Stand up for dignity / Letter to Whatcom County and Bellingham City Councils, Noisy Waters Northwest

NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL FOR NWNW

October 11, 2017  Dena Jensen

Subject: Further perspective on ordinances to protect members of our undocumented immigrant community

Dear Whatcom County Council and Bellingham City Council:

I wrote to all of you last week regarding creating ordinances that would provide more protections for members of our undocumented immigrant community. I recently had a local government official share their perspective on that letter with me. In this case, it doesn’t matter who made the statements because I think portions of the perspective expressed to me were similar to those I have heard expressed at council meetings. Continue reading

Time to stop increasing liability and accept accountability for our neglect of the existing jail / Letter to Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

 

kelli and korthuis no spell check 3 mill jail

September 22, 2017  Dena Jensen

Here’s my latest letter to the council regarding the need to renovate the existing jail facility now. It was sent to council@co.whatcom.wa.us, and copied to all the city councils, the County Executive, and the Sheriff. Keep writing and calling!

Dear Whatcom County Council:

I am writing to call on you to move forward as quickly as possible with renovations on our existing Whatcom County Jail facility on Grand Ave., that will address necessary and critical life safety issues.  Continue reading

Transparency, or the lack thereof, in Whatcom County Administration / Facebook post, Sj Robson

personius to sandy hirst resolution 05022017

2 hrs  May 3, 2017  Sandy Robson

Copied and pasted below, and shown in attached screenshot photos, are my recent email communications with County Planning and Development Services Assistant Director Mark Personius, about the Resolution (2017-019) that County Council approved on April 18, 2017, requesting the state legislature to amend the Growth Management Act, relating to the Washington Supreme Court decision on the Hirst et al. case. My initial curiosity regarding the origin of the resolution was borne out of my having listened to part of the audio recording of the April 18, Council Natural Resources Committee meeting, during which Council members seemed to be unaware of who proposed the resolution.  Continue reading

Addressing a statement by Whatcom County Council Member Brenner at 4/18/17 Council Meeting regarding exempt well report / Letter to Council Member Barbara Brenner, Dena Jensen

consumptive water use chart exempt wells doe

April 28, 2017  Dena Jensen

Below is a letter I sent to Whatcom County Council Member Barbara Brenner regarding a statement she made at the April 18, 2017 Whatcom County Council Meeting related to a Department of Ecology report on exempt wells.  The Council was voting that night on interim amendments to the Whatcom County Comprehensive plan pertaining to the Hirst decision. Continue reading

Cherry Point Amendments and Critical Areas Ordinances need to reflect measures to protect orcas / Letter to Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

scientists shipping noise herald

April 15, 2016  Dena Jensen

Dear Whatcom County Council:

I am sending this email for you to earnestly consider during your review of the Cherry Point Amendments to Whatcom County’s Comprehensive Plan and the Critical Areas Ordinance. The information below is why it is critical that expanded vessel shipping going anywhere out of Cherry Point is, at this time particularly, unacceptable.  Thus, this is another reason it is critical that the County include the study in the Cherry Point Amendments that will help the County find legal ways to limit the export of unrefined fossil fuels, above current levels, out of Cherry Point. Continue reading

Thank you for approving the interim moratorium for Cherry Point and other things regarding the Cherry Point Amendments / Letter to Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

interim moratorium agenda bill

March 29, 2017  Dena Jensen

Last week Whatcom County Council voted 6-1, Council Member Brenner opposed, to approve the “ordinance imposing an interim moratorium on the acceptance and processing of applications and permits for new or expanded facilities in the Cherry Point Urban Growth Area, the primary purpose of which would be the shipment of unrefined fossil fuels not to be processed at Cherry Point.”  I wanted to write this week to thank them for approving the moratorium. Continue reading

Letter to BP’s Associate Director, NW Government and Public Affairs regarding Cherry Point Amendments / Dena Jensen

policy 2CC-15 council proposal

You can view the full version of the Whatcom County Council’s September 14, 2017 Proposed Cherry Point Amendments by clicking the graphic above.

Saturday March 12, 2017  Dena Jensen

I am posting a letter that I sent on March 11, 2017 to BP’s Associate Director of NW Government and Public Affairs Pam Brady, who is on the Board of Directors of the Whatcom Business Alliance.  The Whatcom Business Alliance (WBA) is increasingly promoting their campaign against elements of the Whatcom County Council Proposed Cherry Point Amendments to our County’s long-term planning document, the Comprehensive Plan.   Continue reading

WBA, under the leadership of President Tony Larson, uses propaganda that can mislead the public /Facebook post, Sj Robson

wba-preserve-cherry-point-blurb

Initial text and graphic displayed, as of this writing (02/25/2017), by Whatcom Business Alliance on preservecherrypoint.com , a webpage used by the WBA for eliciting oppositional emails to proposed Whatcom County planning policy that would study legal ways the County can work to limit unrefined fossil fuel exports above levels in existence as of July 5, 2016

2 hrs  February 25, 2016  Sandy Robson

Once again, Cherry Point fossil fuel industry advocate Whatcom Business Alliance (WBA), under the leadership of its President Tony Larson, uses propaganda that misleads the public, in an effort to motivate people to submit WBA’s form-generated comments on the Cherry Point Amendments to the County Comprehensive Plan Update, currently under review by Whatcom County Council. Continue reading

Why Was County Staff Not Disclosing Relevant CAO Information?/ Letter to Whatcom County Council, Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

hi-res-study-wdfw

5 hrs  January 10, 2017  Wendy Harris
Dear County Council,
As you are aware, it is a fatal flaw in the CAO that the county lacks baselines standards to help measure and monitor the county’s success in meeting no net loss standards. Thus, I had begun reviewing this information on my own in an attempt to help the county better achieve GMA compliance. Continue reading

Public comment on the 2016 docketed Cherry Point Amendments – addressing the Oct. 26, 2016 letter from PIT to the Whatcom County Planning Commission / Letter to the Whatcom County Planning Commission, Sandy Robson

pit-10262016-to-pc

Click the graphic to view the October 06, 2016 letter from Pacific International Terminals (PIT) to the Planning Commission regarding their application for permits with Whatcom County as related to the proposed Cherry Point amendments to the Comprehensive Plan

November 2, 2016  Sandy Robson

Dear Whatcom County Planning Commission:

Please consider this an official comment on the 2016 docketed Cherry Point Amendments, identified presently by County Planning and Development Services (PDS) as: “Proposal – Council Resolution (initiated by Council under Resolution 2016- 027),” to the 2016 County Comprehensive Plan Update.

My comment will address the October 26, 2016, letter from Gateway Pacific Terminal (GPT) applicant Pacific International Terminals (PIT) VP Skip Sahlin, sent to the Whatcom County Planning Commission regarding the 2016 docketed Cherry Point Amendments to the County Comprehensive Plan Chapter 2 Land Use Cherry Point UGA, currently under review by the Planning Commission. Continue reading