Lynden parade of cars organizer wants Inslee‘s attention, Whatcom businesses to open
A Lynden business owner is organizing the Lynden Freedom Parade Saturday afternoon in hopes Gov. Jay Inslee will relax business restrictions in Whatcom County.
Julie Anderson of Two Sisters Koffie said she wants participants to stay in their cars and not violate social-distancing orders aimed at limiting the spread of the new coronavirus.
Still, county officials are concerned.
“My message to potential protesters is that stopping the spread of COVID-19 right here in Whatcom County is the No. 1 factor that will determine how quickly we can reopen. While you may feel compelled to air your grievances in public, rallies or mass gatherings are not going to help restart the economy. They could in fact harm our common cause,” County Executive Satpal Sidhu told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Lynden City Administrator Mike Martin said officials learned about the event through social media.
Organizers did not apply for a special event permit and the city hasn’t issued one, Martin said.
Lynden Mayor Scott Korthuis didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
“I certainly support anyone’s right to publicly express their opinion, as long as it’s done in an orderly and safe way,” Lynden City Council member Mark Wohlrab told The Herald.
Anderson said that she conceived the event as a “Dutch parade” of cars to draw attention to what she calls Whatcom County’s low rate of COVID-19 impacts. Participants asked to assemble in the parking lot at 17th and Front streets in Lynden for the 1-3 p.m. parade.
Inslee said May 1 that Washington businesses would open under a phased approach.
“We just wanted Gov. Inslee to notice Whatcom County,” Anderson said. “We’re wondering if he could look at us. We have such a small population that’s affected.”
She said that places like New York City are seeing hundreds of COVID-19 deaths and hospitals packed with critically ill patients, but Whatcom County has a comparatively low rate of infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard showed a rate of one death for every 440 residents in New York City on Tuesday, May 5. That rate in Whatcom County on the same date was 1 death per every 8,490 residents, according to the Whatcom County Health Department.
Nearly 75% of the Whatcom County deaths were in nursing homes, according to an earlier story in The Bellingham Herald.
Anderson said that those deaths are tragic, but she thinks the low rate of infection among the general public means that it’s time to start easing the social-distancing limits.
“Those people (in nursing homes) weren’t out in the public,” she said. “Does it justify shutting down the whole economy?”
Anderson said she has multiple sclerosis and has a son whose immune system is compromised, so she understands the need for avoiding large gatherings.
“We’re not unsympathetic,” Anderson said. “Who’s going to be more careful than business owners?”
Anderson told The Herald that she removed a public Facebook page she created to promote the event because of angry comments.
“We actually took it down (Monday), we’re getting so much hate mail on our business,” Anderson said. “They’re harassing us in every way possible.”
Meanwhile, new COVID-19 cases more than doubled last week in Whatcom County, a jump that Health Department officials attributed in part to people gathering in small groups.
Because of that increase — 29 new cases for the week ending May 2 compared to 11 the previous week — the head of the Whatcom County Health Department said social distancing should continue.
“We are not immune to the pressure, and we are not without empathy for the concerns that people have,” Erika Lautenbach said at a news conference Monday, May 4, 2020. “We recognize that people are restless, that they want to get back to work, that they are under incredible financial stress, especially business owners.”
On Tuesday, May 5, 2020, Lautenbach told the Whatcom County Council that the infection rates show that social distancing works and should continue.
Lynden Chamber of Commerce President Gary Vis urged discretion in a post on the chamber’s Facebook page.
“While we believe the intentions of such protests are to be helpful, we are cautioning our members to very thoughtfully consider potential consequences from the state before participating. Just to be clear, this event is not a Lynden Chamber of Commerce produced or organized event, nor does the city of Lynden have the legal ability to lift or suspend the governor’s orders,” Vis wrote.
“We are not saying you should not participate,” he wrote. “Each of you are capable of making your own decisions. We are saying please carefully weigh the unintended short and long-term risks to your business, and the businesses around you, as you consider doing so.”
