Concerned city voters will be disenfranchised

I believe the Whatcom County Charter Review Commission was stacked with conservative, far-right, and Gateway Pacific coal export proponents, leaving Whatcom voters facing five confusing and overlapping charter amendments on the Nov. 3 ballot. I believe Propositions 1, 2, and 3 are a huge danger for Whatcom County quality of life issues. While the far right and the corporate developers have done a good job in promoting their favored candidates and proposition positions (seen for example in signage throughout the county — especially in our rural areas), liberals, progressives and environmentalists haven’t been as thorough in promoting their messages. Because these charter amendment issues are confusing, many voters don’t even know about them. Please research these amendments and then vote to reject Propositions 1, 2, and 3 and approve Propositions 9 and 10. If we don’t have a massive and knowledgeable voter turnout on Nov. 3, I believe we will likely see Bellingham voters disenfranchised in future county elections and a much greater likelihood of 18 coal trains traveling through our county every day.

Bellingham

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Concerned city voters will be disenfranchised."