County Ballot Measure

The Whatcom County Council has, by Ordinance #2007-069, proposed a charter amendment concerning election of Council Offices. It provides that, in the general election, each voter may vote for each Council Office from each district and for the at-large Council Office regardless of the district in which the voters lives, when those offices are up for election. Each candidate must reside in the district she/he represents, except for the at-large candidate.

Charter Amendment 1, countywide voting, ensures direct access to all locally elected decision makers who decide our laws and taxes.

In November voters will decide whether to restore our rights to elect all Whatcom County Council members in the general election. The primary election remains the same, requiring the top two candidates from each district be forwarded to the general election. This ensures districts are still represented. Unintended consequences happened when voters gave up their rights to elect all council members in the general election.

District-only voting reduced the need/desire of the council majority to listen to all residents. Every council decision is by council majority but voters can no longer vote for the majority, causing some council members to tune them out. There are new jokes among some council members: “I don’t care, it’s not in my district” and “Butt out, it’s not in your district” regarding issues affecting all residents. Voters who supported district-only voting to have more representation are actually losing more council attention and support since it passed.

Opponents’ claim the council is vetoing the voters’ will. But it is the VOTERS who will decide based on this new information.

We also have a new local voters’ pamphlet to give voters information regarding local issues. This local voters’ pamphlet did not exist when voters gave up their rights to direct access to all council members.

The new local voters’ pamphlet will guarantee voters have pros and cons of this proposed charter amendment ballot measure. There were many charter amendment ballot measures when the voters gave up their rights to direct access to the council majority. There was NO local voters’ pamphlet NOR comprehensive debate on any of them. New information may change voters’ minds.

The County Council is the most local legislative body for ALL county residents, inside and outside of cities, regarding many critical issues including public health. There are only seven members with no more than four running at any one time. Most council decisions affect all Whatcom County residents. District-only voting promotes the council majority ignoring many voters’ concerns.

Check out congress sometime — many federal legislators care only about earmarks (porkbarrel) for their own districts. It’s gridlock! Most federal legislators have e-mail blockers that only accept e-mail from their own districts. But congress and the state legislature are huge. It would be impractical for us to vote for all of them. Congress and state government aren’t local. Whatcom County is very local!

No voting process can substitute for knowing the hearts of candidates. Some processes just have less unintended consequences than others. Whether you decide for or against this ballot proposal, vote it up or down on its merits only. Ask yourself: Do you want direct access by your vote to all local elected officials who make decisions that directly affect you? If you do, please vote YES on Charter Amendment 1 for countywide voting.

Statement prepared by:

Barbara Brenner, who represents the third district on the Whatcom County Council.

District-Only voting for your County Council Representative has been in place since the majority of Whatcom County voters ­— over 65 percent — in 2005 said they wanted to be able to vote for their Council Representative without their vote being diluted by other parts of the County. This concept is how we elect our State and Federal representatives.

The concept of vote-by-district was placed on the ballot by the County Charter Review Commission in 2005. That Commission is formed by the voters every 10 years to review the Charter (the County’s “Constitution”) to make sure that local government works for everyone. The Commission put this issue on the ballot after observing a growing trend of County Councilmembers getting elected outside of their home districts, even though they lost the election within their home district.

After only one Council election cycle (in 2007), a disgruntled sitting Council, most of whom were still serving terms after being elected the old-fashioned “countywide” way, put the current “Charter Amendment One” back on the ballot, this time to change back to the old method of voting “Countywide.” This would allow the political machines to place hand-picked Councilmembers on the Council, rather than allowing the people from different County areas to elect their own representatives.

The Councilmembers who placed this on the ballot did not hold a public hearing first. They did not present a record of contact from the people of Whatcom County stating a desire to re-vote on this issue after one election cycle. They didn’t even announce ahead of time that they were going to put this on their agenda for discussion. They did not respect the once-a-decade County Charter Review process, or the recommendation of the elected Charter Review Commission.

Those who want control over your vote have wrongly claimed that in 2005 the voters were too dumb to understand what they were voting for. The fact is, at that time there was a huge community debate, complete with forums, newspaper and radio discussions. The voters were well-informed as to the issue they were to vote on. The political machine that now wants to go back to a position of control says the current method of voting-by-district causes contention and territorial disputes among Councilmembers. The people ask: What disputes? There is not one example of this, as all Councilmembers are aware of how each of their votes impacts everyone in the County.

Four Councilmembers who want to change the rules are up for re-election next year. They put this issue on the ballot. Yes, they’re afraid of what they call “unintended consequences:” that voters in their own districts won’t vote for them! Their answer: rewrite the law and hope the voters are too naïve to notice.

We have separate council districts to ensure fairness and balance. No outsiders should be allowed to vote for YOUR local representative. We cannot allow this to happen in our democracy.

Please vote AGAINST Charter Amendment One. Make sure we have a Council that works for all of us, not just a handful of political operators.

Statement prepared by;

Sam Crawford, who represents the second district on the Whatcom County Council.