Our Positions

The Environment

Adopted 1971-1980

Support the updating, revising, and amplifying of the Comprehensive Plans of the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Whatcom County, and further support the adoption of land ordinances as a means of implementing the plans. Work to ensure that the ordinances provide for public participation in planning; for cooperation of all government agencies concerned with the development of the entire County; for efficient administration and enforcement procedures; and for periodic review and updating.

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Government

Adopted 2004

The LWVBWC believes that citizen advisory committees (CACs) perform a valuable service in representing citizens’ views to governmental bodies and communicating information to the general public.

We believe that the following characteristics lead to successful citizen advisory committees:

• Clear definition of purpose/mission statement
  
• Set terms of office
  
• Term limits
  
• Regularly scheduled meetings
  
• Fair selection process
  
• Diversity with balanced representation of the community
  
• Two-way communication between the committee and the parent organization
  
• Agendas and minutes accessible to the general public
  
• Where appropriate, appoint committees for specific projects with limited duration
  

To increase the effectiveness of CACs it is very important for agencies to provide new member orientation so that members have a clear understanding of their duties and responsibilities. Suggestions to agencies to encourage more citizens to serve on boards and committees and increase the effectiveness of their involvement include: maintaining a website, publicizing vacancies, encouraging people to apply, having open houses and traveling displays, and getting media to give more public recognition of advisory boards’ actions.

Adopted 1974

We support local governments in Whatcom County which incorporate the following standards:

• Procedures which would ensure increased accountability
  
• Effective utilization of time, services, and facilities
  
• Identification by elected officials with and for their constituents
  
• Reliable and broad-based information should be available and assimilated
  

Definitions:

Accountable: accurate recording of all meetings and that these records are readily available to the public and press.

Effective: Avoid duplication of services where possible through inter-departmental and inter-governmental cooperation, improved facilities services, better public telephone communication to county government, install a central data bank.

Representative:  Districting and the size of the constituency must allow adequate representation by elected officials; appointed citizen boards should be broadly based and terms should be limited; criteria should be established in advance for appointing boards in order to ensure a wide representation.

Informed: Government officials should have adequate sources of information pertaining to inter- and intra-county affairs; a county wide information center; training and information on the responsibilities of the job, especially for elected positions.

History: A “Know Your County” study was required in 1970. A survey of county departments and services was conducted and used as a basis of the first year’s study. In 1974, a study was adopted to develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of and for county government, and the above consensus was reached in April 1974. In the spring of 1981 an updated “Know Your County” brochure was published.

Outlook for Work:

Observe local governmental bodies in action and report to League Board.

Monitor review of Whatcom County Charter. Study and Publish “Know Your City” for the City of Bellingham.

Ports

Adopted 1998

When the need is proven for another deep water port on the West Coast, and Cherry Point is determined to be the best location, then we support development of no more than one additional pier at Cherry Point. The pier should be multi-purpose and multi-user; first consideration should be given to the expansion and/or revitalization of existing structures to achieve minimal impact on the ecosystem. Cherry Point’s availability is not a reason to destroy or alter the ecosystem. The potential for saving the wild salmon through protection of eel grass and migration routes highlights the importance of protecting the marine food chain system: the herring spawning area, crab nursery, and other larval forms.

To this end we support protection of the ecosystem and the overall communal stewardship of these vital community resources through:

• Minimizing damage to and interference with feeder bluffs and littoral drift
  
• Enacting and enforcing the most stringent pollution controls with regard to development and activities
  
• Limitation on types of cargo - commodities with high risk to harm the environment or health should not be allowed
  
• Limitation on the types and number of vessels
  
• Controlled vessel movement to avoid groundings and collision incidents by the best available means, including the use of radar and other electronic position tracking technology
  
• The protection and improvement of public access for study, enjoyment, and appreciation of the natural beauty and features of the shoreline
  

Support efforts to retain Puget Sound and Georgia Strait as a multi-use natural resource and continue to monitor proposed development at Cherry Point.

Adopted 1998

Environmental protection and cleanup, recreation, public access, and citizen involvement should be the highest priority for Port Districts; these factors are compatible with, and enhance, economic development and activities.

We support:

• Coordination, not competition, among ports and/or regional port authorities
  
• Coordination with other governmental bodies, private development, and other constituencies, such as environmental and labor groups
  
• Active pursuit of expertise and input from a wide variety of local and regional organizations
  
• The use of citizen advisory committees
  
• Emphasis on public use of and access to waterfront
  
• Emphasis on preservation of existing scenic views
  
• Adherence to performance standards of permits
  

It is a unique resource and probably the least spoiled estuary in the United States. With its excellent water quality, Puget Sound and Georgia Strait are capable of providing food and recreation important to the economy of Whatcom County and the nation. These uses should not be supplanted or eroded by shoreline development of a single purpose nature. The surface of the water belongs to the people of the State. Piers as well as vessel traffic lanes take up space, reducing its use by boaters and fishers (both commercial and pleasure), and degrade important habitat for species such as herring. We recognize that fossil fuel quantities are finite and reliance on these should not be increased, but preferably reduced. Transport of fossil fuel should not be accepted as a reason to expand use of Puget Sound.

Policies and standards should be enacted emphasizing the wise management of natural resources in the public interest and which promote an environment beneficial to life. These policies and standards should recognize the interrelationships of air quality, energy land use, waste management, and water resources.

Resource Management

Adopted 1988

LWVBWC supports the right to basic human needs and development, i.e. a decent life. We advocate access to adequate food, housing, and health care. Opportunity should be provided for education and/or training for those jobs that are available in the community which pay a wage that provides the basics. Primary responsibility for meeting basic human needs should be from the public funding sector with a preference for administration at the local level.

We believe that the acknowledgement of basic human need requires re-education of our whole society; systematic steps should be taken to achieve these goals. We realize this will be a prolonged process but believe that beginnings are long overdue.

Outlook for Work:

• Encourage commercial and private donations to food banks and/or support measures that make food available to people in need.
  
• Promote and lobby for a wide spectrum of housing, i.e. low cost, transitional, and emergency.
  
• Advocate basic health care.
  
• Support establishment of a wage that provides basic needs.
  
• Support job-specific/training education for jobs available in the community.
  
• Support prioritization of tax uses to encourage funding of adequate assistance at all levels.
  
• Promote general public awareness of assistance needs through education.
  
• Promote legislation for mandatory cross-education programs for professionals, i.e. judges, legislators, attorneys, prosecutors, teachers, police, counselors, doctors, social workers, etc., especially in children’s services area.
  

Adopted 2015, Amended 2019 (Click here  to read the reports)

The League of Women Voters® of Bellingham/Whatcom County (LWVBWC) agrees that when women achieve economic security, the communities in which they live rise to new heights of prosperity and health. We support the right of every woman to have access to a path that permits her to attain economic security for herself and her children who may depend on her.

LWVBWC believes that women are better able to achieve economic security when there is equity and access to opportunity. This requires active support and recognition that many women who work to overcome challenges and systemic barriers to achieve economic security do not currently have equity and access to opportunity. The LWVBWC promotes equity through the inclusion of women of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, age, income, language, religion, opinion, health status, ability, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression.

The LWVBWC acknowledges that women can only achieve a path to economic security and upward mobility when the community in which they live is healthy. A healthy community is one that is diverse and inclusive. In a healthy community, people continuously create and improve the economic, social, and physical environment, with particular attention to those who are disadvantaged, by facilitating participation in the democratic process, supporting one another in aspects of daily life, and providing opportunities for advancement and upward mobility. In doing so, community members collectively develop the entire community’s full potential.

LWVBWC further believes local, state, and federal government bear the primary responsibility for ensuring systemic policies and practices that secure all women’s right to economic security, including (but not limited to) ensuring that all women have access to comprehensive health care, including reproductive care and education that allows them to choose when or whether to start a family. LWVBWC acknowledges that to provide the opportunity for economic security, government will need additional revenues. Specifically, LWVBWC supports increased progressive taxes to support both existing and additional essential services that ensure opportunities for economic security.

LWVBWC acknowledges that this requires our engagement and that of all of Whatcom County. Community education, discussion, and support are essential to addressing the challenges that face women of all ages in Whatcom County as they strive to improve their lives and the future lives of the children and others who depend on them. When women are empowered, communities are improved. This is not just a woman’s issue; it is "everybody’s business."

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