From Stark
As expected, the Bellingham city attorney’s office has filed a lawsuit aimed at keeping the anti-coal train initiative off this November’s ballot.
Here is the text of that lawsuit.
The City Council authorized the lawsuit’s filing June 18 after the city’s legal staff advised them that if the initiative were passed into law by city voters, the city would then be obliged to defend it in court, even though city attorneys believe it won’t survive judicial scrutiny.
Among other things, the initiative would create an ordinance that outlaws the transport of coal through the city–a response to widespread concern about the increase in coal train traffic that could result if the Gateway Pacific Terminal project is built to export coal and other cargoes at Cherry Point.
The city’s lawsuit argues that the city has no legal authority to pass such an ordinance and no authority to enforce it.
Guess it doesn’t matter that they don’t speak for ME…..
well, and everyone else i know. my simple circle seems to prefer jobs and have trust that modern corporations (ooooooohhhhhh……the sinful corporations) have ways to assure safe transfer.
O.k., I’m only a lay person in these matters; but to me, a layperson, the use of the term “lawsuit” carries with it a pejorative connotation. The City is actually asking for a judgment to be rendered as required in these cases if it appears that the City would be unable to carry out this legislation if approved by the voters.
It seems a shame that the County Auditor’s approved the ballot title way back in February because Bellingham Coal Free advocates worked very hard and apparently unnecessarily to obtain the needed signatures.
No matter how it turns out, the one good thing about this is that citizens of Bellingham, because of this initiative, are now more informed and are becoming aware that they may have to be more active and vocal, not just on a city level, but also on a state and national level, in asserting their rights and the rights of the natural world over the criminally granted “rights” of the sociopathic, mega-multinational Warren Buffett/BNSF corporations to pillage the earth
There’s a lot to do here at home. Comment during scoping!!!! (August-November, probably.) Volunteer at the field office on Holly Street across from Bayou on Bay. There’s a lot of outreach and educating to be done. Volunteer to help local Democrats running for office (local and state level elections matter!). Whatcom County can stop the terminal by denying permits.
Good Gawd peeps
B’ham has been haulin’ in coal since trains rolled
Jobs, heat…
Betty,
Really old buildings have coal chutes in the back alley, for regular delivery of coal, so at some time in the past, they could burn coal to heat their buildings.
Not everything that has ever been the norm, is required to remain the norm.
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Terry Wechsler is quite right. Everybody who opposes coal-trains should get involved in the scoping process which precedes the permitting decision. Everybody should volunteer for activities that organize resistance to the coal-trains. Truly, there is a lot of work to do.
If the permit is granted, despite everything, the Community Bill of Rights is what we have left. Coal-Free Bellingham, the PAC which created the initiative for the Community Bill of Rights gathered just under 10,000 signatures. (Slightly less than 5,000 valid signatures are required to get on the ballot). It is clear that 10,000 signatures is an impressive number – if only taken as an indication of voter sentiment.
The initiative does not decide whether massive amounts of coal should, or should not, be moved through Bellingham by train. The initiative is about letting the voters – the people who will be affected – decide that question. Voters who don’t want that power can reject it by voting against the initiative.
The Community Bill of Rights is an attempt to resurrect democracy at a local level. The top-down power of our legal structure tries to force us to accept coal-trains, which many citizens at the local level have made quite clear they do not want.
The law-suit by the city illustrates that city government is unable to protect us. We must protect ourselves. The intent of the Community Bill of Rights is to give citizens the right to decide what happens in our city. The City Council should place the Community Bill of Rights on the ballot in accordance with the wishes of 10,000 voters.
On Monday, the City Council will consider a resolution addressing GPT and requesting a programmatic EIS and health impact assessment of the Corps:
http://www.cob.org/web/COUNCIL.NSF/0/741ADB155AD7B60E88257A2B00538416/$File/02jul2012_AB19618.pdf?OpenElement
If you believe the City should make a stronger statement, please attend Monday at 7pm and tell them your views.
We live in a Representative Republic not a Democracy.