To Des Moines City Councilman Dave Kaplan and Fellow Council Members:

First, I want to thank you for taking personal time to respond and to work with me on the sling launch problem at the Des Moines Marina.

The City of Des Moines is very fortunate that in a city of 29,000 people only you seven volunteers are willing to devote personal time to holding Council positions. I am not sure whether to congratulate or to offer condolences to Council members who chose to retain their positions.

If I were to make a presentation on the sling I would probably show fishermen in small boats off Redondo or fishing off the pier.

I would point out that the elimination of the sling would provide space for only one 50-foot boat. That space will probably be given to a non-resident.

That 200 boat launches probably represent 200 families of four, or 800 residents. When we had a boat we generally carried six.

I would also show at least two of the Des Moines businesses that will fail if the launch closes plus numerous rental storage areas.

I would raise the question as to which two to four Marina employees were going to be let go.

I would also point out that 3,500 launches equals almost $87,500 dollars, which is pretty good revenue for two garage hoists.

I hope the Council will bear with me. I brought what I believe is a serious paid staff problem to your attention. You have been saddled with a problem by staff because someone has sat on their tail rather than go to the cities of Normandy Park, Tukwila, Sea-Tac, Kent, Burien, Port, King County, PSRC and on to come up with their share of the Marina's operating costs.

This is a community problem just like the airport, the conveyor, Lora Lake, etc. were community problems. It should be resolved by joint community effort and not by entrapment of the Des Moines Council.

Thank you for your personal time.

Dan Caldwell

Des Moines