WEEKLY TATTLER PHOTOS

Mayor Seth Fleetwood

Steve Ban

President Paul Grey

August 22, 2022

Opening Welcome:

With a measured swing (to produce the perfect tone) Pres. Paul Grey rung the meeting to order. He noted that we all are busy and have competition for our time. It’s hard to fit Rotary into a busy schedule. He accomplishes this by making Rotary a recurring appointment in his digital calendar. Paul notably doesn’t take into account those who do not keep a digital calendar, like this reporter.

Club and Committee Announcements:

Announcements

Golfun: The district Golfun outing will be on Friday, August 26, at Homestead Farms Golf Club. Paul urged that even if you are not a golfer, you can still enjoy the dinner. He said it will be a lot of fun.

Homelessnesss Writing Project:

John Dunne is orchestrating a writing project in the community. The topic is homeless. Beyond that, the foci and format are wide open. There will be a broad spectrum of folks writing, including some homeless folks. Jack Westford is coordinating an attempt to include the writing of RCOB members. To incentivize RCOB members Jack has devised some prizes and recognition for the winning entry. The deadline is August 29.

Guidelines for the Competition

The writing must involve homeless/homelessness as the subject.
The writing can focus on your concerns about homelessness, your impressions of the homeless, an encounter with a homeless person that was particularly touching or disturbing, your thoughts about how to reduce the likelihood that someone would become homeless or what is needed to help people escape from homelessness.
The form of the writing can take on any form: poetry, an essay, a letter to a fictional homeless person, an epitaph or fictional letter to an editor, mayor or city council member, etc.
Your submisssion should be no more than two typed pages in length; brevity is appreciated but required.
The submissions must be received by email to Jack Westford no later than the Rotary meeting on August 29.
Submission will be judged by a three-member panel on the basis of thoughtfulness, clarity and originality.
The winner’s name will be announced at a Rotary meeting, the winning submission published in the Tattler, and the winner receive a free lunch at a Rotary meeting of their choice.

WE HAVE MOVED TO OUR MEETING LOCATION TO WHATCOM COMMUNITY COLLEGE, PAVILION #201 EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1, 2022. HERE ARE THE NEW DIRECTIONS (ONES HANDED OUT LAST WEEK HAVE BEEN REPLACED) PRINTABLE DOCUMENT CLICK HERE

The buildings address is 241 W Kellogg Rd. But this is not where you park. There is no parking off of Kellogg Road. You must enter parking off either Eliza Ave or Cordata Parkway. You are looking for the YELLOW lot (look on light poles for Y2 or Y3).

Enter from Eliza Ave: the driveway between Kellogg Rd and Westerly Rd has a driveway into the campus, follow that about 200 yards until it slopes down, park in the area between the three buildings.

Enter from Cordata Parkway: Just north of the WTA station and Cruisin Coffee before the round about is Orca Lane, take Orca Lane around the first two buildings until you find a large parking lot between three buildings.

Google maps directions to parking https://goo.gl/maps/Ng1vkLwcFj19vfTV8

Nathan Twining announced the Rotary Golfun Tournament happening on 26 August in Lynden. There is a lunch included and a dinner afterward. Nathan said you don’t have to be a serious golfer to join in. Contact Nathan for details. $125 entry.

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Weekly Meeting instructions:

You will still receive an email from Sandee each week prior to the Monday 12:30 meeting if you are unable to attend in person (you can start logging in at 12:00 for short socializing) with the link for that privacy-protected meeting. If you have n done so, please download the Zoom app on your computer (you need a camera and microphone on it), iPad or phone. There is no cost to you. If you cannot do either, you can also call in. On the invitation, there are US phone numbers you can call and enter the meeting ID number also indicated on the invitation.

Lunch will be $22 for a buffet meal. We must notify them by Monday at NOON the week prior to the Monday meeting as to the number of members attending. We are sending out meeting "Invites" weekly and members are asked to sign-up ASAP. You can also sign-up by going to the event section of our website at bellinghamrotary.org. If you sign up for a meal at the meeting, you will need to pay the $22 even if you don't wind up attending the meeting after the numbers are turned in. If you plan to attend but not eat, PLEASE indicate that on your sign-up so we don't overorder meals and still make sure there is enough seating.

Four Points also will not collect the payment weekly, so the Club will collect payments prior to the meeting or at the door.

We urge members of the RCOB to set up a Venmo account for ease in payment of Meeting lunches, Happy Bucks, Minister of Fun, Dues or donations to the club. Our account is @RCOB- Bellingham. If you do not have a Venmo account you can set up an account with your computer then download the app. on your phone (just Google "Venmo" and you will find all the information you need) You then attach it to a debit or credit card (a fee on your end) or attach to your checking account at no cost. Payment will be sent di ctly to the RCOB checking account. When you use it for the first time it may ask you the last 4 digits of the RCOB phone number which is 0282. Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532

Other payment options are to bring a check in the correct amount to the meeting made out to RCOB or cash in the exact amount to speed up the payment process. There is also the PayPal option as usual and we are set to take payments at the meeting. We have a QR Code that you scan and simply click to pay thru paypal also.

Website and Phone App instructions:

Here is a tutorial on how to login for the first time. (Click here) Go to belling mrotary.org first. In order to login you need t know your user name and password in your Clubrunner account. The user name is Your first name.Lastname.264 unless you have changed it. Example: Sandra.Lindhout.264 the password is initially set by Clubrunner at 264 unless you have changed it. Sandee can see your Username from her computer but not the password. She can also change your password for you from her computer at your request if you run into problems.

Once you have originally created your User Name and Password you can download the ClubRunner Mobile app on your phone:

iphones https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/clubrunner/id434696377?mt=8

Androids https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doxess.clubrunnermobile

Here is a link for you to take a look at the app:

https://www.clubrunnersupport.com/article/1399-video-clubrunner-mobile-app-for-clubs-district

Please contact Sandee at 360-734-5532 or rcob@comcast.net if you run into any trouble.

Guests

Dale Rings from Arizona

Bill Kirby from Carson City, Nevada

John Moffat introduced Bob Kuenzel who recently moved to Bellingham from Ashland, Oregon where he is a 12 Year Rotarian.

Members attending on Zoom: Loch Trimingham, John Moffat, Scott Wallace and Mike Mallory

Program:

Steve Ban introduced the mayor of Bellingham noting Mayor Seth’s mountain climbing exploits. The mayor’s talk was titled ”City Updates from Mayor Seth Fleetwood”. Seth explained that he has a goal of ascending one mountain each summer. This summer he got to the top of Mount Olympus. Next year he will tackle Mt. Challenger (in the North Cascades).

The mayor started off reviewing in short form, what his two + years in office accomplished. He reminded us that right off the bat the city had to deal with the Covid pandemic unarmed. There was a critical shortage of PPE, not vaccine, and a good deal of misinformation. Among the mountains to surmount were:

A wave of unemployment. Small businesses (and all business actually) were in dire straits. Many had to shut doors or dramatically alter business practices.

A wave seeking racial / social justice, with pressure to reform symbols of institutional oppression. Notably the “defund the police” movement. Recent polls surveys and election results show that the majority do not approve of defunding. A side issue to this is the “blue tsunami” which is police officers reaching retirement age and leaving the force. Mayor Fleetwood stated that a couple of decades ago there were many hundreds of applicants for one position on the police force. Now there are five to eight.

And the campouts which illustrated the homeless situation in society. Social media tends to amplify these conditions. One dissatisfied person with a smart phone can post on the web and be reposted many times. This can skew the public perception of problems.

The city has tried to respond to these problems by assisting the mission to relocate the drop-in center to Base Camp. This happened in the height of the pandemic. The homeless now have a place to gain shelter for the night, get meals etc.

To address some of the concerns of business, the city has:

Distributed grants to small businesses to help them survive.

Instituted the ambassadors’ program in the downtown. Volunteers patrol downtown making contact and listening to concerns.

The city also has contracted with a private security agency (unarmed) to help quell possible disturbances and with the aim of keeping the area safe.

Mayor Fleetwood noted that Bellingham’s geographical location invites growth. It’s a favorable place to move to. There is no way to stop it, so we as a community must learn to deal with it. He was recently in Hawaii at a Mayor’s Institute on City Design. He was enthusiastic about what he learned. He noted that he had proposed the Old Town area for a workshop on redesign. He did not have time to go into detail. One hopes that the city will place the results of the workshop online for us all to see.

Another striking problem facing the city is affordable housing. The mayor remarked that the median income in the city can afford only ½ of the median house price. Housing is twice as expensive as what can be afforded by the median wage. How we as a community can address this problem is still unresolved.

Seth noted that his office is in the throws of the budgeting process now. He must present a proposed budget to city council in October to follow schedule. He said that revenues are surprisingly good. There are few scofflaws as far as tax and fee payments are concerned. Our park system is the envy of many jurisdictions. Our forebearers can take credit for that.

There was only about five minutes for follow-up questions. They concerned taxes and where the federal funds went. No one asked about the mayor’s great tan…