Reader Comments on Sidewalk Inventory Request
Dear Editor:
An article in Whatcom Watch’s “Talk to Us” (April/May 2026) concerning neighborhood sidewalk inventories caught my interest. I was impressed with the substantial effort those involved had made. However, I’d like to correct an error and encourage future collaboration for neighborhood groups interested in their local infrastructure. Having been a member of Bellingham’s Transportation Commission during the development of the 2024 Pedestrian Master Plan (https://cob.org/services/planning/transportation-planning/pedestrian-master-planning), I recalled that an extensive inventory of pedestrian resources (including sidewalks) was made of all Bellingham streets.
Contrary to a statement in that article, information on sidewalks is available on the city’s website (CityIQ Online Map Viewer – City of Bellingham: https://cob.org/services/maps/online-mapping) — under Layers>Transportation>Transportation Details>Sidewalks). Comparison with the findings of the neighborhood groups mentioned in the article is in order.
It should be noted that development of the Bellingham’s 2024 Pedestrian Master Plan (updating the 2013 Pedestrian Master Plan) involved extensive community engagement during the 2023 planning year with in-person meetings, opportunities for written comments, and an interactive on-line Engage Bellingham website. There was considerable community/neighborhood participation and opportunities to provide feedback on the studies that were made at that time.
While the next Pedestrian Master Planning opportunity will not be until after 2030, there will be opportunities to engage with the city before that time. Public Works has initiated a Community Streets Program, which rotates to a new neighborhood each year. The extensive work done by the neighborhood groups mentioned in the article suggests that collaboration with the city could be fruitfully engaged.
One word of caution from over 12 years of experience on city transportation commissions in Blacksburg, Virginia and Bellingham, Washington: cement for sidewalks on a square foot basis is one of the most expensive investments that a city can make. The backlog of projects is always quite long. It is important that the city and its citizens require that all new developments include all necessary infrastructure up front.
Keith M. Moore
Bellingham
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Defend Washington Supreme Court — Please Vote
The primaries are upon us and our fair, diverse and progressive State Supreme Court needs WA citizens to defend it.
Unusually, five seats — a majority of the nine-seat court — are up for election this year, enough to entirely change its makeup. Four of the five races will be on our primary ballots.
Position 3 is an open seat with three contenders: State Appeals Court Judge Mike Diaz, endorsed by retiring Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis, Attorney General Nick Brown, and former Govs. Jay Inslee, Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke; King County Superior Court Judge Jaime Hawk, endorsed by Gov. Bob Ferguson, former Justice Mary Yu and current Justice G. Helen Whitener; and Mason County Superior Court Judge David Stevens, a former prosecutor who has the backing of the state GOP.
Three incumbents have multiple challengers: Chief Justice Debra Stephens (Position 7); also Justices Colleen Melody (Position 1) and Theo Angelis (Position 5) — both recently appointed by Gov. Ferguson, himself a former WA Attorney General.
Position 4, with two contenders for an open seat, will appear on our general election ballots.
We can’t afford to pass on these races — the outcome will have consequences for years to come. Please vote.
Myra B Ramos
Lummi Island
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Blaine’s White Collar Crime
Editor’s note: Whatcom Watch has no involvement with these issues.
Blaine City Council’s recurring pattern, 2023-2026, of voting on zoning matters in which Blaine officials hold undisclosed financial interests, combined with systematic suppression of public participation and manipulation of public records, represents a serious and ongoing threat to the integrity of local governance. Below is a discussion of how white collar crime became institutionalized in Blaine, while the county prosecutor did nothing. Blaine City Council Rules of Procedure require council members with a conflict of interest to 1) Disclose the conflict on the record, 2) Recuse themselves from voting, and 3) Leave the council chambers prior to discussion.
On March 9, 2026, Blaine City Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains voted in favor of Ordinance 26-3043, which suspends height, design, and parking requirements in the Central Business District, directly and materially increasing the commercial development potential and real property value of her and her husband’s properties downtown. Councilwoman Bains did not disclose these financial interests, either her own commercial property in the affected zone or her spouse’s property interests, before deliberations or the vote. She did not recuse herself. She knowingly voted in favor of legislation that directly benefits her family’s financial interests.
On March 13, 2025, at the Blaine Planning Commission hearing on the Urban Mixed Use (UMU) rezone, Commissioner Sam Randhawa failed to disclose his conflict of interest, and voted to approve, making a false declaration under oath that he had no conflict. Randhawa, real estate agent at Freeman Real Estate, had a direct financial interest in properties within the UMU rezone area at 2670 Bell Road, which as a result of the UMU rezone vote increased from an assessed value of $629,639 to a market listing price of $2,700,000 within 27 days of his vote. The potential realtor commission as a result of the UMU rezone jumped immediately from $15,741 on assessed value to approximately $67,500 after Randhawa’s vote.
Jay Taber
Blaine
