From Stark

SSA Marine spokesman Craig Cole left me voice mail this morning about today’s report on SSA Marine’s Gateway Pacific Terminal project.

Cole said it was incorrect to describe Goldman Sachs as a “major investor” in Carrix Inc., SSA’s parent firm.

Carrix and SSA continue to be controlled by the Smith family, whose forebears founded the company in Bellingham in the 1940s, Cole said.

My description of Goldman Sachs as a “major investor” was based on a 2007 press release from Carrix stating that “Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners has committed to a significant equity investment in the Company, positioning Carrix to capitalize on the substantial growth opportunity in the global port operations industry.”

Read more about Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners here on the Goldman Sachs website. Among other things, the web page says Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners makes investments ranging in size from $100 million to $400 million.

From Stark:

Rep. Rick Larsen’s office informs us that the Everett Democrat will be live on Facebook during the President’s State of the Union Address tonight, and will be responding to questions and comments from constituents during that time.

Other members of Congress will likely be doing the same, I suppose. We can start analyzing and reacting to the speech while it is still in progress. Why wait?

I’m having a curmudgeon episode here. Does “civility” mean a mere absence of shouted insults? Is it civil to sit typing away while the leader of the free world gives his constitutionally-mandated annual address? Is this a valuable exercise in using social media to promote democratic dialogue? What do you think?

UPDATE: The previous paragraph wrongly implies that Larsen would be sitting in the House chamber with his laptop, Facebooking away during Obama’s speech. Actually, he will be Facebooking away from home–not at his desk in the House chamber.  I wrongly assumed that all Congressmen would be at their desks for this event. My blog post  illustrated the evils of instant online reaction that I was attempting to criticize.

Anyhow–If you wish to join in the online conversation with Larsen tonight, you can do so here: http://www.facebook.com/RepRickLarsen

From Sam Taylor

Well, this is it. My last post on this blog as a journalist at The Bellingham Herald.

It’s been a crazy ride for nearly the last five years here. This was a great place to work and I feel very, very fortunate I was able to cover local government and politics in a community so passionate about democracy.

That was honestly the best part of this job, and the reason why, I believe, this blog was so successful (from its very first week it’s always been the most popular and active blog we have).

First and foremost I want to thank every single one of you. This blog was a passion of mine and I put a lot of effort into it, including on my own time at home, whether it be at 7 p.m. or night or at 1:30 a.m., so that you’d enjoy the experience here and have more things for your community conversation.

But without you, all of that effort would have been absolutely meaningless.

Thanks again for your participation. Thanks for following this blog through all the ups and downs, including my own!

Because it’s my last post, I’m taking some liberty that I normally otherwise wouldn’t to editorialize: There are a myriad of government staffers, some who are now gone from your city halls or county courthouse, who deserve my thanks — and yours.

These staffers often have a very thankless task and work behind elected officials who see things a certain way, have certain constituencies and sometimes want things done in a specific way.

The staffers for the Whatcom County Council — Dana, Jill, Jennifer, Martha (and Rebecca) were fantastic to work with. They worked tirelessly to ensure that the County Council was operating in a transparent fashion and to make sure that the public had as timely as possible information about upcoming events. Sometimes the pace and timing of a meeting was beyond their control, but they still worked as hard as they could to ensure the public knew about that meeting.

The staffers at the city of Bellingham and in Ferndale, Blaine and elsewhere - J.Lynne, Linda A., Linda K, Sylvia, Sheri - all worked just as hard to ensure the public was adequately informed about upcoming events and they also worked behind the scenes to help educate their elected officials about the do’s and don’ts, etc. The same goes for Janice. A pleasure to work with.

And, most importantly, they were all extremely professional every time I called or e-mailed to complain and be gruff and rude. And I only got cussed at once for all of this!

Thanks again to everyone. Before I start writing even more cliches about how wild of a ride it’s been and so forth I’m just going to stop.

I’ll still be around. Just as a private citizen. I’ll get to participate in my community, something I’ve never been able to do because as a journalist, we try to remain impartial and avoid appearance of fairness issues. Now, I can donate my time. You’re unlikely to ever see me get involved politically. But you might see me at a GOP Lincoln Day Dinner or at a Democrat’s Annual Picnic to say hi with my wife and child.

For now, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the ongoing government and politics coverage from the remaining staff here.

.sam

From Jared Paben

Ferndale City Council just voted 4-3 to hire Sam Taylor as the new city clerk. Council members Connie Faria, Jon Mutchler, Paul Ingram and Mel Hansen voted for him. Council members Brent Goodrich, Lloyd Zimmerman and Steve Malpezzi voted against him.

Taylor just called me and reported that the council went into executive session to discuss his hiring. It then emerged and voted on his contract without any discussion.

After the meeting, Taylor said he went up to all council members, shook hands and said he was looking forward to working with them.

This came right as I was about to post what I personally saw at the meeting earlier in the meeting. See below for my reporting on their debate about whether proper process was followed:

It appeared Ferndale City Council was headed toward confirming hiring Sam Taylor as the new city clerk.

I left before 9 p.m. to come back to the newsroom and turn in my article on an annexation they approved, so I wasn’t there for a possible decision on his contract after the executive session.

But, at the beginning of the meeting, the council did discuss requirments for hiring employees, including him. City law states that the city will go through a search process, including advertising for candidates in the newspaper, when seeking to fill positions. Mayor Gary Jensen didn’t do that. He decided he liked Taylor and wanted to hire him.

City attorney Dick Langabeer told the council that, in his reading, state law says that the mayor can come up with whatever process he wants to find a candidate, and the council gets an up or down vote. The city law provides requirements for the council in making that up or down vote, he said; it’s not binding on the mayor. (more…)

From Jared Paben

Speaking of Ferndale, my understanding is that the Ferndale City Council tonight would consider approving a contract with Sam Taylor to become the new city clerk. The agenda says they’ll hold an executive session to discuss employment contracts and adjustments, but it doesn’t show that they plan to vote on a contract with him afterward.

I’ll take notes and report on here after the meeting what they decide.

Hello fair readers, I just thought I’d take a second to update you on the initial plans for the direction of this blog once I’m gone (pending, of course, approval by the Ferndale City Council on my contract to become the new city clerk there).

Reporters Jared Paben and John Stark will become the new authors of this blog, and we’ve been discussing that transition.

It’s a great opportunity for even more government coverage. After all, both of those reporters cover segments of government I simply didn’t have the time to do.

As of next week, I’m on vacation, so those gentleman will have a trial opportunity on running the blog. I’ll be back on Jan. 3 for my last week here and we’ll assess how it all went and what they can continue to do for the betterment of the blog.

All in all, I’m pleased that this venture is continuing, and you should know there is strong support here for that to happen.

And, of course, next week please treat them well in our little sandbox here.

Kahn

Be that as it may, refudiate is the perfect word of the year given the country’s condition, where what you oppose is as important as what you support, and where people agree that things are bad but disagree mightily about how to make them right.

With that in mind, here’s a handful of other new words appropriate for the political season:

Blame duck session: Traditionally, a lame duck session in Congress is the quiet period after an election and before the new crop of lawmakers are sworn into office. These days, with big decisions being ducked, with Republicans feeling their oats, and with liberal Democrats at odds with President Obama, blame seems a better name for the game.

Congressional sinquiry: When a party controls one chamber of Congress but not the White House, you can bet the committee charged with conducting investigations will try its darndest to find some dirt on the ruling party. —- Dean Kahn/The Bellingham Herald

Read the full column, over here.

Q: Already Politics Blog readers, time to make up your own words you think fit well with the current political landscape. Let’s try for funny here, eh?

To my fine readers across the political spectrum:

I wanted to let you know that I have been offered, and accepted, the position of Ferndale city clerk, and my last day at The Bellingham Herald will be January 7.

The job is contingent on the Ferndale City Council approving my contract during a December 20 meeting. As of now, I will no longer be covering Ferndale for this newspaper. Editors here are determining how to handle government and political coverage — including the future of this blog — as the days go on.

It’s been an absolute pleasure as the reporter who got to be a part of this great experiment here on the Politics Blog, and I truly treasure the community conversations that have developed over the years. We have people from all walks of life, touching on every political philosophy here. The Average Joe chats with local elected officials, and I got to spend some time refereeing rather interesting debates.

This move wasn’t taken lightly, and I know this is a major change both professionally and for my family. But I made the decision without hesitation, and I’m truly excited to serve the community in a different way than I did as a journalist. I’m also excited about being able to be more a part of the community. As a reporter I took my ethical obligations very seriously, and so being able to be civically involved, honestly, will be something new for me.

We’ve had an amazing journey here. We raised $1,500 for the Friendly Visitors Program in the county, which connects volunteers with seniors who need someone in their lives. You all were massively supportive when our baby boy, Wesley, spent three weeks in Seattle Children’s Hospital, a time that pulled me away from this blog and election coverage. I truly appreciated all the support.

Thank you again to all of you, and more information will be posted as I learn it.

Good afternoon everyone. As you know, I’m the lone reporter here who likes to post something up here directly to let you know if I get something wrong. I take that very seriously because it’s important you have the correct info.

In my recent article on Whatcom County’s various property tax levy shifts to bolster the general fund, I mixed up a three-way shift.

First, here’s what the article said (then I’ll note what actually happened):

The council voted 5-1, with Mann opposed and Larson abstaining, to reduce the county Flood Fund by $457,000 and increase the General Fund by an equal amount. The flood budget will be backfilled with real estate excise money for the two-year budget period, something that helped convince Weimer to back the proposal. Weimer had been successful with a previous progressive council majority in getting a tax increase for the fund to pay for water-related projects, including to help protect Lake Whatcom.

Here’s what actually happened (apologies, again, but all these shifts got confusing):

The county Flood Fund was reduced by $1 million and backfilled with real estate excise taxes.

The Conservation Futures Fund was increased by $543,000.

The general fund received $457,000 thanks to taking banked property tax capacity.

This increase from the general fund, and the restoration to the Conservation Futures Fund was offset by the $1 million reduction from the Flood Fund levy.

Apologies on this. I went off a very, very early draft of the council’s meeting minutes that the staff was kind enough to send my way (because, frankly, I wasn’t going to stick around until the 1 a.m. vote with a baby at home).

But there are no excuses here that matter. I got it wrong because I didn’t go back and recheck this.

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike switched subjects on us in one of the thread to share why he was thankful. What a great idea. Let this thread serve as a way for all of you to share your Thanksgiving messages and to share why you’re thankful.

Let’s let the mayor start:

On a different topic and tone, it’s late on Thanksgiving Eve, in termso f the workday. Here’s hoping that everyone, regardless of political perspective, can find something to be thankful for. For myself, I’m thankful for a great family, all of whom are currently healthy, a great job despite the challenges it sometimes offers, and a great community where people care enough to speak up, and are unafraid to do so.

Hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, happy holiday.

Q: What are you thankful for?

Sam says: I’m extremely thankful for my wonderful son, wife, family and friends. And also thankful for this wonderful job I have and, sincerely, thankful for the participation all of you bring to this blog. All of your comments make this place what it is. It’s a place for community conversation, where even the Average Joe can come on and share along side their elected officials. I’m thankful for that.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

A broken water pipe thanks to the freezing weather has me moving around the office for now. As of now, it’s best — should you need to contact me — to e-mail sam.taylor@bellinghamherald.com.

I’m still working on some deadline new stories and then I’ll be working to move myself to my temporary location. Until then, please e-mail first and then call.

Thanks for your patience!

Good morning everyone, I hope your Friday is well.

As I work on a few last items for the newspaper for the weekend (including our coverage of the 42nd district Senate race between Democrat Pat Jerns and Republican Doug Ericksen), the blog will get slow today.

After today, I’m on vacation until Election Day. It fits well with our policy here to run no smear stories that the campaigns try to entice us with the week before the election.

It also happens to be the first time my side of the family will get to be introduced to our little boy, Wesley Taylor.

I’ll see everyone here bright and shiney early on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Please play nice in the sand box while I’m gone. I know you can do it.

I believe in you.

Good morning all, I hope your Wednesday is going well so far.

This is just a quick note to let you know that I won’t be in until the afternoon in order to cover the nighttime League of Women Voters forum at the Bellingham Public Library.

I’ll see you all later in the day.

For now, though, you can take a gander at the New York Times article that includes Initiative 1098, Washington’s proposed income tax law on higher earners, over here.

Brenner

Councilwoman Barbara Brenner, as she does annually, voted against the schedule.

Why, you ask?

Brenner opposes the schedule because in the past, the council used to meet weekly. Then, as they spread out their meeting dates, rather than going to a typical schedule many other legislative bodies do (like first and third Tuesdays of the month, or the second and fourth Tuesdays, etc.), the council ends up on a sort of pick-and-choose schedule.

Brenner isn’t a fan.

“I think our schedule of when we meet is not best for the public. It may be best for us, but it’s not best for the public,” she said. “I just think it’s so much more public-friendly when they know it’s the first and third of the month.”

Brenner did propose switching the schedule to something more predictable, but it went down in a vote. She also then proposed going back to a weekly meeting schedule. She was the only ‘Yes’ vote on that.

To all of my readers here at the blog, I want to be very open and honest with you about this situation.

On Sunday night, I was arrested in Bellingham for driving under the influence. I spent the night in jail. The incident is a matter of public record.

I want to apologize to all of my readers. This error in judgment is a very humbling and embarrassing experience.

Because it’s an ongoing case, I simply can’t say any more than I have, and won’t discuss it any further.

If you have any questions about how this will impact Herald reporting, you can contact Executive Editor Julie Shirley at julie.shirley@bellinghamherald.com or Managing Editor Debbie Townsend at debbie.townsend@bellinghamherald.com.

Again, I want to apologize to all of you, and I thank you for continuing to participate on this blog.