Bellingham mayor announces drug crackdown, additional services for city center
Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund announced several measures Tuesday that are aimed at addressing the fentanyl crisis by bringing more police, firefighters and others downtown as drug overdoses continue to increase at an “alarming” pace.
In her first executive order since taking office in January, Lund directed her staff to take several immediate actions that focus on “the safety and well-being of downtown,” she said in a statement.
In an interview with The Herald on Tuesday, Lund compared the fentanyl crisis to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a pandemic of a different kind,” she said.
Among the actions in Lund’s order are:
▪ Toughening enforcement of drug laws and boosting police presence.
▪ Expanding access to drug-treatment options in high overdose areas.
▪ Opening a downtown office to serve as a hub for police, firefighters and the Alternative Response Team of health-care workers who handle 911 calls that don’t require a police or fire response.
▪ Increasing cleaning and sanitation.
“This is just the beginning of a set of actions. We’re in a continuum,” Lund said to a group of city department heads, business representatives and elected officials who gathered where the new police, fire and ART substation opens this week in a storefront at the Commercial Street parking garage.
“What’s happening right now in downtown Bellingham; we don’t want that to define us,” she said.
Lund’s order comes amid a sharp rise in opioid overdoses and deaths.
Preliminary overdose death figures in earlier January showed there were 130 overdose deaths in Whatcom County in 2023, up 43% from the 91 deaths in 2022.
City officials have been struggling with a post-pandemic wave of crime, vandalism, drug use, homelessness and other issues that became key talking points in last fall’s election that saw Lund defeat Seth Fleetwood.
Both Police Chief Rebecca Mertzig and Fire Chief Bill Hewett welcomed the opportunity to put their crews closer to downtown as they addressed the crowd Tuesday.
“We need to get back to engaging the community. I’m hopeful for our future and I’m hopeful for downtown,” Mertzig said.
Hewett said the new downtown substation was “a positive step to turn the tide” of opioid misery in the downtown core.
Guy Occhiogrosso, president and CEO at Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, also saw the mayor’s announcement as a first step.
“If we don’t take care of the downtown, we can’t take care of Whatcom County,” Occhiogrosso said.
City Council President Dan Hammill, whose council ward includes downtown, told The Herald that he was happy to see the mayor publicizing her efforts.
“I think the mayor’s on the right track when it comes to addressing the issues downtown — which is everyone’s neighborhood,” he said.
This story was originally published February 20, 2024 at 6:30 PM.
