City Council - Special Meeting

City of Bellingham City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 18, 2021, 7:00 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 Council President Stone opened the Public Comment Session at 7:00 PM. Roll Call Present: Council President Hannah Stone, First Ward Council Member Lisa Anderson, Fifth Ward Council Member Michael Lilliquist, Sixth Ward Mayor’s Office, Janice Keller Police Department Administration, Lt. Claudia Murphy Announcement of Upcoming Public Hearings There were no upcoming Public Hearings reported. Committee of the Whole Hannah Stone, Chair Gene Knutson, Daniel Hammill, Pinky Vargas, Lisa Anderson, Michael Lilliquist, Hollie Huthman 23135 1. City Council Public Comment Session III There was a minimum of 43 people in attendance at the Public Comment Session. Attendees who wished to address the Council were given 3 minutes to share their comments. A total of 25 attendees elected to speak publicly. Included below is a list of speakers and a summary of the topic(s) addressed during their comment periods: 1. Alex McLean - need for inventory of city unimproved rights of way, need for trails to support multimodal travel, questions raised regarding compensation for rights of way and funding for trails. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 October 18, 2021  2. Ken Domorod - questions why council deferred initiatives with legal flaws to the voters, need for the legal issues discussed in executive session to be shared with the public, call for resignation of council members, support to open council chambers. Council president responded. 3. Duane Jager - uncertainty regarding council action to send the four initiatives to the voters and then oppose them, council should have amended the initiatives before they were sent to the voters, if the initiatives are rejected call on council to pass related legislation that supports the intent. Council president responded. 4. Lindy McDonough - call to open council chambers, criticism of emergency order issued by the Mayor, concern regarding threat to life and public health, concern emergency order is connected to federal funding. 5. Dena Jensen - call to press health department to open facilities (restrooms, dumpsters, etc.) and provide access to services for people in encampments during inclement weather, call to follow CDC guidelines, encourage council to record public comment sessions, council president’s interaction with some speakers doesn’t seem right. Council president responded. 6. Rebecca Wilson - support for natural immunity, moral principles, religious freedoms, rights, not opposed to vaccine but stands with those who have thoughtfully decided not to get vaccinated. 7. Dr. Richard Tran - support to protect individual rights, problems with vaccine studies and data related to safety, call for an agenda item to discuss vaccines at a council meeting, to open council chambers, to record public comment sessions. 8. Hannah Ordos – Whatcom resident wrote a letter to the Mayor, stood with people opposed to the vaccine mandate at City Hall, disappointed that the Mayor did not come speak with the group of diverse and peaceful demonstrators, county has surpassed 75% vaccination goal, support for medical and religious freedom. 9. Paul Moore - public comment session needs another option for community members who do not have access to a computer or Zoom, low-income residents at Chuckanut Square have concerns about proposed parking changes, paid City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 October 18, 2021  parking is a burden for residents who are dependent upon SSI, need proposal for free parking for residents, public hearing on October 25, the responsibility falls to the full council. 10. Behnoosh Armani - wrote letter to Council Member Lilliquist regarding homeless needs this winter, funds used for sweep at Camp 210 could have funded winter shelter instead, support for a task force or work group to develop options, suggestion for Mayor to host a breakfast with local churches, unsheltered people have need for dumpsters and porta-potties, open council chambers. 11. Tom (on the line with Kyleigh Rogers) - questions about the council’s involvement in the planning of the pandemic, seeks information about vaccine mandate discussions that started back in October of 2019, data about side effects and symptoms for those who are vaccinated versus unvaccinated, the Constitution is at stake. 12. Karen Steen - quality of other speakers’ comments, expressed support for other topics addressed by previous speakers (open chambers, trails through rights of way, lift the ban), recommended homeless advocates frame comments for City of Bellingham versus Whatcom County, hoped to see Dan Hammill Ward 3 rep, wrote article for NW Citizen about redevelopment of Base Camp/Lighthouse Mission. 13. Natalie Chavez (on the line with Shean Halley) - “Commie Vaccine” (Pfizer COVID vaccine), concerns related to FDA approval and emergency authorizations. 14. Helga DeLiban (on the line with Shean Halley) - Janet Woodcock lawsuit, rushed licensing of the Pfizer vaccine, FDA must justify actions, question Mayor’s vaccination mandate. 15. Shean Halley - “Commie Vaccine” (Pfizer COVID vaccine), question Mayor’s vaccination mandate, concerns related to state fiscal requirements and mandatory compliance with executive orders. 16. Jean Purcell (on the line with Shean Halley) - opposition to mandate is not political, only seek the truth, doctor does not recommend the vaccine because risk of death or injury, nothing more important than one’s health. 17. Misty Flowers - has not received a response to concerns, council needs to talk openly about problems with the emergency order, denied access to Ivermectin at local pharmacy, limited businesses where feel safe and welcome, unable to comply with the mandates for health reasons. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 October 18, 2021  18. Cynthia Thompson - frontline nurse, concern that elected officials are for an agenda and not for the people, class action for the department of health, health care providers are divided. 19. Geneva Blake – homelessness and the need for additional winter shelter, Base Camp not enough, Drop-in Center only serves men, don’t want to see repeat of last year, need to identify city spaces and recruit community volunteers because it will be a cold and wet winter. 20. Tami Dockter - 4th generation Whatcom County resident, a shot not a vaccine, executive order issued by Mayor is tyrannical and encourages discrimination, questions about data regarding how many people will lose their jobs because of the mandate. 21. Susan Prosser - call to open council chambers and meet in person, health is most important, lots of lives lost and adverse reactions to the vaccine, freedom to choose is granted by the constitution, questions about data regarding how many employees will lose their jobs because of the mandate. 22. Dana Briggs – (part 1) healthcare worker for 3 ½ years, advocate for homeless, need for additional data about number of people turned away from Lighthouse Mission, number of people released from hospital without a place to go, number of people living in hotels (part 2) people’s choices, biological warfare, every right to not take the vaccine but no right to infect the rest of us. 23. Des - community not supportive of sweeps, militarization, having only religious shelter options, eliminating restrooms and dumpsters, dissolving work groups, don’t point to Gardenview and Lighthouse Mission as success, respond to Immigration Advisory Board concerns regarding cleanup on January 28, support Immigrant Resource Center. 24. Enoch Mann - we are not biological weapons, the biological weapon is the current injection, COVID data is inaccurate, there never was a pandemic, survival rate is 99.5%, PCR test gives 97% false positives, deaths attributed to COVID have 4 or more comorbidities. 25. Nicole Kuklenski - resident since 1989 but thinking of leaving the area, problems with theft because people walk out of retails stores with stolen items and the police don’t stop them, community money is being thrown at these problems, but nothing is improving, need to enforce our laws. Adjournment City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 4 October 18, 2021  There being no further comments, the session adjourned at 8:55 PM. The next public comment session will be held Monday, November 1, 2021. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 5 October 18, 2021