Given the complete waste of $232,299 paid to Thomas Hacker Architects for their consulting work on the proposed Bellingham Library rebuild, not to mention seven years of time, the Library Board has now proposed asking for two million for a remodel of the Fairhaven Library.

This may be a valid request, and that merits some investigation and consideration, however, once again, I am dumbfounded by a comment made by City Councilman Jack Weiss. Councilman Weiss, I'm assuming in an effort to build a sense of urgency, stated “It may be too late already," according to Sam Taylor of the Bellingham Herald.

Let's think this through.

First off, the quote is pulled out of context, leaving us to speculate on what it is too late for. Given the thrust of the story, I am taking this to mean that it may be too late to repair the building. The damage is so extensive that effective repairs cannot be made. With that assumption, I'll continue the analysis.

If it is too late already, then I'm most certainly opposed to throwing two million dollars toward a futile effort. It's too late. The building needs to be knocked down and replaced. Save the taxpayers' money for other projects where it is not too late. Perhaps the new water facility at Lake Whatcom?

However, if it is not too late already, and Councilman Weiss is simply overstating his case, then this overstatement impugns the integrity of the councilman and makes future statements vulnerable to questioning and non-belief since he has shown himself to be prone to exaggeration.

The third angle on this keys on the phrase "may be;" "It may be too late already." Well, before we dump two million dollars into this building, doesn't it behoove us to make that determination? If it is too late, then why spend money on a fruitless effort? By what line of reasoning would we even take one more step toward this remodeling/repair while the possibility that it is "too late" is still in question?

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Herein lies the beauty of open discussions like this. You've thrown a fourth option on the table, and it goes way back to the beginning of my post. What is it too late for? You're saying you think Jack may have meant that it is too late for patching and resurfacing? If that's what he meant, then I'm left wondering how that can be, since we just moved into the first of Spring. If anything, the construction season will be picking up, not slowing down.

I recognize you said you don't want to be held to specifics, and you're speculating as to what Jack meant just as I am, so your request is fair. We're all speculating and scratching our heads. If nothing else, Jack keeps things interesting.



As for the $2 million, I can't recall where I read it, but somewhere I read that the amount is about double what actually be required, and the $2 mill was requested in order to more easily roll the Fairhaven Branch remodel into the main branch rebuild. Sorry, I can't recall where I read that.

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Stan,

These are the kind of questions that need to be asked, and in all candor, these are the kinds of questions that were not being asked and which caused me to run for City Council. I'm very pleased that you are asking these questions. I'm confident we would not always reach the same conclusions. That is evident from our discussions here, but I'm just very pleased to see you are concerned that the money we spend is spent wisely, and that we are getting the best return for every dollar spent.

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