August 2011
El Periódico
WHATCOM COUNTY’S FIRST BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
English
Vol. 11
No. 1
Complimentary
Spanish
J. Manuel Reta vies for open city council seat
Making contact
NWHCC president aims to further connect Ferndale-area communities Megan Claflin El Periódico editor FERNDALE – An active leader in the local Hispanic community, J. Manuel Reta said he is interested in offering a slightly different perspective on the city council. Compelled to serve as a voice for each citizen, he said he wants to encourage more public discourse and feedback on city projects and spending prior to the council reaching a consensus. “The responsibility of a council member is to listen to the people, reason with them in their understanding and keep Ferndale accountable for the decisions that are made,” he said. Reta said, if elected, he will rely on his 20-plus years of experience in business to make sound finan-
Anxiously awaiting their turns Saturday, July 23, children one by one take a swing at a colorful piñata, one of the many games offered during Hispano Estamos Contigo, a resource fair for the Whatcom County Hispanic and immigrant communities. — El Periódico | Megan Claflin
Tint Worx opens up shop in Ferndale business park Mark Reimers for El Periódico FERNDALE — Joseph Padilla is upfront about how he runs Tint Worx: If you are wanting the car tinted in just a couple of hours, he’s not the guy for the job. “I put in time and effort and go for perfection,” Padilla said. “I spend four to five hours on one car just going over it and proofing it. If you just want your car banged out, I’m not the guy for you.” Padilla noted that about 25 percent of his customers tend to be those who are getting someone else’s tint work redone. Selling himself as the auto tinting service with guar-
anteed quality assurance makes sense since that is the only service Padilla plans to offer out of his newly finished shop at 5869 Portal Way (unit 107), behind Cruisin Coffee. With no other types of window work being done in the space, Padilla can assure everyone that their car will be worked on in a dust-free controlled environment so that no foreign material will interfere with the perfect surface of customers’ vehicles. In addition to offering quality workmanship, Padilla doesn’t waste his time with subpar material that may degrade quickly. Please see GRAMBO page 2B
cial decisions on behalf of local taxpayers. In addition to working for Alcoa Inltaco Works for 22 years, Reta has opened three restaurants all by the name La Lomita and Colima Design in Ferndale. “(As a council member) I will continue laying the groundwork I have as a businessman,” Reta said. “I am a man of my word, who follows through and cares about this community.” A resident of Ferndale for 12 years, Reta is president of the Northwest Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and member of the Association of Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Reta said he would be interested in participating on the Administration and Finance ComPlease see SERVICE page 6B
Criminal justice a topic at three forums, Oct. 1 conference Re-Entry Coalition founder: ‘The system is broken’ Calvin Bratt for El Periódico WHATCOM — Irene Morgan wants to invite more people into a deeper discussion about justice issues. Since 2006, the founder of the Whatcom County Re-entry Coalition has tried to take a closer look at how incarceration and the criminal justice system work — or don’t work — in the
United States and the state of Washington. The money and bureaucracy invested into law enforcement, criminal courts, jails and prisons in our society are enormous, yet there is often little good to show for all the expense, Morgan says. “The system is broken,” she asserts. Please see FORUM page 6B