Public Health, Safety, Justice and Equity Committee — City of Bellingham City Council

**Whatcom Racial Equity Commission: Funding, Data, and Government Partnership** The Whatcom Racial Equity Commission was established by ordinance in 2022 and began operations in 2024. Its purpose under the interlocal agreement between the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County is to gather, review, and evaluate data and make recommendations to eliminate racial inequities throughout Whatcom County. The commission has 31 voting member seats and six non-voting liaison positions; as of June 30, 2026, 24 seats were filled. Executive Director Miriam Caramoko presented a progress report covering the commission's first full operational year. She described a broad range of activity across four standing committees — policy analysis and development, community engagement and outreach, data analysis and justice, and admin and development — as well as ad hoc working groups. The commission reported approximately 50 events during the reporting period, including immigration forums attended by roughly 200 people, and active partnerships with Western Washington University's Center for Education, Equity, and Diversity, its sociology department, its Department for Human Services, and two psychology professors who joined the commission's data committee in summer 2026. The commission is developing a policy agenda encompassing 12 action areas identified by members: county participatory processes, economic mobility, education, environmental justice, healthcare and health, housing, legal systems, food security, immigration, language access, mental health and substance use. Caramoko described a multi-year timeline: a commission-approved draft by end of 2026, community engagement in 2027, and a specific action plan by 2028. The most pointed discussion involved two intersecting challenges: funding and data. On funding, Caramoko disclosed that the commission is facing a projected 50% combined cut from the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County in 2026. The 2026 operating budget is $277,000, funded by $100,000 from the City of Bellingham, $50,000 from Whatcom County, $50,000 from a community foundation, approximately $58,000 from the Mount Baker Foundation, and $20,000 from community giving. Caramoko made a direct appeal for multi-year public funding commitments, arguing that the work of addressing structural racism requires sustained, generational investment. She noted she had presented the same report to the Whatcom County Council the previous week. On data, multiple council members engaged at length with the difficulty of obtaining disaggregated racial data from county systems. Council Member Lilliquist raised the specific example of the city's housing data, noting that it is broken down by income but not by racial identity, while the commission's incarceration data analysis showed racial disparities in overall incarceration rates but could not break down offense-specific data by race because that data was unavailable. Caramoko confirmed that data was one of the commission's most significant challenges — not only because it may not be collected, but because of institutional resistance rooted in concern that transparent data disclosure would reflect poorly on agencies. A particularly striking disclosure: Caramoko recounted attending a meeting where providers and government leaders discussed jail intake procedures and found that some staff believed it was illegal to ask a person their race, while others did not, and the actual practice was to visually estimate …

**Miriam Caramoko, Executive Director, Whatcom Racial Equity Commission** Presented the commission's annual progress report. Advocated strongly for multi-year funding commitments from the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County, warned of a projected 50% funding cut, and called for more formal government partnership mechanisms. Expressed pride in the commission's accomplishments while candidly acknowledging data access challenges and the slow pace of institutional change. **Chief of Police Rebecca Mertzig, Bellingham Police Department** Presented the DFR program as a public safety tool that benefits all community members, not just law enforcement. Emphasized privacy protections, data security, transparency measures, and the program's reactive (not proactive) design. Expressed enthusiasm for the technology and its potential to reduce risk for both officers and community members. **Officer Ben Horton, Bellingham Police Department** Described as the program developer and inaugural chief pilot. Provided technical detail on pilot training (FAA Part 107 certification, DFR-specific coursework) and the operational model. Emphasized that human judgment and years of patrol experience remain central to how the tool is used. **Fire Chief Bill Hewitt, Bellingham Fire Department** Presented the ambulance rate ordinance as a necessary and coordinated countywide correction to a rate structure that has fallen behind actual transport costs. Framed the $300 increase as modest given that the last reset was in 2014 and that the current cost per transport exceeds $4,000. **Christy Miller, Administrative Services Manager, Bellingham Fire Department** Confirmed that the fire department has a robust billing assistance and forgiveness policy for patients who cannot pay, including automatic extension of hospital forgiveness arrangements. **Council Member Dan Hammill (Chair)** Facilitated discussion across all three items. Asked pointed questions about DFR dispatch coordination between WCC and Prospect, and about future interlocal agreements with a potential Regional Fire Authority. Acknowledged the WREC's …

**Miriam Caramoko, on the commission's funding challenge:** "This year essentially we're kind of slated to have a 50% cut to our funding. If things go the way they have been and that's from the city and the county combined. The work hasn't slowed down. Surely the disparities remain and so funding is a huge challenge for us." **Miriam Caramoko, on institutional resistance to data transparency:** "The fear of appearing like you're not doing a job properly from our systems is really hindering us…

- **Ambulance rates:** The committee formally approved an ordinance amending BMC Section 4.82.060 to implement a one-time rate reset of approximately $300 per transport for most service categories, correcting a structural gap that has grown since the last BMC reset in 2014. This ordinance will go to the full Council for final adoption. Once adopted, rates will continue to be adjusted annually by CPI plus one. - **DFR program status:** While no formal action was taken, the public record now includes a formal committee-level presentation establishing the program's design, scope, funding source, privacy protections, transparency mechanisms, and operational parameters. Community members and council membe…

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