City of Bellingham Committee of the Whole

The Committee of the Whole addressed three significant operational and policy items during a nearly three-hour session. The meeting's most consequential action was approving the formation of a Regional Fire Authority (RFA) planning committee with Fire District 8, marking a potential shift toward creating an independent fire service taxing authority. This decision came after staff presented a comprehensive public safety needs assessment revealing substantial funding gaps — approximately $21 million over 10 years for critical fire department needs alone, and $3 million additional general fund requirements by 2027 just to maintain current service levels. The committee also approved the appointment of Deputy City Clerk Kelly Getz as the new Public Records Officer, transitioning these duties from the City Attorney's office to better align with records management expertise. This administrative change responds to a nearly five-fold increase in public records requests since 2016, from 1,200 to almost 5,000 annually. Staff provided an extensive update on digital accessibility compliance efforts, highlighting the city's preparation for federal ADA compliance deadlines in April 2026. The presentation detailed innovative approaches including adoption of AI-powered tools like DocAccess for PDF remediation, which proved dramatically more cost-effective than manual alternatives — $134 versus $1,100 for processing equivalent documents. The public safety assessment dominated discussion, revealing critical service gaps across fire, EMS, and police departments. Fire department availability rates have dropped below optimal thresholds, with most units operating at 86-90% availability versus the target 90-92%. Response time compliance rates for fire and EMS calls within city limits stand at only 67%. The police department operates with just 6-7 patrol officers and 2 supervisors covering the entire city most times, contributing to an average 7-minute response time for Priority 1 emergency calls including domestic violence and injury accidents.

**AB 24865 - Public Records Officer Appointment** - **Vote:** 6-0 (passed unanimously, one excused) - **Action:** Approved appointment of Deputy City Clerk Kelly Getz as Public Records Officer - **Staff recommendation:** Aligned with Council action - **Details:** Transfers public records processing from City Attorney's office to City Clerk's office **RFA Planning Committee Formation** - **Vote:** 5-0 with 1 abstention (Anderson), 1 excused (Lilliquist) - **Motion by:** Council Member Hamill, seconded by Council Member Cotton - **Action:** Approved formation of Regional Fire Authority planning committee with Fire District 8 - **Staff recommendation:** Aligned with Council action - **Details:** Committee membership (3 city representatives including mayor and 2 council members) to be determined at next meeting **AB 24866 - Digital Accessibility Update** - **Status:** Information only, no formal action required - **Key outcome:** Council received comprehensive update on compliance preparations **AB 24871 - Public Safety Needs Assessment** - **Status:** Information and discussion, led to RFA planning committee motion - **Key findings:** $21 million in critical fire department needs over 10 years, police department needs 20 additional officers

**Deputy Administrator Forrest Longman, on public safety funding sustainability:** "Basically all this is to say that our public safety costs are unsustainable and we need a revenue solution or otherwise we will have to continue to reduce services throughout the city." **Council Member Anderson, explaining her abstention on the RFA planning committee:** "I'm not against it. I'm not necessarily enthusiastic for it. I just feel that one more meeting would've given us an opportunity to have some of the information that you say is available could have come back." **Senior Assistant City Attorney Sarah Chaplin, on the growth in public records requests:** "In 2016, the city received 1,200 public records requests approximately. And last year, the city received almost 5,000 public records requests." **Deputy City Clerk Kelly Getz, on the operational logic of the transition:** "Records management is really the how to we respond to public disclosure. And if we have a strong records governance here at the city, we'll do a better job and our public disclosure responses." **Mayor Stone, on the Regional Fire Authority recommendation:** "We think ultimately we would pursue an RFA anyways. We are seeing RFAs being successful all over the state." **Council Member Anderson, on data presentation concerns:** "When you present data and I love data because I do research, you can present it in all kinds of ways to support your argument. So I kind of wanted to pull it apart and put it back together."