The Editor:
Public safety, stewardship of our land, respecting taxpayer dollars and promoting living wage jobs are issues voters care about, not just currently but throughout election cycles for decades. District 5 candidate Ben Elenbaas represents these values not just from his seat in council chambers but also from his real-life experience. He farms the land, works a living wage job and votes on issues that come before him with careful consideration.
It’s true he has more “no” votes than other council members. What I’ve observed is that he carefully considers what he might be giving up, as our advocate, if he says yes to every special interest group making a request. I’ve seen him vote no when a request lacks the important detail needed to instill trust.
Ben says no while others push these requests through without transparency. His opponent works for a shellfish company and brings no experience to the county council position. In fact, at a League of Women Voters forum last week her answer to solving food insecurity, that so many of our friends and neighbors are experiencing, was to have farmers give food to the food bank. When asked about zoning, she couldn’t even form an answer.
There are no simple answers to complex problems and toxic polarization feeds on simplicity. Join me to vote to re-elect Ben Elenbaas November 7 because sometimes saying no is saying yes to a safer and healthier Whatcom County.
Janel Ernster
Birch Bay
The Editor:
Recently, I had the privilege of spending a few hours with Hannah Ordos, candidate for county council. Not knowing what to expect, I was in for a pleasant surprise in meeting a middle-aged mom who had been attending county council meetings for the past few years. A graduate of Nooksack Valley High School and WWU, she was raised in Whatcom County, just west of Sumas. The Ordos family go back four generations. She is one of us!
Clear-eyed, bright, and well-schooled, she will approach the job just right of center, even-handed, willing to listen – qualities lacking in our polarized politics. She’s running for the at-large position, meaning those candidates represent our entire county.
By contrast, candidate Jon Scanlon appears to have his liberal mind made up. Further, his roots are not in our county, having moved here just five years ago. He’s a “Jonny”-come-lately.
I’m fond of the concept of prudence. In political terms, that translates to “a public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity” (Russell Kirk). Hannah has that temperament, not confined to the fringe, but earnest, thoughtful, principled.
She is just the kind of public servant we need on our county council.
Ron Polinder
Lynden
The Editor:
Local elections are quickly approaching. November ballots will include 8 candidates for 4 open positions on the Blaine school board. These are extremely important elected positions for our schools and community. As a Blaine parent, I am asking that all voters please take an extra step or two to research the candidates beyond what they submit for the voter’s pamphlet. Ask questions. Check out the local Facebook page ‘Blaine Cares For Kids.’ Do an internet search of candidates names – things will pop up. The results of the primary election prove the need for voters to learn more as there was a school board candidate, who was at the time and currently is out on bail awaiting trial for criminal charges involving her children, who still shockingly received 1,000+ votes!
We need to do better and pay better attention for our kids! Yes, it is important to vote ... but it is even more important to vote with some actual knowledge of whom you are voting for. If you know nothing about a candidate other than a best-foot-forward, self-promoting paragraph in a voters pamphlet, it is absolutely OK to not vote at all versus making some random choice. Do whatever you can to get to know these candidates.
I met and had an informative chat with Ben Lazarus at a community event at Blaine Marine Park. He took the time to ask and answer questions with community members, wanting to make sure he heard and understood what is important to all of us. I was impressed with his knowledge of the school board’s important role and how he will address the needs of our struggling schools in an effort to better the Blaine school district and community.
Another candidate who regularly shows up as a current board member is Kimberly Akre. She is consistently available to our community, willing to help wherever needed. She truly listens. Kimberly and Ben both attended the first middle school PTSO meeting and each were ready with solutions. Both candidates genuinely care.
Please vote thoughtfully Blaine!
Amy Bogner
Blaine
The Editor:
Our community should be aware that the Blaine High School Theatre Arts class is presenting the serious drama “The Crucible” this week (and last week); all performances are at the unique “Black Box Theatre,” which has very limited seating.
Based on the infamous “Salem Witch Trials” (1692-1693), a very dark period in American history, the story deals with the daunting fact that human nature – no matter how “enlightened” – will always be consumed with greed and lust, and deceit and injustice.
These are no trivial subjects for teenagers to take on, but our kids give outstanding, gut-wrenching performances which seem far above their experience levels. This is, no doubt, due to the steady hand of Olivia Theilemann (BHS Drama teacher) as director; and the intense performances of the students.
For the audience, the approximate nearness to the “theatre-in-the-round” stage only elevates the tension and unsettles our preconceptions. Notable in the cast: Justin Ascencio as the upright “Rev. John Hale,” Jasper May as the conflicted “John Proctor,” Isabel Witt as the bewildered “Mary Warren,” and Ava Freeman as the conniving “Abigail Williams.”
This dramatic play is not suitable for children. Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 19; Friday, October 20; and closing night on Saturday, October 21. Tickets are $10 at the door (all proceeds benefit the BHS Theatre Arts program); doors open at 6:30 p.m.; all performances run two hours (with a brief intermission). The Black Box Theatre is a little tricky to find: when you enter the parking lot at the back of the school complex, it is located behind the grandstand. This is a “must-see” production of which our community will always be proud.
Jeanne Gossett Halsey
Blaine
The Editor:
Because I run unopposed for the Blaine School Board, I have not been invited to some of the public forums. I write to introduce myself.
I was appointed to the school board in 2022, filling an empty seat. I have degrees from Michigan State, Harvard, and Berkeley. My career is one of service to children and teachers as a Peace Corps volunteer, a 4th grade teacher, a reading specialist in California and at the Harvard Reading Clinic, a Professor of Reading Education at Syracuse University, and as the Neag Chair of Literacy and Technology at the University of Connecticut. I have worked in districts around our nation as a consultant and authored K-12 reading programs used in every state. My family has roots in Whatcom County since 1910, when my grandfather opened a stall in the Bellingham Market. I was born here and spent nearly every summer here since 1950.
Achieving excellence with restricted funding is a central issue. The state still does not fully fund K-12 education. It should. Blaine, as a property-rich district but with high student needs, is also hampered by the McCleary decision. Both issues unfairly restrict our ability to support students and teachers. To accomplish this we must work together and think in new ways. We need to think more of our common good, not our separate desires. This will require greater listening and understanding.
Our teachers are exceptional. So, too, is our leadership team. Each deserves our thanks for getting us through Covid and these times of restricted funding.
Our leadership team has initiated new programs to support our children: school improvement plans, annual learning objectives, common curriculum materials in math, reading, and English language arts, and Professional Learning Communities. Research shows each to be highly effective. Change, however good, always makes some uncomfortable. Our leadership team must continue to be supported in order to achieve the long-term results we all desire.
I would be honored to have your vote. Responses to questions are online at VOTE411.
Donald J. Leu, Ph.D.
Blaine
The Editor:
I’m Bobby Briscoe, port commissioner, commercial fisherman and longtime resident of District 5 – the coastal district. I’ve put pen to paper in support of Ben Elenbaas for Whatcom County Council District 5. Political groups in Whatcom County and beyond have taken aim at Ben’s seat for all the wrong reasons. His opponent told me in a recent phone conversation that she was running to create a super majority by claiming Ben’s seat. Is that what the people of Whatcom County deserve?
A super majority that can push any agenda through skipping public input? A super majority on the council serves a select few and leaves chaos in its wake. Ben has served in this position for 4 years creating security and balance in local government, something that is scarce today. He is hardworking as a farmer, a bp employee and as a councilmember working for the people of Whatcom County.
Ben has good common sense, and it shows in his decision-making. He does not take a political agenda to his nonpartisan position. Ben is well educated and brings valuable real-life experience to his representation of the people in Whatcom County. Join me in voting for Ben, he works hard for everyone, not just a privileged few with a political agenda.
Bobby Briscoe
Blaine
The Editor:
I write in support of Ben Elenbaas, candidate for District 5, Whatcom County Council. Ben, a lifelong, fifth-generation resident of Whatcom County, has the experience, political and practical, to best represent District 5.
Ben is a graduate of WWU’s Huxley College of the Environment, works at Cherry Point, and has served this county as a planning commissioner, chair of the Charter Review Commission, and as chairman of the Cattlemen’s Association and Farm Bureau.
Whatcom County is at cross roads. The pending water adjudication may well change the agricultural character of Whatcom County as we know it.
Ben’s leadership and experience with the agricultural community will be indispensable in representing our interests on the Council during that proceeding. Likewise, Ben’s environmental education, put to practical use at Cherry Point, provide him a unique ability to protect the environment we all treasure without blind devotion to an agenda or cause. It is that pragmatic approach to all issues that come before Ben that make him the logical choice to represent District 5.
District 5 encompasses the best of Whatcom County: pristine shorelines, rich agricultural lands, and small towns where we solve our issues as neighbors, not political adversaries.
Like us, Ben works hard to raise his family, maintain his family’s agricultural traditions, and as the District 5 representative, strives to preserve our property so that we can make the best decisions for our family’s future.
Please join me and vote for Ben Elenbaas, Whatcom County Council District 5.
R. Perry Eskridge
Ferndale
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