When I joined the Blaine City Council in January of 1999, Blaine was already starting to grow rapidly, and residents were concerned about preserving the environment we lived in.
During my first two years, the Council spent a significant amount of time developing a plan to identify critical areas to protect while respecting the rights of property owners. A key part of my work was ensuring specific protections that both gave a future council flexibility yet required voter approval before the land could be sold for development.
In 2000, Blaine residents voted in favor of a $3 million dollar bond referendum to purchase and preserve open spaces and wetlands throughout the city. We created a citizen board to oversee the project, the Natural Resources Conservation Board. My good friend, Dottie McKinley, was a founding member of this board and served on it for many years.
This project has been a huge success, and the City of Blaine is a better community because of it.
