City of Des Moines, WA

Strategic Plan

Charting Our Course

November 25, 2025

Your Voice Matters: Community Town Hall Dec 9

Help Chart Des Moines’ Future
Community Town Hall – Tuesday, December 9

Join us for a fun, interactive evening where your voice helps shape the future of Des Moines.

This town hall is part of the City’s strategic planning process, called Charting Our Course — a roadmap for setting priorities and guiding decisions over the next several years.

Event Details

Date: Monday, December 9
Time 6:00 - 8:00 PM (Program begins at 6:15 PM — can’t make it right at 6? Come when you can and we’ll catch you up!)
Location: Des Moines Elementary School

What to Expect
You’ll take part in a facilitated, hands-on exercise designed to:

Gather broad community input on Des Moines’ future
Identify top priorities for our city
Build on ideas already shared through focus groups and the community survey

No speeches. No lectures. Just real conversations and interactive activities to share what matters most to you!

Family-Friendly Event

Bring the whole family!

We’ll have a kids’ corner with fun, age-appropriate activities where children can share their ideas for Des Moines’ future — plus games to keep them busy while adults participate.

Haven’t taken the community survey yet?

There’s still time!

The community survey closes December 12 and takes just a few minutes to complete: https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/SEDAhS

Your input — whether through the survey, the town hall, or both — will help shape the City’s Strategic Plan.

We hope to see you there!

Nov. 8, 2025

Share Your Input on the Future of Des Moines

All Des Moines residents are invited to share your ideas and hopes for the future of our city, as part of our strategic planning process. Please complete this brief survey here to make your voice heard.

We want to make sure all voices are heard! The survey is available in multiple languages.

Please take ten minutes to share your thoughts!

Take the Survey https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/SEDAhS

Read about the full strategic planning process below.

Building a Strategic Plan for Our City’s Future

The City of Des Moines is inviting the community to participate in developing a five-year strategic plan.

A strategic plan is like a map that captures our community’s shared vision and lays out the goals and priorities that will guide City decisions, investments, and services over the next five years.

We are calling the strategic planning process “Charting Our Course” because it will help us navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead, on the way to the future we envision together.

A strong strategic plan is not the City’s plan, it is the community’s plan. It is built on what residents say they want for their community.

Listening to the community is a critical first step in the planning process. In the coming weeks, City staff will be asking for your input in several ways:

• October: The City hosted five focus groups with 50+ participants facilitated by an independent consultant.
• Early November: We will launch a survey for all residents to share the input on the future of our city. Take the survey here, https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/SEDAhS
• November-December: Members of the Des Moines Citizens Advisory Board (CAB), will hold pop-up input sessions in gathering places around the community. Check our website and the City Manager’s Weekly Report of dates, times and locations.
• Dec. 9, 6-8 p.m.: All community members are invited share their input a community meeting at the Des Moines Elementary.

Based on community priorities and with the help of an independent strategic planning consultant, the City Council will develop a framework of goals and strategies to reach them.

Please watch the City Manager’s Weekly Report and this webpage for more information and updates.