Should Port of Bellingham Commission expand to five members? Voters will decide
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- Whatcom County voters will decide Nov. 4 on expanding Port Commission seats.
- Adding two commissioners could cost $126,000 annually plus redistricting fees.
- Supporters say expansion broadens representation; critics warn of bureaucracy.
Whatcom County voters will get the chance to redetermine the number of Port of Bellingham commissioners in the upcoming Nov. 4 general election.
The commission voted 2-1 at its Tuesday meeting to approve placing a commission increase proposition on the ballot. Commissioner Bobby Briscoe voted against the resolution.
The approval of the resolution will allow voters to decide whether the number of commissioners of the port district should be increased from three to five. If Whatcom County votes to increase the number of commissioners, each will be assigned to one of five newly drawn districts.
The board currently includes three commissioners — Briscoe, Ken Bell and Michael Shepard. Each represents a separate district. Since the port was established in 1920, it has been governed by a board of three commissioners.
Commissioner Bell initially proposed a meeting last fall to facilitate an open discussion and support informed decision-making about the possible increase.
More than a dozen Whatcom County community members expressed opinions for and against the possible increase at a public hearing in December.
Those in favor of expansion argued the change would bring greater community-wide representation and improved decision-making for port operations. Those opposed said the move could complicate bureaucracy.
The estimated annual recurring cost to the port of adding two commissioners is just under $126,000 for both positions, with increased equipment costs every four to five years of about $7,000. The port also estimates a potential election cost of several hundred thousand dollars.
The one-time cost of redistricting is currently undetermined, according to the Commission Expansion Resolution.
This is not the first time the discussion of increasing the number of port commissioners has been considered in Whatcom County. The board adopted a resolution moving a ballot proposition forward for expansion in 2012. But the proposition failed on the November ballot that year.
The executive committee of Save The Waterfront, a local group that has opposed heavy industrial operations along Bellingham’s waterfront, voted unanimously last fall to support any efforts the port makes to place a five-commissioner proposition on the ballot in 2025.
“Given the county’s growth since the port was established in 1920, and its expanding range of responsibilities, increasing the number of commissioners by two would enhance the Port Commission’s expertise and improve representation for the growing population,” the group said in an earlier release about their support for a larger commission..
In 2016, the Center of Economic and Business Research at Western Washington University found that the port’s economic impact is felt broadly across Whatcom County, where it facilitates roughly 6,000 jobs or about 7% of the total workforce, according to previous reporting by The Herald.
