Pigs In The Trough ... there are a lot of them here.

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      A seemingly endless stream of private NGO's (non-government organizations) have set-up shop in Bellingham and Whatcom County since 2000.  There's no question that many are making a pretty good living as non-profits while creating and promoting public projects that match and advance the groups' ideologies and goals. 
      Our county has become "a model" of progressive programs subsidized by federal and state spending.   It just may be the perfect marriage of those who will do anything for a buck, and those who will do anything for a vote.   Heard of "rent seeking"?   Grub-grub.

Bringing home the bacon ...

     There are those who say that block grants and project awards are a necessary evil, the only way to bring our tax money back from the state and the feds.  Some say  grants, many with harebrained and thin justification that produce little more than reports, do us a favor.  Do you buy that?  Do you think you get anything near a dollar's worth of value for a dollar of tax?  The nation and Washington State teeter constantly at the edge of the fiscal cliff.  Visit this Tax Foundation website, and keep an eye on the state budget.  And enjoy the video (rhymes with NGO) to the right.  It fits. 
SUSTAINABLE CONNECTIONS:   This group has got a lot of traction around here, and they're champion rent-seekers.  Closely interconnected to BALLE -- see (The World We Want) in the right hand column  --  understand that mantra "think local" mantra is key to the global "local living economy" theme.   This private non-profit is involved in big-league public projects with not so local government "partners" like the federal Department of Energy.  Sustainable has received $230,376.11 from Whatcom County since 2005 (tapped from the General Fund, the Flood Fund, and Solid Waste fund),  plus contracts totalling $593,020 from City of Bellingham in the same timeframe.  This "public-private partnership" has become so deeply embedded in government that a specific directive about working with Sustainable Connections (referred to as Partnership for a Sustainable Economy)  has been written into the County Comprehensive Plan, Exhibit C.   The deeper we dig, the more we see that "win-win" is remarkably ka-ching.

ReSources (for Sustainable Communities):  Here's a well known private non-profit NGO (non-government organization) that's enjoying a very lucrative public-private partnership.    Like Sustainable Connections, they're paid a lot to function like a specialty government agency, running recycling programs and so on.   A real government department would be bound by "sunshine laws" and public disclosure regulations, but these folks aren't.  They've received $474,005.18 from Whatcom County since 2005, tapping on the General Fund, Flood Fund, and Solid Waste fund, and $259,585.00 in contracts from City of Bellingham too.  That's a very nice bit of "business" for a non-profit "public service corporation" with an activist agenda.  Its board members have been on a toot suing the county for years.  Meanwhile...their government contracts include things like training citizens to (basically) spy and report on neighbors and any business suspected of environmental crimes (like rinsing the dirt from potato crops, for example).   Check out some of the stories on the North Sound Baykeeper blog.   Of course pollution is heinous and totally unacceptable (WE is very pro-environment), but some of this activity seems petty and picayune, to put it mildly.   We'll post more public information soon.
ICLEI, also called Local Governments for Sustainability    This is an international organization that has become very influential in local government operations.  They charge a pretty hefty membership fee that's paid for by our taxes.  Since 2006, Whatcom County has paid $1,200 or more every year.   Since 2006, they've sponged up $7,750 in dues alone, and plenty more has been spent on meetings, travel, and consultant expenses.  What's really important is that they've put a deep global fingerprint on local policy.   ICLEI has become so involved in its quest to influence local government we've started a page for it.   WE suggest this meddling can and should end, which would require repeal of membership resolutions.  Know that Ferndale population 11,415, and Lynden (on Jack Louws' watch) with a population 11,951, have ties to ICLEI too.

BALLE:  Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.    Sounds nice enough, but BALLE's vision statement says:

(The World We Want)
Within a generation, we envision a global system of human-scale, interconnected Local Living Economies that function in harmony with local ecosystems, meet the basic needs of all people, support just and democratic societies, and fosters joyful community life.

Yes, it's a free country, but this is a political ideology that means to replace individual interests with collective ones.   The "vision" above says it all.  These folks intend to restucture our entire economy - and local government seems to be either (a) incredibly unaware or (b) incredibly linked-in.   Most likely, it's been a combination of both.

BALLE is closely tied to Sustainable Connections and other local transition organizations.   They've just held a major "Living Economies 2011" conference in Bellingham, June 14-17, with national speakers that included Naomi Klein, author of the anti-capitalist book The Shock Doctrine, Kavid Korten from Yes! Magazine, and "it takes a village" Lynne Barker from ICLEI USA (!).   Why do you think all this global-eco "STAR power" descended on Bellingham and Whatcom County?   This place - our home -- has been targeted as "ground zero" by outside national and global organizations.   People who do not live here have done a lot to steer public policy.   WATCH OUT WHATCOM!