City Council - Committee Of The Whole

City of Bellingham Committee of the Whole Minutes April 12, 2021, 1:30 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 Hannah Stone, First Ward Council Member Gene Knutson, Second 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 Excused: Council Member Daniel Hammill, Third Ward 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 Hannah Stone, Chair Gene Knutson, 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. 22953 1. Ordinance Relating to Hazard Pay for Grocery Workers p. 3 Michael Good, City Attorney's office, discussed how the draft ordinance has been reviewed and cleaned up. He explained that there are issues, should there Committee of the Whole Minutes Page 1 April 12, 2021  be a limited number of employees, and inquiries of the employees’ union. The Legal department submitted a memo highlighting the increase of food prices and treatment of other workers, as well as the City lacks an enforcement provision. Legal department's position suggests that the ordinance should be done in the regular course of work and not an emergency ordinance. Alan Marriner, City Attorney, added that we need to be clear; the draft ordinance lacks any kind of city provision for enforcement. Any remedy for an employee would be to file a civil action in court because the City has no enforcement entity. This is unlike other ordinances. Private right of action would be the only course of action. The ordinance may create food deserts due to stores closing because of the increase in labor costs. Upon passing such like legislation, the City of Seattle saw two QFC stores close within one month of passage. Committee members asked questions. Lisa Anderson / Michael Lilliquist moved to adopt how gorcery store workers are defined. MOTION CARRIED 4-2-1, Knutson, Vargas opposed, and Hammill excused. Lisa Anderson / Michael Lilliquist moved to amend and adopt changes that were suggested on page 87, 4a in the draft. MOTION FAILED 1-5-1, Huthman, Stone, Knutson, Vargas, Lilliquist opposed, and Hammill excused. Hollie Huthman / Michael Lilliquist moved to strike under section 7A the term "intergrated enterprises" (on pg. 84), MOTION FAILED, 3-2-1, Vargas and Knutson opposed, Anderson abstained, and Hammill excused. Hollie Huthman / Michael Lilliquist moved to change in the definition of grocery business to stores with 40 or more employees in Section (subsection 4) on page 74. MOTION CARRIED 4-2-1, Vargas and Knutson opposed, and Hammill excused. Lisa Anderson / Michael Lilliquist moved to docket the ordinance for the next meeting and hold a public hearing. MOTION CARRIED 4-2-1, Vargas and Knutson opposed, and Hammill excused. 22930 2. Part 3 in a Series of Staff Presentations in Preparation for City Council p. 24 Adoption of the 2021-2022 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Action Plan Committee of the Whole Minutes Page 2 April 12, 2021  Samya Lutz, Housing and Services Program Manager, discussed the Action Plan Preparation, Part 3, of the 2021-2022 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Action Plan. Council indicated that they would like to see funding prioritized for programs that aid families with children. Information only. 22954 3. Introduction of the City’s Update of its Shoreline Master Program p. 31 (SMP) Steve Sundin, Shoreline Administrator and responsible for updating the Shoreline Master Program, provided information on the steps needed to complete the updates to the Plan. They are due by the end of 2021. Information only. 4. Approval of City Council Committee and/or Special Meeting Minutes Gene Knutson / Michael Lilliquist minutes of March 22, 2021. MOTION CARRIED 5-0-1, Hammill excused. Hollie Huthman / Lisa Anderson moved approval of Special Committee meeting minutes of March 15, 2021. MOTION CARRIED 5-2, Vargas and Hammill excused. 5. Old/New Business Committee Member Knutson announced that Sue Hodges recently passed away. She had worked for the City’s Public Works department for 25 years. Mayor Fleetwood introduced Elizabeth Monahan, the City's new Human Resources Director. She joined the City on April 1 and comes to us from the Port of Bellingham. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:19 PM. Committee of the Whole Minutes Page 3 April 12, 2021