Mr. Sheldon has resigned. The Port Commissioners have accepted his resignation. What exactly do you think this petition is going to do?

That’s a great question, Ed.

If the position does nothing more than shed light on what is appearing to be a shady power play, then that’s enough. At the very best though, it might show the commissioners that there is wide spread support for Charlie Sheldon in the community and encourage them to take a second look at the circumstances around the hurried weekend ‘resign or be fired’ dealings.

The commissioners spent a large amount of money, time and effort in hiring Charlie Sheldon. They should spend an equal amount of time and effort in figuring out if he really should go - or, if this was just a shady power play by the vocal few.

Mr. Scott,

With all due respect the petition establishes something extraordinarily critical for Whatcom County. The petition establishes that if a good public official is railroaded by an abusive and egotistical government official like Port Commissioner Walker, that the citizens will stand tall and vocal, to support a good man.

The citizens direct action, in this case is the only hope in the future that well qualified public officials will even consider Whatcom County as a place they would like to work.

Commissioner Walker has with callous disregard, destroyed the attractiveness of talented people to consider working at the Port of Bellingham.

By all accounts from customers, to citizens, to businesses, to City and County, Charlie Sheldon was an effective, hard working leader that was appreciated. What more could we ask for?

The Port of Bellingham needs to be an attractive place to work in order for our Port to be effective.

It is in the best interests of all the residents of Whatcom County, who are the true owners of the Port, to have an effective Executive Director at the Port of Bellingham.

I suspect that Walkers goal is to only hire an Executive Director who kowtows to Commissioner Walker.

In the end, if all the people who enjoyed and appreciated working with Charlie Sheldon do not stand up and be heard, what does that say about us as citizens and a community?

Mr. Scott, you may think it is a waste of time, but this is time I am proud to waste, it is the least we can do for a good man who did nothing except disagree with Commissioner Walkers grandiose plans, for a more practical and fiscally balanced approach to the waterfront.

Commissioner Walker is a tyrant, and is single handedly destroying our communities ability to work with OUR Port.

This firing, has set the community against its own Port and will stall the waterfront and other projects in its tracks, to say nothing of local businesses willingness to locate and create taxes and jobs in Whatcom County.

The most valuable asset that the Port has, is the trust of its’ citizens, and Commissioner Walker has single handedly destroyed this trust. The Port will become a wounded and ineffective organization because of the destroyed trust.

Commissioner Walkers sneaky behind the scenes tyranny has gone on for far too long, and is terribly destructive to our community,

... and I cannot remain silent any longer.

Doug Thomas, acting as one of a few operations who actually does export a product (active commerce) from many producers at Bellingham Cold Storage, most likely can’t fit into the sport port definition that Walker and Jorgensen have been promoting for years.

What is a sport port and passive commerce?

Just look at the former Federal Waterway designation in front of GP? Removed for…?

Jorgensen state’s clearly “we don’t know ooperations” YES WE DO!

“...But in a state of disunion, these combinations might exist and operate with success. It would be in the power of the maratime nations, availing themselves of our universal impotence, to prescribe the conditions of our political existance; and as they have a common interest in being our carriers, and still more in preventing our becoming theirs, they would in all probability continue to embarrass our navagation in such manner as would in weffect destroy it, and confine us to a PASSIVE COMMERCE…”
Publius #11

On The Waterfront….....