Too much outside funding. Too many planners. Too little local food.

An enterprising grass roots group stirred controversy a couple of days ago. Shoppers returning to their cars parked in the Lakeway Fred Meyer parking lot Saturday afternoon found a snappy advertisement mini-flyer sticky tabbed to their windshields, inviting them to a balloting party. Free food. A free concert. Local candidates on hand to help answer sticky questions. A group dance taking the ballots to the mail box.

Political activist reactions from glee to outrage to the un-politicized urge to simply litter have surely given way to deeper musings. Some one must have a fair bit of cash to throw away in a far away city on parties and short lived friendships. Why the carrots? What is the back game?

Strategies. Goals. Influence. “Almost buying” votes. PDC filing violations.

Facebook pages of political activists these days are crawling with posts, fearing, anticipating, trying to foresee the results of the election in eight days. “These are terrible people…” “I am afraid we have overplayed our hand…” “We need more government—vote for…” “We need less government—vote for…”

Strategies. Votes. Representative candidates. The raw struggle between an increasingly polarized Whatcom County electorate.

A stunningly short planning commission meeting this last week left Planning and Development Staff gasping for air as the Planning Commission tabled their recommended rule changes without so much as a presentation. Was the issue really procedural restraint to protect the appeal over the Growth Management Hearings Board arbitrary water ruling last summer? Was the issue the clarification of impervious surfaces language and regulations in the County Code? Or was the issue the contentious insertion of sweeping well drilling restrictions within the rule changes.

Strategies. Rules. Rulings. Legal wranglings. Environmental precedent settings. Property rights protections.

An article by Ed Kilduff in the fall Business Pulse magazine spotlights the enormously successful Washington Growth Management Act—if measured by the exponential increase in public planners and planner wannabee activists.

Strategies. 1989. Grants. 2013. Large transfers of decision making powers from local to regional, state and federal bodies. An awakening electorate fumbling for their pens and phones and car keys; sharing shock over the reality of gross government over reach, waste and freedom takings; rediscovering public meetings and challenging the swarms of environmental protectionists that hover in the halls of power.

This Thursday, Oct 31/13, food growers, buyers, activists—it’s open to the public—can attend a symposium entitled Recipe for Tomorrow: Climate Change and the Future of Food. A large of slate of presenters representing farm, science, education, tribal and government agencies does not increase my peace of mind. The sponsorship of hardline environmental groups such as ReSources only steels my resolve to probe deeply into—you guessed it—strategies.

Strategies. Climate Change. Pollution. Grants!!! Radical environmentalism grows as long as there are grants for staff projects. Planner jobs proliferate as long as there is grant money to plan. Precautionary environmental protectionism provides an inexhaustible seedplot of grant ready projects. This is a public planner’s heaven. Total job security. An October 24/13 Washington State Commerce Department e-mail advertises, (broader web page here)

”Departments of Ecology and Commerce are offering funding through a competitive grant program for projects that fit under one of the following themes:

“Eligibility: Local governments, federally-recognized tribal governments, and special purpose districts are eligible to apply for all themes. In addition, non-profit non-governmental organizations and academic institutions of higher education are eligible to apply for Theme 3.”

Strategies. People. Food shortages. Family food sustainability. If a man does not work plan, he should not eat.

Retired WWU professor Don Easterbrook has survived the recent gang mugging by current WWU non-climate change experts, and posted a scathing review of both the 2013 IPCC report on climate change and the Oct’13 National Geographic featurearticles on rising seas.

Strategies. Facts. Fears. Politicized science. Media and academic suppression of genuine debate. Free internet speech. Angry embarrassment. Protecting tenured teaching posts.

May I suggest that a much bigger problem than climate change is dependence on non-local food distribution systems. We don’t grow local. We don’t eat local. But, planners and scientists write grants local and do property takings local.

Strategies. Working. Growing with your own hands. Value added locally grown food must be economically sustainable. Farmers will not grow what does not pay. Environmental takings do not grow food. Public planner oversight armies do not grow food.

Strategies. Environmentalist lawsuits. Buying votes. Happy face farm/environment symposiums. Academic muggings. Grants to fuel environmental takings. As Pete Kremen recently said, “Whatcom County is under seige by regulations.” So—when the outside environmental grant money runs out?? When scientists are paid to solve farm to table problems instead of ramping up UN change agency environmentalist hot buttons?? Probably, only then will a reduced roster of public planners figure out how to encourage a simply regulated local marketplace that provides truly value added locally grown food. -- JK

• Balloting Party Flyer
• Whatcom County Planning Commission 10/24/13 – Audio
• Edkilduff: Success Of The Growth Management Act
• Birch Bay Watershed And Aquatic Resources Management District (Sub-Zone 1 Of Flood Control Zone) Invites The Public To “Climate And Change And The Future Of Food”
• Climate Change And The Future Of Food – Agenda 10-31-13
• EPA Grant Money Available Through WA DOE And WA COM
• IPCC Vs NIPCC: Whose Peer Reviewed Climate Change Conclusions Are Based On Facts?
• Don Easterbrook Challenges National Geographic Sensationalism Over Rising Sea Levels (Oct/13 Issue)

UN "Global Commons": Destroying Individual Liberty In Whatcom County

Global Sustainability vs. Local Sustainability IS a Whatcom County Election Issue

The lines used to be so clear. On one side were free markets, free societies, and openly elected representative governments, normally defined as democracy. On the other was the force of totalitarianism choking off individual initiative, private ownership of property, and cynically providing a ballot box with but one choice, normally defined as Communism.

 

Read more here.

 

Global Sustainability Vs. Local Survival: Exiling Young Families From Whatcom County
You can see both sides from here and there is time for reflection. I have been a single working woman, a wife, a mother, a care giver to family at death’s door. I have seen the demise of a 100 year old family business and the start up of new ventures, the settlement of estates some well done and some disasters. I have moved far away from family to live in Whatcom County. I have lived through many idea trends that seemed important at the time; from free love of the sixties, to the feminist movement of the 70’s, to Earth First of the 80’s, and the multiculturalism of the 90’s. I am now old enough to consider what was really important.

Read more here.

More Local Whatcom Citizens Challenge Environmental Takings.
SAVEWhatcom believes Whatcom County can maintain a strong economy and create economic and job opportunities by promoting conditions that enable economic growth and stability in Whatcom County and her Cities, strengthen local safety by opposing economic threats and protecting the integrity of the fiscal management of our finances and resources.

Read more here.


Ask Your Whatcom County Council Candidates If They Support The "Stop Cherry Point Jobs" Democrat Resolution!
On July 18th, 2013 Whatcom County Democrats also known as WhatcomWins passed a resolution through their membership (over 80% yes) to ban any further development on Cherry Point and work “to educate the surrounding community as to the importance of preserving and restoring the lands and waters on and adjacent to Cherry Point.

Read more here.

Whatcom Works Has Legs.

We have readers, and are getting affirming feedback. Thank you! It looks like this local “Drudge Page” has value. In conjunction with the theme of value added dairy, we want to say hello.

Whatcom Works  is produced by members of the John Kirk family. We live near Sumas, Washington, where we raise dairy sheep. Dad works a full time day job, and we are not being funded by any outside entity. We want to speak to multiple issues in local elections and public policy. Whatcom County has more needs than getting or denying a coal terminal.

We believe in the value of hard work, admire writers of well thought out works, and think that many Whatcom County traditional values work well.

We are publishing/editing with an eye to what we perceive as a intentional denial by local radio and news print outlets of local news and commentary that highlights and challenges recent local socialist initiatives and public policies that have failed so obviously in other parts of the world.

As a working family, we want to draw others into working for a happy life, with a focus on being net givers, not net takers. Thank you for your interest in our local “news”.

Dairy! Anyone who milks domesticated animals knows work. Anyone who leaves the urban refuge and acquires milking stock has several learning curves going simultaneously—a lot of home work.

After living with livestock since 1996, we think we understand the value of family members working with each other.

I remember attending a Sustainable Connections Seminar on local farm to institution food marketing opportunities several years ago. It was a great chance to network and find out how others were doing.

I came away with a sense of having met four distinct groups of people. There were the starry eyed 40 to 50 year olds, early retirees, having dropped a large portion of their assets into small farm acreages. They were so eager to get going with vegetables and “save the planet”.

There were the veterans of market gardening, more or less well beaten up, not wanting to ooze too much grimness, but having a hard time fantasizing with the newbies.

There were the local value added dairy farmers, some with big marketing bruises, some doing quite well, but for the most part making their dreams work.

Finally, there were the “operatives”. College types who smiled and ran the event, but were not farming. More like community organizers, shepherding “children” and setting up larger goals only marginally related to food, farming or sustainable land use.

Farm labor is expensive. In my discussions with other grow local/eat local value added food producers, there is a common haze of fatigue over trying to do as much as possible one’s self to make financial ends meet.

Some quit. Some finance. Some join co-ops. Some super specialize. Some take every grant that comes down the road. We all grapple with work loads.

A major benefit for our family has been an improved quality of life in food products. We really like the superior ice cream, yogurt, cheddar/manchego, cream cheese, feta—you name it. We also grow various fruits and have a good sized vegetable garden.

And, because we share the work load, life is good! However, for us, after a decade of learning and working, we still are not WSDA certified. We do not sell milk, or cheese to the public, or anyone. That may come very soon.

Our experience with local government officials has been mixed. The local WSDA dairy inspector has been very helpful. The Whatcom County planning and development department had a staff retraining program that almost took us out. We appealed and together found a solution.

Everyone wants to bring a good value to their community. In the debate of sustainable living and rural vision at the local level, I do not first question motives. However, I do usually keep an eye on local activists knowledge, experience and character.

Attending County Council Meetings over the last two years has made me a lot more cynical. There are deeper currents and quicksands than I thought possible.

Money and grants is a huge issue. Not just for farmers, but even more for the local integrating organizations and elected/appointed officials who manage them.

Wise use of grants is very good. But when grants and LIO institutions create dependency, innovation is stifled, prudent management of land and water is constricted, and timely farm to market adjustments are put off. 

Do socialism and market interventions really help? Can pencil oriented college type “stewards” and “baykeepers” really be trusted to keep their hands off the grant monies? When does a huge flow of grants cut off the legs of elected overseers and put unelected adventurers in the public policy driver’s seat.

Thank you for reading articles we recommend. Building a good local community takes constant education. Inattention to local public policy issues is deadly.

Read on! Share articles! Take heart! Take time! Take action!

John Kirk, Whatcom Works.

SSA Marine Lawsuit Settlement Refills Coffers of ReSources and Puget Sound Environmentalists

Pacific International Terminals, the SSA Marine subsidiary pursuing the Gateway Pacific coal export terminal at Cherry Point, has agreed to pay $1.65 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from the company's unauthorized land-clearing work on the property in 2011.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/07/31/3122404/ssa-marine-pays-165-million-to.html