Re: Chamber of Commerce insert in today’s Bellingham Herald

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Mon, May 24, 2004, 5:22 pm  //  John Servais

The initiative is 'remove motor boats', not 'remove boats' from Lake Whatcom. Our Chamber of Commerce just lies in print to achieve their goal of defeating the initiative. Then the illustration shows a canoe - hello? No one is trying to remove canoes from the lake. The initiative is aimed at removing very polluting outboard motors from Lake Whatcom. Indeed, this would make the lake more attractive to canoeing. Have you ever been in a canoe when a speed boat roars by and gives you their wake?

For the record, the initiative seeks to give the voters a choice of whether to ban polluting motor boats from the lake which is also our drinking water source.

This false headline puts the rest of the article in disrepute - why believe anything else? And for that matter, the whole 12 pages of Vol. 1, #1 is a joke. The Bellingham Herald and the Chamber are teaming up to try and compete with the Bellingham Business Journal. In my opinion, the Journal is the most outstanding publication in Whatcom County. John Thompson and his staff do a better job on their mission than any other publication. Each month when the Journal comes out, the Herald manages to get an early issue and then quickly prints articles on topics in the Journal.

Ken Oplinger, Chamber president, wrote the article - although he did not have the decency to put his name to it. Ken is new to our area. The Herald sold the ads - and they can hide behind the Chamber and claim they did not write the lies. Did the Herald print the insert? Did Herald staff lay out the tabloid? And is the Herald ducking any responsibility for the contents?

I have not signed nor endorsed the Motor Boats Off initiative. Benzene is about #10 on the list of problems in the lake and clean motors should be allowed. But the initiative is a poke with a sharp stick to our power elite who have refused for years to do anything to clean up Lake Whatcom. Suddenly they are for reasonable measures. Take the initiative away and they will immediately go back to their reactionary stance of nothing is wrong.

Meanwhile, truth takes a back seat. And our best-educated and wealthiest community members push blatant lies at the voters. Shame on them.

Related Links:

-> Bellingham Business Journal