Northwind June 9, 2011
NORTHWIND
June 9, 2011
MEETING TO ORDER:
President Marlene called the meeting to order at 12:31:34pm and led us in the pledge of allegiance. Gary T. provided the invocation. Pete Kremen was asked to use his best radio voice and lead us in the recitation of the Four-Way Test.
VISITING ROTARIANS:
Orphalee Smith from the Bellingham Bay Club and Jay from Sedro Wooley enjoyed lunch with our club today; welcome.
GUESTS:
None.
RETURNING ROTARIANS:
President Marlene spent some time in wine country where it apparently rained harder than it has ever rained in this area. This required that she stay inside, out of the weather, and enjoy the finished product from multiple wineries; at least that is how I interpreted her statement.
BIRTHDAYS:
Jim Blaney, 6/9; Mel H., 6/11 (he will be 95); Jake S., 6/13; and Gary T., 6/14. Happy birthday to each of you! Hope your birthdays were enjoyable.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
For those of you on the Board who didn’t attend this meeting, there was a short board meeting immediately after lunch.
President Marlene encouraged everyone to try and donate blood twice this summer; the blood bank is in need of donations. President Marlene made some excuse as to why she couldn’t donate, I think it’s because her blood was still too saturated with wine from her wine country trip; or that she has recently been out of the country – something like that.
Saturday June 11 the Club is scheduled to perform litter pickup on the side of the highway. Meet at Bob’s Burgers in Birch Bay at 10:00am that morning before heading out. Bring gloves, boots, and grabber-dabbler thingies.
Some announcement about fresh, frozen chicken locally raised, for sale at $5/lb…Tyler made some comment wondering if it was made out of steak for that price.
President Marlene read a thank you card from McKenzie Erickson, thanking the club for her scholarship.
Tim V. announced that if you have 100% attendance this past year to please contact him so you can be recognized.
Chuck T. announced that next week’s program is one of the best the club will have all year (effectively ‘dissing’ today’s program before it even started). Gary T. will be talking about his trip to New Orleans and the International Conference.
June 30 is the Club’s Installation Dinner. It will be an evening meeting held at Northwood Hall, so we will not be having an afternoon meeting that day. Mark it on your calendars.
District Foundation meeting will be happening next Saturday, July 18. The topic will be the grants program(s). If interested in attending, please contact Gary T.
HAPPY BUCKS:
President Marlene happy for Gary T. conducting the meeting in her absence; Orphalee – ending first year as Assistant District Governor and despite what Tim C. mentioned, she has enjoyed it and thanks the Club for support; Chuck T. – excellent program Jim Blaney provided last week; Rick S. – most diverse seating arrangement, save one table; Scott W. – great weather; Gary T. – last Northwind prominently mentioning he forgot 4-way test (editor had to follow 4-way test and provide the truth); Tim C. – corrected Orphalee; Ken R. – found a replacement for Max in finemaster today and happy to see his boss at lunch; Winton S. – Scooter bucks; Maureen – happy birthday bucks; Derek – wife is pregnant (congratulations); Pete K. - $5 for Sheriff Elfo and the work he has done; Rollo – 51st birthday tomorrow (welcome to the “forgot to mention your birthday” club, Rollo – happy birthday!); Marlene found out she is going to be a grandmother again (congrats!).
FINES:
Tyler stepped in place of Max L. for today’s finemaster. Tyler started with “gossip fines”; those fines given from information (true or not) he heard during the meeting. Mel H. was fined for questioning his table’s political standings; Pete K. – Tyler “heard” he may be running for something again….? Anyone in the banking business, $1; Ray-not the last one in, but still $2; Randy C. - $5 bullying the finemaster fine; If you haven’t done a random act of kindness in the last week, $1. Tyler then proceeded to disclose he has had a really crappy day at work, so the following fines are work-based: if you have ever picked out an item, changed your mind and placed it someplace else in the store, $1; if you placed that item in the frozen food case, $5; if you don’t return your grocery cart, $1; if you have uttered that an ad is false or misleading, $1; if you write a check after the order has been rung up, $1; if you are still using checks, $1; if you engage in “supermarket grazing” (eating items from bulk-food section prior to paying for them), $1; if you think there is a case of everything in the “back”, $1; and if you don’t have Haggen card ready at checkout, $1.
Banners: Represent the northern most clubs and the southern most clubs.
PROGRAM:
Scott W. introduced the speaker for today’s program; Sheriff Bill Elfo. Sheriff Elfo has 29 years of experience in law. He has a BS and Masters degree in criminology. And, in case you didn’t know, he was elected as Sheriff for Whatcom County in 2003 and 2007.
Sheriff Elfo spoke about the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (“WCSO”). It was established in 1854. Its motto: “Dedicated to making Whatcom County the safest in the state through excellence”. There have been 36 sheriffs in the county’s history. The position of sheriff is non-partisan. The WCSO provides the following services: law enforcement; work with cities providing crime scene investigation; enforce court orders and writs; operate jail; operate alternative jail program; search and rescue mission coordination, and; department of emergency management.
Whatcom County has a population of 201,000 and consists of approximately 2150 square miles. It has a 90 mile border it shares with Canada and borders Puget Sound, both which present challenges. It also has 2 oil refineries. The WCO has 86 law enforcement people compared to 106 law enforcement people in the City of Bellingham. Of the law enforcement individuals working at WCSO, 8 are detectives and 5 are traffic deputies; assigned to the entire county. The challenges faced by WCSO; Pt. Roberts with 2 border crossings. WCSO is required to transport individuals from Pt. Roberts by boat to avoid the border crossings. The Diablo area. Four primary patrol areas in the entire county that is patrolled by only 5 deputies.
The following statistics were provided by Sheriff Elfo: during the time frame from 2005 – 2010, property crime has been reduced 40.7%; violent crime reduced 6%; and simple assaults were down 37%. Gangs, however, have increased their presence in Whatcom County. There are over 400 gang members that have been identified. The white supremacists contain the largest number of members. It is involved in drug trafficking, loan sharking and larceny.
There are 470 sex offenders registered in Whatcom County; 33 are level III offenders (most likely to offend again). The WCSO cannot control where these individuals live, can only require that they report to the Sheriff’s office.
The WCSO does have a water enforcement program that is funded through vessel licensing. It also has a neighborhood deputy program for high density areas that are not cities.
WCSO has three canine deputies. Two are general police dogs used for tracking suspects. One is used for drug detection. The WCSO also has a special response team (SWAT) that has been in existence for approximately 5 years. The WCSO runs the division of emergency management in partnership with the cities. It also runs the Bureau of Corrections, which is operates two jails; the main jail and the temporary jail.
WCSO is now reaching out to the community through social media and you can find it on Facebook.
It was great having Sheriff Elfo talk today and also nice to learn about the Sheriff’s office a little more. Thanks.
DRAWING:
Laurie L. had her ticket drawn; however, she did not draw the ace of spades.
This Week’s Editor: Greg Thulin