High Noon At The Not So OK Coral
High Noon At The Not So OK Coral
This Wednesday at the City Club Bellingham’s mayor and the County Executive may begin to address the failing condition of Lake Whatcom. But again, they may not. Joining them will be Steve Hood who h
This Wednesday at the City Club Bellingham's mayor and the County Executive may begin to address the failing condition of Lake Whatcom. But again, they may not. Joining them will be Steve Hood who has studied the lake now for years, and recently authored the Ecology study that puts the city and county on the spot.
Dan Pike is lucky. As the newcomer to office, and without any real history in a position to do much to prevent or cure the problems with the lake, he's still got some breathing room before he's moved from the part of the solution category to part of the problem; but not a lot.
On the other hand, Pete Kremen's fingerprints are everywhere. From his interests in development on Squalicum Mountain to his house on the lake; his long time role in enforcement (or lack) of anti pollution laws as well as planning and zoning in the greatest part of the watershed; it's hard to imagine any circumstances that would move him from being part of the problem to part of the solution.
And poor Steve Hood. When he was so politically in astute as to suggest that the “crown jewel” of the county's park plan, conversion of 8,400 acres of the watershed into a recreational tourist attraction, would provide little or no appreciable benefit in restoring the quality of the lake; you'd of thought the green gang was going to lynch him. He was quick to assure them that he too thought a park would be just wonderful. But when has Ecology ever stood up against development in the Lake Whatcom watershed?
And doesn't that pose a particularly interesting conundrum? Ecology reports development is the principal source of the problem. And access to recreational and environmentally aesthetic natural features attracts development. So what will it be? Promote protection of the lake, or promote development in the watershed? Unfortunately, the joke's on us; so naive, we think Ecology will enforce laws that might restrict growth in the watershed.
No, the problems facing the watershed are easy to list: the Dept of Ecology, the current county administration and the Lake Whatcom Water & Sewer District. It won't be much longer and we can add Bellingham's acceptance of the status quo. But they'll all be there Wednesday, except for the water district.
Of course the Kremen administration has long been the quiet servant of the development lobby. For all the fine words about being “green,” it's always been about the “long green.” In this surprisingly durable Ponzi scheme that has allowed Pete to avoid increasing tax rates (taxes are up plenty) to cover the real costs of this ridiculous growth, the cat's out of the bag now. Not only is the county facing a budget deficit growing towards $10,000,000 as we speak, but we've been subsidizing these developers with the surpluses we paid in for years before this turn down..
And similarly for years, Kremen and his cronies have happily turned a blind eye to the schemes of the water district to grow its kingdom on water needed by the lake and the irreplaceable fisheries resources downstream. Without a legitimate right to more water, nonetheless if a developer calls, they're there for them (without objection from Ecology).
Ecology, ever willing to look the other way. Ever willing to interpret the regulations to allow impairment of the lake. They've got a lot of damn gall to tell the city and county they need to fix the problem. Without Ecology, there wouldn't have been any development around the lake since 1985!
Where will our freshman mayor stand? To date he has invested his efforts in redirecting the water district. So far for naught. When the talkin's over, will anything have changed? Will he really stand up to the water district, or will Bellingham remain silent to the water district supporting more development around the lake as they have to now? Will he be interested in keeping the short timer across the street happy? Or will he call a spade a spade?
It's gonna be interesting. See you there: High Noon, Wednesday, August 27, 2008: Northwood Hall, 3240 Northwest Ave., Bellingham.
Dan Pike is lucky. As the newcomer to office, and without any real history in a position to do much to prevent or cure the problems with the lake, he's still got some breathing room before he's moved from the part of the solution category to part of the problem; but not a lot.
On the other hand, Pete Kremen's fingerprints are everywhere. From his interests in development on Squalicum Mountain to his house on the lake; his long time role in enforcement (or lack) of anti pollution laws as well as planning and zoning in the greatest part of the watershed; it's hard to imagine any circumstances that would move him from being part of the problem to part of the solution.
And poor Steve Hood. When he was so politically in astute as to suggest that the “crown jewel” of the county's park plan, conversion of 8,400 acres of the watershed into a recreational tourist attraction, would provide little or no appreciable benefit in restoring the quality of the lake; you'd of thought the green gang was going to lynch him. He was quick to assure them that he too thought a park would be just wonderful. But when has Ecology ever stood up against development in the Lake Whatcom watershed?
And doesn't that pose a particularly interesting conundrum? Ecology reports development is the principal source of the problem. And access to recreational and environmentally aesthetic natural features attracts development. So what will it be? Promote protection of the lake, or promote development in the watershed? Unfortunately, the joke's on us; so naive, we think Ecology will enforce laws that might restrict growth in the watershed.
No, the problems facing the watershed are easy to list: the Dept of Ecology, the current county administration and the Lake Whatcom Water & Sewer District. It won't be much longer and we can add Bellingham's acceptance of the status quo. But they'll all be there Wednesday, except for the water district.
Of course the Kremen administration has long been the quiet servant of the development lobby. For all the fine words about being “green,” it's always been about the “long green.” In this surprisingly durable Ponzi scheme that has allowed Pete to avoid increasing tax rates (taxes are up plenty) to cover the real costs of this ridiculous growth, the cat's out of the bag now. Not only is the county facing a budget deficit growing towards $10,000,000 as we speak, but we've been subsidizing these developers with the surpluses we paid in for years before this turn down..
And similarly for years, Kremen and his cronies have happily turned a blind eye to the schemes of the water district to grow its kingdom on water needed by the lake and the irreplaceable fisheries resources downstream. Without a legitimate right to more water, nonetheless if a developer calls, they're there for them (without objection from Ecology).
Ecology, ever willing to look the other way. Ever willing to interpret the regulations to allow impairment of the lake. They've got a lot of damn gall to tell the city and county they need to fix the problem. Without Ecology, there wouldn't have been any development around the lake since 1985!
Where will our freshman mayor stand? To date he has invested his efforts in redirecting the water district. So far for naught. When the talkin's over, will anything have changed? Will he really stand up to the water district, or will Bellingham remain silent to the water district supporting more development around the lake as they have to now? Will he be interested in keeping the short timer across the street happy? Or will he call a spade a spade?
It's gonna be interesting. See you there: High Noon, Wednesday, August 27, 2008: Northwood Hall, 3240 Northwest Ave., Bellingham.
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