Election: Neighborhood activist challenges Ward 4 Bellingham City Council member
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Whatcom County Elections 2025
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First-term Ward 4 City Council member Skip Williams is being challenged for re-election by Kerri Burnside, a neighborhood activist.
Ward 4 generally encompasses eastside Bellingham neighborhoods, including Whatcom Falls and Silver Beach.
The City Council makes laws, appoints members of advisory committees and controls the purse through its budget authority.
All City Council races are nonpartisan, but the two major parties usually endorse candidates. Williams has support from several local Democratic Party elected officials and Burnside has the endorsement of two local Democratic Party organizations.
All registered voters in Bellingham can vote in this race, regardless of ward. Ballots were mailed to registered voters on Wednesday and must be postmarked or placed in a drop box by 8 p.m. on Nov. 4 in Washington’s all-mail election.
Kerri Burnside
Burnside is a renter advocate and president of the Silver Beach Neighborhood Association. She is a member of the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee, the Housing Advisory Committee of Whatcom County and serves as an organizer with the Bellingham Tenants Union.
A former Intalco employee, she is also a former firefighter/EMT.
“I bring a wealth of experience in process improvement, policy advocacy, and community building — skills that are essential for making city government more effective and responsive,” Burnside said at her website.
In an Aug. 27 election forum hosted by the Bellingham City Club, Burnside touted her business experience and said she has a philosophy of empowering others.
“As the president of my neighborhood association, I have revitalized the organization and ensured that my neighbors have a voice in shaping our future,” Burnside said in the online voter guide.
At her campaign website, Burnside lists the sole endorsement of the 40th and 42nd district Democrats. She is also endorsed by the Sierra Club and Whatcom Environmental Voters, Planned Parenthood, the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Washington Housing Alliance and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. She lists the backing of several unions, including the United Food and Commercial Workers 3000, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 191 and the Laborers 292.
She raised $21,647 for her election campaign through Oct. 17, according to reports filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission. About $12,000 of that came from individual contributions and $2,250 from party sources.
Skip Williams
Williams, a former teacher and union official, was elected to the Ward 4 council seat in 2021 and sworn in as the panel’s first Black man.
Before his election to the City Council, Williams taught music at elementary and secondary schools in the Bellingham district. He was a representative for the school unions UniServe and the Washington Education Association.
He has served in leadership positions on nonprofit boards including the Pacific Northwest Jazz Alliance, the Pipeline Safety Trust, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services, City Club of Bellingham, Northwest Youth Services and the Mount Baker Theatre.
“During my first term on city council, we worked alongside the community to reestablish public safety, recreate downtown vibrancy, protect our city’s environment, and promote equity and inclusion across our increasingly diverse community. However, there is more work to be done, and I will continue to work collaboratively and compassionately to address challenges,” Williams said in his statement in the online voter guide.
In an Aug. 27 election forum hosted by the Bellingham City Club, Williams said he thinks that recent policies enacted at the state and local level are moving toward development of housing in a range of forms for varied income levels. That includes working with Whatcom County officials on a regional approach, he said.
“We’re in the process of taking on those issues, changing our zoning requirements and other regulations that we can that will hopefully encourage the development of all housing units and forms in our city,” WIlliams said.
According to his campaign website, Williams is supported by the Bellingham/Whatcom Firefighters Local 106, the Riveters Collective, the Whatcom Association of Realtors, the Western States Carpenters and Washington Bikes. Among community leaders, he is endorsed by Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund, his City Council colleagues Dan Hammill, Jace Cotton and Hollie Ruthman, Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu and Sheriff Donnell Tanksley, along with state legislators Sen. Sharon Shewmake and Reps. Alex Ramel, Alicia Rule and Joe Timmons — all Whatcom County Democrats.
He raised $29,651 for his re-election campaign through Oct. 17, according to reports filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission. About $21,000 of that total came from individual contributions. Williams lists $1,200 in donations from unions, $2,000 from political action committees and $3,000 from businesses.
This story was originally published October 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
