Click the graphic to view this post on the Whatcom Conservation District Facebook page

January 29, 2018 Dena Jensen

I am sharing the very first post regarding the upcoming 2018 Whatcom Conservation District Election by the WCD on their Whatcom Conservation District Facebook page. Remember the deadline for requesting a ballot is Feburary 7 at 4:00 p.m. and can be done at the webpage linked to in the WCD post above, or at the hyperlink in this sentence.

Meanwhile, “About Us” info on the Board Elections has been on their website for awhile now, but on their Facebook page, which is a more proactive medium for sharing information, and where they have made numerous posts this year about sponsored events of theirs, like the upcoming Small Farm Expo or Native Plant Sale, they have not posted until today about the WCD board election, and maybe wouldn’t have without a nudge. It’s a good reminder to all of us to alert folks when not enough info is being provided to the public on a particular issue, and also a reminder to be looking into why certain things, like an important local election, doesn’t get promoted, when other things do.

Here is the letter I sent them today (and I will put the cordial response I received, also today, from WCD Education & Outreach Coordinator Aneka Sweeney, below it):

Dear Whatcom Conservation District:

On your Whatcom Conservation District Facebook page, I can find no announcements regarding your upcoming board elections. I am not able to find any link posted in 2018 to the WCD page you have devoted to information about the upcoming WCD board election: http://www.whatcomcd.org/board-elections. I also cannot find any posts reminding people who want to vote in the election this year that they must request a ballot for the election by 4:00 p.m. on February 7, 2018. I request that if no posts have been made to date, that you would post numerous posts this week to remind people of that fast-approaching deadline.

It is concerning to me that from looking at your Facebook page, it looks like it is being used to proactively share numerous announcements of individual upcoming WCD sponsored events, but I can’t seem to locate any posts about an election for your board that can and should be voted on by all members of Whatcom County who wish to participate.

I would appreciate either being provided with links to posts about the 2018 WCD elections that I am not seeing on your Facebook page for some reason, or receiving an explanation about why Whatcom Conservation District has a position against sharing information about the upcoming WCD board election on their Facebook page. Thank you.

And, thank you for all efforts you are making to help people protect the land and its resources

Sincerely,

Dena Jensen
Birch Bay

Here is the response I received from Aneka Sweeney at the WCD:

Sent: Monday, January 29, 2018 3:11 PM
Subject: RE: Regarding the WCD Facebook page and the WCD upcoming board election

Thank you for your interest and support of Whatcom Conservation District. We have made a post regarding our election, thanks to your reminder email. When we have all the candidate information more posts will come out. Just a reminder, that the Feb 7th deadline is to request a mail-in ballot only. The actual election is on March 13th.

Thank you again for your interest,
Aneka Sweeney M.Ed.
Education & Outreach Coordinator
Whatcom Conservation District
6975 Hannegan Road
Lynden, WA 98264