A while back I wrote about my experience attending a Planning Commission meeting. LINK
There were a couple of comments that stuck in the back of my mind from that meeting which sums up the concerns I have about the atmosphere that prevails in County Planning Commission meetings.
And now that the audio of the meeting is online, I can jog my memory.
You can find the audio file from the County's website LINK
At about one hour and fifty five minutes into the file, when county staff was talking about the prospect of developing some sort grant program to help farmers, Commissioner Elenbaas (himself a working farmer) had this to say:
We need to remember that the only sustainable agriculture out there is economically sustainable agriculture... and the only way to protect ag land is to make agriculture economically sustainable... not by protecting the land... because all we are doing is strapping ourselves... and as farmers we are not interested in taking tax dollars because they always come with handcuffs... and those handcuffs keep us from being economically viable... so throw your program away... in my eyes... build a slaughterhouse... promote infrastructure... do what you need to do... protecting the land is killing us...
The sentiment expressed by Mr. Elenbaas appears to have informed the Planning Commission's approach to the Rural Element.
It also clearly informed the Planning Commission's recent draft of a slaughterhouse ordinance that was welcomed by the public at a recent County Council meeting with all of the enthusiasm normally reserved for a humid burrito fart.
But there's more.
About two hours and twenty two minutes into the December 13th, 2012 Planning Commission meeting, the Chair let Perry Eskridge have the floor... and Mr Eskridge began his remarks by stating an opinion that the City of Bellingham's population projections are out of compliance with the GMA. And after a while... he went a bit further than that...
...I can tell you right now that our association [Mr Eskridge is referring to a Realtors association] has tasked me with that... it is probably our number one priority is to monitor that [referring to Bellingham's population projections]... and we even have some members who are willing to step up and say "you know what... County is out of compliance [with the GMA]... let's see how Bellingham does being out of compliance for a number of years and see how... turn about is fair play essentially... you're shoving all these houses out into the County because you hamstrung the County... well, let's see what happens when Bellingham becomes hamstrung..."
Mr Eskridge seems to be suggesting that there is an interest in going before the Growth Management Hearings Board and having the GMHB issue an Order of Invalidity against the City of Bellingham.
There are many things about what he said and the way he said it that struck me as unusual.
You see, Mr Eskridge is an attorney and a respected member of the local business community. He is not some partially educated crank writing a blog like... well... me.
He has repeatedly demonstrated a firm command of how the law works and how the local business and political climate function, as well.
I may not agree with him (and I encourage you to do the same) but I don't doubt his acumen.
So, imagine my surprise when I heard him talk in such a blithe manner about placing the City of Bellingham out of compliance.
At the risk of oversimplifying this very complicated matter, several key factors came into play to allow Jean Melious to get an Order of Invalidity for the County Rural Element.
She was Crazy Prepared. LINK
And it didn't hurt that the County apparently Took A Level In Dumbass. LINK
And I have no clever link to accompany this... but Jean Melious is also That Damn Good.
And all of this together allowed Jean to made it look easy to get an Order of Invalidity.
But that is an illusion.
The way Mr. Eskridge was talking, it sounded like you just go up to the Growth Management Drive Through Window and say "I'd like an Order of Invalidity, please... oh.. and... some curly fries" then pull around to the window and receive your Order of Invalidity all piping hot and then select your favorite dipping sauce to go with it. (Ranch is always popular, but the Honey Mustard is also quite good, so I hear...)
But there is a lot more that must happen than that.
It has been an education, discovering how this process works when hammering out GMA stuff with the Hearings Board.
Getting an Order of Invalidity is inherently difficult, for no other reason than state law requires that the GMHB give every benefit of the doubt to municipalities.
Mr Eskridge's association would have the same burden as the Petitioners of the Rural Element Invalidity Order.
That burden was described in the Remand Order of the GMHB as follows:
In sum, the burden is on the Petitioners to overcome the presumption of validity by demonstrating the action taken by the [municipality] is clearly erroneous in light of the goals and requirements of chapter 36.70A RCW (the Growth Management Act).
The burden of proof for a Petitioner before the GMHB is a high standard, particularly for a matter that is being handled civilly (as opposed to criminally). The standard appears to be much lower than "beyond a reasonable doubt"...which is normally associated with proving criminal guilt. But it appears to be far higher than "by a preponderance of the evidence"... which is normally associated with proving a tort (a civil injury).
The burden appears to hover below getting cats to march in a parade, and above tap-dancing with snowshoes. (In legal parlance, I think those are called terms of art.)
I'll assume the Mr Eskridge is That Damn Good... because, he probably is.
But he appears to not currently be Crazy Prepared [LINK] since he doesn't seem to appreciate the difficulty inherent in this task.
And if the City of Bellingham Took A Level In Dumbass [LINK] recently, then that's news to me.
The City of Bellingham seems more likely to have instead Took A Level In Jerkass [LINK] but that won't help Mr Eskridge's association, I submit.
However, Mr Eskridge will get to Work Pro Bono (which is something that was not an advantage for Jean, so I didn't add it to the list of Things That Make It Look Easy) and I know how much realtors and land use attorneys just love working for free... I'm sure he will just eat that part up with a big ol' spoon.
I guess one of the most off-putting aspects of this expression of frustration by Mr Eskridge is that the Planning Commission meeting was a place that he felt comfortable venting his spleen in such a way. He wasn't the only person expressing antipathy towards those who don't worship at the Holy Sepulcher of Property Rights and Whatnot.
It is this atmosphere that is cultivated by the Planning Commission that allows for the Commission to entertain talk about the validity of the Bellingham Comprehensive Plan without bothering to discuss the validity (or conspicuous lackthereof) of the County Comprehensive Plan.
Without a change of the membership of the County Planning Commission, there is not likely to be any substantially different work product in 2013 than we got from the Invalidity Fest of 2012.
And on that note, it is time for a #facePalm
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