The sausage making was in full view Monday night as the 2025 Whatcom County Charter Review Commission convened to undertake the once-in-a-decade task of reviewing the county’s home rule charter and proposing amendments to how the county is governed.
“You’re setting the course for Whatcom County for the next decade,” county council chair Barry Buchanan said as he welcomed the new commission on Jan. 6.
The 15 elected citizens, three from each of the five county council districts, spent their first meeting wrestling over procedural basics in an attempt to ensure a smooth and transparent public process. Joe Elenbaas of District 4 set the tone early by telling the commission he was a stickler for procedure and that the group had to set rules and live by them.
As the candidate with the highest percentage of votes in her favor, District 1’s Liz Darrow convened the commission and then was narrowly elected chair by the body’s liberal majority, receiving eight votes to Doug Chadwick’s seven. Chadwick, who represents District 3, was then nominated to vice chair but lost the vote to Jennifer Wright, also of District 3.
Through several more convoluted motions, the commission set guidelines for public comment and determined it would follow the parliamentary procedure laid out in Robert’s Rules of Order.
During the comment period, several community members, including Whatcom County Council member Ben Elenbaas, chided the chair and commission for their difficulties in establishing order.
After hearing from the public, the commissioners settled on a meeting schedule for the first three months — they’ll meet on the second and fourth Monday of each month through March, starting next Monday, Jan. 13. The commission will vote later on its meeting schedule for the remainder of the term. Meeting locations are yet to be determined, as the commission plans to meet at public spots throughout the county to ensure equitable distribution for all residents.
Over the next seven or so months, the commissioners will review essential elements of how the county operates, taking input from the public, county elected officials and department heads. Members will propose and debate charter amendments, and any amendments that receive a supermajority (10 or more commissioners in favor) will be filed with the county council, which will submit the amendments to voters in November 2025.
Currently, the commission as a whole can be contacted via the email address charter@co.whatcom.wa.us. But because their correspondence is in the public record, the commissioners beseeched the county staff to give them each county email addresses, which they haven’t been granted because it’s against county policy to give advisory board members email addresses. Ben Elenbaas weighed in again, telling the commission that when he was a charter review commissioner in 2015, the same request was made and denied. He promised to work with the county council to try and secure official addresses for the commissioners.
Community members can submit comments online or at meetings. Meetings will be held in person and on Zoom, with agendas, packets and online access information posted beforehand at whatcomcounty.us/5540.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
