City Council - Special Meeting

City of Bellingham City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 5, 2020, 2:00 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 Committee of the Whole Gene Knutson, Chair Hannah Stone, Daniel Hammill, Pinky Vargas, Lisa Anderson, Michael Lilliquist, Hollie Huthman 22775 1. Introduction of the 2021-2022 Biennial Budget Council Member Vargas, introduced the Mayor to address the first budget worksession, which included the budget for the Police Department. Forrest Longman, Budget Manager, outlined the basics of the Police budget. One major change included eliminating one officer position in order to double investment in the GRACE program to $280,000, shift three officers to behavioral health officers, add $100,000 annually to accelerate Climate Action goals, maintain $139 million capital program over the biennium, and continue human services and homelessness programming of over $5 million annually. He provided information in detail from the budget book. David Doll, Police Chief, thanked Council Members for their encouraging words at the last meeting. He outlined the 2019 - 2020 Department Achievements, including reaccreditation with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC). He announced that What-Comm will become fully functional to City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 October 5, 2020  receive Text - 911 by the end of the year. Additionally, the "Gun Buy Back" program collaboration with the community - has been postponed to 2021 (the launch of this program has been postponed due to the pandemic). He then outlined the 2021-2022 proposed budget. Key points included:  Eliminated one FTE and freeze the four FTE open positions.  Eliminate one FTE police officer and shifted funding to the GRACE program contract in Planning & Community Development Department. Transition three police officer positions to behavioral health officers throughout the year.  Increase contribution to Whatcom County Crisis Stabilization Center from 59K to 65K (because Whatcom Co has requested) and relayed behavior case manager stories of success. Council Members asked questions. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:43 PM. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 October 5, 2020