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Can this website influence the elections?
I doubt it. Most visitors are political experts - elected, bureaucrats, reporters or junkies - and have their own candidates to support. Few casual citizens even know of this site. Regardless, below a
I doubt it. Most visitors are political experts - elected, bureaucrats, reporters or junkies - and have their own candidates to support. Few casual citizens even know of this site. Regardless, below a
Mark Asmundson is a corrupt mayor and must go. He constantly surprises even politically savvy folks with his audacious duplicity. It has always worked for him. You have seen that oversized postcard showing the McRory's with Mark. Notice the text does not say they support him. The McRorys have told friends they are embarrassed about the use of the photo for Mark's campaign. Just a small example of Mark's MO. He runs the city with closed-door deals. And, if you can remember back even a few months, they all cost us too much money.
I'm backing Brett Bonner. He is much more moderate than his old radio show suggested. He is intelligent, knows the issues and is experienced at management. He will be fair to all factions. My second choice is Russ Weston. Russ would be a very honest mayor and would not hurt our city. Foster Rose would be too much the advocate for downtown and as a council member was very arrogant. Both Brett and Russ will listen and work with all citizens. Sharon Crozier is too new to city issues. I hope she stays active in city politics. Regardless, I will strongly back whoever makes it through the primary against Mark.
Sheri Ward would make an outstanding city council member and I strongly support her. Terry Borneman has ignored citizen input for over three years and has discovered it only this summer. He is claiming and taking credit for things he actually opposed. The Herald reported that the building code height loophole was fixed with Terry on the council, implying his support. In truth, Sheri worked for two years to convince a majority on the council to close the loophole, with Terry voting against it. The Herald ommitted any mention of Sheri's role. Indeed, Sheri is running because of Terry's arrogant attitude towards citizens and his record of always voting for whatever mayor Mark puts before the council. Terry likes to close public hearings by calling for a council vote on the issue with no discussion of the input by citizens.
Sheri has worked for five years as a neighborhood activist and will bring a much-needed independent attitude to the city council. We should not miss this opportunity to vote her in. Many conservatives think Sheri is liberal and liberals think she is conservative. In truth, her belief is for fairness to all. She wants city planning codes that don't allow planning staff to interpret them different ways for different applicants. Developers should support her as should any who support neighborhood values such as views and predictability of future developments.
Don Hansey really should not be running. His "20 years experience" is in the county and even that ended almost 20 years ago. He has not participated in any city issues. Don is very conservative and would be the shill for the Building Association.
Port Commissioner. As you probably know, I made my mark on local politics by exposing corruption at the Port about 10 years ago. I know the Port and how much it _could_ benefit our local economy. With three good Port Commissioners, we would be the most prosperous city in Washington State. We have not had that since the 50s. While commissioner Scott Walker and I disagree on much, he is our only intelligent and business-oriented commissioner. He needs a second commissioner to make any improvements at the Port. Right now, Executive Director Jim Darling sets the agenda with Doug Smith and Ginny Benton his lap dogs.
I support Travis Holland but have to admit that Jim Jorgensen might be the best candidate. Travis knows Port issues, has served for years on government committees, is a working pilot at the airport and has much good business experience. Jim Jorgensen has a lifetime of marine experience in Blaine and has worked hard on Port projects up there. Jim brings maturity to the table.
Jack Grant is also very good and Ron Wilson would even be much better than Ginny. Jack is an attorney who works on trade and business ventures. The Port has squandered its free trade zones for years, with the commissioners not knowing how to develop them. Jack and Scott Walker would get those going. Ron Wilson is a fine guy with integrity and is a member of the Ferndale City Council, but I think he is the least qualified of the four.
Ginny must go. Her personal legal and financial dealings are a mess. I have touched on them but have not fully exposed how bad they are. If she is dumped in the primary there is no reason to post them. More importantly, Ginny does not bring anything to the table at the Port. She just votes the way Jim Darling asks her to. She is deaf to any discussion of issues.
There you have it. Liberal and conservative values play a role only in which challenger you vote for. Most liberals who are active in city issues do not support Terry or Mark. Most conservatives tell me they are supporting Ginny while they hold their noses. Changes to these three offices will benefit all of us and will not offend the values of any of us. We are lucky to have such good challengers to chose from this year. Let's give them our votes.
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Can this website influence the elections?
I doubt it. Most visitors are political experts - elected, bureaucrats, reporters or junkies - and have their own candidates to support. Few casual citizens even know of this site. Regardless, below a
Facing the abyss
So now the US is crawling to the UN asking for help in Iraq. And asking France and Germany to help. George W and his Neo-conservatives are facing the abyss - defeat and humiliation.
Gentle read
Growing up Whatcom
A new political pressure group is organizing to try and slow the growth of Whatcom County and Bellingham. Pro-Whatcom claims to be a diverse grassroots group of citizens but is actually a savvy
So - what polite word can we use?
Phone outage in Whatcom County, Bellingham and much of Skagit County since 7:45 am this morning according to news reports. KGMI is on top of this and the Bellingham Herald is posting special reports o
Why things go so wrong for us good guys
AlJazeera’s English language website has finally opened. This is the Arab news site that scooped the US news media on a weekly basis during the war last spring. The US Government supposedly blocked th
This city is in serious need of good local news coverage
According to today’s Herald, editorial page editor Carolyn Nielson is on leave. Eric Thomas, who has been writing goofy editorials aimed at humor, is now going on vacation. So - during the two weeks l
What is happening at the Herald?
You would think the Port of Bellingham getting a windfall of $17 million would be news. But since posting that here - and scooping the paid news media in Bellingham - they have ignored this. Th
The Port Commissioner campaign is getting hot
Ginny Benton, seeking her third term as commissioner, stated this evening at the Rome Grange that she will not respond to the “mud slinging” being done against her. She will “not stoop” to dignify thi
Wednesday’s Lunch Time Soapbox Forum
At yesterday’s forum, the mayor and four challengers faced the audience for over an hour of questions. The forum does not allow them to use notes, so the give and take is very entertaining as well as
Do we have to endure a tragedy before we wake up?
Go pick up today’s issue of the Bellingham Weekly and read the Skinny. It reports on the Bellingham Police giving jaywalking citations to downtown merchants who have dared to criticize the police. The
Give GW what he deserves
If you are interested in giving the raspberry to George W when he visits Washington State next week, then check out www.stopbushseattle.com and make travel plans. W is coming here for some photo ops o
This is an exclusive NwCitizen feature
If you like a good read then check The Door to War and the Futurist Markets article. The author takes the concept of a Terror Futures Market and looks at how the world works.
OK. They are completely insane
Amazing. I can call the supposed president of our country insane and my conservative friends only object to the f word. This is an adult site. If my “credibility” rests on that, then folks know nothin
Where is Bob Hope when we need him?
Tuesday afternoon, the Bush administration back peddled from the Terrorist Futures Market idea under fire from Senators from both sides and ridicule from news media. You should know this plan was not
George W and the Pentagon are absolutely insane
They are proposing a future’s market on terrorism, assassinations, atrocities and war. These guys figure out a way to make money on most anything. So this is their vision of the future - war for profi
Pay no attention to the plan behind the curtain
The Bellingham Herald has good reporting in today’s paper on the City Council’s stumbling into a $300,000-plus gift to a local business. The business happens to be owned by one of the best friends of
Carpenter’s Union update
Just to finish the reporting on the carpenters, the union members approved the new contract, which retains their health benefits. The basic reason they went on strike was to avoid cuts in these health
Herald keeps carpenters in the dark
A tentative agreement was reached last evening by the carpenter’s and the contractors associations. Construction will resume on all the sites Monday morning and and the agreement will go to a vote of
Carpenter’s Union strike nearly over?
The Associated General Contractors and the Carpenter’s Union will meet tomorrow morning to try and settle the health benefits dispute and end the strike, which has stopped major construction projects
Carpenters striking blows
The carpenters’ strike continued all day Friday - at St. Joe’s Hospital and at several other large construction sites around Bellingham. Nada in the Herald, of course. All over Western Washington, sit