Whatcom County and City of Bellingham leaders are poised to create the Whatcom Racial Equity Commission, a new advisory group that would work to remove racial disparities in the county.
But first, the County Council will give the public an opportunity to weigh in at a hearing on Oct. 11.
“When we look at data disaggregated by race, across all outcomes and opportunities — in education, health care, criminal justice, economic opportunity — we often see big gaps in treatment, experiences and health status,” said Heather Flaherty, executive director of the Chuckanut Health Foundation.
For more than a year, the foundation has been working with activists Shu-Ling Zhao and Kristina Michele Martens to develop the commission.
The foundation’s website lists some of these race-based gaps. While 46% of Whatcom children enter kindergarten ready to learn, less than 30% of Indigenous and Hispanic children are kindergarten-ready. And 3% of county residents are Indigenous, yet that group makes up 14% of the jail population.
Commission organizers also convened a focus group one year ago, to hear individual stories about inequity. A Hispanic man talked about knocking on doors in a low-income part of the north county to tell people to evacuate during the November 2021 flood. Unable to speak English and with no access to the internet, many residents had no idea they needed to leave, Zhao said.
The same man also spoke of how the community was slow to rally a search for Jose Garcia, whose vehicle was swept away by floodwaters. His body was found between Everson and Nooksack more than two days later.
“That story was particularly devastating to hear,” Zhao said.
If approved, the Racial Equity Commission would seek to uncover these types of inequities and advise Whatcom and Bellingham governments on how to remove them. Organizers anticipate the draft 2023–24 budgets for the city and county will each include $100,000 in annual funding for the commission.
Flaherty gave an example of how the commission might work to a sometimes skeptical County Council on Sept. 27.
“Similar to what the [Sexual and Domestic Violence] Commission does, they will audit the prosecutor’s office policies,” Flaherty said. “If there’s any policy that stands, that’s leading to disparate outcomes inadvertently, they support the office in changing that policy. And then we see different outcomes in the future.”
The County Council voted 5–2 on Sept. 27 to introduce an ordinance establishing the commission. A final vote is expected after the Oct. 11 hearing.
Council members Tyler Byrd and Ben Elenbaas voted against the Racial Equity Commission.
Council member Kathy Kershner made a motion to remove the word “racial” from the commission’s name, with the intent of addressing inequity more broadly. She withdrew her motion after hearing from Pamela Wheeler, a Black woman who is chief people and culture officer for the Opportunity Council.
“That totally destroys all of the work that we put forward,” Wheeler told Kershner. “It’s asking you to see us, not to dismiss us, but to invite us in as members of this community.”
Elenbaas defended Kershner’s dropped motion, saying Wheeler’s comments missed the point.
“It sure seems to me that when we’re dealing with equity and being as broad as we can be to include all groups … I think it was a good idea,” he said.
The commission got a warmer reception Monday from the Bellingham City Council, which will vote on the new organization in the coming weeks.
“This is a huge step in the right direction,” said council member Skip Williams, who last year became the first Black man elected to Bellingham’s council. “This is one more tool for us to fight the results of racist behavior and racism, at least in our neck of the woods.”
Several council members thanked Martens directly for taking the lead, along with Zhao, in coming up with a Racial Equity Commission for Whatcom County. Martens, who a year ago became the first Black woman elected to council, thanked city officials who also were instrumental in the effort.
“This was such a community lift and build, and I am honored and privileged to be a part of it,” Martens said.
