By John Stark
If you only talked to Bellingham’s citizen activists, you would probably expect the Port of Bellingham commission expansion measure to pass handily. But the Port of Bellingham is really the port of Whatcom County, and the expansion measure is getting a 51 percent no vote as of now.
That margin is small enough to be in jeopardy as further votes are counted, but the chances of a reversal are rather small at this point.
The 42nd District House results may provide further evidence that Gateway Pacific Terminal is not as widely hated as some people believe. Opponents of the terminal turn out in impressive numbers for every public meeting on the issue, and they deride SSA Marine’s polls showing a majority of county residents favor the project.
But when 42nd District voters had the chance to vote for Matt Krogh, a prominent early critic of the terminal, they chose Vincent Buys instead, by a 54 percent margin. Not to say that this race was a referendum on a single issue, but it’s hard to see much evidence that opposition to the terminal is getting much traction outside Bellingham.
“it’s hard to see much evidence that opposition to the terminal is getting much traction outside Bellingham”
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019614398_coaltrains06m.html?prmid=4939
http://m.columbian.com/news/2012/oct/10/pros-cons-of-coal-export-plan-explained/
http://www.snoho.com/Stories%202012/103112_coaltrainletter.html
I don’t think you can make the conclusion that the Port terminal was the deciding factor, otherwise there would be a drastic difference between McClendon (neutral) and Krogh (against). I think instead you can look at how the redistricting set the once swing district to a 54R-46D setting, making it tough going for Democrats until the demographics or the districts change.
I agree, Riley. The similarity in vote totals for the two Dems and the two Republicans in the 42nd was stunning. At the same time, if there WAS a political benefit to being anti-GPT out in the county, surely Matt Krogh was positioned to reap that benefit. But that benefit has been invisible so far, unless the late ballots show a different trend.
Devin: I was talking about Whatcom County.
I’m quite surprised by this one. Currently, two commissioners can’t even go to the same public event, or carpool, or have coffee.
On the Port Commission ballot measure, it was and still is an extremely close call. Having said this though, this change would have cost the voters $150,000 annually.
If it was free, I am certain that the measure would have passed with an overwhelming margin.
Let’s hope the current Commission does not think that the voters barely giving a thumbs down to a costly measure as a vote of confidence in the current Commission and the Port’s general direction, as it is not.
Losing by handful of votes is a clear sign that this is not just a small group of activists, but in reality almost exactly half the county.
Our Port is having a difficult time because virtually half the voters are not happy with the current Commission and in all likelihood if it were not for the cost, the majority of the electorate is not happy with the Port. Life will get easier for the Port if it charts a course which has broader public support.
As it sits now only 624 votes are the difference between the majority of Whatcom County not supporting the Port. That is a very slim margin. Less than .5%.
Let’s hope the Port does not squander this lesson learned from this election.