Who's on third?

[J. C. Walker,Jr.]

Yesterday, a blog by Whatcom County councilman Carl Weimer was posted exposing roads being built on Cherry Point wetlands without permits. In the blog Carl stated he was advised to have the appearance of neutrality with regards to the SSA project, so as to not be considered biased in future legal deliberations and decisions.http://carlvotes.blogspot.com/2011/07/cherry-point-full-disclosure.... Doug Ericksen has thrown caution to the wind and is definitely waving the coal train flag. The other three county executive candidates have all expressed concerns over this project while maintaining the appearance of neutrality.http://whatcomforum.blogspot.com/2011/07/video-county-exec-candidat... If you are against the Peabody/SSA coal train terminal, please consider “who’s on third“? The top two candidates move on to the general election. The conservatives religiously turn out the vote in Whatcom County elections, so the question is this: if Doug Ericksen takes position one or two in the primary “who’s on third”? Tom Anderson was the first to get in the race and therefore has been in the race the longest, but his campaign has yet to gain traction i.e. he’s fourth in a four man race. Albeit the darling of the TW site, Tom is not positioned to win. ( not even third place ) Transition Whatcom is supposed to be about Climate Change and Peak Oil, not nepotism nor ignoring the political realities at hand. If you are against the Peabody/SSA coal train project, David Stalheim may be someone you will want to consider for the position of Whatcom County Executive. Like David Macleod, I have refrained until recently to share my political points of view to Transition Whatcom ( normally I save that for Facebook ) I have however witnessed Tom’s various campaign announcements and solicitations on this site and therefore feel alternative view points are not out of place. Global Climate change is the bottom line issue and if there is something to be done it will be important to consider “who’s on third”?

[J. C. Walker,Jr.]

http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/politics/louws-will-face...

[J. C. Walker,Jr.]

Mr. May,

I too need to thank you for the link in your first post http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/county-exec-fundraising-confounds-pu.... it seems to support my concerns raised in “Who’s on third?” In the article I read Doug Ericksen won the poll, Jack Louws was commended for his county wide support. David Stalheim was noted for receiving the highest amount of campaign contributions. I felt the article may have been throwing Tom Anderson a bone by listing his 39 donors as an accomplishment only to turn around and say “ his money is almost entirely from the southern part of the county.” I’m choosing to not give too much energy to your boogeyman left vs. boogeyman right logic from your first post due to the belief that Jack Louws, Tom Anderson, or David Stalheim would, given the chance, serve the community honorably.

You begin your second post questioning my sourcing the Herald blog which I find curious. On more than one occasion I’ve noticed your name replying to blogs on that very site. Is this where one inserts the Groucho Marx line and deduces you can’t respect a blog that would allow you to reply to it? I posted Green Endorsements for David Stalheim links. One from the Sierra Club and another from Washington Conservation Voters. I also listed campaign contribution per the PDC as well as a report of the Whatcom Democrats endorsing both Anderson and Stalheim. If you are finding factual inaccuracies with these post I suggest you take it up with the Herald the next time you visit their site.

I was aware the Herald endorsed Jack Louws for County Executive. Given their Gateway Pacific Terminal banner ads displayed online one could see it as a mixed blessing. They supported Ericksen during his Commerce Corridor phase so they have moved from conservative A to conservative B, nothing I would call news.

I wish I could justify chasing the logic behind the rest of your post, but honestly it just comes across as desperation. Good luck to you and Tom, and may the best candidate stop the SSA/Peabody/Goldman Sachs coal train.

[Richard May]

Your ultimate source of facts is the Herald blog? The Bellingham Herald endorsed Louws, and their politics blog is now run by the traffic blog guy who only moved here recently. Where is the labor endorsements? Fire fighters? Teachers? Lummi tribe? Where is the $40,000 that an exec candidate should have raised? Nobody has a lock on this seat. Whatcom Dems could not reach consensus on a single candidate.

 

But thanks for the link to the Herald blog, I found an explanation by Sierra Club spokesperson about their endorsement, she includes the following statement "...We found ourselves in the happy dilemma of needing to choose between two excellent candidates for County Executive...". Tom still has plenty of support among the environmental community... the trick whether Stalheim could ever match the level of county and farming support that Tom is excelling in.

[J. C. Walker,Jr.]

http://wcvoters.org/counties/whatcom/endorsements

http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/politics/local-sierra-cl...

Green Endorsements

[J. C. Walker,Jr.]

http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/politics/pdc-stalheim-ra...

Donations per PDC

[J. C. Walker,Jr.]

http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/politics/whatcom-county-...

Just in case facts can sway your beliefs.

[Richard May]

I don't find this statement above to be very unbiased or accurate.

Tom's campaign has so much traction that Stalheim failed to get the Whatcom Democrats endorsement, then used a proceedural hole to force a re-vote of the same vote just weeks later, during which time Tom's support level increased by 20 voting members. (See Steve Schuck, membership counter at the WhatDems).

Tom has an ample number of donors, which just a week or two ago put Doug Ericksen as #4 for actual community buy in. http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/county-exec-fundraising-confounds-pu.... Please bear in mind that Louws has more tea leaves and momentum in his favor right now with small town mayors endorsing him, and hardcore Republicans wanting Ericksen to finish the 4 year term they just elected him to.

Tom Anderson has done the amazing and difficult thing of getting endorsements fo top business leaders including Bellingham Cold Storage, Wood Stone ovens, and ... BOXX BERRY FARM. Stalheim may not have the business and rural support that wins votes outside of Bellingham. In fact, if you studied the 2009 election, those yellow "Land Grab Area" signs that signaled the conservative takeover of council... were anger at planning department policy, which Stalheim was the official boogeyman for.

There is no candidate as knowledgable and favorable to sustainability, climate change preparedness, water issues, and grow local buy local, as your friend Tom Anderson.

 

Ericksen versus Stalheim would be boogeyman left versus boogeyman right. If Louws overtakes Ericksen, it will be a more credible conservative than Ericksen. We can offer Stalheim as a known boogeyman with existing negatives in the county, or we can offer a credible match in Tom Anderson, the man loved by farmers for years of brokering difficult water deals.