At the Aug. 27, 2026, Des Moines City Council meeting, local leaders tackled a range of community concerns, anchored by a state legislative update from Sen. Tina Orwall.
Discussions spanned critical regional challenges, including airport noise and air quality mitigation, human trafficking enforcement, infrastructure theft, and local housing density pressures.
Additionally, the council highlighted exciting updates from the Des Moines Historical Society and set the stage for renewed debate over the S. 223rd Street connection project following a stalled vote earlier in the month.
State Legislative Update
Sen. Tina Orwall, a Des Moines resident as well as longtime state representative, gave the council an update on state legislative priorities. She said the state has been dealing with ongoing budget difficulties that have impacted, and will continue to impact, funding decisions.
Her priority is airport mitigation. She mentioned that her children have asthma, as do the children of many of her neighbors. She said Des Moines has the highest rate of kids going to the ER for asthma-related issues. Orwall said that HEPA filters have been found to be very effective for improving indoor air quality, helping these sick kids to reduce their need for inhalers. Orwall mentioned that a real challenge with airport mitigation is that neither the FAA nor the EPA recognize ultrafine particles as being problematic.
In addition to air quality issues, the airport causes noise pollution in neighboring communities. This impacts sleep quality, among other things. The planned airport expansion includes more nighttime flights. She said she has been exploring the idea of creating an “Airport Community Bill of Rights” to support the health and vitality of area residents.
Another issue Senator Orwall works to fight is human trafficking. She said that our region has a very high rate of trafficked women and children, and that certain businesses knowingly allow this to happen. Some legislation she is working on would impose severe fines against hotels that condone sex trafficking. Hotel workers should be calling the police for suspected incidents of human trafficking, but some are ignoring obvious signs of distress.
She also mentioned the increasing costs related to stolen fiber and copper wire for telecommunications, which she referred to as attacks on our infrastructure. Orwall said a region in Kent was recently effectively shut down, with residents unable to call 911 due to the wire theft.
Orwall also said she was one of very few representatives to tour the ICE facility. She said conditions were bad enough that she has been trying to get the Department of Health in there, but they have repeatedly been denied access.
Councilmember Harry Steinmetz mentioned to her his concerns about increasing the housing density in Des Moines. The cost to the city of providing services to growing numbers of residents will only go up, without financial support from the state. He specifically mentioned the need for the state to temporarily lift the 1% levy lid on property tax. Steinmetz also brought up the increasing cost of criminal defense, which new state laws have made even more expensive without providing any funds for.
Des Moines Historical Society
The Des Moines Historical Society has a new Director – VJ Kopacki – who is working to make the museum more of a “third place” for the community. She said there are new expanded hours, quadrupling the access people have to the free museum. In addition to making it more available for the community now, she sees the museum’s role as preserving history for future generations. It was also mentioned that her position has only been funded for two years, and that volunteers at the Historical Society have been in short supply since Covid. Information on volunteering and donating can be found at the link above.
Council To Discuss S. 223rd Street Project Again
Along with the Marina Steps Project, which is now well-underway, the city originally planned on redesigning and upgrading S. 223rd Street. S. 223rd will serve as the vital connection between the marina steps and downtown. This street, which is currently missing sidewalks, is expected to see a huge increase in foot traffic once the steps are complete.
At its Aug. 13 meeting, the council took many votes on which direction to go with the street project. Some councilmembers felt the city should not spend any more money on projects, while others felt that the street should be made more welcoming and safe. On the table was also a grant for stormwater that would reroute runoff away from Puget Sound. The council was unable to reach a majority vote on any number of options discussed, which left the city with the default decision to not make any improvements to the street.
Mayor Yoshiko Grace Matsui said that she has been discussing the issue with the city manager, and they have decided to have another discussion of this topic at the council meeting on September 24th. However, because they did not vote to accept the stormwater grant in time, that money is no longer available. If the community has feelings about the future of 223rd Street, this might be a good time to let the council know.
Video
Below is full, raw video of this meeting:
