Election notes and trivia
Election notes and trivia
Today’s Gristle in the Cascadia Weekly has a devastating analysis of the failed NOAA bid by the Port of Bellingham. If anyone wants solid reasons to vote in new commissioners - and vote out W
Today's Gristle in the Cascadia Weekly has a devastating analysis of the failed NOAA bid by the Port of Bellingham. If anyone wants solid reasons to vote in new commissioners - and vote out Walker and Smith - then this article does it. In spades. With solid facts to expose why Bellingham had little chance of getting NOAA in the first place, how this was ignored as the Port spent hundreds of thousands and how the Port crippled our bid by refusing to allow community support for the bid.
Read this article if you are still buying any of the campaign talk of Walker and Smith. They may be nice guys, but they have just masterminded the latest Port bumbling in this NOAA bid. And if reelected, they will only be encouraged to continue their absurd plans for a marina that will cost millions and lose millions every year. And continue with their plans for a dysfunctional waterfront that could impoverish our county. For evidence, we have the messes in Everett and Bremerton where their Ports did just that.
Read the article. The Gristle of Aug 12, 2009 Pick up the Weekly.
We have 4 Port challengers. You get to vote for one, depending on where you live. Make your choice. Doug Karlberg or Mike McAuley in the 2nd District and Ham Hayes or John Blethen in the 1st District. Advise your family and friends.
That postcard at the bottom? Commissioner Scott Walker's latest deception. That cover of the Whatcom Watch never happened. His slick out of town political ad agency just photo-shopped that together. Much to the chagrin of the Watch staff. The article was on page 15. What is even funnier is Scott's postcard uses a photo of Marine Park that the Watch had asked the Port for the right to use in the article. The Port ignored the Watch's request for the photo, but apparently made sure Walker's campaign got to use it. Some PR department at the Port. See end of article below for the actual front page of the Watch from July.
Some might say showing the card will get votes for Walker. I doubt it. Those reading this website are pretty clued in. The Gristle makes hamburger of those points on Walker's card - as have the challengers, in particular Hayes and Karlberg.
In other election trivia…
Auditor Shirley Forslof is predicting a 27% return on the 116,464 ballots mailed to Whatcom County voters. That would be about 31,500 - and a low turnout. She bases this on the rates of return compared with previous years. As the all-mail balloting is only a few years old, we are still learning. Myself, I think the total will be closer to 30% but skewed heavily with the 3rd District lowest, the 1st District highest, and the rural county with a higher return percentage than Bellingham. The rural area actually has more voters than Bellingham and could dominate the elections - and the County Council - except Bellingham always has a higher voter turnout. This election I think the county will have the higher turnout. Folks out there showed much more concern about the forums and issues than in Bellingham.
Name that beer contest in a fun sideshow - and one we can all participate in. Sam told you yesterday, and I was holding back as Ham Hayes had this column yesterday. The campaign of Catherine Chambers, candidate for Ward 6 in Bellingham, has a " Name the Campaign Beer" contest, with about 20 suggested names for a mythical local beer.
And then there is Bill Knutzen and his voting record - or rather the missing 50% of it. I may have voted for him last week - and now hope I voted for Dave Pros. Knutzen is like Lilliquist - guys who are unwilling to participate and work on community issues until the day they get a burr in their pants. Then they start pretending to be committed community members of long standing. Knutzen even tried lying his way out of the situation until trapped. This does not recommend him for public office. He admits now that he hasn't voted in local, odd-year elections for many years. Said recent bad events have brought him into the process. Apparently he wants the rest of us to believe we did not have serious county issues before this year. Tilt.
Read the Gristle. Vote for Port Reform. Our hope is to have a choice between challengers in the General Election in November. We at least need to have challengers who drew large votes in the Primary so they can raise money and support to win in November.
Read this article if you are still buying any of the campaign talk of Walker and Smith. They may be nice guys, but they have just masterminded the latest Port bumbling in this NOAA bid. And if reelected, they will only be encouraged to continue their absurd plans for a marina that will cost millions and lose millions every year. And continue with their plans for a dysfunctional waterfront that could impoverish our county. For evidence, we have the messes in Everett and Bremerton where their Ports did just that.
Read the article. The Gristle of Aug 12, 2009 Pick up the Weekly.
We have 4 Port challengers. You get to vote for one, depending on where you live. Make your choice. Doug Karlberg or Mike McAuley in the 2nd District and Ham Hayes or John Blethen in the 1st District. Advise your family and friends.
That postcard at the bottom? Commissioner Scott Walker's latest deception. That cover of the Whatcom Watch never happened. His slick out of town political ad agency just photo-shopped that together. Much to the chagrin of the Watch staff. The article was on page 15. What is even funnier is Scott's postcard uses a photo of Marine Park that the Watch had asked the Port for the right to use in the article. The Port ignored the Watch's request for the photo, but apparently made sure Walker's campaign got to use it. Some PR department at the Port. See end of article below for the actual front page of the Watch from July.
Some might say showing the card will get votes for Walker. I doubt it. Those reading this website are pretty clued in. The Gristle makes hamburger of those points on Walker's card - as have the challengers, in particular Hayes and Karlberg.
In other election trivia…
Auditor Shirley Forslof is predicting a 27% return on the 116,464 ballots mailed to Whatcom County voters. That would be about 31,500 - and a low turnout. She bases this on the rates of return compared with previous years. As the all-mail balloting is only a few years old, we are still learning. Myself, I think the total will be closer to 30% but skewed heavily with the 3rd District lowest, the 1st District highest, and the rural county with a higher return percentage than Bellingham. The rural area actually has more voters than Bellingham and could dominate the elections - and the County Council - except Bellingham always has a higher voter turnout. This election I think the county will have the higher turnout. Folks out there showed much more concern about the forums and issues than in Bellingham.
Name that beer contest in a fun sideshow - and one we can all participate in. Sam told you yesterday, and I was holding back as Ham Hayes had this column yesterday. The campaign of Catherine Chambers, candidate for Ward 6 in Bellingham, has a " Name the Campaign Beer" contest, with about 20 suggested names for a mythical local beer.
And then there is Bill Knutzen and his voting record - or rather the missing 50% of it. I may have voted for him last week - and now hope I voted for Dave Pros. Knutzen is like Lilliquist - guys who are unwilling to participate and work on community issues until the day they get a burr in their pants. Then they start pretending to be committed community members of long standing. Knutzen even tried lying his way out of the situation until trapped. This does not recommend him for public office. He admits now that he hasn't voted in local, odd-year elections for many years. Said recent bad events have brought him into the process. Apparently he wants the rest of us to believe we did not have serious county issues before this year. Tilt.
Read the Gristle. Vote for Port Reform. Our hope is to have a choice between challengers in the General Election in November. We at least need to have challengers who drew large votes in the Primary so they can raise money and support to win in November.
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