CONTENTS 9/22/2020
Happy Autumn
Vote!
Election Forums
Will Your Vote Count?
Local Climate Week Events
Whatcom Covid Cases Rising
Halloween Invite
Small Kitchen Appliance Repair?
Arborist/Tree Help Needed
Free Bunk Bed
Handy-Woman Shout-Out
Free Canned Cat Food
Radio Free Fl!p: Crossing the Bar
HAPPY AUTUMN!!!
VOTE!
Our democracy’s foundation is the informed voter. I will be posting every forum and every source of information I can find about all races and issues in the upcoming election. I will not engage in partisan politics, but will do my best to get you resources so you can inform yourselves. Local elections are very, very important!
Non-Partisan Online Election Forums
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Tomorrow, Wednesday September 23. Go to www.bellinghamcityclub.org after 1:30 PM to find & click the link.
We’ll be prerecording our program and posting it on our website. This will allow us to guarantee our candidate forums are free of any technical problems that could impact candidates’ ability to communicate with our audience. Unfortunately, this eliminates an important aspect of our programs—the ability to ask questions. We look forward to returning to that in future meetings. No registration is required.
Founded in 1993, the Bellingham City Club is a non-partisan civic organization with over 400 members that fosters dialogue and debate on important issues facing our community. Note: Since May 27, 2020, City Club meetings have been held online at no cost to participants.
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The Races:
Superior Court Judges Positions 2 & 4
Superior courts are called general jurisdiction courts, because there is no limit on the types of civil and criminal cases heard. Superior courts also have authority to hear cases appealed from courts of limited jurisdiction. Superior court judges are elected to four-year terms. Vacancies between elections are filled by appointment of the Governor.
The Candidates:
Superior Court Judge Position 2
Judge Deborra Garrett is not running for reelection for position 2.
James Erb is the Senior Assistant City Attorney for Bellingham.
Evan Jones is a Deputy Prosecutor for the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s office
Superior Court Judge Position 4
David E. Freeman was appointed to the Whatcom County Superior Court in 2020 when Judge Raquel Montoya-Lewis was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court.
Jim Nelson has worked as a private attorney for 31 years.
Public Utility District No. 1 Commissioner
Public Utility District No. 1 is governed by a Board of Commissioners comprised of three local citizens elected on a nonpartisan basis by Whatcom County residents. A PUD Commissioner is elected every two years during the general election to serve a six-year term.
The Commission establishes PUD policies, set rates, adopts system plans for electric and water utilities, and approves revenue obligations. In addition to guiding PUD operations, the Commissioners appoint the general manager.
The Candidates:
Public Utility District (PUD) District 1 Commissioner
Christine Grant teaches energy policy at Western Washington University’s Institute for Energy Studies.
Jeff McClure is an architect and founding partner of RMC Architects in Bellingham seeking his third six year term.
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Coming OCTOBER 7 LIVE Online:
Will your vote count?
At 12:00 p.m. October 7 the Bellingham City Club will be hosting its next virtual meeting live. See below for more information about this program. Please note DATE CHANGE and register in advance at no charge by clicking here. Registration closes at midnight, Monday, October 5. On the next day, registrants will receive an email with instructions on how to join the meeting.Important: You will receive a confirmation email shortly after registering. If you don’t receive this email, please try again. You need to click the “confirm” button on the last page of registration to finish the process.
Fraud, Slow Mail Delivery, Voter Suppression! Is it any wonder hearing these statements thrown around on the nightly news we are worried about the safety of our vote and the integrity of our election?
Join us for a presentation by Whatcom County Auditor, Diana Bradrick who will help us to understand the nuts and bolts of running a major election during a pandemic. From processing the registration forms for new voters to ensuring an accurate count, the Elections Division is responsible for assuring the security and accuracy of the upcoming election while making sure that every citizen who wants to vote is able to vote and every ballot that is cast is counted. What are the best ideas to be sure your vote is counted?
Diana Bradrick was elected Whatcom County Auditor for the term starting in January, 2020. Before her election as Auditor, she was the Chief Deputy Auditor and Election Supervisor for Whatcom County from October 2012. Bradrick is a Certified Elections Administrator for the State of Washington, has administered over 40 elections in various counties, and has been an active participant in the VOTE WA statewide voter registration system project since its inception. Currently she serves on the Steering Committee. She is a Washington native and holds a MBA from Portland State University.
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Founded in 1993, the Bellingham City Club is a non-partisan civic organization with about 500 members that fosters dialogue and debate on important issues facing our community. Note: Beginning May 27, 2020, City Club meetings will be held online at no cost to participants.
[Fl!p: I need to add a word here. Zeke and I signed up and were trained as election observers some years back. I was deeply relieved and extremely impressed at the rigor with which our Whatcom County elections are conducted. The culture in the Auditor’s office made me teary-eyed. Those workers are determined to clear and count every legal vote. They even do things like, if a ballot has the wrong signature, they check all other ballots from the same address to see if ballots could have gotten mixed. If spouses have accidentally swapped their ballots, they can both still get counted. The most common disqualification has to do with a signature that doesn’t match the one on file. If you printed, or used an initial, you’ll want to have your signature on your ballot match. If you’re not sure what you used, you can go in and update your signature in advance. Please be merciful and do it early!]
LOCAL CLIMATE WEEK EVENTS
There are city-sponsored events throughout this week, including a chalk art contest.
https://cob.org/services/environment/climate/climate-action-week
WHATCOM COVID CASES RISING
Local cases are trending in the wrong direction. Please wear masks and keep Save Six. We can protect each other. It really makes a big difference.
https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/coronavirus/article245916100.html?ac_cid=DM286879&ac_bid=-2002984489
HALLOWEEN INVITE
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I live on the corner of Williams and North St. Every year I tell all the parents and children to please come to my house on Halloween. Last year I was lucky enough to see 323 of the cutest children and parents.
I understand it’s different this year. I will still be here enjoying ever child I get to see although in response to the Covid I will be using a 6 ft. tube to send the candy through. So please if your kids are still going out remember to stop by!
Happy Halloween 🎃 ~ Tami Crawford 1713 W North St.
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SMALL KITCHEN APPLIANCE REPAIR?
Anyone know of someone who knows how to repair small appliances? My food processor motor seems to be disengaged from the gear that turns the blade; and my beloved, old, food dehydrator fan stopped turning, though the heating element still works. If you want to have a go at it, or know someone who might, please let me know via email. Thanks! ~ Becky Curtis, Kulshan St. rebeccasusancurtis@gmail.com
ARBORIST/TREE HELP NEEDED
We have three fruit trees in desperate need of pruning—and one more that we want to remove. Can anyone recommend a good and reasonably-priced tree person? Happy to do some of the work (prep or otherwise) ourselves but need expert direction. ~ Kate Destler, Henry Street kdestler@yahoo.com
FREE BUNK BED
We have an older all wooden bunk bed, in ok shape, for free. We can deliver. Text or email Marcie 360 739 8900 Thank you!!
Marcie and Paul Pittman, Lynn street
HANDY-WOMAN SHOUT-OUT
I want to shout out a big compliment to Daniella Hirt, our Columbia neighborhood carpenter and handyperson. She and her partner did an amazing job on new ceiling crown molding for my Craftsman bungalow AND crown molding on my kitchen cabinets which really upgrades their appearance. Her pricing was fair and her high moral standards shone throughout the job. I would easily hire her again.She can be reached at 206=310=6963 ~ EL Caron
[Daniella did good work for me too, twice. ~Fl!p]
FREE CANNED CAT FOOD
I have a bunch of cans of perfectly nice cat food that Vortex has declared inedible. The first can of it she loved. But she has now decided that it is boring and she would prefer to starve to death, thank you. What Vortex wants is kitty gravel – dried food. But the vet says it is no longer safe for her to eat exclusively dry food. ~ Fl!p 360-671-4511
RADIO FREE FL!P: CROSSING THE BAR
Another version. This one keeps floating through my mind in these days of the year. Five years ago on this day my sister Kitty died of pancreatic and ovarian cancer. We were not close, but at the end, she permitted my brother Joe and I to come to Maine to care for her, which was a gift to us all. Not easy, but a gift. This song seems so right for who she was. Joe and I sang this one and Gulf Coast Highway together all night long after they came to collect Kitty’s body. And yesterday I posted the wrong author! Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote the words, and this musical setting is by Salamander Crossing.
Sung a cappella (Rani Arbo, arr. Peter Amidon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiOX3DzsJjM
Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511 2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org
If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.
