UPDATE: Aug 6, PM - WE just learned, thanks to the Bellingham Herald Politics Blog, that Bellingham City Council dropped this proposal during its afternoon session. Of course this could pop back up (per eco-diva Lisa McShane's comment at the Herald blog.) Keep an eye out. It's a mighty wacky town.
Alert! Bellingham residents should be aware of what its City Council is busying itself with today and tonight (here's the agenda). WE see this anti Gateway Terminal item on the daytime committee agenda from 1:20 to 2:25 PM today, and this could possibly be voted during the evening session at 7:00 PM at City Hall:
AB 19642
4. ** A RESOLUTION RELATED TO THE GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL PROPOSAL SEEKING A NONBINDING ADVISORY VOTE IN THE NOVEMBER 6, 2012 GENERAL ELECTION.
It looks like Bellingham City Council wants to use their bully pulpit and the political process to promote what its left-wing loon constituency aches for - that Bellingham should badger and control what it has no real right to, the private sector.
Advisory votes have a very useful purpose when government asks the public to weigh-in about government business - taxes, services, etc. But that's not what this advisory vote would be about. The communitarian utopians want city government to domineer the private sector and even commandeer it, as they did with the "bag ban" that's just hit us.
The proponents of this advisory vote want to forge a hammer to pound on other governments and agencies. A big "oppose the shipment of coal" vote would be used to badger the county ceaselessly.
Proponents want to block the legal transportation of goods over the rail system. Today the left doesn't like coal. Tomorrow some faction may not want strawberries or tee shirts from somewhere else moved through town. WE think public mandates like this are a slippery slope.
It's odd and ironic that this resolution would be proposed when city government just won a legal ruling to keep the bizarre and over-reaching CELDF "No-Coal Community Bill of Rights" initiative off the fall ballot. The proposed ballot question would be framed with this very leading statement that lists the utopians' worst fears:
AB 19642
4. ** A RESOLUTION RELATED TO THE GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL PROPOSAL SEEKING A NONBINDING ADVISORY VOTE IN THE NOVEMBER 6, 2012 GENERAL ELECTION.
It looks like Bellingham City Council wants to use their bully pulpit and the political process to promote what its left-wing loon constituency aches for - that Bellingham should badger and control what it has no real right to, the private sector.
Advisory votes have a very useful purpose when government asks the public to weigh-in about government business - taxes, services, etc. But that's not what this advisory vote would be about. The communitarian utopians want city government to domineer the private sector and even commandeer it, as they did with the "bag ban" that's just hit us.
The proponents of this advisory vote want to forge a hammer to pound on other governments and agencies. A big "oppose the shipment of coal" vote would be used to badger the county ceaselessly.
Proponents want to block the legal transportation of goods over the rail system. Today the left doesn't like coal. Tomorrow some faction may not want strawberries or tee shirts from somewhere else moved through town. WE think public mandates like this are a slippery slope.
It's odd and ironic that this resolution would be proposed when city government just won a legal ruling to keep the bizarre and over-reaching CELDF "No-Coal Community Bill of Rights" initiative off the fall ballot. The proposed ballot question would be framed with this very leading statement that lists the utopians' worst fears:
WE suggest you attend council TODAY/TONIGHT and follow the deliberations if you can. Sorry about the short notice - WE just heard about this, ourselves.
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