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What closed-door deal has Mark made with Foster?

That is the question making the political rounds this afternoon. Foster Rose, who came in third in the primary election for mayor, today endorsed Mayor Mark Asmundson for reelection. Foster’s voters h

That is the question making the political rounds this afternoon. Foster Rose, who came in third in the primary election for mayor, today endorsed Mayor Mark Asmundson for reelection. Foster’s voters h

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• Topics: Bellingham, Elections, People,
That is the question making the political rounds this afternoon. Foster Rose, who came in third in the primary election for mayor, today endorsed Mayor Mark Asmundson for reelection. Foster's voters have been seen as swing voters who might go for Mark or challenger Brett Bonner. How many of them will follow Foster's suggestion now becomes a big question in this campaign.

Why is a deal suspected? Because after the primary, Foster went to Brett and said he would endorse Brett if he, Foster, was promised the position of Deputy Mayor should Brett be elected Mayor. Brett told him no and that he was not making any promises to anyone before the election. This included his own closest campaign supporters. A couple weeks later, at Foster's request, a second meeting took place between Foster and his advisor and Brett and his advisors. Again Foster made his request. Again Brett told him no. No deals before the election.

Over the past couple weeks I've heard about Foster's request from several political observers who are not with either campaign. So the word was out on the street. There is no position of Deputy Mayor. The closest is Don Keenan's position of Administrative Assistant. We doubt Mark would trade Don for Foster.

Let us not forget that Brett made no deal - even with the prospect of gaining what might be the winning margin for the mayor's office.

What closed-door deal has Mark made with Foster?

By John ServaisOn Oct 17, 2003

That is the question making the political rounds this afternoon. Foster Rose, who came in third in the primary election for mayor, today endorsed Mayor Mark Asmundson for reelection. Foster’s voters h

This is the piece that this election deserves

By John ServaisOn Oct 16, 2003

Tip Johnson has written the best analysis of the mayor Mark’s record that will appear anywhere. Tip, a hero to local environmentalists and liberals, takes an honest and courageous look at Mark Asmunds

The Police Guild believes Terry did this

By John ServaisOn Oct 15, 2003

The Bellingham Police Guild will endorse Don Hansey today for city council. Their executive board voted 100% last night to endorse Hansey and not Bornemann. To most political observers this will be a

Attempted extortion by the Mayor

By John ServaisOn Oct 14, 2003

The City Council yesterday evening showed their disdain for public process and for state laws against using city facilities for promoting campaign issues. And in their afternoon session they bowed to

Very quietly, more and more liberals are

By John ServaisOn Oct 13, 2003

telling me they are voting for Brett Bonner for mayor. Some very prominent ones - but they are not going public. Why not? Fear of retaliation.

Why are they against Mark? Two reasons in general.

The political junkies around town

By John ServaisOn Oct 09, 2003

are abuzz about the trap Brett Bonner stepped into on Tuesday evening at the Labor Council. Dave Warren blindsided Brett without even allowing an introduction. They jammed questions at him, and baited

Mayoral Debate

By John ServaisOn Oct 08, 2003

The two differed strongly on several issues. The differences between them are becoming more apparent and this should continue for the next two weeks.

Brett continues to develop his Lake Whatcom

Election Commentary

By John ServaisOn Oct 06, 2003

Port Commissioner by Sheri Ward
So what happened to all the heat among contenders for this race? It was only a few short weeks ago… (<a href=”http://nwcitizen.us/oldsite/elections/2003/ben

Remember the ‘Truth Squad’?

By John ServaisOn Oct 05, 2003

We need one to follow Asmundson during the next three weeks - and to nudge the Herald to do minimal checking of facts before publishing. I’m referring to Friday’s post below, where it was noted how St

A far superior and more objective analysis

By John ServaisOn Oct 03, 2003

If you’re a liberal and just figure you’ll vote for Mark for mayor, then read Tip Johnson’s analysis of the two candidates. Compared to John Stark’s report in this morning’s Herald, Tip gives a far su

A “Cadillac” system

By John ServaisOn Oct 03, 2003

Mayor Mark is in trouble with young liberal activists - just the voters who normally would support a liberal mayor. But they are remembering his presiding over police and court abuses that targeted yo

Very qualified local political observers comment

By John ServaisOn Oct 01, 2003

I am posting commentary on the election races by several very qualified local political observers who have agreed to write up their views of selected debates, candidates and issues. The first one i

Election Forums

By John ServaisOn Sep 30, 2003

The first of three Bellingham Herald Election Forums is taking place this evening at the County Council chambers.

The forums are being broadcast live on KGMI radio, 790 AM. You can see the vide

News censorship is not some obscure conspiracy theory

By John ServaisOn Sep 29, 2003

Indeed, I watched CBS news and they have the story now. (see 3 pm below) Still nada at the CNN and FOXnews websites. A search shows nothing. Novak of CNN wrote the article that exposed the identity of

US soldiers would never do things like that

By John ServaisOn Sep 29, 2003

How many war prisoners is the USA holding? 6,000? A new website is trying to track all the foreigners the USA is holding in secret prisons or not telling us about. Amnesty International is involved. T

It is probably Brett’s to lose

By John ServaisOn Sep 26, 2003

All week I’m hearing from political pros how Mark will still beat Brett for mayor. Mark is too smooth, they say. Mark knows what to say in every situation. Brett is doing a poor job of exposing Mark’s

Taking care of our own—NOT!

By John ServaisOn Sep 25, 2003

Did you know that US soldiers who get wounded in Iraq and are hospitalized in military hospitals - for amputation of their foot or other treatment - are then charged for the food they receive in the h

I would sure welcome some company online

By John ServaisOn Sep 23, 2003

The look of this home page has changed today. The flag is larger and now fits official flag specs. My thanks to Conrad Suckow for this. While it is larger, the image for downloading is 1/20 the former

The Auditor counted all but the last

By John ServaisOn Sep 23, 2003

25 ballots today. In the only close race, Don Hansey has firmly out-polled Sheri Ward. Given how the Herald viewed the big absentee count on Friday afternoon, we can expect them to tell us tomorrow m

Decreasing the ‘bull’ factor

By John ServaisOn Sep 22, 2003

The dates of the Lunch Time Soapbox Forums schedule has been adjusted. It will now start on Wednesday, October 8, instead of the 1st as originally posted. The forums from that first week have been mov

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