What percent of a new tax would go to a Whatcom jail?: officials don’t know yet / Noisy Waters Northwest

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August 16, 2023 Dena Jensen

[Editor’s Note: The original blog post contained only two emails sent to and from myself and Jed Holmes on August 16, 2023. Below the copies of those emails included in this post, I have provided an update with two additional emails between myself and Mr. Holmes from August 17, 2023]

The following statement by Jed Holmes, Community Outreach Facilitatory for the Whatcom County Executive’s office, is something we have been missing regarding the 2023 Whatcom County ballot measure sales tax related to a new jail and other Justice Project projects that we will be voting on in November:

“The revenue scenario and allocation plan presented here should not be confused with a spending plan. Actual revenues received, recommendations of the advisory bodies contemplated in the ordinance, and decisions of future County Councils will ultimately determine how revenues from the new sales and use tax are spent.”

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Lack of places to which LEAD can lead: Task Force members / Letter to the Whatcom County Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force

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August 7, 2023 Dena Jensen

Sent: Monday, August 7, 2023, 04:11:24 PM PDT

Subject: Regarding 2E2SSB 5536 and the LEAD program

Dear Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force:


I am writing related to the portion on your July 17, 2023 meeting where there was a brief discussion of the changes in state legislation – specifically 2E2SSB 5536, on controlled substances, possession, and treatment.

It is noteworthy to me that I am hearing a continued focus on the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program when some government bodies are speaking of services to address dangers posed by public drug use and possession. This has been the case at Bellingham City Council meetings surrounding both their own legislation outlawing public use of controlled substances in Bellingham that was passed back in April, and their more recent adoption of the state legislation. 

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2023 Opportunity Council update to Whatcom County Council on 22 North / Noisy Waters Northwest

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July 14, 2023 Dena Jensen

At yesterday’s Whatcom County Council Public Works and Health Committee meeting, there was a presentation from the Opportunity Council on the status of the 22 North 40-unit apartments that are aimed at providing permanent supportive housing. The presentation comes about a year after the County approved funding in the interest of significantly improving services to the residents, as well as their hopes of reducing crime and disturbance to neighbors in the area. 

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Conservative Whatcom candidates favor law enforcement and executive oversight of proposed jail tax funds / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the image to access the agenda for Whatcom County Council’s June 26, 2023 Special Meeting, a final workshop on the proposed sales tax ordinance related to the Justice Project

June 25, 2023 Dena Jensen

It will be good to pay attention to this special meeting for the Whatcom County Council on MONDAY 6/26/23 at 10:30 a.m, (same day as Bellingham City Council meetings for this week,) as it relates to conditions surrounding a new jail and also to people campaigning to fill Whatcom County government positions during the 2023 elections (Meeting details are here: https://whatcom.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1109912&GUID=E6B2D3F9-57C3-4CA0-BAF2-CA77423B70D0&Options=info|&Search= )

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Where is the equation for replacing unused jail cells in new facility with services? / Letter to Whatcom County Council

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June 15, 2023 Dena Jensen

During a June 13, 2023 Whatcom County Council Special Committee of the Whole meeting, committee members participated in a work session focused on the June 9, 2023 draft Justice Project Implementation Plan and a ballot measure to be approved by voters in November. The ballot measure would be for a tax which is currently referred to in that latest amended draft implementation plan as a “proposed new sales tax” which is, among other things, “the only feasible funding mechanism to generate the revenue needed to pay for a capital project the size of the jail and behavioral health treatment center.”

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Bellingham Mayor Fleetwood calls for slowing down services, speeding up new jail / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access a copy of the full June 6, 2023 letter sent by Whatcom County mayors encouraging the County Council to delay funding for social services

June 8, 2023 Dena Jensen

Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood has signed on to each one of the Small City Caucus letters posted on the Justice Project comment webpage and sent to Whatcom County Council Members regarding their county’s Justice Project so far. All three letters have emphasized the building of a new jail over behavioral health services, but none so clearly as the one dated June 6, 2023, or with the amount of alarming and detailed proposals.  (As of the date of this post, there is not an active link to the letter on that comment webpage, but the letter is listed there and a link to the letter was found elsewhere on the Whatcom County website.)

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Where should funds for Justice Project social services come from? / Noisy Waters Northwest

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June 1, 2023 Dena Jensen

Here’s some information relevant to funding for recommended actions related to behavioral health services and facilities, among other things, in the draft Justice Project Implementation Plan. (Link to the draft plan: https://www.whatcomcounty.us/…/Implementation-Plan… ) Whatcom County’s Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force is seeking feedback from community members about the draft implementation plan, now through June 11, 2023.

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Whatcom County Justice Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee 2022-2023 searchable meeting summaries / Noisy Waters Northwest

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May 1, 2023 Dena Jensen

Over the next few months, our community will have a more intensive opportunity to review and speak out about the process (and outcome of that process) by which Whatcom County Council has come to accept recommendations, and potentially propose funding, for a new jail along with mental and behavioral health services related to incarceration and reducing and preventing incarceration.

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Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole 2022 searchable meeting minutes / Noisy Waters Northwest

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March 8, 2023 Dena Jensen

In this blog post, folks can find the meeting minutes for all of Whatcom County Council’s 2022 Committee of the Whole meetings that can be browsed or searched for information of interest related to that committee’s proceedings. This is the second group of government agency committee meeting minutes I have assembled, having previously put together posts with minutes of one year of Bellingham City Council Committee of the Whole meetings, along with a couple years of regular council meetings for Whatcom County and City of Bellingham.

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Work in progress: Whatcom County Council 2023 searchable meeting minutes

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March 6, 2023 Dena Jensen

In this post – which will be a work in progress during the course of this year – you’ll find the content of the Whatcom County Council regular meeting minutes that have been approved so far for 2023, here in one place. This allows folks to search on things like key words, topics, dates, public hearings, and people’s names. For each meeting date, a link is also provided near the top of that edition of minutes to access the agenda and media associated with that particular meeting.

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