Park board appoints member

The Point Roberts parks board has appointed Kathleen Pierce-Friedman to the board position that became vacant after the resignation of Bennett Blaustein in August. The appointment was made at a special meeting held September 27.

Asked why she wanted to serve, Friedman said, “I run a small business, though not small to me. My interest in joining the board would be to help continue the tremendous job that the parks board has done over the years.” She added that while she would like to see the parks board expand the programs available to children, she’d also work to provide programming for adults.

Former parks board member Stephen Falk reluctantly put his name forward as a candidate. Friedman is the wife of parks board chair Mitch Friedman and Falk, a retired attorney, was concerned about potential conflict of interest that could arise from having a married couple on the board. Following a short executive session, the board came back and voted 2-1 for Friedman. Bill Zidel and Michael Cressy voted for her, Matt Wang voted for Falk, and Mitch Friedman recused himself.

In other parks business, the board appointed Mitch Friedman as chair and Bill Zidel as vice-chair.

Asked about the kayak and paddleboard program, district staffer Islena Faircrest said she had originally planned to take all of the watercraft into storage on September 30 but had been asked to delay for a couple of weeks or until the weather turned for the season.