From Stark
Looking back on yesterday’s lively exchanges in this space on the Bellingham mayor’s race and the Gateway Pacific Terminal issue, one thing strikes me: Partisans of both Mayor Dan Pike and challenger Kelli Linville seem to have convinced themselves that this election contest is a battle between good and evil.
Having gotten to know both candidates to some extent, I would have to say that after the ballots have been counted, Bellingham city government will be headed by an experienced, committed and competent person. Both candidates have their strengths and their foibles. Neither one is likely to bring disaster to Bellingham.
Here’s the video of the City Council meeting of Jan. 10, 2011–Dan Pike’s state of the city address. Start watching at 18:05. This was about two months before Linville announced her candidacy.
Vannessa..
Thank you. Sincerely.
I a m not sure if I just haven’t been listening well, or reading the right articles or..??
But that is honestly the first time I had seen anyone actually talk in earnest about her accomplishments. I knew there had to be a long list, because she served a long time and
it’s reasonable to assume she had some results to show for her work.
She, and her campaign staff, has seemed to rely primarily on touting the fact that
she served for a long time and got long with many people. In that order, and little else.
Big mistake strategically as far as I can tell, but we’ll know soon enough.
@worst… strategically, this campaign involved two well known people, so it was less about informing the public, and more about letting the math play out.
Kelli & Dan got an equal amount of votes. Around 40% each.
Steve Moore (Republican) got 17%, so he is out of the race now.
Whoever gets the Steve Moore votes, will likely have the advantage.
Pike’s path to victory might require finding and mobilizing an even larger amount of anti coal voters who believe that Kelli loves coal.
Worst et al –
You’re welcome, and as Kelli’s campaign manager, I appreciate the feedback. We have worked hard to try to be specific on her accomplishments, but we can always do more. Kelli has been representing our county for so long and has done so much for our community that sometimes it’s difficult to focus on just one of her many accomplishments. But here is another one that I think is key, as it can be directly comparable to how she will work for our community on the coal-port issue, and it’s one she has talked about in many forums and debates in the past several months.
After the tragic pipeline explosion that killed three young people in our community in 1999, Kelli Linville sponsored the Washington Pipeline Safety Act, which did several important things to improve pipeline safety in Washington. The bill:
- Creates a “comprehensive program of hazardous liquid pipeline safety” by having the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) adopt new regulations, give technical assistance to local governments and inspect pipeline company records and reports.
- Establishes a citizen advisory committee to help the public, local governments and the industry work with the state on pipeline safety.
- Strengthens the program to avoid pipeline damage from excavation and digging by setting up a single number to Call-Before-You-Dig and increasing penalties for failing to do so.
The act gives the UTC the authority and responsibility of administering the new law. As a result of an agreement worked out with the federal Office of Pipeline Safety, the UTC has new authority to inspect interstate pipelines in Washington State.
The state has 23,000 miles of underground pipelines that carry fossil fuels. Of that, 2,500 miles are interstate pipelines.
(Source: Office of the Governor (Locke) press release)
I hope that those who are concerned about the coal issue (as I am and Kelli is) also remember that Kelli has a long history of fighting to protect the people in our community, and she will continue to fight on our behalf for years to come.
Sorry, I know I’m going to bore you, but here’s this too, just in case you missed it:
In 2002, Kelli Linville sponsored a bill to create the Washington Climate and Rural Energy Development Center in the Washington State University energy program (HB2326). The center serves as a central, impartial, non-regulatory source of credible information and services to address climate change and clean energy activities.
Hey, how about this one from John Servais’s greatest hits, Vanessa:
“Late yesterday, Gov. Gary Locke vetoed HB 1448 – in no small measure because normal citizens of Bellingham told him we knew this bill would not clean up our Bellingham Bay. It would permanently pollute it with mercury laden dredgings from Whatcom Waterway. We citizens blew the whistle on a bill intended to get little public notice. Rep. Kelli Linville put this bill together in secret with GP and the Port. She purposely avoided letting us citizens know what was afoot. The Governor was inclined to sign the bill but he measured public response. He is a politician.
We should also give credit to our two state senators – Harriet Spanel and Georgia Gardner – for becoming aware of the devious nature of this bill. Both voted against it in the Senate and Harriet lobbied the Governor to not sign the bill during this last week.”
John later wrote, ” If you don’t raise cane about this then don’t pretend to be an environmentalist.
Shame on you, Kelli Linville. Shame.”
Later, Servais advised,”It [Linville's bill] may spell $10s of millions of dollars one way or the other in clean up costs for our waterfront. It probably will affect whether our waterfront is cleaned up or simply covered up. Pun intended. It is proving a political storm for bill sponsor Representative Kelli Linville.”
Maybe we should just leave the past alone, Vanessa.
Vanessa et al-
Thanks again.
Perhaps too little too late for a lot of us, but again, thanks.
In my opinion, Ms. Linville lost her long held position to a relative unknown newcomer for a reason.
Complacency.
She didn’t tout much in the way of accomplishments then, and she didn’t again in this race.
I am obviously a progressive voter.
I watched and listened with intent as she debated and outlined why she should earn my vote.
She continually focused on her length of service, who she knew, and how she can “get along”
(not so veiled dig at mayor Pike) with others.
She failed to inform those of us in search of information of her accomplishments or “results”
As Mr. May has pointed out, both candidates are well known , but only one has been consistently
talking about accomplishments as opposed to tenure.
I also believe, that if she had the interests of the progressive community/constituents in mind, she
would have thrown her well worn hat and name recognition into the County Executive race where she could have “got along” with the Mayor to advance progressive causes.
Mayor Pike has earned re-election.
Under the guise of political reporting, I find much of the attitude expressed here by the Herald reporters pretending to seek level headed reason to be worthy of in kind contribution to the Linville campaign reporting. As a political blog, the comments are much more informative than the blog posts, but then again years spent writing cop shop pap and gratuitous restaurant reviews does not qualify one for in depth political reporting.
“Pike’s record on the protection of our drinking water supply is dismal. His administration made decisions 3 years ago that for all practical purposes ended the land acquisition program (without conferring with the Lake Whatcom Advisory Board)”
Sue Taylor’s recent comment on Pike and the Lake Whatcom Reservoir Land Acquisition funding. I am pretty sure the land acquistion fee on your water bill didn’t end. One can conclude that the monthly city water bill we all get showing the fee for the land acquistion fund, has been a Pike lead scam for the past 3 years.
Is Pike going to refund everyone’s money for stealing this dedicated land acquisition fee?
Four more years of reservoir abuse? No thank you.
“for all practical purposes ended” is not the same as “ended”, is it?
But enough of a premise for your shaky arguments and conclusions, eh, victor, almostray, Mt Vernon or whoever you might be next.
“without conferring with the Lake Whatcom Advisory Board.” oh gosh, that’s a shame. Bet they’d been all over going up against the county on a development moratorium!!
The only thing that slowed Pike down was Linville and her BS about helping later. OK, it’s later Kelli, are you going to push Ecology to stop construction in the watershed now? It’s too bad you didn’t help when you still had some swat at the legislature.
But that might have upset your constituents at the BIAW!
Lake Whatcom.
Just when exactly was Pike going to explain that he was taking money from the public that was dedicated to crucial reservoir land acquisition and using for other purposes? Remember, over 3 years, that comes to millions of dollars stolen from the Land Acquisition fund.
If Sue Taylor hadn’t brought it up, probably never. What should the City Council do to correct this?
It smacks of fraud to be fooling the public that their monthly watershed land acquisition fee is happily displayed on their water bill is being stolen for other uses by Pike’s administration.
I suggest refunds to all who feel ripped off by this tactic.
Just when exactly were you going to explain where Sue Taylor claims Pike squandered reservoir land acquisition funds, if in fact any funds have been lost for future acquisitions?
Lest there be any confusion, the above posts attributed to “They’d” were from me. Damn mouse pads, anyway!