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County Council Committee of the Whole

WHA-CTW-2025-04-29 April 29, 2025 Committee of the Whole Whatcom County 10 min
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The Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole met for over three hours on April 29, 2025, with the primary focus on hearing extensive opposition to proposed community benefit agreements (CBAs) and project labor agreements (PLAs) for county public works projects. The Associated General Contractors (AGC) and six local construction business owners presented a coordinated challenge to the ordinance, arguing it would exclude 87% of the county's open-shop contractors from public projects and increase costs by 10-20%. The meeting also featured presentations on the state legislative session outcomes, domestic violence commission work, and two competing visions for active transportation planning in the comprehensive plan update. The construction industry opposition dominated the session, with speakers arguing that existing prevailing wage laws and safety regulations already achieve the ordinance's stated goals without forcing unionization. Council members expressed varying degrees of skepticism about the CBA proposal, with some questioning what problem it was designed to solve and others indicating they remained open to modified approaches. The session highlighted a fundamental tension between pro-worker intentions and concerns about excluding local businesses from public contracts.

**AB2025-285 - Point Roberts Music Festival Permit:** Recommended for approval (6-0, Donovan temporarily absent). The Council approved an Outdoor Musical Entertainment permit for the Strings and Things Music Festival on July 12, 2025, waiving the requirement for signed resident waivers while maintaining the $5,000 surety bond re…

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The community benefit agreement discussion dominated the meeting, with six construction business owners delivering testimony against the proposed ordinance. The AGC argued that 87% of Whatcom County's construction workforce operates as open-shop (non-union), and requiring PLAs would force these workers to pay union dues and contribute to pension funds they'll never access while taking home less pay. Tiera Nipges of Pacific Facility Solutions highlighted the burden on small businesses, stating she would have to either lay off longtime employees or subject them to temporary union membership with reduced take-home pay. Tim Rockwell of Rockwell Electric noted that less than 5% of the county's 130+ electrical contractors would qualify under PLA requirements. Megan Kalma of Axiom Construction described years-long efforts to establish an architectural sheet metal ap…
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**Lance Callaway (AGC Northern District Manager):** Opposed PLAs as unnecessary given existing laws. Argued they would exclude 90% of local contractors and increase costs 10-20%. Noted union membership in Washington construction is only 16% statewide, 13% in Whatcom County. **Tiera Nipges (Pacific Facility Solutions):** Strongly opposed, citing potential need to lay off long-term employees who refuse temporary union membership. Emphasized small business vulnerability and reduced worker take-home pay under union dues structure. **Tim Rockwell (Rockwell Electric):** Opposed as barrier to minority-owned businesses. Started own apprenticeship program to keep workers local. Noted 95% of c…
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**Tiera Nipges, on worker impact:** "Everything about that scenario is bad for my employees. Their best scenario is benefiting as my direct employees, not in the union being able to participate in prevailing wage projects." **Megan Kalma, on industry fairness:** "Don't frame this as union versus open shop, frame it as what it truly is, a question of freedom, the freedom to choose." **Lance Callaway, on local workforce:** "87% of our construction community is open shop contracting community.…
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The 2025 state legislative session outcomes await Governor Ferguson's final action on budget and tax bills within 20 days. County staff will provide detailed budget impact analysis once bills are signed. Council Member Scanlon requested administrative exploration of progressive design-build methods as alternatives to CBAs, with Public Works Director pursuing CPARB certification for alternative procurement methods. The comprehensive plan update continues with environmental impact statement publication expected im…

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The community benefit agreement proposal effectively stalled, with Council Member Scanlon acknowledging it would require complete redesign to move forward. Six months of stakeholder opposition crystallized into a unified business community position against unionization requirements. The comprehensive plan update process revealed fundamental disagreement between consultants' financially constrained approach and advocate preferences for higher-standard facilities. BPAC's formal position challenges the county's proposed compliance strategy. Sta…
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# The Great Construction Debate: Whatcom County Weighs Community Benefit Agreements On a spring afternoon in Whatcom County, the Committee of the Whole chambers became the stage for one of the most heated policy discussions of the year. What began as an exploration of community benefit agreements for large public works projects evolved into a passionate defense of local construction businesses and workers, revealing deep divisions about how government should balance labor policy with economic opportunity. ## Meeting Overview The April 29, 2025 Committee of the Whole meeting, chaired by Council Member Kaylee Galloway, convened at 1:24 p.m. in hybrid format with all seven council members present. The agenda was packed with presentations spanning from construction policy to state legislative updates, but it was the lead item — a discussion on community benefit agreements featuring the Associated General Contractors — that dominated nearly an hour and a half of heated testimony. Council Members Tyler Byrd and Ben Elenbaas had requested this extended presentation to provide what Byrd called "another perspective" on the contentious issue of project labor agreements (PLAs) or pre-hire agreements for county construction projects. What unfolded was an impassioned case against the proposed ordinance from the perspective of the 87% of Whatcom County's construction workforce that operates in the open shop (non-union) sector. ## The Construction Community Fights Back Lance Callaway, Northern District Manager for the Associated General Contractors, opened with a sobering assessment despite battling bronchitis: "This is not working the way I'd expect it to." He was referring to his presentation technology, but the phrase could have applied to the entire policy debate. Callaway laid out the fundamental tension: while the proposed ordinance aimed to ensure local workers receive full prevailing wages and work safely on large county projects, it would effectively exclude 87% of Whatcom County's construction contractors who operate as open shop businesses. "AGC represents both union and non-union contractors," Callaway explained. "We believe in fair and equitable contracting in the public works sector." The statistics he presented painted a stark picture. Nationally, construction unionization has dropped from its post-World War II peak of 87% to just 10.3% in 2024. In Washington state, one of the strongest union states, construction unionization sits at only 16% — dow…
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### Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole met on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, focusing primarily on community benefit agreements and project labor agreements (PLAs) for large public works projects. The committee also received updates on state legislative session outcomes, sexual and domestic violence commission work, and draft active transportation plans. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Community Benefit Agreement (CBA):** A contract between community groups and developers that requires specific community benefits like local hiring, living wages, and workforce development in exchange for community support of a project. **Project Labor Agreement (PLA)/Pre-hire Agreement:** A contract between employers and unions established before hiring that sets wages, benefits, and work rules for construction projects, requiring all workers to abide by union terms. **Experience Modification Rating (EMR):** A safety metric used in construction that affects insurance costs. An EMR below 1.0 indicates better-than-average safety performance; above 1.0 indicates worse performance. **Prevailing Wage:** The minimum wage rate that must be paid to workers on public works projects, typically set by collective bargaining agreements in the region. **Level of Traffic Stress (LTS):** A rating system (1-4) that measures how comfortable cyclists feel on different types of roads, with LTS 1 being suitable for all ages and abilities, and LTS 4 being high-stress routes only comfortable for experienced cyclists. **Open Shop vs. Union Contractors:** Open shop contractors employ workers who are not required to join unions, while union contractors employ workers represented by labor unions. In Whatcom County, approximately 87% of construction workers are open shop. **Women and Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE/DBE):** Certification programs that help small businesses owned by women and minorities compete for public contracts. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Kaylee Galloway | Council Chair | | Tyler Byrd | Council Member, presentation co-sponsor | | Lance Callaway | AGC Northern District Manager | | Tiera Nipges | Pacific Facility Solutions CEO, WBE contractor | | Tim Rockwell | Rockwell Electric CEO, MBE contractor | | Megan Kalma | Axiom Construction General Manager | | Chris Comeau | Transpo Group Senior Transportation Planner | | Susan …
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Government Operations Transportation & Infrastructure Economic Development AB 2025 285 AB 2025 318 Associated General Contractors Axiom Construction Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee Faber Construction Pacific Facility Solutions Rockwell Electric Transpo Group Whatcom County Council Barry Buchanan Ben Elenbaas Chris Comeau Jon Scanlon Lance Callaway Megan Kalma Ryan Corley Susan Marks Tiera Nipges Tim Rockwell Todd Donovan Tyler Byrd Active Transportation Apprenticeship Programs Bicycle Infrastructure Community Benefit Agreements Comprehensive Plan Construction Industry Domestic Violence Prevailing Wage Project Labor Agreements Public Works State Legislative Session Transportation Planning Union Membership