It’s time for elections.
On November 7th ballots are due for our local election. For this election we are electing local officials like the mayor and city council. Running for mayor we have Seth Fleetwood, who has been our mayor for the last 4 years and was on the Whatcom Council and the City Council for two terms. His challenger, Kim Lund, is a first-time candidate but has leadership experience as the executive director of Bellingham Public Schools.
Also being elected are city council members. For Council Ward 1 we have Hannah Stone, who has served before against Eamonn Collins, a first-time candidate. Liz Darrow, who has been a part of many PTAs is running against Daniel Hammill who has been on the council since 2014. Both are running for the position of Council Ward 3. Lisa A. Anderson, who has been Council Ward 5 since 2019, is running unopposed.
The Council At-Large position is between Jace Cotton, a first-time candidate, and Russ Whidbee, who has held the position since 2021.
We are not only voting on our local officials, we are also voting on whether certain initiatives should be passed or not. Proposition 1 is on the Greenways 5 Levy. People are deciding if they think they should replace a Greenways levy for acquisition, development, climate resiliency, and maintenance of the greenways to open the space and create a more climate resilient community.
The second initiative is about raising the city minimum wage above the State minimum wage. This initiative would increase our minimum wage two dollars above the state’s to prohibit retaliation by employers against employees, among other things.
The third and final initiative being proposed to the city is called Rental Relocation Assistance Program for Tenants. It would make it so landlords have to send out a notice 120 days before rent increases by more than 8 percent in a rolling 12 month period.
This is just our local election, there is also the national elections, which are just as important. All voting is an important part of bettering our community.
