the marina.
It goes out went out to 20. We need to
close in one sentence
>> and it should have gone to 2032.
>> Thank you.
All right, Council Member
Oxiger.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um [clears throat]
we had a lot going on our plates this uh
last uh week and uh last weekend the
inauguration of the light rail uh
$2.5 billion
asset that's now at our eastern door and
uh I was quite encouraged that I took
the inaugural train from
uh federal way back to the college
station here. And it was interesting as
we were getting off, now this is the
inaugural train, right? As we were
getting off, there were people
waiting to get on with their luggage.
They were going to the airport.
>> Wow.
>> I mean, it's like they must have they
must have, you know, been online saying,
"Can I take this train?" You know, I
think it's going to have a huge impact.
Um, hence, you know, I've made the
request in the past that we really
accelerate the our last mile uh
considerations and also thank you for
the the references to, you know, our uh
economic development of the area up
there. The transportation or oriented
development is going to be very
important. Uh anyway, it was it was a
great event. started out at like seven
o'clock in the morning because I had
some
other uh duties I was having to do with
regard to it. But and then we
got home, no longer got no sooner got
home and then had to turn around around
and come right back for the tree
lighting down at the or the Yeah, the
holiday tree lighting at the marina
which uh was excited to see the number
of people that that came out and uh it
looks like it, you know, is has the
potential of being, you know, an even
bigger and better celebration than we've
had at Big Catch Plaza. So, I was glad
to see that. I will add that coming up
Saturday night 5:00 pm down in Roondo,
uh they are reviving their tradition.
We'll say reigniting their tradition,
>> reignite
>> of uh an annual bonfire. Uh
it actually coincided with the uh Argusy
Christmas ship which because of COVID
has for the last few years not been
coming uh coming out onto Puget Sound
although this year they are doing
something in Tacoma. So hopefully we can
get that back. But it's again it's a
celebration of the Redondo community and
the the uh whole south end. So that's at
five o'clock
on Saturday and I know that several
council members have indicated they
would be there and
other than that uh
happy holidays and also to the mayor and
to former mayor uh
Mahoney uh thank you for your service
and
on we go.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very
much. Moving on to Deputy Mayor
Steinmets next.
>> Okay. Boy, it's gonna sound very very
familiar because there are a lot of
events going on. I I also was at the
light rail uh celebration starting in
Federal Way. Took the train up here uh
to the Kent De Mo station and um did and
was part of the celebration up there. It
was wonderful. Uh nice to see everybody
is involved in that. From there, I went
to the De Moines Historical Society,
which is having an open house uh on
Saturday afternoon. Um it's a great
little place. If you've ever seen it, I
would encourage people to do it uh and
just go take in a lot of the things that
they have, but it's really nice. Uh the
tree lighting again was Saturday night.
That was a wonderful thing uh to do and
it was a big success. U more people than
I think we've ever had a big big big
tree big catch plaza and you know nobody
was uh stepping off the curb into
traffic either which is which is a
really good thing. So I think that has
great potential uh at this point. Um and
you know I was at the cab meeting uh the
town hall meeting of course I'm here
tonight. Don't get a night off. I think
I thought things might slow down after
the election.
I still go go but it's fine. Uh the
Roondo bonfire I got an invitation to as
well and uh you know if the weather gods
cooperate
uh we'll see you there and um you know
previously I was at the Sound Cities
Association that honored Mayor Buckton
uh as the outgoing president of Sound
Cities Association and I just want to
say to both you and uh Matt Mahoney that
I'm really going to miss both you really
appreciate getting to know you I know
they continue to be friends, but
you've been a huge asset here. I
appreciate
>> Thank you.
Thank you. Well,
Matt, I'm going to turn it to you and
call you Matt because you've been my
friend.
>> That's fine. Thank you, Mayor Tracy.
>> Um, I'm gonna exercise a little bit of
privilege here as I exit um eight years.
I'm gonna a little bit longer than the
four minutes. I hope that's okay. And
>> yes,
>> it is.
>> Uh this was an eight-year journey,
actually a nine when you count the
campaign and then of course being
involved in the community several years
before that. I want you to know it's
been a very tough and tall order to move
this city forward. During my time on
council, we went through some of the ve
a very tough times. We endured co
leadership changes trying to pass a bond
that I think is going to change the city
um in great ways severe inflation and
unfortunately difficulty with some
council members pertaining to domestic
abuse, verbal abuse of staff, violations
concerning conflict of interest, and
while we continually battled media
channels that misinformed our residents.
I've been pondering the words to say for
some time. So when I attended the town
hall a couple nights ago and like many
of the events I attended over the past
12 years of various forums and
neighborhood meetings, the same three
things are always the priorities. Public
safety, development of the downtown and
the wateride and fiscal sustainability.
I keep hearing it time and time again
that we should listen to the residents.
And the funny thing is that's exactly
what the majority of the council has
been doing for many years.
Every action we have taken has been
predicated on these very ass for
decades. The city has studied the marina and various aspects
of future planning for the city and the
results continue to be quite frankly the
same. New studies are consistently
requested and I'm not saying they're not
valid to do and the reports are and will
be pretty much the same as what we
continue. What's missing and our has
been missing is taking action.
How long do we all really want to just
talk about it? So in the past 8 to 10
years, I'm proud of what we've pushed in
action because for decades, we've made a
tremendous amount of progress over the
last decade that we've been involved and
I'm very I think we've succeeded in what
we can do. Much may be said of my time
on council and so be it. I have never
cared about getting credit and I've
always been welcome to take the blame. I
only cared about breaking the decades
old cycle of doing the same thing and
getting nowhere. From my heart, I can
tell you this. I've never shir from my
responsibilities to do what needed to be
done to move this city forward.
Getting the bond passed will finally
break the city free and away from the
paralysis by announce that has plagued
our community.
The support we provided for our business
in times of emergency COVID and other
situations
I believe saved many of them.
Changing leadership at the city manager
level was one of the toughest things I
have ever done. In truth, I'm incredibly
happy with the current leadership, but I
also want to acknowledge the hard work
of the past under difficult
circumstances.
Personally, leading this change came at
a at a cost greater to me personally
than anyone but myself will ever know.
I am okay with that. I really am. The
challenge of COVID and the severe
inflation are real despite the fact that
so many deny them. The fact that our
costs have gone up 25% and our revenue
may be three to four uh in the past five
years alone minus any efforts we've made
to close the gap is staggering for the
city's better It's a staggering impact
to try to better better the community.
The sad thing is even on this day is
some have never acknowledged the fact
and that should be concerning. Yet
through all this it was an honor to
serve De Moines because I believe in our
future. I want to thank what I c I'll
call the most excellent staff a city
could ever have. As red is as we are
fortunate to have them. They are highly
experienced, qualified and ex an
effective group and worth every penny we
pay them. I am thrilled about our city
manager and her team and and her team
and what they can accomplish if they get
the support they need to move this city
forward. Thanks to Katherine. I guess
we're all going by first names right
now. I am so glad you are at the helm.
I've hired some great people in my
career, but you are one of the best.
Thanks to Tim, George, and your team as
well. I don't want to forget the team.
And so I'm if I'm missing names here, I when I to choose a leader, I also mean
their team. You brought us through some
really challenging times and were always
sound with your advice.
Um, you know, we had those meetings and
trying to deal with difficult situations
and I want you to know that I appreciate
you more than I think you will ever
know.
I also want to say that same thanks to
AJ and her team.
Your knowledge and thoughtful demeanor
resonate excellence, especially as we
negotiated some pretty heavy actions
and I just appreciate that. And I want
to thank Jeff and his team. Your passion
for finance, which some people might
think is wrong.
I don't. I'm just going to say that is
unsurpassed. and your willingness to go
ahead with the tough fiscal environment
and decisions we currently live in is
deeply appreciated. I want to thank
Chief Bo and for that matter former
Chief Thomas and our police department.
Thank you for keeping our city safe and
I am deeply sorry I could not do more to
ensure that our officers are adequately
supported.
I fear for our officer safety because of
the levy failing. I'll be candid.
I want to thank Mike Sleven and his
team. Is he still here?
>> Oh gosh. Okay. Well, he better listen to
this later. I really appreciate your
expertise in the field of public works.
Project initiation and transportation.
Without your help, I fear the city would
have spent the next dec decade swirling
in the same conversation we just
finished battling through. Your
oversight of the marina, Roondo, and the
Veterans Memorial on the north end of
town will change the city's course
forever. You know it and I know it. And
by the way, he can never retire.
[laughter]
I'm sure that other staff leadership
would concur. And I want to thank
Rebecca. Um, you might not know this,
but the reason I went on went and ran
for city council was because I I
improved the home and I went through an
horrible experience with the permit
center and I electricians and stuff. I'd
call them up and once they found out it
was De Moines, they didn't want to work
here. I think that you're going to
change that dynamic and I'm going to see
our ne not only our city improve but our
neighborhoods as well and it gives me
peace knowing that you're you're there.
I've seen the level of expertise and
experience you possess and the level of
how you consider customer service to be
and I want to just say thank you. Um
she's not here. Judge Leone and her
staff, you have a they had a difficult
job to do as well. And her creative ways
to adjudicate
um the community in a fair and equitable
ways is just been um amazing.
And I want to thank Tara and the city
clerk group, Sarah, and every and and
everybody there. Uh, and I got to add it
to that because I've seen running
meetings and so forth. You guys were
always there. You always gave me the
support I needed and I really appreciate
it. A lot of times you don't get that
thanks and I'm thanking you today.
And then lastly on those, I want to
thank Bonnie and Scott.
There are simply not enough words that I
can say that show my appreciation for
all you do for this city.
You You truly love the city, both of
you. And I think he's listening tonight.
So, hi Scott.
>> Yeah,
knee surgery today is your excuse. We're
going to buy it, right? Um, but if we
ever get a statue in town, the two of
you should be the statue. [laughter]
Yes. I'm sorry. I just believe that. And
I want to thank um thank all my former
council members. Uh, I learned so much
from them. um and as well as the current
council um and I've watched all of them
both current and past work so hard for
the city. For my new members, I got a
few pieces of advice and you don't have
to take it, but I sure the hell would if
I were you. [laughter] I want you to
know voting no is easy. All right, I
mean that. I'm going to repeat that.
Voting no is easy because you can always
critique those that made the tough
decisions to move the city forward. But
I'll tell you what's worse. Taking
credit later if you voted no. There will
be times that will scare you, keep you
up at night, and I'm going to tell you
that's good because it shows you care.
Choose your leaders on council wisely.
Do not come into the office thinking you
know everything. Be willing to learn.
The ones that do not do this turn out to
be the worst to hold these positions.
When you meet with the city manager, ask
only one question. How can I help you
help the city succeed? Your agendas and
desires can come later.
Spend the first six months learning from
staff. It will pay off throughout your
term. You're going to find out how much
you really do not know. And I mean it. I
was It was a humbling experience on my
own. Accept this fact. Be open to to
listen and learn. Be prepared that the
speed of government is never fast
enough. As an impatient, business-minded
pe person, and I know both of you are,
you'll find that to be true. Be wary of
social media, blogs, and what I call the
vocal minority. Often they exclude key
facts, perpetuate ignorance, and mislead
our residents.
Remember, when ignorance leads an agenda
and that the message gets communicated
to the public, the result is nothing
more than calculated stupidity within
our st our township.
Facebook pages and blogs are full of
this. Unfortunately,
come prepared for your meetings.
Set a regimen to review the packet at a
high level on Friday. Study the packet
when you can on the weekend. Ask
questions as needed and study the
sections again with the highest priority
through the week as you prepare for
Thursday's meeting. If you wait till
Wednesday night and are not prepared, it
will show.
Counter nonsense in a public forum. You
will hear hear it. Counter it with fact.
Don't let what I call waxing idiotic
profail prevail.
There will be three or four challenging
decisions in your term of four to eight
years. There's other decisions, but
there's really going to be three or four
pivotable moments that in that time you
will deal with, right? You will know
what those are because you will feel the
pressure unlike any other times. Be
strong. Listen to all voices. Vote for
what is best. Stand your ground and live
with it.
Never vote to keep your job
or reelection. Avoid pressure. Avoid
conflict. Vote for what is right. And if
you don't do that, if you don't want to
do those things, resign.
Always, and I mean always, use this last
filter in any decision you make with
this question.
Is it the best thing for De Moines
regardless of the opposition and
adversity?
Now, [clears throat] this is what I read
the first night of the of the day from
the deis. And I'm going to close with
this. It was from the comprehensive plan
in 1962.
Like all other cities, De Moines has its
own assortment of land problems, some of
them beyond its control. One mile north
of De Moines is a large international
airport. Steadily increasing air traffic
flying at low altitudes creates a
nuisance and a hazard to property in and
near the approach zones of this large
majority. Plans to install a second
major runway paralleling the existing
runway will further increase its
nuisance and hazard hazard effects. The
city is bordered and traversed by state
highways.
Traffic counts on these highways and on
its arterial streets indicate that daily
volumes of traffic is steadily
increasing and will will and will
continue to increase. The downtown
district of De Moines is strung out
along an arterious arterial street. It
lacks unity and it lacks off- streetet
parking. A recent survey made by the
JC's reveals the fact that many of the
commercial structures can be classified
as old and needing repair or
replacement. A survey made February of
1962 analyzing assess value of the land
and buildings in the downtown area
indicate on the several parcels of land
and the land itself it the land itself
is worth more than the commercial
structures on it and the city needs
sidewalks.
So for decades,
right,
we've been swirling and when I came on
it's like let's change that. Damn it.
And I think we have to some degree,
right? It's one of the biggest
accomplishments.
So, I got to ask the residents, do you
really want the change you call for? Are
you ready for the change that comes with
it? Are you willing to stand the heat of
change? I close with this thought. At
the town hall on Tuesday, there was an
exercise using Wordscape. We used a QR
code and texted one-word entries on what
each of us viewed of the city currently.
The words danced around the screen and
the and and the most common words
growing in size. At the end, the word
with the most entries and the largest
was potential.
Both former mayor Pina and I have always
been frustrated by this word because for
decades that perception has been the
same. My frustration
to explain this is simple. It's because
people have experienced success are not
satisfied with the word potential.
Instead, what they do is realize it.
I believe in my time here I have done my
best to move the city forward and
realize some of that change and now I
leave the charge to you on the deis and
you the residents to leave potential
island
where we've been maroon for so long and
shed the nimiism and support needed
change and realize that we can be a
better de moines thank
» [applause]
» Well said. [applause]
Well said.
This is the kind of thing that always
has made me feel a little bit jealous.
He's so able to come forward with clear
thoughts, clearly articulated,
convincing,
passionate, moving. I feel moved by
that. And Matt's always had a gift and
been able to do that. Uh, I'm not going
to be as eloquent.
I'll say this. Uh, in closing, how do I
even sum up my thoughts about this
experience besides my faith and my
family? Serving as mayor of this city
has been the greatest pleasure of my
life.
I've met and worked with the most
magnificent people. This community has
been sacrificial and passionate. And
some of you have come I have come to
love personally and deeply.
His staff has been innovative,
hardworking.
I can't see.
Innovative, hardworking, and responsive.
And some of you, I have come to learn
love personally and deeply.
I appreciate this council.
This is a hard job and pays little. And
everyone up here, everyone has
sacrificed more than anyone can truly
know in order to be here to serve.
Everyone.
And some of you I've come to love
personally and very deeply.
I love De Moine and I plan on staying
involved and serving this community for
a long time, but I will miss this and
I'll miss working with you in this way.
I would like to close with a prayer.
Lord, bless this community with
thankfulness.
Bless this staff and departments with
energy and hope. And bless this
leadership with wisdom and then the
courage to carry it out. Dang it.
Lord, you know in Jesus name. Amen.
» [applause]
» Oh my gosh. [applause]
Thank you.
Well, this concludes our meeting. The
next meeting will be January 8th, 2026,
a city council business meeting. And
please remember to pick up all your
cookies on [laughter]
on the way out. Council member Mahoney,
do we have a motion?
>> Move to get the hell out of here one
last time.
>> Do I have a second?
>> Second.
with Deputy Mayor Stements. Well,
that is a wrap.
>> With this meeting, I adjourn.
[applause]
Thank you to all of you.
» Okay.