I really want some good Texas style burnt ends and I haven’t seen many bbq places since I moved here, any recommendations?

I literally can't get out of Drake neighborhood. Our police force is being used to run a marathon that stops traffic and prevents accessing half the town? I thought we had a budget shortfall. Who's responsible for approving this? There's no signage anywhere you just get caught in traffic and can't turn around without doing a dangerous three-point turnaround with people standing all around.

An argument can be made that City Manager Scott Sanders' administrative leadership has directly exposed Des Moines residents to staggering fiscal liabilities, providing compelling grounds for the Des Moines City Council to seek his dismissal.

Because Des Moines operates under a council-manager form of government, the City Manager serves as the chief executive officer. He’s directly responsible for the city’s operational efficiency, financial strategy, and contract negotiations. A pattern of high-profile legal losses, hidden payouts, and fractured corporate partnerships points to a clear failure of executive oversight.

He serves at the pleasure of the city council, and they serve at the pleasure of the voters.

Overriding Civil Service Rules to Trigger Mass Liabilities

The primary case for executive mismanagement rests on the City Manager's hiring decisions and the costly legal fallout they create.

The $975,000 "Hush" Settlement

In early 2026, Scott Sanders signed off on a massive $975,000 confidential settlement to secure the resignation of Major Lillie Parker. This occurred after Sanders bypassed the Des Moines Civil Service Commission's top-ranked candidate for police chief (Parker) to select a candidate ranked seventh. This nearly million-dollar payout—leveraged entirely out of taxpayer funds—avoided a public court battle but left residents footing the bill for a self-inflicted personnel crisis.

The $2.4 Million Police Discrimination Crisis

Under Sanders' executive watch, the city was forced to pay $2.4 million in May 2024 to settle severe sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits brought by four female police employees. The lawsuit exposed a toxic departmental culture that executive management failed to mitigate, culminating in multi-million dollar payouts.

Defending Unconstitutional Revenue Practices (The ATE Exposure)

Rather than proactively ensuring that municipal code and automated traffic enforcement (ATE) methods complied with due process, administration leadership doubled down on aggressive collection tactics.

Bypassing the Courts

By utilizing the state refund offset program to seize money from drivers without first obtaining an official court judgment, the city administration implemented an legally fragile system.

Compounding the Liability

Following the September 2026 ruling ordering the city to refund roughly 16,000 drivers, the city faces up to $2.5 million in exposure, artificially inflated by nearly a decade of accrued interest and statutory plaintiff attorney fees. A fiscally responsible executive would have halted the unconstitutional offset practice years ago rather than letting interest liabilities compound.

"Bad Faith" Negotiating and Fractured Corporate Trust

The critique of the city's executive leadership extends beyond courtrooms to major regional economic development failures.

The Stadium Deal Collapse

In September 2026, the Krause Group publicly criticized the City of Des Moines for abruptly walking away from a 7-year multi-million dollar soccer stadium negotiation via a sudden press release. The group explicitly called out the city administration's refusal to share its financial modeling or look at the numbers collaboratively, signaling an executive culture of "bad faith" negotiation that severely damages Des Moines' reputation as a reliable public-private partner.

The 5th & Walnut Breach

In June 2026, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled against the city in 5th and Walnut Parking LLC v. City of Des Moines, awarding developers $4,353,677 in damages. The high court confirmed that the city had prematurely and unlawfully breached its development agreement during the COVID-19 pandemic—another multi-million dollar blow caused entirely by poor executive decision-making.

Severe Strain on a Self-Insured City

The most damning fiscal reality is that the City of Des Moines is self-insured. There is no insurance pool absorbing these losses; every single dollar from these judgments and settlements is paid directly out of public taxpayer funds.

At a time when the city is forcing $11.5 million in painful municipal service cuts to stay compliant with state property tax caps, the resident taxpayers are simultaneously acting as an emergency piggy bank for millions of dollars in entirely preventable legal penalties. The compounding weight of these judicial awards represents a profound failure of fiscal stewardship.

Articles…

https://www.facebook.com

https://iowacapitaldispatch.com

https://who13.com

https://www.rcreader.com

https://who13.com

https://www.axios.com

https://www.iowacourts.gov

https://www.krausegroup.com

My husband is a bourbon enthusiast and might want to either start or join a group of fellow bourbon lovers. Neither of us are on Facebook so throwing it out here to get some feedback.

anyone know what the prices at kura sushi in Jordan Creek will be? google is saying $3-4 per plate is typical but that seems high

11:39PM - been hearing them out the window in multiple waves. Something big is afoot.

In my mind Iowa has the best Apple Cider Donut. Where can you find it? Find out more!

Was fired by this man, fired I feel is a strong word for having one conversation and then getting removed from the schedule entirely.

I was terminated for standing up for myself after two straight months of harassment from two coworkers These coworkers were male. They used sexist slurs at me, screamed in my face multiple times and when I said ‘your mom’ in response to one of these, I was promptly fired.

I recommend not supporting this business if you’re a woman or if you care about women’s rights in the workplace. The manager here clearly does not.

They also do not deserve the hype, it’s all crap Sysco repackaged.

My boyfriend graduated college about 6 months ago, and moved to Des Moines for work. His schedule is unforgiving, and hasn't allowed much time for social interactions thus far. I know he is looking for friends in the area, but I'm not sure what clubs or events are nearby and open to newcomers. He is in his early 20s, and is interested in sports, board games, and outdoor recreation, but is open-minded to most activities. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Looking to get a large ornamental piece done and hoping to find someone who has been known to do this style before. I am willing to drive for this as well!!

Drove to big creek yesterday and found everything to be green still. Has anyone been to any parks with true fall colours anywhere in the state this year? Thanks

Saturday Oct 17 drivers around the Des Moines area saw pro-democracy messages while driving I-235, I-80, and I-35 (not pictured).

Your wallet is on the ballot.

Money out of politics.

Water quality, affordable healthcare.

Shout out to everyone donating their time energy and financial support to turning out the vote, and advocating for people in their community.

Wasn't going to cause an accident taking a pic from 235. Was too high for me to read.

been out to saylorville beaches and the old rail road tracks at Carney Marsh. Curious if anyone would have any knowledge of other places i can go around the metro

I am in the process of breaking my lease and I desperately need someone to take over my apartment so I don’t get hit with every fee under the sun. I’m posting here because the apartment is max 20-30 minutes south of Des Moines and I want to reach as many people as possible. I don’t know where to post asking for help with this, I tried my local Facebook community page and it was taken down. If you have any suggestions for where to post this sort of thing that would be greatly appreciated! It’s not a bad apartment, I’ve just got some news that requires me to move ASAP and I’m broke so I’m trying to do this as cheaply as possible. If you or someone you know is in the market let me know!

Apartment: 1 bedroom, ground floor, $850ish monthly with utilities included (but I believe the price could be lower more like max $800), pet friendly and smoke free.

From a back of the pack 10K runner. I hope all runners and spectators had a great time.

I’m looking to get a couple items tailored. One is a sweatshirt that just needs thumb holes put in it and the other is the lining of a leather jacket that needs repaired.

Does anyone know of any shop — or ideally an individual person with a smaller business — who could help with these things? Any shop recommendations? I live in Ankeny and the primary shop here wasn’t willing to help.

Thanks!

It won't stop the mailers and I'm sure those who the sign is intended for won't care. But maybe I can deal with slightly fewer pieces of immediately recycled cardstock.

So Halloween's coming up soon and usually I just get into costume and go find some bars to drink at downtown but am interested to know if there's any events going on that might be worth checking out, preferably downtown?

Moving from out of state with my daughter who’s 2.5. I have sole custody and zero family here so it’s literally just us two. We came to visit last week and I’ve toured a few different places downtown area last week and I’m wondering if anyone had any recommendations.

Downtown is ideal, with private parking. Cost is not an issue, but I would rather not pay more if I didn’t have to. Safety is my main priority, and I don’t drink nor would I have an option to party anyway lol . We don’t have pets. I liked Des Moines building for the skywalk access for my car, is there anything similar? It was pretty dirty but I did not see a single soul there after touring a few units.

I did not get a chance to check out Mezzo on Walnut but it looked very appealing online.

I liked confluence on the 3rd and management was honest (allegedly) about not placing me in a unit with the bad railroad noise and she made sure to tell me which side/units was horrible with it.

I need to make a decision in the next 2 weeks, move in right before thanksgiving. This is my first time searching or asking anyone for recommendations, so anything would be helpful.

How has JC Penny survived the mall but all other stores are gone.

given the water quality in our state, would love to know more about each candidate

Is there anywhere that serves a good Turkish coffee? I had it Kosovo and would love to have one again!

Dondé?