Pay Attention to OUR Land-use Issues

What is going on between the Whatcom County Council and the state government has a lot to do with how Birch Bay develops.

While it is fine to take vicarious interest in what goes on in Egypt, Pakistan and so on, if you want to participate in democracy, the County Council is where the action is.

As the Elder once said in a memorable Steering Committee meeting, “The business of Birch Bay is building primary and secondary homes,” so what is built and how it is built is of great importance to our economy. Do we want growth to be concentrated in a compact Birch Bay Urban Growth Area or don't we care if more new houses are built on five and ten acre lots of former farm land?

To understand the issues related to Whatcom County's failure to comply with the state's Growth Management Act read the February issue of Whatcom Watch. The GMA protects rural land and encourages urban development to make services such as fire protection more efficient. Hard copies of Whatcom Watch are available in a number of locations including the Blaine library or go to www.whatcomwatch.org

The authors of this article are Cathy Lehman and Jean Melious. Ms. Lehman is chapter director of Futurewise Whatcom, which brought legal action against the county that resulted in an “Order of Invalidity” by the Growth Management Hearings Board. Ms. Melious is a land use attorney and professor in the Environmental Studies Department at Western. She was chair of the Whatcom Planning Commission for four years and ran unsuccessfully for county commissioner in the last election.

On the other side of this issue is the “We the People” movement, our county's version of the national Tea Party, that put up “Land Grab” signs and elected a majority of the present County Council members. Their argument is that the Growth Management Act is the product of “Olympia bureaucrats” – to quote Sam Crawford, the current council chair.

As Randy Cross, president of the Whatcom Tea Party, explained in our profile, published in March of last year (and found below),“The focus of the Tea Party is on progressive trends: Making people do what they would not do voluntarily.” That certainly can apply to the landowner who is tired of growing alfalfa and would like to “cash in.”

Whatcom Watch is the ultimate in “grass roots.” The mission is to cover local government and environmental issues. No one gets paid except for those who earn a commission on the few ad sales.

Editors have come and gone but a constant is Bill McCallum who has served the publication since it was a typed newsletter almost 20 years ago. He is listed on the masthead as “layout director,” but is really chief shepherd looking after finances and circulation.

The new editor is Jennifer Karchmer who teaches in the Communications Department at Western. Despite 20 years at major newspapers and CNN, she brings youthful enthusiasm for strengthening the voice of the Watch.

Pay attention – it's free!

ak

Comments are not only allowed but are actively encouraged.

Jerry Larson - Addendum

A celebration of his life will be held on Friday, February 4th at 4:00 PM at the Sons of Norway Hall in Bellingham, 1419 N Forest St.  Arrangements by Moles-Greenacres Funeral Home & Memorial Park.

Jerry Larson - Rest in Peace

Birch Bay, Whatcom County and Puget Sound are going to miss Jerry Larson, who died on Thursday, January 27, 2011.

He was a tireless activist on behalf of fin and shellfish, particularly in his beloved Birch Bay, but extending to the surrounding area.

We first met Jerry shortly after coming to Birch Bay a little over seven years ago. He was poking around in a bowl of water containing nematodes and other critters, participating in a Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association workshop on water quality in Terrell Creek.

He was a constant presence at Birch Bay Steering Committee meetings, always ensuring that the decisions being made would enhance the watershed and protect the bay as habitat for his cherished shell- and fin fish.

Within hours of his son Keith's e-mail notification of his death, friends and colleagues were reacting to the news:

“It's a sad day in Birch Bay,” said Kathy Berg, chair, Birch Bay Steering Committee. 

“Jerry will always be smiling as we work to restore the chum run in Terrell Creek... or spreading oyster seed in Birch Bay,” said Steve Seymour, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

“I owe so much to Jerry and he asked for so little. Truly a precious soul to watch over all of us from the smallest seed clam to the water itself,” said Martha Simonsen, health educator, bariatric clinician.

“My thoughts go out to everyone in the Larson family and all of the people in our community that knew and appreciated Jerry. We are going to miss his presence tremendously,” said Rachel Vasak, executive director, Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association.

The Lummi Island Watershed Enhancement Committee published their own tribute to Jerry at

http://liwec.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/gerold-larson-jerry/.

We sent our thoughts to Keith: “Our deepest condolences to you and your family. We know Jerry from his work with the Chums of Terrell Creek, seeking to restore salmon to the creek. We were concerned about him because our e-mail to him last week bounced back. Please do keep us informed of any services or memorials. If there is anything we can do to help in this difficult time, please just ask,” Ruth Higgins and Al Krause. 

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Please feel free to post your comments. We will publish them here.  R&A 

Happiness is...

The rash of articles about how happy Bellingham, Seattle and at least nine other places are leads us to reflect on the gross community happiness of Birch Bay.

John Stark's article in the January 20 Bellingham Herald; http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/01/20/1826723/bellingham-listed-among-top-10.html), Nicole Brodeur's column in the January 21 Seattle Times; http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2013992168_nicole21m.html) and Sunset Magazine online http://www.sunset.com/travel/outdoor-adventure/best-places-to-live-00418000070574/) all cite examples of happy people in happy locations.

Happy Minister of Tourism

We first heard about the concept of gross national happiness at a Congress of the Society of Ethnobiologists last year. The 2014 biannual congress will be held in Bhutan, where the king had proclaimed that gross domestic product was less important than gross national happiness. The CSE representative from Bhutan presented an idyllic image of life in his country, although Brodeur points out that some minorities might not agree.

In a very unscientific survey of a few folks in Birch Bay, we learned that the reason people live or repeatedly vacation in Birch Bay is because they are happy when they are here. We feel the same way.

Photo taken January 21, 2011

It is easy to see why with such views greeting us in the middle of winter.

While Birch Bay has not been analyzed in the same way as Bellingham or Seattle, we can learn how satisfied we are with life by the bay. Brodeur introduces us to Michael Pennock, a population health epidemiologist for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, who spent time in Bhutan and since led a team that created a “Satisfaction with Life” survey. It is available on Sustainable Seattle's web site www.SustainableSeattle.org.

My overall score is 80, with the median now being 68; the dimension contributing the lowest score related to my confidence in government, go figure.

Just for fun, let's collect our overall scores, anonymously if you like, but telling us if you live or regularly work or play in Birch Bay. Report through the Comment option on this blog. We won't publish the individual responses, only aggregate them by the Ides of Febuary. 

Here's to proving the thesis that Birch Bay has a high life satisfaction score, translating into a high gross community happiness quotient.

rah

 

Progressive Independence

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.

These requests were, I expect, passed on by the county Dem hierarchy. About 1): If I understand the Senate rules, the Northern Light is hardly the appropriate place to send a letter.

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.

ak 

Comments are not only allowed, but are also encouraged.