The Editor:
In response to Doug Ericksen’s invitation to small businessmen about improving opportunities, I wrote to his office:
Please inform Doug that one reason small businesses are having problems is that the majority of buyers, shoppers, diners, travelers, workers etc. are still wanting safe masked environments. Right now it is not regulation and rules making business difficult, it is workers not feeling safe to return to work and a wary consuming public.
The best way to inject momentum into the economy is to make sure consumers and workers feel safe and have the money to spend on consumerism. When he suggests a friendly environment, he should think of requiring all Washingtonians to get the vaccine shots and wear masks. The great upsurge in infection is a result of not being vaccinated and the variant allowed to spread because of lack of masking requirements.
I just returned from Alameda, California where all citizens were masked at parks, walking the mall and beaches, etc. Yet consumerism was up and business was thriving with people confident in being safe to participate in normal life and demonstrating the love and respect of neighbors, friends and society in general.
Donna Starr
Blaine
The Editor:
In November, the residents in the Birch Bay Library Capital Facility Area (LCFA) will decide the Birch Bay Vogt Community Library project’s success. As a resident in the LCFA, I want to encourage you to vote on this important issue.
I am looking forward to having access to a full-service library in our community. Our meeting room, with after-hours functionality, will be available for classes, meetings, trainings and other activities. Library programs that are educational, cultural, creative and fun will be part of regular library service.
We will have a good-size collection of materials to browse and use. Having access to printing, scanning and computer service that doesn’t take a trip out of Birch Bay is something we don’t have now. Students will have easy access to library materials and homework help west of the railroad tracks during the week. Reference and research assistance will be available by knowledgeable library staff.
The library will be so close, you might be able to ride a bike, take a golf cart or walk to the new library if you don’t want to drive.
Our library will give all ages opportunities to connect, learn, and grow separately and together. The Birch Bay Vogt Community Library will give us a stable, year-round gathering place.
Our community has an opportunity to get our library built for a small property tax. We can hold onto and use our $2 million state appropriation, which we will lose if the LCFA doesn’t pass. The longer we wait to build the library the more costs will escalate. We will not have an opportunity like this again.
For these reasons, I encourage you to vote “yes” on Proposition 14.
Di Marrs-Smith
Birch Bay
The Editor:
Over the last year, volunteering with Friends of Birch Bay Library and Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce functions, it has become extremely apparent to me the need for a Birch Bay community hub to service residents and visitors with access to essential services.
For Birch Bay business and resident experiences to be successful and efficient, access to basic internet, printing, staff assistant and a free community room could go a long way to provide essential services that could otherwise pull its residents and visitors out of the area along with their shopping and dining, working and even living for convenience and better assistance. Even when people and businesses provide their own internet and meeting space, connectivity situations and complications in both technology and face-to-face meet-ups still crop up requiring a secondary reliable resource, which a library could provide as well as a beautiful view with a good book to boot.
Birch Bay also has a rich history of providing all of Whatcom County and beyond with a place to escape and take in a fresh serenity. To better meet the needs of those looking to take full advantage of the bay’s tranquility and fun, on either a part-time or full-time basis, requires basic access to resources a physical library provides, beyond what can be found just on Wednesday afternoons off the Bookmobile and/or a Wi-Fi-equipped parking lot.
Printing, scanning and staff assistance are often resources people don’t think of as people don’t need them as frequently. When you do, such as for access to processing taxes, purchase/rental housing documentation, unemployment benefit submission, medical planning/information, arranging childcare/visitation, tutoring help/appointments, citizenship documentation, and any number or other life essential situations, it is good to have library facility and staff on your side to help facilitate your life needs as well as provide a good reading recommendation.
November is the resident’s opportunity to approve a Birch Bay library as a community hub and a step toward a more convenient and well-rounded way of life.
Wendy McLeod
FOBBL secretary
Ferndale
The Editor:
It would appear that the Blaine area is most attractive to the giant Asian hornet, so much so that they have built three nests here. What I am most curious about is what have the Canadians discovered on their side of the border as you never report on that.
Inasmuch as the nests were found within less than a mile south of the border, what is going on on the north side? Is the American cuisine more attractive for the hornets’ diet? As the younguns say, “Wassup?”
Richard Mollette
Custer
The Editor:
We will be voting for Sukhwant Singh Gill for the position of Council At-Large Position 7 for the city of Blaine. We want to encourage you to do the same.
My wife and I moved to Blaine during the winter of 2017 and were fortunate to have moved in next door to Mr. Gill and his family. He and his family were quick to introduce themselves and make us both feel very welcome to our new community.
I am a retired police officer and mental health counselor; my wife is an educational consultant. It has been our life’s work to improve the communities, families and individuals around us.
After meeting Mr. Gill, we knew immediately his goals were the same.
The details of Mr. Gill’s successes and his contributions to this community are many. He is currently successfully serving on the Blaine City Council having been selected from a pool of other highly successful and competent applicants.
In addition to this experience, Mr. Gill has 25 years of experience managing large budgets and fostering economic development. He currently operates several businesses within Blaine, employing numerous Blaine residents. His expertise extends to cross-border advertising and marketing. Moreover, Mr. Gill brings 18 years of experience as paymaster for a municipal electricity department.
While Mr. Gill’s professional experience speaks for itself, it may not reveal the many qualities that a healthy, thriving community cannot live without: Generosity and warmth.
One example of Sukhwant’s generosity to this community was shown during the pandemic when he gave away food through his many businesses. He is warm, caring and soft-spoken and always quick to inquire about how we and our families are doing.
When we combine Mr. Gill’s extensive and relevant professional experience with his empathic, warm and caring soul, we are convinced that Sukhwant Singh Gill is the best candidate for the position of Council At-Large Position 7 for the city of Blaine.
Kevin and Terri Faulkner
Blaine
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