Initiative advocate challenges veteran councilman in Bellingham
A Bellingham City Council member seeking his fourth term is being challenged by an activist and music teacher who helped get four initiative proposals on the ballot.
Even though the winner will represent City Council Ward 6 — which includes the neighborhoods of Edgemoor, South and Fairhaven, plus most of Samish and Happy Valley, and part of South Hill — the race is open to all Bellingham voters in the Nov. 2 general election.
Ballots will be mailed Wednesday, Oct. 13, and must be postmarked — not simply mailed — or placed in ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Both Councilman Michael Lilliquist and Eve Smason-Marcus see affordable housing and homelessness as among the key issues facing voters — along with matters related to the COVID pandemic, climate change and social justice.
But their approaches are different.
Smason-Marcus, who volunteered at last year’s Camp 210 protest encampment that sought more homeless services and is a board member of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, would end the city’s policy of removing tent settlements from parks and other public spaces.
“We need to stop sweeping our unhoused neighbors,” Smason-Marcus told The Bellingham Herald in an interview.
“We’ve been doing it the same way for the 13 years that I’ve lived here. But we need to do something different,” Smason-Marcus said. “Sweeping people constantly is not helping. We need to address the issue more completely and compassionately.”
Lilliquist has cast votes over the years as part of a City Council majority whose focus is on encouraging more housing — and more different types of housing — across the entire city as Western Washington grapples with record-high rents and home prices, along with a surge in homelessness.
When the council was discussing its ban on overnight camping in parks earlier this year, he pushed for an exemption to allow encampments with a special permit.
“We do housing-first solutions. That means that every shelter should be focused on getting people into housing,” Lilliquist told The Herald in an interview.
“It’s more about addressing a person’s needs getting into housing rather than giving everyone a place to stay the night,” said Lilliquist, who served on the former Whatcom County Homeless Strategies Workgroup.
“But these are national-level issues that can’t be solved by local efforts alone,” Lilliquist said.
Michael Lilliquist
Lilliquist, who lives in Fairhaven, was elected in 2009 to serve Ward 6.
He has a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience from the University of Texas at Austin, but hasn’t worked in the field for more than a decade while he was a stay-home dad.
Meanwhile, he’s been a paralegal, done home repair and office work.
“I’m putting work together,” he said. “I’m part of the gig economy.”
On the council, he chairs the Public Works and Natural Resources Committee and is a member of the Community and Economic Development Committee and the Climate Action Committee.
He represents the city on the governing boards of the Whatcom Transportation Authority and the Lake Whatcom Policy Group, among others.
“A lot of the City Council isn’t just the votes taken, but the work that you do outside the meetings,” he said. “There’s important work to do and we have to make sure that we listen to people. Finding common ground is different from just splitting the difference.”
Eve Smason-Marcus
Smason-Marcus, who lives in the South neighborhood and prefers the pronoun “they,” volunteered to gather signatures for the four People First Bellingham initiatives, and has been active in social justice and climate change issues since graduating from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in vocal music performance.
They are primarily a music teacher, “but I have always had at least two jobs,” they said.
They have volunteered with Whatcom Youth Pride and the Birchwood Food Desert Fighters and are part of the Bellingham Unity Committee that organized the June 6, 2020, rally to mourn the murder of George Floyd and demand changes to address racism in Whatcom County.
“I really value community and building relationships and making connections,” they said.
“I’m running because we need people in office who are familiar with the challenges that average people in Bellingham face. Our biggest strength is our community and that’s what’s going to save us,” Smason-Marcus said.
Climate change
Both Lilliquist and Smason-Marcus favor the proposals adopted by the city in its 2019 Climate Action Plan.
A standing committee was established and a “climate czar” was hired in early 2020, but the start of the pandemic two months later meant that the council had more immediate issues to consider.
Their work hasn’t stalled, however, Lilliquist said.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “That work is ongoing as we speak,” and includes policies to begin electrifying buildings, adding to the city’s electric vehicle fleet and installing nearly 100 new EV charging stations.
But Smason-Marcus would like to see more concrete progress.
“I feel like we need to be moving quicker. There are ways that Bellingham could really lead in going green,” they said. “There’s no running away from it. We need to move beyond incremental change. We have some really great programs, but we need to be doing more,” especially with stormwater runoff pollution of creeks, lakes and Bellingham Bay, Smason-Marcus said.
“Climate justice is connected to housing and racial justice,” they said. “We need to make sure that housing is affordable and it’s easy to get to food. There are a lot of easy wins. Let’s get moving.”
Initiatives
Lilliquist voted with the council majority to add the four People First Bellingham initiatives to the Nov. 2 ballot, but he wasn’t convinced that they all could survive a court challenge if approved by voters.
Those initiatives address worker rights and tenant rights, limit police technology and restrict anti-union activities.
“They definitely are well-intentioned,” he said. “But the proposed solutions often run afoul of existing law and may create unintended consequences.”
He said he couldn’t cite specifics because of possible lawsuits that the city would be forced to defend.
Smason-Marcus canvassed neighborhoods in last spring’s effort to get enough signatures to make the ballot.
They said the initiatives are modeled on other successful measures around the country and said it was a “missed opportunity” that the City Council didn’t endorse them.
“i think it’s really important that people are getting involved in government,” they said. “I want people to be involved in the community. It’s exciting to see so much momentum. It’s really inspirational.”
Fundraising, endorsements
According to campaign finance reports filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission, Lilliquist had raised $18,136 through Friday, Oct. 8, mostly from individual contributors.
He received $1,000 from the IAFF Local 106 Bellingham-Whatcom Firefighters and $876 from the Washington State Central Democratic Committee
His endorsements include the 40th District Democrats and the 42nd District Democrats, IAFF Local 106 Bellingham-Whatcom Firefighters, the Young Democrats of WWU, the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, the Washington Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club.
Smason-Marcus had raised $16,950 through Friday, mostly from individual contributors.
They received $1,000 from the Washington Education Association PAC and $876 from the Washington State Democrats.
Their endorsements include the 40th District Democrats, the Riveters Collective, Lummi Nation, WEA Fourth Corner (teachers union), NARAL Pro-Choice, National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington, Alliance for Gun Responsibility, SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW, the Washington Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood, Sage Leaders, and Vote Prochoice.
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: Endorsements for Smason-Marcus were corrected and Lilliquist’s vote on encampments was clarified Oct. 14, 2021.
