# The Weight of Good Intentions: When Policies Meet Budget Reality The Whatcom County Council's Public Works and Health Committee gathered on a late June morning in 2025 to wrestle with two of the county's most ambitious social policy initiatives — and to confront the uncomfortable truth that good intentions require sustained funding and institutional support. Committee Chair Jon Scanlon called the hybrid meeting to order at 10:16 a.m., with members Mark Stremler and Ben Elenbaas present in council chambers. Also joining were council members Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, and Kaylee Galloway, suggesting these topics carried weight beyond the committee's regular scope. ## The Healthy Children's Fund: Balancing Ambition with Fiscal Reality Sarah Simpson from Health and Community Services opened with a warm reflection on summer and children visible throughout the community — at parks with grandparents, dropped off at summer camps, pursuing their own interests like learning to whistle and snap. But beneath this cheerful summer scene lay complex budget calculations that would determine how many families could actually access affordable childcare. Simpson immediately addressed a concern raised in previous meetings about supporting fathers, highlighting a recent Cascadia Daily News article about a dad's group meeting at the Ferndale fire station. "We were really excited to see it showcased in the Cascadia daily," she said, noting that this program is supported by the perinatal mental health task force and funded through their current work. The county has an RFP out to expand such peer support programming across Whatcom County. The focus then shifted to in-home childcare providers — those who run childcare centers within their homes and serve as "instrumental" community assets. Simpson painted a picture of these providers as deeply committed community members: "If you've ever met an in-home child care provider, I don't know if I've ever met anyone more impassioned to serve kids. It's really sweet to welcome kids into your home says so much about the kind of person that they are day in day out." Through the innovation fund RFP, the county supported curriculum and classroom expansion for these providers. Simpson highlighted success stories: in-home providers outside Bellingham received $43,000 to $50,000 to expand entire classrooms to six spots, or to provide more intensive kindergarten readiness curriculum for children with specific learning needs. But the bulk of the discussion centered on a critical budget decision regarding the county's childcare subsidy program. The state of Washington had originally planned to raise its Working Connections Child Care threshold from 60% to 75% of state median income, which would have prompted Whatcom County to adjust its own local subsidy program. However, due to state budget challenges, Washington remained at the original 60% threshold. Simpson had consulted directly with Nicole Rose, assistant secretary at the Department of Children, Youth and Families, who oversees the state subsidy program. "I did have the opportunity to chat with Nicole rose... to say, okay, what's going on? You know, what can we expect? When are you going to be in budget conversations again about this?" The answer was sobering: the state didn't expect to revisit raising their threshold for "several more years" — about three years. This left Whatcom County in a difficult position. Simpson recommended moving their local subsidy from serving families at 60% to 75% of state median income, rather than the originally contemplated 85%. This would serve approximately 436 children in licensed care, with a 20% uptake buffer built into the two-year budget framework. Council member Stremler pressed on the budget implications: "So, if we were to add that 10 percentage points from 75 to 85, what's that budgetary impact?" Simpson's response revealed the stark trade-offs inherent in social policy: going from 60% to 85% of state median income would consume nearly the entire early learning and care allocation of the healthy children's fund. "It would either be, we do a subsidy and, but we have a lot of other things we need to do within the ordinance or not." The current subsidy provides $300 per month per child aged 0 to 5. Council member Byrd sought clarity on budget tracking, asking to see "what has been allocated and where are we at versus was still remaining in each of those categories" relative to the goals council had established requiring 68% of contracts to go toward early learning and care projects and 32% toward vulnerable children projects. Simpson assured the committee that all their budgeting aligns with those percentages, and promised to provide detailed budget information ahead of their deeper summer work sessions on the implementation plan. The presentation continued with an overview of the collaborative process for developing the next implementation plan, involving the child and family well-being task force, community input periods, and integration with the county's budget process. Simpson highlighted their partnership with Stanford on RAPID data surveys, which have already gathered over 1,200 respondents across three surveys providing real-time feedback from parents about their needs. Council member Stremler asked about survey targeting, and Simpson explained it's open to anyone, distributed through "social media, food banks, libraries, school districts." The committee then reviewed the ten strategies established in the first implementation plan, ranging from capital projects expanding physical childcare spaces, to workforce development, family subsidies, regional early learning hubs, and innovative approaches. Simpson provided concrete examples: the Generations infant room expansion, on-site training for providers, auxiliary services like occupational and speech therapy directly in childcare centers, and creative solutions like early learning centers purchasing refrigerators so families can pick up food bank boxes when collecting their children. Council member Galloway asked about strategy number four — leveraging state efforts to increase wages for childcare workers. Simpson explained that the state is developing a plan involving childcare center operators, workers, and government officials to expand wages across Washington. "I think what the state acknowledges is that communities alone cannot raise the wages of child care workers and child care is already so expensive... Providers can't raise the cost of child care. No, 1 would be able to afford it." But Simpson couldn't provide a timeline: "I wish I knew the answer to that. I mean, I think they're, they have a couple of years that they've been working on the plan... I'm dying to know too, frankly." Council member Byrd requested that future strategy presentations include connections to the original ordinance goals and objectives — "like a logic model" — plus anticipated funding percentages for each strategy. Simpson concluded by noting that council members would receive the draft implementation plan later that week, followed by a 90-minute work session in July. Community input would come after council discussions, likely in the fall. ## The Food System Committee: A Plan in Crisis The second presentation brought a more urgent tone. Rhys-Thorvald Hansen, chair of the Whatcom County Food System Committee, called in remotely from a regional food systems conference in Portland to deliver what amounted to both an annual report and a cry for help. Hansen began with victories: the development of a food systems dashboard providing data on land, water, crops, and humans in the food system, based on the Washington health disparities map. But developing this resource revealed a troubling reality: "the vast majority of our data that we're using to make food systems decisions is dangerously out of date with the last community food assessment functionally happening pre-pandemic and a lot of the land and water use data, you know, being more than a decade old." He highlighted Twin Sisters Mobile Market as an exemplary community partner, working with state lawmakers to allow mobile markets to accept more nutrition program supplements. "We really feel like they're modelling like the exact ideal kind of community partner where they're not only focused really on their programme delivery and feeding hungry families in the community, but also taking collaborative action to make that more accessible to everyone." But the bulk of Hansen's presentation focused on what he termed "devastating crises across sectors." Federal food bank funding has been cut, with further cuts expected to SNAP and SNAP-Ed programs. "SNAP ed... may be fully eliminated, which focusses on nutrition and community outreach support to families who are receiving snap." Federal grants supporting new farmers and infrastructure development have been "frozen or eliminated." The impact on agricultural labor has been particularly severe. "We've also had significant increase in immigration customs enforcement activity, which is affecting our local and regional farm workers who are reporting, you know, fear travelling to work, going to the court appointments and otherwise leading their life." Hansen noted that migrant farm workers are "making the decision not to come Because they feel like it's too unsafe and their families won't be protected." Philanthropic funding that had supported Whatcom County agricultural and food systems development has also ended, creating "a funding cliff... in more than half of them." The committee's survey revealed that food banks saw "the highest number of household visits Of any time previously" in April 2024, with families making "hard decisions between bills, food and keeping their other basic needs met." Hansen emphasized that the committee is one of only six food policy councils out of 324 nationwide that includes formal labor representation, creating unique opportunities for partnership between food access and economic development. But the committee itself faces an existential crisis. "Less than two years after the food system plan was adopted... we're really in a potential crisis of this plan failing." The health department is not participating in recruitment for committee vacancies or even onboarding new members when Hansen successfully recruits them. With only one staff coordinator for five hours per month, "that is inadequate to even meet the Open Public Meeting Act requirements of having minutes posted, agendas posted." Hansen's frustration was palpable: "It took me two and a half months of persistent follow up to even get the link and the timing for this presentation. And at this point, I actually haven't received a response email from our coordinator in over a month." The only reason the Food System Committee continues to function, Hansen explained, is because the Food Network is donating his time "at no insignificant cost to our other initiatives to keep this plan because their community has said this is too important." The committee's recommendations were direct: Council should direct the health department to reinvest in the Food System Committee, continue funding the Food Bank Network, and integrate the 10-year food system plan into the comprehensive plan update. Council member Scanlon asked whether the committee had been consulted on the comprehensive plan. Hansen confirmed they submitted recommendations on chapters seven and eight, and were invited to comment on chapter twelve regarding climate action, "but we're not sure of the state of any of our recommendations." Council member Donovan asked about staffing needs. Hansen clarified they currently have five hours per month, with two hours consumed by committee meetings. "At five hours a week, we could work with looking at other food policy council success... if we can get the basic administrative support, some of the outreach support, and it frees me up in my time as chair to do that community and relationship building." The actual need, Hansen acknowledged, would be "a full time staff member," but they would "be quite happy and understanding if we can just get a level that allows our, our administrative function and five hours a week, or thereabouts would probably do it." ## The Executive's Dilemma Deputy Executive Aly Pennucci provided crucial context that framed both presentations. The county has "over 50 advisory various forms of advisory committees" with inconsistent levels of administrative support. "I think they've often been added without thinking through whether or not we have the staff resources to really support a committee." Pennucci acknowledged that "this is like makes me want to throw up a little bit to say out loud, but the food system work is not a statutorily required service of the county so it's taking on additional things." She noted recent challenges where one-time funding was provided for projects "without a plan for how to operate it ongoing." The deputy executive framed this as a broader challenge: "we are really facing a challenge and how we maintain our statutorily... Services and just those numbers are really adding up, and it is something to hear from the Council about where your priorities are in terms of these discretionary advisory boards." Hansen pushed back, noting that the ordinance requires the health department to staff the committee: "from the committee's perspective, the health department is not not meeting that ordinance requirement." Pennucci clarified that while the ordinance creates this requirement, "it is a Council, it is a county choice to put that in code... it is by a Council action that could be changed, which I would consider is a discretionary choice of the Council." ## The Painful Math of Good Governance Council member Byrd articulated the fundamental tension: "obviously, from the committee side of things, or they're feeling a disservice by not getting the resources that they need and on our side of things. We just have set up so many of these, we can't possibly service all of them." He questioned whether maintaining committees without adequate support serves anyone: "is it even useful at this point to have that if we're not able to do it?" Council member Galloway pushed back on the notion that these were merely aspirational commitments, noting that the council unanimously approved a resolution in October 2024 "that upheld our desire to have food security, you know, reaffirm that it's a public health priority and to invest in whatever capacity we can." She pointed to unchanged federal realities as "a really terrifying reality" and suggested a follow-up meeting to explore options. Galloway later defended the council's record: "we've approved a resolution, which is one of two policy levers we have as a council. We funded food bank food banks through both the Healthy Children's Fund and through our last remaining precious ARPA dollars... I do feel like we've held up our end of the stick. I'm not sure what more we can do up here, given given the challenges that we're facing." Council member Byrd expressed frustration with political rhetoric around previous commitments: "Statements like that in the actions that we took, right? So approving that we previously approved the resolution reaffirming support for and then we bring it up now... I think it's used as a political tactic to keep the status quo... versus going back to what Aly had said earlier and looking at what we're required to do." He argued for honest assessment: "We're going to continue down these same areas and pass and see the same problems. And typically, they're only going to compound because the county is going to continue to grow and need more things. We're going to continue to add more committees and groups and follow the same process, and it's just going to get worse." ## The Dashboard Success Story Amid these budget tensions, one bright spot emerged. Ann Beck from Health and Community Services described how the food systems dashboard came together through creative collaboration. "I found the money within my budget because I knew this was a priority for them and we wanted to get a win out of this... kind of figuring out here and there where we can collaborate and maximise it." The dashboard represents exactly the kind of data-driven governance that council members craved. Council member Byrd was effusive: "I love this stuff. I wish we had this for everything we did. It could actually drill down and see and play with and mash up the data and know what was going on historically and where. Such a huge resource, incredibly valuable." He advocated for broader data transparency: "I would like the county at some point to actually join the state's open data programme and start pushing live data feeds of everything we can available to the public. So that they can start accessing and seeing what's going on and creating stuff like this too." ## Time Running Out Hansen delivered a final sobering update: "the funding for my ability to support the food system committee is going to run out in Q1 of 2026 unless something changes." Without another partner organization stepping forward, "I have real doubts about the committee... continuing to function." Community partners, he explained, "just have enough capacity to show up to the meetings. Like, that's not, that's not going to happen. And so the committee may itself cease to function and exist and what our community is telling us is that they will see that as a very deep betrayal of a lot of time and effort." ## A Path Forward Council member Scanlon committed to a follow-up conversation with interested members, noting "I think we should look at all options. I agree, it doesn't always have to be the same way we've been doing things. We can look at other ways of supporting this work." The meeting adjourned at 11:08 a.m., leaving behind two presentations that crystallized a fundamental challenge in local governance: How does a county balance ambitious social policy goals with limited resources and competing statutory requirements? How do elected officials maintain community trust when federal funding disappears and local needs persist? Both the Healthy Children's Fund and Food System Committee represent years of community input, professional planning, and political commitment. But as Whatcom County heads into budget season, the gap between aspiration and capacity has become impossible to ignore. The question isn't whether these programs serve important needs — clearly they do. The question is whether local government can sustain them without shortchanging other essential services. The summer work sessions ahead will test whether creativity and collaboration can bridge this gap, or whether some hard choices about priorities await the fall budget deliberations.

### Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Council Public Works and Health Committee met on June 24, 2025, for two major presentations on community health and food systems. The meeting focused on updates to the Healthy Children's Fund and critical challenges facing the county's Food System Committee. ### Key Terms and Concepts Define 5-8 terms or concepts from this meeting that a general reader might not know. **State Median Income (SMI):** A measure used to determine eligibility for subsidies, representing the middle income level for households across Washington state. **Healthy Children's Fund:** Whatcom County's dedicated fund for supporting early childhood care, learning, and services for vulnerable children. **In-home child care providers:** Licensed childcare businesses operated from providers' homes, serving as crucial neighborhood-based early learning centers. **Innovation Fund RFP:** Request for Proposals that allows creative approaches to expanding kindergarten readiness and childcare capacity through county funding. **Working Connections Child Care:** Washington state's subsidized childcare program for low-income families. **Food System Committee:** County advisory committee responsible for implementing and overseeing the 10-year countywide food system plan. **RAPID Survey:** Stanford University partnership survey collecting community data on parenting supports and material hardships. **Open Public Meetings Act:** State law requiring government bodies to conduct business transparently with proper notice, agendas, and minutes. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Jon Scanlon | Committee Chair | | Sarah Simpson | Whatcom County Health and Community Services | | Rhys-Thorvald Hansen | Food System Committee Chair | | Aly Pennucci | Deputy County Executive | | Ann Beck | Health and Community Services Manager | | Tyler Byrd | Council Member District 1 | | Kaylee Galloway | Council Member District 2 | ### Background Context The Healthy Children's Fund represents a significant county investment in early childhood services, operating under specific budget allocations requiring 68% for early learning care and 32% for vulnerable children programs. The fund's subsidy program serves families earning between 60-85% of state median income, filling gaps not covered by state programs. Meanwhile, the Food System Committee faces an existential crisis after losing adequate staffing support, threatening the implementation of a decade-long community planning effort. Federal funding cuts and immigration enforcement have compounded food security challenges across the county. ### What Happened — The Short Version Sarah Simpson presented updates on the Healthy Children's Fund, recommending the county subsidy program serve families earning 60-75% of state median income (rather than the originally proposed 85%) after the state failed to increase its own threshold. She highlighted support for in-home childcare providers through innovation grants and outlined the summer implementation plan process. Rhys Hansen delivered a stark warning about the Food System Committee's potential collapse due to inadequate staffing - currently just 5 hours monthly versus the full-time support needed. The committee faces mounting challenges from federal funding cuts, immigration enforcement affecting farmworkers, and unprecedented hunger levels, while lacking basic administrative capacity to fulfill its mandate. ### What to Watch Next - July work session on the Healthy Children's Fund implementation plan - Q1 2026 deadline when Food Network funding for Food System Committee coordination ends - Follow-up meeting between council members and Food System Committee on support options - Fall public comment period on the draft Healthy Children's Fund implementation plan ---

**Q:** What is the current monthly subsidy amount per child in the Healthy Children's Fund program? **A:** $300 per month per child ages 0-5. **Q:** What percentage range of state median income does the county recommend for subsidy eligibility? **A:** 60-75% of state median income, rather than the originally proposed 85%. **Q:** How much monthly staff time does the Food System Committee currently receive? **A:** Only 5 hours per month, with 2 hours being the committee meeting itself. **Q:** Who chairs the Whatcom County Food System Committee? **A:** Rhys-Thorvald Hansen, representing the Food Network. **Q:** What organization partnership conducts the RAPID surveys mentioned in the presentation? **A:** Stanford University, working with Whatcom County Health and Community Services. **Q:** How many survey respondents have participated in RAPID surveys across three rounds? **A:** Over 1,200 respondents from across the county. **Q:** When will the county face a potential crisis point for Food System Committee funding? **A:** Q1 2026, when Food Network's ability to donate coordinator time will end. **Q:** What major state program did not increase its income threshold as expected? **A:** Working Connections Child Care remained at 60% instead of moving to 75% of state median income. **Q:** How many advisory committees does Whatcom County currently operate? **A:** Over 50 advisory committees across various topic areas. **Q:** What was highlighted as a key victory for the Food System Committee this year? **A:** Development of the food systems dashboard showing data on land, water, crops, and human elements. **Q:** Which mobile market program was praised for expanding nutrition program acceptance? **A:** Twin Sisters Mobile Market, working with state lawmakers on supplement programs. **Q:** When is the 90-minute work session scheduled for the Healthy Children's Fund implementation plan? **A:** July 2025, for detailed discussion of the draft plan. **Q:** What percentage of in-home childcare expansion grants went to providers outside Bellingham? **A:** Several providers in the county received grants ranging from $43,000 to $50,000 for classroom expansion. **Q:** What is the Food System Committee's relationship to the comprehensive plan update? **A:** They submitted recommendations on chapters 7 and 8, and were invited to comment on Chapter 12 regarding climate action. **Q:** How does the county fund basic needs resource distribution for families? **A:** Through diapers, formula, and safety needs distribution at food banks across the county. ---