Who Should Pay For The Lummi Island Ferry?
05 October 2009 | By dillon-kgmi in Local PoliticsWith last week’s revelation that the Lummi Nation is forcing the Lummi Island Ferry to move its dock off Gooseberry Point, it’s become clear - no matter which way you slice it - ferry service to the 1,000 people living on the island is set to cost far more than it has in the past.
But who pays?
Many residents of the island have long insisted that the county providing ferry service to the island is on par with the county providing roads to, say, Sumas.
The new potential for millions more in ferry service costs ups the ante because the bill will likely be passed on to all county taxpayers, and it’s doubtful the county will be able to come up with the additional cash from its existing coffers.
Are you ready for a tax increase to subsidize life on Lummi Island for its 1000 residents?
Here’s my proposal, just to make it fair: 1. The county should determine how much it would cost to pave a road to Lummi Island if it were not separated from the mainland by water. 2. The county should subsidize ferry service to Lummi Island only to the dollar total that hypothetical paving project would cost. 3. The rest of the money should come from either island residents, grants, donations… wherever they can find the funds.
It’s true that a one-time subsidy of this amount likely wouldn’t even total what the county spends every year on the current ferry service, but why should I be funding the transportation needs of a small group of people?
Perhaps I’m cruel, but living on Lummi Island is a privilege, and not a right, just as much as living in the Edgemoor neighborhood isn’t a right.
I don’t live in Edgemoor because I can’t afford it… but should I demand that the county cover what I can’t?
21 November 2009 | Dirty white boy Said:
I think the argument or question should be, “what’s up with these lummi indians” They are starting to be a terrible neighbor. Get this ferry dock out of here, extortion on fairhaven shipyard- pay us $20,000 ea. time you use it or we will shut you down. sounds like a bunch of cry baby children who didn’t get their way? give em treaty rights, so they can shot elk in wildlife viewing areas in front of people, open gambling casinos so they can take weak-minded peoples money and wreck their lives, let em sell illegal fireworks to non-indians all day long, tax free tobacco and on and on and on, and then they pull this crap. Time to bark back, If you gamble never visit silver reef casino again and tell all your friends to do the same, if you have to gamble drive the same distance to Bow hill and waste your money there. Blog negatively about them also, I see in B.C. they are spreading the word about silver reef so the canadians will not stop at the casino either, 2 can play at this game, I “BET YA” we win.
23 January 2010 | BarnCat Said:
I’m surprised that Lummi Island wasn’t initially incorporated into the Reservation Lands. Isn’t that like giving someone a big house to live in but building a walkway right down through the middle of it and telling the inhabitants you might have to tolerate the through traffic with no incentive for it? And now those who’re using someone else’s domain as a traffic corridor are demanding they want even more? That island’s not so far off the mainland that they’ve forgotten how the real world works.