I am in favor of moving the trains. This is vital for our health and to avoid potential disasters with derailments. Unfortunately, I am not sure that I can trust Mayor Baldwin to do anything about it.

The recent fiasco with the fences and the boat launch tell me City Hall is not on the right track. On Monday, I asked Mayor Baldwin if they could re-instate the access tunnels to the beach under the tracks. These tunnels used to be there and got filled in. It was an cheap and easy solution to our beach access problems.

The Mayor’s response to my question: He said it could not be done. But then he lied to me about why they cannot re-instate the under-track tunnel access to the beach.

When I asked him on Monday’s council meeting to re-instate the tunnels, Mayor Baldwin claimed that it was no longer feasible because of “Rising Ocean Levels”.

Being a researcher, I did the research. It wasn’t hard. Ocean levels ARE rising… but only 3mm/year. Mayor Baldwin was making an excuse on why they could not implement this easy and cheap fix. And this excuse is a very bad one. It is insulting that he does not think the public is smart enough to check.

Sea levels are rising at a rate of 1 foot every 100 years

He claimed that due to raising sea levels, the tunnels could no longer be built. However, this is nonsense. The tides are so much more significant that global rises in sea levels. And we have lived with these tides in White Rock for over 100 years! If we built the tunnels today, it would take another 100 years before sea levels when up ONE foot, and 1000 years before the tunnel would be unusable at low tide (when it would be used by the public). I could live with any improvements that would last ONLY 1000 years! If only they would starting MAKING improvements with our tax dollars.

Of course, Mayor Baldwin might not of lied. He may have really believed what he was saying about rising tides. Being wrong is not the same thing as telling a lie. If Mayor Baldwin truly did not know what he was saying was blatantly wrong, do we really want a Mayor who does not check his facts and makes decisions based on the kind of headlines one might read in the National Enquirer? Residents of our little city by the sea deserve better. Much better.