4/29/09

To:  Whatcom County Media

From: Brett Bonner

Contact: 360-201-7706

As you may be aware, I am currently gathering signatures for a mini initiative to the County Council asking them to give the public the right to vote on county property tax increases over one percent.

As our self-imposed submission target date is approaching, I am requesting that you notify people that they should be sure to put their petitions in the mail by May 2nd (this Saturday).

A rough tally of petitions already turned in shows that we are very close to our goal.  In order to be considered by the County Council 3,042 valid signatures must be turned in by July 21^st. There are hundreds of petitions circulating in the community right now. 

The self-imposed deadline is important in order for us to get the measure in front of the County Council as soon as possible.

Under the rules spelled out in the County Code (WCC 1.08.170), we will tentatively turn in an initial set of petitions on Tuesday, May 5. All petitions would be filed no later than ten days afterwards, by May 15^th. A friend of mine will be filing the initial set of petitions, as I will be out of town on business.  I hope to file the final set personally.

Signature gathering on the property tax measure began just over five weeks ago—a very short timeframe.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Brett

Some people wonder what KGMI’s role was at the recent Tea Party Protest.  Were we sponsors? Did our client advertise the event on the station? Didn’t one of our personalities help organize the protest? Was it a station promotion? Did we cover it as a news story?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.  

Programming and Promotions viewed the event as an opportunity to connect with our community and with our listeners.  Sales saw it as a way to advertise for a client.  Patty Brooks helped organize the Tea Party on her own time. And, as the News Director, I covered it as one of the many stories I worked on that day.

Lines do get blurred here sometimes - we have talk show hosts and reporters who are also anchors, administrators, community activists and even politicians. While the talk shows are full of opinion and most of the programs are extremely conservative, we strive to keep the news balanced and fair (yes I did put balance in front of fair instead of the other way around for a reason). We also want to be a good outlet for our advertisers.

I’ve been called liberal, conservative, a sell out, biased, fair, a woman (because of my name), young, old, bad, good and many other things. Most my co-workers have faced similar critiques.  I hope that means we’re doing our job, or should I say jobs…