BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Make sure you’re aware of a few new changes taking effect ahead of the upcoming Bellingham City Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 14.
Starting Monday, public comment will take place at the beginning of each regular meeting instead of the end.
Community members can register to speak by using a new online sign-up form by 7 p.m. on the day of the meeting or sign up in-person outside the council chambers starting at 6:30.
Council meetings will now be livestreamed via YouTube instead of Zoom, though speakers will continue to use Zoom during public comment periods.
The council will also only offer live interpretation by request instead of having a standing Spanish interpreter at each meeting. Streaming meetings on YouTube will allow for multi-language captions.
The council is aiming to reallocate its live interpretation resources to community events and direct engagement opportunities.
Councilmember Holly Huthman says she hopes the council can better use technology to increase meeting accessibility.
“One thing that has bothered me about the interpretation services is that we are only providing one language and there are potentially about 150 that can be accessed in other ways,” Huthman said at an Aug. 24 Committee of the Whole meeting.
For the final change, the council will no longer take part in a land acknowledgment at the beginning of meetings.
Councilmember Michael Lilliquist says a city report containing feedback from local tribes identified the need to reevaluate the practice with more involvement from the mayor’s office.
“That early report indicated that, from the tribal perspective, the executive-to-tribal relationship is the one that they deem the more appropriate connection, and I think we should honor and respect how they would like to be approached in a government-to-government way,” Lilliquist said at the Aug. 24 meeting.
This comes as the Whatcom County Council is set to roll out changes to their council meeting days such as holding less meetings in a single day and adding a public comment period to the Finance and Administrative Services Committee.
