Update - noon - The press release sent out at 6:30 this morning is now attached by a link at the bottom of this article.  It gives further details of her positions and states she is running for the 3rd Ward council seat.  You can easily download and print this pdf.  It is not yet available on her campaign website.  

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Cathy Lehman will be challenging Barry Buchanan, who is from the 3rd Ward, for his council seat, should he not run for mayor. Barry is finishing his first term as a council member and is considered a moderate to liberal representative. He has long been active in the Democratic Party.

Cathy is also liberal. In her announcement this morning, she states: "Lehman pledges to strengthen economic development downtown, promote liveable neighborhoods, and protect Lake Whatcom water quality." These seem to be very close to what Barry stands for.

One difference may be that Cathy wants the "...city to direct resources towards downtown planning instead of additional outlying urban villages in 2011-2012." She implies that city tax dollars should be used downtown to increase low income housing within "walking distance" of downtown and reduce or stop efforts to plan for urban villages in other parts of Bellingham. This seems confusing as Cathy has been a sustainable business advocate and these small businesses are hardly concentrated downtown.

Like every city and county council candidate for the last 18 years, she says Lake Whatcom needs protecting. That she wants to "… make progress…" on protecting it. Every current city council member has said that in their campaign. She was not specific in her announcement about what she would change.

Yes, I'm a bit skeptical. Barry is in his first term in office and has worked hard to learn the issues and listen to his constituents. It seems more like Cathy wants to be in politics and is filing for the office regardless of how the incumbent is performing.

Now - if Barry files for Mayor of Bellingham, then Cathy may well offer a viable challenge. But all sources seem to indicate that Kelli Linville will announce for mayor before mid March. Barry would then, according to a very reliable source, support Kelli's bid and run for a second term on the council. Barry, like most everyone I have talked with on the left and right, strongly wants Dan Pike to be replaced as mayor.

I have heard of two other, more conservative, possible candidates for mayor. But one at least would also not file and would support Kelli should she announce. Kelli, it seems to me, would have very broad and deep support from all factions in Bellingham. The disappointment with Pike will withstand his expected 8 month blitz of pretending to listen to people and be for a lot of progressive programs - programs he has ignored for three years. Ahh, but I'm drifting into the campaign. First, we need Kelli to announce.

As for Cathy, we will hear a lot about her work with Futurewise - more important in the rural area than in the city - and Sustainable Connections - an organization that seems to define sustainable as those businesses that pay for membership in their organization. 

For political junkies, try to catch her website this morning.  Nothing there but the Word Press stuff.  I'm sure Scott Pelton, her campaign manager, will be typing hard over the next hour or two to put some substance there.  Not a good start.  Even the press release they sent out this morning with her announcement is not there.