December 30, 2023 Dena Jensen

Remember when Whatcom County officials suddenly shut down the Homeless Strategies Workgroup? The threat of a similar action now looms over the IAB. 

Please bear witness to the Bellingham City Council Meeting this coming Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. where Council Members will be discussing the draft of an ordinance “Suspending All Future Meetings of the Immigration Advisory Board (IAB) and Its Subcommittees Until City Council Adopts an Ordinance Rescinding the Suspension.” 

Here is a link to the agenda: https://meetings.cob.org/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=3121&doctype=1

No public comment opportunity is being offered during this meeting. People are left with options to email, call, or comment to officials through the Engage Bellingham website. I’ll include that contact info at the bottom of this post. 

There has been no significant evidence in Immigration Advisory Board meetings that City Council Members or Mayor Fleetwood have done critical work to develop understanding with the board around the specific claims made about the IAB in the recitals of the ordinance prior to this sudden turn of events. 

During the IAB retreat held in May of 2023, there was a long discussion of varying points of view on some issues between the IAB members and City officials and a sense was gained that improved communication would be occurring. Since then, however, it has been noted during IAB meetings that some City officials and staff have not been responsive in some areas.

In fact, during the November meeting of the IAB, Kristina Martens, who will no longer be serving on the City Council in 2024 and had been serving as the City Council liaison to the IAB in 2023, told IAB members that no other City Council Members wanted to serve in that position with the IAB and that the IAB is a hot potato that no one wants to touch. 

This is an indicator that there has not been recent proactive effort of City officials to build understanding and use trauma-informed actions that help assist board members in being effective at preventing infractions of the Keep Washington Working Act and increasing protections that will help provide resources to immigrants to save lives, reduce homelessness, reduce incarceration, and uphold the stated goals of the ordinance creating the IAB. 

Under such circumstances, and with the abruptness of notification to the board and speed of the City moving forward so far with a “suspension” of the board, it looks akin to a shut down to the work and progress, despite inadequate aid from the City, that has been being made for four years by the IAB. 

You can listen to the December 19, 2023 IAB meeting to hear the first inkling being given to IAB members that such an action to shut down the board either temporarily or permanently is presented by Council Member Stone. https://cob.zoom.us/rec/share/deHCvnATRZGEui0eR_lX9QGbLdi2HfFi3lgfAu36qYI–V26Ko9NvqEZl-3ay1Hl.guvK6Kmp8qtV4daN

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Contact information for City of Bellingham representatives:

Mayor Kim Lund – mayorsoffice@cob.org, (360) 778-8100

Hannah E. Stone <hestone@cob.org>; 

Hollie A. Huthman <hahuthman@cob.org>; 

Michael W. Lilliquist <mlilliquist@cob.org>; 

Daniel C. Hammill <dchammill@cob.org>; 

Lisa A. Anderson <laanderson@cob.org>; 

Edwin H. “Skip” Williams <ehwilliams@cob.org>

Jace Cotton (no personal contact info is posted for him yet, you can reach him via the general contact for City Council at (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org

Hannah Stone (1st Ward) – (360) 778-8211

Daniel Hammill (3rd Ward) l – (360) 778-8213 

Edwin H. “Skip” Williams – 360-778-8215

Lisa Anderson (5th Ward) – (360) 778-8217

Michael Lilliquist (6th Ward) – (360) 778-8212 and 360-920-2684 

Hollie Huthman (At-Large) – (360) 778-8216