City of Des Moines

JC Harris is running for re-election to Des Moines City Council, Position 2, where he has served since 2020. Harris is a semi-retired musician and software engineer who describes himself as a non-partisan independent.

Harris's platform has some positive aspects - it heavily focuses on reducing Seattle-Tacoma Airport's noise and air pollution in Des Moines. He proposes solutions like forcing the airport to pay impact fees and increasing building code enforcement to make sure homes insulate against noise. He also supports creating more public parks, senior programs, and services with funding that depends less on regressive taxes and fees. 

However, Harris' voting pattern on the council has been unimpressive - he votes "no" on most proposals. Harris was the sole vote against adopting the city's housing action plan, saying it had "no substance" despite its comprehensive suggestions for improving access to affordable housing in Des Moines. He has also voted against proposals to improve public amenities. 

Most worrying is his reputation for inappropriate behavior. Harris was formally censured his fellow councilmembers for cornering and berating a city staff member. Several of his colleagues said that this was part of a pattern of behavior that included shouting expletives at them in public, using sexual innuendo in the workplace, and posting insults and misinformation on his blog. Harris has been removed from all but one of his committee appointments.

Harris is running against Rob Back, a landlord, property manager, and former city council member. During his previous term on the city council (2016 to 2020), Back was most focused on funding development downtown and at the marina, improving transportation, and increasing police funding. Back is a board member and strong supporter of the SCORE jail, a private jail that faced several lawsuits after a sharp increase in people dying in custody because of lack of medical care.

Harris and Back differ slightly when it comes to prisons and policing. Although Harris bemoans that the number of police has been reduced in recent years, he thinks that the city should not try to arrest its way out of problems with mental health and addiction crises. He proposed creating a treatment center as a solution but did not have a concrete proposal for how to fund it.

While Harris is less conservative than Back in some ways, we cannot recommend him given his inappropriate behavior on the council. 
 

Jeremy Nutting is running to retain his seat on Des Moines City Council, Position 4. Nutting is a superintendent for a construction contracting company and has served on the council since 2013.

Nutting's top priorities include making Des Moines friendly to local businesses, supporting the city's development, and increasing police funding. Nutting has supported the Des Moines Creek Business Park and the controversial Marina redevelopment, and would work on further supporting growth downtown, at the waterfront, and in the ferry system. He has also been heavily involved in police-citizen relationship-building events, and is proud of adding more police officers and substation locations to the police department.

Nutting was on the council in 2015 when they voted to restrict churches who were sheltering people experiencing homelessness in Des Moines. His focus on policies that favor businesses and wealthy yacht owners indicate that he may not be the most progressive choice.

Christine Puzas is challenging incumbent Jeremy Nutting for his seat on the Des Moines City Council. She does not have any public information as of early October.