City Council - Committee Of The Whole

City of Bellingham Committee of the Whole Minutes September 14, 2020, 3:00 PM Mayor Seth Fleetwood Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Council Members Hannah Stone, Gene Knutson, Daniel Hammill, www.cob.org/council Pinky Vargas, Lisa Anderson, Michael Lilliquist and All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at Hollie Huthman 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order Roll Call Present: Council President Gene Knutson, Second Ward Council Member Hannah Stone, First Ward Council Member Daniel Hammill, Third Ward Council Member Pinky Vargas, Fourth Ward Council Member Lisa Anderson, Fifth Ward Council Member Michael Lilliquist, Sixth Ward Council Member Hollie Huthman, At-Large Council Standing Committee Meetings: Open to the public to attend. Note: there is generally no public comment period for Committee sessions. Standing Committee Members receive reports and information, ask questions and, when appropriate, vote on a recommended action for consideration by the full Council at the Regular Meeting. The notice of Committee Meetings identified below also serves as notice of Special Meetings of the City Council at the times identified as Council Members who are not members of the committee routinely attend and participate in the Committee Meetings. Committee Chairs give a report of the Committee Meeting at the Regular Meeting in the evening prior to deliberation and formal vote in the order shown below: Committee of the Whole Gene Knutson, Chair Hannah Stone, Daniel Hammill, Pinky Vargas, Lisa Anderson, Michael Lilliquist, Hollie Huthman Please be advised that if the City Council is ahead of schedule, they may start with old/new business before the official Committee of the Whole meeting time. 22753 1. City Council Training Proposal - Multicultural Organization p. 3 Development and Integrating Diversity & Inclusiveness into Your Systems Committee of the Whole Minutes Page 1 September 14, 2020  Council Member Stone, introduced the training proposal, Multicultural Organization Development and Integrating Diversity and Inclusiveness into Your Systems, and discussed the proposal. Kimberly Harris, Founder and CEO of Distinctive Voice Consulting in Bellingham, gave a presentation on the proposal. She explained the 4-hour training workshop. Council Members asked questions Council Member Hammill / Council Member Vargas moved approval of the proposed training. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 22357 2. Overview of Citywide Complaint Policies p. 8 Brian Heinrich, Deputy Administrator, reviewed the citywide complaint policies. The Public Complaint Policy is basically a request for service, to be solved at the lowest level. He also provided an overview of the Safe Spaces program, what it is, when it can be used, and how to submit a complaint. Council Members asked questions. To date, the Safe Spaces program has been operational for nearly four months. There have been two reports, and both have been resolved. 22754 3. Review of City Demographic Information p. 21 Brian Heinrich, Deputy Administrator, reviewed a request by Council on City recruitment. Human Resouces reported data on demographics for our area. The majority of the hiring comes from local community and the local population is an overwhelming white community. Although it is slowly changing. As the population changes and we continue to hire from the local population, we expect the City workforce to change as well. Bill Hewett, Fire Chief, explained the process of changes that have been made in their testing procedures. The changes have resulted in a larger pool of candidates that are eligible for consideration. Lt. Jason Monson, Bellingham Police Department, outlined the police hiring process. Recruiting fairs, community colleges and university, and are hoping to host a virtual career fair. Committee of the Whole Minutes Page 2 September 14, 2020  Gene Knutson / Michael Lilliquist moved to request a briefing on police certification or the status of a national database that tracks officers that have been let go due to serious misconduct. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 22665 4. An Update on the Partnership with Lighthouse Mission Ministries p. 26 Base Camp Program and the City of Bellingham Rick Sepler, Director of Planning & Community Development, introduced Hans Erlinger Davis, Executive Director of the Lighthouse Mission. He gave an overview of operational issues of Base Camp near Cornwall Ave. He noted that there have been no cases of COVID-19 in a population of 110. They have room to spare. There are some problems with the parking and loitering in the area. Restroom access has been an issue because so many local businesses are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Base Camp has 17 toilets. Tara Sundin, Economic Development Manager, reported they are seeking direction from Council on strategies to implement that address identified on and off-site issues. Rick Sepler, followed up on parking and discussed a protection zone that needs to be in place to protect the shelter. Gene Knutson / Lisa Anderson moved to recommend that staff return at a later council meeting with an ordinance consistent in principle with parking restrictions and modification as outlined in tonight's meeting. MOTION CARRIED 6-1, Michael Lilliquist opposed. 5. Approval of City Council Committee and/or Special Meeting Minutes Daniel Hammill / Lisa Anderson moved approval of the minutes of August 31, 2020 committee meeting minutes. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 6. Old/New Business Council Member Vargas noted that last Friday there was a construction site near Ellis and Lakeway. A construction crew of about ten were working without masks and she asked if contractors within the City right-of-way should be wearing masks? Eric Johnston, Public Works Director, explained that they should be wearing masks and he will follow up on that. Committee of the Whole Minutes Page 3 September 14, 2020 Adjournment The Committee went into Executive Session at approximately 5:00 p.m. and came out of Executive Session at 5:20 p.m. Committee of the Whole Minutes Page 4 September 14, 2020