Community Center Levy Passes

And it passed handily with an overwhelming majority.  Good work, voters!

At the Fire District, Stan Riffle appears to have defeated Rob Dean, but Jeff Wilmot is within 4 votes of Craig Carter.  Next County Auditor count is 3:30 pm tomorrow.  Usually, it takes a week or two before they issue a final tally.

Correction: I must have misread the number 40 for the number 49, because wilmot is behind by 13 votes not 4 votes.  Very sorry about that.  I'll update after 4:00 pm.  

Update, 11/7, 5:20:  The new count still has Carter ahead, but now by 14 votes, 151-165.

Seabright Farms Hearing Examiner Hears and Examines Tomorrow/November 6

It's going to be down in Bellingham and there will certainly be a contingent of local people (mostly from the Conservation Society, I'd guess) who will be hoping that the outcome leans toward the conservation side rather than the development side.

I was surprised to hear that the project is proposing a full 62-lot project, because it appeared that providing septic systems for that many houses would be problematic.  But perhaps they have a solution that the Hearing Examiner (HE) will be able to live with.

Most people here, I think, are primarily concerned about the preservation of the tree canopy.  There is talk of a conservation easement on the APA side of the property that would preserve the maples, but perhaps not the smaller trees and brush behind them.  Although there is also talk of the developers being willing to plant new conifers in the space where the smaller trees will be removed.

Nevertheless, there is a big area at the northeast corner of the property, alongside APA, where the developer's maps show drainfields for septic.  It appears from the map that all that area will be cleared to within 20 feet of the road.  That would destroy most or all of the canopy along almost half of the development's frontage on APA.

We've marked the developer's map to show the drainfields in blue, backyard areas subject to clearing by the new property owners in green, and in red, a 125- foot conservation easement that could prevent tree and habitat destruction within its boundaries.

It's never been clear to me how much local desires are to be taken into account when dealing with private property.  This is a country that gives great reverence to doing what you want on private property as long as you meet whatever regulation exists and those on the property consent.  (Well, not so big on private property when it's peoples' bodies, maybe.)  So, sometime after tomorrow we'll see where we are.  But I do hope that the houses that may be built there will be safely out of view of those who drive by under the canopy and that the overarching, continuous maple canopy will be preserved for all of us, including people who move into the development.  They would surely not want to see its loss, any more than those of already living here want to see it.

Bring Back the 60's: Demonstration in P.R.!

Here is the word from the group that is organizing against the radio towers planned for Point Roberts:

"December 1st, 2013, at 12:00, high noon.  This means we are assembled along the streets at 12:00 pm so when the TV camera come we are ready for them.  This entire event should take about an hour.  Your job is to make the crowd look monstrous."

This demonstration is to be held on the shoulder of Tyee, beginning at McKenzie (first street to the west, south of the border).  Maybe wear tie-dye?  I guess bring signs.

REMEMBER TO VOTE

You need to do it right away if you haven't already.  Just a kindly reminder from your kindly blogger.

And please vote for the park and rec district bond levy so that the community center can get fixed for us and for the next generation...

One of Our Heart's Desires, At Least

Maybe ten years ago, I was briefly involved in a group that did a survey of what residents most wanted to see in Point Roberts that they weren't seeing.  The most popular item, it turned out, was pizza delivery.  Now, only ten years later, I see that the Pier Restaurant has a sign on a truck down on APA and Tyee announcing that it will deliver PIZZA.  Which only goes to prove that if you are steadfast in your desires, you can have whatever you want.  Or something like that...

What Was He Thinking?

I received a couple of pieces of information today (one on Point Interface) from Ron Hughes, a guy who is perhaps a solo operation or perhaps has other supporters in his opposition to the bond levy to repair the Community Center.  Only his name appears, so maybe it's just him.  (The other info was a comment on the previous blog post: see here for his meanderings.)

In any case, he has ginned up a ton of words in opposition, none of which makes much sense.  E.g., he likes to say that the Park and Recreation Dept. has "given" the Julius Fire Hall to the Friends of the Point Roberts Library rather than kept its ownership of this worthy property asset.  As someone who has been working near fulltime for almost 2 years to raise funds to renovate that building for the Park and Recreation District, so that said District can put the library in that building and reclaim the space in the Community Center, I find this mighty irritating.  When the Friends of the P.R. Library complete the fund raising, the Julius Firehall will be turned into a much more valuable building and it will be owned not by the Friends of the P.R. Library, nor by the Whatcom County Librarty Services: it will continue to be owned by the Park and Recreation District.

He seems convinced that the only problem of concern at the Community Center is the roof.  That is just flat wrong; the building has been and may still be standing in water; there is rot; there is mold.

In addition to being irritated by Mr. Hughes' misstatements, I am amused by his language.  Thus, he has named his group "The Con Committee."  I am astonished that neither he nor the committees' other members, if there are any, noticed the primary meaning of that name: This, apparently, is a committee that intends to con local voters.  Well, it's truth in advertising at a new level.  Thanks for your honesty, Mr. Hughes!

As to his substantive comments that aren't entirely confused, well...  His major claim is that the Park and Recreation Commissioners (one of whom is his wife) need to take a longer term view.  Repairing the Community Center for the next 30 years is not long enough for him?  What in the world does he have in mind?  The new library when done, will be good for probably 50 years.  Not long-term enough for him?

It's possible that he is one of that odd coterie of folks around here who think if only we tried harder Point Roberts might be more like Carmel, California, or one of those other charming, crowded, touristy towns with expensive shoppes where the tourists will buy, buy, buy, and residents will grow rich on entrepreneurship.  Or if we tried even harder, maybe it would be like some tiny New York City.  I don't think so.  And who here (besides Mr. Hughes, perhaps) would want to live in a tiny New York City, or Carmel with or without a difficult border?  So crowded; parking problems; noise; urban difficulties: and all in 5 square miles PLUS a border.  Perhaps he longs for shoppes on that second floor of the Community Center that he'd like to see built?

Vote YES on the levy, please.  We need to repair the Community Center.

Election

I went to the Candidates Night week before last.  Most of what I learned was that the County Council candidates don't know that much about Point Roberts and, even more interesting to me, that we in Point Roberts don't know much about the County Council and what they do and are interested in.  When the generous question period came for these candidates, nobody had any questions.

Even when the Fire District Commissioner candidates and the Park and Rec Board Chair discussed their various candidacies (Mark Robbins was speaking on behalf of the Levy to repair the Community Center), precious few questions were heard.  Stan Riffle (Fire District Commissioner candidate) said he was a good guy with experience (and didn't mention any of the sturm und drang that have been the hallmark of the last year+ of Fire District meetings in which he has fully participated as a safe vote for whatever Bill Meursing wants).  Craig Carter said he wanted to bring "harmony" to the Fire District Meetings (which means, I'd guess, he wants to be another vote that Bill Meursing can count on; it's worth noting that he has previously been in business with Meursing and that he volunteered that an unnamed person had asked him to run for Commissioner).

Fire Commissioner candidate Rob Dean did mention some of that disorderly mess that followed the Fire District's firing Nick Kiniski "without cause", a firing that has never been explained by Meursing/Riffle.  As well, Dean spoke about some more recent matters, including the inexplicable 20% increase in the Fire Chief's salary that was passed very recently.  This was then followed by an unexpected and very loud appearance by the Fire Chief (Chris Carleton) who is NOT running for any office but felt some need to strongly defend pretty much everything he's ever said or done in Point Roberts.  After the talking was over, one of the County Council guys asked me privately, "What's wrong with the Fire Chief?"  Indeed.  Good question.

If you vote here, you've received your ballots.  I can't prove that, if Jeff Wilmot and Rob Dean are elected, the Fire District will settle down to a wonderful performance level.  But I do know that if Craig Carter and Stan Riffle are elected Bill Meursing will have three votes instead of his current two votes (himself and Riffle).

And here's two things about Meursing that may be worth knowing:

1.  Meursing allows public comments only at the beginning of each Fire District public meeting.  However, he does not allow questions during the comment period because, as he has repeatedly advised me when I try to ask questions about what they're doing, "This is a Comment Period, not a Question Period, Ms. Ross."  Now Bill Meursing may have great powers, but he doesn't have the power to overrule the 1st Amendment to the Constitution and it's the First for a reason.  He doesn't have to answer the questions, but every member of this community has a right to ask questions about what they are doing as Fire District Commissioners.  Meursing does not seem to know that.

2. A frequent Meursing comment at regular meetings to Jeff Wilmott, who is also a Fire District Commissioner, is "Are You going to play ball here?"  Perhaps he also does not know (because he does not appear to be a native English speaker) that that phrase implies something slightly distasteful in the democratic context.  In fact, it is the heart of democracy to vote one's conscience rather than to just "go along" with what someone else pressures you to do.  Meursing apparently lives in a world where everyone else is just expected to "play ball," and in the Fire District world, that means doing whatever Meursing wants, as far as I can tell.

So, a vote for Jeff Wilmot and a vote for Rob Dean will not be more votes for Meursing and, if their candidacies are successful, it could change the atmosphere around the Fire District for the better: more open, more transparent, more accessible and accountable to the public.

That's my take on that particular election, as someone who has attended almost all Fire District Meetings in the past 14 or 15 months.

Second Election Issue:  As someone who is at least peripherally involved with the Park and Recreation Dept. (in connection with the new library fundraising), I very strongly urge everyone to vote "YES" on the $250,000 levy that will pay for major maintenance on the Community Center.  Just imagine how this community works (the community part of it) or doesn't work without a Community Center?  And if that grand old building doesn't get major repairs, we're not going to have a Community Center.  The only sensible vote is "YES," and it will cost each of us a pittance--something like $5-$10 each year--on our property taxes for the next decade to restore it to wholeness.