On a crisp December afternoon, the Bellingham City Council's Committee of the Whole convened for a marathon session that would tackle some of the most consequential housing policy questions facing the city. With Council President Hammill excused, President Pro Tem Hollie Huthman shepherded six council members through eight agenda items across nearly three hours of deliberation. The meeting's centerpiece was Mayor Kim Lund's ambitious Executive Order 2024-02, dubbed "Expanding Housing Options in Bellingham," which proposes sweeping changes to how the city approaches development, parking, and housing supply. But the session also revealed deep philosophical divides among council members about the relationship between housing production and affordability, the proper role of city enforcement in tenant protection, and the pace of policy change in a housing crisis.