Local politics

A fun brew-ha-ha is happening over a land transfer. The State of Washington is proposing to transfer 8,844 acres of forest land to Whatcom County for use as a park. Parcels on this land are currently logged -- this is a renewable extraction, something the hippies will not own up to. Something to note is that proceeds from logging are handed over to the local education boards for school funding -- Washington has a long history of forestry and logging and this has greatly helped fund the community school systems. Something also to note is that the county parks system is essentially broke -- they now require day-use permits ($5/day, $30/year) to visit most parks and services are being severely cut back. From The Bellingham Herald:

Group seeks recall of Mount Baker school board member over county land transfer
A group of citizens upset about the proposed transfer of state lands to Whatcom County for use as parkland is attempting to recall a member of the Mount Baker School Board, which dropped opposition to the land transfer.

The group filed a statement of charges to start the recall process against board member Russ Pfeiffer-Hoyt at the end of August. If a judge decides the charges meet the criteria for a recall, then the group could start a petition for a special recall election.

The paperwork claims that Pfeiffer-Hoyt committed "malfeasance" when he voted with other board members in December 2011 to accept a $500,000 donation from the Whatcom Land Trust to set up a foundation to benefit students in the district. As a condition of the donation, the district would not pursue legal action to oppose the transfer of 8,844 acres in the Lake Whatcom watershed from the Department of Natural Resources to Whatcom County.

The school district receives some money from timber cutting on state lands, so transferring timber lands to the county would end revenue from that property.

Before the trust approached with the offer, district leaders already had decided that the district would be unlikely to recover future losses through legal action, Superintendent Charlie Burleigh said.

Recall organizer John LaMonte said he and others had wanted to recall all five board members for that vote, but a lawyer told him "stupidity wasn't a reason for recall." So they focused on Pfeiffer-Hoyt because he was the only board member whom they might be able to recall. LaMonte claims that Pfeiffer-Hoyt was on the advisory board of the Whatcom Land Trust in 2003-04, and that he is currently a member of the trust. And that, he said, is "a big conflict of interest."

And:

Pfeiffer-Hoyt couldn't be reached for comment.

Gee -- 'ya think? There is a Whatcom County Council meeting tonight in Bellingham (not planning to attend). It will be interesting to see how many people show up and what the mood of the crowd is (rope, tar and feathers). The Council is an elected body and we do have an election coming up soon...