# City of Bellingham Hearing Examiner: The Case of the Wrong Date on the No Parking Sign ## Meeting Overview On a Monday morning in late July, the City of Bellingham's virtual hearing room became the stage for an unusual tale of municipal miscommunication, pride parade preparations gone awry, and the fundamental question of what happens when the government's own signage contradicts itself. Hearing Examiner Sharon Rice, an attorney contracted to provide impartial adjudication services to Bellingham and nine other local jurisdictions, presided over what she herself described as a "first time" situation in her experience with vehicle impound appeals. The case before her was HE 25-VI 021, an appeal filed by Brody Sakazaki challenging the impound of his vehicle during the July 13, 2025 Pride Parade. What made this hearing remarkable wasn't just the circumstances—though those were compelling enough—but the procedural complications that emerged during testimony, including damaged signage, potential video evidence that hadn't yet materialized, and the thorny legal question of how citizens are expected to interpret conflicting municipal notifications. The virtual hearing, conducted via Zoom with the audio portion forming the official legal record, brought together city parking code compliance officer Greg Coulter, his supervisor Raul Murillo, and appellant Brody Sakazaki for what would become an examination of how even well-intentioned city processes can go sideways when the human element—including an unhoused individual with wire cutters who needed zip ties—intersects with the machinery of municipal governance. ## The Pride Parade Impound Incident The story began with the City of Bellingham's preparation for its July 13 Pride Parade, an event requiring the closure of multiple blocks along Cornwall Avenue. As Greg Coulter, a parking code compliance officer, explained to Hearing Examiner Rice, the coordination process started in June with Lieutenant Dante Alexander of the Bellingham Police Department, who oversees parade route closures and special events. "We were contacted by Lieutenant Dante Alexander, part of the city of Bellingham Police Department, who's in charge of these types of closures and events to see whether we would be able to assist with the clearing of the parade route," Coulter testified. The city's standard procedure involves placing temporary no parking signs well in advance of such events, both to provide adequate notice to the public and …