HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole Jul 25 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, July 25, 2023
3:15 PM
Hybrid Meeting
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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 July 25, 2023
Call To Order
Roll Call
Present: 7 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Carol Frazey,
Kaylee Galloway, and Kathy Kershner
Announcements
Committee Discussion and Recommendation to Council
1. AB2023-434 Resolution for Whatcom County Code language revisions to address equity, diversity,
and inclusion
Frazey briefed the Councilmembers on the proposed resolution and thanked
Council intern Sophia Rey for her work on it.
Galloway moved and Buchanan seconded that the Resolution be
RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL.
Elenbaas stated he is not sure he considers the corrections he is reading to
be offensive, and the corrected versions sound more correct to him.
Kershner spoke about working in the field of developmental disabilities for
the last 30 years and stated she has been trained to use people -first language
in that modality so it comes very natural to her to use it. The gender -neutral
is taking some getting used to, but she is getting used to that as well since
she is writing all her reports with gender -neutral. She is supportive of this
Resolution.
Donovan spoke about examples where positions in the code are defined as
"him" and stated these are great changes to make. He asked whether there
was also a Charter amendment proposed to do the same thing with the
Charter but Kershner stated the proposal was about changing signage.
Galloway's motion that the Resolution be RECOMMENDED FOR
APPROVAL carried by the following vote:
Aye: 7 - Buchanan, Byrd, Donovan, Elenbaas, Frazey, Galloway, and Kershner
Nay: 0
Committee Discussion
1. AB2 2147 Discussion with Council on 2024 legislative priorities
Kayla Schott-Bresler, Strategic Initiatives Special Programs Manager,
briefed the Councilmembers on the memo (on file) with an initial list of
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final July 25, 2023
priorities and budget requests, and answered questions.
Buchanan asked about what kind of inpatient beds they are referring to
where it says, "Justice Project plan priorities - re-entry center; inpatient
beds" under Capital in the list of budget requests.
Donovan asked what the "technical fix" is as mentioned in the statement,
"Economic Development Investment Program `technical fix' bill -
clarification to allow use of EDI funds for workforce housing and land
banking" under Affordable Housing in the list of policy issues, and what it
can be used for. He also spoke about the policy issue of "Increasing
appropriate development - Limited areas of more intense rural development
(LMIRDs) and ADUs in rural areas" under Land Use, and stated he hopes
something comes out of the upcoming discussion (in two weeks) about
housing strategies with the Planning and Development Services Department
about specific asks that relate to LMIRDs and what they can do with the
code or what they can fix in State law to expand opportunities for housing in
the unincorporated areas where that is appropriate.
Buchanan asked whether we have any synergy around things like 90-day
Medicaid waivers or other jurisdictions that are trying to move that forward
as well that we can team up with, and Schott-Bresler stated Washington
State Association of Counties (WSAC) is working closely with the
healthcare authority, and the legislature on the 90-day Waiver. She stated
they have also heard that Skagit and King Counties are very interested so
they will be coordinating with them throughout the session.
Frazey asked whether "Supporting efforts to bolster the behavioral health
workforce" under Behavioral Health in the list of policy issues could focus
on case managers and wrap -around services for Juvenile Court. She also
asked about having a State subscription service for non -prescriptive birth
control that would be available to anyone like the free subscriptions for
Narcan and COVID-19 tests.
Donovan asked about the coordination with other agencies and jurisdictions
on the legislative priorities and whether they are looking for priorities from
the Council that will perfectly mesh with those coordinating partners.
Schott-Bresler stated there is room for some county -specific priorities
with those general priorities and they expect the Council and Executive to
put forward a list of specific Whatcom County organizational priorities to
go along with those and the capital requests, as has been the case in the past
several years.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final July 25, 2023
Buchanan asked about a speech by the President of the United States today
about cracking down on insurance companies for lack of coverage for
behavioral health, and asked what the implications might be for wages or our
workforce. Schott-Bresler stated they would try to get some more
information about that.
Galloway thanked Schott-Bresler and the Executive's Office for putting
together this engagement plan and stated she would like to see climate on
the list of policy priorities (which would include forestry, salmon recovery,
culvert removal, and clean building and renewable energy). She stated she
also hopes broadband is a shared priority. She asked if we could align our
timeline with that of our affiliates and the various associations, and also add
engagement with our advisory boards and commissions.
Donovan asked about the paragraph titled, "Setting an Agenda" and asked
whether the funding for public defense is referring to positions we are
funding right now with short-term dollars or whether it is something
different, and Schott-Bresler stated it is different and has to do with
WSAC's advocacy effort with the State to properly fund indigent defense.
Elenbaas spoke about seeking places where we can allow Accessory
Dwelling Units (ADUs), looking at our Critical Areas ordinance and our
definition of wetlands to advocate for a sound approach for no net loss, and
the County and State recognizing the importance of securing water to use
for everyone involved or we will not have a viable agricultural economy and
will lose what we have claimed we are here to protect.
Donovan asked about a request we made to have the State help people who
are going through adjudication with filing assistance.
Tyler Schroeder, Director of Administrative Services, stated a portion of
the approved operating budget was for the ability to reach out to landowners
for technical assistance. He stated water solutions is definitely on the list
and they are going to continue to move that forward. They can follow up to
provide some specific dollar amounts that are in the operating budget for
2024 and 2025.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
Items Added by Revision
Other Business
There were no agenda items added by revision.
There was no other business.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final July 25, 2023
Adiournment
The meeting adjourned at 3:27 p.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on August 8, 2023.
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Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
tBa"uchanan, Council Chair
Whatcom County Page 4