Court blocks vote on Healthy Bay Initiative
Bellingham Bay Foundation will press on with grassroots effort to demand a better cleanup of waterfront
By now many of you have heard about Monday's disappointing ruling barring the Healthy Bay Initiative from coming to a vote in November. The City of Bellingham challenged the initiative's validity on very narrow technical grounds, calling it an administrative rather than a legislative measure that would adversely affect agreements the City has already made with the Port regarding waterfront cleanup. (Cf. the Interlocal argreements under "Documents.") Arguing for the defense, attorney David Bricklin delivered an artful and spirited interpretation of Article X of Bellingham's City Charter, asserting that the people's right to bring an initiative certainly encompasses the right to set policies intended to guide the decisions of lawmakers who act on our behalf. Moreover, Bricklin pointed out that terms of the Interlocal Agreement in question were reached in the absence of necessary and appropriate public process. Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Ira Uhrig seemed personally conflicted as he read his decision to uphold the City's challenge, finding that the initiative had the character of a resolution expressing public sentiment more than an enforceable ordinance. What is a democratic vote, we wonder, other than an expression of public sentiment?
The citizens of Bellingham may have been prevented from casting their ballots on this one initiative, but that doesn't mean our voices have been silenced. Whether we're talking about which environmental standards should apply to the cleanup of the toxic mess on our waterfront, or more generally about government accountability and the authenticity of public process. Quite the contrary. The current City Council members and the Port of Bellingham may have succeeded in blocking the Healthy Bay Initiative, but these issues aren't going away. In fact, Monday's decision has made it more critical than ever that we speak forcefully about what we want for our community's future.
What's next??
A number of you have already written to express your outrage that the city has attempted to deny citizens' rights. Thank you. Our task now is to take that energy and translate it into effective action. We hope you'll join us now and in the months ahead as we continue our campaign to educate, energize and engage the public in a process that will shape our city's character for generations to come. Our resolute staff and our tireless volunteers have already made great strides in expanding public awareness about waterfront issues. But there's so much more we can do!
A few suggestions:
Don't be shy! Tell 'em you're not gonna take it anymore! Call or e-mail City Council members and let them know what you think about their efforts to deny our rights as guaranteed under the City Charter. What are they afraid of, anyway? And who's really going to benefit from the deal they struck with the port?
Contact information:
City Council's main line - 676-6970
Bob Ryan | Ward 1 | Phone: 671-1776
Gene Knutson | Ward 2 | Phone: 733-1640
John Watts | Ward 3 | Phone: 647-2346 | E-mail: jwatts@nas.com
Joan Beardsley | Ward 4 | Phone: 676-9446 | E-mail: joanbeardsley@comcast.net
Terry Bornemann | Ward 5 | Phone: 305-0606
Barbara Ryan | Ward 6 | Phone: 671-8376 | E-mail: barbararyan@nas.com
Louise Bjornson | At-Large | Phone: 733-7756
City Council E-mail: citycouncil@cob.org
While you're at it, send a copy of your letter to The Bellingham Herald or one of our two weeklies.
Media contacts/Letters to the Editor:
letters@bellinghamherald.com
editor@cascadiaweekly.com
editor@whatcomindy.com
Talk to your family, friends and neighbors about what's going on. Ask them what they think should happen on the waterfront, and how they feel about being denied the right to vote on it. Public dialogue begins at home. Encourage everyone you know to get involved. A good place for folks to start is with our websites: www.ahealthybay.org is packed with information about the background behind the initiative, including documents outlining the Port's plan to leave mercury and other toxins on our waterfront; www.bbayf.org has more general (and more current) information about the Bay Foundation's history, activities, and mission. And remind them to sign up for our e-mail list to keep up to date about important events and opportunities.
Attend a meeting
We'll be making the rounds of pre-election neighborhood and community association meetings, talking about the situation on the waterfront and what citizens can do about it. If we're not already on your group's schedule, you might ask your chairperson to contact us at 527-2733 or info@bbayf.org. We'd be glad to come make a presentation and answer your questions. Also, be aware that the Department of Ecology plans to release their analysis of different cleanup alternatives for the Whatcom Waterway (the Remediation Investigation/Feasibility Study) sometime soon. We'll be scheduling forums to help educate folks about these critical documents and encourage them to make comments.
Keep the faith! Like we said, these issues aren't going away, and neither are we. We're committed to helping to shape a future that will benefit all of us. And essential to that healthy future is a healthy foundation. We've said it before and we still believe it—CLEANUP COMES FIRST!
Onward!
Anna Hall-Evans
Chair, People for a Healthy Bay
Community Relations Director, Bellingham Bay Foundation
September 15
Court hearing will determine fate of Initiative
City of Bellingham vs. People for a Healthy Bay is scheduled to get underway at 1:30 pm on Monday (9/18/2006) in Judge Uhrig's courtroom at the Whatcom County Courthouse. We hope our supporters can make the time to come and bear witness to the City's attempt to block its citizens from exercising our rights as guaranteed under the City Charter. Dave Bricklin, of Bricklin, Newman, Dold in Seattle will be arguing on our behalf. Lawyers from the City and the Port of Bellingham will be arguing against us.
LIFT
Later that same day, the Bellingham City Council will conduct a public hearing at 7:00 pm to take comment on the proposed ordinance to create a new revenue development area as required under the state's new Local Infrastructure Financing Tool (LIFT) legislation. We're inclined to think a “yea” vote on this ordinance is premature. As we've seen with the questions emerging regarding the City's Interlocal agreements with the Port, it's not necessarily a good idea to move forward with major fiscal commitments before the consequences are fully understood. (Ed. note: While the LIFT might make sense for other communities, the Interlocal agreements between the City and the Port, which Kelli Linville recently admitted to have never read, effectively turn the LIFT into a form of theft that would largely hurt citizens and disproportionately help the Port of Bellingham. More of this topic in the coming weeks.)
Citizen's Groups Endorse Healthy Bay Initiative
We're very pleased to announce that the Initiative has been formally endorsed by Washington Conservation Voters, the Washington Toxics Coalition, Conservation Northwest, and the Whatcom County Democrats. Additionally, the local Republican party passed a resolution last week condemning the city's lawsuit and declaring that the initiative "raises issues of merit." This positive attention and support from both ends of the political spectrum shows that cleanup is truly a bi-partisan issue, something we the people can all agree on. We're particularly pleased that these groups have chosen to voice their support, even while the City's lawsuit is still pending. It's great that the City's attempts to block a vote hasn't prevented public advocates from speaking out.
Anna Hall-Evans
Chair, People for a Healthy Bay
People for a Healthy Bay responds
The City of Bellingham and the Port of Bellingham have been hitting us with legal briefs and declarations for the last few weeks. We carefully analyzed these documents and responded to them. PDF
