City Manager’s Weekly Report for week ending June 7, 2024

City Manager’s Weekly Report for week ending June 7, 2024

“Flame of Hope” – Special Olympics

Each year, the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) members carry the “Flame of Hope”

throughout Washington State to raise funds and awareness for Special Olympics Washington athletes. This year, the Torch Run will be running through the City of Des Moines on Friday, June 7th. If you see the Des Moines Police Department and other supporters running (including myself and my daughter) from 216th and Pacific Hwy to Kent-Des Moines Road, give a celebratory shout out to those running in support of DMPD, LETR and the 2024 Special Olympics!

City of Des Moines – Instagram Page

As part of our emphasis on increasing communication, the City has created an official

Instagram page. Head on over to @waterlandcity to follow. We’d love your continued

engagement and involvement – send any photographs you’ve taken of our beautiful town and you could be featured! Des Moines WA (@waterlandcity) • Instagram photos and videos

Supporting Local Businesses – 7-Eleven Grand Re-Opening

The management team at 7-Eleven is excited to announce the grand re-opening of the 7- Eleven store at 26007 Pacific Highway South. The re-opening represents a significant investment in our community. Although it’s open now, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and more taking place on June 14th from 11:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. Swing by and grab a Slurpee! The event will bring together local business leaders, community members, and key stakeholders, providing an excellent opportunity to showcase the collaborative efforts that contribute to the prosperity of our City.

Touch-A-Truck, Steven J Underwood Park

Join our Parks and Recreation team for our 2nd annual Touch-A-Truck Event at Steven J Underwood Park, Saturday June 15, from 10am-12pm. There will be ambulances, tow trucks, even some big construction machinery! Sirens and horns may be used! There will be a sensory friendly half hour from 11:30am-12pm when these will not be allowed.

Car Wash Kits

Did you know Des Moines offers Car Wash Kits for community fundraisers? These kits are

designed to aid citizens in organizing car wash events while simultaneously combatting water pollution. By utilizing these kits, you are supporting local causes and also contributing to the preservation of our marine ecosystem. Let’s work together to keep our City clean and protect the Puget Sound for generations to come. Contact Michael at mposey@desmoineswa.gov for more information.

New Utility Box Wraps Installed Around Town

In an incredibly quick turnaround for government work, the Utility Box Wraps have been

installed throughout the community and are looking lovely. We want to extend a huge thank

you to the artists who brought their visions to life and to everyone involved in making this

project possible. Take a field trip around town to appreciate these works of art!

• Location 1: Shannon Thomas, The Eyes Have It ~ S. 224th St & Pacific Highway South
• Location 2: Wendy Wahman, All Our Kids ~ 24th Ave/25th Ave S. & Kent‐Des Moines Rd
• Location 3: Pam Lustig, Painting the Sound ~ 24th Ave S. & S. 216th Street
• Location 4: Clare Parfitt, Beach Stones ~ 7th Ave S. & S. 223rd
• Location 5: Marsha Rollinger, Sea Life ~ S. 223rd St & Marine View Drive

City Beautification Program

The time has arrived! Crews are currently planting the downtown Des Moines street planters

and will be putting up beautiful and colourful hanging baskets on Marine View Drive this

upcoming week. We are delighted with this ongoing program to beautify and enhance our

City. We’re also grateful for the support and enthusiasm from our community as we work to

continue to make our City a vibrant place to be!

Meetings of Interest

In addition to day-to-day administrative duties, this week I met with Acting Chief Couey to

discuss police department operations as well as the upcoming Public Safety/Emergency

Management Committee meeting. I met with Mayor Buxton to discuss City issues. I met with

Mayor Buxton and Deputy Mayor Steinmetz to prepare for the City Council meeting. I went

to lunch with the City’s incoming Public Works Director to provide an orientation and

prepare him for his start date of July 1. I met with the City’s Executive Leadership team to

discuss ongoing and upcoming issues. I met with Councilmember Harris to discuss topics of

interest to him. I met with the City’s new Director of Communications to talk about strategy

and priorities. I attended the City Council Committee meetings and Council Study Session on Thursday night. Finally, I ran in the Special Olympics Torch Run on Friday as a member of

the Des Moines Team (details above).

City Council Meeting Summary

The City Council met this week for a Study Session, the agenda and materials can be found

here. Highlights from the meeting included an update on future passenger ferry service from the Des Moines Marina and a communications update. The Finance Committee and the

Public Safety/Emergency Management Committee also met on Thursday. Agenda and

materials can be found in the links.

The Council will meet next Thursday, June 13, for a regular meeting. The agenda and materials can be found here. The Transportation Committee will meet at 4pm and the Environment Committee will meet at 5pm. The Agenda and materials are in the links.

Sports Update

How about those Mariners?!?! Sure the offensive could be better and maybe the bullpen, but I will never complain about a first place team with a five game lead. Let’s hope we stay hot as we head to Kansas City to play 3 against the Royals this weekend. The NBA Finals finally started last night and the Celtics looked every bit like the best team in basketball. They beat the Mavericks by 18 and will play game 2 Sunday at 5pm. In other NBA news, the return of the Sonics rumors are once again heating up, and I can’t help but reminisce of growing up watching the Reign Man, the Glove, Big Smooth, and my guy Rich King. Let’s bring them back! The Storm take on the Aces tonight in the Commissioner’s Cup and the Sounders also play Kansas City on Saturday. Enjoy the sunny weather!

Have a great weekend!

Tim George

Interim City Manager