Port commission expansion to go to voters

Whatcom County voters will be tasked with the decision to expand the Port of Bellingham commission from three to five candidates during the November 4 election.

The commission voted 2-1 to place the measure on ballots during their July 15 meeting, with commissioners Ken Bell and Michael Shepard in support and Bobby Briscoe opposed. The audience erupted in applause following the port’s decision, which came months after the subject was previously.

If voters approve the expansion, it’ll be the first time the port has added representation since being formed in 1920, according to port documents. The commission last put forward an expansion measure in 2012 that failed to meet the simple majority threshold for support.

If passed, the port would then need to draw up five districts by January. The districts would likely mirror Whatcom County Council districts.

The three incumbent commissioners would represent districts one, two and three. Races for the new seats would be included in the August 2026 primary if there were more than two candidates running in a district. If not, the candidates would only appear in the November 2026 election. Voters of the entire port district would elect the new commissioners.

The two new commissioners would take office as soon as election results were certified in November 2026. The candidate with the highest number of voters would serve three years, while the candidate with the second highest votes would only serve for one year. Those commissioners would be elected in odd numbered years, which is in line with the port’s current election cycle. 

In total, adding two new commissioners to the port is estimated to cost nearly $126,000 annually, with an additional $7,000 for equipment costs every four to five years. It would cost the port $60,000 per position for primary elections and $200,000 for the general election in 2026. The port didn’t have a cost estimate available for redistricting.

Expanding the commission would allow two commissioners to meet outside of port meetings, something that currently isn’t allowed under the state’s Open Public Meetings Act rules because it would create a quorum. State law would still prohibit one commissioner from speaking individually to the other commissioners about the same port business.

Bell has said he is in favor of more communication with fellow commissioners, especially after the commission’s recent decision to remove former executive director Rob Fix from his position.

Briscoe said he believed if voters wanted to expand the commission, they should bring it forward as a citizen-initiated ballot measure. He also reiterated that he believed expanding the commission would make the positions partisan. 

Bell said the positions were already partisan as port candidates need to be endorsed by a political party to run successful campaigns.

“Unfortunately, that’s the state of politics today. There is already partisanship,” Bell said. “It’s ‘do you have candidates that can break through that partisanship and represent the nonpartisan viewpoints we’d like to see on the port?’”

Bell said he believed enlarging the commission would improve communication between staff and commissioners as well as more districts would increase representation of different areas of the county, outside of Bellingham.

Briscoe also said he was worried that adding commissioners would increase costs to the port, already operating on tight budget, and increase staff time to meet with commissioners. Bell responded that budget constraints just forced the commission to decide its priorities and the executive director would now be able to meet with two commissioners at once.

“We have other ports coming to us asking us how we are doing the things we do and make things happen, which leads me to believe that I’m not sure if what we’re trying to do here is all that important at this time, whether people think they need to talk to each other,” Briscoe said.

Shepard said he believed the commission had thoroughly heard from the public over the past year and the response had been overwhelmingly in favor of expansion.

“My support for this initiative is because people have consistently asked me to do so,” Shepard said. “I feel like I’m being responsive to the public who elected me and who has consistently asked me to put this on the ballot.”

Shepard added his experience in office has shown him that expansion would create a more efficient, transparent and effective commission.