Michael Matthias is the City Manager of The City Of Des Moines. He also chairs the City’s Airport Committee, serves as the City’s Economic Development Director, sits on the StART Committee and represents the City on the State Environmental Impact Study. This letter is in regard to public comments I made at the General City
Well that’s a relief! SB5370
TVW Video (1:45:00) Just a quick note to give followers a bit of the sausage making in those whole boring process of SB5370. One nice thing about State business is that even the Executive Sessions are available on video. Ironically, this is one of their arguments against having full transparency of all documents. At the
What’s Not To Like? HB1683
So I was back in Olympia last Thursday, this time at the House Transportation Committee to comment on HB1683, the companion to SB5370 which we talked about last time. TVW Video House Transportation Committee Feb 7 3:30PM (HB1683 begins @ 43:00) I made my feeble comments along with Des Moines City Councilor Traci Buxton and
Second Airport: Arguing about capacity won’t work
I got several objections to my last post on SB5370 and specifically my public comment at the Senate Transportation Committee Hearing: Go to 57:00 But at the risk of sounding demagogic, I have to remind readers that our job is to tell the truth. And the truth is that siting a second airport will have
Our Co-dependent Love Affair SB5370
TVW Video (Discussion & Comments 40:00) Have you ever been in a relationship that you knew was bad for you? And not just you, I mean for both of you? But for any number of reasons, you just keep slugging it out, year after year. You (or they) keep telling yourself all the reasons it’s
A Letter To Port Commission President Stephanie Bowman
Madam President, First off, let me congratulate you on your new office. I’ll just say something you already know: your office carries the ability to make the single greatest impact on the lives of people in our region of any elected. You sit down on a Tuesday, get two of your peers to agree to
It’s not about the policy.
…It’s about getting the work done. —Joe Scorcio. As tortured as those two sentences sounded (at least to my ear), I think I knew what the former City Manager of SeaTac meant at today’s Port Of Seattle Commission Meeting. There are many, many flaws in the StART process, but I have to agree with the
A Letter To Mayor Jimmy Matta
Dear Mayor, I listened with dismay to council member Krakowiak’s objections to each of your Airport Committee’s resolutions. Her objection to the first resolution was that the BAC should be reduced to a Citizens Advisory Committee. The fact that it has had the participation of your council is exactly what has given it its unique
Letter To Michael Matthias
Dear Michael, I am sure your Aviation Committee will apprise you of the Burien resolution, but just in case here ya go (Item 13): https://burienwa.civicweb.net/document/20823?fbclid=IwAR1UI5WEN8X88xy9w7B2eF6vEz2w7RLtLOY7ZvGUHzT8Qj_K1qx-Hz6Bo9w I think of the airport as a factory. And I think of our houses as being like homes with those small oil wells on the back lot which are so
Continuity (StART Meeting 12/19/18)
Often the most important, but under-appreciated form of knowledge for any government is known as “institutional knowledge”. It is the knowledge that carries forward seamlessly from one government to the next. It is typically carried in the heads of a few key long-time employees. If it is not intentionally valued it is usually lost and