Around Des Moines

What a treasure!

It seemed like a good day to visit the State Historical Museum, and was it ever! Not only were the major and smaller exhibits up and running, but the Irish Fest was in full swing in the afternoon.

Thanks to Drake University President David Maxwell I took the bus. As part of a commitment to civic and global responsibility Drake University under Maxwell’s leadership has signed on to help support DART and in doing so to provide access to free rides to all members of the Drake community. The bus ride was not door to door but definitely close enough - a one and a half block walk to the bus stop and at the end of the ride across the street to the museum, definitely closer than I could have parked.

Did you know that the State Historical Museum is free? Take your friends from out out town. Tell them, “My treat.”

Once inside I looked at a couple of antique autos with Iowa connections including a Mason built in Des Moines by Fred and August Duesenberg and financed by Edward Mason. F. L. Maytag later built Mason-Maytags in Waterloo. The Duesenbergs went on to build the Duesenberg (It’s a Doozy.), the Cord, and Auburn. I loved the electric car driven by former Governor George Clarke’s wife Arletta. Patten’s Neighborhood: Memories of the Center Street Community is a fascinating 40-year history of one African-American neighborhood in Des Moines. Take some time, soak it in, and don’t miss it.

I had a nice lunch at Cafe Barrata’s at the top of the museum overlooking the city. (Baratta’s on South Union has always been one of my favorites.)

After lunch came the Irish Fest, a special event at the Historical Museum. And suddenly the Museum got very busy. I listened to the talented Bay area duo named Four Shillings Short as they played flutes and strings and sang their original interpretations of Irish folk music. You can hear them on their website.

One talented local group was the Des Moines branch of the Foy School of Traditional Irish Dance, young people who performed energetic, colorful, and precise Irish dances to the delight of family and friends. The small stage was a perfect setting for them.

The MacKenzie Highlanders played bagpipes and drum in the main hall. Have a listen and you will understand how impressive it is when you are standing just feet away.

And there was a lot more to the Irish Fest, but that is all I saw.

The exhibit Portrait of a Governor: A Life, A Legacy traces the history of Iowa’s Governors from Territorial Governor Robert Lucas to current Governor Chet Culver - lots of pictures, short bios, videos, significant facts about each period in Iowa history. Read what you like and leave the rest. You’ll enjoy it.

That is just the shortest introduction to the State Historical Museum. There is so much to see and do - a coal mine, airplanes, natural history, Ding Darling, education, special events. It is very well done. The docents are plentiful. Everyone feels welcome. Check out the special events calendar.

Waiting at the bus stop for the ride home I struck up a conversation with a worker going home. By the time we got on, we were friends. By the time he got off we knew we were neighbors. It turns out that he lives just a few blocks from me. Ride the bus; meet your neighbors. See ya.

Guest Writer: James G. Lindberg (Jim) is the Purple Wren’s sweetie and is a visiting chemistry professor at Grinnell College and retired from Drake University.

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Des Moines, Central Iowa News, State Historical Museum, Drake University, DART, Irish Fest

March 1 marks the start of Spring in terms of meteorology. The weather in Des Moines will help make it seem like the season is coming. Get outside and clean off the sidewalks, take an inventory of work that needs done, and then go eat.

The Friends of the Forest Avenue Library (1326 Forest Avenue) will hold its annual soul food fundraiser at the library on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Bus: #5, #3 couple blocks walk)

If a relaxing coffee is more your speed, Mars Cafe (2318 University Avenue) will celebrate its two years of business on Saturday with free coffee throughout the day. There will be drink specials starting at 8:00 p.m. (Bus: #3)

Get ready for spring cleaning at the third annual Living Naturally Expo. It will be held on Saturday, March 1, 2008, at the Animal Learning Center at the Fairgrounds from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Over 60 vendors will offer information and products for such items as cars, food, pet care, child care, and general living. (Bus: #1)

With this being the first weekend of the month, there is a flea market in the 4H building of the fairgrounds. I’ve found hours for Saturday (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) but not for Sunday.

Young professionals interested in keeping up their literacy habit can participate in a book discussion at the North Side Library (on East 5th Street) at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The book scheduled for discussion is A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. (Bus: #3, #5 and a few blocks walk)

The state’s girls high school basketball championships are being played through Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena. (Bus: #3 closest, any downtown bus plus a walk)

For all the activities on my calendar for Saturday, there is scant happening on Sunday. Botanical Blues features Saylor Hillsliders. Adult tickets are $4.00 and the performance is from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The Botanical Center also will have an exhibit of copper garden art sculpture by Ann Allison scattered throughout the conservatory.

A fundraiser for AMOS will be the Stage West performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury. The show will be performed in Des Moines this weekend, Friday, February 29th through Sunday, March 2nd. It will be presented in Ames next Thursday and Friday, March 7th and 8th. The Des Moines performance will be held at the First Unitarian Church at 1800 Bell Avenue. The Ames performances will be at the Actors Theater, 120 Abraham Drive. Shows are at 8:00 p.m. Tickets ($20) may be purchased by phone at (515) 279-3658 or at www.iowatix.com.An e-mail was received from a reader with another activity.

Check out the nascent Des Moines Rehabbers Club. It is a group of people who gather once a month for the purpose of preservation, restoration, and maintenance of Des Moines’ “unique built environment.” This month’s meeting will be on Saturday from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. at 1711 East 8th Street. The topic will be renovation for profit. M.R. Field encourages organizations and performers to send news about their upcoming events to events@AroundDesMoines.com. 

Whether the primary role of schools is to support society or to allow individuals to maximize their earning potential, there is a need for educational opportunities to be offered equitably to all students. The Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) district has been dealing with this issue in terms of racial equality for over fifty years. A June 28, 2007, U.S. Supreme Court decision in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, et al. and a subsequent rule change by the Iowa Department of Education (DE) have forced DMPS to revisit its policies on school integration yet again.

The court decision removed race as a primary factor in making school assignments. The DE’s proposed administrative rule change redefines “minority student” so a local school board may choose to implement a diversity plan using any combination of socioeconomic status, ethnicity/national origin, English language learner status, or race, so long as race is not the sole or the determinative factor. Previously, DE defined a minority student as being Black (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native, or Asian/Pacific Islander. Des Moines, Waterloo, Davenport, West Liberty, and Postville are the only districts in the state affected by this rule. Burlington had a desegregation plan but does not now qualify for a diversity plan.

School boards that had a desegregation plan have until March 1, 2008, to adopt a diversity plan. If there is no plan by that date, the state prohibits the board from having any plan in the future. This demand for a rushed decision was a major point of concern for board members and for the commenting public at the January 22, 2008, DMPS School Board meeting.

The DE’s proposed rules were released in mid-November 2007. The DMPS took time for a legal review and to talk with other districts. The previous DMPS school board meeting was on January 8th, the same date as the DE hearing. The next school board meeting will be on February 5th, one day before the DE’s expected approval. That leaves just the February 19th meeting at which to accept any diversity plan before the state’s deadline.

Superintendent Dr. Nancy Sebring, legal counsel Beth Nigut, and other district staff presented a workshop on the rule to the board. Assisting them was Drew Bracken of the Ahlers Law Firm. A representative from the DE was invited to participate but was unable to attend. The recommendation made to the board was to base a diversity plan on socioeconomic status. Bracken was adamant that any plan including a racial component would be struck down by the courts. The socioeconomic identifier that the staff recommended is eligibility for a free or reduced-price lunch. With approximately 60% of DMPS students so eligible, this standard raised questions about its effectiveness in terms of integrated schools. Since it is possible to modify diversity plans, which must be approved by the state, the school board may choose to adopt a plan that leans heavily towards observing what happens with open enrollment while still allowing itself the option for a more rigid plan in the future.

Current desegregation procedures under open enrollment mean that for every minority student allowed to leave a school, two whites are allowed to leave. Consequently, some students are denied permission to leave their schools. White flight under open enrollment was raised during the discussion, albeit not without rejection of the idea by some people. Open enrollment also allows for students to continue in their old schools when they move out of a district. If a school’s enrollment mix moves more than 15% above the racial balance, then that school is closed to open enrollment.

Desegregation plans, and possibly diversity plans, help control movement of students under open enrollment. Some of the state’s other districts needing to consider diversity plans have surrounding school districts that are short of students. Ellen McGinnis-Smith, working on student and family issues for the DMPS, said that in the Des Moines metropolitan area students are moving westward. This means West Des Moines students may attend Waukee schools and Des Moines students may go to West Des Moines. However, there are a couple elementary grades in West Des Moines that are close to their maximum capacity which would limit the number of Des Moines students who could open enroll there.

Discussion on the diversity plan strayed into talk of neighborhood schools, busing, and students who take some courses in Des Moines but are counted as being out of district. Public comments also noted that diversity extends beyond the few categories permitted by the DE. A few people were concerned that diversity and open enrollment were just a political tactic by outside interests to promote vouchers.

M.R. Field covers the DMPS school board meetings for AroundDesMoines.com. 

The wishes of residents near proposed and current Hy-Vee and Dahl’s grocery stores are running head first into the freedom of commerce that the companies have a right to expect. The silent third partner in that mix, though, is the underlying condition of and expression of Des Moines’ economy. With this being the famous Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping day, it seems an appropriate time for a commentary about the larger conflicts represented by the proposals of the grocery store chains.

The downtown farmers market is an example of business over economics. Thousands of people crowd Court Avenue on Saturday mornings over the summer and the businesses and organizations who are allowed to participate can benefit. Yet, the contrast between the hordes of shoppers flooding into malls on this post-Thanksgiving shopping day and the emptiness of downtown Des Moines was very stark. If the downtown farmers market was about economics, the downtown retail scene would be much stronger. An example of business over economics is Mainstream Boutique. This clothing retailer has a store on the skywalk level that is open for the few hours when office workers take lunch. The business also has stores in Valley Junction and in Pella. On Saturday mornings, it has a booth at the downtown farmers market. Alas, by being at the market instead of opening its skywalk store on Saturdays, all that consumer traffic generated by the market is given no reason to stay downtown. Moreover, businesses from other communities who use the market to reach new customers have no incentive to open fixed stores downtown.

The skywalk system itself is an economic noose. An article on the Minneapolis skywalk system recently appeared on MinnPost. The article looks at the view of Jan Gehl, a Danish architect, who states that Minneapolis is not large enough to sustain two levels of businesses, i.e., street level and skywalk level. It is an observation about Minneapolis I have made myself and I find Des Moines’ skywalk system to be even less valuable.

My word limit is about to be reached and the grocery stores still have not been discussed. The question usually asked is, how do we balance the desires of residents for neighborhood-sized businesses with businesses’ desires to decide for themselves how they want to invest their resources? While this is a very important question and one definitely meriting hours and hours of public meetings, we also need to be asking how the resulting compromises will grow the economy of the city. Building the economy means creating jobs (full- and part-time, low- and high-skills), increasing sales tax revenue, and otherwise creating enough growth in wealth to at least sustain the current average household income.

The Dahl’s plan that I have seen concerns me as both a resident and in terms of economics. The specifics of those concerns will need to be covered in another post. For readers who want more information now, check out the discussion thread about the Dahl’s on Ingersoll at absolutedsm.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

How can citizens participate in their city when public meetings are held on the same night? On Tuesday, November 20, 2007, there are at least four meetings being held, two of which are regularly scheduled. At the DART offices at 1100 DART Way, the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority holds its monthly commission meeting. At 18th and Grand, the Des Moines Public Schools School Board holds its semi-monthly meeting. At Plymouth Congregational Church 42nd and Ingersoll there is a meeting with city officials and staff to answer questions about the proposed Dahl’s expansion along 35th. At the Four Mile Community Center, 3711 Easton Boulevard, there is a meeting to talk about the new floodplain/floodway map. While some people will have more interest in one topic or another, there is a common theme in the meetings.

How can citizens participate in their city when public meetings are inaccessible? You can take the No. 1 bus to the school board meeting, but you can’t take the bus home. To attend the DART meetings, you have to ask the No. 7 driver to detour to the DART offices, or get off on the regular route and walk a long block. At the end of the meeting, you need to call the DART service line to request a bus to detour to the offices and hope that the meeting doesn’t run later than the buses. You could walk the long block back to the route, but if memory serves me correctly, the northbound bus stop, while covered, is not situated along a sidewalk. The two special meetings are similarly located where bus transit is not a viable option.

How can citizens participate in their city when they are not invited to the meetings? Technically, these are open meetings but how citizens learn about them and how citizens are encouraged to participate is inconsistent. I noted in my comments on the meetings for the new school graduation goals how ineffective the school board’s outreach was. The use of neighborhood associations by the city, and possibly the school board, is also problematic. An east side neighborhood association where I used to live mails out quarterly newsletters. However, in the two years that I lived in an apartment in that community, I never received any publication. In my current west side neighborhood, where there are dues for association membership, I have received newsletters. Alas, I have never received any e-mail updates, despite providing several different eddresses. There are additional reasons why I get very nervous when public entities try to reach the community, such as for the Dahl’s expansion, primarily or solely through neighborhood associations.

How are these meetings all related? DART is used as school transit by many students. Dahl’s is a destination for many bus riders. Flood plains are built in when urban sprawl instead of density is encouraged, and density supports better bus service. The DART commission has authority over transit decisions.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa. 

At the October 16, 2007, meeting of the Des Moines Public Schools School Board, the superintendent and the district’s chief operations officer presented an update on and review of school facilities and renovations. The presentation included a look at four school buildings that are available for new uses and a discussion of budgetary options for planned renovations based on a newly-projected shortfall of revenue. The history of current renovations and school reuses, known as Schools First, starts in 2000 with a one-cent sales tax approved by voters. The sales tax sunsets after ten years so there was a ten-year plan for renovations and new construction. In 2005, due to shortfalls of expected tax revenues and to overruns of renovation costs, the plan was revisited. The latest shortfall arises from an appraisal received on the Central Campus building.

The present budget was prepared based on an expectation of $10 million being received from the sale of the Central Campus building near the western edge of downtown. The figure of $10 million was estimated based on the expectations of developers and other people with real estate interests that the nearly century-old former factory could be converted into office space and/or condominiums. While those are still the most likely non-school uses for the building, the downturn in the housing market and the high vacancy rate of downtown office space resulted in a formal appraisal this month of just under $3 million. Thus, there is a $7 million shortfall in a $66 million budget that represents uncompleted work on four projects. The vast majority of public and board discussion was on Central Campus and the Pappajohn Center but Roosevelt High School and Jackson Elementary School are also part of the equation. None of these projects have had any construction work started but all have had at least some preliminary planning or design work.

Dr. Nancy Sebring, superintendent of schools, and Bill Good, the district’s COO, presented four options as examples of the many different choices available to the board as it considers how to proceed with renovations and/or new construction under a revised budget. While the shortfall averages out to an 11% reduction across the board, it is impractical if not impossible to make uniform cuts. As Sebring noted, renovations to older buildings, such as Roosevelt, are interconnected. With the cost for an addition to Pappajohn and for renovations at Jackson budgeted at nearly $7 million and $6 million, respectively, postponing either of those projects would be a direct way of adjusting the budget priorities.

Central Campus has many different program tracks at its site. There are schools for pregnant students, vocational studies, and advanced-level work, among others. Whether those programs should stay together, the need to upgrade for technological education, and recurring costs (e.g., student busing and heating/cooling) were all part of the discussion. In addition, public comments were made as to who liked which buildings better, students or teachers, and how much a building mattered to an education.

Alan Young, president of the Des Moines Education Association union, wants teachers to have more say in classroom construction than architects. He noted that the original ten-year plan was driven by No Child Left Behind standards but he anticipates that federal program will not be renewed. Thus, teachers need classrooms that reflect real class sizes and that allow for creative teaching that might demand flexible use of classroom spaces

Board member and Vice President Ginny Strong has some unanswered questions, such as appraisals on vacant buildings. Nevertheless, she believes there has been ample time to discuss options over the past several months. Strong said, “It is time to move forward on these projects.” Other board members, including board President Dick Murphy, were more hesitant to move very quickly given lingering public distrust with the board. Patty Link offered comments that supported Strong’s desire to move ahead while acknowledging some people feel a decision “will be rammed down their throat again.”

Board member Teree Caldwell-Johnson noted that “significant business interests” want the school board to stick with the Pappajohn Center because there is nobody left to sustain the building that is within the downtown area. Buying the center does not mean automatic support for building an addition to it, however.

The four schools identified as available for reuse (e.g., for school programs, for community non-profit use, or for sale) are Adams, Casady, Douglas, and Wallace. Casady is being used for pre-school classes funded by a four-year grant. With the vacant buildings, the district carries maintenance costs and has to deal with vandals breaking windows. Mary Ann Spicer offered public testimony about the need to keep Casady (1801 16 Street) or some school in that neighborhood. The other three school sites are on the east side of the city.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa and covers school board meetings for AroundDesMoines.com.

Although several school board directors called the sale of land where Rice School once stood in the Beaverdale neighborhood a simple land deal, there has been nothing simple about it. Part of that is due to the structure of Des Moines’ city and school government. Part of it is due to the historical reputation of the board as not being responsible to the citizens. Part of it is due to the passion of people living in the neighborhood. The final part of it is the terms of the sale contract itself.

The matter before the board at this meeting was straightforward. There was a request that the school district contribute to the cost of correcting a storm water problem at 3001 Beaver Avenue. This was the site of an elementary school known as Rice School that was closed in 2005 and torn down. Rice Development Partners (RDP) bought the land for $650,000 in “as is” condition with time to conduct a review of the property and a five-day option after that review was completed, as was done on September 30, to decide to back out. There was no penalty for backing out of the contract, but nobody mentioned that during this meeting.

The sale of the property went through a process that included bids, reviews, and neighborhood meetings. There has been neighborhood distrust and dissatisfaction of the winning bid by RDP from the beginning. One speaker at this meeting cited a survey that indicated 92% of Beaverdale residents did not want the RDP sale. Many residents want the land to become a park instead of having houses built on it. All of these emotions were still in play when RDP asked the school board to pay a third of an estimated $400,000 to link drainage from the development to a storm sewer. The city council and the RDP agreed to pay the other two-thirds of the cost. Nobody at the school board meeting questioned the estimate of $400,000, which was based in part on where city employees identified RDP could connect to a storm sewer.

Both proponents and opponents made the claim of acting for the children. It seemed at times as though the debate was a divorce and the children were being used as surrogates for the parents’ dislike of each other. Several board members took umbrage at the number of people with whom they have talked and people at the meeting who said the directors did not care about the kids.

Another disagreement centered around how much money the school district would receive from the sale. Arguments included: estimated tax revenues over 20 years, value of property surrounding Rice Field if it were not a park, loss of revenue from a 10-year Tax Increment Financing (TIF) given to RDP, and, ultimately, how the vote on paying for the sewer connection would play in the 2010 vote to extend the one-cent school option sales tax.

At one point Director Jeannette Woods asked if anyone knew the value of the land. This was a result of the argument that with the sewer connection cost now officially known the land would be worth less. This led to considerable board discussion with the values of the purchase bids being cited as the land’s value. Those bids were identified by board members as ranging from over $400,000 to $750,000. If the board had received an appraisal of the land before the bidding process, it was not mentioned at this meeting. A city employee said that the cost of connecting to the storm sewer was estimated to be between $350,000 and $500,000. There was clarification that with no development on the land, there was no run-off problem. A storm sewer connection would be needed only with development.  Several people talking at the meeting noted that the drainage issues were widely known. Nobody specifically connected the “as is” condition of the sale to the value of original bids offered.

The cost to the district of paying for part of the storm sewer connection seemed to shrink as the meeting progressed.  The original $133,000 share was shortened to $130,000 for ease in debate. It was then reduced further as the figure of $525,000 instead of $650,000 was given as the resulting defacto sale price. That simple subtraction would mean the sewer connection cost to the district is only $125,000.

The board approved the request to pay a third of the storm sewer connection in a 4-1 vote. Jon Narcisse voted no. Connie Boesen recused herself because her family is involved with the deal. Teree Caldwell-Johnson abstained from both discussion and voting. Since she was abstaining, President Dick Murphy asked Caldwell-Johnson to leave the board room but Boesen remained in her seat.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa and covers school board meetings for AroundDesMoines.com.

Neighborhood groups in Des Moines define their own borders and draw up their own by-laws. The city council then authorizes the group. Neighborhood groups now serve approximately 80% of the city. The groups are assisted by an umbrella organization called Des Moines Neighbors. Representatives from Des Moines Neighbors and from a few of the neighborhood groups participated in the Neighborhood Summit on September 6 and 7 held at the Embassy Suites in Des Moines.

Continuing the report from the bus tour started in Part 1, Beaverdale has been voted the most exciting neighborhood in Des Moines. The Tudor and Colonial Revival styles of its houses has led to the moniker of Beaverdale Bricks to describe the homes.

Drake University, founded in the 1880’s, is the central feature of the Drake neighborhood. Apartment houses were built in the 1960’s but there also are some flats from the 1920’s. The university is currently building new multi-family housing on land it owns by 31st Street, which will also include shops. There also was demand for university-related multi-family housing in the years after World War II.

The Rose is a low-income senior housing at Martin Luther King and Forest Avenue. The neighborhood had opposed a proposal for a gas station/convenience store on empty land and favored a proposal for the assisted living complex. Nearby, houses formerly owned by the local housing authority have been sold to non-profits at 75% of the units value. The houses will be rehabilitated for new owners. A bit farther away is the House of Mercy, a transitional home for young women.

Riverbend, which is near the bend that redirects the Des Moines River from its eastward route towards the south, was built between the 1890’s and approximately 1910. Victorian-style housing is common throughout the neighborhood but there are also some bungalows.

The area at Second Avenue and University was the first urban redevelopment project. This was several decades ago.

Capitol Park was originally a suburb of Des Moines but was incorporated into the city in the 1890’s. East High School, which is in this neighborhood, has the oldest and largest alumnae association in the United States.

As the tour wound down SE 14th Street, a visitor to the city asked who Merle Hay was. He was the first Iowan killed in World War I. Fleur was a captain killed in the same war.

City councilor Chris Hensley, who also is a community relations executive with Bank of the West, talked about Gray’s Lake during a lunch break. The structures by the playground on the north side of the lake are storage units that were kept as a reminder of the working history of the site. (Gray’s Lake is a former gravel pit.) The pedestrian bridge was a consequence of slow moving right-of-way talks with a railroad. Its design incorporates special glass to reflect colors at night. Gray’s Lake is the heaviest-used site in Des Moines with approximately 500,000 visitors a year.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Northeast Neighbors hosted a forum on August 27, 2007, for the 5 candidates seeking 2 seats on the Des Moines School Board. About 60 people attended the event at Park Fair Mall’s Senior Center. Audience questions were submitted on note cards and consolidated into questions verbalized by the moderator.

Those questions ranged from historic problems with the school board to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to specific local policies and school choices. In the order of their opening comments, here is a summary of what the candidates said:

Marc Ward: He has served about 9 years on the board, although not consecutively, and is currently the board’s president. His first priority for the board is to make sure students in Kindergarten through 12th Grade (K-12) graduate and are able to move on with the next stages in their lives. If there is money for after-school programs, they would be worthwhile but
they should be funded only if the primary goals of the schools are being met. His three points of focus for the board are to determine how it can add value to the district and to the community, to hold the superintendent accountable for results the board wants, and to communicate with the public.

Matthew Harvey: Integrity is the theme of his campaign and something he strives for in his personal and professional life. He ran six years ago when the election was also held on September 11. The year was 2001 and that day, after planes were flown into New York City’s World Trade Center towers, the world changed. He wants children to be prepared for a future in that changing world. If elected, he would hold office hours every other Tuesday in some part of the district. He thinks the district should not have had to spend money to hire a consulting firm to find out what the public thinks. He said character cannot be measured using a standardized test.

Patty Link: She is running for a seat because she believes families with young children in the system need to be represented. She has been a teacher, headed a school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and now heads the PTA for the district. She wouldn’t want to toss NCLB aside if it provided funding so her child in kindergarten was in a class with 29 students instead
of 35. Several times during the forum she noted that she wanted to take time to learn what people wanted. On the question about a new school in southwest Des Moines, she said that there should be studies and discussion and that other parts of the city shouldn’t be neglected.

Paul Knupp, Jr.: He has a graduate degree in education and has taught teachers who are now employed by the Des Moines Public Schools. He said he has talked with people who developed standardized tests, such as the ACT. Those people told him such tests are good at showing where students need extra help. The tests are not good for comparisons and other uses that have been made of them. He thinks consensus building is important and that means slowing down when making decisions and should include students in the discussions. He expressed concern that the school board might be in partnership with business instead of with education. He added that education is the most important thing government does.

Jonathon (Jon) Narcissse: When he previously ran for the school board, his reasons were fiscal issues and the need for the then superintendent to leave. He remains concerned about fiscal accountability and the commitment of the school board to talk with the public. He said he has traveled the state talking to students and educational professionals and that “you have
to work to get people involved.” When answering the question about ward-based elections, he said school board elections need to be moved to November to reduce the power of special interests. He admitted southwest Des Moines needs a new school, but asked how we will pay for it. He would use Prairie Meadows revenues to fund after school classes.

Remember to vote on Tuesday, September 11. The deadline to register to vote is Friday, August 31.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Options for entertainment at the Iowa state fair range from performances by dance schools to calling contests to musical groups. The quality can be described as eager amateur to well-experienced professional. I came away from looking at the fair’s schedule with the impression that the variety of performers this year was not as great as in previous years. Thus, I was not surprised when my trip to the fair on the second Thursday did not include any acts that appealed to me.
The Elwell Family Food Center, where prize-winning desserts are displayed, was moved to the old tourism building this year. At the old location Blue Bunny had given away samples of its frozen treats.  A person exiting the new location as I entered muttered, “Nothing’s free anymore.”  This was an echo of my own observation that the give-aways at this year’s fair seemed fewer and less interesting than in other years.  Although, the magnet clip from Iowa tourism is nice.

Anderson Erickson is still offering samples of its products. Unfortunately, lemonade was being served the day I was there. Having tasted the beverage before I knew it was proof that AE should stick with dairy products. Cookies was promoting its salsa, which isn’t bad but not so good that the company should stray from its barbeque sauce products.

Most food vendors’ booths had no lines but plenty of people were seen with ice cream cones and pork chops on a stick. The Cattlemen’s Beef Quarters was the only site with a long line. On Thursday, Boone County Beef Princesses were taking orders in the express lines where $2.75 hamburgers were featured from 2-4 p.m..

Nikki (pictured) certainly enjoyed her pork chop. Nikki was trained as a service dog by Dog Expectations in Newton. She is alert for the early signs of a seizure, but also is sensitive to feelings in general and can tell if a child has been abused. She accompanies Kevin Johnson of Des Moines who works as a school-based artist in residence. Johnson takes Nikki to the fair every year on her birthday. This year she is 12 and was celebrating with Ruth Bergland of Boone.

The theme of this year’s fair is “Sounds like fun.” As I looked around the fair, I thought “Why bother?” might be a more accurate theme. Cheap plastic toys could be bought for less money at a dollar store than at fair booths. Bauder’s ice cream can be found on Ingersoll Avenue year-round. I could buy cheese curds offered by one vendor with more guarantee of freshness at the Valley Junction farmers’ market.

Then I realized why we need to attend the fair. Cell phones were mostly quiet and laptop computers were scarce. Instead, people were looking at each other and interacting without the buffer of electronic equipment. That is reason enough to bother: an opportunity to interact with each other and to share moments in real-time and in real-space, an opportunity to part of something human.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.