GROWTH MANAGEMENT FARCE

Growth Management is a farce. This system that excludes the public must be changed. While cities have taxpayer funded attorneys to fight against them, citizens protecting their communities from harm do not.

The Protect Mud Bay Cliffs SEPA appeal and Water Planning Matters SEPA appeal by citizens holding Bellingham and Blaine accountable under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) are up against insurmountable odds. Each SEPA court appeal can cost half a million dollars in lawyers fees.

Imagine fighting multiple unlawful SEPA determinations simultaneously as WPM has done. Washingtonians need to discuss ways out of this systematic impasse that undermines environmental protection, public participation, and ethical governance in the pursuit of home sales taxes.

The SEPA process needs to be changed by the state legislature to make it fair. That would require a regional outcry from a misinformed public. Mainstream media is no help.

Forcing citizens to sue to get public records they need to challenge city decisions is not fair. Requiring citizens to hire lawyers to participate in review and discussion of official proposals that should have taken place in open two-way discussion prior to adoption of plans is unfair.

Cities that neglect to hold a community orientation on Growth Management planning until after the plan is finished are able to run right over unsuspecting citizens who want to be involved. 

This is not just in Whatcom County. It is a statewide crisis of leadership leading to the exact results Growth Management was intended to avoid: higher taxes and lower environmental standards. In Blaine, the complete violation of our civil rights.

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