City of Ferndale

Navy veteran and current council chair Barry Buchanan has served one term on the Bellingham City Council and two on the Whatcom County Council. Buchanan has been a solid vote on the county council, especially through the difficulties of last year. He is the chair of the Whatcom County Incarceration Reduction and Prevention Taskforce and is seeking to provide alternatives to booking people for low-level crimes through the LEAD program, which was established in 2019.

Buchanan supports both the Whatcom Crisis Stabilization Center and East Whatcom Regional Resource Center, which serve those experiencing mental health crises and hunger. He has also worked in previous terms in office to ban fracking and protect the environment. In this race, Buchanan is prioritizing public safety by investing in community alternatives to policing and by reducing the number of people who end up in the criminal justice system when having mental health crises. His platform is very progressive.

Kamal Bhachu works as a senior maintenance engineer at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and as a firearms instructor. His platform states that he would address affordable housing and living wage jobs, but doesn't offer enough policy details to evaluate and his campaign has been spotlighted by a conservative publication. His solution for addressing mental health and addiction in regards to people experiencing homelessness is to bring back programs like D.A.R.E. in schools, which doesn't go nearly far enough to help those suffering now, and doesn't address those who are unsheltered for non-addiction reasons.

Buchanan is the best choice for Whatcom County Council, At-Large Position A.

Incumbent Michael Shepard is running to continue representing District 1 as a Port of Bellingham commissioner. Shepard first joined the port in 2018 and serves on a number of committees including the Whatcom County Homeless Strategies Workgroup and the Small Cities Partnership. In addition, Shepard teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on anthropology and environmental studies online at Goucher College and Western Washington University.

During his first term, Shepard has focused on community- and environment-centered policymaking. His campaign priorities include revitalizing the waterfront, increasing tourism and commerce, and protecting the port’s ecosystem. He also wants to expand broadband access, affordable housing options, renewable energy production, and family-wage jobs.

CEO of Mills Electric, John Huntley, is challenging Shepard for the port commissioner seat. The lion's share of Huntley's campaign focus is on attracting industries to the port. He mentions the port using natural gas for "green energy", but the Shepard and the rest of the commission are already leading on the issue. The port is already using 100% renewable energy through wind power purchases and partnering with a local solar panel manufacturer to increase the generation of clean energy. Huntley is also featured in a local conservative newsletter where he shares that he is running to prioritize business and corporate interests.

Shepard has earned an impressive number of endorsements from progressive organizations and elected leaders and will continue bringing much-needed progressive leadership to the port as a commissioner. He deserves your vote for Port of Bellingham in District 1.

Small business owner Kelly Krieger is running for Port of Bellingham Commissioner in District 2. Krieger is active with the Whatcom County Democrats and has a professional background in business and marketing. She also served on the board of directors for the Puget Consumers Cooperative.

Krieger's campaign is focused on climate-friendly economic development, municipal broadband, affordable workforce housing, and aviation innovation. She wants to make the port a place for job creation and clean energy leadership.

Krieger is challenging incumbent Commissioner Ken Bell in District 2. Bell is a former Whatcom County planning commissioner and Whatcom County charter review commissioner, and he also currently serves as the president of a private company that cleans up contaminated soil. Unfortunately, Bell is involved with the Whatcom Republicans and played a role in a police-led sweep of a homeless encampment on port property earlier this year. He is not a progressive candidate.

We recommend Krieger for the Port of Bellingham in District 2 because of her progressive values and broad partner support.

Incumbent Kate Bishop is running to retain her seat in Position 6 on the Ferndale City Council. First elected in 2017, Bishop is the current mayor pro tem and chairs the Finance and Administration committee. She has also worked as a social worker for over a decade. Bishop serves as a board member for the Ferndale Community Service Cooperative and helped to establish the Ferndale Utilities Fund there.

On the council, Bishop created the Equity Advisory Board as well as the North Whatcom Poverty Task Force, which works to assess the needs of the community in the areas of housing and food insecurity, housing affordability, and income inequality. If re-elected, she wants to continue working to keep Ferndale affordable and she would invest in social services, business support, and infrastructure updates. Bishop has been endorsed by the Whatcom County Democrats in this race.

Bishop faces a challenge from Robert Pinkley, who owns a restaurant in downtown Ferndale. Pinkley previously worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce and ran unsuccessfully for Ferndale mayor in 2019. Now, he is campaigning on a more Republican platform to represent downtown and prioritize business interests above community needs.

Kate Bishop will continue fighting for community solutions. She deserves your vote for Ferndale City Council, Position 6.

Maralise Fegan is running to retain her seat in Position 7 on the Ferndale City Council. Fegan first joined the council in January of this year when she was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Ramon Llanos. She works as an immigration paralegal with Boundary Bay Law and serves as an adjunct faculty and advisor in paralegal studies at Whatcom Community College.

If retained, Fegan wants to center the community's needs by making Ferndale more affordable while attracting new businesses and creating new jobs. Fegan would also seek to handle growth responsibly and invest in infrastructure updates to keep the community safe. She supports bold action on affordable housing, especially as the eviction moratorium lifts, as well as accessible broadband access. In this race, Fegan has earned endorsements from local progressive organizations.

Former mayor and pastor Jon Mutchler is challenging Fegan for Position 7. He served on the city council himself from 2010 to 2015 and then served one term as mayor from 2016 to 2019. In 2019, Mutchler was found guilty of an ethics violation when he displayed personal campaign materials at City Hall. He is running a more conservative campaign to advocate for cutting social services and promoting fear-based public safety ideas. Mutchler lists affordability as a top priority, but unfortunately, his solution is just to decrease costs for developers instead of addressing the roots of the housing crisis.

Fegan is the best choice in this race. She deserves your vote for Ferndale City Council, Position 7.