Letters to the editor: June 1-7

The Editor:

In the May 25 issue, The Northern Light reported that state senator Doug Ericksen wrote to Governor Inslee that, “The people of Whatcom County, and in particular the people of Blaine, are troubled and confused by your veto of a much needed transportation project at exit 274 on I-5.” Yet it was Ericksen, in 2016, who “was revealed as the force behind a last-minute decision to pull funds from Blaine’s long-awaited interchange improvement to I-5 exit 274.” (The Northern Light, bit.ly/2rmc4kq). But for Ericksen, the interchange could already have been approved and already be in the works. Blaming the governor is the height of hypocrisy.

We also won’t forget that:

Ericksen took a job in January, 2017, with the EPA in Washington, D.C., which records show he worked at full-time taking the equivalent of an annual salary of $161,900 in his first month there, while also taking his full salary as a state legislator (Bellingham Herald, bit.ly/2mQU2m2).

Ericksen also collected nearly $6,000 from the state, claiming a $120 per day state expense allowance between January 9 and April 2 while working for the EPA (Bellingham Herald, bit.ly/2qEbx9z)

Ericksen proposed a bill that would allow protesters to be charged with terrorism (Seattle Times, bit.ly/2fmRbwB)

Ericksen, in January, 2017, worked to reverse a state action that expanded protection of 45 acres of aquatic lands at Cherry Point. (Bellingham Herald, bit.ly/2rifEtG)

Ericksen was “the biggest beneficiary of lobbyist expense accounts … In the first four months [of 2013], Ericksen had at least 62 occasions where he benefited from free meals, drinks or golf, according to records. That’s about every other day over the first four months of the year...Many of the lobbyists who treated Ericksen represented energy and oil companies…” (Seattle Times, bit.ly/2skhwBQ)

We must remember the above and other items, and take the next opportunity to elect someone who doesn’t double dip salaries, take expense money while being wined and dined by lobbyists, and neglect constituents at home while working in Washington, D.C.

Charles Kinzer

Birch Bay

The Editor:

I was appalled to see the use of an armored car in a Blaine pot raid that netted the laughable criminality of just four plants over the legal limit.  I am a law-abiding citizen, 73 years old, retired, don’t grow, buy, use or sell marijuana but I am strongly against the militarization of our law enforcement agencies and see no reason why the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department should even have an armored car. Big waste of money, big waste of gasoline and totally unnecessary for the protection of deputies or SWAT teams. We’re not talking east LA or the south side of Chicago here, it’s Blaine and I don’t think any of the local pot growers own any bazookas.

Holger Jensen

Blaine