By Ralph Schwartz
Iconoclast Ferndale City Council member Lloyd Zimmerman announced at the Monday, Jan. 7 meeting that he will not seek re-election this fall.
He is, so to speak, picking up is energy-efficient, double-dome swimming pool and going home.
In an interview, Zimmerman, 55, said he was fed up with “small-town politics,” calling them “ugly” and “brutal.”
Philosophical differences, among other things, have led to “an incredible amount of animosity developed between myself and the mayor, and some of the senior council,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman was appointed in 2008 to take over Gary Jensen’s council seat after Jensen was elected mayor. Zimmerman was reelected without opposition in November 2009. He also ran unsuccessfully for mayor against Jensen in 2011, getting less than one third of the vote.
The conflict between the mayor and the outgoing council member has been over city priorities. Ferndale has brought on unnecessary debt through ill-advised capital investments such as the police station that opened last fall, in Zimmerman’s view.
Lynden, by contrast, has five fewer police officers but is able to fund a parks department — unlike Ferndale, Zimmerman said.
“I’m a real quality of life person. I watched the whole thing be gutted over the years. … It’s been so painful,” Zimmerman said.
The touchstone of Zimmerman’s quality of life approach to governing is his idea for a double-dome community center with a swimming pool, an idea he has advanced for some 15 years. Zimmerman and his donors haven’t been able to acquire a property to build on.
In another vote to protect his vision of Ferndale aesthetics and quality of life, Zimmerman opposed the “planned action area” created a year ago around the Interstate 5-Main Street interchange, to attract big-box stores and other development, in part to increase the city’s sales tax revenue.
“Gary thinks plopping a big Wal-Mart on I-5 and Main Street is going to be our financial salvation. I just think that would change things drastically,” Zimmerman said.
“Gary and I go back 30 or 40 years in a small town. I like him as a person, but I just want to get off the bus. I’m a minority opinion. Since we lost (ex-council member Steve) Malpezzi, we got a bunch of angry white senior citizens” on the council, Zimmerman said.
Jensen has said often that it’s not his policies that get enacted in Ferndale. It’s those of a majority of the council.
The mayor said he understands Zimmerman’s frustration with his role on the council.
“I know Lloyd is frustrated because he never gets the majority of people to move forward” on a proposal, Jensen said. “With Lloyd, you’ll typically have, out of 10 ideas, two of them that are pretty good. Eight of them are off-center, that aren’t very mainstream.”
Zimmerman said he wanted to announce his intention not to run again early in the year, to give anyone thinking about joining the council plenty of notice. Filing week for candidates for the 2013 elections is May 13-17.
“I think he should be commended for announcing early,” Jensen said. “That gives citizens out there a chance to attend (council) meetings and do some research.”
I think Lloyd should be commended for several years of political and community service. It is not easy to serve. To use Lloyds words, it is ugly and brutal. I’m sure we will see some responses to this article along that vein. Democracy does cause great pain at times as it brings winners and losers. In a small city, four votes on a seven member council, moves the issue forward. While I don’t always agree with the city council at all times, that is the process. In life, we adapt and move on. I wish Lloyd good fortune in the next chapter
Council Member Zimmerman, you have definitely made your mark on Ferndale! We sometimes disagree and vote differently, but you have been a friend and I have always appreciated your passion and love for Ferndale. To you and Molly, be well and hopefully you’ll discover and appreciate some “takeaways” from your council experience. Good luck, “Zoyd!”
I am not comfortable with Ralph’s term of “picking up my pool idea and going home” I am home. It is not like I am a big Baby and taking my basketball and going home. The idea of a civil defense facility that does multiple tasks of community recreation and health care and would create 200 part time youth jobs will not end. The money raised by donations and selling beer at the 3 Oktoberfests has helped establish 2 funds with the Whatcom Community Foundation. An endowment fund and a capital building fund. The sad scenario is that it may not be built in Ferndale. There may be a Lynden Double Dome or a Birch Bay Double Dome or a triple dome with an added ice arena. This may be better appreciated by the Lummi Nation. Some communities will have the wisdom and care enough about their children and families to truly appreciate the 28 years of design and planning that have been invested in this prototype model. Hateful politics has killed this for Ferndale and time may turn that around as the old people die off and new fresh solutions are needed. The more coal that is burned the higher the CO2 levels, the more unstable the weather patterns and rising sea levels, the greater need for catastrophic preparedness and emergency shelters. Small minds see this as only a swimming pool. In psychological terms that is called “functional fixity” coupled with “group think” of council, people like me are toast. Life is short, I am moving on.
Hard water is the plumber’s best friend.