Where is the equation for replacing unused jail cells in new facility with services? / Letter to Whatcom County Council

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June 15, 2023 Dena Jensen

During a June 13, 2023 Whatcom County Council Special Committee of the Whole meeting, committee members participated in a work session focused on the June 9, 2023 draft Justice Project Implementation Plan and a ballot measure to be approved by voters in November. The ballot measure would be for a tax which is currently referred to in that latest amended draft implementation plan as a “proposed new sales tax” which is, among other things, “the only feasible funding mechanism to generate the revenue needed to pay for a capital project the size of the jail and behavioral health treatment center.”

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Working on ongoing communication between Justice Project partners and the community / Email to the Whatcom County Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force

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Click the graphic to access Whatcom County’s 5/31/23 draft of the Justice Project Implementation Plan

June 1, 2023 Dena Jensen

This week the Whatcom County Council put out a news flash announcement requesting that community members provide feedback to the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force about the draft version of the Justice Project Implementation Plan. I sent an email in today that will be included in this blog post.

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Additional data related to Bellingham’s pursuit of an ordinance against people using drugs in public / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access 2016-2020 Whatcom County Drug Court data on the Whatcom County website

April 3, 2023 Dena Jensen

In the email and graphic in this post there is a little more info related to Bellingham elected officials moving forward an ordinance to make public drug use illegal and considering related services. I sent the email to make sure elected officials had this information and to address some items from a response that one official had sent to a previous email about the ordinance which I had sent.

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On top of sweeps, no sitting or lying, aggressive parking enforcement: how the race to displace continues now / Noisy Waters Northwest

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March 31, 2023 Dena Jensen

Click the screenshot to access the information in the 3/27/23 Bellingham City Council regular meeting summary

On Monday night March 27, 2023, Bellingham City Council voted to advance (first and second reading) “An Ordinance Prohibiting the Use of Controlled Substances in Public Places” toward approval by a vote of 5-2. The earliest final vote on the ordinance will not be until the next regular Council meeting in two weeks on April 10, 2023. If approved on that date, the ordinance would go into effect two weeks later.

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Reordering Justice Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee facility recommendations / Letter to Whatcom County Council and the SAC

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March 6, 2023 Dena Jensen

On February 21, 2021 Whatcom County Council voted 7-0 to approve a resolution accepting the the Justice Project Needs Assessment Report. The report includes many recommendations developed during the Stakeholder Advisory Committee needs assessment process, including one to “build a new jail.” The County will now be moving forward with an implementation plan. The resolution states that part of the plan will be efforts to hear our input.

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Whatcom County Council seeks to lighten workload by cutting back on community voices / Letter to Whatcom County Council

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Click the screenshot of a 12/2/2022 memo from Whatcom County Council Member Carol Frazey to access the document on the Whatcom County website

December 5, 2022 Dena Jensen

In this post is an email I sent last night regarding tomorrow’s 12/6/22 Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole meeting. The COW agenda says Council will be discussing general meeting rules. It is left to community members who have some experience on where to find more details, to learn that apparently this discussion is to be solely focused on limiting our time to speak at their meetings. It would have taken very few extra words to say that on the agenda. Here is the link to the memo for the meeting: https://whatcom.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11493559&GUID=01A69383-70BC-41D5-A732-01A369E4CD18

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Update on previous email related to information and activation for accessible severe weather sheltering / Letter to Whatcom County officials

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November 27, 2022 Dena Jensen

Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2022, 07:30:34 PM PST

Subject: Update on previous email related to information and activation for accessible severe weather sheltering

Dear Whatcom County Health Department, Whatcom County Council, and Whatcom County Executive Sidhu:

Below my signature line, I am including a copy of the email  I sent you earlier today regarding information on the County website and various social media pages related to severe weather shelters being available. 

I wanted to write again on a related matter having to do with the recording on the night by night shelter hotline, at 360-788-7983.

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Displacement creates a stronger need for increased emergency sheltering options / Letter to Bellingham and Whatcom County officials

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Click the screenshot of a NEWS webpage on the website of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to read the statement from USICH Director Olivet, “Collaborate, Don’t Criminalize: How Communities Can Effectively and Humanely Address Homelessness”

October 31, 2022 Dena Jensen

On Friday of last week, I had posted on Facebook about a recent article in Cascadia Daily News, “Bike lanes to displace homeless campers on Cornwall. At the time of my post, I was just responding to information in the article. Since that time, I have had a chance to listen to a recording of the Bellingham City Council Members’ October 24, 2022 Committee of the Whole discussion of the proposal to eliminate parking on portions of four Bellingham streets, including the section of Cornwall Avenue that is near the Bellingham waterfront.

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Services needed to address more regular occurrence of severe smoke events / Letter to Whatcom County officials

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October 18, 2022 Dena Jensen

Keep sharing the things you learn and observe with our officials that will help result in more and better services for our community members who are in crisis or are in danger of being so.  

Here is an email I sent this evening to the Whatcom County Council and the County Executive:

Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 05:31:04 PM PDT

Subject: Services needed to address more regular occurrence of severe smoke events

Dear Whatcom County Council, and County Executive Sidhu:

I have been watching the rapid increase today in poor air quality due to wildfire smoke. I am including a couple screenshots. 

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