Vol. 2 #20

A man of his word, Mayor Tim Douglas will speak before our neighborhood association on Tuesday, May 8, 7 p.m., at Birchwood Presbyterian Church, 400 Meadowbrook Ct. It was sixth months ago that the mayor, in his first public appearance after taking office, reiterated the importance of parks and trails for Cordata.  His Tuesday talk, “A Cordata Update,” will be followed by a q&a.  The mayor brings into play a great variety of perspectives as he moves into the second half of his interim leadership of Bellingham.  Mayor of the City from 1985-1994, his life has been one of public service.  Among his accomplishments is convincing the  Alaska Marine Highway System to move their ferry hub from Seattle to Bellingham, changing the way the forest industry does business here, and initiating the first-ever updates of the Comprehensive Plan and various Neighborhood Plans.  There has been more, much more including the Directorship of the Peace Corps in Russia.  Mayor Tim was in Moscow on 9/11.  Ever an internationalist, always interesting, the mayor is well worth hearing at our Tuesday general meeting.      

As we advance in years, bureaucratic language changes—sometimes to baffling degrees.  A case in point is Traffic Calming Devices, a pet phrase now in large use as cities attempt to solve traffic problems.  Apparently on the way out are such things as speed signs as traffic control experts, inspired by “newthink,” encourage drivers to forsake residential streets for arterials such as Cordata Parkway.  Among the devices of encouragement are speed humps, speed tables, traffic circles and islands, curb extensions, center medians, etc.  It’s difficult not to be inclined to lump some of these “solutions” under the heading of ‘wishful thinking.”   On top of the traffic situation for our neighborhood is board member Paul Sorensen, armed with an analytic mind accompanied at times by fierce skepticism.  Among Paul’s findings are the various ways the Bellingham Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program can be put to use.  Under Paul’s guidance, your board of directors (having been limited to a singular nomination) has chosen Darby Drive as a residential street to be studied.  A traffic count will be conducted.  If the street scores sufficient points, it will qualify for a second phase involving neighborhood residents and possibly police enforcement measures.  Paul will offer methods of gaining traffic improvement through an interested citizenry at Tuesday’s general meeting.       

An overarching goal coming out of the April 23 Disaster Readiness Steering Committee Meeting is to train and equip our neighborhood to deal with emergencies until help can arrive.  The meeting, held at Stoneybrook Clubhouse and hosted by Carol Nall, involved an impressive group led by Scott Meaker of Madrona Medical Group and Andy Day of Bellingham Fire Dept.  Day indicated the City is in the process of forming a steering committee for the program consisting of reps from each of 23 neighborhoods.  Pamela Sorensen will represent GM/C and will attend the first meeting on May 22.  One of our 14 participating micro-neighborhoods—Stoneybrook—is already in action thanks to Nall, descended from a long line of firefighters.  Carol, who has done disaster preparedness for schools, has completed a skills/equipment survey for Stoneybrook.    

Two years ago when it was determined that the neighborhood association needed a newsletter, The Insider seemed a perfectly good title—reasonably hip suggesting   timeliness and authority.  While there was a movie of that name plus a TV syndicated show, the title had relatively little usage or so it seemed.  A recent check of the internet suggests otherwise.  Publications called The Insider or Insider now represent a piece of the gambling and insurance industries in addition to full–blown advancement of the State of North Carolina News Service, the tawdry promotion of the Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade, Channel 4 in Belfast, Ireland and a blog page pushing a “conservative news flash in the battle for liberty” which, at first glance, appeared to be a Bill O’Reilly talking point.   Travel & Leisure is out there with a column and there’s News from Zimbabwe—always difficult to be without.  Then, there’s something in the Washington Times so named as we seek the truth or something at least approximating such a hope.  Not to be forgotten is a publication oddly titled the Unofficial Fedora FAQ which might very well be some sort of smutty hat trick, plus a Rochester, NY newspaper column; even Comedy Central has a Website called The Insider.  While it is tempting to not stay the course and take on a new name, something like The Insightful,  such a move would probably invite charges of self-applied undue grandeur to these hackings as we add issues to what also is a blog streaming relentlessly into the Web’s infinity.       

The Deadline Dash….Bellingham Library figures for 2006 are impressive.  Nearly 745,000 visits were logged resulting in more than 1.2 million books checked out.  The year also saw an addition of 20,000 books, CDs and DVDs….Also from the library front comes word from Public Works Director Dick McKinley that voters may be asked to vote for a new library without seeing plans.  The scheme’s rationale is to save money.  Pigs in pokes do not attract votes….While the latest weekly salary statistics indicate Washington ranks 10th in the Nation with an average of $823, Whatcom County is well behind with $633, a figure significantly influenced by the construction industry’s $905.  No wonder we have so many rental units…. We did it, again.  Something called Relocate-America has included Bellingham in its 100 best places to live list.  Named best was Asheville, N.C.  The un-positioned bottom 90 includes Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver, the one to the south….BTV10, the City’s TV station, is currently running a two months look at our neighborhood on its “Inside Bellingham” show.  The program airs at various times daily ….Our own Julie Guy questioned the current six candidates for mayor at the May 2 forum conducted by the four member Northern Neighbors which, in addition to this neighborhood, includes Birchwood, Columbia and Cornwall.   
More next time,

Bob Sanders

Comments

[Wendy Wolfe]

I live in the Cordata area, and would like to learn more about the planned park and neighborhood association.

How do I contact the association board?

thanks
-w

[Mary Helene]

The Insightful? I like that!