Whatcom County’s 2023 pro-jail PAC lets their inaccurate allegations stand/ Noisy Waters Northwest

September 28, 2023 Dena Jensen

We can try, right? And keep trying. Because even when we fail, we learn.

If elected officials and those leading the charge in the political campaign to promote funds to prioritize building a new jail – and in a few years a few new services don’t make amends for inaccuracies in media assertions that can marginalize and discredit, not only people they have worked with on the Justice Project, but an array of voices promoting an end to injustice against themselves and/or their communities, then we discover a bad sign, on top of others, regarding at least some of those pro-new-jail political action committee (PAC) members and the project they are pushing. It helps offer another confirmation to our sense that there is some bad faith in the mix, and to an increasing degree.

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Comparison: sales-tax constant for Whatcom Executive is we may have too many funds for behavioral health services / Noisy Waters Northwest

Image of a chart used by Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu’s remarks at the June 12, 2023 Whatcom County Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force

October 22, 2023 Dena Jensen

🟥🟩Comparison of our County Executive’s remarks, one month apart, related to the amount of funding from the 2023 ballot measure sales tax that was to be made available for non-jail projects.🟥🟩

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What County Council Members were told last week about Whatcom County’s District Court Probation / Noisy Waters Northwest

September 18, 2023 Dena Jensen

At their September 12, 2023 Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee meeting, committee members Barry Buchanan and Carol Frazey, along with County Council Member Kailey Galloway received a report from District Court Probation. Notes from the report using language that is fairly close to that used by presenters are included further down in this blog post.

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Injustice in Whatcom County: the push to marginalize continues / Noisy Waters Northwest

September 17, 2023 Dena Jensen

It’s unfortunate and disappointing that ballot measure sales tax proponents Peter Frazier and Stephen Gockley are making some misleading and inaccurate assertions such as the ones below from sections of their September 15, 2023 guest commentary, “Voters can have both: a safe jail and more treatment,” in Cascadia Daily News:  

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Additional funding available to support the operation of a continuous Winter Shelter, if necessary / Noisy Waters Northwest

September 14, 2023 Dena Jensen

From a recently closed Whatcom County Request for Proposal (RFP): “The County and the City would consider making additional funding available to support the operation of a continuous Winter Shelter, if necessary.”

“…if necessary”??? What kind of language is this after years of brutality to many community members otherwise left to sleep outside during winter?

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