HomeMy WebLinkAboutCriminal Justice Jan 24 2023Whatcom County
Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360)778-5010
Committee Minutes - Final
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
3:05 PM
Hybrid Meeting
HYBRID MEETING - ADJOURNS BY 3:25 P.M. MAY BEGIN EARLY
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COUNCILMEMBERS
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Carol Frazey
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C.
Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final January 24, 2023
Safety Committee
Call To Order
Roll Call
Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m.
in a hybrid meeting.
Present: 3 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, and Carol Frazey
Absent: None
Also Present: Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, and Kathy Kershner
Announcements
Committee Discussion
1. AB2023-0025 Discussion on progress and next steps for the Justice Project (Public Health, Safety,
and Justice Facility Needs Assessment)
Buchanan briefed the Councilmembers and stated the purpose of this
discussion is to give them a preview of the Justice Project Needs
Assessment Report and a chance to start thinking about the implementation
plan for the report.
Tyler Schroeder, Director of Administrative Services, read from a memo
(on file). He and Buchanan answered whether the Needs Assessment is done
and when that will get to the Council, whether recommendations for
facilities goals will be specific, and whether there will be enough time to
work with the recommendations to have an Ordinance by June. One thing
the Council should think about is how much specificity is needed to bring
forward a ballot measure.
Councilmembers discussed what level of detail is needed to bring forward
an Ordinance in the fall that sets a funding mechanism.
Frazey stated they need specifics such as location and what kind of
behavioral health facilities are going to be around it.
Donovan stated people are going to care about where it is, how big it is, how
much it is going to cost, and what the funding model is going to be. The
problem of not having enough specificity is it would be asking people to
just trust the County to figure out how to spend the money and he does not
think that will pass.
Elenbaas stated there is already somewhat a lack of trust and he agrees with
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Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final January 24, 2023
Safety Committee
Frazey and Donovan. It would be detrimental to the community if this failed
again. The more specific the plan (including location), the better chance it
has of being approved.
Buchanan stated the two important elements are going to be size and
location and they are trying to balance how much architectural investment
they make prior to a ballot initiative.
Schroeder answered a question about whether they have a location they are
thinking about right now and stated the Stakeholder Advisory Committee
identified three County -owned properties and made recommendations about
criteria that the Council should consider when making that decision. He
answered whether it will take a sixty percent vote or a fifty plus one. He
stated a chart associated with funding sources is in the Needs Assessment.
Satpal Sidhu, County Executive, stated the Administration is coming to the
Council as partners. They are coming early and engaging the Council
because they want a joint plan that they can then present to the people.
Councilmembers and staff discussed how much it has cost in the past to put
these ballot measures on the ballot with all the engineering and plans, not
putting that out first, maybe having just a ground -breaking date so people
can trust that something is going to happen, public events they will have for
back -of -the -napkin style discussions about architecture and to get some
idea of what it would look like, and collaboration between the Council and
the Administration.
Schroeder stated collaboration and coordination with the cities associated
with a possible public safety tax will be important and they have started
those discussions with the cities.
Buchanan stated these things happened in a serial fashion before and now
they are trying to get some parallel work done so they are not stuck at the
end with a big something that they have not even considered.
Schroeder stated the City Council had a similar discussion about the Needs
Assessment yesterday and he answered whether they have seen it already.
Buchanan stated it is online on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee
website.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
Items Added by Revision
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Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final
Safety Committee
Other Business
Adjournment
There were no agenda items added by revision.
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
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Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription
Barry Buchanan -via email 2/9/2023
Barry Buchanan, Committee Chair
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