The June 9th evening meeting of the Bellingham City Council was a study in contrasts — routine business mixed with deeply consequential policy decisions that would shape how the city protects its most vulnerable residents. What began as a standard Monday evening session in Council Chambers evolved into one of the more significant meetings in recent memory, as the council advanced major tenant protection legislation and reaffirmed the city's commitment to being a welcoming place for all residents. Council President Hollie Huthman called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM with all seven council members present. Mayor Kim Lund joined virtually, citing an inability to attend in person. The evening's formal proceedings would be bookended by extensive committee work that had taken place throughout the day, where the real legislative heavy lifting occurred. ## Mayor's Appointments and Transportation Planning Mayor Lund's brief report included three appointments to city boards and commissions. The most notable required council approval: Lisa Marx's appointment to a first term on the Planning and Development Commission. The appointment passed unanimously, as did the informational appointments of Kendra Bradford to a third term on the Sehome Hill Arboretum Board of Governors and Josiah Raphael Smith to a one-year term on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. The evening's only public hearing focused on the draft 2026-2031 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), a comprehensive six-year planning document that outlines how the city will invest in streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, and transit infrastructure. Public Works Director Joel Pfundt explained that this annual requirement helps the city leverage state and federal grant dollars while guiding budget development. Two residents offered testimony during the public hearing. Adam Bellinger supported most of the plan but raised concerns about lighting on North Samish Way, where he said he'd nearly hit pedestrians due to poor visibility. He also questioned the James Street multimodal project, suggesting bike lanes on parallel side streets would be safer than removing parking and lanes from the main thoroughfare. "When I'm biking, I don't like to be on the main thoroughfare," Bellinger said. "I like to be on the side streets or greenways." Dan Bloemker from Birchwood offered enthusiastic support for the TIP, particularly the Birchwood Safe Routes to School project and the Meridian-Birchwood-Squalicum Parkway roundabout improvements. "There's a whole host of projects here that improve multimodal access and expand pedestrian safety," he said. Council Member Michael Lilliquist raised questions about the James Street project that would be addressed at the June 23rd meeting when the council formally considers the TIP for approval. ## Landmark Tenant Protection Legislation The most substantive work of the evening came through reports from the morning's Committee of the Whole session, where council members had spent hours crafting two groundbreaking ordinances designed to protect tenants from excessive fees. This was the culmination of nearly a year of work that began with Council Member Jace Cotton's initial push for tenant protections. The first ordinance addresses rental fees in standard residential properties, while the second specifically targets manufactured and mobile home communities. Both ordinances define which fees landlords can charge, limit the amounts for certain fees, and promote transparency in rental agreements. "This was a big, nearly year-long effort," Lilliquist said, thanking Cotton for initiating the conversation. "I think it addresses some problems, hopefully pretty well, maybe not perfectly. There are some things which are going to be unaddressed, and we may or may not have struck the correct balance in every single case. Nonetheless, I think there was a strong case for a need for protection of the majority of our residents who are indeed renters." Cotton expressed gratitude for the extensive public engagement that shaped the ordinances. "I think we've received thousands of emails and as well as a lot of time over coffees and in our stakeholder focus groups," he said. The process had included door-to-door conversations, focus groups, and comprehensive surveys that revealed the scope of problematic fee practices in the local rental market. Council President Huthman acknowledged the difficulty of drafting legislation as a full council with limited staff support. "We're really trying to get at here is the more egregious things that are happening in the community when it comes to tenants," she said. "I think the ultimate way to bring some of that balance of power back to tenants is through choice. And there just isn't a lot of choice right now." The ordinances passed their first and second readings unanimously, but not without acknowledgment of their limitations. During committee work, the council had voted to remove city enforcement provisions due to resource constraints, instead relying on civil legal remedies that would require tenants to enforce their rights through the court system. This decision prompted Lilliquist to request research into civil legal aid available to renters in the community. "We know that many renters don't have the time, or the expertise, or the understanding or the resources to engage in that civil legal process," he said. The council approved his motion to have staff analyze local legal aid capacity and mediation services. Council Member Lisa Anderson suggested the research should go beyond just documenting existing capacity to explore what it would take to build adequate support systems. "Not just what is capacity, but if capacity is not there, what does it take to build the capacity so that we actually have something beneficial coming out of helping to advocate for tenants that are being wronged?" she said. The council also approved another Lilliquist motion to monitor the long-term effects of the ordinances, particularly their impact on pet-friendly rental options. Huthman, who described her own difficulty finding pet-friendly housing, worried that the regulations might lead to fewer landlords allowing pets. ## Growth Planning and Housing Commitments The council unanimously approved a non-binding multi-jurisdictional resolution regarding population, housing, and employment allocations through 2045. The technical-sounding measure actually commits the city to significant planning changes. As Lilliquist explained for the public, "This commits the city to plan for rate of population growth, which is slightly above our historic average. But more importantly, it also commits us to plan for a housing mix that actually asks for housing at the lower income levels to where we historically underperform significantly." The resolution aligns Bellingham with countywide growth projections and provides the framework for comprehensive plan updates. While non-binding, it establishes planning targets that acknowledge the city must do more to provide affordable housing options. ## Reaffirming Bellingham as a Welcoming City Perhaps the most emotionally resonant action of the evening was the council's unanimous approval of a resolution reaffirming Bellingham as a welcoming city where all people have the right to live free of discrimination, violence, and systemic barriers. Council Member Hannah Stone had led the effort to update the city's 2017 welcoming resolution in response to changing national politics and evolving community needs. Lilliquist spoke passionately about the resolution's significance in the current political climate. "What brings us here are specific events at the national level that have to do with the increased and increasingly lawless targeting of immigrants, and the specific scapegoating and attacking that goes on towards members of our trans community," he said. He noted hundreds of bills introduced in state legislatures to strip trans people of recognition and rights, along with more than half a dozen presidential executive orders targeting trans individuals. "I think government is at its best when it protects our rights and freedoms," Lilliquist continued. "And if we have the right to life, liberty and happiness, that means the life of trans folks, the liberty of trans folks, and the happiness of trans folks." Initially troubled by community requests to guarantee safety, Lilliquist said he came to understand safety differently through listening. "This isn't safety which comes from having armed protection or people physically protecting you from. But it does come from the sense of safety you get if you feel accepted, belonged, belonging, loved, included. I think that's the kind of safety which we can create, both through this resolution and through actual work." Stone explained why the resolution avoids the term "sanctuary city" despite community requests for that designation. She worried that the federal administration had weaponized the term to suggest cities are "deliberately and affirmatively obstructing justice or obstructing federal law enforcement" and "harboring criminals." "Most of this, if not all, is focused on the safety and wanting to make sure that members of our community are safe," Stone said. "The fact that being an immigrant in Bellingham is not a crime, being black or person of color in Bellingham is not a crime. Being trans is not a crime." Anderson appreciated the resolution's acknowledgment of past work while recognizing future challenges. "There's a lot of things in here that you kind of see the work over the last 8 to 10 years of trying to make the city more inclusive and accessible, looking at past practices or things that just weren't identified and how we can make improvements," she said. Council Member Edwin "Skip" Williams emphasized that the resolution was just the beginning. "The next step is going to reflect what it is that we do in a very conscious way to hold ourselves to these values. And to me, that is the most important step. It's real easy to adopt something like this and then let it sit and never have the reality of what it is that we do to hold ourselves to these values." Huthman provided historical context, noting that the 2017 resolution was passed in response to a new federal administration and community concerns about safety. "Here we are again and reviewing that resolution, I think we realized it's lacking. It needs some updates," she said. "I see this as almost a passing of the baton to a future council to say the council, your council of the past has taken these actions. We hope that there are some aspects of this at least the spirit of this continues to be passed on and updated." ## Environmental Remediation and Financial Realities The council's afternoon committee work addressed significant infrastructure and financial challenges facing the city. They approved a $7.3 million Public Works Board loan at 1.71% interest to help fund Cornwall Avenue landfill cleanup, part of a larger environmental remediation project tied to development of Salish Landing Park. The Budget and Finance Committee received sobering news about the city's fiscal outlook during a first-quarter financial review. Finance Director Andy Asbjornsen reported flat revenues while expenses continue rising due to inflation, potentially putting pressure on city reserves in coming years. Anderson, who chairs the budget committee, noted particular concerns about declining lodging tax revenue, which funds many community enrichment programs. She said Mayor Lund has asked departments to prepare scenarios for 5% budget cuts as the city grapples with financial pressures that mirror those at the state level. "This year is going to be a little bit interesting to go through that process," Anderson said, noting that some funding streams remain robust due to utility rate increases, while the general fund faces constraints. ## Tree Programs and Community Engagement In lighter news, the council heard about successful community tree planting pilots that distributed free trees and coupons to residents in neighborhoods with low tree canopy cover. The programs focused on areas including Columbia, Roosevelt, the lettered streets, Sunnyland, and York neighborhoods. Staff recommended continuing the most cost-effective elements — tree coupons and direct giveaways — while expanding partnerships with local nurseries. The initiatives support the city's Climate Action Plan and anticipate goals in a future urban forestry plan. ## Looking Forward The evening concluded with routine business, including unanimous approval of updates to the Multifamily Tax Exemption Program designed to encourage affordable housing development. Fifteen residents provided public comment during the session, though their remarks were not included in the broadcast version of the meeting. As council members departed into the June evening, they had advanced some of the most consequential policy decisions of the year. The tenant protection ordinances will face final votes in coming weeks, while the welcoming city resolution sends an immediate message about Bellingham's values during a time of national political turbulence. The juxtaposition was striking — a city government focused intensively on protecting renters from excessive fees while simultaneously declaring its commitment to protecting immigrants, transgender residents, and other vulnerable community members from discrimination and harm. These weren't abstract policy debates but concrete responses to real challenges facing Bellingham residents. The meeting demonstrated both the potential and limitations of local government. Council members acknowledged they couldn't solve broader housing affordability through fee regulation alone, just as they recognized their welcoming city resolution couldn't guarantee safety in the face of federal policies. But they could take meaningful steps within their authority to make life better and more secure for their constituents. With significant budget challenges looming and ongoing work to implement the policies advanced this evening, the June 9th meeting marked both an end and a beginning — the culmination of months of careful legislative work and the start of implementation challenges that will test the city's commitment to its stated values.