Kathy Berg Coming on Strong

The leader of the Birch Bay Steering Committee, who also has started “ExploreIncorpBB” promoting incorporation, demonstrated the strongest advocacy in our experience with her when speaking to the Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon on Tuesday, September 16.

Kathy Berg was robust, enthusiastic and, as usual, articulate. In addition to arguing that it is time for Birch Bay to become a city, she challenged Council members to get behind the drive to join the Blaine Chamber and other groups to establish a scenic byway (see byways.org) that would wind along the water through Blaine, Birch Bay and Bellingham, connecting to Chuckanut Drive.

The following Thursday, Tara Nelson gave the concept a boost with a front-page article in the Northern Light. But the next week, two letters to the editor threw cold water on the idea.

We are curious to see how members of the Birch Bay Chamber will react. This could be a real boon to business along Birch Bay Drive. But does the Chamber have the muscle to make it happen versus folks who argue there’s too much traffic already?

Time for this blog to change gears

While we will continue to address community issues, for the next month we will be concentrating on the state and national elections. We were drafted to work for Obama, re-election of Gov. Chris Gregoire, and Mark Flanders, state legislator for district 42 in our precinct, No. 109, that extends along the Bay from Harborview and Lynden Roads to Bay Road; the eastern border runs north and south between Blaine and Kickerville Roads.






We've been assigned 11 "turfs" within the precinct. Already we have eight turf captains and we are looking for more. The immediate challenge is to get every qualified person registered to vote – by mail or online at www.secstate.wa.gov.elections/2008/aspx by October 4, or new registrants in person at the court house in Bellingham by October 20. On this we are non-partisan – we’re glad to help those who are inclined to vote for McCain.