Whatcom County Council approves Sheriff’s Office move, expected next summer
Whatcom County Council members approved a long-term lease for a new Sheriff’s Office headquarters on Bellingham’s north side, allowing the agency to move from its current cramped and dilapidated quarters in the basement of the county Jail.
Wednesday night’s vote was 6-0-1 with Councilman Todd Donovan abstaining because he feared that funding for future years’ rent is uncertain, and because the owner of the new site is former County Council member Rud Browne.
“I have no doubt about (Browne’s) or this council’s integrity,” Donovan said during discussion on the proposal Wednesday night. “That’s just a discomfort that I have. I understand the need. I understand the opportunity is fantastic. But those are things we are not yet talking about.”
Councilman Ben Elenbaas said the deal is above-board, even though it’s only been publicly discussed for a week. County Council members and key administrators in the Sheriff’s Office and Executive’s Office have known about the deal since May, and council members have discussed it several times in closed session since it was brought forward by Councilman Tyler Byrd.
“I’m going to stand up and proudly vote in support of this because there is nothing to hide here,” Elenbaas said. “I have no feelings that there’s anything inappropriate going on here. I think it’s a great deal for the public and an even better deal for the Sheriff’s Office.”
With council approval of the deal announced last week, the Sheriff’s Office will move by next summer to a vacant office/industrial building at 4600 Ryzex Way in a Cordata business park.
According to the deal, the Sheriff’s Office will rent the Ryzex Way site for about $500,000 a year over eight years. Two renewals of two years each are included in the lease.
The building is a 30,000-square-foot two-story concrete tilt-up structure on 2 acres with parking for nearly 100 cars. It has a reception area, offices and large interior space with roll-up doors.
Rob Ney, the Whatcom County’s facilities manager, said Browne will be providing $100,000 worth of new and nearly new office furniture.
Further, the deal will give the Sheriff’s Office private offices, conference areas and interview rooms, secure storage space for evidence, and easy access to its service area in Whatcom County.
“It solves a critical need today,” Ney told the council in a committee meeting Wednesday morning.
Sheriff Donnell Tanksley told the council that his department’s current offices are “archaic and unacceptable” and handicap its day-to-day mission of law enforcement. Its current offices are in a dank and dark former storeroom beneath the jail and the 1984 building plagued by air-quality issues and sewage and plumbing leaks.
“Moving the Sheriff’s Office into a stand-alone, modern and dedicated facility is not a luxury, it’s an operational necessity,” Tanksley said.
Deputy Executive Aly Pennucci said the annual rent and operating expenses at the Ryzex Way site will cost less in the short term than financing construction of a new building.
Several sheriff’s deputies and members of the department’s command staff addressed the County Council on Wednesday about conditions in the building that they call “The Dungeon,” including patrol Sgt. Todd Damon.
“Other than (corrections officers in) the adult jail, I don’t know any other county employee who works without natural light. You have the opportunity to make sure that Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office employees have safe and decent working conditions for many years to come by simply voting yes on a contract for an office building,” Damon said.
