Blog: Barkley Neighborhood Association Meeting Update

                The Barkley Neighborhood Association held elections at their quarterly meeting Thursday Feb. 21.

                Gina Urcuyo, who held the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission (MNAC) representative position, asked to step down and run as alternate. Jim Brennan agreed to move from MNAC alternate to main representative.

                After two years of service Tom Villa-Lovoz did not run for re-election as Secretary for the Barkley Neighborhood Association (BNA). No one at the meeting volunteered to run for this open position. BNA President Bob Putich and Vice-president Stowe Talbot were reelected unanimously.

                Also at Thursday’s meeting, Sgt. Almer of Bellingham Police, along with five other officers, gave a brief presentation about the Neighborhood Anti-Crime Team. This team was created to act as a contact for Bellingham neighborhoods that will spearhead incoming information to appropriate departments. Sgt. Almer encouraged people to report all crimes, even if they seem minor.

Blog: City Plays Referee between Landlord's and Tenant's

                The pilot program that Bellingham’s Planning & Community Development Committee decided to move forward with will inspect rental properties to make sure that they meet basic life and safety regulations. Gene Knutson, committee member and 2^nd ward city council representative, said this program will have four elements, registration, inspection, education and consequence. Knutson also said that he hopes this will get landlords and tenants to work together and solve this problem. Exactly what the problem is between landlords and tenants is unclear at this point, but the Planning & Community Development Committee plan to find out by registering and inspecting all rental properties in the city. The Committee cites a lack in renter’s knowledge about their rights as tenants as a contributing factor for this problem.

                A study by Western Washington University’s Campus Community Coalition, conducted in the spring of 2012, found that 75.2% out of 846 student renters surveyed said that they did not know of a resource to contact in case of conflict with their landlord. Josh Moore, Western student and Barkley neighborhood renter since Aug. 2012, backed this up by saying he is not currently aware of any legal resources for renters. Education will not only be focused toward renters, this pilot program will also aim to educate landlords about their rights.

Links:

·         Planning & Community Development Committee

http://www.cob.org/contact/pcd.aspx

·         Residential Landlord Tenant Act

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=59.18

Blog: Food for Thought

There are two types of people in this world, those who LOVE sushi and those who really don’t. Those that don’t might not be too excited about Zen Sushi and Bar soon opening their doors at 3101 Cinema Place, directly attached to the new Regal Cinema. For all you non-sushi lovers out there, there other tasty options available in Barkley. Scotty Browns, Jalapenos, RoundTable Pizza and On Rice Thai Cuisine are all located within a mile of the theater. Of course there are many other food options available in the Barkley Neighborhood. I am one of those people that LOVE sushi, so if I’m in Barkley it will most likely be Zen Sushi and Bar for me.