May 11, 2017
Across the nation local jurisdictions—where 40 percent of inmates are incarcerated—have recognized that increasing incarceration does not increase public safety. In fact, there are proven alternatives to incarceration that reduce recidivism and therefore do increase public safety. Continue reading
May 11, 2017 Dena Jensen
I got an email from Sheriff Elfo this morning in response to an email I wrote back on March 30, to the Jail Stakeholder Work Group (my email is shown in the graphic). This resistance-is-futile kind of quote from the Sheriff bugs me the most: “Despite all that is being done and can be done outside the context of the jail, there will continue to be a need for a jail. The law requires it.” Continue reading
EPA Earnings and Leave Statement for Doug Ericksen, period ending 03/18/2017
May 11, 2017 Sandy Robson
On March 20, 2017, I submitted a FOIA request to the EPA for records relating to Washington state Senator Doug Ericksen, who was appointed by the Trump Administration to a Senior Adviser position with the EPA, which started on January 21, 2017. I have been checking daily on the FOIA website under my registered account to see if the records I requested were released, but each time I looked, my request would still display the following: “No records have been released.” Continue reading
May 6, 2017 Sandy Robson
Senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) was a guest on KGMI’s May 2, 2017, “The Morning Show,” a conservative talk radio show, hosted by Dillon Honcoop. During the show, Honcoop asked Ericksen about his job with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Continue reading
May 3, 2017 Sandy Robson
Copied and pasted below, and shown in attached screenshot photos, are my recent email communications with County Planning and Development Services Assistant Director Mark Personius, about the Resolution (2017-019) that County Council approved on April 18, 2017, requesting the state legislature to amend the Growth Management Act, relating to the Washington Supreme Court decision on the Hirst et al. case. My initial curiosity regarding the origin of the resolution was borne out of my having listened to part of the audio recording of the April 18, Council Natural Resources Committee meeting, during which Council members seemed to be unaware of who proposed the resolution. Continue reading
April 28, 2017 Dena Jensen
Below is a letter I sent to Whatcom County Council Member Barbara Brenner regarding a statement she made at the April 18, 2017 Whatcom County Council Meeting related to a Department of Ecology report on exempt wells. The Council was voting that night on interim amendments to the Whatcom County Comprehensive plan pertaining to the Hirst decision. Continue reading
April 23, 2017 Sandy Robson
Most people had heard back in January, that State Senator Doug Ericksen, was appointed by the Trump Administration to a post at the EPA’s D.C. Headquarters, on January 21, 2017.
I was recently told by someone I know that Ericksen has an office at the EPA’s Region 10 Office, located in Seattle. The individual said they had visited the Region 10 Office in late March, and they had seen an office there with Doug Ericksen’s name on the door. Continue reading
April 15, 2016 Dena Jensen
Dear Whatcom County Council:
I am sending this email for you to earnestly consider during your review of the Cherry Point Amendments to Whatcom County’s Comprehensive Plan and the Critical Areas Ordinance. The information below is why it is critical that expanded vessel shipping going anywhere out of Cherry Point is, at this time particularly, unacceptable. Thus, this is another reason it is critical that the County include the study in the Cherry Point Amendments that will help the County find legal ways to limit the export of unrefined fossil fuels, above current levels, out of Cherry Point. Continue reading
Click the graphic above to view the full April 5, 2017 Memorandum from Gary Davis, Whatcom County Senior Planner, “Impervious Surface and Animal Husbandry Proposals”
April 9, 2017 Wendy Harris
While the county continues to seek state legislative fixes to the Hirst decision, and at all costs avoid its obligation to actually plan, the county is still under a court imposed obligation to come into compliance with the GMA, and protect rural water quality and quantity. (Yes, somehow with all the hysterical theatrics that surrounds this decision, it is easy to forget that it is, after all, a GMA compliance case). Continue reading
This “Residential Survey” of Bellingham residents is a quasi-yearly affair with this stated purpose: “… the Survey is to seek feedback from residents [bolding mine] about their experience as citizens of the city of Bellingham. Continue reading
noisy waters northwest 
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