City Manager’s Weekly Report for week ending May 24, 2024

City Manager’s Weekly Report for week ending May 24, 2024

Des Moines Farmers Market – Call for Volunteers

Market Opens June 1! We are a little over one week out from our Des Moines Farmers Markets starting back up! We look forward to great vendors, music, and spending time together as a community. The market could use your help! If you are interested in supporting what they do, please reach out to market staff at market@dmfm.org to get a volunteer application.

South King Fire 75th Anniversary Celebration

South King Fire started 75 years ago, with just one fire engine and a handful of dedicated volunteers. Today, they have 7 fire stations, and more than 150 firefighters serving a growing population of over 160,000 residents across Des Moines, Federal Way, and unincorporated King County. To celebrate they are hosting two upcoming open houses for the public to attend. Stop by if you can!

• June 8, 2024 – 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Station 67, 2238 S 223rd St, Des Moines, WA 98198
• June 15, 2024 – 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Station 62, 31617 1st Ave S, Federal Way, WA 98003

Free Small Business Support Resource Fair

The Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce has partnered with other organizations to bring you a monthly dedicated Technical Assistance Open House event. This is a one-stop-shop for all of your Business Development needs. With diverse partners of leading industry experts and resources, the Chamber is available to help you tackle any challenge to make your business thrive!

This is a drop-in event, Wednesday May 29th from 10am-2pm. Registration is encouraged.

Featured Partners & Services Include:

• Community Business Connector
• Small Business Development Center
• Business Impact NW
• Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce
• Tukwila Community Economic Development
• FinFit Life
• Cascade E-Commerce Solutions
• Moarly Creative

Immigrant Support in Des Moines Schools / Parkside Elementary

Click here for a great article on immigrant students and support at Parkside Elementary School. Our City has an incredibly diverse population, and we work with and support school readiness programs and services across our City and region, with our City human services funding and thoughtful and innovative programming.

Safe and Sound Summit – 2024 Hazard Mitigation Plan

Learn about risks from natural hazards and tell us your ideas for reducing that risk. Help Des Moines Master Disaster – have your voice heard. Community input and participation is an integral part of this plan. Contact Shannon Kirchberg, our Emergency Management Director at skirchberg@desmoineswa.gov for more information or click here to complete the survey.

4th of July – Makers Market

We’re getting excited for our 4th of July festivities – and are in need of a few more vendors for our Makers Market! If you or someone you know is interested in showcasing goods, services, or crafts at our 4th of July event, please reach out to our Beach Park staff at BeachParkEventCenter@desmoineswa.gov or (206) 870-9370.

Meetings of Interest

In addition to day-to-day administrative duties, this week I met with representatives of King County Department of Community & Human Services to discuss future Vet and Senior Services funding. I met with Mayor Buxton to discuss upcoming City issues. I met with the City’s event planning team to work on the 4th of July celebration. I met with Councilmember Harris to discuss topics of interest to him. I attended the first annual Des Moines Roadeo, hosted by our Public Works Department in recognition of National Public Works Week, and it was awesome! Our entire City staff had a good time playing with heavy equipment. Finally, I met with the Police Guild to discuss recent events and budgets.

City Council Meeting Summary

There was no City Council meeting this week. There is also no Council meeting next week as the Council does not generally meet on the 5th Thursday of the month. The Council will meet again on June 6 for a Study Session. The agenda and materials for that meeting will be posted in next week’s report.

Sports Update

Caitlyn Clark and the Fever flew into town this week only to find a sold out Climate Pledge Arena and a motivated Storm team that showed them this isn’t Big 10 basketball anymore.

The Storm won 85-83 and kept the Fever winless on the season.

The Mariners continue to play darn good baseball winning two out of four against the Bronx Bombers and remaining in first place in the AL West by 3 games. The boys can certainly pitch, but if we could find a way to hit we might not lose another game this season! The M’s play 3 in our nation’s capital this weekend. The OKC Thunder are out of the NBA playoffs and we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief (also thanks to the Dallas Mavericks for knocking them out). Four basketball teams remain with games alternating pretty much every night. Hockey playoffs continue this weekend as well as the Sounders taking on St. Louis on Saturday night and the Storm face off against Ariel Atkins and the Mystics.

Have a great weekend!

Tim George

Interim City Manager