Whatcom Watch Celebrates Tenth Anniversary!

Ken Russell has been a Whatcom Watch volunteer since 1997. He is the online editor and a member of the board of directors.

Whatcom Watch is celebrating its tenth anniversary with this issue. The first issue was published in May 1992 and the paper has developed over the past ten years into a well-read publication. We’ve had inquiries about our history and what follows is a brief description of the times and beginnings of Whatcom Watch.

The year 1992 was a relatively quiet one for news and politics. There were riots in South Central Los Angeles in reaction to the acquittal of four policemen involved in the Rodney King beating; President Bush (the first) pardoned high government officials convicted of money laundering, gunrunning, and other crimes as part of the Iran-Contra conspiracy; and voters expressed their frustration by turning from 12 years of conservative Reaganesque politics.

In the quiet Northwest county of Whatcom, citizens” frustrations with politicians were also growing. In this case it was due to the lack of response from the local government and on issues that affected their community. The previous ten years had seen rapid development in Bellingham and the surrounding county, with only muted lip service to environmental protections and quality of life issues.

Many people had moved to the Bellingham area because of its beautiful natural amenities and small-town character, and many natives also wanted to keep it that way. But large commercial development was beginning to transform beautiful Whatcom County, putting it on a path leading to the traffic-choked asphalt sprawl typical of the south Puget Sound megalopolis.

Citizens concerned about environmental degradation, urban sprawl, and quality of life issues felt increasingly voiceless. Local political leaders and bureaucrats seemed too often to side with large industries and private economic interests. The Bellingham Herald and other local media often overlooked or over-simplified issues of development, lack of planning, and industrial pollution.

It was increasingly evident that citizens’ attempts to have a say in shaping the future of Whatcom County were being ignored by an entrenched old-boy network with an attitude that only it knew what was best for the future of the county.

Citizen groups had spontaneously formed to oppose policies and schemes that favored powerful economic interests at the expense of the majority. Some of these issues included development in the Cordata area, Georgia-Pacific’s unregulated dumping of toxic waste in wetlands, and city annexation of county land ripe for development by real estate interests.

Feeling that decision makers were ignoring their concerns, a few people stated talking. They agreed that there was a need to communicate between groups trying to democratize public policy on these and other issues; there was a need to inform the public of what was happening.

Three women, Lorena Havens, Rebecca Meloy, and Sherilyn Wells started talking over the phone and decided to publish a newsletter that would serve as a clearinghouse and forum for people concerned about the many issues that were arising in the city and county. They soon met to work out the details.

As a result, the first Whatcom Watch, Issue 1, appeared in May of 1992. A six page back-to-back photocopy, it began with these words:

This is a critical time for Whatcom County. The WHATCOM WATCH is dedicated to preserving the quality of life in Whatcom County by maintaining a true balance between that quality of life, growth, farmland, forests, and fish and wildlife. We will do this by serving as an information network between citizens, neighborhood groups, agencies, and our elected officials. We plan to record “issue votes” in our councils.

The first issue brought attention to some of the problems the editors felt were being ignored or taken lightly by local media and public officials. These stories included: organizing against clear cutting on Sumas Mountain; progress on the Critical Areas Ordinance required by the state Growth Management Act; development of forested lands southeast of Fairhaven; airport expansion and the destruction of wetlands; Lake Whatcom water quality; and Sudden Valley sewer expansion, among others.

Unlike the full news stories of today, the first Whatcom Watch publications included little more than short announcements and reader alerts. No art graced the stapled 8 ½" x 11" green sheets, except for a simple line drawing of a heron on the masthead (not the one used today).

Rebecca Meloy recounts the beginning of the paper ten years ago:

“Getting the Whatcom Watch rolling was really quite simple. Lorena Havens was the rock of confidence and master copy editor, since that had been her occupation for many decades. Sherilyn Wells was a superb writer with tremendous concerns about our Bellingham water source. We could always count on her for a great article. I kept the telephone busy while assembling the many pieces of the puzzle with newspaper layout and production.”

But one thing has remained constant—since the first issue, the Watch has been largely produced by a group of all volunteers. For the most part, the articles, layout, editing and distribution were and still are provided by individuals on their own time and often at their own expense for the good of the community.

The first issue’s “press run” (photocopied) was for a few hundred copies that were distributed person-to-person or left in a few stores and other establishments. Because there were no subscriptions or advertising to defray the cost of printing, the cost of the first few issues were paid for by the founders.

The intent of the paper was clear in the second issue: the paper was not to be a platform for a small group of like-minded activists with an agenda, but was to be a forum for citizens voicing community concerns. Most of the concerns centered on development and environmental issues. On the first page, the paper exhorted its readers: “If you know of a meeting that concerns you, go to it, testify and /or write a letter. Write an article for the Whatcom Watch” (emphasis in original).

The second issue, published in June of 1992, included articles and announcements on: campaign finance reform, port election reform, solid waste disposal, county planning, Georgia-Pacific’s chlorine production dangers, herbicide spraying on Lookout Mountain, flood control on the Nooksack River, surface mining, and oil pipeline regulation, as well as other issues.

The following month, Issue 3 expanded to 12 pages of news. The Watch began to include longer articles; Cyndy Anderson contributed a cover article on growth management. Illustrations began to grace the pages, most contributed by local artist and Whatcom Watch co-founder Becky Meloy.

Issue 4, published in August, saw a changed look for the Watch. Upgrading from a single column format, Stephanie Hopkinson volunteered her experience as a desktop publisher to bring a multi-column format and more professional look to the Watch. Contributors to the publication had expanded from just a handful a few months earlier, to eighteen.

The November and December issues showed the first use of the current masthead logo, with its distinctive great blue heron, cattails, and title created by local artist Ron Sorenson. The paper took a jump in size also, increasing to 20 pages (still 10 8 ½" x 11" sheets printed back-to-back).

It displayed a more polished look and contained longer articles including: a proposed gas pipeline along Squalicum Creek; Lummi Nation objections to wastewater disposal in the Nooksack River; the building of an illegal dock in Chuckanut Bay; and many other stories.

The Watch did not shy away from providing a forum for countervailing views—one article was a point-counter-point exchange between Chris Spens, an associate planner with the City of Bellingham, and Al Hanners, a retired geologist and contributor to the Watch.

The point of debate was why the planner had determined that the construction of a Cascade Gas pipeline through wetlands and running along Squalicum Creek warranted a determination of non-significance, thereby eliminating the need for an environmental impact statement. Al Hanners, who argued for the need of an impact statement, is still writing for the Watch ten years later! (Al was named Watcher of the Year for 2001, see January 2001 issue, page three. In this issue, see front page and page 3.)

At the end of six months of publication, there were 300 subscribers—clearly there was an interest in the Watch as an alternative news source! There were many people who helped get Whatcom Watch started in its formative years, including Yvonne Bonser, Shelly Langman, Bo Richardson, Carl Franz, Aranzazu Lascurain, Mathew Booker, and Mike Hopkinson. But these are only a few of the many names of people involved in its writing, editing, production and distribution; it would be impossible to list everyone.

Two people, who started volunteering for the Watch almost from the beginning, are still involved with it. Rebecca Meloy remembers, “Sue Lorentz methodically toodled about town in her canopied truck doing distribution. Bill McCallum kept track of the subscriber’s list and worked to develop an up-to-the-minute and efficient mailing list.”

Bill McCallum has also been responsible for layout since 1996. Last month he celebrated his 75th issue designing the layout and his 65th consecutive layout. Sue Lorentz has contributed to the Watch in almost every position, including editor for several years. She continues to help with distribution.

It is not possible to list everyone involved with the paper, even just those involved in the first few years. A contributors’ index kept from May 1992 to the present lists 709 people who have contributed articles or art to the paper. That does not include people involved in production, distribution, and contributions made in other forms.

As 1993 began, Whatcom Watch was well established and growing. Its quick success and community support led to a change in format in February 1993 as it transformed from a packet of stapled pages to a newspaper tabloid format printed at the Lynden Tribune.

In the subsequent years, Whatcom Watch has evolved to its present state. A notable change came with Volume 7, Issue 1 (January 1998). This issue started a new era for the publication as it began to augment its paper-based edition with a Web-based version. Since it began, the Whatcom Watch Online Web site has had a steadily growing readership.

Whatcom Watch Online not only provides everyone with Internet access the ability to read the Watch, it also allows past issues (beginning with the January 1998 issue) to be easily retrieved by readers with online access. With the help of volunteer Tom Pratum, work is currently underway to upgrade the present Web site to make it easier to maintain, more user-friendly, and provide a sophisticated search feature for finding articles, authors, and other criteria.

The archiving ability of the Web has meant that the publication could be more than just a monthly chronicle of local events and political analysis. Online availability of past issues means that Whatcom Watch Online can also serve as a valuable resource for local research in local politics and culture. Other similar environmental publications, such as the Tidepool News (http://tidepool.org) have reprinted Watch articles.

While the Watch continues to publish timely and important articles on local issues, internally it has struggled with the same issues since the beginning—the need for more volunteers to help produce the paper (writers, editors, and distributors), and the need for a strong subscriber base to help offset the costs of production.

If you value the Watch and would like to see it continue publishing, please consider subscribing if you’re not a subscriber already. We also need help distributing the paper—calling the paper and volunteering to drop off issues at some of your favorite spots in town can really help spread the word. If you want your voice to be heard, you might consider writing an article on a community topic that interests you.

Whatcom Watch will continue to be a forum for local writers and organizations that want to improve our community and our environment. It’s our intent to serve as a grassroots information forum dedicated to preserving Whatcom County’s quality of life. The three women who began a community paper ten years ago for people concerned about Whatcom County made a difference. You can make a difference too!