WHATCOM WATERWAY CLEANUP - THE LATEST

This one was edited quickly....please bear with me.

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I promised Scott S. that I'd address the adjusted clean-up plan so here it is....although I really, really wanted to make this one about a working waterfront, more on that next time.

While it is seems that from decades past a waterfront plan would be created then eventually built out as the industrial uses moved on, yet that was overly simplistic. There is a natural transition in every city over time. While it is possible to force transitions -- there is not shortage of examples which I will not go into here -- there is a more natural and more likely transition that actually occurs because of market forces.

Cities transform based on many factors so each transformation is unique but at the same time similar. What is similar is that they rarely become what they were before. A perfect example is Greensburg, Kansas. A city completely removed from the map in about 12 minutes. Earthquakes, like that recently in Japan, rarely do what one EF5 tornado accomplished.

Planet Green has a great 4 part series on the process to recreate Greensburg. The city functions the same, has a majority of the pre-tornado businesses rebuilt and many folks moved back to continue their lives. Homes were rebuilt. Many businesses moved back but to locations they'd always wanted to be. Most amazing is the local John Deere dealer led the way with a LEED Platinum showroom and shop; how I couldn't tell ya' but it's that kind of leadership that changes the world.

You are probably thinking right about now, "So what the he*l McAuley, you are WAY off topic." Sort of, but the point here is that not only is change inevitable it's never quite what a person thinks it's gonna be.

Bellingham has a waterfront that will change. Bellingham has no shortage of plans studied, written, vetted and presented for guidance. Does this mean they are all a 'done deal'? Hardly.

When your Port bought the GP property they had piss-poor advice. I've been on the receiving end of poor advice myself so I'm not overly critical on this particular point. The problem when governments follow bad advice, however, is that inertia tends to carry on and changes can be difficult to impossible. But we all know that change happens. In the present case, the change was forced on each and every one of us by an investor class who left us hanging with the debt and walked away to skin the next cat.

Well.....yeah, well? We are either screwed or we aren't. I say we aren't. I was told by a girlfriend a very long time ago, "Michael, stop digging." That was before I had an opportunity in 1991 to dig a huge hole in a far off desert, big enough for six of us to play cards in actually, and learned that it is possible to continue digging but it better be stairs to get out. And that is exactly where the Port of Bellingham is now.

The Port, just like others in this changed economy, has to play a different game. Remember, it's hard to change governments so even though the Port 'can' be nimble -- and, in my opinion must be nimble -- there are plans in motion that can be quite difficult to manipulate for better outcomes.

What you all had an opportunity to see recently was the unveiling of a changed plan given new circumstances.

First, let me applaud your Port staff for working so hard to get a new plan in place that doesn't derail the entire effort. Because of State and Federal regulatory guidelines on certain activities when plans change the entire effort is a 'do over'. In the case of Bellingham's waterfront we absolutely MUST clean it up so it is safe for the critters in the water and the people on the land but we simply can't afford a 'do over' because situations have changed.

Some of you reading this will rightly feel that the Port missed the boat in 2004. But, like Nostradamus, we had to wait awhile to see if the prognostication was correct or just rants. So, even though I inherited this new reality, feel free to invite me out for a beer and gloat all you want, because, if anything I am humble.

While we drink our beer you will certainly find out that this new reality is fiscal challenge. Now, here I want to ask all of you reading this to hang on for just a second....pause...take a deep breath and don't rush to judgment, OK.

All right, here goes....

The cleanup on the waterfront is gonna cost a freakin' fortune...literally. If we took the entire budget from the entire county for a year we could cover it but we wouldn't do anything else. While that may seem enticing I'm not sure how we would get by with no service like police, fire and building permit staff. And to quote the kids of today, "I'm jus' sayin'."

Now that we've established, again, that cleanup along the waterfront is expensive we cannot avoid it. Sort of like a big old meteor aimed straight at our little earth here -- it's gonna come, so what are we gonna do?

What we are going to do along Bellingham's waterfront is clean it. The original plan called for land sales to cover many of the costs of owning and cleaning the area. I've never agreed with that outcome and I still don't. There isn't a single, reputable economist in this entire country who can prove that housing and retail has as big an impact on an economy as do jobs.

For example, retail jobs have just 1/2 of another job associated with each full-time retail worker, whereas, manufacturing workers have 1 to 3 other jobs associated with each full-time manufacturing worker. And housing is even worse because there are only a handful of maintenance workers associated with the entire aggregate of housing available -- present conditions notwithstanding where a lack of new housing starts have pushed many builders into the remodeling market.

What I believe the new reality will force is a waterfront that is more similar to what it was than what many Bellevue planning firms might have guessed it may become. This means land for men and women to show up for work to create something, not just sell something or enjoy the view. This means that we may never have a marina or a some of the nice things our Waterfront Futures Group had hoped for. And that's OK.

To which you now say, "Really, McAuley....it's not OK." And I wouldn't disagree.....much. You, dear reader, are correct, it's not OK. The problem, though, is that nothing we do is free. And there ya' go. It's the bottom line and it has to be OK.

The adjustment we recently made to the cleanup plan is just one of the changes we will have to undertake in order to get the waterfront clean and reusable. It's also the sort of decision that doesn't come easy. I, for one, would love to be able to dig up every last bit of contamination to bury it safely in someone else's backyard for the next couple of millennia (please note my sarcastic irony about us leaving our problem for people somewhere else). The issue isn't what we want to do, the issue is what we can do. Recall my mention earlier about the costs of the cleanup.

So where are we now? Where we are now is a little different than in 2004 so adjustments must be made. Where am I now? Pretty much where I have always been.

It's no secret I haven't felt that the marina would be the most cost effective, long term use of the ASB. In a perfect world the Waterfront Futures Plan would play out and we would have a near over-supply of great public spaces all along Bellingham Bay. I suggest we continue to work toward that eventual reality. In the meantime, however, we do the absolute best with what we have. No more waiting for perfection. No more delay because it isn't quite right.

I have always been a person to act when the time seems right and that time is now. Cleanup is happening this year. We still have access, so I'm told, to tens of millions from the State. We still have the financial commitments from GP and Chartis. Your Port staff remain committed. So the only thing that's changed it the time frame of the original picture that you may be familiar with.

In the end, remember, that the Port is staffed by your neighbors, not a bunch of hired strangers who don't know this community. I will remain committed to a proper cleanup that doesn't break the bank but does set us up for the eventual transitions we will see in the next hundred years of changes.

Cities last for a very, very long time. We aren't in danger here if we don't finish everything as visioned right away so long as we get the bones in place for later fleshing out.

THOUGHTS ON CHERRY POINT

Scott S. asks about the updated plan for Whatcom Waterway cleanup, the marina and Cherry Point. My next post will cover the cleanup.

Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point.

That location has been on the radar for a very long time, no secret there. The fact that Whatcom County may finally have come of age in international shipping is good news and bad news.

The good news about Cherry Point is also the most obvious: jobs and outside money coming into our corner of the state.

A little noted fact, also, is that this is 2011 which means that as far as shipping terminals go, the facility will comply with state of the art standards in environmental protection -- if not I will be one of the loud voices against it.

I also believe that SSA 'should' utilize the latest hybrid tugs, if needed, such as the newest Foss Hybrid, which was also produced here in Washington.

See: http://www.foss.com/environment_hybridtug.html

While there is much talk about SSA shipping coal, which I oppose as a fuel for electricity production, there are also red herrings.

Red Herring 1. Coal dust from the rail cars in Bellingham -- some would say Cole dust -- shouldn't be a problem here. A quick look at Burlington Northern Santa Fe's (BNSF) own website shows they understand the dust problem. I took a quick look at their mainline in downtown Bellingham at F St. and found no dust like you see nearer the mines or you might find at a shipping terminal.

See:

http://www.bnsf.com/customers/what-can-i-ship/coal/coal-dust.html

http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2011/03/15/are-coal-export-terminals-good-neighbors


Red Herring 2....maybe. Literally, herring. The Cherry Point stock is a Pacific Herring which is struggling for survival, meaning it may go extinct, this is not small potatoes. I've looked to published research on the herring issue and it seems the bottom line is that no one really knows the reason for the decline. But is the decline a problem? You bet!

See: http://www.conservationnw.org/wildlife-habitat/cherry-point-herring

Anecdotally, I have a friend who works on the BP dock who constantly reminds me that if a person wants to find herring just look under their dock. So, it seems there is work to do and I hope it gets done to answer the herring problem/question.

And the bad news. More development means degradation. It comes with the territory, so don't beat me up, just face that fact with me and let's work for the best outcomes. This is our human condition.

Now, my opinion...right?

The opportunity SSA brings to the county is palpable, no doubt. They seem to be a strong company, they know what they are doing operations-wise and they work with their unions.

I'm not a big fan of more rail traffic in my neighborhood, so I sincerely hope my neighborhood association will have a seat at the City's table when Quiet Zones are discussed.

With my 'Port hat' on I can tell you I am concerned with the traffic increase affecting reconstruction along the waterfront. The local reps for SSA will tell you that rail traffic numbers will likely return to pre-GP closure levels. This would be fine but we all know that a couple things have happened since then.

The first shift is in land use planning. There hasn't been a great deal of heavy industrial thinking in the county for some time which would require high service levels for rail. This is evident in that every time we go to DC to request federal transit dollars for rail improvements we consistently slide down the list as time goes on because we just can't show Congressional budgeteers that we have the need. Even my little ol' hometown of Centralia got rail dollars.

The second thing that has happened is how we think about our waterfront. For almost a century the Bellingham waterfront has been the domain of private interests that allowed for a very minimal amount of public access. When the public docks fell into disrepair, even that small accommodation was lost. Now people see further opportunity.

The great benefit of time is that careful people learn from history and apply the lessons. What we now have is the opportunity to re-purpose our waterfront landscapes for more than one use, more than just private business interests. To do that we must build and maintain a close relationship with other governments and businesses, like Puget Sound Energy and BNSF that own property along the Bellingham waterfront.

Now, a quick aside here about coal.

It's no secret, as I pointed out above, that I dislike coal use for electricity generation. Most people will see a video or tour a mine and come away impressed that coal is OK. It's not. It never has been and never will be.

I grew up a few miles from Washington State's only coal mine and coal fired power plant.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_Power_Plant.

The mine has closed but the plant still operates. Due to our own state's concerns over the pollution this plant creates it will likely be closed in 2025 unless it can somehow meet a higher, air quality standard.

Years ago, my granddad worked the mine as a welder and got paid a small fortune every two weeks. Many men and a few women, a handful of whom I call friends, and what others would call 'this country's hardest working sons of bitches', earned nice paychecks at that mine. Some at the plant itself still do.

However, I do hope at least some of us have been paying attention, learning from history. I think I've tried to. I get curious when I go to new places. One fall I had the chance to walk-in hunt an area quite close to the plant on the downwind side. The forest, at first glance, seemed like every other managed forest in my home county.

A closer look, though, revealed subtle differences, most notably in the color of the plants. Now, this is going to sound a bit crazy but the 'green' just wasn't as green. I'm not an expert on 'green' but I grew up in Lewis County where there really isn't anything not green. Our playgrounds were the forests behind our houses. So, no, I'm not an expert on forest health but that forest downwind just isn't as healthy as others nearby. This wasn't a guided trip by company reps, it was just me slowly hunting the woods, noticing what was around me.

Read this and check the flash animation:
http://www.sightline.org/research/environment/trouble-at-paradise

The mining itself has problems but I believe the earth can recover if we just take a few precautions. The air we pollute, however, is the bigger problem and that's why I don't support coal for electricity. And before you go gettin' all cranky about me bein' all holier than thou, I did the research a couple years ago -- on the Western Intertie (where we give and get our electrons) roughly 55% of the production is from coal. The rest is mostly hydroelectric, then natural gas and renewables rounding out the portfolio. Half the electrons I used during this little blog session came from burning coal.

So...back on point. Whew!

The Cherry Point location has international implications. I've made it my mission to tell anyone who will listen that geographically this part of the United States, our county, is a big winner for shipping and fishing. The folks at SSA know that, too. SSA isn't just a group of bumpkins. Even though they started here in Bellingham as small, local stevedoring firm, they've become quite the major player.

See: http://www.ssamarine.com/

The plan SSA has rolled out, in its most basic form, suggests that our county can gain a great deal while giving up very little -- we all know every new development requires some change, some give and take. And that's the gist of my hope for this project.

I hope that SSA finds it unnecessary to ship coal overseas from here. I hope that they take advantage of our geography to ship a mix of products that don't have such poor environmental side effects. I hope they do manage to put this facility together and that we have a chance to work with them toward keeping Whatcom County on a sustainable track for our current and future workforce.

At the end of the day, it's a pretty decent project. I think we can support the terminal, push back against the coal, but overall team up with SSA and BNSF to help them bring forth a good project.

The 3BL or Triple Bottom Line business model is one that I like to follow, if we can use the synergies here, across the country and around the world that will help SSA be a modern player up here then I say let's do it, let's push for it. Let's hold ourselves to a high standard and help new business come here to play on our court where they can be responsible and profitable.




PS - Get educated on this issue, please. The Gateway Pacific project will be pushing above a half-billion dollars. This isn't just a local developer wanting to build a 6 unit condo next door, it's big and complicated. Do some research, so that when you come out for or against you make sense, that's how we get better outcomes. Thanks!

PORT PARKS PLAN

We've got a new parks plan down here at the Port.

See the plan here:
http://www.portofbellingham.com/index.aspx?NID=429

Many people in our community have come to rely on the Port to provide park areas along Whatcom County's waterfront places.

While some of the properties, such as Squalicum Boathouse, the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, the Post Point Lagoon restoration and the Squalicum Promenade have won national awards, this type of activity has been a more recent addition to Port responsibilities.

To some people it's mission creep, to others it's just government doing the right thing.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the creation of Washington Ports so please go take a look at the links and information on Historylink.org. Check out why our Port exists....I think many of you will be very, very surprised.


http://www.historylink.org/

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?displaypage=output.cfm&file_id=9614

REMEMBERING WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO WORK FOR A LIVING

Someone recently responded to a comment I made that 'we all have stories of working____________' (fill in the blank) that we can draw from. At the time I agreed with that statement, but this past week that quick remark has really been digging at my conscience.

Years ago I remember watching a political campaign where both men said so many of the same things that I wondered how I could possibly discern the better choice. The problem wasn't what they were saying -- education, jobs, environment -- rather, it was that they were from supposedly different parties with very, very divergent ideas on administering those issues they brought forward.

What I realized watching those two men debate is that they both forgot where they came from, what it was like to work for a living. Most people in 'government' came from the private sector. They looked to the union workplace, good perqs and stable environment as a solid place to work. Electeds like myself are also offered modest benefits - in my case as a Commissioner I can legally be compensated to approximately $18k/yr in total, which depends on how many official meetings I attend and the cost of the Port's health care plan, last year I was under this amount.

So far, so good. Right? Well, what's been bugging me is listening to people who I know had a rough childhood, poor parents, working class upbringing and the like who don't seem to remember that experience at all. It's as if it happened to someone else.

How often have those of you reading this come into contact or heard an official from some agency talking as though the world is and always has been just a certain way.

Here's what I know:

50 million people in this country have no access to regular health care like you and I do.

The average unemployment for college graduates in this recession is under 5% while high school graduates hover just above 10% and non-high school graduates almost 14%.

91% of white kids finish high school but only 83% of black kids do. Only 64% of hispanic kids finish high school.

I know that my first job, at 11 years old, was hard work.

I know that before I was 13 I had broken every single child labor law in existence at the time.

I know that I had more money in my pocket every summer than any of my peers at school and I worked 7 years on a farm for $4 an hour.

I know that my first boss was cranky, angry and hard to work for but he taught me everything I needed to know to be a good employee and then a good leader.

I know that many of you have similar stories. I know that many of you know one of those kids who didn't finish high school.

I know that working class isn't a dirty word in my neighborhood and if you asked anyone in my own family they wouldn't really know that the world lives off their labor, it's just the life we have always lived.

People often tease me about my attire at Port functions. I do, in fact, have suits, twenty-odd dress shirts and about a dozen ties. I do at times wear them. But I also know that I'm not going to race home from work to shower and change just to put on a show -- I'm not a show pony and I won't ever be a show pony.

I am likely to show up at a function in work pants covered in dust, mud, stains and a sweat stained shirt because I work for a living. I love my work and I work hard when I'm on the job. I don't take offense at folks who tease me about my ragged hat or the tears in my shirts.

The fact is I listened to the stories my parents and grandparents told me. I remember going to a funeral for my cousin and seeing most of the crowd in logging clothes and romeos -- if ya gotta ask what romeos are then you've never worn them. I listened when my mom told me to always be myself....sometimes to uproarious effect at my expense!

The bottom line is an old, tired, cliche' -- "dance with the one that brung ya."

So if you read this and you believe that hard work is worth something, even if it's just a "Thank you" at the end of the day, then you are the person I'm working for at the Port.

If you like good beer, backyard firepits, beat up work trucks and making do with what's at hand, then I like you.

Our government and the leaders we put in place -- including me -- should never forget what it is like to work hard for a living.

Send me some feedback on this post.

A NEW LOOK AT BELLINGHAM'S WATERFRONT

Bellingham's waterfront sits and sits. It has been sitting so long it's time for a new look and some new ideas.

While many folks say again and again that the recession is forcing people out of their 'same old - same old' planning stupor, I'm not so sure that the problem is the recession. Where Port staff are working daily to create clean-up plans that the Department of Ecology can approve, the process has slowed to a basic crawl. It's government getting in its own way.

Do we blame government for the slow pace? Not really. The reason is that well meaning people have worked hard to ensure that when state tax dollars are used for clean-ups that they are used carefully and that the results are good for the people. Fair enough. I can get behind that.

However, much of what the Port now does regarding clean-ups, at this point anyway, is pretty much rote because we keep coming up to very, very similar clean-ups. Basically we can pull an old clean-up plan off the shelf, make sure it fits the new situation, adjust it as necessary to ensure it is specific to the new project, then......well, wait.

There is a voluntary program that we just used on the north end of Roeder Ave. for a fuel depot. The process was very straightforward, with results that ensured we documented any cultural artifacts encountered during excavation, while test wells ensure we got all of the contamination. We now have a renewed, clean piece of land to lease. This took months not years.

There are many areas along the waterfront that have similar issues. I'm champing at the bit to get moving, to prove to our community that the Port can get this stuff done on their behalf. I know we can and will....eventually. This year we will be working on some clean-ups that finally made it to the dirt-moving stage after years of planning -- much of it basic work that can be planned out in several months.

We have staff who live here, work here and get frustrated here because they want to get this stuff moving. This is their community, too, and they want it just as clean, just as accessible as the rest of us.

What's needed is a new State program where trusted, trained and licensed operators, such as the Port, can engage in clean-up programs that do receive Ecology review but don't require the long process.

I know just the fella who can put this together so maybe our Port can lead the way?

MISINFORMATION and DEBATE

Yesterday local radio reported on information out of Nanaimo, BC regarding an air operator negotiating with an airport to operate a flight into Bellingham (BLI). I'd say that's pretty good reporting since it was a little story about a little airport but it was picked up here.

What's sad, however, is that many people here didn't actually READ the article. They saw the headline and read a few lines and ASSUMED the negotiations were between another airline and our own Port staff at our airport. Oops!

In fact, according to Port staff this was the first they'd heard about a new airline potentially flying into BLI. And guess what? It's because they READ the article. The article clearly stated that a BC operator on Vancouver Isl. was in early discussions with the airport at Nanaimo.

So here's the deal people. Criticize, engage, debate, whatever but please, please, please understand the issue before ya go off half-cocked. Seriously!

And I will tell you why.

When you have less than all the information then I don't have any fun debating and I love to debate -- it drives my girlfriend crazy! I love to convince or be convinced. I love the give and take.

I love to arm wrestle issues and I don't mind losing debates on the facts but it's really, really tiresome debating issues when the other person is trying to debate headlines but has no depth to their argument.

So people do this: get ALL the facts, call me up, put me on the spot and engage me, convince me.

Here's my phone number: 360-201-7199

WHY A LOW MOORAGE RATE MAKES SENSE FOR COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN

Author's note: this is a long post
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Moorage rates at the Port of Bellingham get a lot of press these days. I'm asked over and over why I am making such a big deal out of a better rate for commercial fishermen in comparison to other moorage customers. For me, the answer is simple: moorage rates are the "OPEN" sign in the window.

Let me start with an example of what "OPEN for Business" means to me. For several years my former partner and I would make soap, fizzing bath balls and such during the evening hours of the week then hawk it on weekends at craft fairs. Have you ever been to a craft fair? Most of us have. We found out on our very first day that just because a booth is open, staffed and full of pretty things to buy, it doesn't mean you're gonna sell squat.

Oh, we had our OPEN sign out and gorgeous, fragrant products to buy in a well decorated booth but we sat quietly reading in the back assuming our wonderful products would sell themselves, and, yup, you guessed it, we bombed. That first weekend we actually lost twice as much money as we made.

Being the smartie that she is, my partner began wandering through the next fair we worked. She networked, talked and asked questions of the veterans. What we found was those folks who had interesting products at a good price then actively sold them actually made money. So the books stayed in the car, we never sat down, we smiled and said, "Hello", to every person who even looked in the booth. We began to make money, it began to turn into fun and we regularly sold out.

So what's my point? The Port's OPEN sign is our attitude, our product is plain to see. Our attitude toward our customer is first shown in our advertising -- our rates are just one piece of that. Yet more importantly our attitude is shown by our customer service and in our effort to support the Whatcom County economy .

We can always rely on locals to store, moor, launch or otherwise use the waterfront harbors in several locations throughout the county. This also means we can price to whatever level we believe the market will bear. A lack of shorter, recreational boats moored on the water recently has shown us that, when belts tighten, pleasure boaters take a good, hard look at expenses and cut accordingly.

Yet those people whose livelihood relies on a quality harbor close to their fishing grounds that also provides complete support from gear providers to engine repair specialists and fish buyers must stay to weather the economic downturns. A competitive moorage rate gets these people in the door while our local support services keep them here.

When the Port's Marina Advisory Committee (MAC) met during the past year they managed to cobble together an agreement that gives smaller boaters and commercial fishermen a break from the next price increases. And while I do not believe it fairly apportions costs across each user group, it was in the end their choice to present the payment plan that they did. Of course, the commission could choose to accept the plan or not, alter it or create our own. We chose to honor the plan as presented by adopting it unanimously on February 15 of this year.

Where I differ from others on this issue, however, is not just the odd distribution of the costs across differing vessel classes, but also in how some people fail to accurately understand the fishing industry in Whatcom County.

I believe that a boat is a boat. Since I haven't found anyone who can tell me that provision of moorage for one type costs more versus moorage for another, then I must accept that all classes, on a per foot basis, cost the same per foot. Thus, I cannot understand why the following issue has arisen.

Years ago, the Port's commission took a bold step by requiring the marinas to self-sustain based on user fees -- what's internally called the closed loop moorage model. Going back to the point I made earlier regarding a captive customer base, it was fairly simple to extrapolate costs and predict the future. So far, the planning has been working and, apparently, we still have a waiting list so, if anything, our pricing is too low.

Because the moorage model is really just a relatively simple equation the outcome should be simple, too, but it's not. Especially when the outcome is then shifted to a square foot charge created by further mathematical adjustmenst.

What happened in here somewhere, at least as far as I can tell, is that the MAC members took a little and gave a little so that over the next few years smaller boats and active commercial fishing vessels would see no increase in rates after the new rates go into effect in April 2011.

In order to hold certain rate increases to zero and working only from funds paid into the marinas by marina customers, not taxes or other Port divisions, other marina users have to pick up the slack. The MAC agreed to this and I completely disagree.

It continues to be my contention that all boats moored in our public harbors should pay the same rate. I'm told that in order to cover 2012 operations that the rate per square foot charge should be $0.37. Thus, a boat that requires a 50-foot slip, 20 feet wide would pay $370/month plus the inevitable extra fees regardless of its beam, shape or other imaginative options. But that's not exactly what we are planning to do.

Since the formula doesn't use square footage and the distribution of charges isn't spread evenly across each vessel then we get a shift of funding sources where some folks are subsidizing others. When I suggested that the Port of Bellingham buy into the West Coast fisheries market with low moorage rates for commercial fishermen, other vessel classes, especially other commercial operators, turned out to protest because the new moorage rates already shift burdens and a bigger break to one class would affect others even more.

You see, the MAC shifted burdens, voluntarily I will continue to point out, so that over the course of the next 5 years other moorage and marina customers will cover nearly $2 million in marina costs on behalf of the commercial fishery. That's not very fair if you ask me.

I've proposed to deaf ears a flat, square foot moorage fee -- we have a need to cover X millions in costs divided by 1.2 million square feet of moorage space then add in the extras and costs or income that go with the whole ball of wax and BANG, we're done.

There is an effort to overcomplicate the issues of how to pay for marina operations. While I believe in the closed-loop system we shouldn't blame it for the pitfalls Port staff, MAC members and Port Commissioners have to negotiate -- the fault in application is entirely our own.

As to the problem of the commercial fishery moorage rate there is a simple solution: we use other Port funds to buy the business. The Pacific fishery is worth $14 billion dollars per year for California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. In fact, we see and hear so much about fishing in Alaska and yet Washington numbers match or exceed that state's fishery.

According to the IRS, if we look only at tax returns filed where occupations are listed as fishing we see over $41 million in taxable income for Whatcom County alone. Our in-state fishery is worth more than $3 billion, and that doesn't include catch brought here from out of state for processing.

At this point you might say, "Wow, seems like those fishery folks are doing just fine." You may be right to an extent. Giving an additional moorage break isn't likely to overwhelm our harbor with commercial boats but remember at the beginning of this where I said it's our OPEN sign? Well it is.

Whatcom County has an unbelievable geographic advantage that was recognized well over a hundred years ago, the problem used to be the mountains where rail was too expensive to bring here and now it's a border. However, and this is absolutely the most fundamental part of this entire argument - rail access and borders don't really matter anymore.

Ok, so why don't rail and borders matter? We didn't get a rail terminus from the midwest but fish don't travel on trains, they travel in trucks and on ships. Borders matter so little with our established, trusted trading partners that tariffs or fees hardly make a dent in the final cost of a product that you or I buy on store shelves. Which leaves us with geography.

The Pacific Rim countries, especially those north of the Equator have become the center of the world's economy or at least on par with any European influence. When we look at where fish are caught, eaten or shipped around the Pacific Ocean, Whatcom County has an immense geographic advantage for business people eying locations to operate; if I'm wrong then so is SSA at Cherry Point and all the companies who ship to the massive container ports just north of us.

Our advantage is our location, it always was but until lower Puget Sound got too dense it didn't help us much. We here in Whatcom County have every service needed by the Pacific fishing fleet just like Seattle, and much of that is on Bellingham's waterfront where you can see it all up close and personal.

Our local advantage is that we aren't crowded. We actually get fishermen and women, like my Aunt Felicia a Bristol Bay fisher, who fly in from Alaska in the morning, shop for all their gear in a 20 mile radius, then fly home in the evening or the next morning -- you can't do that in Seattle.

Now back to the border and how it actually helps Whatcom County. While the northern border is relatively porous to trade, when it comes to products arriving on British Columbia's shores in containers or manufactured on either side, we can beat BC in one respect -- it doesn't make any sense to send fish to BC for processing if the final destination is the American market.

Costs in BC are not significantly lower, they are just up the street -- literally -- and it's just that much easier to open a business office in the final US market and import fish fresh off the boat directly through a Whatcom County office. We bring it in over our docks, process it here and send it for domestic or in some cases export markets, which either way works perfectly because of, once again, our geography!

Fishing is more and more, at least for the larger boats you'll see on TV programs, a year round operation where specialization occurs in several fisheries not just one. The smaller boats still seem to concentrate on a close-in, coastal fishery where they may go out for as little as a single opening. We can provide for every need of the Pacific fishery right here in Whatcom County and do it better and cheaper than almost anywhere on the west coast of the U.S.

So why should we lower our commercial fishing moorage rates? Not to just buy into the Pacific fishery market and all that comes with part of that $14 billion industry but to solidify our own sustainable bit of that pie.

If we continue to let the industry fend for itself then it will, it will fight for survival but it will do so somewhere else where people funded the improvements, infrastructure and backbone better than we did.

And this isn't good money thrown after bad - economic multipliers abound when we earn and spend locally. For example, according to a WWU study, just $1 spent on waterfront cleanup in Bellingham generates more than $7 in economic benefit. Now, I couldn't find any studies on local fishery multipliers but it's certain that a $1 spent on fishing out of this county has more than $7 in benefit. It's a no-brainer.

Our commercial fishing rates help light up the Whatcom County OPEN sign from Adak to Baja. I believe that if we fail to adequately support promote the men and women who work hard every day to bring fish to our shores then we aren't really serious about being open, we might as well sit in the back of the booth and read a book.