Expanding Whatcom County’s outreach to Cherry Point UGA stakeholders / Letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission and Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

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October 28, 2016  Dena Jensen

Dear Whatcom County Planning Commission and Whatcom County Council:

I am writing today because there has been discussion by both the planning commission and county council about collaborating with stakeholders at Cherry Point regarding the proposal and alternatives for the Cherry Point UGA section of the Land Use Chapter for the 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update. So far, in what I have heard about this collaboration, only the businesses/industries at Cherry Point have been mentioned, especially in terms of outreach from the planning commission or council. Continue reading →

Surly Citizens Object to Backroom Deals / NorthwestCitizen, Guest writer, Anne Mackie

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At the height of the objections to the rule breaking by Vargas.

Anne Mackie guest writes about the Monday, Oct 17, Bellingham City Council meeting.  She is a community leader who lives in the York neighborhood.

Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 4:27 pm // Guest writer, Anne Mackie

What does it look like when a special interest group has your City Council president in their back pocket? It looks like what transpired at the October 17 Bellingham City Council Public Hearing on the Comprehensive Plan.

Rumors of a “crowd control problem” at city hall Monday night circulated on police scanners. As someone who was there, I can say the only control problem was emanating from Council President Pinky Vargas who violated meeting rules to accommodate her friends in the real estate and building industry. […]

Read Anne’s complete article on NorthwestCitizen here.

Continue reading →

Our question to Whatcom County remains: Where are those documents? / Public Comment to Whatcom County Council, Sandy Robson / Commentary by Dena Jensen

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GPT Project Documents listed on  Whatcom County’s GPT webpage as of 11 a.m. September 14, 2016, after the Whatcom County Council meeting on September 13, 2016.  Click the graphic to see if it has perhaps been updated with more records.

September 14, 2016 Sandy Robson

“Beyond that I want to go on record, most of all what I was writing about – I felt was really important  – is that our county administration, Jack Louws and his administration, have refused to put correspondence and documents related to the GPT project on the GPT page of the county website. They had two documents, only, on there for the entirety of 2016 until myself and a few handful of people started writing them on – I believe it was July 29th – and asked them: where are those documents?

Continue reading →

Until 8/5/2016, County’s GPT webpage could have given public the impression the proposed project was no longer in play / Letter to Whatcom County Executive, Sandy Robson

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gpt web page pre aug 6 2016

Screenshot photo of what Whatcom County’s GPT webpage looked like prior to August 5th when the information was finally updated after citizens’ requests

August 28, 2016  Sandy Robson

–If you are opposed to the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point you might want to check out my latest letter to Whatcom County. First is an excerpt from that letter that should give a very brief summary of what’s happening. My full letter with more details is shown below the excerpt. Continue reading →

January 26, 2016: the date citizens were stopped from participating at an acceptable level in the Whatcom County Comp Plan Update regarding the Cherry Point UGA / Facebook post, Sj Robson

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jan 26 council meeting youtube

23 mins  July 25, 2016  Sandy Robson

January 26, 2016. Remember that date because that is the day that the general public, the Lummi Nation, the Suquamish Indian Tribe, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and Tulalip Tribes (which submitted Comp Plan Update comments on Cherry Point UGA), and our County Council, were stopped from fully participating, or even participating at any acceptable level, in the County Comp Plan Update process as it relates to Cherry Point UGA.  Continue reading →

Obstruction of council members’s abiltiy to carry out their obligations to the public / Letter to the Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

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July 22, 2016  Dena Jensen

Dear Whatcom County Council:

I have been involved for 5 years in working in opposition to projects at Cherry Point that do or will adversely affect the air, lands, waters, life forms, and/or cultural and spiritual resources located there or the treaty rights of affected tribes, which in turn have or will have an adverse effect on the rest of our region.  The only question has ever been, whether those adverse effects can be lightened to some degree acceptable to either the Lummi and Nooksack Nations or the majority of people in our community. Continue reading →