Around Des Moines

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.