Dear Whatcom County and Bellingham City Leaders, This email serves as a follow-up to my November 21 letter (included below), which has yet to receive any response. The deafening silence on these critical issues is deeply troubling, especially as winter deepens and the urgency to protect our community’s most vulnerable residents grows. My earlier letter highlighted the need to raise the winter weather shelter operating threshold to 40°F and to end the harmful practice of encampment sweeps during cold weather. These are not abstract concerns—they are matters of life and death for hundreds of individuals in our community. The lack of engagement from city and county leadership on these issues is both disheartening and unacceptable. Critical Concerns 1. The Human Cost: The planned removal of 75–100 individuals from the Bakerview encampment in January, without adequate shelter alternatives or long-term housing solutions, is cruel and counterproductive. Displacing individuals during the […]
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Bellingham and Whatcom Leaders – Raise Shelter Threshold & End Harmful Sweeps
To: mayorsoffice@cob.org <mayorsoffice@cob.org>, ccmail@cob.org <ccmail@cob.org>, hestone@cob.org <hestone@cob.org>, hahuthman@cob.org <hahuthman@cob.org>, dchammill@cob.org <dchammill@cob.org>, ehwilliams@cob.org <ehwilliams@cob.org>, laanderson@cob.org <laanderson@cob.org>, mlilliquist@cob.org <mlilliquist@cob.org>, Council <council@co.whatcom.wa.us>, CFrazey@co.whatcom.wa.us <CFrazey@co.whatcom.wa.us>, kgallowa@co.whatcom.wa.us <kgallowa@co.whatcom.wa.us>, bbuchana@co.whatcom.wa.us <bbuchana@co.whatcom.wa.us>, tdonovan@co.whatcom.wa.us <tdonovan@co.whatcom.wa.us>, tbyrd@co.whatcom.wa.us <tbyrd@co.whatcom.wa.us>, kkershne@co.whatcom.wa.us <kkershne@co.whatcom.wa.us>, belenbaa@co.whatcom.wa.us <belenbaa@co.whatcom.wa.us>, DTanksle@co.whatcom.wa.us <DTanksle@co.whatcom.wa.us>, ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us <ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us>, jcotton@cob.org <jcotton@cob.org>Subject: Raise Shelter Threshold & End Harmful Sweeps Dear Whatcom County and Bellingham City Leaders, I am writing to implore Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham governments to work together to raise the winter weather shelter operating threshold to 40°F, including wind chill, whichever is lower. I also urge you to end the counterproductive practice of sweeping homeless encampments during cold weather and to prioritize evidence-based solutions to address the fentanyl crisis. These interconnected issues require compassion, collaboration, and long-term planning—not punitive measures that worsen the challenges faced by our community. The Risks of the Current Shelter Threshold The current shelter threshold of 32°F does not account for the compounded dangers […]
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