Groups vie for official recognition

While the county still hasn’t developed a process for approving the formation of Rural Advisory Committees (RAC), that hasn’t stopped several local groups from putting one together. At least two groups will vie for the job of being Point Roberts voice in Bellingham.

The proposed committee will be the primary topic when the Point Roberts Taxpayers Association holds their annual general meeting June 19. The association is proposing the Point’s RAC be made up of 11 voting members, including three each from the chamber of commerce, the taxpayers association and the voters association and two at large members, one of which would need to be a resident of the Point. Voting membership would be approved by county council. Local elected boards and commissions, the county and the port of Bellingham would hold non-voting seats.

While the association board itself would meet the county’s requirements to become the RAC for the Point, president Michael Rosser said they were not proposing to take up that role, but wanted public input about how the committee would be structured, from which they would craft a proposal to submit to the county.

The Economic Development Committee (EDC), which county planner Amy de Vera Pederson had tapped as “the most representative group” on the Point and a potential precursor to the local RAC does not meet most of the county’s requirements for those groups – meetings are closed to the public and the group has no established business rules. Pederson said she expects that group to decide by June 1 if they wish to change their policies to put them in the running for RAC status, which would mean they could access county funds set aside for such a committee.

Some members of the community have already submitted applications to the county for Point Roberts RAC membership, even though such a group has yet to form or gain county approval: Tom Hollett, John Lesow and Sam Miller. Hollett said he and Lesow had drafted a plan for a RAC made up of nine members, six at large and three representing the chamber, taxpayers association and voters association. Lesow presented the plan at the May 18 county council meeting.

Hollett said they did not envision a public process for choosing the members of the RAC, but that he and Lesow had been “choosing people to talk to” potential members and encouraging them to apply to the county. Hollett said he feels a RAC organized outside of any organizational umbrella is the most representative choice. “It’s a community group – that’s the whole idea.”

Mike Peters, who had previously submitted his application with Hollett, Lesow and Miller, withdrew his application following May discussions between taxpayers and voters association members about putting together a joint proposal for a RAC. “The voters and taxpayers will be coming together and since they are the most inclusive groups on the Point I don’t want to get in the way of that process,” he said.

Pederson said there was no rush to get a committee together, as the county still did not have a procedure for developing and selecting one in place. “This issue will likely be resolved through discussions with the county executive,” she said.

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