City Council - Regular Meeting
City Council - Regular Meeting
Tue, January 2, 2024
Agenda items
Vote records
Discussion summary
Transcript
Meeting summary
Summary not yet available.
Agenda items (2)
Procedural (2)
23970Procedural2024 City Council Reorganization
23971ProceduralAn Ordinance of the City Of Bellingham, Washington, Suspending All Future Meetings of the Immigration Advisory Board (IAB) and Its Subcommittees Until City Council Adopts an Ordinance Rescinding the Suspension
Additional votes recorded in minutes
Elect Dan Hammill as City Council President for 2024
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Hollie Huthman as Council President Pro Tem
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Skip Williams as Mayor Pro Tem
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Michael Lilliquist as Chair of Climate Action Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Jace Cotton as Chair of Community and Economic Development Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Skip Williams as Chair of Parks and Recreation Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Lisa Anderson as Chair of Planning Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Hollie Huthman as Chair of Public Health Safety Justice and Equity Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Elect Hannah Stone as Chair of Public Works and Natural Resources Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve Climate Action Committee roster (Lilliquist, Anderson, Cotton)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve Community and Economic Development Committee roster (Cotton, Stone, Huthman)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve Planning Committee roster (Anderson, Williams, Lilliquist)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve Public Health Safety Justice and Equity Committee roster (Huthman, Stone, Williams)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve Public Works and Natural Resources Committee roster (Stone, Anderson, Lilliquist)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve Jace Cotton for Parks and Recreation Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint council member to Bellingham School District Liaison
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Hollie Huthman to Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism Board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Lisa Anderson to Chamber of Commerce liaison
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Jace Cotton to Community Development Advisory Board (CAB)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Hollie Huthman to Downtown Bellingham Partnership board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Michael Lilliquist to EMS Oversight Board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Skip Williams to Greenways Advisory Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Lisa Anderson as Higher Education Liaison
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Jace Cotton as Immigration Advisory Board liaison
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Michael Lilliquist (primary) and Hollie Huthman (secondary) to Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Hannah Stone and Skip Williams to Lake Whatcom Policy Group
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Hannah Stone to Library Board of Trustees
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Skip Williams to Mount Baker Theater Board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Continue Hannah Stone on Opportunity Council board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Skip Williams to Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Jace Cotton to Port of Bellingham Marina Advisory Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Hannah Stone to Sister Cities Advisory Board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint Hollie Huthman to Sustainable Connections board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Hollie Huthman as Tourism Commissioner LTAC designate
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Hollie Huthman to Whatcom Communications 911 Admin Board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Michael Lilliquist to Whatcom Council of Governments Executive Committee and Skip Williams to Policy Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Lisa Anderson to Whatcom Museum Foundation Board
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Michael Lilliquist and Skip Williams to Whatcom Transportation Authority
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Michael Lilliquist to Working Waterfront Maritime trades group
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint Jace Cotton to Marine Resources Advisory Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Appoint council member to Bellingham International Airport Advisory Committee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Verbatim transcript available
46 transcript segments indexed
afternoon everyone welcome to Bellingham city council buas dasos um please take your seats and we'll start the meeting soon um so uh first uh first of all welcome to everyone uh second of all welcome to New council member Chase cotton and welcome to Mayor Kim um I hope you will find your work here as meaningful as the rest of us do um we're going to have one item here in this room and I'm presiding as last year's president so as acting president then we'll then have a 10-minute break after we finish this and we'll reconvene in the mayor's boardroom and at that point we'll elect new officers and I may or may not be presiding over the rest of the meeting but I'm presiding over this portion uh as the acting president as uh last year's president and with that we'll go to the uh first and only item that will take place here in this room which is an ordinance of the city of Bellingham Washington suspending all future meetings of the Immigrant Advisory board or IAB and a subcommittees until city council adopts an ordinance resending the suspension the attached ordinance relates to the IAB and would temporarily suspend meetings of the board and subcommittees the purpose of this proposed action is to provide an opportunity for the city council the mayor and designated staff to realign its work with the Immigrant community in Bellingham this matter was brought forward to the Bellingham city council by by uh member Hannah Stone and I would ask her if she has more to say on this thank
you president Lilo Quist um good afternoon everyone thank you for being here and again welcome um mayor Kim I know I'm gonna you said mayor Kim was the preference so Yes sounds good um and also to council member cotton welcome as well um so for this item I did want to First address fact that there had been a request a request today I guess for interpretation and we were not able to secure an interpreter um but we will we can make efforts to either provide a translation of the um yeah of what transpires today or work on getting in a recording but um so just wanted to let you know that it doesn't appear that we have an interpreter available so um for this item I guess first I wanted to address a couple of things that I think relate to the IAB in particular um in light of new Administration and you know new executive and thinking about the work of the council going forward this year two points in particular one is that this particular board I believe has been treated a bit um differently because it originated through it was initiated by the council so as a council member I had brought forward the ordinance which established the IAB in um and after that time you know it was adopted by the council and then became a board um but felt as though it was treated a bit differently because it was an a council initiated board versus maybe a board that was initiated by the administration or by staff and so one of the things to highlight moving forward is that I believe that as a city when
a board is created or a commission or when the council passes an ordinance or resolution even if there's a dissenting Vote or opposition to some action right if it passes and once it is created and adopted as law or comes to to fruition as a board um that then we all own that work and that it becomes ours collectively and that we're committed to moving that work forward even if we were a dissenting Vote or even if we're not completely supportive um so that was one thing the other is priorities and thinking about the workload of the city um I know that as council members we feel compelled and I think the administration often does too to say Yes um to lots of things because the needs are great in our community and the reality is is that we have limited resources whether that be funding or the people you know working on behalf of the city to actually Implement and carry out and enforce the work of the city um and so whenever we say yes to something sometimes we're in turn saying no to something else because we can't do everything at once um and so I feel like there's been some disconnect that between the council and the administration to say you know if we want to continually add things to the list and sometimes we're you know we know that it's on the list but where exactly is it on the list and do we feel like it's a higher priority and needs to be moved further up and if so needing to be transparent about well what's going to have to be bumped down right if this becomes a
priority and so the reason why I mentioned those two things is that I feel like there's enough responsibility to be shared by the council by the administration and by members of the IAB for where we are now with respect to the immigration Advisory Board and I don't um I don't necessarily want to rehash what got us where we are but feeling compelled that something has to change in order for this work to move forward and the Tipping Point point for me as a council member has been that when we have members of the board either past members who've left the board current members of the board or prospective members of the board who have articulated that right either the the tension or the um want to say um dysfunction but the lack of sort of um cohesiveness in this work between the city and the board itself has led to people to want to step away right and similarly when we talked about an immigrant Resource Center there have been Partners or prospective Partners in the community who similarly right have witnessed sort of that growing tension around this board and sort of similarly Ste back and said you know we have we hesitant to engage in that work as it's going forward um and so I don't want this to turn into a finger pointing um again for sort of how we got where we are because as I said I think that there is myself included responsibility that's shared by all of us for how we got here um but feeling like something has to change in order to um have this work move forward and part
of what's been disheartening to me is feeling like those who are um are maybe suffering or paying the ultimate price for the dysfunction or inability to move forward with this work are those members of the community that we've said we want to right serve and we serve all members of our community but we've highlighted this particular um subset members of The Immigrant Community as a priority in some respects and we um and so by not being able to move forward with the work right those are the people ultimately who are missing out or are who who are suffering as a result and so at this point thinking about um sort of the deliberateness with which the establishing ordinance was left broad I think has contributed to um some miscommunication or misunderstanding or disagreement about the role of the board and the role of the um city in this work and initially it was left broad because I was saying although I work very closely with the Immigrant Community I am not myself a member of the Immigrant community and I don't have that lived experience and it was important for me that members of The Immigrant Community play an active role in that work of the IAB and saying I don't know what those priorities may be for the Immigrant Community here in Bellingham specifically and so wanting to leave some of that space available but at the same time there was a need for the administration and the city to provide some direction as well um to really reach out to the IAB for help and some of the
things that I think about or maybe when we talk about engagement right with the community about ular issues maybe it's the comp plan that's coming up right but when we hear from staff that we've gone through the engagement process that we typically go through well what does that look like and are there right parts of our community that are not included in that engagement process and whether it's deliberate by Design or if um just over years that's how it's been done and it therefore creates barriers or limits access those are right things that we should be looking at and so wanting to re focus and realign the work around the city's work here in Bellingham and feeling there's some things that we need to do to take care of things at home right like here within our jurisdiction before we can go out Beyond um Beyond sort of our front doors and do more and the struggle here with this particular body of work is that the need is great and the need from this community in particular is great and it it intersects with lots of different aspects of the community and so when I've talked about my work as an immigration attorney I always say when community members come to me for help a lot of times their questions are beyond the scope of their legal immigration case and have to do maybe with navigating you know school or taxes or um their employment and a problem at work or their housing or but so that need is is great um but feeling like there are certain things within our day-to-day
operations here within the city um that contribute to some of those obstacles and struggles with accessing information or navigating um um navigating certain resources or or programs in our community and so this particular resolution calling for a suspension is is because I feel like we need a a hard pause to to reset and to to ensure that we are aligned in our work um aligned in the scope and purpose of this work and also aligned in the commitment of resources whether that's money time right individuals um within the city to do the work that's requested um or needed right to support to support the work and so in that respect I feel like there's been a a disconnect that has communicated to the Immigrant community that this work is not a priority and that it's not important because things haven't moved forward um when the reality is I think we recognize that the work is important but the bandwidth um that we have has not been aligned um and so to manage expectations and to rebuild with perhaps you know small goals at first but to see that as progress to help build trust and to also help build um just a system that that works um for the communication that's really been needed and and missing and again I don't know how much of it's um deliberate on on either side but the reality is is that because those tensions have continued to grow at this point it feels very very unproductive um and almost you know harmful at this point and that's why taking the step for a hard pause or
suspension is to allow the time for the city to also engage in the work of determining you know what is the the scope and purpose um of this board and then similarly right aligning those resources to meet to meet that need if we've committed to to XY or Z so I attended the December IB meeting to share some of the concerns it was important to me to go personally to the IAB meeting um to share those concerns before coming to the council but that is an awkward position because then I'm going to the IAB as an individual unable obviously to speak on behalf of the broader Council and not wanting to speak with individual council members in advance to potentially violate open public meetings act Claws and um and so bringing this forward for discussion to understand where the rest of the council's at with respect to what's being proposed um and then requesting again it's not on the agenda for a vote today but for information to discussion by the council and then my intention is to go to the January IAB meeting to receive feedback from the IAB members as well um and to try to start to Envision what next steps right would be um and so really I'm here today to receive response or be feedback from other council members Andor um mayor and then at the January meeting obviously there's an open imitation that's public meetings um but open imitation for if there were other council members or the mayor who wanted to join me at that meeting but trying to identify what those next steps would be
so in closing I guess one last thing I'm thinking about is that there have been um comments about this being somewhat akin to the homeless strategies work group at the county level where maybe there were right tensions and things weren't feeling as productive and then it was just dissolved right in the perception in the community of um how that was handled and um and why it was done left a lot of unknowns and I think maybe added to some mistrust and so I want the community to understand that I am not bringing this forward because I'm seeking to dissolve the IAB or because I don't feel like you know this work is important and I in fact don't want this to become another you know um example of that where it's like well things are tense we can't figure out how to make it work and so we're just going to wash our hands of it and and walk away that's not what this is about the suspension I know a lot of people have apprehension about is a suspension the first step to dissolution and so again I can only speak as an individual council member but for me this suspension is necessary in order to take a breath and to re-align the work of this particular board on behalf of the The Immigrant Community um and so I although I can't predict what the next steps will be or what that will look like in the future because we haven't done that work yet um I just want to share a commitment to trying to figure that out and help the community to navigate that um and just clearly articulate that that is
not right my intention in bringing this forward that it's just sort of um smoking mirrors to bring this forward and then ultimately to pull the rug out from under the board and and dissolve it so I know that was more than five minutes that's fine so um just to clarify to people this is the first time the city council's ever discuss this we really haven't talked about this before I have no idea what the opinions are of some council members because this is the only time we're actually allowed as a group to discuss matters as an open public meeting so this is actually relatively new to all of us all have had individual conversations with a few people and the other thing is to clarify that indeed council member Stone did not bring this forth an expectation for a vote today or even at our next meeting but I think the one after that after the IAB so this is actually part of a what may be a several week if not several month process uh there will be no uh there's no expectation of a vote be taken today however if a motion was made I'd have to entertain it we'd have to vote on it but I certainly don't expect or desire to vote thank you for your introductory remarks on that council members discussion Lisa thank you um I appreciate this coming forward I know it could not have been easy because I'm working with the immigration immigrant Community plus this kind of being um a goal that you set forward um several years ago I am interested in pursuing a reset I think it's important work um
reading some of the whereases and then some of the um information that has come to me from community members does give concern and I I understand wanting to leave things pretty open so that a new um committee can start forming some of their bylaws and processes but I think we're going to need to do reset and a little bit more guidance because some of the things like forming subcommittees and then not meeting publicly and those those are things that do not happen under open meetings act um and so those areas give concern or representing um members attending government facilities outside the city representing them part of Bellingham um without authorization that's another concern so I think we need to pause reset set up some of the goals the Partnerships um one of the things that I think is needed for a reset is I've had several conversations with um members of nonprofits and other um individuals who work with the Immigrant um community and they have concerns about what's been happening and feel a bit disenfranchised and they didn't feel comfortable coming forward publicly because they did not want to be um targeted as one of the person's words and another individual was like they didn't want to be retaliated against so there are some concerns from our partners in the community about what the goal of the board is and the function and how it's been functioning um I think there's very valuable work that needs to happen but I think it needs to be under structure and guidelines to
make sure that it is very functional and moves forward positively and can work with a lot of the agencies that we depend upon for services um it should be a partnership and I don't know I don't feel confident it's been um moving forward that way um so I would like to further discuss this set some timelines up also set resources because we as a council voted um or supported with the mayor some um I believe funding or direction to provide some outside consultation and I think we need to look at that bring it back and see how we can utilize some of those types of resources to to help set up um the board to be able to be functioning and go forward in a positive way that our overall goals can be met and that is to have a a good line of um Insight um to help provide information to council um so a few thoughts Dan yeah I just think just generally speaking I know the bodies of work of boards are different um but in general I think there should be consistency across all boards and commissions that the rules um should always be roughly the the same um and I'm interested in the feedback from the January meeting that's that's coming up here from with I and Council marstone jce I was prepared coming into the reorganization today to self-nominate to be the council a on to the IAB in part because I think similarly to everyone on Council recognize that immigrant rights and Justice and inclusion is essential to our work and I I still think that um that that could be a potential piece of an
alternative Pathway to addressing these outstanding concerns um I worry that by um not allowing um the board to continue to meet we're we're missing out on some valuable conversation not to say that there'll always be agreement but that um I think I think uh that kind of collaborative dialogue um which I sounds like council member Stone you're committed to to having at least in the next meeting um would be my my preference on a way to move forward um and um yeah I'm committed to being a part of that work and um and uh would certainly um be grateful if if Council would could consider that appointment later this afternoon uh procedurally we probably won't take this matter up again so if there is anything to be direction or consensus to be reached it would be need to be reached in the next five or so minutes um but the expectation is that this matter will come back to a future committee the whole meeting um if there is no disposition today it would just be rescheduled for continuation um I guess then I would move um to self-nominate um to be the council a on to the IAB um and the interim of a um you know decision down the line um thank you um what I will do is I will uh temporarily decline to take out that motion because that will be very appropriate at the next phase inside there just let you know I was also thinking of nominating myself but if you think you can carry that water better for the the council I'm fine with supporting you but I think uh as As a matter of um of uh
parli procedure I'm going to go ahead and um not ask for any seconds on that motion at this time Hannah so just to clarify that the so the second part of this meeting the reorganization meeting we will go through each board and commission individually and so the I is on the list yeah so at that time it could be taken up just to but it's good to know that that's your intention that's so that's part of the discussion is continuing to have leas on to the IAB further discussion I'm going to go with the skip first I just want to add that um as I've read through this and everything with the focus being on a suspension of this to examine all of these issues and things and and get everything consistent with the other City policies and procedures I think think is wise only from the point of view of um it gives us time to really think these things through to make sure this really is an effective board not that um I've I've been contacted by some people that think that this is the first step to dissolution I haven't heard that word uttered from this body at all it's we just need to step back re-evaluate and continue forward based on that re-evaluation and so um as we go down the path of discussing this further um it's my focus is on how do we make this better Hannah is it okay if I recognize myself and and then let you close it out we are uh closing out on the time that we gave ourselves for this discussion um first to what you said skip is this the first steps towards the dissolution I
hope not because I would vote no I voted yes to form the IAB I still believe in its purpose and I want to I want to I want the IAB to live out that that purpose I'd rather not suspend it in this formal way but we may have to because we do need some time and some space to get it right because things haven't been happening that I expected would happen with the IAB um I expected over these last few years some advice from the IAB the same way we get advice from other advisory boards we're working on affordable housing and housing plans I'd like some input on those from The Immigrant Community immigrant perspective we're working on climate change and issues of climate Justice uh I would like some input from our entire Community including from immigrant community on those issues uh we often have like Parks plans or public amenity plans or Library access plans it'd be nice to hear from the Immigrant Community these are the more typical ways we use advisory boards the city is planning on doing some crazy thing and we want to run it by a bunch of people first so that's one thing that I would like to have seen with the IAB and I haven't seen But as Hannah said we also left room for not just things we thought were good to do but things the IAB self itself thought would be good to do but I also haven't heard very many critiques of our policies or practices there either so I'm not yet getting input from the IAB and I'd like to and so I want to change expectations or culture or processes
so the city council and the administration actually does get advice from The Advisory Council um I'm also as frustrated as anybody on progress on immigrant Resource Center I mean several years ago I voted yes to the idea and a couple years ago I I voted yes to another motion which was bring us a business model an operational model a budget so we can fund it I also moved with some other council members to actually budget some money ahead of time before the IRC was even formed to basically put down a place marker to say I believe in the IRC let's get it moving forward well it's not moved forward yet so it's not due to an unwillingness on my part to beine funding or resources or or um uh symbolic support there's something else and I want to fix that something else as you say Hannah something has to change an improvement an alignment I'm not sure what it is but I'm not getting advice I'm not getting input I'm not getting an IRC I can fund I think that's what we all want so what can we do to get there um like I said I'd rather not suspend in any formal sense but I do think we need things to change if giving ourselves time space is the way to get there fine I'm open to whatever will lead to a better outcome um we are at the end of our time but I'm not going to cut off conversation I want to make sure that we handle this well before we take our recess and go on the next part so Hannah I know you wanted to say more so just to respond I know that there's been question about does this
require a formal suspension or right informally we just continue the discussions and have sort of a conversation about how to do things better um it's a hard decision and maybe in other circumstances it wouldn't be required maybe something more informal would suffice but I do believe that in this particular case [Music] um relationships have deteriorated to the degree that I I do believe that a formal pause or suspension is required in order to address some concerns that are related relate to liability of the city right it's a City Board it doesn't have autonomy independent of the city but yet a lot of activity right and work happens without the city and some would say that's Justified because the city is not able or willing or doing the work right now and so we have no other choice but to do that work ourselves but the reality is is that it's a City Board and so the work has to happen in alignment with the city otherwise it's a nonprofit or a group of you know motivated community members who are passionate and doing the work which is great but if the work is happening Under the Umbrella of the city there has to be some alignment and some direct um involvement from City staff and city council members and right that has to be aligned and so concerns right now related to the open public meetings Act and the records act as well as Staffing right having City staff present at meetings to know what's happening and to be able to write to weigh in um and so some things that you've
mentioned president lillquist about the IRC or the role of the IAB and what work has or hasn't come forward I feel like that of an in itself those statements are very um complicated in the respect that we've as i' said previously I think there's shared responsibility on how we got to where we're at and in order to realign that I am you know going to attend the IAB meeting in January um sharing the same sentiments and did share this with the IAB members in advance of you know this meeting um but would be formally requesting a suspension because I believe that that is needed in order to assess what are all the moving parts and how that can be rebuilt I believe that we have a really Rocky Foundation right now and it has to be rebuilt sort of from the ground up and I don't want people to feel like the last you know three years has been for nothing and that that is just going to be swept under the rug I mean I think a lot has happened um during that time but it has not resulted in sort of the you know checking off of things or productive um results of things actually coming to fruition the way I think everyone you know would hope for and there's a multitude of reasons why um and so I feel like there has to be that an informal sort of pause while work continues in different ways but without that alignment I think would continue to be detrimental to the Future and and would keep that foundation on sort of Rocky ground so um but I do just want to acknowledge that I you know I hear
and is it your request that this be put on the council agenda committee the whole the next meeting after the 16th yeah which I believe it would be the 29th is there any objection to bring this forward back to commit the whole the meeting on January 29th 28th whatever the next meeting is after the 19th any objection to re rescheduling this agenda item at that time okay is there any further discussion I'm like I said I don't want to cut off discussion if there's something important to be said we've we've introduced this and we do have our reorg meeting uh to follow any further discussion okay thank you for this discussion uh we're going to take about a 10-minute recess and then we'll reconvene and we'll begin the reorg part of the Bellingham city council meeting on this special meeting on January 2nd this meeting is in recess Holly can you hear us if so please unmute now I can yes hello okay I was just saying hello and introducing things and saying I'm going to be getting uh the meeting again I'd like to welcome our new council member Mr th and our new mayor mayor Kim um trying to think there anything else I oh I if you would indulge me I'd like to make an announcement the Bingham city council has made an offer and it's been accepted we have a new poliy anst um I'll be sing on some information to all of you onor her name is Iris not we're really excited um we were pretty excited with the interview and then I talked to her references and I got more excited so more on that we're
trying to work out her start day it might be February 1 in might be February 16 it's an HR problem we're actually we're accommodating some um some of her concerns with regard to moving and transition that's that's it sorry if you apply anything else um with that we're going to begin the reorg meeting the first um item order of business is electing the city council officers and so that is the city council president the council president pro and the mayor proem are there any nominations for the city council president Hannah so I would nominate council member Hamill we have one nomination um according to our rules of procedure we don't need any seconds for the nominations and you are allowed to self nominate for these positions are there any further nominations I hear no further nominations all those in favor of um electing uh Jan Hamill council president for the year 2024 signify by saying I hi hi hi thank you Holly any opposed that pass uny I the G and the meeting over to our new president thank you uh Council former council president quit so the next item of business is to nominate the council president proem other any nominations for that I'm G to go ahead and nominate um council member hman thank you okay uh council member HFF do you want to speak to that at all um yes I'm I'm interested thank you okay thank goodness okay um there's one second required so uh all those any any further nominations here this afternoon seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I I
exensions recusals motion carries H is now the Pro second um so mayor proem is the next uh nomination are there any nominations I will nominate um counil M Williams any further nominations see seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I I oppose extensions recusals seeing that motion carries um I will now go to committee assignments and my intent here is to place to go through the chair the chairs first and then fill the roster second are there any objections to that procedure okay seeing none let's go ahead and move through the uh committee assignments so climate action zero motion for a chair I see go ahead I saw Michael's hand at first I'd like to nominate Michael okay excellent any further nominations seeing none uh all those in favor signified by saying I abstentions recusals seeing on motion carries uh 70 the next uh committee is community and economic development do we have a motion for the chair s nominate council member cot is nominating himself any further nominations seeing none all those uh in favor signify by saying I I exensions recusals uh seeing none motion carries 70 Parks and Recreation any nominations for chair counc nominate myself okay council member Williams nominates himself to continue to continue uh thank you for doing that any further nominations see seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I abstentions recusals seeing none motion carries uh planning any nominations for chair self nominate council member Anderson nominates for uh
Council for planning committee R any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose extension I'm sorry no no okay um all right so motion carries council member Anderson is now the planning chair public health safety Justice and Equity go ahead i' like to nominate council member Huffman okay council member Huffman are you Iman will to that nomination I'm interested yes okay all right any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I I opposed exensions recusals seeing none that motion carries Public Works and natural resources so nominated for the in the process of elimination that's me stuck with me regardless no offense so we have K Marone nominating herself any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I exensions refusals seeing none uh that motion carries stone is the chair and I'm happy to continue as chair of Public Works it was all in just give me a second okay um let's go back and fill the roster um that concludes the the chairs for committee assignments is that correct okay let's F the roster so let's go back to climate action and who would like to be on that committee Anderson and cotton any objections to either one of those council members serving on climate action seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I iions recusal seeing none that motion carries Anderson so the roster is um liist Anderson cotton on climate action uh community and economic development so we have
two slots there who would like to not be nominated there council member stone I'd like to stay on that committee okay I would like to stay on that committee as well fman and stone um any further nominations seeing none all those in favor sign signify by saying I I iions recusals seeing none that motion carries the roster is cotton stone and hman for community and Eon Economic Development Parks and Recreation who would like to join council member Williams on that committee I'd like to nominate council member Huffman Huffman and council member and any huffin are you okay with that nomination I am okay Anderson are you okay I actually am interested in the public works okay okay then we have one opening and we can wait and go back to fill it until be get things sorted out but is there any other any other member that wants to be a part of that okay seeing none we're gonna have to go back to that one okay let's go back to planning then two more uh openings there com more little quick anyone else coun member [Music] Williams any any further nominations for that seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I iose exensions recusals motion carries public health safety Justice and Equity who would like to join council member Huffman on that committee council member Stone and council member Williams have signaled their intent any objection or any further nomination seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I exensions refusals motion carries skipping Hannah thank you yeah
okay Public Works and natural resources who would like to join council member Stone on that committee council member Anderson council member list do you want to speak to that at all um been on that committee for a few years um know a lot of work coming through I have a construction background and so I have a strong vested interest in the infrastructure of the city Michael you want to speak to it I bre water plus h every day okay any any further nominations for uh Public Works and natural resources see now all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose exensions recusals motion carries okay um we so Parks Parks sh sorry about that okay uh any other nominations seeing none uh all those in favor of uh counil cotton for parks and sign iOS exensions refusals motion Carri than you okay now we can move on all right now we're going to move on to exop ficio and other Council assignments and we have a lot of them so I'm just going to go through in the order that they are listed here in your packet go ahead come yeah we had that request with regard to the Marine Resources advisory committee from the county I don't think we ever resolved it um I would just ask that you put it on your list we haven't even said yes let alone signing anybody so but I thought I should bring that up Marine research I believe it was the Marine Resources Committee of Waton County probably I don't know what division go ahe Mr just want C had a conversation a couple weeks ago our staff do are engaged with them
as p as needed so they're on resources staff who are connecting with the committee as appropriate or if there's an interest some presence St parting time okay well I'll I'll allow discussion for that come at here to see if uh Council has any interest or um in moving that forward so let's go go ahead and go through here so bellham International Airport advisory committee that requires one person any want to nominate for that I'll speak to it but um I've been on it for a few years but it's in conflict with um my DB staffs board meeting um excuse me not DB St it's in conflict with another group um it used to not be a conflict but I'm hoping to stay on Chamber of Commerce so it would be an open seat okay there's an opening for Bellingham International Airport advisory committee anyone want to nominate and they meet four times a year for about an hour so it's not a huge time commitment it's an evening it's an evening it's interesting it's just again it's they move the time and it's exactly the same time as another commit okay not seeing a lot of activity on this particular assignment so maybe we'll come back to that one okay all right Bellingham School District leaz on this is for K12 counc um I self nominate okay any other nominations for this seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I I opposed extensions recusals seeing none motion curies 70 Bellingham wam County tourism board I'm interested on staying uh in staying on that one if nobody else is more interested okay
hly how long have you been doing that this is my this will be my second year thank you uh wait maybe I've been on this will be my third year okay uh herself for the Bellingham Walkin County tourism board are further nominations seeing none all those in favor signifi by saying I opposed extensions recusals motion carries Huff is now or will continue to be on that tourism board CH president H so I just wanted to highlight that in the packet that um Jackie put together so it does list Council representatives and past I mean if there's interest in well for every committee this will be year three council member husand but just people have questions about that that's what I that's a good point I appreciate that um next up is Chamber of Commerce council member Anderson I's nominated herself any further nominations same question how long I'm interested but you've been there not that long I think sheber years four years this will be her fth the look that you just got man okay okay so not a bad number and CC member Anderson has nominated herself any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signify by saying iose yeah really exensions recusals motion carries um SC are you getting all this am I going too fast okay all right you know I talk um Community Development Advisory Board cab okay uh CC member cot has nominated himself Mr will list I have a question about but that was think just added not too long ago um is not here done because I kind of want to ask what the nature of
the interaction has been I served as the president of that board before I started on on Council there wasn't much of an interaction there was there was staff interaction right um with um planning and that board I think it I think it's a really good thing to have that that level of communications because the that board um Works to fund nonprofits in our community so having a handle on that would be would be to continue that would be helpful in my opinion okay Council hman go ahead yeah thanks also um as I was a Le on in that board as well I think it is particularly helpful for community and economic development chair uh to sit on that board um and I I think it's a very educational um experience as well thank you council member of Huffman for that feedback appreciate it so cotton has um self-nominated uh any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I refusals seeing now motion carries downtown Bellingham partnership I'm interested on staying on that board um and they are having an executive director transition um which makes me even more interested in staying but also I have been uh serving on that board for four years excellent okay and you've been nominated by council member Williams as well so hutman is um requesting to stay on that board uh any further um nominations sorry for a second U seeing on all bothen paper signify by saying I recusals subtensions all right motion carries EMS oversight board Mr I been doing just over a year year and a half
um I think some continuity is important i' like to continue for at least another the year council member list has nominated himself any further nominations seeing on all those in favor signified by saying I I exensions recusals seeing n motion carries um fire that's you that's you that's me I didn't mean to say it like that that was not what I meant to come out sorry about that I I was on that board before it was a great board to serve on uh and I will happily take that one Michael can you give him the shovel kidding there one more com up I'll wait yeah really um Greenways advisory committee and oh okay Park chair yeah yeah okay um council member Williams has nominated himself for their nominations seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I I mentions recusal seeing on motion carries um higher ed education liaison council member Anderson is nominating herself any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed exensions you immigration Advisory Board I nominate jce Jace okay um council member list has nominated council member cotton for the immigration Advisory Board any further discussion on that one goad tell um I mean I guess with respect to the proposed ordinance that was discussed previously [Music] um I'm happy that you know you're expressing interest and would be engaged in that work with the work um ahead yeah I don't know if we want to formally appoint someone or we wanted to wait for an appointment to that to see what
happens and or if there was going to be an appointment and it was not myself I'd still like to stay engaged in that work just with you coming on as a new council member and not to taint things with the history um but because I've been involved in that from its Inception just wanting to um sort of help see that see that through so um so I don't know if there's an opinion from the broader Council about how best to proceed I'll recognize Williams and then we'll and I want to ask a question City attorney Mariner I've got you on you you first before Mr Mariner go ahead Williams based on what we were presented with today once again I think it's wise to postpone this one until that's all sorted out and then we can discuss who's that at that that uh time when the when it's all said and done okay uh council member question well I mean like I said in the in the uh previous meeting I was interested in that myself um I've always thought I'm maybe not the greatest fit I mean I'm not an immigration attorney and Chistina certainly came in with strong commitment to the issues the I has served um but I really want that board to succeed and because of that I think it's important symbolically that we continue to appoint a liaison even if a liaison may not have much to Lea on to for a month or two or however it long for take Ed out so symbolically I think it's important that we at least continue on our end to have everything ready in place for a presumed resumption um so I would I would I'm
still going to support voting to app point of aison even under the circumstances of and context Anderson SP um and I don't know if this could be answered here or if anybody would have an answer but depending on where we go in the future meeting let's say hypothetically that there is a pause um I imagine that pause would be a motion and then at that time it would be directed where the work would happen in order to reset and restructure um versus it happening with the liaison for the board because I want to make sure that the um that we have the best structure and experience going forward with Administration whether it's two people working in tandem or is it going to be a committee um like Committee of the whole I guess I'd like to know more about how that structure is going to work [Music] um and I want it to be successful C so did you have a question you well I guess I just had a question about whether council member list was nominating himself for consideration as well no I'm I'm giving away I mean I think I I will play whatever less formal role I need to play in in helping with a realignment I don't I don't think I need to be the name leaone be contributory to that process and so I I'll be satisfied with that but I I think it's important that there is at least one Nam Le on he will also no doubt be involved in other ways in this realignment process but when and if it completes it'll be nice to have someone in place I guess to follow up on that I mean I do see the advantage
of naming formerly naming a a liaison since they are currently members of the IAB whose terms as outlined in the current um ordinance for consideration indicates that those terms continue to sort of run so if there are board members currently in place I think it makes sense that we similarly have an a liaison in place during that time as well okay you said you had a question my question I think I this answered I'll just pull back my concern there because it is important that we send the message but um if we vote to suspend then everything's on hold so long as everyone understands that right you get light D we don't know how that yet further discussion seeing nominations been from little for p cotton uh all those in favor signified by saying I iOS motion carries and just for a note in the temp immigrations Miss SP just because I know we reuse it each year so no I think that predated you so okay um uh incarceration prevention reduction task force I'm the current person on that uh task force and I'm I'm appointed as a lifetime member by the walkin County Council is there any objection to that Lifetime well wow yeah it's a commitment um so pamel on that one and then I need a proxy and Huffman had done proxy before Huffman do you want to you have any want to speak to that or not oh sorry you said hman um yes I I'm interested in remaining as the proxy okay um so let's just formally both then so pamel as primary and hman as uh secondary for incarceration prevention and reduction
task force any further discussion see none all those in favor signify by saying I refusals seeing none uh hand Huff for that task force lakew and policy group also has a requirement for two as a one primary one secondary once Elin go ahead um so I would nominate myself and council member Williams to stay on the lake wcom policy group just it's been going through some um I was gonna say we say growth but I mean I would say growth discussion about sort of similarly that um purpose and framework and work going forward so I feel like we're at a point that bringing in brand new people might be this is the r no no okay no this is like w policy group but it's a joint with the county and at s Valley okay so um the nomination was from counc member stone for council member Stone and Williams to uh to retain on that on the lake Poli group any further discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I iose exensions refusals Mo carries Library Board of Trustees counc M Stone I would self nominate okay Council M stone is nominating herself any further nominations council member L arm wrestle I haven't done it for a decade I think they have more books now they have more books May a touch they all digital anyway no go ahead okay okay Comedy Hour is now over Stone help and there are no further nominations all those in favor signify by saying I iions motion carries uh 70 paper theater board can I clarify um I had that we finished the incarceration prevention task force but did we
also do justice project stakeholders advisory that's um there that is no longer um it does not exist anymore that was pursuant to the to the Justice project initiative that the that voters passed in November okay yeah thank you for clarifying that appreciate that um M Baker theater board council member Williams nominate myself any other nominations to continue okay um no I see no other nominations uh all those in favor of council M Williams being on the M Baker theater board signify by saying I suspensions refusal see Perry's open space committee Joint City County this is planning say planning committee members Fe is that still accurate it's never met we didn't I was on it for two years I don't Grand that it's statutory it has to be we have to have it um Michael so yeah so Anderson list and Williams would be the write those in or you just leave it planning committee members they might surprise us this year yeah we haven't met on that ever at least in the last two years okay um opportunity Council Council Mar yeah so that's a one of those um unique boards where the appointment comes from opportunity Council itself so my term's been extended so that's me okay you're going to be continuing on that then yeah just formally let's go ahead and vote on that one um Council M stone for opportunity Council all those in favor signify by saying I I oppos exensions recusals motion carries stone is will continue um Parks and Recreation Advisory Board is the parks and rep chair that's uh
skip Williams any um objections to that seeing none all those in favor signified by saying I I oppos extensions recusal seeing them motion carries police pension board that's you I'm not going to react like I did before because there's a police officer the police chief actually I really enjoy being on those boards it's really um so those boards serve U me retired members of our um police and fire service and it's just really an honor to to serve on those so um I will without any further objection I will be serving as um on those on those two boards uh moving on um Port of Bellingham marine marina advisory committee that has been me but it's in conflict with DB SAS um I was able to manage it when it was remote because i' SP computers but now they're both in person okay so we have an opening for part of bellam Marina advisory committee um ccil Anderson can you just provide like like a brief you know what's what's the time commitment and what what is the general or what are the general sub subject areas um they say they meet monthly but probably half of them have been cancelled um they I don't think they meet much if at all in the summer um because a lot of people are out fishing uh it's really kind of just dealing with the issues of the marinas of Bellingham and um Blain setting fees it's very informative but you don't know necessarily have much of a speaking role um they occasionally will ask something from a city perspective but um interesting but it's sitting in a meeting
for about an hour they do serve pizza though so it's up SI hey Pizza back yeah I was just going to mention that on page 59 it's a more detailed description than some the other boards but there's a full page about the yeah Marina advisory committee and to be clear that this is not like the functions of the Port of Bellingham no specific to the mar it's under the port but it's specific to the marinas okay okay I will entertain a nomination if there's one Nate jce okay council member Williams has nominated council member cotton uh any further nominations seeing n all those in favor signify by saying I oppose suspensions refusals seeing on motion carries sister cities Advisory Board Stone so um not to make it a a habit when I'm speaking to a board but with the sister city Advisory Board I do have questions about its role within the city so pleas put this the mayor's radar in that the sister cities there is the sister city Association that so there's a sister cities Association right which is a separate entity that operates um and the role of The Advisory board has been really un unclear and my opinion um not particularly productive I mean it seems like there might be a better way for the mayor to stay in touch with our um you know sister cities or the leadership Executives in those sister cities or maybe notifying the council and the administration when they're deleg coming I mean when delegations come to town I think it's great for all of us to be involved and you know um that
Outreach and engagement with them while they're here um but those meetings have become fewer and and fewer and most of the time Brana when she was um the city contact who was at those meetings you know spends a lot of time you like that's not something that the city can talk about it sort of that falls under the association and not The Advisory Board and so there didn't seem to be a lot of substance to actually um talk about during those meetings so I would recommend putting a Ain in that to um yeah to address I mean I served as the contact this past year but are you making a motion I'm not sure what that um you can make make a motion to suspend it to leave unfill or to leave un for a year we come back to it is there any opinion I think we imagined having the same conversation this year on our team about how it bits and what the role is of the mayor's office and what the role of the council is on so okay so I will s I've been serving on that Comm so I'll s nominate to continue to serve in the ref Administration on that transition so cons Stone self nominates for the sister City's Advisory Board are the further nominations seeing non favor signify by saying iions refusals motion carries uh sustainable connections I I currently serve on that board I would be interested in sticking with it but also um would want as I've done it for four years uh give it give somebody else an opportunity if they're would be even more interested than I am so um happy to stay with it but open to to
give it up are there for further nominations oh there's a happy hour before there is a happy night yeah they're long working meetings though yeah definitely okay so um I will nominate uh council member huffin for uh sustainable connections to continue her service there further nominations seeing none all in favor signified by saying I I oppose extensions all right retains tourism or doign need okay T tourism commissioner alac um council president as finance committee of the whole or designate well does anyone want that um that nomination all he's been doing is as design is that right Hol that is correct so I have been doing it as design I do I do enjoy it um also as somebody that owns a business that participates in touris activities from time to time I do find that um I have conflicts of interest once in a while and can't vote but um again this is another one where I really enjoy it uh definitely my experience suits the commission but uh would be happy to make way for somebody that else that was very interested in it as well recognize Williams question I'd like to nominate Holly Huffman as the designate okay council member request okay um council member Williams has nominated uh council member puffman as the tourism Commission in alac uh design uh any further uh nominations seeing now all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed extension I think H said I did she okay it was like quiet we heard you uh um watcom Communications 9 admin board is Public Safety care that is
council member Huffman at this point council member Huffman are you willing to accept that assignment yeah happy to do that are there further nominations uh Williams did you have not no okay all right all right so council member Huffman um is um as Public Safety chair slated to be the walkom Communications board bison uh all those in paper signified by saying I I exensions refusals um all right counc happen um wome Council of government's um executive committee and policy committee council member Williams like to nominate uh council member L list for the executive committee and myself for the policy committee okay council member will has nominated Council of liquis for the executive committee and himself for the policy committee For Walkin Council of governments are there further nominations see none all those in favor signified by saying I oppos Obion okay um that motion carries loam Museum Foundation Lord council member Anderson nominat stol okay uh any further nomin nominations council member Anderson has nominated herself for the W Museum Foundation board um all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose exension carries uh W Transportation Authority there are two positions within that council member Williams and like to nominate council member U liquit and myself okay are there further nominations uh all those in favor by saying I oppos Obion toel charties working in Waterfront how I believe Lisa was doing that but she indicates that she got a schedule conflict I'd be
happy to take that over if it's been new to me but yeah they used to meet on Saturdays and now they meet on nine o'clock in the morning um I forget which day I would say it's Tuesday but it's a great group um they've done some amazing things I find it very informative I wish the time is different because I would continue um but unfortunately I have an obligation I can't get out of so okay well thank you for your service on that on that committee And to clarify that is for the maritime trades group yeah um basically all Marathon trades and um they they've started apprenticeship program for paid training um uh this past year they do the they've been involved in C fees um with the um down at the marina selling fish directly on Saturday the Saturday markets um so they have their hands in a lot of different um fun things and then they have a great party in the fall but I'm going to mess that Michael will tell me all about it okay got a I shop at do side need your fish yeah do side um and I imagine they're going to take on all new kind of Endeavors going forward so great um it'll be exciting to get another report from them okay uh council member list has um nominated himself for the working Waterfront any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I SS number Lo list is now the working water PL Marine Resources all right okay um counc cotton has nominated himself for Marine Resources any further nominations seeing none all those in favor signifi by saying
I I oppose exensions recusals go ahead and so related but not the same I've been a regular attendee to the Waton County's business and Commerce Committee I'm not a Committee Member it is a committee that ised by the Waton County Council to advise on issues but if you've attended those it's actually many City staff members have they often are involved in issues that are highly relevant to the city I'm a regular attendee I'm not a member um I don't think it should be counted as one of my ex officio appointments but it can't be but I thought it indicate I'm creating the connection to an outside committee um but I'm up there I mean I you know Kim attended that meeting several times I mean it's an open meeting I'd say more than happy attending committee MERS I just I just thought I would mention that as as a thing I do out in the community whereing my channel member had appreciate that that feedback input um sort of related not related I just want to make sure that as a new council member and all council members know that the incarceration prevention and reduction task force so I don't just serve on the task force I serve um as the chair of the Bal health committee for that task force and I serve on the steering committee uh as well so there's a little more going on there I just want to make sure that everyone's with that okay so we're almost done so Bellingham let's go back to the beginning Bellingham International Airport advisory committee I'm seeking a nomination that almost
look like the US not for me okay I've got a full place you you definitely have a full play want to give me a platter well consider your obligations here folks a lot going on we got a lot of commit here are we statuto statuto obligated to have a representative with the Bellingham International Airport committee can't answer that okay thank you for nominating yourself for the uh Bellingham International Airport advisory committee I need further nomin seeing none all those in favor signif by saying iions okay that takes us go look it is interesting they got new connections coming forward but it's just conflict with do house okay um I don't see any further business here I might seeing anything okay is there any further business uh before the city council uh reorder meeting today seeing going C well I just had a question maybe there's something to report but as the outgoing president if there were any updates you shared the the um hiring or the offer and potential yeah policy analyst but the other positions that were it's no secret I was actually interested in continuing as council president but my real interest is in continuing to work on the office transformation so we had a two-c conversation uh uh with are now president about ways I continue to stay involved um in moving that forward we don't have the office manager uh uh job description finalize so we haven't been able to put that out or look for internal candidates on that I hoped that that would have been done by now we hit
the holidays we barely got the the policy analyst through because everyone was out of town or missing um and then um my and the communication position which is budgeted would come next and presumably will still come next and then um after you have an office manager then hiring the assistant would also come next and it was assumed that that then that would be a full office um none none of those job positions are yet advertised um somewh related to that as council president I gave permission for our office space where the commun Communications person would go uh to actually be temporarily occupied by someone that's part of the communications team so we would have a Communications person soon located down where we are but the B the person in that office wouldn't necessarily be the person who would stay there nor would those duties be exactly those as we're looking for in the future um and then in addition also underway is a facilities request with um um to uh reshape the outer part of our office space to create a new welcome desk where the administrative assistance um Jackie been working with with facilities on that it's ridiculously expensive um but that's also a work in progress given the fact that we are not yet advertising for that position um I don't think there's going to be any time crunch but but Dan will have to work about out like I said Jackie on it so I don't have any concerns in passing that on um is there anything else I haven't asked answered about the this
Council Office business one one more thing that I I did request um and I now I was going to do it now I'll ask you to do it is that when we do hire the communications person I suggested we form a twom member subcommittee of the council to have regular meetings with the new Communications person and with communication leads in the uh mayor's office administration to to grow that communic position given that it's new it's unfair to expect them to know how to be the communications person for the city council because we don't know how to ask them to be that person so that would be part of the onboarding plan and I I would propose that would go on for maybe a year or approximately a year if that does happen I'd like to be involved in it um I don't know if it's appropriate to talk about that creating that that working group because we don't have the position yet we not even advertising with Deion okay answer your question go ahead yeah and one other question was just at what time we wanted to finalize the seating chart or how that would there GNA be quite a shake up with the you know um I mean the three positions keep my in SE right no you're moving on over you're moving my see yeah I actually like poly se but maybe she keeps want to keep it well she's moving yeah yeah she pres Pro Temp so she'll be in Dan seat can seat so I want to keep mine oh sorry get a little muffled you want my seat shark now it's important stuff oh yeah you have your old seat I mean yeah I guess you get uh
rock paper scissors for it is that official um City attorney Mariner can we rock paper scissors so officers at the seat that they that they s in and everyone else can kind of just you know just work with Jackie to try to figure it out we got a lot of uh departments here and I don't want to waste too many where we're all gonna sit no I just want to make sure that council member cotton knows you look your name play yeah sounds good okay um any further uh business before the council from uh City Council Members mayor any um business that you want to address um as it relates to council meeting one thing I talked about today with Janice um I would like to have her as the deputy or CAO or however we be shaping that as we go forward to her to be present alongside me along with Mr so I would like to elevate her and so we might need to reconfigure those tables so that they are both alongside and so when that happens we can be Flex ible but just to know that that's my intention that I'd like them both to be there and also um when I do the mayor's report I would like to get up and speak um just having observed over the last year with my citian hat on always having the mayor back to the audience when I'm giving the mayor's report my intention is that I'm speaking to you and also more of the Audience by repositioning myself um if if that sounds agreeable yeah coun abduction to either of those items okay seeing them that's great all right sounds really good okay any further buits before