Follow up to "Git er done"

Want to see how process is killing us? Read the following published this year, note the dates, note the use of the wording "high priority" and then note that we haven't dug up a single bucket of muck.

From Section 1.1 Background and Overview in the document linked here: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/blhm_bay/sites/harris_ave_shipyard/HarrisRIFSworkplanFINAL011911.pdf

"This document presents the Site-Wide Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (Draft Site-Wide RI/FS) Work Plan for the Harris Avenue Shipyard Site (Site) in Bellingham Bay, an active shipyard located in Bellingham, Washington (Figure 1.1). The Site is one of twelve sediment cleanup sites around Bellingham Bay (the Bay) coordinated by the Bellingham Bay

Demonstration Pilot Project. The Site was identified as high priority by the Washington State

Department of Ecology (Ecology) in 2000 in a comprehensive strategy developed in cooperation

with the Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot Team.

'Git er done' ? What's that?

If the Great Recession has taught us anything it is that economic diversification continues to be the best way for any region to survive. Which is why when I was campaigning in 2009 many of you would have heard me talking about a Clean Tech Campus on the old GP mill site.

I want our waterfront, urban land reused for triple-bottom line, sustainable, local jobs that may have international implications but even I am stymied at my own efforts. After a year or so of doing my part to help move the waterfront process forward, I have decided new tactics should be employed.

My problems with these constant delays stems from a bit of cultural baggage. I grew up in Lewis County, we moved quite a bit so, although I lived all over the county, I finished high school in Centralia. I spent 8 years working on a farm and just about everyone I knew, including my family, worked in the woods or some primary industry.

The cultural baggage I carry is one of getting things done. We all like to laugh at the 'git er done' attitude made popular by Larry the Cable Guy, but inside that little joke is some real truth about what makes humans so powerful - we get things done. That's both good and bad, but that's not the point of this post. The point is that we do get things done but we now have so many layers of process it takes too much precious time, energy and resources. These things aren't free.

Let me describe for you what I mean about process. For decades local folks, notably George Dyson, have been working to have a hand-launch boat put-in/take-out along the Whatcom Waterway. The public has owned nearly every property adjoining the Waterway for many years and with GP gone and little traffic in the waterway today, what would seem to be the biggest obstacles have gone. So I thought, "Hey, let's get some small-boat access." It's cheap and easy and won't get in the way, right? Well, no - because of process it is neither cheap nor easy.

What I've proposed is to open the gate behind the granary, move a few existing ecology blocks, add 100 feet of chain link fence, remove 60 feet of chain link fence and drag a float over to tie up at the wooden bulkhead below Central St. The street is still there, the parking lots are still there, the float is free and we could do this for probably less than $10k for fence repairs and a gangway, certainly not a small amount but not a deal breaker either.

So what's the hold up? We would need a permit and so many permissions it's a challenge just to figure out who to call first. Now help me out here. The float is already floating in the waterway, just on the wrong side. The streets are already built. The bulkhead is already built. It is legal to tie up a boat or barge of any size just 30 feet from the proposed location. And, yet, we can't cut a hole in a fence so folks can touch the water downtown? Really?

I understand resource and environmental protection. I've spent the last 18 years of my life immersed in the study and active participation in the 'green movement' so I get it, I really do. What I don't get is how we have allowed ourselves to throw so much process in our own way that we can only get even little things done after years of process. And I'm talking about our cleanups, too, not just a little float on the waterway. Grrrr....

Where I grew up I worked with and heard stories from people who did 'git er done' in the woods every day. We know better now about the down side of crappy road building in our forest lands but, bear with me here, if you needed a road to a stand of trees you had a Cat on the low boy Sunday morning and by Wednesday you had trucks on a landing unloading equipment. I know, I know, this wasn't the best way to do it but my point is that the problem was identified and attacked.

Loggers then, and now, don't sit around mired in process. Many people and organizations "get it" so why don't our governing bodies? Please don't get me wrong, I live by a personal philosophy that I will work to limit my own environmental impact and not harm others so I am not advocating for weaker environmental protections, in fact, I think we can do much better if we really try.

So, why is it that a multi-month process is needed to drag a float across the Whatcom Waterway, secure it to an existing bulkhead and remove a fence so a gangway can be installed? This isn't a rhetorical question, I'm completely and legitimately dumbfounded.

What I AM saying here is that you, dear voter, have no downtown waterfront access in Bellingham because of process. The same process that has thwarted George Dyson's small boat launch on the waterway not only stops that idea in its tracks but also means our waterfront cleanup has faced the same long delays.

Staff at the Port have some ideas on how to speed the waterfront process while keeping all the same protections in place so I'm supporting that effort - remember, the process is slowing the clean up as well as the reuse.

I hope that if I need your help I can also call on all of you to write letters and call people to get off the dime and help us 'git er done." Stay tuned....

Being a Good Soldier

This post isn't really about military service but military service will certainly influence a person. I believe that there are certain people who pay attention to the world, not for gain but simply because we have a pretty cool world. Whether natural systems or man-made, there is no shortage of 'things' to learn and a good soldier will never stop learning.

I have always hoped that I was a good soldier, a good Marine. While in just a few short years I managed to receive a number of commendations and awards, I have always thought that there was more I could have done. And, while those awards evoke a certain nostalgia - you just can't describe the powerful feeling of having a combat action ribbon pinned to your chest - they also remind me about being a good Marine.

In the Marine Corps there is a certain leadership goal that begins with each Marine trained and indoctrinated in the concept that every Marine is always a rifleman first. It's the reason in boot camp that we slept with our rifles, literally. To the uninitiated this probably seems odd, and I suppose that it is, yet there is a certain psychological poetry to the effort.

By creating an ethos that each Marine is always a rifleman first the Marine Corps has ensured that the best leaders will always be capable of leading or following. The best leaders will always be ready to take on any additional responsibility or, and more importantly, fall back to ensure that they can fill the role of a basic infantryman. It's not a perfect solution but the mission is always the most critical effort and no Marine is more or less important in the completion of the mission.

In 'real' life the same ethos of every man or woman pulling for a common goal would be helpful. In my experience, people are sometimes able to keep their own ego out of the room and help move the ball down the field. More often than not they don't.

In any group or organization the people involved are all there because they believe in the group. Each person brings a certain level of skill or desire to the common goal and yet.....yet, when the rubber hits the road it's never so simple. The simple reason is that each person needs to be fulfilled in their effort, which is fine, but when everyone seeks to get the same level of fulfillment then the rubber takes a very long time to vulcanize into a useful product.

My attempt lately at the Port has been to be a good soldier - to lead as needed and follow when necessary. This means supporting efforts that predate my time on the Commission to achieve a good outcome. This past week I did just that and have continued to have one of my votes eat at me.

Years ago the Port and City of Bellingham worked toward an agreement so that the airport and Port owned property attached to the airport would have a reliable source of clean water and sewer service. Well....fast forward many years and the whole thing fell into a hash of disagreement so the Port sued the City and the City sued the Port.

What's troubling me is the process leading to this week's Port meeting. I'm not going to rehash the whole situation but I will give a quick background. The City's position has been well stated over and over that it will not provide water outside the City limits, previous agreements notwithstanding. The Port's position is based on the old agreement that the City would provide water and sewer service to the airport. So, long story short? The Port agrees to annexation of certain airport properties to the east and north in return for continued water/sewer service at the airport for future uses if the system has the capacity to do so.

The men and women, public employees all, who worked against each other on this airport water issue lost sight of the mission. The City has somewhat different work to do than the Port but in this case the Port and City should have been in lockstep.

The airport will be completely surrounded by urban development in the next couple of decades. The Port's role here is to maximize returns on the public investments at the airport through economic development efforts that create local jobs, while the City's role should be to support that so we keep jobs close to the core, with the added benefit of the tax dollars Bellingham will receive.

I was not privy to the previous negotiations and I quite likely am not going to waste anyone's time, other than possibly my own, digging up old skeletons. What I am going to do is publicly say my "Yes" vote this past Tuesday in favor of the City's annexation should have been a "No" vote.

I did want the measure to pass - my vote wasn't required for that to happen - but I think that it's important for the folks we do business with, especially other governments where we should all have the public's interest as our core mission, to know that I am not at all interested in the so-called Brinksmanship style of negotiation.

If I had voted "No" that could have been a shot across the bow of other governments to say we need to stop...take a breath...define the mission and get out of the business of fighting one another over common goals.

This Port/City fight over water at the airport is now history. I hope that the take-away is how not to work government to government.

What I have found in the course of my own life is that in most situations there may only be one outcome possible, although it is always good to seek others that may be better. Why then, especially governing body to governing body, do we only arrive at the obvious outcome after countless, needless hours on what I will generously describe as negotiating? Because of what I mentioned earlier - ego.

Part of the art of being a good soldier is clearly understanding what the mission is then either supporting or leading. And part of the art of being a good leader is recognizing when someone else is a better leader, that the mission is paramount.

It really is OK to be a simple rifleman every now and then.

I