20080930-comment-lilliquist-population-projections

Michael W. Lilliquist 1111 13th Street • Bellingham, WA 98225 September 30, 2008 Growth Management Coordinating Council c/o Coordinating Staff, Whatcom County PDS 5280 Northwest Drive Bellingham, WA 98226 Re: Population Projections for “Whatcom 2031” I am writing this letter to ask the Growth Management Coordinating Council not to adopt the proposed population projection of 257,000 residents for the year 2031. My reason is that we need good planning, and a forward projection of past trends is simply not good planning. Genuine and effective planning does not just follow trends. Rather, planning should guide trends. Good planning is positively driven by policies and a vision of where we want to be in the future. First, we determine what end state would best serve the interests of the people of Whatcom County, and then we fix policies and plans to accomplish this goal. Simply projecting past trends forward does not do this. By simply accepting projections of past trends, I fear the County would be abdicating its obligations and responsibility to plan with the interests of the people in mind. Put another way, the target population of 257,000 would be the number reached by a business-as-usual scenario in which all policies and programs remain the same. But why would we want take this road? What reasons have been given for this path? If the GMCC accepts a population target, I believe that it needs to provide some justification for this ...