On the morning of March 25, 2025, the Whatcom County Council convened in an unusual format — a Committee of the Whole meeting conducted entirely in executive session, closed to the public. Council Chair Kaylee Galloway called the hybrid meeting to order at 8:31 a.m. in the Council Chambers at the County Courthouse, with all seven council members present: Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Galloway herself, Jon Scanlon, and Mark Stremler.