City Council - Committee Of The Whole

City of Bellingham Committee Of The Whole Minutes February 7, 2022, 2:00 PM Mayor: Seth Fleetwood Contact: (360) 778-8100, mayorsoffice@cob.org Council Members: Hannah Stone, Hollie Huthman, Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Daniel Hammill, Edwin H. “Skip” Williams, Lisa Anderson, https://cob.org/council Michael Lilliquist and Kristina Michele Martens All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at Legislative Assistant: Nalini Margaitis 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order Roll Call 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 Hollie Huthman, Daniel Hammill, Edwin H. "Skip" Williams, Lisa Anderson, Michael Lilliquist, Kristina Michele Martens 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. 23258 1. An Ordinance Amending the 2021-2022 Biennial Budget Increasing p. 156 Revenues and Expenditures, as well as Adding and Increasing Positions Lisa Anderson / Hollie Huthman moved to recommend approval of ordinance as presented, amending the 2021-2022 biennial budget increasing revenues and expenditures, as well as adding and increasing positions. MOTION CARRIED 6-0-1. Daniel Hammill abstained Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 1 February 7, 2022 23259 2. Bellingham City Council Rules of Procedure p. 156 FairVote Washington provided a presentation on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Several issues were raised by City Council during the reorganization meeting on January 3, 2022. The Council moved to recommend approval to modify its Rules of Procedure. Modifications A-E: Modification A Modifying Rule of Procedure, Section 13 to require the use of Ranked Choice Voting to fill Council vacancies Replace Paragraphs 4 through 6 of the Nomination Process in Section 13 of the City Council Rules of Procedure with the following paragraphs: 4. City Council will use ranked-choice voting (RCV) to help identify the top candidate for filling a City Council vacancy. Under RCV, City Council members will rank the nominated candidates in order of preference. The City Clerk will then do a roll call where each Council member will announce his/her ranking of the nominated candidates, and the City Clerk shall tally the results. 5. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the top candidate. If no candidate wins a majority of firstpreference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots. The City Clerk conducts a new tally to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority. 6. Once a candidate wins an outright majority of votes under RCV, City Council must then appoint the top candidate to fill the vacancy by a majority vote. If the top candidate does not receive a majority vote, City Council may adjourn to executive session to further discuss the qualifications of the candidates before repeating the RCV process in open session until a top candidate receives a majority vote by City Council to fill the vacancy. Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to recommend approval of modification A. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 2 February 7, 2022  Modification B Modifying Rule of Procedure, Exhibit A, Section 8 a. to add profanity to the list of behaviors that, if disruptive, are prohibited at a Council meeting: Disorderly speech or action; name-calling or personal attacks; obscene or indecent remarks; profanity; and derogatory comments on personalities Michael Lilliquist / Daniel Hammill moved to recommend approval of modification B. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Modification C Clarifying Rule of Procedure, Exhibit A, Section 9 by deleting “or Section 9”. Daniel Hammill / Lisa Anderson moved to recommend approval of modification C. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Modification D Modifying the Rules of Procedure to limit when Council members can abstain from a vote. No action was taken on modification D. Modification E Modifying Rule of Procedure, Section 5 B. to exempt Council members who are appointed as an ex-officio board member for the Whatcom Transit Authority or other governmental entity from the prohibition of serving as an officer of the board during the ex-officio assignment. When a Council member is appointed as an ex-officio board member for a non- profit entity, that member shall not become an officer of the board during the ex-officio assignment. This prohibition shall not apply to a Council members Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 3 February 7, 2022  appointed as ex-officio board members for the Whatcom Transit Authority or other governmental entities. Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to recommend approval of modification E MOTOIN CARRIED 7-0. 3. Approval of City Council Committee and/or Special Meeting Minutes Dan Hammill / Skip Williams moved approval of the January 24, 2022 City Council Committee meeting minutes as presented. MOTION CARRIED 7-0 4. Old/New Business Adjournment There being no further business, the meeeting adjourned at 3:48 p.m. Committee Of The Whole Minutes Page 4 February 7, 2022