Elected officials, beacons, and blind spots / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access the Facebook event for the January 14, 2019 Monday Dignity Vigil at Bellingham City Hall

January 10, 2019 Dena Jensen

When I received a response email from Bellingham City Council Member Michael Lilliquist today, I had to think hard about whether or not I should publicly remark on it. It’s not like it was, in many ways, remarkable in comparison to the few other email responses I have received from him. In fact, some Bellingham City Council Members do not respond to me – ever – regarding my emails asking them to reach out and develop relationships with frontline and marginalized community members. Most of the time, I don’t even expect them to email me back. I just want them to take action.

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You did NOT “Stand Down” – Rejection of the Jail Sales Tax / Letter to the Editor, Irene Morgan

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justice innovation to go with Irene Morgan LTE

November 12, 2017  Irene Morgan, Founder, Restorative Community Coalition

Acknowledgement

A hardy THANK YOU to everyone who stood tall in opposition to the now defunct jail tax – Proposition 2017- 6.  You did NOT “Stand Down”, it was NOT a “Done Deal”, the “Ship had NOT Sailed”, the “Train is STILL in the Station” and it was NOT “a waste of our time”!  The voters said NO, with an even greater margin – again! Continue reading →

City Council Member responses to the idea of changing the name of Pickett Bridge / Facebook Post, Noisy Waters Norhtwest

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western front pickett bridge
July 25, 2017  Dena Jensen
I encourage people to read this opinion piece in The Western Front by Suzanna Leung, and take a look at the chart of Bellingham City Council Member responses to the idea of changing the name of Pickett Bridge, which is named for a Confederate General who, according to historian Leslie Gordon “was appalled by the notion of freeing slaves and arming black men to fight.”

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Both Councils Ignore Jail Studies / NorthwestCitizen, Juliette Davis

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Jul 15, 2017  Juliette Daniels

On Monday, July 10, The Vera Institute presented its preliminary data findings on the Whatcom County justice system at a special meeting of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force (IPRTF). It took months for the Vera Institute to obtain the necessary data on the County Jail population in 2016, but the results confirmed stunning racial disparities in the jailed population, as well as a sizable pre-trial population that could be significantly reduced with the use of evidence-based methods of incarceration prevention. Continue reading →

6/13/2017 Public Hearing “to gather comments on the sizing of a proposed new jail in Whatcom County” / Facebook post, Noisy Waters Northwest

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June 8, 2017  Dena Jensen

At the Public Hearing at next week’s County Council Meeting on Tuesday June 13 at 7 p.m. (rally at 6:00 beforehand), it seems our comments on jail bed numbers (the number of people we envision being incarcerated in our county in the future) need to be based on all the best statistical data we have in our private-citizen hands that supports that we now have all the tools at our disposal, and will continue to have more, that will allow a reduction in the number of people we are incarcerating and that we are ready to begin a new age that abandons our failed justice system. Continue reading →