On Tuesday night, Oct. 12, 2o21, all candidates running for Des Moines City Council in 2021, along with one Highline School Board candidate, participated in a Candidate Forum at the North Hill Community Club.

Participants included (in order of appearance, randomly determined by the club):

    • Traci Buxton, Position No. 5
    • Harry Steinmetz, Position No. 1
    • Matt Mahoney, Position No. 7
    • Priscilla Vargas, Position No. 3
    • Soleil Lewis, Position No. 7
    • Gene Achziger, Position No. 3
    • Tad Doviak, Position No. 5
    • Jennifer Fichamba, Highline School Board Position No. 2

Watch the full video below (running time 1-hour, 17-minutes):

One reply on “VIDEO: Watch Tuesday night’s Des Moines City Council Candidate & School Board Forum”

  1. I would like to offer some clarity about some statements made during this forum:

    Neither the City Manager nor the Council authorized a 3.6% tax on Des Moines residents during the pandemic.

    An administrator (non-elected) does not have the power to tax; in any government.

    The power to tax is given to policy-makers/legislators, or to the people via a vote.

    There actually was a raise in tax to our residents during the pandemic of .1%, but:

    • This tax was made available by our State Legislators during the spring of 2020 and before the pandemic hit full-swing (HB 1590*)
    • It is specifically intended to support affordable housing and the unsheltered
    • The option to authorize this tax directly was waived by the Des Moines City Council, primarily as a resistance to taxing the people during a pandemic.
    • The option however, was taken by King County Councilmembers
    • The tax, totaling approximately $465,000 per year, is now paid by Des Moines residents, but goes directly to, and is governed by King County to support affordable housing.
    Regarding the bearer of this information; they were strong and confident, and deeply desirous of doing a good job at research. This information is difficult to find and can easily lead to confusing conclusions. Kudos for trying – seriously.

    For a summary of Sales and Use Tax in Des Moines, the most user-friendly option is:
    https://mrsc.org/Home/Explore-Topics/Finance/Economic-and-Population-Data/Population-Property-and-Sales-Tax-Archive.aspx
    Click on, Local Sales Tax Rates and Components – the excel spreadsheet
    If you do this, click the “Cities and Towns” tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet to view city data

    *For a short summary of 1590:
    https://wacities.org/advocacy/News/advocacy-news/2020/03/03/action-alert-contact-your-legislators-now-to-pass-hb-1590

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