Ken's Vision
I love Whatcom County, and I care about what happens here. I envision a County that we can be proud to hand to our children and grandchildren - where they can hunt, fish, camp, and bike, where they can grow food, where they know their neighbors, and where they have a say in their communities.
The most urgent issue I want to address as a Whatcom County Councilmember is growth. We face difficult challenges as growth pressures are changing the nature of our communities. I will hold the line against sprawl. We cannot stand by and watch traffic, flooding, environmental degradation, and overburdened schools diminish our quality of life. Right now, our tax dollars are subsidizing these changes to our County. I support impact reimbursements so that developers and new arrivals pay their own way. I would prefer that my hard-earned money pay for an extra Sheriff's deputy or a park or an after school program.
Furthermore, we must protect working farms, preserve rural lifestyles, and respect existing neighborhoods. We can accommodate growth, protect property rights, and still preserve the beauty and uniqueness of Whatcom County. We need to implement innovative and flexible regulations to allow infill and redevelopment to occur without ruining the character of our communities. We need leadership and hard work, and I will make growth management a priority during my term in office.
As growth threatens our working farms and resource lands, we need to be clear that we support those businesses.We have to promote the development and success of all small businesses. Local business owners coach our soccer teams, pay a living wage, employ the majority of our citizens, and reinvest the profits from their work in our community. A diverse, locally-owned business network will allow Whatcom County residents to withstand the unpredictable influence of the global markets and the migration of jobs overseas. This effort, combined with our existing natural resource base, heavy industry, construction, and commercial sectors will provide economic opportunity for everyone.
Finally, we need efficient government that listens and responds to the needs of our citizens. I will be an accessible member of the Council and I will demand performance from all government employees. I will work to ensure that when a citizen calls a government office with a question, they get an accurate and definitive answer within twenty-four hours. There is nothing more frustrating than being transferred through three departments and getting four different answers! In addition, the government must give people the opportunity to succeed without unnecessary interference. When the paperwork is more burdensome than the protective measures, everybody loses. It becomes tempting to throw up your hands and ignore the permitting process. But it makes violators out of honest farmers and builders and citizens, and we lose the advantages to our community of coordinated planning and protection. The role of government is not hasty approvals or negligent enforcement. The goal is to have predictable, consistent and fair application of the rules.
For the last three and a half years, I have served on the Whatcom County Planning Commission and I am currently the Chairman. In this time, I have been energetic, open-minded, and balanced. My opponent has been on the council for eight years. He is a vocal cheerleader for the growth and development industry, lobbying for exemptions and subsidies. On issues that face the real citizens and taxpayers of Whatcom County, his record, at best, is one of passivity and inaction. At his worst, he is obstructionist and resistant to new ideas. A leader does not simply say "no" or "wait" all the time-- that is for career politicians. A leader identifies a problem and seeks a solution. We deserve a representative who will listen and a leader with initiative who will work for a future that benefits all of us.
Whatcom County is changing--the world has discovered us. We have to respond proactively and constructively to the issues of the day. It does not matter if you are a Republican or Democrat, Progressive, Conservative, or Liberal - the most important thing is to get our policy right. I view this campaign as an investment in all of our values. When elected, I will work to find innovative solutions to the challenging problems of the 21st century, and I will work to keep Whatcom County the place we love to call home.
Thank you for your support, and I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail!
Ken Mann