Can we be accepting of the current pace of long-overdue jail renovations? / Facebook Post, Noisy Waters Northwest

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Screen Shot 2018-11-23 at 4.45.23 PM

Click the link to access the draft minutes for the 11/20/18 Whatcom County Council Finance and Administrative Services Committee meeting

November 23, 2018  Dena Jensen

Here’s a heads-up that at the November 20, 2018 Whatcom County Council Finance and Administrative Services Committee meeting there was a brief update on the state of the Whatcom County Jail renovations during the semi-annual report from Whatcom County Facilities Management Project & Operations Manager Rob Ney. Here is the link to the audio; Mr. Ney starts speaking about the jail at 26:30: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9q3a1p526pfpwvg/Finance%20Nov%2020%202018.mp3?dl=0

Continue reading →

Recap of the County Executive’s Report at the 10/9/18 Finance Committee Meeting / Facebook Post, Noisy Waters Northwest

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jail improvement project memo

Click the graphic to access Agenda Bill 2018-271 that contains this memo from Rob Ney to the Whatcom County Council

October 14, 2018  Dena Jensen

Here’s a little recap of the County Executive’s Report at the 10/9/18 Whatcom County Council Finance and Administrative Services Committee meeting. It’s good to know about this because it gives us clues to questions and possible approaches the County Administration and Council Members may be thinking about regarding the Whatcom County Jail.  Continue reading →

Whatcom County Sheriff receives Operation Stonegarden Grant funding in joint mission to secure U.S. borders / Noisy Waters Northwest

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kbfw rosalinda stonegarden

Click the graphic to access this Keep Bellingham Families Working Facebook post on their Facebook page

September 19, 2018   Dena Jensen

In light of our heightened awareness of threats to Whatcom County residents through the initiation of  deportation proceedings against immigrant’s rights activist and Bellingham resident Maru Mora-Villalpando in December of 2017, and the August 29, 2018 ICE raid against employees of the Bellingham location of Granite Precasting, I am going to try to shed some light on this Operation Stonegarden Grant funding that the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office has been receiving for years now with the approval of the Whatcom County Council. Continue reading →

Help us stop failing the jail / Noisy Waters Northwest

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many existing system deficiencies strauss.jpg

January 24, 2018  Dena Jensen

On Tuesday, January 30, 2018, now that new Council Members are officially sworn in, the Whatcom County Council’s Finance and Administrative Services Committee (freshly composed of Council Members Rud Browne, Tyler Byrd, and Satpal Sidhu) and Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee (which now is served on by Council Members Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, and Satpal Sidhu) will be discussing some issues related to urgently needed renovations of the Whatcom County Jail in downtown Bellingham.  The Council will then revisit, and potentially vote on, results of the earlier committee discussions at their evening meeting at 7 p.m. that night. Continue reading →

Mutchler and Korthuis make deceptive pitch for the jail sales tax / Facebook Post, Noisy Waters Northwest

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mutchler and kortuis tax op ed

15 mins  October 27, 2017  Dena Jensen

#RejectTheJailTax #GetFiredUpForJustice

It is infuriating that small city Mayors Mutchler and Korthuis are using mental health services and diversion programs to sell the jail sales tax to voters in this op-ed in the Bellingham Herald, when they were supporting the Jail Facility Finance and Use Agreement with no assurances of monies for these. Continue reading →

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

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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 →