On the heels of an election cycle in which a handful of candidates spoke consistently about open and transparent government processes, the Bellingham City Council and new Bellingham Mayor have opted to close out the 2007 year in a manner that is the antithesis of such governing style and ideology. On Wednesday, December 19, Bellingham City Council met in special session to rubber stamp their approval of John Carter as the new Bellingham Finance Director, a man with a questionable 17 year record (and that’s being kind!) in a similar position with the port.

Given the tense nature of the relationship between the City and the Port, this appointment stands the hair on the back of my neck, and it shows that for all our clamoring for “change” in Bellingham City government, once again, the citizens of Bellingham have given in to the local power elites.

The stealth nature of this appointment should raise concerns in the minds of the Bellingham citizenry, having only 24 hours notice and little fanfare in the local media. This does not bode well for Mayor Dan, who campaigned on a platform of “open” and “inclusive” government and it is a surprising, and somewhat perplexing opening move for the new Mayor of Openness.

In an uncharacteristic move, City Council member, Barbara Ryan, spoke of her desire for more knowledge and discussion prior to making such an appointment, but she got nowhere with her objections, as it was clear that Bob Ryan wanted to make the appointment quickly and then gavel the meeting to a resounding close. But I applaud her attempt. As a friend of mine said in this regard, “even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

Personally, I see no reason this appointment could not have waited until January, when the council that will work with the new Finance Director will be the council that votes his or her approval. As it stands, the new council will have no say in this appointment.

If this “sniper-shot” style of governing continues, as I suspect it will, it will be very interesting to see how many of the rabid Pike supports begin to turn on him, and how rapidly this will occur. During the campaign, I observed, as did many others, those occasions where Candidate Dan appeared to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth, depending on who his audience was. This should have given voters pause, but then such doublespeak is common for unscrupulous candidates, so I’m sure many find it easy to dismiss.

We at Eye on Whatcom would prefer to see an end to the 20 years of back room dealings and closed door decision making.