Citizen Survey Presentation

Earlier I mentioned the Citizen Survey results we received for 2006. If you were unable to attend or view the January 15, 2007 City Council meeting on Channel 7, here is a copy of the information presented by Chris Tatham of ETC Institute, the firm that conducts our survey, at that meeting. This is a quick and descriptive way to view the results on slides without viewing the whole report. Take a look!!

Citizen Survey 2006 can be viewed online!.

Citizen Police Academy

Our next Police Citizen Academy in West Des Moines will take place March-May of this year. Watch this slide show to find out what the academy is all about, if it would interest you, and how to sign up!

New Mayor for WDM

You probably know by now that our former Mayor, Eugene Meyer, resigned in early January to serve the entire state as the newly appointed Public Safety Director. This is an exciting opportunity for Mayor Meyer and though he will be missed, we wish him the very best. What does this mean for West Des Moines?

Currently, the City Council plans to appoint an individual to the office of Mayor until our next general election in November 2007. You may have seen the application for Appointment to Mayor on the front page of our City website. This application is open to all residents for submittal as a candidate for Mayoral appointment. The application asks for information such as:

• length of residence in West Des Moines;
• any previous Board Membership positions;
• specific skills and experiences for the office; and
• reasons you would like to be appointed Mayor.

The timeline for this process is as follows:

January 15th – City Council approved a Consent Agenda item formally approving intent to appoint person to fill Mayoral vacancy.

January 16th – Applications expressing interest in being considered for appointment to Mayoral position made available in the City Clerk’s office and on the WDM website.

January 19th – Publication of Office Notice of Intent to fill vacancy by appointment.

January 26th – Noon – Deadline for Applications of interest due back to City Clerk’s office.

January 30 and/or February 1 – City Council interviews of interested applicants.

February 1st – City Council appointment of Mayor.

February 2nd – Swearing in of new Mayor.

To view the application, you can visit http://www.wdm-ia.com/userdocs/forms/Appointment%20-%20MayorwithTimeline.pdf

This is an interesting process I hope our residents make an effort to follow. No matter how long an interim mayor serves, he or she will still dedicate much time and energy to public service.

Employee/Citizen Generosity

I'd like to recognize a few of the ways our City employees give back to their community (outside their work).

Every year the City has an annual giving campaign that benefits both the United Way and Iowa Shares. Thanks to employee contributions, we raised over $6000 in the fall of 2006 for community agencies, including over $3000 for WDM Human Services and the Police Department's Youth Justice Initiative.

We also had a group of police officers participate in a slightly less-typical event. 2nd watch Officers Tom Wynn, Scott Gass, Craig Weatherall, Brad Herrera, Adam Porath, Ryan Purdy, Jason Bryan and SOU Eric Donielson participated in the Polar Plunge on Saturday, Nov. 18, braving water temperatures of 43 degrees while raising money for the Law Enforcement Torch Run to benefit Special Olympics. These brave souls submerged themselves in the frigid Big Creek water and swam to the rescue divers and back. All managed to emerge from the water unscathed!



As employees, we largely reflect the generosity of the greater City. Now that the holidays are behind us, we can reflect on the extraordinary quantity and quality of gifts and donations we received in 2006, mostly going through Human Services to those in need in our community and the western suburbs. Although there is need in West Des Moines, there are also people willing and able to help temper it. Thanks to everyone who gave or volunteered on behalf of any organization last year!

Keep Iowa Beautiful

I'm sure most of you have heard about the Keep Iowa Beautiful campaign, but I want to reiterate how important it is for us all to contribute to this effort. If you’re like me, it’s not unusual to pull up behind a car and see people throw debris out their window. Well, now we can do something about it. As both an employee of the City and a proud resident, I have a stake in maintaining our community, and hopefully we can all utilize this new resource during the day or outside the workplace.

Beginning in October, residents can now phone in and report littering or illegal dumping as we see it. A 1-888-No Littr (665-4887) number has been established in conjunction with Iowa Network Services, the Iowa State Patrol, the Sheriffs and Deputies Association, the Iowa Police Executive Forum and Keep Iowa Beautiful. You can use this number to report littering, illegal dumping, find out how you can help take care of a particular area, and discover other ways you can participate in Keep Iowa Beautiful. If the driver is littering, they will simply be sent a letter asking them to stop and help make Iowa a more beautiful place. It’s a small thing, but it may make a difference. Thanks for your work in this vein.

technorati tags: Iowa Environment Litter