A well meaning worker for the Whatcom County Democratic Party recently sent me two messages asking: 1) That I write a letter to the Northern Light to argue for change in the U.S. Senate filibuster rules and 2) That I ask members of the County Council to rename Jean Melious to the Planning Commission;
No thanks.
About 2): Democratic party leaders should have recognized that when they lost the WTA levy they would need to rally Whatcom Democrats for the county council and state legislature votes. Ms. Melious, a land-use attorney and WWU teacher who carried the environmentalist argument for following the state's growth management act, was, on paper, a good candidate. But the party failed get the liberal voters behind her candidacy. In Birch Bay, we had no rally for Ms. Melious nor for the legislative candidates. Tea-party folks, not wanting to be prevented from selling property for development outside Urban Growth Areas, put up blue “We the People” and yellow “Land Grab” signs to rally voters to conservative candidates. In the November election, all of the slow-growth candidates for county and state offices lost in Whatcom.
Yet the Whatcom County Democrats, in their January newsletter, boast about their accomplishments, all of which relate to Washington and none to this county. So, what am I to tell Sam Crawford, the power in the county council, that would cause him to want to rename Jean Melious to the Planning Commission, where she can continue to be a thorn in his path to defeat the “bureaucrats in Olympia?” A party that couldn't get Kelli Linville re-elected to the state house should recognize failure and work for the future.
What's a Birch Bay activist to do? We remember a 2005 article in which we quoted Elie Friedlob, “Power is not in Washington, D. C., but in every little community.” So I am going to let the state's Growth Management Board deal with Mr. Crawford and celebrate the builders of new homes in our neighborhood who are filling in available lots. They will have great views and become part of the community.In a previous post I referred to myself as a “progressive democrat.” Now it's “progressive independent.” Independents are considered as being passive – waiting for pollsters to ask what they think and changing from year to year. It's also possible to be independent of the political parties and to work for what the community needs. In the county, Mike Kent, a noteworthy example, is recognized as a leading Republican, but in Birch Bay he's a progressive who is stalwart in improving the community.
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I'm sorry to hear that you no longer identify as a Democrat. Hi, this is Riley Sweeney, campaign manager to Jean Melious, and writer of the Dems newsletter. I agree with you, we did not do NEARLY enough work up in Birch Bay this last cycle. We doorbelled there twice, but didn't hold any events and clearly did not do enough outreach, and for that I'm sorry. Guilty as charged.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sam Crawford appointing Jean, I think he should have done it because she was praised by both liberals and conservatives as being an effective chair and methodical in knowledge. She would have been outvoted 6-1, so you can hardly say she would have been a thorn in his side, but she would have been a great resource for those who wanted to know what the law said. Crawford, out of spite, wanted to deny the county that expertise.
I agree, there is a great deal of work needed to be done in building up our connections to the county. The Whatcom Democrats cannot afford to be the "Bellingham Democrats", or we will continue to lose, and I hate losing.
Yes, the article toting accomplishments in the Newsletter had very little to do with us locally. Agreed. That wasn't the point. The point was that as a new federal congress is sworn in, it is important to look back and see how far we have come. It is not to gloss over our losses or ignore the damage done, we can see that in the news everywhere. What I hadn't seen was a thorough breakdown of what we have accomplished, hence my article.
Thanks for this opportunity answer some of this. Feel free to email me anytime, riley.sweeney@gmail.com, with your ideas on how the Democrats can better connect with Birch Bay.