Times/News Correspondent

With the walls cluttered by poster boards tacked behind her, Jeanne Moeller, a resident of Des Moines since 1921, addressed 60 other city residents seated at round tables before her.

"I've lived in Des Moines for a very long time," Moeller chuckled as she reminisced about her seven-bedroom home that housed her large family. Her voice then dropped to a serious tone.

"I love Des Moines because it has an ambiance to it. It's a small town; the people here are remarkable. But we have a lot of problems.

"Our job as citizens is to solve those problems and approach [them] from the art of the possible," she continued.

Moeller was one of 50 community leaders invited by Mayor Bob Sheckler to the first Des Moines Leadership Summit on Aug. 13.

Ten city employees also attended.

In an attempt to bring the city together to make Des Moines a better place, these leaders - from business owners to residents - gathered to brainstorm about what needs to be done for the city and how to coordinate their efforts.

"The real goal here is to create a sense of community that would be the envy of the Puget Sound region," declared Sheckler during his introduction.

A luncheon followed, giving participants an opportunity to speak informally with each other.

"We need to be a partnership," Sheckler continued. "This is what it's all about; governing bodies and the citizens they serve."

Separated into eight groups, participants were asked to share their individual ideas about what can be done for overall improvement of the city.

The groups then transcribed their ideas onto poster boards that were hung at the front of the room. A representative from each group verbally reported their findings.

Many similarities in findings were discovered during this process, observed City Manager Tony Piasecki.

According to Piasecki, the number one goal was to make Des Moines a destination point by creating a Marina District.

"We need to build on this sense of place, this destination idea for the downtown marina and Beach Park area," suggested Des Moines Chief of Police Roger A. Baker, who noted this is what attracts people.

Two other key priorities were to create more programs for youth and seniors.

A representative of the Woodmont Library proposed more programs targeting at-risk youth who have no other alternatives.

Another priority was to encourage more business in Des Moines, possibly by having a "Shop in Des Moines" campaign - and also improving the permitting process.

"Those of you who do own businesses in town know that when a new business is coming to town, they go down the street and talk with the other shop owners," Piasecki noted.

"If they can say they are getting permits quickly and the citizens [have] organized a Shop in Des Moines campaign and sales are higher than they have been, you're going to create business," he added.

Other priorities included: improving citywide aesthetics; more community events, encouraging partnerships; enhancing public safety; and improving citywide communications.

The next step will include people at the Summit meeting, who agreed to volunteer to address various priorities, getting together to start the process by creating a detailed listing and discussing it at a second Summit to be held within the next few weeks, Sheckler said.

"I'm hoping that I will be around long enough to see the bottlenecked traffic in Des Moines come to an end," Moeller added.

Yet despite these problems, she confessed, "I am very proud to be a citizen of Des Moines [and] a part of this group. You have all approached this in a very constructive and fruitful way."