Cheers: Happy birthday wishes are in order for the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, which threw a party on Friday to celebrate its 125th anniversary. Founded in 1890, when Vancouver had 3,545 residents, the organization has supported economic development for decades and has grown along with the city it inhabits.
As with all chambers of commerce and other business organizations, the local chamber has witnessed vast changes over the years. As board chairman Eric Sawyer told Columbian Business Editor Gordon Oliver, new entrepreneurs are bringing a new ethos to their endeavors: “They are thinking more on a global level. We just need to embrace that.” Chamber President Kelly Love said: “We are doing what we are doing so we are not a stodgy organization. We must adapt and change.” With that philosophy, the chamber just might stick around for another 125 years.
Jeers: Prosecutors, like all government representatives throughout the criminal justice system, must be held accountable for their actions. But an investigation by the Associated Press suggests that rarely is the case. For example, the Washington State Bar Association has disciplined 368 lawyers since 2010, and only two of them have been prosecutors. And the Center for Prosecutor Integrity adds that, nationally, sanctions against prosecutors typically amount to a “slap of the wrist.”
With the integrity of the justice system coming under increasing scrutiny, accountability is essential for maintaining the public’s trust. Failing to properly discipline prosecutors who overstep ethical boundaries casts a shadow on the vast majority of prosecutors who operate with integrity.
Cheers: The Vancouver City Council is making a strong effort to address a growing concern in the community: Affordable housing. Recently, the council discussed three possible policies to protect renters, particularly low-income renters who are most vulnerable: Prohibiting source-of-income discrimination, giving tenants more notice of rent increases, and providing more time following a notice to vacate.
Vancouver, it has been documented, has an extremely low vacancy rate for rental properties. This helps drive up prices and leaves renters with little power. The council is wise to explore the issues involved and try to find a balance that works for landlords while protecting residents.
Jeers: The latest evidence of the problems created by a warming planet — regardless of the cause — is a large algae bloom in the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast.
Whether cyclical in nature or the result of human-induced climate change, the algae bloom has thrived in warmer-than-usual ocean temperatures and is having a vast impact. More than half of Washington’s 157-mile-long coast is closed to crabbing, and other shellfish industries also have been endangered by the toxic bloom.
Cheers: Because we love reading about good neighbors, a couple articles this week caught our eye. In one, several central Vancouver neighborhoods came together this week to acknowledge National Night Out. The annual event brings together residents and law enforcement to discuss ways to prevent crime, recognizing that engaging with your neighbors in an important tool in that effort.
In another story, residents of Lamont in Eastern Washington got together to harvest the 1,000 acres of fields owned by a neighbor who has been hospitalized with pancreatitis. More than a dozen combines worked the fields, and neighbors then delivered the haul of wheat, oats, and mustard to the Lamont Grain Growers elevators.
