Planned Parenthood Advocates Of Greater Washington and North Idaho Endorsements

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.

Eve Smason-Marcus is a musician and educator running for Bellingham City Council in Ward 6. Smason-Marcus, who uses they/she pronouns, has been an active volunteer in the community, including with the Bellingham Unity Committee and as a board member of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force.

They're running on a bold progressive platform of affordable housing, racial and environmental justice, and community safety. Smason-Marcus believes housing is a human right and they support stopping sweeps, increasing dense zoning downtown, and expanding home-ownership options through land trusts and co-housing options. They also want to protect the environment for future generations by improving stormwater management and pushing Bellingham toward electrification by retrofitting older buildings. On housing, climate, and other issues, Smason-Marcus wants to look to other progressive cities for innovative policy solutions that could help move Bellingham forward.

Smason-Marcus is a good choice if you're looking for new leadership that will push the Bellingham City Council to the left on important issues facing the city.