Community Newspaper for Blaine, Birch Bay and Semiahmoo, Washington

VIEWPOINT

By Senator Georgia Gardner

The Blaine train - the train stop that puts Blaine on the map and provides a huge economic boost to Blaine ... will go to White Rock?! That’s the message I received March 30 from Blaine acting mayor Dieter Schugt and Blaine city manager Gary Tomsic. They intend to support an agreement signed April 4 to give our Amtrak stop to White Rock.

Schugt and Tomsic have never discussed this agreement with me. As Vice-Chair of the Senate transportation committee, I am responsible for obtaining the second train north from Seattle and commitment for the Blaine stop. I’ve worked closely with Talgo, the state, Whatcom County Council of Governments and the Cascadia Group. I obtained a $50,000 grant last year for WCCG to do a commuter rail study. We want to see if employers to the south can use existing Amtrak runs and the Commute Trip Reduction tax incentives for employees residing in Whatcom County, which may help us get a third and fourth Amtrak run between Blaine and Seattle.

When I received the Schugt/Tomsic memo, I felt blindsided. And I wonder if Blaine businesses and citizens don’t feel the same.

The memo says “We ... question whether Blaine makes as much marketing sense as does White Rock. The train is already the most successful run in the entire U.S. Amtrak system. The question, then, is are we marketing Blaine or White Rock?

If we could get our Canadian neighbors to come to Blaine to catch a train - and they’ve come for decades for all kinds of reasons - would there be demand for a new hotel on the port property at the waterfront? Would our restaurants enjoy more customers as passengers catch a meal as they board or depart the train? Would they gas up the car and buy a few groceries before they head home? Would we fill more of the empty store fronts on Peace Portal with the promises of more jobs and a greater variety of merchandise and services?

Would visitors to Semiahmoo arrive by train after enjoying the most fabulous scenery on the West Coast?

Does this make marketing sense to you? It does to me!

Schugt and Tomsic don’t feel we can meet the physical requirements for the system. All we need is somewhere to sell tickets - we have volunteers to do the selling - somewhere to park and a platform that meets Americans with Disabilities standards. Hardly insurmountable to a town that can make a beautiful park out of a garbage dump or a nationally recognized historic vessel out of a rotting hulk. The people of Blaine are the best anywhere and we can get the job done.

White Rock is a boom town with lots of tourism and a great economy. The idea that if we give them more it will some how benefit Blaine is nuts.

I have aggressively made sure Blaine, rural Whatcom County and Bellingham are state leaders in innovative transportation planning. In this year’s Senate Transportation Budget, I have secured a $150,000 pilot project for WCCOG and the Cascadia Group to set up a regional transportation district that includes rail in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties. We were the only area to receive this opportunity, and the model we develop will be used throughout Washington.

As your Senator I feel blindsided by this decision to give away our train. As a Blaine resident, I feel sold out.