Week of May 1, 2024: Angry Dems, Satpal Sidhu, charter review and … bike lanes

Editor,

I have in the past been a member of the Whatcom County Democrats executive board, including two years as first vice chair. At present I am only a precinct committee officer (PCO).

I am disappointed and saddened at the haste with which the party chair rushed out to publish the letter condemning County Executive Satpal Sidhu (CDN, April 24, 2024). The party chair did not consult with the PCOs, who are the bedrock of party governance. Rather, we PCOs were cc’d on the letter only after it had been disseminated. The allegations were known by April 19. There were a full six days during which the county chair kept this letter-drafting process to himself and his board, sharing nothing with the PCOs to whom he is accountable. In the era of Zoom meetings, six days would have been ample to involve the duly elected PCOs.

I hope that in the future references to this “scathing letter,” CDN also states that the letter was only from the party chair and his board, but was never cleared by the elected base of the party.

Abe Jacobson

Bellingham

Editor’s note: CDN reported that the letter was issued by the Whatcom Democrats executive board members.

Editor,

Re: Satpal Sidhu:

Dear [Democratic Party Executive] Committee Members,

Your decision to advocate for the removal of Satpal Sidhu as the county executive has provoked me to resign my membership in your organization. Democrats should not be leading the charge to impeach Democrats! And particularly in a case where all the circumstances that caused your abrupt action are not fully known.

But what is well-known to me and most other “real” Democrats is the fact that the party organization preferred Barry Buchanan in the last election, and also vigorously lobbied against the new jail initiative.

While Satpal is not as “progressive” as Barry, he was, and still is, eminently more qualified for the county executive job than your man. And he knows that we desperately need a new county jail.

I believe that when all the facts are known in this personnel case, there will be ample justification for the county executive’s action. If there isn’t, then the county council should take appropriate action, not the Democratic party.

Goodbye and good luck. Your extreme “progressive” behavior is more than I can tolerate, much less financially support.

Jack McBride

Bellingham

Editor,

The Sehome High School football hazing episode in late 2022 was widely reported in local news. In early April of this year an incident about a Meridian High School track athlete was brought to light. Even more recently, the details of an undisclosed Whatcom County harassment settlement were exposed by local news sources, including Cascadia Daily News.

In each of these situations, most of those in positions of responsibility stonewalled local reporters at least initially with familiar cover-up rhetoric: “nothing to see here” or “privacy laws require …” In addition to reporting on these three situations, CDN had sharp editorial reactions about each (CDN, December 7, 2022, April 15, 2024 and April 25, 2024).

Whatever your opinion about these situations or the way they were investigated and reported — and opinions here can legitimately differ — all three are now publicly known. If there is a more compelling reason for supporting competent, independent local journalism, it certainly doesn’t come quickly to mind.

John Whitmer

Bellingham

Editor,

Skagit County Emergency Medical Services and the Board of Skagit County Commissioners want to thank residents for supporting the recent ballot measure to renew the emergency medical services levy. The levy funds a countywide coordinated EMS system through contracts with cities, towns, fire districts and other agencies that serve all county residents.

Our EMS system consists of Basic and Advanced Life Support for county residents and visitors, which is the highest level and quality of service possible when it comes to a medical emergency. The EMS levy renewal will continue to fund paramedics and emergency medical technicians, medical education and training, ambulance maintenance and replacement, and medical equipment and supplies.

EMS is the most widely-used emergency service in our county, and call volumes have increased 25% in four years. Your support means this life-saving service can continue at the level of service our community requires — and we are grateful.

Josh Pelonio

Director, Skagit Emergency Medical Services

Editor,

So let me get this straight: City of Bellingham is going to install bike lanes between parking spots and the curb on Holly. I feel this means either myself as the driver or a passenger will be opening the vehicle door, depending on which side of the street we park, and walking through the bike lane on our merry way to pay the parking toll. I suspect, without proof, some personal injury lawyers are clapping their collective hands in joy. Welcome to litigation city.

Steve Baughn

Bellingham

Editor,

The CDN published a mildly entertaining letter-to-editor snarkfest (CDN, April 23, 2024) from a member of “Walk and Roll” crabbing about the crabbing about new Holly Street bike lanes.

The writer boasted Paris achieved 45% reduction in car trips with bike lanes. I’ve been to Paris recently. All the bike lanes did was create a river of people riding silent electric scooters, e-bikes and other contraptions doing 20 mph. Crossing the street is now a life and death proposition. Just what we need in the ‘Ham. The auto traffic in Paris was just as bad as it’s always been.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my e-bike and love the bike lane network. But let’s get real here, our downtown core would fit within the Tuileries Gardens with room to spare. Bellingham is cool but it ain’t Paris with square miles of apartments occupied by thousands of people. I guess if you live in our downtown it’s a big deal. But, most of us don’t. Tempest in a teapot.

The city’s big thinkers believe adding three-quarters of a mile of further impediments to traffic on Holly Street is gonna start a land rush to downtown? Nope. My money is on a few more tents popping up in the protected space, and the five bikers remaining in the core using it.

… And I don’t plan on hooking up a trailer to my bike either, hauling my “Costco-sized grocery shopping,” as she put it, home in 35-degree weather. Nope. I leave that adventure to the forward thinkers at “Walk and Roll.”

Bob Morton

Bellingham

Editor,

While I enjoy the Cascadia Daily newspaper I could not let my reaction to Ron Judd’s overtly biased article in Friday’s print edition (CDN, April 5, 2024) go unheard. It is a perfect example of why I quit reading newspapers 40 years ago.

Susan Raphael

Bellingham

Editor’s note: The referenced article was an opinion piece.

Editor,

May 4–9 is filing week for the 2024 elections. Included among the available positions are 15 for the Charter Review Commission. The Charter Review Commission is convened at least every 10 years to consider possible revisions to the Whatcom County Charter. The charter defines how Whatcom County is governed, setting rules for the council, executive, elections and financial administration.

There is no primary for the Charter Review Commission. There’s no filing fee, and registered voters can file for a position in the Whatcom County district in which they live. In the November election, the top three vote-getters in each district will be elected to the Commission for a one-year term.

The League of Women Voters supports the implementation of voting alternatives that are more representative of voters’ interests. Alternatives may include ranked-choice voting, proportional representation and multi-member districts. Members of the Charter Review Commission will have an opportunity to consider some or all of these options for voting in Whatcom County. 

The League strongly encourages citizen participation in all roles of government. If you’ve ever considered running for public office, here’s a place to start. 

For more information contact the League of Women Voters of Bellingham/Whatcom County.

Robin Barker

President, LWV Bellingham/Whatcom County

Editor,

How fragile we are.

I recently came upon a friend and fellow bike commuter leaving work. She was standing next to her bike and looked a bit out of sorts. I asked if she was OK and she told me she had just been hit broadside by a person riding an electric scooter.

“He came out of nowhere and totally knocked me off my bike.” She got up, felt that she was OK and the scooter driver rode off. I helped her out, got her chain back on and handlebars situated. She amazingly rode home.

I checked on her later and she was in more pain and had chipped a tooth. The next day all of her teeth ached, and by day three she couldn’t function and a friend took her to the doctor. She was diagnosed with a severe concussion. She is on medical leave and unable to work. I am so thankful she was wearing a helmet, things would be much worse.

As walkers and cyclists, we need to always be aware of what’s going on around us. I always think it will be some big truck taking me out on Marine Drive, but I now realize it can be anywhere. Electric bike, scooter, skateboard riders — I am glad to see you out on the roads and not in cars. Your machines are quite peppy and get up to speed quickly. Please exercise caution and follow the rules of the road. Ride like a driver, drive like a rider!

Thanks.

Gary P. Malick

Bellingham

Editor,

In last week’s article, you echoed (perhaps ironically) County Executive [Satpal] Sidhu’s quandary: “is a person in public life […] ‘solely defined’ by serious blundering?” (CDN, April 26, 2024). Of course not. But is that really the question? What is “a colossal political blunder”?

A blunder would be putting your foot in your mouth, saying something impulsive that is forever recorded and scrutinized by virtue of being a political figure in the public eye. A blunder is not Executive Satpal Sidhu putting foot to paper to defend the very real actions he took to shuffle Public Works Director [Jon] Hutchings into an identical position in a new city.

While debate flurries over the fear of being “solely defined by their mistakes,” Hutchings slips out of the firestorm with a free pass (in the form of a glowing Introduction letter). This is not about cancel culture or philosophical ponderings on the price of mistakes; it’s about holding a person responsible for sexual harassment and providing a path forward that involves owning up to what happened, making reparations and never doing it again.

Holding Hutchings responsible and directing resources to his personal growth is the compassionate response to “mistakes.” Paving the road to a new job and sacrificing all integrity in the process is the reaction of fearful people in power, political or not, and it is much more than a “serious blunder.”

Rose Huentelman

Bellingham

Editor,

“Sign here to lower your taxes!” If you ask someone if they want to save money, they will almost invariably say yes. Unless of course, you explain what the tax being reduced or removed is for. The political action committee, Washingtonians for a Sound Economy, is attempting to pull such a stunt to repeal the Healthy Children’s Fund.

Petition signatures have been solicited both in person and on the website using only the designation 2022-05 instead of the language that was on the ballot: Prop 5 or the Healthy Children’s Fund. The website is littered with fallacious and unproven claims about the impact of the tax. As Julia Tellman points out in her very well-balanced article (CDN April 28, 2024), “The proposed ballot language and campaign materials don’t mention the Healthy Children’s Fund or early childhood development.”

I invite you to read the rest of the article, but here are a few of the many salient points: Every dollar spent on early childhood programs means a 7-to-13-fold return on investment through lower incarceration rates and lower health care costs, not to mention improved school performance. Also, the PAC funding the repeal campaign comes mostly from Lynden construction businesses (yeah, that doesn’t pass the sniff test). Lastly, a great deal of time, money and effort has already been expended as mandated to make the Healthy Children’s Fund a success and a great value for the average homeowner who is only spending about $10 a month extra.

Steve Bailey

Bellingham

Editor,

I see that a group of Whatcom County residents are seeking to repeal Prop 5, the “Healthy Children’s Fund,” as well they might. Prop 5 passed in 2022 by 20 votes. I attended a YWCA Leadership Breakfast event in January 2023 where Children’s Initiative Committee spokesperson Heather Flaherty described the process.

Here is how it worked: We sign our ballots when we vote to identify ourselves as qualified voters. We can include our telephone number so that if our signature is not clear, we can be contacted to verify that signature, a process called “curing.” You might think that this would be done by election officials, but in this case, Prop 5 proponents obtained (how?) a list of voters and contact information for the ballots with unclear signatures. They then contacted people whom they believed would vote for Prop 5 (they had their list of petitioners to work from), and urged and helped them to have the Canvassing Board “cure” their ballot.

When the 2022 ballots were first counted, Prop 5 was losing by 2,284 votes. By Nov. 17, Prop 5 was losing by 138 votes with 234 remaining to be counted. There were also approximately 1,096 ballots that had been rejected for unclear or improper signatures. Election results were to be certified by Nov. 29, so the Prop 5 proponents’ group set about identifying people from this list who would vote their way. They managed to find enough to overcome the 138 vote deficit, plus 20 extra votes. There was no “curing” done by opponents of Prop 5. That was the outcome of November 2022.

We need to have this election redone on a fair basis.

Denis Hayner

Bellingham

Editor,

Read with a smile on my face the great work Tyler Perry is doing with students at Nooksack Valley High School (CDN, April 23, 2024). It’s great story and thank you for telling it. It is true, as Perry says, that he’s not doing anything “groundbreaking” but I’ll tell ya, have you looked at the overall health of Americans recently? I wouldn’t doubt if a generation from now there’s a little uptick that continues to grow for overall health outcomes in northern Whatcom County because Tyler is creating a useful bridge to lifelong fitness. Go Pioneers!

Lincoln Vander Veen

Bellingham

Letters to the Editor are published online Wednesdays; a selection is published in print Fridays. Send to letters@cascadiadaily.com by 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Rules: Maximum 250 words, be civil, have a point and make it clearly. Preference is given to letters about local subjects. CDN reserves the right to reject letters or edit for length, clarity, grammar and style, or removal of personal attacks or offensive content. Letters must include an address/phone number to verify the writer's identity (not for publication).