City Council - Committee Of The Whole

City of Bellingham Committee Of The Whole Meeting Minutes 01/23/2017, 2:05 PM Mayor Kelli Linville Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Council Members April Barker, Gene Knutson, Daniel www.cob.org/council Hammill, Pinky Vargas, Terry Bornemann, Michael Lilliquist All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at and Roxanne Murphy 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order Roll Call Michael Lilliquist, Chair Pinky Vargas Roxanne Murphy Gene Knutson Dan Hammill April Barker Excused: Terry Bornemann Council Standing Committee Meetings: Committee Of The Whole 21481 1. Hearing Examiner Annual Report to Council Presented by Sharon Rice INFORMATION ONLY 21284 2. Discussion of Salary Commission The Council discussed this issue and decided to continue the conversation when Councilmember Terry Bornemann returns. 21482 3. Discussion of Local Impact of Federal Immigration Enforcement Dan Hammill / April Barker moved to direct City staff to create a Council action addressing civil and criminal federal immigration law and to deliver a draft of this work product to Council's first meeting in February. Further, as part of this motion, Councilmember Hammill requested that up to three Councilmembers work with City staff in producing this draft document MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 1  4. Approval of City Council Committee and/or Special Meeting Minutes Gene Knutson / Dan Hammill moved approval of the January 9th minutes as submitted. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 5. Old/New Business Michael Lilliquist: Thanked Samantha Wohlfeil for her good reporting of Council matters as the political reporter for The Bellingham Herald. We wish her well at her new post. Also, Michael attended the Women's March and was delighted by this show of democracy in action. Dan Hammill: Is involved in a project by the City of Bellingham, Whatcom County Health Department, PeaceHealth, and others who will commit $2,500 each for a 3-4 month visioning project on how to care for those with psychosocial needs, identifying gaps in services. This is for high-utilizers of systems (jails, emergency rooms, fire, 911 calls). This is beyond, but connected to, the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force. Roxanne Murphy: Attended the Women's March in Bellingham on Saturday, January 21st and was inspired by such a powerful showing of so many people. Also, Roxanne is wearing a cedar rose today in honor of Treaty Day, January 22, 1855, when the Point Elliot Treaty was signed by Coast Salish leaders. She will be bringing forward a resolution at the next Council meeting for consideration to announce Treaty Day in Bellingham every January 22nd. April Barker: Thank you to the organizers at the MLK event held at Whatcom Community College. She attended an excellent panel on federal immigration law that featured local experts. April Barker / Roxanne Murphy moved to recommend working with the Council President to identify an expert to give a 15 minute presentation on legal barriers to citizenship MOTION CARRIED 6-0. Pinky Vargas: Attended the Women's March in Bellingham on Saturday, January 21st. The event drew 12,000 people marching for change. Her Call to Action was encouraging people to run for office and to take part in the Boards and Commissions. She is especially excited about a new police initiative called Bellingham Neighbors 2 Together to promote safe neighborhoods. People can sign up to be a part of that effort. Contact Legislative Assistant Marie Marchand for more information. April Barker / Dan Hammill moved to amend the City Council procedures of public comment #2 so that the word "citizen" be replaced with "persons" MOTION CARRIED 6-0. Michael Lilliquist: Introduced the question of directing Council staff to pursue a city- wide survey to gage interest in making Bradley Lockhart's flag the official flag of Bellingham, or to have the City pursue a formal contest to consider other designs. Pinky seconded the motion because it was her idea. April Barker expressed reservations because an online survey would not represent the entirety of people residing in Bellingham. Mayor Kelli added that if Council likes this flag, they can straight-out adopt it. Gene Knutson / Pinky Vargas moved to put out a public online survey to get input about the proposed Bellingham City Flag and inquire about alternatives to the process of choosing a flag MOTION CARRIED 4-2 Hammill, Barker opposed. Adjournment 3