Search toggle
Contact toggle
Contact toggle
Search toggle
Say hello.
Focus Str. 5th Ave, 98/2 34746 Manhattan, New York
+1 222 44 55
hello@acme.com
What are you looking for?
Real Briefings

City Council

BEL-CON-SPC-2024-11-25 November 25, 2024 Committee of the Whole City of Bellingham
← Back to All Briefings
Nov
Month
25
Day
—
Min
Published
Status

The Bellingham City Council held its annual retreat at the Bellingham Public Schools District Office, focusing on 2025 policy priorities, operational improvements, and strategic planning. Council members engaged in extensive discussions about housing as the primary focus for 2025, with broad agreement that housing should be the "year of housing." The retreat addressed both substantive policy direction and procedural improvements, including workflow management, legislative request tracking, and public comment processes. A significant portion of discussion centered around Mayor Lund's recent executive order accelerating housing-related legislation through interim ordinances. Council Member Lilliquist expressed concerns about the process bypassing full deliberative procedures, while others appreciated the resource prioritization and acceleration of long-delayed initiatives. The conversation revealed tensions between desired policy outcomes and preferred legislative processes. The council also spent considerable time reviewing the 2009 "Legacies and Strategic Commitments" document, agreeing it needed updating to reflect current priorities like housing, climate action, and public safety. A process was established for the administration to draft updates with council subcommittee participation in 2025. Significant time was devoted to meeting logistics, particularly public comment procedures, with various reform proposals discussed but no consensus reached to change current practices of having public comment at the end of meetings.

**2025 Council Policy Priorities:** - Informal consensus to make 2025 the "year of housing" - Agreement to align with mayor's housing priorities - Identified urban growth area planning and comprehensive plan updates as priorities - No formal votes taken (informational retreat session) **Legacies and Strategic Commitments Update:** - Agreement for administration to draft updates to 2009 strategic document - Process to include 1-2 council members working with administration - Timeline: Begin in January/February 2025 - Will update mission, vision, and strategic com…

About 49% shown — sign up free to read the rest Sign up free →
**Housing as 2025 Priority:** Council members universally supported making housing the primary focus for 2025. Discussion encompassed affordable housing, middle housing, rental protections, and addressing the homelessness crisis. Council Member Cotton emphasized the need to "meet the moment" and avoid future ballot measures by taking proactive action. Council Member Anderson noted housing interconnects with economic development and job creation. **Executive Order Process Debate:** Significant discussion occurred around Mayor Lund's executive order expediting housing legislation through interim ordinances. Council Member Lilliquist raised concerns about truncated public processes and reduced deliberative opportunities, preferring the traditional legislative process. Others, including Council Members Anderson and Williams, viewed it as necessary resource prioritization after year…
About 49% shown — sign up free to read the rest Sign up free →
**Council Member Lilliquist:** Advocated for full deliberative processes in housing policy development, expressed concerns about interim ordinance shortcuts, and proposed split public comment periods. Emphasized his long-standing advocacy for form-based codes and housing initiatives. **Council Member Cotton:** Strongly supported 2025 as "year of housing," advocated for adding council capacity rather than just relying on existing staff resources, and supported taking action even if imperfect rather than continued delays. **Council Member Anderson:** Supported housing focus but emphasized coord…
About 50% shown — sign up free to read the rest Sign up free →
**Mayor Lund, on executive order rationale:** "Part of what drove those items is the cost of inaction we spend you know the encampment team meets every week right now and I all of the cost of inaction we heard a lot of really difficult public comments during contract negotiations from city employees who are struggling to live in the city which they serve." **Council Member Cotton, on 2025 priorities:** "I think we should make 2025 the year of housing or our year of Housing and I we are a very…
About 49% shown — sign up free to read the rest Sign up free →

**January/February 2025:** Begin strategic document update process with administration and council subcommittee **Reorganization Meeting:** Final decisions on public comment procedures and committee structure assignments **2025 Legislative Session:** Active lobbying coordination through Iris Nott and team **Ongoing:** Development of legislative…

About 50% shown — sign up free to read the rest Sign up free →
**Policy Direction:** Formal alignment on housing as 2025 priority theme, moving from scattered individual initiatives to coordinated focus area. **Process Improvements:** Commitment to legislative tracking system ending years of informal, inconsistent project monitoring. **Strategic Planning:** Agreement to update 2009 strategic commitments document, addressing 15-year gap in high-level goal setting. **Staff Utilization:** Enhanced cl…
About 49% shown — sign up free to read the rest Sign up free →
# City Council Charts Course for 2025 at Bellingham Public Schools Retreat On a rainy November morning, six Bellingham City Council members gathered in the spacious conference room at the Bellingham Public Schools District Office for their annual retreat — a 420-minute deep dive into priorities, processes, and the mechanics of municipal governance. Council Member Michael Lilliquist was notably absent, arriving partway through the first session as the group wrestled with fundamental questions about how they work together and what they want to accomplish in 2025. The retreat setting — borrowed from the school district — felt appropriate for a day of civic education and planning. Council staff had laid out breakfast pastries and coffee, and the agenda promised substantive discussions about everything from policy priorities to public comment procedures. This was the kind of strategic conversation that gets squeezed out of regular Monday evening meetings, where council members dash between budget items and ordinance readings. ## Housing Emerges as the Unifying Priority The morning's first agenda item — 2025 Council Policy Priorities — immediately zeroed in on what has become the defining issue of Bellingham's rapid growth: housing. Council Member Jace Cotton opened with a clear declaration: "I think we should make 2025 the year of housing or our year of housing." That sentiment found echoes around the table. "I want to second Jace saying that I would really love to see 2025 the year of housing too," said Council Member Lisa Anderson. "I think you know the mayor for starting that... is a great way to start that but I agree that you know we as the council were interested in that really focusing on that next year." But beneath the consensus lurked deeper questions about process and authority that would surface repeatedly throughout the day. The conversation quickly moved from what to do to how to do it — and who gets to decide. Council Member Hannah Stone raised a persistent concern that has…
About 14% shown — sign up free to read the rest Sign up free →
### Meeting Overview The Bellingham City Council held a special meeting on November 25, 2024, as an annual retreat to discuss 2025 policy priorities, process improvements, and strategic planning. The retreat covered topics ranging from housing priorities to public comment procedures and staff communications workflows. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Council Policy Priorities:** Legislative initiatives and focus areas the Council wants to pursue in the upcoming year, requiring careful resource allocation and prioritization. **Interim Ordinance:** A temporary measure that allows the city to implement policy changes quickly while maintaining the ability to refine them through full legislative process later. **Legislative Tracker:** A proposed system to monitor the status and progress of all Council-initiated policy requests across city departments. **Legacies and Strategic Commitments:** The city's foundational value statements adopted in 2009 that guide long-term planning and decision-making. **Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA):** Washington state law requiring transparency in government meetings and specifying requirements for public comment opportunities. **Serial Meeting:** A violation of open meeting laws that occurs when council members privately discuss public business in a way that circumvents public transparency requirements. **Urban Growth Areas (UGA):** Designated areas where the city can expand in the future, requiring comprehensive planning for housing, infrastructure, and services. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Dan Hammill | Council President | | Kim Lund | Mayor | | Hannah Stone | Council Member | | Michael Lilliquist | Council Member | | Skip Williams | Council Me…
About 49% shown — premium members only Upgrade to premium →

Share This Briefing

Tags & Connections

Housing Government Operations Bellingham City Council Bellingham Public Schools Planning Commission Whatcom County Allan Marlatt Daniel Hammill David Brauhn Hannah Stone Hollie Huthman Iris Nott Jace Cotton Jackie Weller Kimberley Lund Lisa Anderson Michael Lilliquist Skip Williams Affordable Housing Budget Finance Climate Action Comprehensive Plan Council Communications Governance Administration Growth Management Act Homelessness Housing Policy Land Use Policy Legislative Tracking Middle Housing One City Governance Public Comment Reform Rental Housing Strategic Planning