# Mayor Lund's Community Check-In: Budget Challenges, Emergency Preparedness, and Neighborhood Resilience The October 15, 2025 meeting of Bellingham's Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission opened with Mayor Kim Lund's characteristic warmth, acknowledging that many attendees likely had "part of their brain" on Game 3 of the ALCS, which Toronto was leading 6-2 against the Yankees. Despite the baseball distraction, the room in City Hall was notably full — perhaps drawn by the urgent budget discussions on the agenda, or simply the welcoming atmosphere of the newly renovated boardroom. ## A Space Transformed Before diving into the evening's substantive business, Mayor Lund took time to address the room's transformation. Gone were the decades-old spinning chairs that had become a ritual for commissioners to test before each meeting. In their place sat comfortable couches arranged in a more conversational setting, complemented by upgraded technology that finally retired the "nest of wires" left over from pandemic-era remote meetings. "I want to dignify the important work that happens in this room," Lund explained, noting that the space hosts not only neighborhood representatives but also state and federal officials, including Senator Patty Murray. The renovation, budgeted for 2025, was scaled back from originally planned security improvements due to the office suite's lack of emergency egress. But the mayor was clear about the investment's purpose: "When we're hosting Senator Murray in here, we want this to reflect the great city that we are." Commissioner Jan Keller from Fairhaven captured the change's impact: "I really feel like the people who then sit there are part of it, versus being on chairs like an audience. So I really like that, because it expands — you know, everybody feels part down." ## The Budget Reality: Living Within Our Means The meeting's centerpiece was Mayor Lund's comprehensive presentation on the city's 2026 budget challenges — a frank discussion that laid bare the structural financial pressures facing Bellingham. The proposed budget includes 40 staff position reductions, though fortunately most are currently vacant due to a mandatory position review instituted throughout 2025. "We stepped into this with some of the work front-loaded," Lund explained, describing how the city had been evaluating every unfilled position since July. "But since July through August and September, it's been a lot of very challenging conversations with the city's departmental leadership team about what are the cost reductions that we can achieve." The numbers paint a stark picture. After exhausting what Lund called their "bag of fiscal tricks" for the 2025 budget — reallocating money from various dedicated funds, sweeping interest from over 50 different accounts, and implementing 6% reductions citywide — the city still faced approximately $10 million in general fund deficit heading into 2026. "We are at the point where we have to live within our means today," the mayor said, her tone reflecting the gravity of choices that had moved beyond easy cuts to structural changes. ## Guiding Principles in Difficult Times The city's approach to budget reductions has been guided by clear principles, with "ensuring financial sustainability" as the paramount concern. A second key principle focuses on "what is the work that the city alone can do" — services like police and fire protection, wastewater treatment, and ensuring clean drinking water that no other agency provides. This framework helped departments make difficult decisions while preserving core public safety and infrastructure services, along with the IT, HR, and finance professionals who support them. Where possible, the city has shifted positions to dedicated funding sources — moving a behavioral health specialist at the library to opioid settlement funds, for example, or transferring trail maintenance crews to the Greenways Fund. ## A New Revenue Tool, But Still Treading Water The city's strategy balanced new cuts with a new revenue source: the 0.1% sales tax that the state legislature authorized for public safety purposes. Council approved this measure, which will generate approximately $4 million annually — but as Lund noted, this represents maintaining the status quo rather than expansion. "The reality is, those things are programmatic expansions, and this $4 million allows us to maintain our status quo," she said, referring to the legislature's intention that the tax fund additional officers and behavioral health programs. "In fact, the 26 budget has three previously approved police officer positions frozen. So we are just treading water, even with this." Commissioner Steve from South Hill asked whether the tax could have been higher. "That particular tax could not have been more. It was capped at 0.1%," Lund replied, explaining that the legislature set this limit for taxes councils could enact without voter approval. The sales tax discussion highlighted Washington state's limited revenue tools for cities. Even after implementing the increase, 72 cities across the state still have higher sales tax rates than Bellingham. "Council acknowledged, we all acknowledge that sales tax is a regressive way to raise money for cities," Lund said, "but in the state of Washington, we don't have great tools." ## Infrastructure Investments Can't Wait Despite budget constraints, the presentation emphasized critical infrastructure investments that can no longer be deferred. "It does not get cheaper," Lund explained, comparing deferred infrastructure maintenance to not paying federal taxes. "It doesn't get better over time." The reality is starkly illustrated by Bellingham's aging water system. The city has a wooden pipe — just one wooden pipe — that serves as the intake from Lake Whatcom to the water treatment plant. It's more than 100 years old. Many cast iron pipes throughout the city are similarly ancient, creating a infrastructure time bomb that grows more expensive to address with each passing year. Jake Charlton from Happy Valley provided a real-world example: "Here in Happy Valley, on Donovan, we had a 90-year-old cast iron water main pipe break three separate times, and the house got flooded three times. Not cheap. So, yeah, getting those replaced is definitely a good thing to do." The city is also moving forward with one of its largest contracts in recent memory: $48 million for environmental remediation around R.G. Haley and the first phase of Salish Landing Park. This addresses contamination from what was literally the city's dump — where garbage trucks once backed up to the bay to dump refuse directly into Bellingham Bay. "I don't know if people can raise their hands if they've seen the videos, or were a resident when we used to back our garbage trucks up to the bay and dump it right there," Lund said. "That was the dump. It's remarkable. It was not that long ago that we did that." ## Major Projects Despite Constraints The budget includes over $15 million for affordable housing, homelessness supports, and human services, plus investment in a new 911 dispatch facility to replace the aging repurposed fire station currently housing Whatcom County's emergency communications center. The new facility will include recreation spaces, quiet areas for decompression after difficult calls, a secure walking trail, and a more natural environment for dispatchers. The total city budget reaches $543 million, including a $155 million capital budget, though typically only about one-third of capital projects actually proceed in any given year. The last two years have been exceptions, with the city successfully completing projects at an accelerated pace. ## The Structural Challenge Visualized Lund's presentation included a compelling graph showing the city's financial trajectory since 2020. In that year, revenue and expenses were aligned — the ideal situation. The pandemic caused expenses to dip in 2021, while federal stimulus funds boosted reserves in 2022 and 2023. But by 2023-24, the city was spending more than its regular revenue, burning through both ARPA funds and reserves. The 2025 budget continued this unsustainable pattern with a $1.5 million deficit. Without the new sales tax and budget cuts, the city was on track to exhaust reserves entirely by 2027 — a dangerous position that would leave Bellingham with only a few months of operating expenses available for emergencies like major earthquakes, flooding, or other catastrophic events. "In the magnitude 9 earthquake at the Cascadia subduction zone, or another November flooding event, or catastrophic impacts, that is a thin margin for the city to be operating on," Lund explained. The 2026 budget, with its combination of new revenue and reduced spending, brings those lines nearly together again, buying the city time to address its structural challenges while beginning to rebuild reserves. ## Looking Beyond Traditional Revenue The discussion touched on various revenue enhancement strategies. Commissioners asked about vacancy taxes for property speculation, but Lund explained this would require state constitutional changes regarding property taxation — a significant hurdle the city continues to lobby for. More promising is a potential land value tax that would shift emphasis from built structures to underlying land value, making it less attractive to hold underutilized vacant properties. "I was just talking to one of the bill sponsors yesterday about that," Lund said, indicating this remains an active area of advocacy. Population growth continues at a steady pace, which helps with both sales and property tax revenue. When asked about grant opportunities, Lund noted the city's climate team has been successful but acknowledged that federal grants often require a full-time employee just for compliance and reporting, making the "juice not worth the squeeze" in some cases. ## Emergency Preparedness: Building Community Resilience Greg Huff, the city's Emergency Management Coordinator, provided the evening's second major presentation, outlining his approach to community preparedness that goes well beyond traditional "disaster planning." His philosophy rests on three pillars, but with a distinctly community-focused twist. While acknowledging that residents need to understand local hazards — the Cascadia subduction zone, seasonal flooding, potential volcanic activity — Huff quickly moves beyond the "glamorous" threats to focus on impacts. "When big, bad things happen, what really matters to us are the impacts on our daily lives. Can we drive across town? Will the toilets flush? Is there toilet paper on the shelves at Costco?" The second pillar involves planning — communication strategies, reunification plans, financial preparation, insurance coverage. But Huff adds a crucial element: managing expectations. "You can create a communication plan for the members of your household, but when I go out there and people let me talk at them, I remind them to adjust their expectations for possible interruptions of services." The third traditional pillar involves emergency supplies and the "two weeks ready" concept that gained prominence during the early pandemic when people discovered that staying home required more preparation than anticipated. ## A New Focus on Community Connections What makes Huff's approach distinctive is his growing emphasis on community resilience over individual preparedness. "The shopping, for most of us, is the easy part, and if we are to think together as a whole community, we need to remember that the shopping is not the easy part for a lot of people in our community." This realization has led to a shift in his outreach strategy. Instead of standing before groups delivering traditional preparedness presentations, Huff is developing facilitated conversations where community members identify their own resilience priorities and capabilities. "This is not about buying supplies. This is not about making plans. This is not about understanding that there's a subduction zone out there," he explained. "This is about members of the community coming together and forming a shared vision of what they consider resilience, and what they consider preparedness, and how they can bond together and do for themselves things that municipalities are struggling to do right now in these uncertain times." The Leonard Streets neighborhood will pilot this approach in November, with Huff facilitating community conversations about local resilience rather than delivering prepared remarks about emergency supplies. His 2025 outreach has been substantial: 67 events reaching over 2,000 people across various community settings, from large public events to intimate neighborhood gatherings and multi-family housing complexes. ## The Great ShakeOut and Tsunami Awareness Huff reminded attendees about the annual Great ShakeOut earthquake drill, with a specific local component. "Tomorrow, if you're free tomorrow morning, anytime between 10 and noon, come on down to the marina, and you will find me standing very close to the base of one of the two tsunami sirens that we have in the city of Bellingham." At exactly 10:16 AM, all 121 tsunami warning sirens along Washington's coast would sound simultaneously. "With the actual wailing sound, it will sound like the end of the world briefly," Huff warned, but emphasized the importance of public awareness about tsunami risks and appropriate responses. The timing would coincide with drop, cover, and hold-on drills in K-12 schools throughout the region, making it a truly regional preparedness exercise. ## Neighborhood Voices: Common Challenges and Creative Solutions The meeting's final hour featured reports from neighborhood representatives, revealing both shared challenges and innovative responses across Bellingham's diverse communities. A recurring theme emerged immediately: the struggle to find affordable meeting spaces and the difficulty recruiting new board members. ### The Meeting Space Crisis Katie Herson-Horvath, participating remotely from Birchwood due to family responsibilities, highlighted a problem affecting multiple neighborhoods. The Birchwood Elementary School had increased their meeting space rental from $25 to $100 — a 400% jump that significantly impacts the neighborhood association's modest budget. "Given our very small budget, has been a pretty significant impact for the five community meetings that we host per year," she explained. The increase prompted questions about potential city facility waivers or alternative partnerships to support neighborhood meetings. Stephanie from Cordata elaborated on the scale of the challenge. Their neighborhood spends approximately $4,000 annually on facility rentals for the Cordata Park Pavilion at $225 per meeting, while collecting only $800 in membership fees from 80 families paying $10 each. "It would be really great if there could be maybe a waiver for our neighborhood association so that we could have access to host our in-person meetings at a city facility," Stephanie advocated, emphasizing that a waiver system would be preferable to additional grant programs. Other neighborhoods shared their solutions. Columbia meets at the ReStore for about $60 per two-hour session. Sunnyland found relief by partnering with St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church for just $40 per meeting, after frustrating experiences with Options High School's higher costs and complicated access procedures. ### Board Member Recruitment: A Universal Challenge Nearly every neighborhood reported similar struggles recruiting new leadership. "Almost all our board members are leaving," said Deb from Columbia. "They work full-time, or they have kids, and they just can't do another year of it." Jan from Fairhaven described losing Brooks Anderson, their long-serving president who transitioned to organizing No Kings rallies. Happy Valley's Jake Charlton reported their president is also retiring. Cordata will see Stephanie reluctantly taking over from Kate McDonald, who "carried it for a long time" and deserves a break. The pattern suggests broader civic engagement challenges that go beyond individual neighborhoods to reflect changing community dynamics, work-life balance pressures, and perhaps the intensive time commitments required for effective neighborhood advocacy. ### Creative Community Building Despite these challenges, neighborhoods reported innovative approaches to engagement and community building. Multiple associations have discovered that food — specifically Costco pizza and lemonade — significantly boosts meeting attendance. Sunnyland's Annie described their new monthly B-Ham Games event, featuring a local board game designer who brings connections from the gaming community to teach new games. "It's just this totally free event that's gonna be the second Sunday of every month. So please share it with your neighborhoods if you'd like, and they can come to STEM West and play board games." Yard sales emerged as unexpected community builders. Jan from Fairhaven noted: "People actually walk around and see what the yards have for sale for a yard sale, and it just built community. Everybody loved it for that reason." The Samish representative echoed this sentiment: "Like you were saying, in Fairhaven, it was just a great kind of community builder. No one makes a lot of money, a lot of possessions get exchanged." ### Infrastructure and Safety Concerns Several neighborhoods raised specific infrastructure issues that affect daily life and safety. John from Silver Beach, new to the commission, detailed traffic safety concerns at North Shore Avenue where families cross dangerous S-curves to reach community beach access. "Typically what happens is, you might have one or two moms, and then they've got two or three children, and then they have all the water equipment that goes with it, and then you gotta throw in a dog or two with that. They're all trying to cross the street while the cars are coming through these S-curves, and it's really a dangerous situation." Electric Avenue presents similar challenges with mountain bikers and pedestrians sharing space with vehicles traveling 35 mph, but no sidewalks or safety barriers. John noted he typically drives 30 mph and still feels like he's going "plenty fast enough," while others pass him on the narrow road. This discussion provided Mayor Lund an opportunity to preview upcoming changes to citywide speed limits. A comprehensive speed study has led to a proposal that would make 20 mph the default speed limit throughout Bellingham unless otherwise posted, with most arterials dropping from 35 to 30 mph. "If you are a pedestrian and you're struck by a vehicle at 20 miles an hour, you have a 90% chance of that not being a fatal accident for you. If it's 25 miles an hour, it's 50%," Lund explained. "That 20 to 25, going from 90% to 50%, that is not a material difference as you're going down our streets, but it's a big difference in outcomes. And in the last three years in the City of Bellingham, we have had 11 fatal accidents." The speed limit changes will be accompanied by street design modifications where feasible, incorporating gentle S-curves and other traffic calming measures rather than relying solely on signage. ## Economic Development and Downtown Vitality Lindsay from the Downtown Bellingham Partnership provided encouraging news about downtown workforce recovery. Place, a new company, has moved into the former Flatiron Building where Faithlife previously operated, bringing an estimated 160 employees to the downtown core with expectations to grow to 300. "This is the way I can really just, like, see it and feel it, is the parking garage has been — third floor, fourth floor on Commercial Street parking garage. I get there by 9 AM, the fifth floor is, like, finally almost halfway full, and that has not been a thing, even, I think, before the pandemic." The partnership is also preparing for their seasonal Shine Bright holiday campaign to support local businesses, while implementing small improvements like installing dog waste stations downtown — "a tiny thing, but anything that we're gonna do, hopefully people will use them." The meeting also celebrated the recent dedication of Setting Sun Alley, a new art installation corridor featuring work by Nikki McClure and other artists that transforms an alley behind Brandywine into a gallery space extending to Black Sheep and beyond. ## WWU Connections and Civic Engagement Stella Keating from Western Washington University reported on efforts to strengthen town-gown connections and student civic engagement. First Night Out on September 24 brought 3,000 students downtown — 1,500 in a procession from Red Square and another 1,500 arriving independently. Twenty-five percent of surveyed downtown businesses identified First Night Out as their top revenue-generating day of the year. The university is also preparing for a City Council candidate forum as part of expanded efforts to engage students in local civics, recognizing that many local seats are contested in the upcoming election. With current enrollment at approximately 14,600 students, Western's civic engagement programming could significantly impact local elections and ongoing community conversations. ## World Cup Planning: Adapting Expectations The 2026 World Cup discussion revealed how major event planning must adapt to changing circumstances. What began as ambitious community-wide celebrations has been tempered by various factors including distributed fan zone models, federal immigration policy changes affecting international visitors, and surge pricing concerns. "I think our thinking around World Cup has had a big — it was like a rollercoaster ride-up of joy and possibility, and now it is in — we're not at the peak of that early anticipation for what that could mean," Mayor Lund acknowledged. The city is pivoting to a more distributed approach, offering grants to local businesses to become official watch party locations rather than hosting large centralized events. "To be honest, it is so challenging for our small local businesses right now, giving them some money to do some branding and refreshing — like, I'm really excited about that, because they can do that better than we can." Lindsay added that the Downtown Bellingham Partnership received funding from the Seattle Foundation via the State Department of Commerce to support business readiness and activation during World Cup period. ## Looking Ahead: Community Resilience in Uncertain Times As commissioners prepared to adjourn, the conversation returned to themes of community resilience that had woven through the entire evening. Whether discussing budget constraints, emergency preparedness, neighborhood organizing challenges, or major event planning, the meeting highlighted how local communities must adapt creatively to changing circumstances while maintaining focus on core values and essential services. The evening concluded with Mayor Lund offering to stay after the official adjournment to walk through neighborhood expense reimbursement procedures with interested commissioners — a practical detail that underscored the hands-on, collaborative approach that characterizes Bellingham's neighborhood advisory process. The challenges are real and significant: structural budget deficits requiring difficult choices, aging infrastructure demanding immediate attention, neighborhoods struggling with basic operational costs, and broader civic engagement concerns affecting volunteer leadership across the community. But the meeting also demonstrated considerable community assets: engaged residents willing to serve despite challenges, creative problem-solving approaches, strong university-community partnerships, and city leadership committed to transparency and collaboration in addressing difficult issues. As commissioners departed into the October evening — Game 3 presumably decided by then — they carried with them a clearer understanding of both the constraints and possibilities facing their community. The renovated meeting room, with its more conversational seating arrangement, seemed to embody the collaborative spirit that will be essential for navigating the challenges and opportunities ahead. The next meeting would be November 19, with the expectation that many of the budget conversations would be further along, emergency preparedness community conversations would be underway in Leonard Streets, and neighborhoods would continue their essential work of building connections and advocating for their communities despite the structural challenges they face.