A small, vocal minority is hailing the coal port as the answer to Whatcom's employment woes.

We need jobs that are long-term, not temporary and not subject to volatile market demands or contingent on finite resources.

We need jobs that put a majority of our unemployed back to work, not employ a small minority that may already have jobs or will need to be filled by others brought in from somewhere else.

We need jobs that will not negatively impact our natural resources, adversely affecting our air, land or water.

We need jobs that respect our area's natural beauty, not bring it to ruin.

We need jobs that will not force existing local industries out of business or prevent local business developments that have been years in the forming.

We need jobs that will be of direct benefit to Whatcom residents, not somewhere else in the nation or on the globe.

We need jobs by local companies and entrepreneurs that have a vested stake in this community, not multinational corporations whose only goal is their own profit.

We need jobs, local economic system that guarantees access to the basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing and health care for all our residents without relying on imports or outside assistance.

What SSA offers is not what I believe we need, nor is it what we want in the long run. What Whatcom County needs is "Clean Jobs Now" not what I believe to be inflated and misrepresented "Good Jobs Now."

Deborah J. Cruz

Ferndale