Thursday, March 22, 2012

Expand the Fish Hatchery in Old Town?

I've been talking with the Commercial Fishing Assoc. of Whatcom County (CFA) about an idea they've been shopping regarding a public/private/tribal partnership that would dramatically increase the output of the hatchery in Old Town currently operated by BTC as a teaching platform.

The partnership would involve BTC's NW Center for for Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences program, support/funding by the fishing community and some role by the tribe that I don't know of yet.

I toured a neat hatchery in Juneau that may be a model for here. The program is extensive, they don't just grow fish. Check out:

http://dipac.net/

So, whaddya think? I wanted to relocate the library to this site but that got shot down by the Library board so is there a more suitable use for the old Sash and Door site?

Is a hatchery expansion a good use?

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Steady State Economics - the basics

In a recent debate with some fellow 'Hamsters this concept of Steady State Economics was presented. The principles, seemingly agreeable, are as follows:


Achieving a steady state economy requires adherence to four basic rules or system principles:
(1) Maintain the health of ecosystems and the life-support services they
provide.
(2) Extract renewable resources like fish and timber at a rate no faster than
they can be regenerated.
(3) Consume non-renewable resources like fossil fuels and minerals at a rate no
faster than they can be replaced by the discovery of renewable substitutes.
(4) Deposit wastes in the environment at a rate no faster than they can be
safely assimilated.

Text from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steady_state_economy



So, is this the same as 3BL (triple bottom line) or People, Planet, Profit?

Thoughts?

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Being Elected is Really Crimping my Style

Obviously, the title on this one was supposed to be obnoxious. I hope it grabbed your attention! :-)

The following is copied from my post on NW Citizen but has additional wording since I have more space here.


See:

http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/actions-of-county-council-chair-discourage-public-comment

.............................................................

The job of elected folks, my job, is, in part, to sit still and listen to everyone who wishes to exercise their right to address their governments. This is fundamental and critical.

I have often been appalled that payment windows and clerks' offices doing the people's business close at 5 or, worse, as in the case of some county offices, 4:30. Ostensibly, this seems justified so that they can get their work done and finish up their workday like the private sector.

Well, we are not in the private sector anymore. We serve at the pleasure and on behalf of the people.

I feel that even if you want to 'beat me up' on something it is still my responsibility to hear you out without my making it inconvenient for you to do that.

While President of the Port Commission I would move items forward on the agenda if people came to discuss something about that item. That way they could participate, feel that their participation had value AND then go home if they wanted without having to wait for all the boiler plate business to get taken care of before we "got around" to their issue. I did this because it's what I would like to have done for me - show me you value my time when I showed up to address you.

I will grant that the Port Commission doesn't usually get a whole lotta folks at our meetings but my philosophy is this: Tuesday are port days, I only schedule port business on Tuesdays, I'm not done 'til everyone goes home - period. My fiance knows this and so do my clients, both of whom are very accommodating. To be blunt: this shit's important and you guys deserve my full attention.

I would urge any elected body here to think about this as I have: I didn't exactly sign up for the Marine Corps just to get my $800 a month and shot at in Kuwait - I signed up to support my country like my granddad did.

When we signed up to serve as electeds, we all knew the hours suck and the pay is horrible and people will say nasty things, it's part of the job. But for all that, we must cling tenaciously to the truth that we are SERVANTS of the people and our convenience should not be created by your inconvenience.

Your thoughts?