Des Moines cuts "No Mow May" after tall grass complaints

• Former Mayor Frank Cownie signed a proclamation last year that adopted NMM, resulting in the city's tall grass ordinance not being enforced until June.

State of play: DSM received between 450 and 500 complaints between late April and May last year, city neighborhood inspections administrator Dalton Jacobus told the council this week.

• Mayor Connie Boesen said she believes the benefit intended by the proclamation can be accomplished differently — through things like better promotion of programs that help residents establish rain gardens.
• Multiple other council members agreed and directed Jacobus to proceed in updating city enforcement policies.

What they're saying: A local committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom — the main group that advocated for NMM — might pivot to a "less mow May" strategy, Carolyn Uhlenhake Walker, a League member and DSM resident, tells Axios.

• That includes encouraging property owners to landscape with native plants and use fewer pesticides, she says.