Six months since the City of Bellingham’s executive order on fentanyl and the deteriorating downtown, city officials are promising the return of the police department’s bike unit in 2025 and a proposed study of downtown economic conditions.
In February, Mayor Kim Lund issued an executive order committing to 11 actions, including establishing a downtown public safety response office, expanding the community paramedic program and looking into increasing access to methadone and opioid treatments. Cascadia Daily News spent weeks with the program to document the unit’s work.
In a report published Thursday, Aug. 22, city officials outlined those completed actions, as well as metrics to show progress: the city boasted investing over $1 million in downtown services and amenities this year, removing 28 tons of garbage, removing 44 graffiti tags and issuing 53 drug citations. Public works staff also spent 3,000 hours cleaning downtown streets and police conducted 91 “emphasis patrols.”
The report says the city has seen progress on overdoses due to these actions: the city received 0.4 overdose calls per day in July, down from 1.1 calls per day in March.
Whatcom County numbers seem to reflect this trend: in March, EMS received 114 calls for suspected overdoses. Aside from a spike to 156 in May, numbers since have been slightly lower with 100 in June and 90 in July.
“I took action in February because downtown is vital to our city. It’s the heart of our community – an economic engine and the center of daily life and community celebrations,” Lund said in a news release. “The feedback we’ve received since making focused changes downtown has been incredibly positive. People can feel a difference, and we are hearing that they are excited and re-energized to be downtown and experience all it has to offer.”
The city is now promising further action and the development of a vision for downtown, called Downtown Forward.
Included in those plans are a return of a police bike unit downtown to patrol 7 days a week during the day, a unit that hasn’t been operating due to police department officer shortages. The city will also continue the “activation and beautification grant program” to install murals downtown, renovate the Central Library and Lee Memorial Park, and likely conduct a study of economic conditions downtown to “eliminate vacancies and encourage redevelopment or underutilized buildings.”
This winter, Bellingham Municipal Court is expecting to launch a Community Court to reduce low-level crimes like shoplifting, according to the report.
“Our last downtown plan was adopted 10 years ago, during very different times. We now face new realities — the effects of the opioid crisis, a lack of affordable housing, fewer workers downtown, and ongoing recovery from the pandemic,” Lund said in the news release.
The city is inviting community input at a Downtown Forward Celebration on September 19 at the Chuckanut Bay Distillery and is seeking feedback through Engage Bellingham.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
