First glimpses of immigration enforcement communications data, police attendance at first Immigration Advisory Board meeting / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Screenshot graphic shows small Zoom meeting image of City of Bellingham Administrator Brian Heinrich at the top of a shared computer screen image displaying text, in spreadsheet format, providing data regarding Customs and Border Patrol calls related to CBP dispatches to the City of Bellingham

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June 26, 2020  Dena Jensen

On June 23, 2020 the first meeting of the City of Bellingham’s Immigration Advisory Board was held remotely, via Zoom.  A recording of the meeting has not yet been posted on the COB website. The meeting primarily covered member introductions and housekeeping issues such as whether Roberts Rules of Order would be adopted for meeting procedures, or if other models would be preferred and adopted.  However, some of the items being evaluated that night could prove critical in their impacts on how effective the IAB can be in addressing concerns and needs of immigrants, regardless of their status, in Bellingham. The notes below primarily cover those type of items that came up during the meeting. Continue reading →

Markis Dee calls for COB to reallocate funds from homeless camp sweeps to sheltering people who are homeless / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click this graphic with an image of Markis Dee looking toward the Whatcom Museum in downtown Bellingham to access his 6/21/20 video posted on his Facebook page

June 22, 2020  Dena Jensen

Markis Dee is calling on social justice advocacies to join together to take more powerful action to address crises we are facing. Along with that, he reminds us that individuals who care can demand action regarding defunding the police and he has a specific call for reallocating funds from homeless camp sweeps to sheltering.

Contact info for Bellingham City Council, ccmail@cob.org, and Whatcom County Council, council@co.whatcom.wa.us

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Reviewing the formation of Bellingham’s Immigration Advisory Board; first meeting is June 23, 2020 / Noisy Waters Northwest

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June 15, 2020  Dena Jensen

I am posting an excerpt from a January 31, 2020 post here on Noisy Waters Northwest so that people can have a chance to review some background about the formation of Bellingham City Council’s Immigration Advisory Board which will be having their very first meeting (remotely) on Tuesday, June 23, 2020, from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m.  The link for the meeting has not yet been posted on the City of Bellingham website. Continue reading →

Drop-in Center shelter in pursuit of move; more sheltering solutions needed / Email to the Bellingham City Council and Mayor Fleetwood

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Click the screenshot of a headline, photo of the Public Market building on Cornwall Ave. in Bellingham, and small section of text to access the full June 10, 2020 Press Release on the City of Bellingham website.

June 12, 2020  Dena Jensen

Here’s a summary before I move on to the text of my email to the Bellingham City Council and Mayor Fleetwood.

A couple articles have come out recently – a commentary in Northwest Citizen, and a news story in The Bellingham Herald, about the potential move of Lighthouse Mission Ministries’ Drop-In Center, from it’s temporary location at Bellingham High School while the school was off session due to COVID-19, to the vacant Public Market building in downtown Bellingham. The relocated Drop-In Center would conceivably remain in that building for a period of up to four years. Continue reading →

New Immigrant Advisory Board and WA bills to support highlighted at C2C’s Migrant Justice Forum / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access video of C2C’s January 22, 2020 Migrant Justice Forum. The presentation by Liz Darrow begins at around 18:00:00

January 31, 2020  Dena Jensen

On January 22, 2020, our local ecofeminist, immigration and farm labor advocacy organization, Community to Community Development, held a Migrant Justice Forum at the Localgroup Studio in Bellingham. One the presenters, Liz Darrow, who focuses on policy coordination, legislative advocacy, and media for C2C, offered a status update on the Bellingham City Council’s Immigration Advisory Board which was created by ordinance in October 2019. Ms. Darrow also brought forward a number of Washington State bills for this legislative session that merit community members calling on state representatives to provide their support. Continue reading →

Letter to the Whatcom County Homeless Strategies Workgroup RE the scarcity of access to severe weather shelters / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access the Homeless Strategies Workgroup Meeting Information page on the Whatcom County website

January 8, 2020  Dena Jensen

To: Barry Buchanan <bbuchana@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Michael W. Lilliquist <mlilliquist@cob.org>; Daniel C. Hammill <dchammill@cob.org>; Ann Beck <abeck@co.whatcom.wa.us>; michael_parker@whatcomhsc.org <michael_parker@whatcomhsc.org>; Carol Frazey <cfrazey@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Michael Shepard <michaels@portofbellingham.com>; Mike Hilley <mhilley@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Cathy Halka <chalka@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Tyler Schroeder <tschroed@co.whatcom.wa.us>; rileysweeney@cityofferndale.org <rileysweeney@cityofferndale.org>

Cc: mayorsoffice@cob.org <mayorsoffice@cob.org>; Satpal Sidhu <ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us>; hahuthman@cob.org <hahuthman@cob.org>; laanderson@cob.org <laanderson@cob.org>; hestone@cob.org <hestone@cob.org>; Pinky T. Vargas <ptmvargas@cob.org>; Gene R. Knutson <gknutson@cob.org>

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Things not part of the Bellingham Climate Action Plan Task Force recommendations / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Screenshot of a slide from the December 9, 2019 presentation of the Climate Action Plan Task Force to the Bellingham City Council Committee of the Whole. The slide has a dark blue back ground providing inforgraphics on 5 specific things not being required in Task Force recommendations

December 17, 2019  Dena Jensen

One of my favorite parts of the Climate Action Task Force presentation of their Climate Action Plan recommendations to the Bellingham City Council Committee of the Whole was the part where this infographic was shown in the slide show during the section presented by Erin McDade, one of the Task Force members. Continue reading →

Building industry political committee boosts underhanded tactics; Fleetwood returns check/ Noisy Waters Northwest

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October 25, 2019  Dena Jensen

Last month, the Whatcom County Affordable Housing Council (WCAHC) political committee got caught exerting effort to deny their affiliation to the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County (BIAWC), a trade and business advocacy organization, to the Public Disclosure Commission(PDC). Continue reading →

Email to Bellingham Mayoral candidate April Barker about the Whatcom County Affordable Housing Council

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September 22, 2019 Dena Jensen

About 4 days ago on September 18, 2019, I wrote a letter to 2019 Bellingham Mayoral candidate, April Barker, about the contribution made to her campaign back in June of this year by the Whatcom County Affordable Housing Council, offering some of the information from a Facebook post made by Sandy Robson about their Public Disclosure Commission registration and reporting.

Continue reading →