I am writing about this to update Kossites on a small but important local race that highlights some of the issues that will be increasingly front and center in restoring a constituency for progressive issues such as balancing growth with appropriate service infrastructure, the needs of the environment and broad based economic development not driven by building and construction trades alone.
Whatcom County is in the furthest northwest corner of the furthest northwestern blue state in the US - Washington. About 175,000 people share a beautiful green landscape bordered on the west by Puget Sound and its inlets, on the east by the Cascade Mountains and on the immediate north by Canada.
The County seat of Whatcom County, Bellingham, is a happenin' town of over 70,000. It is home to Western Washington University and an intellectually and culturally diverse community that has been cited as one of the most desirable places to live in the United States. There are good restaurants, book stores, a symphony orchestra, plays and a well supported theater for "artsy" movies. The natural backyard of the Cascades and Puget Sound provide many recreational activities including boating, skiing, fishing, hunting, climbing, hiking and backpacking.
Over the last 5 years, Bellingham and the surrounding area have been undergoing a housing and development boom. Many new businesses have opened to serve the influx of new citizens arriving from all over the country. The economic and investment environment has also fostered the real estate speculation seen elsewhere in the country, adding to the pressure for continued development. The rate of growth is overwhelming the County's infrastructure of fire and emergency services, roads, schools and threatens fragile environmental resources such as water. Our County Planning Department is unable to keep up with monitoring building sites but continues to issue permits under sustained pressure from the pro-development sector.
The stresses between our existing high quality of life and the demands of continued rapid growth are forcing hard choices. These choices, to my mind, bring to high definition many questions facing us across the country and make me think of "development" as a proxy for these issues.
* Can we manage growth effectively and hold on to the best of our natural and laid back cultural environment? (Proxy for: Can we set and live with limits?)
* Can we effectively plan and control the use of our valuable resources - particularly water and land (or energy?); can we avoid bankrupting our future?
* Can we have growth, jobs and high return on investment on property and keep clean, safe homes for our wildlife, forests and wetlands and ourselves?
* Most critically, can our(County) government to be an effective and fair broker in negotiating and implementing the hard choices necessary among the various constituencies of citizens, business, agriculture and environmentalism?
The ostensibly non-partisan election for the new Whatcom County Council will take place November 8th. I say ostensibly non partisan because the opponents for this election are quite clear in the values that they support and who they represent. This election is all about growth and how Whatcom County wants to do it: rapidly without much management or planning because it creates jobs and profits or more slowly weighing a variety of considerations including the effect on services and the environment.
In general, the pro growth candidates are conservatives with Republican ties and support. These generally include real estate, agriculture, developers and others with significant real estate investments in the area who want to cash in while they can.
In the most hotly contested district, the "Pro Growth" candidate, Mike Kent, is a wealthy local realtor who has significant financial and tactical support from the pro growth community. He has worked against imposing any restriction on growth and has advocated subdividing some of the most fragile shoreline in Whatcom County even as he contributes to salmon restoration and gives lip service to "communicating" with all parties.
He realizes that the development issue is extremely controversial and has spent most of this campaign on the horror of methamphetamine use in young people and the need for guess what - more jails. Never mind that meth use tends to go up in areas of rapid development without accompanying services - or jobs. He has a real estate radio show and enough money to take out television ads - unheard of in previous County elections - and has made donations to local groups that have opposed environmental regulation.
His opponent, Carl Weimer is a local environmental, social advocate and businessman. Carl made his rep in the late 90's after the catastrophic gasoline pipeline fire in Bellingham, starting a successful pipeline safety advocacy group and backing the implementation of more effective safeguards. He also began a successful house wares and construction recycling business which has now expanded into Seattle.
Carl advocates a more careful approach to development that requires going slow enough to measure impacts and successfully implement the tangle of regulations that already govern development in the County - but are not enforced because the County has trouble keeping track of the number of regulations and overlapping provisions.
Carl believes that it takes planning to determine what the community needs and time to develop consensus around what the community wants. Of course this would necessarily slow the break neck rate of current development but our County would have time to determine and implement the changes in services necessary to safely expand. We would have time to plan adequate roads and schools to service the growing areas and to gauge the level of impact on our environment and water supply before it was too late. In some instances, we would have time to say "NO" to more growth.
Carl has run an energetic and well organized campaign and has not been intimidated by his moneyed opponent. He has challenged him on his record of contributions and the source of money that he has received and forced Mike to change the subject from development. His website is:
http://www.voteweimer.com/index.htm
Laurie Caskey-Schreiber has been on the County Council for 4 years and has worked to make the tough choices around development. She is the key incumbent representing a very narrow majority of Eco-friendly Councilmen and we need her to continue to anchor controlled growth and environmental issues on the newly elected Council. Her website is:
http://lauriecaskeyschreiber.org/
These are young, vital candidates who have what it takes - strong values and guts to stand up for the average citizens right to shape our community's future and not just to bend to the will of corporate and other parties with narrow, self interested agendas.
Of greater importance, they have the skills and ideas to help our community give voice to its needs and manage all of its assets.
Please take a look at their websites and make note of their names. Contributions are always welcome but an email of support can help sustain the energy to ring one more doorbell. I will update the results of the election.