A Message to Port Staff

This is a letter I wrote after our April 3, 2012 meeting, I asked that it be forwarded to port staff.

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Yesterday was a challenging one for everyone at the Port of Bellingham. Where we have the continued day to day work and tragedies during normal operations, we then add the weight of uncertainty and fear.

I spoke with Commissioners Jorgenson and Walker twice yesterday to reassure them and confirm that we remain committed to the Port and all of you who make it so successful. While the three of us may disagree at times, even, unfortunately, in a pretty dramatic way, we believe in you.

There will be a transition. There will be uncertainty. There will be challenges yet unknown. Please know that we three commissioners all work in our own way to represent the people of this county and help keep our port moving in the very positive direction it has been going.

For those of you who could not attend yesterday's meeting you would have heard an outpouring of support for the way the port is perceived in our Whatcom County community. I have had no end of e-mails and phone calls for the past two days reiterating that this port is doing great things and serving our communities well.

I would ask that you discuss with each other how best to remain tight with your coworkers, support your senior staff and continue your good work. Jim, Scott and I, as well as the entire county, will be relying on all of you to rally with us. Most of you were here when Mr. Darling left, use the positive experiences from that time to succeed, use the poor experiences to guide you to better outcomes.

The commission will be working very closely with our interim director to ensure our continued success. If any one of you have a need to discuss an issue, your HR director is a stalwart for you so please remain confident, follow your handbook protocol, feel comfortable knowing that your rights will be protected and honored.

Finally, thank you. Thank you for your understanding that the commission is elected, that we can be quirky sometimes and for sticking with us when we are.

Most sincerely,

Mike McAuley

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?

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?

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

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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?

Airplanes over Bellingham

So, as promised yet very much delayed here's the scoop on why you see the big jets over Bellingham's east side. This comes directly from the tower supervisor at BLI, Bellingham International.

Victoria, BC air traffic control picks these planes up from down south and tells them which pattern to fly. Yes, Victoria is quite aware of the preferred approaches to Bellingham.

They only get handed off to the BLI tower when in close. The pattern, tho, is established far from here when the planes are in the travel lanes.

On a side note there is apparently some new tech coming online someday that keeps better track of aircraft and doesn't force them into established lanes for safety - essentially opening up more of the sky to be used more efficiently. Stay tuned on that.

Bottom line, established lanes in the sky and the approach set up established by Victoria. The airport is nice and all but boy, we sure don't get a whole lot of say in how the whole system works.

Also, you flyers out there, cut me some slack, this is greatly simplified both in speech and explanation. I'm just laying out the bottom line.

Long time away but....

Process: 1. A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result (http://www.thefreedictionary.com)

The reason for the processes we engage in is to ensure that all opportunities for failure are reduced or eliminated. This sounds pretty good until there are so many processes for the process that a timely result becomes impossible.


Result: The consequence of a particular action, operation, or course; an outcome (http://www.thefreedictionary.com).


The bottom line for environmental cleanups is results. Results matter. And I believe that so long as we achieve the results we need that we shouldn't get too hung up on the process to get there, let's just get it done.

Trying times

Sometimes we get in our own way.

I learned this recently in a very personal lesson but I believe that, at times, we also reveal ourselves a little too openly for public consumption. These public meltdowns have two outcomes: people see us electeds for the true selves we are or we electeds suffer for our honesty.

I would like to think that the honesty is respected and that people feel a bit of kinship with us, especially because, after all, we are still the same people we were before we were elected to represent your interests. We try, we strive, we work for very little pay and much criticism because we want to support a community that we believe in. But the fact is, most of us go home questioning ourselves and the decisions we make.

The fact that we question ourselves and that we talk with our partners after dinner or at lunch or whenever we have a spare moment to share shows that we care. While we don't always agree, we do all believe.

We, those you have elected, all believe that we have this community's best interests in mind. Sometimes, we elect people with a single issue who have persuaded us that they will represent us but they only represent their own special interests. Thankfully that person rarely lasts in a community that is paying attention to the folks representing them.

Here in Whatcom County we elect our neighbors and friends to represent our interests. We ask those people, myself included, to take care and steward our public assets . Sometime we choose well, sometimes, not so much. But, this I will tell you from personal experience - I am still the same guy I was before.

What I believe to be a true measure of the people we ask to represent us isn't the quality of their listening skills or their commiseration with our positions or issues, rather it is the authenticity of their actions. Do they do what they say they will do or do they bust their asses to at least try?

Too often, our electeds are constrained by the body politic. While they may try to achieve results for their constituents, they are stopped or marginalized by others queuing in line before them. Since when to ideas get queued? Yeah......since we all bought into a ridiculous two party system more interested in reelections than good ideas, that's when we started to queue ideas.

So this post isn't really about any specific issue. Rather, it is about an attempt to ask all of you whether you vote or not, whether you pass on your views or not, or if you just silently follow the process that you remember the men and women you elect are not above or better, they are not some separate entity, they have not gained some special power beyond an improved experience and thus a little more insight to the process.

They, we, me....we are your neighbors and, as much as we can be, we are your voice. Please remember that we have the same struggles, the same relationships, the same lives as you. And that while we live the same lives as you, sometimes, when we get it just right, we manage to steer our governments in exactly the best direction.