Some officials criticize pace of coronavirus information from Whatcom command center
Several members of the County Council criticized what they consider a slow pace of information from Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-governmental agency that’s directing local pandemic response.
Council member Ben Elenbaas said he’s been having trouble getting timely and accurate responses to concerns from residents in his mostly rural district.
“There is massive unrest in the county right now,” Elenbaas said during a Thursday, March 26, online conference where the council was meeting as the Health Board.
“There is unrest in the hospital workers, there is unrest in the first responders, and just the general community is questioning some of the decisions that have been made,” he said. “I try to smile and say we’re doing a good job, we’re communicating, but at some point, I’m not sure if I even believe myself.”
Some officials were especially concerned that the county Health Department was not sharing key information through unified command, county Councilman Tyler Byrd told The Bellingham Herald.
“As officials, we see the great work that unified command is doing and support their efforts,” he said in a text message. “Our concern is specifically directed at key leaders inside the Health Department who are not providing information that is essential to Unified Command and local officials’ ability to fully respond to this situation. Ultimately, there needs to be more transparency across the board, including with the public as a whole.”
Whatcom Unified Command, an agency that was activated March 18, has the power to make decisions after taking recommendations from a policy group of local elected leaders, including some members of the County Council.
Unified Command includes key officials from government, emergency services, police and fire, health-care administration, schools and others with the goal of pooling resources and streamlining how local agencies react in times of crisis or natural disaster.
For its operating structure, a unified command uses FEMA’s National Incident Management System.
A unified command is most frequently applied during earthquakes, wildfires and hurricanes.
In Whatcom County, three incident commanders make decisions, with the county Health Department in the lead role: John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management; Bill Hewett, Bellingham fire chief; and John Wolpers, an incident commander with the county Health Department.
Several council members and health officials asked Elenbaas to address his concerns to Unified Command’s public-information officers or a government liaison within the command structure.
Elenbaas told the Health Department’s Dr. Greg Stern that he wasn’t trying to work around the system.
“I want to help you the best I can,” he said. “I want your opinion on all this stuff. I want to help craft policy and things moving into the future that is going to help solve the unrest, help the people that are on the front line, and help the people who are sick, and I feel like we’ve been getting worked around and I hate to say that. I feel like we’ve been cut out of the conversation.”
Council member Carol Frazey said that everyone must trust Whatcom Unified Command and let its members work without interference.
“I feel like it’s our responsibility to sit back,” Frazey said. “We’ve hired — Satpal, Executive Sidhu, Executive Louws, former Executive Louws — they’ve hired great people. And those people are in place now and we need to sit back and allow them to do their jobs that we hired them to do. And when they need help, come to us.”
Council member Kathy Kershner called it an “information void” from those in charge.
“And sometimes it feels like there’s a kind of ‘hide the ball’ mentality,” Kershner said. “I don’t want to believe that. I want to believe that all the information is coming to us but it doesn’t feel that way.”
Other elected officials, however, said they are being kept abreast of developments, including Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood, who told The Bellingham Herald in an email that he is “receiving a consistent flow of information” from Whatcom Unified Command and its Joint Information Center, which also issues press releases and responds to media inquiries.
“At the heart of this whole emergency operation are people, city and county government employees at all levels who in many cases have set aside their families and free time to help during this crisis,” Fleetwood wrote.
“From planners, police officers and paramedics, to librarians, accounting specialists, and public information officers, all are working as hard as they can, as fast as they can. They are serving new roles in the emergency operations center or working in their typical roles to keep vital public services going during this difficult time, under enormous pressure.”
In an email to The Herald, County Executive Satpal Sidhu called the pandemic “unprecedented” and wrote that he has confidence in Whatcom Unified Command and the county Health Department.
“This is a dynamic situation, and they will continue to respond to the community’s increasing need for information,” Sidhu wrote. “My office has direct and effective communications with Whatcom Unified Command, and county operations is supporting them with whatever resources they need, including personnel. Our deputy executive, Tyler Schroeder, is one of the rotating members of Unified Command. All the teams there are doing an enormous amount of work, and they are doing it professionally.”
Byrd and Councilman Rud Browne, however, urged more transparency from Unified Command.
“I think there has been a lack of communication through this process,” Browne said during the March 26 meeting.
“In my experience doing crisis management in the past, the No. 1 rule that I’ve learned was that if I don’t communicate early, often and clearly — someone will else will fill in the blanks or someone else will panic. And that panic starts to spread.”
Health Board Director Erika Lautenbach, whose appointment was approved just two weeks ago, assured council members that everyone at Unified Command is working long hours under stress — more than 80 hours a week in some cases.
“I want us to feel like we’re all partners in this, on the same team,” Lautenbach said.
“The staff are working so hard, and they have such a commitment to this community,” she said.
“There’s no question about their commitment, their compassion, and their desire to find good answers in this process,” Lautenbach said. “There are zero living humans on this planet who have managing a massive pandemic on their resumes. And we’re trying to figure this out as we go. I just hope you’ll give us some grace.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
