Introduction – Whatcom Barriers to Equity, a review for 2021 candidates / Noisy Waters Northwest

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July 9, 2021 Dena Jensen

Introduction

In May of this year, Whatcom County 2021 candidate filing yielded seven candidates running for a total of four Bellingham City Council seats. There are fourteen candidates vying to fill four County Council seats, along with five Port of Bellingham candidates to potentially fill two seats. Whether running unopposed, or facing challengers, each one of them has potential to generate public conversation and advance solutions for critical community issues. 

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Former candidate for Whatcom County Council smears County Executive Satpal Sidhu / Noisy Waters Northwest, Sandy Robson

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Screenshot taken from a January 15, 2020, online article published by The Northern Light showing a photo of Satpal Sidhu being sworn in to office on January 11, 2020

June 17, 2020  Sandy Robson

These last few weeks or so have reflected a turbulent period of time in our nation’s history after the unmistakable and terrible scene we witnessed in Minneapolis where George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, who kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck, pinning him on the ground for nearly nine minutes. Continue reading →

A letter supporting Ferndale City Council’s ‘Rejecting White Supremacy’ resolution / Facebook, Sj Robson

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August 18. 2019 Sandy Robson

I sent this email letter copied and pasted below to the Ferndale’s city council members and mayor Jon Mutchler today:

Dear Ferndale City Council members and Mayor Mutchler,

It is my understanding that the
Ferndale City Council has proposed a resolution entitled, “Rejecting White Supremacy and Establishing Ferndale as a Welcoming City,” and you are discussing it at the ‪August 19, 2019‬ City Council meeting.

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Please seek a presentation from the Public Health Advisory Board on the needs of immigrant families in our community / Letter to the Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

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Screen shot of the 10/25/18 letter from the Public Health Advisory Board to the Whatcom County Health Board proposing the resolution for which PHAB was seeking support from the Whatcom County Council on 11/07/18

November 9, 2018  Dena Jensen
[Note: I wrote a blog post yesterday on November 8, 2018, entitled, “‘I just wanna make sure it’s people who are legal’ – 3 minutes of the Whatcom County Council 11/07/18 Public Works and Health Committee meeting” on which this letter to the Whatcom County Council is based.]

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Overseeing the fight for civilian oversight to protect immigrants and people of color in Bellingham / Noisy Waters Northwest

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you don't have my vote postcard front cropped

postcards to mayor redacted aqua

Graphics show one postcard front side (top), and multiple reverse/message sides of postcards sent to Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville by community members in June of 2017

May 23, 2018  Dena Jensen

The following report offers information gained through a public records request I made of the City of Bellingham on January 18, 2018.

Protecting vulnerable members of our community is a shared responsibility that none of us should take lightly. As much as government agencies may strive for and purport transparency, it is generally human nature to not be able to recognize our own flaws and, if others point them out, to do our best to excuse them or deny that this flaw, which another person sees, is really there.

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Seattle​ ​Human​ ​Rights​ ​Commission​ ​Opposes​ ​Washington​ ​State’s​ ​Petition​ ​for​ ​Certiorari​ ​on Ninth​ ​Circuit​ ​Culverts​ ​Opinion,​ ​and​ ​Seattle​ ​Times​ ​Endorsement​ ​of​ ​that​ ​Petition / Press Release, Seattle Human Rights Commission

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Seattle Human Rights Commission

September 11, 2017  Press Release, Seattle Human Rights Commission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Seattle Human Rights Commission writes in response to the Seattle Times recent editorial “The Supreme Court must clarify culvert ruling,” and seeks to correct inaccuracies regarding tribal treaty rights and the State’s obligation to not impair them. Washington’s tribal nations have lived and fished throughout our State since time immemorial, and their right to do so is protected by treaty. Continue reading →

Elite perspective on the Pickett Bridge signs in this week’s Cascadia Weekly online / Noisy Waters Northwest

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legacy of pickett cascadia

August 26, 2017  Dena Jensen

Oxford Dictionary definition of elite: 1.1 “A group or class of people seen as having the most power and influence in a society, especially on account of their wealth or privilege”

What do we think about an elite citizen here in Whatcom County, such as Ted Van Dyk in his August 23, 2017 opinion piece in the online edition of Cascadia Weekly, asserting that the City of Bellingham temporarily taking down the signs at the so-called Pickett Bridge has “fed intolerance?” On social media this last week there was also an August 24, 2017 statement on The Pickett House FB page by past president of the Daughter of the Pioneers, Susan Hess expressing fears “that someone, in ignorance, will assume that Bellingham’s Pickett House Museum is a confederate monument and do it harm.” Continue reading →

Bellingham’s ‘Fortress of Faith,’ listed as a hate group by the SPLC / Facebook post, Sj Robson

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splc Fortress of Faith

5:21pm  August 18, 2017  Sandy Robson

Recently, I learned of a group based in Bellingham that is classified by the Southern Policy Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group. It’s name is the Fortress of Faith.

According to nonprofitfacts.com, the listed address for Fortress of Faith is 2501 Orleans St., Bellingham, WA. 98226. According to Superpages.com, that is the same street address for the Bellingham Baptist Church, which bills itself in that listing as, “The friendliest church in town.”

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2016 Racial discrimination charges received no apology from Taylor Shellfish; Lawsuit is now settled / Noisy Waters Northwest

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August 5, 2016  Dena Jensen

It’s time we get the apology that Taylor Shellfish failed to offer when charges were originally brought against their company in September of 2016 for racial discrimination.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found that former Taylor Shellfish employee Jeremy Daniels was called various racial slurs (noted in the EEOC press release linked to in the post) by his supervisor at Taylor Shellfish (based in Shelton and one of the largest producers of shellfish in the country) and was directed by management to ignore this discrimination. Continue reading →