HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole Mar 7 2023Whatcom County
Council Committee of the Whole
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360) 778-5010
Committee Minutes - Final
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
3:20 PM
Hybrid Meeting
HYBRID MEETING - ADJOURNS BY 4:30 P.M.; MAY BEGIN EARLY
(PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON AT 311 GRAND AVENUE SUITE 101, SEE REMOTE
JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL
360.778.5010)
COUNCILMEMBERS
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Todd Donovan
Ben Elenbaas
Carol Frazey
Kaylee Galloway
Kathy Kershner
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C.
Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final March 7, 2023
Call To Order
Roll Call
Council Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. in a
hybrid meeting.
Present: 7 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Carol Frazey,
Kaylee Galloway, and Kathy Kershner
Announcements
Special Presentation
1. AB2023-0088 Presentation from Housing Team regarding 2023 work plan and local homelessness
programs
The following people presented:
• Ann Beck, Health and Community Services
• Chris D'Onofrio, Health and Community Services
They answered questions about programs losing funding and how many
people may be out of their homes if they cannot backfill some of those
programs, the eviction prevention program and who is getting that
assistance, whether there is a plan to get those people back on their feet,
whether we have the money to hire more staff in light of the funding cliff
spoken about in the presentation, what we need to do to fix homelessness
here, and whether they have any plans to replace the eviction funding which
they are going to lose.
Satpal Sidhu, County Executive, spoke about the cost of housing the
homeless, that we are not addressing why people become homeless, the
magnitude of the problem, and whether it can be solved on a county level.
The speakers answered whether there is anything in the current State budget
cycle to help cover funding that local governments are losing.
Galloway stated she would like to break down what the Federal, State,
County, and City governments are doing for housing, and look at how we are
leveraging all these different levels of government and exploring all the
available funding opportunities. She would also like to think about housing
with both a health and a planning lens.
Beck spoke about looking at long-term prevention and not just crisis
response.
Whatcom County Page I
Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final March 7, 2023
This agenda item was PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED.
Committee Discussion
1. AB2023F 162 Discussion on the Healthy Children's Fund Implementation Plan
Erika Lautenbach, Health and Community Services Director, presented and
discussed with Councilmembers when they will see enough work done on
these programs that they can actually do an assessment, how many years the
levy goes, moving funds into the Early Learning and Care bucket to help
families with childcare, what "birthing people" are as referenced in the plan,
what "Coordinate and provide resources and community -wide training on
trauma -informed care, supporting LGBTQ+ youth, and equity/anti-racist
assessments and improvements" means as stated on page 37 of the plan,
keeping the plan focused on childcare, aligning messaging in the
implementation plan to account for unbudgeted (American Rescue Plan
Act) funding, what the Council can do around capacity -building internally to
make sure they are getting contracts out in a timely manner for our
community, and whether we will be doing a bi-annual evaluation.
This agenda item was PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED.
Items Added by Revision
Other Business
Adiournment
There were no agenda items added by revision.
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 4:09 p.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on 3/21/2023.
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Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
Council Chair
Whateom Comity Page 2