Editor,
Many in the community find it shocking that the Whatcom County Council would consider defunding and repurposing 22 North towards a treatment facility. 22 North is a 40-unit studio apartment building utilizing a housing first/permanent supportive housing model.
Even more shocking is the terrible outcomes of the facility. In the last 12 months, there have been seven deaths starting with Philip Moitoret (June 2, 2023), Michael Swonger (Oct. 10, 2023), Brian Owen (Nov. 9, 2023), Joanne Ball (Dec. 7, 2023), Christine Osthimer (Jan. 2, 2024), Donald Bering (March 27, 2024), and most recently Jere Boyd on May 6, 2024.
Despite the stated presence of wraparound services, a contracted requirement to provide staffing to facilitate a safe and recovery-oriented life for residents — four of the deceased were not checked on in more than 72 hours and some were in a state of decomposition.
Overdose is the confirmed or suspected cause of most if not all of the deaths (source: Bellingham Police Department case reports).
Utilizing data from the Point in Time count of homeless in Whatcom County and the “unofficial death” count tracked by the Opportunity Council for each year, one can come up with an estimated mortality rate among the homeless.
- 2020 — 707 total homeless/39 deaths (5.52% mortality rate)
- 2021 — 859 total homeless/46 deaths (5.36% mortality rate)
- 2022 — 832 total homeless/56 deaths (6.73% mortality rate)
- 2023 — 1,059 total homeless/85 deaths (8.03% mortality rate)
Depending on how you measure the mortality rate for 22 North, 40 tenants would suggest a 17.5% mortality rate. If you are being generous and assume some resident turnover, 50 tenants would indicate a 15% mortality rate. This is roughly double the county average. A hard look at the operator and underlying model is very much needed.
Adam Bellingar
Bellingham business owner near 22 North
Editor,
Receiving my ballot this week, I grabbed the Voter’s Pamphlet to review the candidates. As I reviewed eight candidates for insurance commissioner, seven candidates for public lands commissioner, eight candidates for U.S. representative, 11 candidates for U.S. Senate, 21 for governor, and five for lieutenant governor, it occurred to me that we really should consider ranked choice voting for all primaries!
RCV allows candidates to focus on their virtues, values, abilities and ideas. Campaign rhetoric could be based on their own vision rather than dissing each other. What a concept proven by several states. Just saying!
Donna Starr
Blaine
Find CDN’s election coverage here.
Editor,
Driving to Fred Meyer Saturday morning at 7:45 a.m. on Billy Frank Jr. Street toward Chestnut, I passed three WTA buses heading to Washington Western University with no passengers visible to me. In this day of climate change and all the changes required to live on this planet in the future, what were the Associated Students of Western Washington University Board, and the Whatcom Transportation Authority Board of Directors thinking about this all-year service at uniform service levels during summer weekends? We need to be climate-friendly and climate-smart, and I suggest a re-think of this year-round policy.
Craig MacConnell
Bellingham
Editor,
Why I won’t support Initiative 2117:
I’m 67 years old and have driven nearly a million miles over the course of my lifetime. And for many of those years, I paid around a dollar a gallon for gas more or less.
I’m retired now but I do work a part-time job at a movie theater where I interact with kids every weekend. It breaks my heart knowing that I have added more than my fair share of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over my lifetime so far. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to undo the damage that my driving has already done.
However, there is something I can do to help mitigate any future damage that my driving will cause. And that is to vote no on Initiative 2117 this November knowing that I’ll be paying a higher price for gas at the pump.
I implore everyone who cares about all the children who had nothing to do with our current climate crisis to do the same. It’s worth the added cost.
Again, please vote No on Initiative 2117!
Bill Walker
Maple Falls
[Editor’s note: I-2117 would repeal a 2021 law, known as the Climate Commitment Act, which established the state’s cap and invest program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The measure also would bar state agencies from imposing any type of program involving the trading of carbon tax credits.]
Editor,
Feeding the hungry isn’t rocket science; restore the cuts to EBT (food stamps) by Congress in January. Food banks are failing and millions are starving in the richest country on earth. Rather than buy food at grocery stores and truck it to food banks where hundreds of people have to wait in line outdoors in all kinds of weather, put that money into EBT so people can buy the food they need.
Some people have dietary restrictions and cannot eat the one-size-fits-all meals on wheels or senior center lunches. These programs are fine for those that can use them, but for the rest of us choosing between food and medicine or other bills remains a challenge. Food banks distribute a lot of rotten food because that’s all they have, and that is no solution to hunger.
Jay Taber
Blaine
[Editor’s note: Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participant to pay for food using SNAP benefits.]
Editor,
The Cascadia [Daily News] continues to amaze me with its timely and thoughtful coverage of events, most recently the wonderfully thorough and interactive piece “Just How Filthy is Bellingham Bay” (CDN, July 16, 2024).
It is coverage such as this that allows us to be informed citizens who can participate knowledgeably in the public forum. An immense thank you!
Leaf Schumann
Deming
Editor,
I’d like to add some perspective to our bike lane-phobic city. Since April, letters in these pages have complained about the problems the Holly Sreet bike lane will cause. I’d like to rebut several arguments.
Slowing down traffic by reducing the number of lanes is good for downtown. Slower traffic is safer for all modes of travel. The parking spots next to the bike lane have approximately 3–4 four feet of space between them and the bike lane. This allows for bikes to safely pass open car doors and standing motorists.
The issue of cars turning right and wiping out unsuspecting cyclists is a real problem that exists for every bike lane in the city. It’s called a “right hook” and is the most common way for a collision to happen between a bike and a car. It is one of the reasons that experienced urban cyclists ride defensively all the time.
By the way, the most common cause of bike accidents is cyclists falling off their bikes. These accidents do not involve other cars or other people, it’s simply the cyclist mishandling the bike. I hear from many of my bike commuting friends that they don’t need a bike lane, because they simply ride with traffic and “take the lane.” Great, I do, too, sometimes, but think of all the would-be cyclists who don’t have the experience or confidence to ride with traffic.
The city is trying to make downtown a safer place where everyone can belong. Most of the arguments are a thinly veiled cover of what is really just the same old fear of something new. For those harboring such fears, think back to when you were younger and change was indeed exciting, fun and part of an improved future.
Aaron Miller
Bellingham
Editor,
We are community members who are deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in the Occupied Palestinian territories, and especially regarding the devastating impact on children.
It is disturbing that so little news and so few leaders show concern for an ever-worsening situation. Children face dehydration, malnutrition, disease and starvation, along with displacement as homes are demolished, often for multiple times. Staggering numbers have lost parents or become orphans.
Virtually all schools and medical facilities have been destroyed, clean water and medications are essentially non-existent, denying basic rights to health and knowledge for a previously well-educated population. Children are also subjected to the abuses of “enforced disappearances” and detention, just as adults. With nowhere safe in Gaza, and relentless fear and trauma, the physical and psychological impacts are unimaginable.
To prevent further loss of life, we must continue to urge our elected representatives and President Biden to oppose arms sales and military aid to the Israeli government, facilitate an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and resume unimpeded humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, including to United Nations relief agencies.
The long-awaited advisory opinion of the International Criminal Court, released on July 19, states that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is a clear violation of international law. Ending the unlawful 16-year blockade on Gaza and unconscionable imposition of apartheid is essential for restoring basic rights that children and families in Gaza, as everywhere, deserve.
Colleen Curtis, Bruce Radtke, James Loucky, Amy Mower, Michael Jacobsen, Barbara Rofkar, Susan Witter, Ann Stevenson, Jan Dietzgen, Caroline Dietzgen, Martina Boyd, Diane Cooper-Schick, Ross Marquardt
Whatcom County
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).
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