Meet the Candidates night

Meet the Candidates night took place on October 3 at the community center. There were nine candidates present along with about 60 community members who attended both in person and online.  

The meeting began with each of the candidates giving a brief introduction of themselves and why they were running. Satpal Sidhu, the incumbent candidate for county executive, said that he is a citizen of three countries, speaks four different languages and has worked all over the world. “It widens your horizon of thinking and looking at average issues in different ways.” Dan Purdy, who is running against Sidhu, is a business owner who has been employed by five Fortune 500 companies. “I want to remind you that this is a CEO position with 900 employees, 271-million-dollar budget and 230,000 residents.” For the council at-large position, Jon Scanlon’s priorities are affordability and transparency. “You need to know where your tax dollars are going, and you need to know if those programs are working or not.” Scanlon’s opponent, Hannah Ordos is a fourth generation Whatcom County resident who emphasized community in her approach, “When I look at these faces, I don’t just see voters, I see the faces of people who are connected in this community that I’m accountable to as an elected official.” 

Ben Elenbaas, who is running for re-election for Council District 5, says he ran to restore balance to local politics. “If you pay attention over the last four years, you’ll know that I’m known for challenging the status quo. Those of you that are here and are upset about things here in Point Roberts, we are here because of the status quo.” Also running for District 5 is Jackie Dexter, whose main priority is to support working families through affordable childcare and affordable housing. “I want to be a voice for those that cannot speak for themselves, and I want to support these working families.” 

Donnell Tanksley is running for sheriff. His concerns lie in ensuring we keep our neighborhoods safe by lowering incarceration rates and increasing training for all law enforcement officers. “I believe in accountability, treatment, rehabilitation, and reintegration into society.” Tanksley’s opponent is Doug Chadwick, who has been with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s office for 28 years, “I’m the only candidate for sheriff that has the depth of experience and leadership to step into the role of sheriff on day one and ensure a seamless transition to ensure public safety for all of us.” 

Ben Lazarus, who previously lived on the Point for 15 years, is running for school board. He decided to get involved with the school board after budget cuts were threatening cuts to the art department. “I really understand the school district needs from the Point Roberts’ point of view.” 

Following the introductions, there was a question-and-answer session, where the lack of a dog park was brought up by several attendees. A dog park was first requested by the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) to the county two years ago. This past June, the request to consider a dog park was pushed forward until 2025 due to a backlog of work and a change in county parks management.

Sidhu expressed hesitance to move forward with a dog park due to lack of unity in Point Robert’s residents. “I think that saying that you guys have come up unanimously with anything is a little bit far stretched.” He has stated that if the community can come up with a unanimous decision he will move forward.

Resident Kat Smith disagreed with Sidhu’s opinion, “We do think that we come with one voice, and we bring it pretty loudly often. Give us something, toss us a bone.” When Purdy was asked if he would be able to provide a dog park if elected, he replied, “the county executive has the financial authority up to $40k. How much is your half acre fence?” To which the response was $30k, he then replied, “There you go.” 

Another resident, John Lesow, brought up our lack of a dock. “We’ve been without a working dock for 14 years. I’ve exchanged many emails and many proposals for a replacement, but nothing has come forward. Everybody agreed that it was a good economic driver to have a dock in Point Roberts.”

Sidhu mentioned that the county had an easement at the marina, and that is the proposed location for the new dock. “We own the land, it is very good access, it will be protected.” Many of the attendees did not know about this proposal for a dock near the marina.

Allison Calder said, “As the chair of the PRCAC, I know that piece of property, I know there’s an easement at the marina, we’ve brought it up year after year. There has never been an email from Whatcom County parks, public works, or the executive’s office to tell us that there’s been any discussion about putting a dock there.”  

A recurring theme during the meeting was Point Roberts is underserved and that its taxes doesn’t pay for things that the community wants or needs..

At the end of the meeting, Calder brought up a few projects that have been promised and never came to fruition including a commercial-only sewer plant that was promised in the 80s and repairs to the maple beach seawall. “We are tired of hearing ‘there is no money for you.’ We would like to get some of that infrastructure so that we can be a sustainable community.”