Letters to the Editor: September 20-26

The Editor:

Starbucks, please shut off your propane fireplace. In our age of climate change, we do not need you needlessly pumping carbon dioxide into the air. I’m sure you could get the same effect with some nice orange LED lights.

You are a welcome addition to Blaine; I like your coffee but please shut off the fire.

Bill James

Blaine

The Editor: 

I dread the next two months, being inundated with election ads throughout the day. In this letter I will only address the campaign for Washington state senator representing Whatcom County.

In the 2014 election, I tired of hearing the same vile, attack ads on TV over and over again and of receiving laminated, oversized cards in the mail endorsing one or the other state senate candidate (usually negatively portraying the opponent as the villain of the right or the left). In the final month of the election, I received two of the same cards each day in the mail.

My neighbor would text or phone me to say, “Is this for real?”

After the election, The Northern Light (November 6-12, 2014) reported that $1,610,000 was spent by the Ericksen-Fleetwood campaigns and by independent supporters of these two candidates. All to elect someone who would be salaried in the $40,000 range.

You can’t make this stuff up. And then, the winner headed to Washington, D.C. because he felt he could do two jobs at once.

I have combined the amounts from the Fleetwood and the Ericksen campaigns and supporters because the amounts were roughly equal and I am not pointing fingers at one party. But when the candidates ignore these outrageous costs, they either are not candidates who will be good stewards of our taxpayer dollars or have over-sized egos of their importance to the people of Whatcom County or both.

So, when deciding how you will vote for state senator this year, ask Ericksen and Vargas to address the costs of running for office, ask for commitments to limit the barrage of the same ad or flyer, ask for objective – not sensational – critiques of the opponent, and ask for a commitment to do the job he/she ran for. And not by telecommuting.

Susan O’Malley

Blaine

The Editor:

Sharon Shewmake is running for state representative in the 42nd legislative district position 2. She is an associate professor of economics at Western Washington University.

Sharon is “…running because our economy isn’t just dollars and cents, it’s how we care for one another and grow our communities. We need leaders who fight for our values. Protecting children, the environment and workers isn’t charity, it’s an investment in our future,” according to Shewmake’s political website. She believes no child deserves to live in poverty. No family deserves to go hungry.

Her platform includes environmental

protection and well-paying jobs for families.

She has a Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from University of California Davis and a bachelor’s in economics from Duke University. In addition to teaching, she is married with two children, and has written a children’s book.

Sharon is exactly the kind of representative that Whatcom County needs working in Olympia fighting for our values, our environment, and supporting the best interests of our families. I hope you will take the opportunity to hear her speak. She is inspiring and her enthusiasm is contagious. She cares deeply for Whatcom County and no one will work harder in Olympia.

Please check out her Facebook page to find out more and get a schedule of her upcoming campaign events.

Don’t forget to vote … all the way down the ballot.

Linda Schonborn

Ferndale