Western Front - 2004 November 2

              Vote today J Election 200
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
ISSUE13
Volume 131
Tuesday
Nov. 2, 2004
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Addie Pobst, a volunteer for the Get Out the Vote campaign, calls voters Monday night from the
Democratic Coordination headquarters on 1220 N. State St. and reminds them to vote in today's
election. This campaign tries to reach infrequent Democratic voters who have voted in two or fewer
County expects 30,000
residents to vote today
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By Kara Lundberg
The Western Front
Nearly 30,000 registered voters
may cast a ballot today in Whatcom
County, where 42 different precincts
will be open for residents to do so,
county election supervisor Pete Grif­fin
said.
Though the majority of Whatcom
County voters prefer to vote by absen­tee
ballot, on average 30 percent of
the county's 106,100 registered voters
choose to go to their precincts to cast
their ballots, Griffin said.
Each registered voter has a desig­nated
precinct in which he or she can
cast a ballot. Voters can find this in­formation
on their voter-identification
cards. These locations include schools,
churches and fire stations throughout
the county. Polling places in different
areas of the county will accommodate
the poll voters in those areas.
Bellingham has 16 locations where
people can vote, Whatcom County
Auditor Shirley Forslof said. The
number of polling places in cities is
based on the size of the precincts in
terms of registered voters, availability
of public buildings, the percentage of
those who vote by absentee and the
number of people available to serve.as
poll workers.
Each polling location must meet
certain requirements, including an ac­cessibility
for persons with disabili­ties,
Forslof said.
It must have decent parking arrange­ments
and good hghting, and the build­ing
and room must be able to accom­modate
the number of voters expected,
Griffin said.
The distance between two locations
is not exact. Some locations are just
blocks apart, whereas some are miles
apart, Griffin said.
. The Bloedel Donovan Commu­nity
Building at 2214 Electric Ave.
is one of the largest polling places in
Bellingham and, has ample parking,
Forslofsaid. ' V
':.;" Lynden residents vote at People's
Place a£ the Northwest Washington
Fairgrounds:at 1775 Front St. Fern-dale
voters go to the United Church of
Ferndale at 2034 Washington St.
A complete list of precincts and
their respective poll sites is available
on the county auditor's Web site.
Parking rates may
rise in downtown
By Jonathan Bradley
1 The Western Front
Students heading to downtown Bellingham may be
confronted with higher parking rates and increased fines if the
Bellingham City Council adopts a new proposal. Some council
members said, however, that the changes will not significantly
disadvantage students.
The proposal, which the Downtown Parking Commission, a
board established by the city to manage^parking, put forward,
suggests a number of changes tp-^dtiw^Swn parking. These
includedoubling meter rates from 25 cents to 50 cents per hour,
charging for Saturday parking and increasing parking fines,
Councilman Gene Knutson said.
Under the proposal, however, parkingrates atthe Commercial
Street parking garage, also known as the Parkade, may go down
from 60 cents to 50 cents, to encourage drivers to use that
facility. Knutson said the Parkade is usually: only 60 percent full
on a typical day.
Opal Mahoney, the supervisor of parking services,,at the
Parkade, said that as of August, approximately 80 percent to 90
percent of the Parkade was full. The Parkade manages several
parking lots in the city, some of which were only 30 percent to
40 percent full. Mahoney said the 60 percent figure could have
been in reference to all parking lots the city manages.
Councilman-Grant Deger said the city has problems with
employees of downtown businesses feeding quarters into meters
all day, or even parking without paying and then paying the low
. SEE Rates, PAGE 6
fafdley/The Western Front
Custer resident Axel Mulkey, 45, feeds a parking
meter on Railroad Avenue. A Bellingham City Council
proposal may double downtown meter rates.
Cause for theatre instructor's suspension still unclear
By Elana Bean
The Western Front
Western's theatre arts department
suspended associate professor Perry Mills
with pay two weeks ago, but the reason is
still unclear.
"I feel so insulted by the whole thing,"
Mills said.
Mills' lawyer, Greg Thulin, said he has
spoken with the university, and a meeting
will take place sometime next week.
"We're just in the beginning stages of
finding out what is going on," Thulin said.
Thulin said he could not release any other
specific details about his client.
Western's privacy policies require that
neither the president's office nor the provost's
office can comment on any personnel under
investigation. The point is to preserve the
right of due process for the person who is the
subject of the complaint, Provost Andrew
Bodman said in a written statement.
Theatre arts department chair ahdprofessor
Mark Kuntz did not reveal the reasons-for
Mills' suspension two weeks ago/and was
not available for comment.
Mills said he feels his suspension, may
be related to differences he Ms wiih"the
department on management of the course
fee for bis cinema classy v
Mills also- said/the department chair got
a reportv-ibfVa^sytfbnt:-'seeing, him -with; a
pocketkmfe/and he was suspended and told
to leave jcamp^us>^v*v •'/'/••'/'•••'x-
UniyersiiyCpolice: Chief Jim Shaw; said
Mills is unable! to'r^turn to campus without
UP deciding /.whether he needs a police
•y'^v'^^^aspension," PAGE 6
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