## Meeting Overview On October 20, 2025, the Bellingham City Council convened their Committee of the Whole meeting in a two-part session — a morning budget work session in the Mayor's Boardroom, followed by an afternoon comprehensive plan review in the Council Chambers. The meeting showcased the city's systematic approach to budget planning and long-term growth management, with detailed presentations on Information Technology Services and the public library's financial needs, followed by the final chapters of the Bellingham Plan update. The seven-member council — led by Council President Hollie Huthman and including Hannah Stone, Daniel Hammill, Skip Williams, Lisa Anderson, Michael Lilliquist, and Jace Cotton — engaged in substantive discussions about the city's 2026 proposed budget totaling $543 million and the comprehensive plan that will guide development through 2045. The morning session revealed both the technological backbone that keeps the city running and the careful stewardship of public library services during budget constraints, while the afternoon focused on climate adaptation, environmental protection, economic development, and community wellbeing initiatives. ## IT Services: Navigating Technology Challenges in Tight Budget Times The Information Technology Services Department's presentation revealed a complex balancing act of maintaining critical city operations while facing shrinking revenue streams and growing software costs. IT Director Don Burdick outlined a $13.1 million budget that includes 33 full-time employees managing everything from the city's phone systems to cybersecurity infrastructure. Burdick explained that BTV services revenue from Comcast has been "shrinking over the years as fewer and more people cut the cord," forcing the department to move BTV staff into the IT services budget to shore up operations. The department now allocates about 60% of staff costs back to BTV services but can't cover all costs through that declining revenue stream. "We've found that it's even declining even more," Burdick noted. The department faces what Burdick characterized as software costs that "actually, to a certain extent, hold us hostage in terms of the increases." Since 2022, software maintenance and subscription costs have jumped from $1.6 million to $2.8 million. "Whenever we do a software contract renewal, which usually happens every three to five years, we usually have double-digit percentage increases in our costs for the software," he explained. Council Member Stone questioned whether these rising costs bring better productivity and results. Burdick provided a nuanced answer, distinguishing between "cornerstone systems" like Microsoft, OnBase, and Workday that the city considers solid investments, versus government-focused software that has become vulnerable to venture capital acquisition. "Particularly in the last five to eight years, venture capital has bought up a lot of those companies and they see it as kind of a cash cow," he said. "They don't have to invest as heavily in enhancements in those systems." The department eliminated several positions to manage budget constraints, including a Chief Information Security Officer position, a combined project manager/database administrator role, and a network consultant position. However, Burdick emphasized these were unfilled positions that the department recognized it couldn't afford to fill during 2024 budget challenges. Major projects for 2026 include completing the Workday HR system implementation ($1.3 million), finishing the conversion from Mitel to Teams phone systems, and implementing a new utility billing system. The department is also investing heavily in disaster recovery infrastructure, purchasing a new server array for the PSOC building that can withstand "Cascadia rising level earthquake," providing redundancy for the current waterfront servers at Lunavi. One innovative cost-saving measure involved partnering with Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College for staff training. "We probably are our savings four times the amount that we had budgeted just in that relationship," Burdick said, rather than paying expensive consultant fees for software training. ## Library Services: Preserving Community Access During Financial Pressures Library Director Rebecca Judd presented a $10.4 million budget that includes $2 million in one-time capital expenditures for central library renovation, alongside difficult decisions about service reductions. The library eliminated four vacant positions totaling 3.25 FTE, including an outreach specialist who served long-term care facilities, a branch specialist who oversaw Fairhaven operations, and staff supporting materials handling. The most visible change will be closing on Sundays, moving from seven-day to six-day operations. Council Member Hammill questioned why Sunday rather than Tuesday, noting that Sunday usage might be artificially low because of reduced hours. Judd explained that Sunday operations were already truncated at four hours compared to eight hours other days, and structural staffing issues made Sunday operations particularly challenging. "Our staffing is so thin right now, and particularly on Sundays we really have a pretty skeletal crew," she said. The library also reduced its materials budget by $90,000 — a 13% reduction that Judd characterized as "really the bottom of the low level of service." She emphasized this puts the library at the minimum recommended materials spending per capita standards. Despite these challenges, the library maintains impressive usage statistics. Through September 2025, the library circulated 1.4 million items and welcomed over 360,000 visitors to four locations. "On average, one in four Bellingham residents has used their Bellingham Public Library card in the last three months," Judd reported. Over three years, 55% of Bellingham residents have used their library cards. The $2 million investment in central library renovation represents phase two of a larger project. The library completed the main floor during COVID when the building was already closed, and this phase will renovate the children's area on the lower floor and staff areas on the upper floor — spaces that haven't been updated since 1985. The project will require closing the central library for 9-12 months, likely starting in late summer/fall 2026, with expanded hours at the three branch locations during construction. Funding comes from multiple sources: $3.03 million from the state (thanks to state representatives who "went to bat for this project in a down budget year"), $2 million in REIT funding from the city, and $3.5 million in private funding, of which $2 million has been raised. The library is collaborating with the Whatcom Community Foundation to raise the remaining $1.5 million. Council members inquired about impacts on people who use the library as a daytime gathering place during the closure. Judd acknowledged this has been discussed extensively across departments, though no specific alternatives were detailed during the presentation. ## Climate Action: Positioning Bellingham for Resilience and Mitigation The afternoon session began with Planner Anya Gedrath presenting the comprehensive plan's climate chapter, a new standalone section required by HB 1181. The chapter addresses both climate mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and climate adaptation (preparing for climate impacts), representing a significant expansion from the 2016 plan's scattered climate policies. The chapter includes ten goals covering general climate approaches, extreme weather preparation, wildfire impacts, sea level rise, resource resiliency, ecosystem resiliency, building emissions, transportation emissions, and renewable energy. Gedrath emphasized that while climate gets its own chapter, "climate-related goals and policies will still be prevalent and referenced as an important topic across all chapters." A key focus is climate equity, aligning with state legislation requiring that climate efforts "avoid creating or worsening localized climate impacts to vulnerable populations and overburdened communities." The chapter emphasizes collaborative, citywide approaches, building on the mayor's office interdepartmental climate work and what Gedrath called the "one city approach." The city's existing climate work includes the 2018 Climate Protection Action Plan (originally adopted in 2007) that has focused primarily on mitigation. The intention is to update this plan with a companion piece focused more heavily on resilience. The city also participates in the county-wide Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, submitted to FEMA every five years. ## Environment: Streamlining Protection for Natural Resources The environment chapter was streamlined from nine goals to four focused areas: aquatic ecosystems, terrestrial ecosystems, natural resource management, and human health and environment connections. This simplification moves some concepts to other chapters like land use, transportation, and climate to reduce redundancy. A significant addition is planning for an Urban Forest Plan to be adopted by reference when fully developed. While the comprehensive plan sets high-level tree policies, the urban forest plan will be "much more detailed, specific, and actionable." The chapter also introduces a new goal emphasizing environmental equity — "equitably distributing environmental benefits while minimizing environmental burdens on vulnerable and overburdened populations." ## Economic Development: Supporting Workforce and Regional Collaboration Planner Sydney Prusak presented the economic development chapter, which maintains the city's established role: providing a positive physical and social environment for business, ensuring adequate zoned land and infrastructure for growth, and delivering excellent services that foster business development. The chapter was reorganized by moving urban village and quality of life goals to the land use and new community wellbeing chapters. Council Member Anderson raised concerns about relationships with Canadian neighbors, noting the impact of declining tourism and retail shopping on economic development. The chapter includes language about global relations, but Anderson suggested specifically highlighting Canada or British Columbia. "Long after the current administration goes away, we're going to be spending a lot of time and focus, I think, on rehabbing and rebuilding those relationships," she said. The workforce support goal recognizes challenges including childcare needs, transportation access, and the disparity between wages and housing costs. Council Member Stone noted that the Port of Bellingham's economic development director identifies lack of affordable housing and childcare as the biggest challenges for economic development in Whatcom County. Blake Lyon, Planning and Community Development Director, noted that upcoming work includes infill housing requirements, streamlining efforts, and parking reform that will help facilitate small business growth. Senate Bill 5184 eliminates additional parking requirements for childcare facilities, supporting both economic development and community needs. Two notable policies focus on regional collaboration: advocating for future high-speed rail in the Cascadia corridor (placed in economic development rather than transportation because of its wide-reaching economic impacts) and conducting a regional employment study to understand future priorities and wage scales. ## Community Wellbeing: A New Chapter for Civic Health The comprehensive plan's final chapter represents new territory for Bellingham — community wellbeing covering health, safety, belonging, arts and culture, equity, community engagement, and tribal relations. While many policies existed scattered throughout the 2016 plan, this consolidation elevates their importance. Prusak explained that inspiration came partly from the Surgeon General's 2023 report "declaring an epidemic on loneliness and social isolation," with the chapter aiming to strengthen social infrastructure and local opportunities for connection. "Social infrastructure can be community groups or programs that connect people with others, bring people together, volunteer groups, just regular intramural sports," she said. The chapter emphasizes that community wellbeing requires meeting basic needs, feeling safe, connecting with others, and engaging with city government. It includes policies supporting library, museum, and theater priorities while introducing new concepts around community health, equitable civic practices, and tribal relations. Council Member Hammill questioned language about identifying "under-invested and marginalized communities" to direct resources for reducing disparities. This relates to House Bill 1220's growth management requirements to identify historically marginalized areas and ensure equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. Mayor Lund expressed strong support for the chapter: "When we talk about how do we put our values into action, doing the hard work to create that chapter when we weren't required to do that I think is a really powerful way that we're showing up and making commitments to our community." ## Technical Discussions and Future Implementation Several technical questions arose during presentations. Council Member Anderson asked about technology replacement funding that appeared to drop significantly in budget documents. IT Director Burdick clarified this was a presentation error — the actual replacement budget remains around $2 million, with some funding appearing in capital rather than operating budgets due to new software tracking capabilities. Council Member Lilliquist inquired about employment lands policy implementation timelines. Planning staff indicated that the first six months of 2026 are dedicated to finishing significant code updates required by state deadlines, with employment studies and infrastructure analysis beginning afterward. The council approved a new transportation policy to "regularly monitor and evaluate progress towards the 2045 mode shift goals to inform programs, policies, and projects" by a 7-0 vote, addressing concerns raised in the previous week's discussion. ## Looking Ahead: Public Engagement and Final Adoption The comprehensive plan process continues with a public hearing scheduled for November 3rd, providing community members opportunities to comment on the proposed changes. Staff indicated potential work sessions may follow, with consideration and adoption of the ordinance expected before the year-end deadline required by state law. Council members expressed appreciation for the plan's accessibility and interconnected approach. Council Member Williams noted "it's a document that's easily navigable and that speaks volumes." Council Member Lilliquist praised the "jump to related policies" feature that shows connections between different plan sections. The meeting concluded with executive sessions on collective bargaining and potential litigation, followed by a break before the Public Works and Natural Resources Committee meeting at 3:00 PM. This Committee of the Whole meeting demonstrated the complexity of municipal governance — balancing immediate budget pressures with long-term community vision, maintaining essential services while planning for growth, and ensuring that technology infrastructure, library services, climate action, and community wellbeing all receive appropriate attention as Bellingham prepares for the next twenty years of development and change.