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Posts published in “Day: June 4, 2007”

Farm bill (and rights)

Check out a very readable piece about national farm policy - a "Food and Farm Bill of Rights" - from Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer.

What's that, you're saying Blumenauer represents one of the most urban districts in the Northwest? Yup. But farm policy reaches well beyond rural areas alone. And if you happen to notice that the urbanites in Blumenauer's district are uncommonly attuned to the concepts of "locally produced" and to buying at farmer's markets, the pieces start to fall into place.

The crowd at Bellingham

Fairhaven

Fairhaven district at Bellingham

The record may be broken in the days of candidate filing that remain, but right now, the website at the Washington Public Disclosure Commission says that the city with the most candidates for mayor is, with six contenders - no, not Seattle or Spokane - Bellingham.

That being a little unexpected, we decided to inquire about the race at Bellingham, which evidently has been underway for some time now, and seems t be a relatively amiable contest so far. A full month ago all six of them were at a community forum, addressing sundry matters.

The Bellingham Herald reported that "City Councilman Bob Ryan insisted that, if he were elected, the first thing he’d do was demand a recount. [Dan] Pike, Skagit Council of Governments transportation director, said the thing that the city has gotten right and should keep doing is its geography. And Whatcom County Councilman Seth Fleetwood didn’t seem sure how to beat the horn [time keeper Jack] Weiss blew when a candidate’s time was up." Not much seemed to develop about why the interest ranged so high. (Incumbent Tim Douglas, who took over the post last November when the previous mayor resigned to take another job, isn't running.)

Four of them also spoke to the Whatcom County Democrats (which tells you something about Bellingham's political leaning - some of these nonpartisan candidates were quite partisan in their language) later in the month; there, a little more emerged. The candidates there offered support for economic growth but seemed to compete most on growth issues, from transit, waterfront development, drinking water quality (an issue there, following on drinking water problems at Blaine and Ferndale) and proposed "down-zoning" (to allow less use) at Lake Whatcom.

More clues: A comment in an introduction for candidates at a forum which said, "Many in our neighborhoods feel that the choice of Mayor this year will be between vision/leadership and administrative experience."

Neighborhoods are political keys in Bellingham. By one local estimate, the most likely front-runner is long-time resident Don Keenan, who highlights that he has been "an active member of the Sehome neighborhood since 1978."

The neighborhoods may be in fact be key.

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