Proposed Amendment: Cash Balance Limitations

The following charter amendment was proposed by Kris Halterman, Whatcom County, district 1, at the January 26 Charter Review Commission Meeting.

I would like the Charter Review Commission to consider amending Article 5, Section 5.30 Initiative – Limitations:

At present the Initiative process does not address the ability of voter approved initiatives to limit the amount of revenue accrued in the funds that are earmarked for the purpose of the voter approved initiatives. The results of this are ‘Cash Balance Funds’ which are accumulated beyond the purpose of the tax payer’s intent. When these initiatives were approved, it is with the public trust that the revenue collected will be used expressly for the stated purpose of that initiative.

Currently the County collects, through taxation and fees, an unlimited amount into the fund created by the initiative. And, the County Council has legislative authority to move money from one fund to another by majority vote of the Council.

I would like the Charter Review Commission to consider amending Article 5, Section 5.30 Initiative – Limitations, and an addition to Article 6 Financial Administration, to read:

Article 5: Section 5.30 Initiative – Limitations.

No initiative proposal requiring the expenditure of additional funds for an existing activity or of any funds for a new activity or purpose shall be filed unless provisions are specifically made therein for new or additional sources of revenue which may thereby be required.

And, all voter approved initiatives which authorize the collection of taxes, or fees upon County property(s) for additional sources of revenue, shall include a maximum, or ceiling, of accumulated revenue to be held in a restricted fund. 

And, these taxes and/or fees which have been placed into a ‘restricted fund’ are for the sole ‘stated’ purpose of the initiative approved by the public.

And, no taxes or fees collected for an approved initiative by the people and placed into a ‘restricted fund,’ shall be subject, by County Council legislative action, to be transferred to the County general fund, or any other existing fund, or a newly created fund, without voter approval at the next general election. 

Unless, in the case of a fiscal emergency, if called by both the County Council and the County Executive at a public meeting, such a transfer could be approved by a 2/3rds vote of the Council.

Article 6: Financial Administration, Section 6.65

And, all current ‘reserved, restricted , and/or cash funds,” of Whatcom County shall suspend the collection of taxes and fees once it has accumulated more than 150% of the revenue needed for the stated and intended purpose of the fund.

Supporting documents: 

Balance Sheet (Excel Spreadsheet)
Cash Balances by Fund (PDF)

Proposed Amendment: Fair Voting by District

The following charter amendment was proposed by Delaine Clizbe, Whatcom County, district 1, at the January 26 Charter Review Commission Meeting.

I would like the Commission to consider amending Section 2.13 of the Charter concerning how our County Council is elected.

I think this amendment is needed because it offers individual districts the opportunity to elect the representative who will advocate for the specific needs of their district, as well as, the County.

We are the only County with a Council/Executive structure to elect our Council Council by a county wide vote. King, Pierce, and Snohomish elect their Council Council by district. The City of Seattle also recently voted to elect their City Council by district instead of city wide. So it seems the trend is going in the direction of elected representatives representing smaller more manageable areas.

Here is the wording from the other 3 counties that have the same County Council/Executive structure that we do.

King County: The metropolitan county council shall consist of nine members. The county shall be divided into nine districts, and one council member shall be nominated and elected by the voters of each district.

Pierce County: The County shall be divided into seven districts, and one Council Member shall be nominated and elected by the voters of each district

Snohomish County: The county council shall consist of five members nominated and elected from districts.

My suggestion is to change the wording of section 2.13 as follows:

The qualified voters of the entire county each district shall vote upon each the council member position in their district at the November general election. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes for each position shall be elected.

Going along with that suggested change, I would like the Commission to consider amending Section 8.20.

Charter amendments may be proposed by the Commission, the County Council or by the public. However, the County Council may not propose an amendment that alters or negates an amendment proposed by the Commission or the public and approved by the voters. Any proposed Charter amendment ...

This change is needed to ensure that the County Council does not override changes that the citizens of Whatcom County have asked for.

Proposed Amendment: Freedom by Default

The following charter amendment was proposed by Karl Uppiano of Ferndale, district 3, at the January 26 Charter Review Commission Meeting.

Background

Government of the people, by the people, for the people, derives its just power from the people, and not the reverse! However, there is an openly spoken sentiment in the halls of Whatcom County Government that proclaims, “If it isn't permitted, then it isn’t permitted”. Meaning that if you have not obtained a permit to do something, then you do not have permission to do it. This is the antithesis of what it means to live in a free country, where the people are at liberty to pursue happiness and a livelihood, subject to just a few well known, well understood and easily justified restrictions.

This is not only theoretical. The language in question is embodied in the Whatcom County zoning ordinances, and I believe the Whatcom County Charter is the appropriate place to avert this oppressive disposition.

Recommendation

I propose adding language to the Whatcom County Charter, Section 1.11, to the effect,

unless there is a specific law prohibiting a specific activity, citizens retain the right to act on their property at will.

This is formally similar to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Monday, January 26, 2015 -- The Second Meeting of the Charter Review Commission

The second meeting of the Whatcom County Charter Review Commission was held on Monday, January 26, 2015.

The meeting was called to order at approximately 6:30 pm by commission chairman, Ben Elenbaas. 

After the flag salute and roll call, the floor was opened to public comments. The first speakers were invited guests -- the elected officials, which tonight comprised County Executive Jack Louws, and County Auditor, Debbie Adelstein. 

Executive Louws spoke generally of the charter and the charter review process, and answered general questions about various aspects of how the executive branch felt things were going under the charter. There were some questions about separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government. Also discussed was how to determine if county government was operating under the terms of the charter, and who would decide if the charter was being followed or not. Executive Louws said that function would probably fall to the county prosecutor, who fills a role similar to the US Supreme Court, in cases like this. 

Auditor Debbie Adelstein came prepared with several observations about places where the charter and actual practice may have diverged in the Auditor's office, and suggestions for charter modifications or policy changes that would address this. Adelstein also suggested some other changes that would improve ballots and elections. 

After the elected officials were finished, the floor was opened to general citizen input (at 00:45:15 in the audio clip, below). Several speakers presented proposals for charter amendments.

• Delaine Clizbe: Fair Voting by District 
• Kris Halterman: Cash Balance Limitations
• Karl Uppiano: Freedom by Default

(We will publish the text from other speaker notes and handouts for discussion on this website when they become available.)

The rest of the meeting was primarily concerned with where to hold the meetings out in the county (the ones not held in Bellingham). There were several motions to try to determine how to prioritize meeting venues and constituencies. There was some concern about spending so much time not addressing actual charter issues, but attempts to streamline the process seemed to go nowhere. Finally, the commission agreed to meet at four different locations in the county, and then to hold supplemental meetings as needed to meet with other constituencies. Joe Elenbaas noted that in previous reviews, the remote meetings often were not well attended, the implication being that the time might be better spent working on something else.

A couple of amendments, including voting by district (from public input and the "Elephant in the room") and ballot short description definitions (auditor's suggestions) were placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

There was a motion to change the number of readings and votes required to pass an amendment. The objective was to increase the chances for public hearing and discussion. Since this would require a rules change, involving a 2/3 majority vote, this motion failed. However, it was noted that amendments already require a final vote before they can be placed on the ballot.

Here is the audio from the full meeting:



The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00 pm.

Second Charter Review Commission Meeting January 26, 2015, 6:30 PM (Monday)

The second meeting of the Charter Review Commission will be held on Monday, January 26 at 6:30 PM in the the Civic Center Garden Room, 322 N. Commercial St., Bellingham (across from the library).

Agenda 

1. Call to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call
4. Public Comments - Members of the public will have 3 minutes to address the Commission on any subject. Each speaker should state his or her name for the record.
5. Approval of Minutes for January 12, 2015
6. Discuss and Approve Regular Meeting Schedule and Location(s) - Continued from January 12, 2015 - The Commission will take a mid-meeting break if necessary.
7. Other Business Topics of discussion for next meeting
8. Adjourn

Item 4 on the agenda is your chance to bring forward your suggestions and concerns for the Commission to consider, as we discussed here. 

Task Force Brainstorming Meeting Produced Ideas

The Charter Review Task Force held a brainstorming get together at the Rome Grange yesterday at 6:30 pm. We discussed a number of topics, ranging from how to communicate with each other, and with the Charter Review Commission, to what a charter amendment looks like, and how best to present a proposal to the Charter Review Commission.

We had some sample amendments (which may or may not be something we would actually want to put forward, but just something to look at). This started people thinking, and many good new ideas came up. Various people volunteered to go off and develop them further.

The commission may wish to hear from county elected officials and staff (who are directly affected by the charter, and must operate within its constraints) before hearing from the general public, so we have a few weeks to prepare our proposals.

The fact that the commission may need to hear the same proposals more than once (in order to get a sense of what's important to the citizens), was discussed. Repetition bears repeating. ;-)

Discussion of various amendments and their development, can be done here in the discussion section, or email us, and we can help get things going. The discussion on the website is public; email is private. Each has its uses.

Be familiar with the charter. There's a link to it on our sidebar, under Resources on the Web/The Whatcom County Charter.

Charter Review Commission Meetings

The Charter Review Commission voted to meet at 6:30 pm on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, which means until further notice, meetings lay out as follows:

• January 26
• February 9
• February 23
• March 9
• March 23
• April 6
• April 20
• May 11
• May 25 (this is Memorial Day, so probably not)
• June 8
• June 22
• July 13
• July 27
• August 10
• August 24

This list is subject to change. The commission considered meeting in places other than Bellingham some of the time. Additionally, if the workload increases, the commission might elect to meet three times per month. We will update the list when this information becomes available.

Most of the Bellingham meetings will be held in the Civic Center Garden Room, 322 N. Commercial St., Bellingham (across from the library). This location will be remodeled in the summer sometime, so another location will have to be selected at some point. Watch this space for updates.

Task Force Meeting to Brainstorm and Organize -- Monday, January 19

Now that we have one Charter Review Commission meeting under our belt, and we know more about how the Charter Review Commission will be organized, we (the Charter Review Task Force) are going to have a meeting to organize a bit for the Charter Review meetings. We will brainstorm about potential amendments to the Charter and will come up with a plan for presenting some of those potential amendments at the January 26 meeting.

Here are the meeting details:

• Monday, January 19, 6:30 pm
• Rome Grange (2821 Mount Baker Hwy)

Come with your ideas!

Monday, January 12, 2015 -- The First Meeting of the Charter Review Commission

The first meeting of the Whatcom County Charter Review Commission was held on Monday, January 12, 2015.

The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:00 pm by acting chairman, Ben Elenbaas.

Commission members were sworn in by Whatcom County Auditor, Debbie Adelstein.

Ben Elenbaas was elected as the permanent chair, Joe Elenbaas was elected as vice chair, and Chet Dow was elected as secretary. No other officers were deemed necessary at this time.

The commission elected to operate under Roberts Rules of Order. Other housekeeping discussion included compliance and training requirements for commission members.

The budget for this session is approximately $16,000, which covers meeting space, county staff, and other necessities such as mailing and other communication, and "reasonable" compensation for commissioner expenses. Most commissioners seemed content with the idea that they would probably not submit expense reports.

Meeting schedule and locations were discussed at length. The commission decided to meet two times a month on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, with the understanding that the workload might require more frequent meetings.

Though no final decision was reached regarding the exact location, the commission did agree to meet in Bellingham (probably at the Civic Center Garden Room, 322 N. Commercial St. until such time as the space is unavailable due to remodeling), at least once per month.

The commission discussed how to address the invitation for other elected officials and staff who must operate under the Whatcom County charter, to provide input and written suggestions for charter amendments, to the commission.

Here is the audio from the full meeting:

 

There was a bit of strategic posturing, when an attempt was made to increase the number of commissioners present required for a quorum from the default eight (a simple majority) to ten.

Here is the audio of that discussion:

  

 The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:40 pm.

The First Meeting of the Charter Review Commission is Next Monday, Jan. 12

The first meeting of the Charter Review Commission is next week. Here is the agenda for the first Charter Review meeting. Meeting starts at 7pm. There will be coffee and cookies at 6:30. The meeting will be held at the Civic Center Garden Room, 322 N. Commercial St.

Commissioners will be sworn in, and the commission will elect officers. In addition the commissioners will set a regular meeting schedule and select a regular meeting place.