November 17 - 23, 2022
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Boys and Girls club donation match, page 3
Maritime apprenticeship program starts, page 5
BHS swimmer places first in state, page 6
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Veterans Day tribute in Veterans Memorial Park City council delays downtown revitalization project contract By Grace McCarthy
(See City, page 2)
s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9474 and American Legion Post 86 honor those who have served on Veterans Day, November 11, at Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Blaine. More photos on page 7. Photo by Ian Haupt
Expected red wave turns blue in 42nd district By Grace McCarthy Democrats swept the local field prevailing over newcomers and incumbents alike. Sharon Shewmake (D) won the tight race for the 42nd Legislative District’s Senate seat. The race against incumbent Simon Sefzik (R) was a hardfought battle, but with 234 votes left to count at 5 p.m. November 15, Shewmake was in the lead by 836 votes. “I’m really honored and excited to do good work and I’m here to talk to people, whether they voted for me or not,” Shewmake said in a phone interview. “Everything is a community effort.” Housing is first on Shewmake’s agenda when the Washington state legislature convenes on January 9. She said housing affordability makes it harder for county residents to recover from the November
2021 floods, is the biggest part of people’s budgets that can be controlled and has environmental components. “It’s everything,” Shewmake said. “If we don’t do something right now, Whatcom County will be a place where only millionaires can live and that’s not acceptable to me.” Shewmake received 37,771 votes (50.5 percent) and Sefzik received 36,935 votes (49.3 percent). “I’m not going to lie and say it doesn’t hurt, but at the end of the day the people made their decision and you move on,” Sefzik said in a phone interview, later adding. “I was never the most likely candidate for this position and we worked really, really hard. That’s the hardest part, to get close but not cross the finish line.” Sefzik said he reached out to Shewmake and offered his congratulations.
Blaine school board looking for new member By Ian Haupt Blaine school board is asking residents who live in district 1 and are interested in filling the district’s vacant seat to send in a letter of interest. At last month’s board meeting, the board formally accepted board member Todd Nunamaker’s resignation. It is now accepting letters of interest from residents who live within the district 1 boundaries, which include Point Roberts and western parts of downtown, are a U.S. citizen and registered voter.
Letters will be accepted until Friday, December 9, according to a November 14 news release. Nunamaker cited “continued health challenges” as his reason for resigning. He was the board’s vice president. The board has 90 days from the date of Nunamaker’s resignation to select a replacement for his position following interviews held in public session. It will start interviewing candidates in January. The appointed director will serve until the next election in November 2023.
Letters should be addressed to the board of directors and submitted either by email at comments@blainesd.org or mailed to Blaine school district at 765 H Street, Blaine WA 98230. They should describe the candidate’s interest in serving on the board, including prior experience, qualifying factors and goals as a potential board member. For more information on applying to the vacant seat, contact the Blaine school district superintendent’s office at 360/332-5881.
He said he’s determining his next step – whether that is law school, as he originally intended, getting his master’s degree or working locally. Regardless, Sefzik said he remains committed to tackling rising crime and homelessness, lowering the cost of living and creating a more accountable government. “I want to thank the people of Whatcom County whether they voted for me or not,” Sefzik said. “I love this place. As a skinny kid with a funny last name, thank you for giving me a chance.” About 70.3 percent of the county’s 157,580 registered voters turned in their ballots. Whatcom County Auditor’s Office estimated another 234 ballots were left to count by 5 p.m. November 15 after 110,830 ballots were counted. (See Election, page 3)
INSIDE
Blaine City Council tabled voting on the engineering design services contract for Blaine’s Downtown Revitalization Project during its November 14 meeting. Council was expected to vote on the contract in mid-September but has pushed the vote several times. If approved, the contract would award Seattle-based KPG Psomas Inc. $620,000 to provide engineering design services for the revitalization project. The revitalization project is expected to cost $2.83 million total, paid for by already allocated funding. The project would beautify the downtown core through improvements such as landscaping and flowerbeds, public art, benches, bike racks and pedestrian signs on Peace Portal Drive. The project is also expected to install a pavilion at G Street Plaza, improve the Martin Street parklet and upgrade public spaces to improve ADA accessibility. Council was set to vote on the contract during the last council meeting, on October 24, but tabled the vote because councilmembers Garth Baldwin and Mike Hill were absent. With Baldwin and Hill not present at the November 14 meeting, council unanimously decided to table the vote again at the urging of councilmember Eric Davidson. Interim city manager Dave Wilbrecht said delaying the vote pushed the project timeline, but didn’t cause major problems. “It’s a project, so it just starts later,” he said. “There was a schedule put together and that was based upon it being approved earlier. It just rotates the schedule.” Davidson told the other councilmembers he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to approve the contract. “It’s a lot of money for a lot of fun stuff,” he said. “I’m hesitant to vote ‘yes’ on it with the state we’re in, as far as our budget goes. That doesn’t mean
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