By: Tip Johnson

Bellingham 6th Ward city council seat has Michael Lilliquist running for re-election.
30 Years Later, Port OKs Commission Expansion Vote - but maybe with a poison pill
Who’s Superman when you need him? We are.
Local presentations scheduled on a reasonable use framework for water resource management
The Port Commission has decreed that Bellingham’s waterfront will remain a toxic, festering sore
Who benefits?
Vote for what you like. I like libraries.
Anon letters trying to intimidate us and our writers are non starters.
…Pants on Fire!
A summary of the Douglas Avenue right-of-way petition effort.
The Save the Trails Referendum goes into Pandemic Mode
Neighborhoods beware: City Hall is selling our public rights. Your neighborhood could be next.
This is the Save the Trails Referendum Page
But ever so s_l_o_w_l_y
Preserve public property rights & save the trail
The city granted building permits while the Planning Department knew this was a state historical Indian village site.
What does a little stream matter? Spoiler alert! It’s not a joke and, if it were, it would not be a nice one.
Tip Johnson makes the case that the City’s cozy relations with developers and its neighborhoods-be-damned attitude is costing us all.
WWU, Western Washington University has a “Culture of Fear”. No, NW Citizen is not saying that - the Seattle Times is.
Tip Johnson

Tip Johnson

Citizen Journalist and Editor · Writing Since Jan 16, 2008
Tip Johnson is a longtime citizen interest advocate with a record of public achievement projects for good government and the environment. A lifelong student of government, Tip served two terms on the Bellingham City Council and has worked on many community boards and committees. He travelled with the Federal Transit Administration and Department of Commerce on mass transit trade missions in SE Asia and Africa before settling down to focus on keeping public interests at the fore of local government and the course of growth and development.

Total number of comments: 627

Recent Comments by Tip Johnson

Wed Jul 1, 2026

Unlike unincorporated Whatcom County—where rates are regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission—rates inside Bellingham city limits are determined by exclusive franchise agreements.

The franchise was written in 1989 and is periodically amended by Council approval.  It cannot be found online.

BMC 9.12.060
B 2. 2. Rates are evaluated annually. Increases must be approved by the public works director…

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