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Jean Melious: Build a Responsible Future

An Open Letter to the People of Whatcom County

by Jean Melious

These are hard economic times. Many people in Whatcom County face job loss or reductions in income, and we all share in the general uncertainty about what will happen next.

In hard times, it’s easy to retreat into your own position and to fight for what’s yours against all comers. More than ever, though, we need to work together, not against each other. We have to communicate with each other, not call each other names.

I chair the Whatcom County Planning Commission, and I’ve seen meetings that go both ways. I’ve seen rooms full of people who are so angry and worried that they forget even to be civil, and I’ve seen rooms full of people with different backgrounds and ideas who are honestly and openly telling each other what they know and what they need.

We have to go beyond fear, beyond scare tactics and name calling, if we’re going to be problem-solvers in these challenging times. We have to educate each other if we are going to use the resources available to us responsibly.

There is a center in Whatcom County. When we think about our kids, our neighbors, and the future of our community, we know that. Fundamentally, we all want the same things: good jobs, a healthy and safe environment, and a legacy we can hand down so that our children’s experience of Whatcom County will be as good as – maybe better than – ours.

Here are just a few of the issues that we can tackle, together, if we work from the responsible center:

Instead of going to court over urban expansion and sprawl, we can take the responsible approach of figuring out the costs and benefits of development – not just for big developers, but for the community as the whole

We can work to find ways to plan for rural areas that would help farmers to keep farming while protecting them, and the people who move to rural areas for space and quiet, from crowding and traffic;

We can value and protect our important drinking water resources – Lake Whatcom, certainly, and the other surface and groundwater sources that we rely on – because we know that this is the fiscally responsible thing to do, and because we take our obligations to future generations seriously.

I believe that the people of Whatcom County want their government to act in the interests of everyone in the County, not just to listen to those who can afford to send lawyers to Council meetings. I know that there is a thoughtful, responsible center in Whatcom County, and I pledge to seek out and represent the responsible center if I am elected. I would appreciate your support.

Sincerely,

Jean Melious
Candidate for County Council, Position 1

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