Port of Bellingham mulls commission expansion during public hearing

Port of Bellingham commissioners heard public arguments as to why they should grow membership from three to five during a meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

If commissioners agree, a vote on expansion could be held in the new year.

A dozen people spoke in favor of expanding the number of commissioners who oversee economic development, the development of maritime trade and more as part of the Port of Bellingham.

Another two people spoke against expansion, saying that it would make government bigger and could leave the door open for political influence.

The two-hour-long meeting capped off months of debate between the public and port commissioners about whether expansion should occur.

The idea of expanding the commission from three to five members isn’t new. Indeed, the conversation comes up at least annually.

While a majority of Washington’s 75 ports have three-member commissions, six have expanded since 1992, when the state law changed to grow commission membership. Most recently, Olympia voted to expand its port commission. Other expanded port commissions include Seattle, Tacoma, Orcas, Edmonds and Anacortes.

However, expansion isn’t as easy as three commissioners signing off on a resolution, endorsing the idea. Voters must approve expansion in a general election.

No resolution was introduced Tuesday night and no action was taken. After the public hearing, commission member Ken Bell noted that they were taking the information in to understand people’s views on the subject.

“Something has to got to come forward for the commission to draft before we can take any action on it,” he said.

The last time a resolution to expand the Port of Bellingham Commission was in 2012. The public vote narrowly failed in a November election 49.19% to 50.81%.

If in 2025, the port commission were to put forth a resolution, or some enterprising Whatcom County residents were successful in retrieving the number of signatures needed to put forth a ballot measure to trigger a public vote, the election could tentatively be set for November. That would coincide with two port commission seats up for election. Ken Bell and Michael Shepard’s terms finish at the end of 2025.