### Meeting Overview The Bellingham City Council's Committee of the Whole met for 75 minutes on July 21, 2025, addressing two major items: deferring a tenant rights ballot initiative to voters and considering amendments to an LGBTQ+ rights ordinance. The committee also discussed future legislative lobbying processes and community resources for landlord-tenant disputes. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Committee of the Whole:** A meeting format where all seven council members participate in discussion and preliminary voting before items go to the full council for final action. **Initiative 2025-03:** A citizen-initiated ballot measure that would create new tenant protections regarding speech, assembly, and association rights, with penalties for landlord interference. **Ballot measure committees:** Required "for" and "against" groups that draft statements for the voter pamphlet when initiatives go to the ballot. **LGBTQ+ ordinance:** Proposed new chapter of city code affirming equal protection and services regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. **Residency requirement:** State law requiring that ballot committee members must live within city boundaries to be eligible to serve. **Legislative work group:** A proposed council subcommittee to coordinate the city's state-level lobbying efforts and clarify individual council member roles. **Gender-affirming care:** Medical services that support an individual's gender identity, explicitly protected under the proposed ordinance. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Hollie Huthman | Council President, chairing the meeting | | Hannah Stone | Council Member, participated remotely initially | | Michael Lilliquist | Council Member | | Daniel Hammill | Council Member | | Lisa Anderson | Council Member | | Jace Cotton | Council Member | | Edwin "Skip" Williams | Council Member | | James Erb | Deputy City Attorney | ### Background Context This meeting occurred during a period of heightened attention to both housing rights and LGBTQ+ protections. The tenant initiative emerged from community organizing around landlord-tenant power imbalances, while the LGBTQ+ ordinance responds to concerns about potential federal and state rollbacks of protections. Both measures represent the city's effort to codify local protections that may exceed state or federal minimums. The timing was critical for the initiative - council had until August 5 to decide whether to enact, defer to voters, or propose an alternative. The LGBTQ+ ordinance had been under discussion since June, with community input shaping its development. ### What Happened — The Short Version Council voted 6-0 (with Stone initially absent) to defer Initiative 2025-03 to the November ballot, but had to amend the resolution when they discovered that some proposed ballot committee members might not meet residency requirements. They authorized staff to work with the county auditor to find eligible volunteers. For the LGBTQ+ ordinance, Council Member Stone proposed minor amendments for clarity, including changing "outlined in this chapter" to "in accordance with this chapter" and adding "or support" to language about opposing harmful legislation. These passed 7-0. During old/new business, Council Member Anderson successfully moved to create a legislative work group to formalize how council coordinates state lobbying efforts, addressing confusion from the previous session about individual versus collective action. ### What to Watch Next • Final passage of the LGBTQ+ ordinance at the evening council meeting • County auditor's process for finding eligible ballot committee members for Initiative 2025-03 • Formation and work of the new legislative work group by October • Administration's report on tenant/landlord community resources at the August 11 meeting ---