Thank you, Barbara. I have missed very few planning commission meetings over the years, and I always appreciated your advocacy and voice for those who are often not represented. I believe the planning commission should represent different viewpoints often shaped by lived experience.  Before being elected to Council, I was on the planning commission. I know how much  time and effort It takes to learn the content and be ready to contribute. Have no doubt – you did contribute and I for one appreciated it. Thank you for all of your work and service for our community. 

Thank you for your support Lisa. 

Barbara, you are a victim of our behind the scenes politics. Yes, even Bellingham has back room deals and conversations. You were obviously thrown under the proverbial political bus. Besides yourself, the residents of Bellingham also suffered the loss of a supremely educated and experienced EXPERT in fair and accessible housing. So now what ? More overpriced apartments, lack of parking, lack of provisions for the disabled, our seniors, our families and our recovering from homelessness population ? Too many people say they want to solve the problem and equitable and accessible housing in Bellingham. But look around. I don't see the progress. Yet.

Workforce housing ! Rent associated with AMI statistics ! Transitional housing ! NOW !

This is distressing news, Barbara. At a time when our democracy is so battered at the national level, we need to keep it in tact locally! I am, to my embarrassment, not familiar with your work, but the point that a vote should have taken place would not change based on my preference for the outcome. 

You raise another important point that needs to be discussed much more often, i. e.the need to be transparent and give timely, honest feedback in all areas of our lives. An incalculable amount of damage is done when people hold gossipy, purposely manipulating or cowardly "letting off steam" conversations about one who is absent to the hear the criticism or complaints. 

This government has been afraid of the COB staff for as long as I've lived here. The staff are basically a mafia paid with our tax dollars. Anyone that stands up to them does not last in office for very long. Just look at what is going on with fiber. We have an existing network that was described as robust by the former public works director. If allowed Open Access to it my volunteer group would be hooking up low-income individuals and communities to it right now for free. Open Access is the system that Mount Vernon uses for its public fiber by the way. But instead we got this. https://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/using-public-records-act-to-hide-information/
Hell, the libraries even refused free external WAPs (wireless access points) because they were worried about pissing off the establishment. These free, we were going to donate them, $300 a piece WAPs would have provided extended access to the COB public fiber via the library, and hopefully park, sites but the directors are just too afraid of Public Works and the IT Department to ruffle any feathers. 
Your issue is an extension of a problem I noticed years ago. The COB council only allows 3 minutes for public commentary. Citizens cannot extend a speakers time like they can in the county and you can't really even hold anyone accountable when you speak. They hate us and don't want to hear from us, but it must be what we want because we keep reelecting the same losers. Even if you're an expert you aren't allowed to speak in most "special" meetings. Who demanded this? Mostly the staff like the public works director and our mayor and council don't want to hear from us either, so they comply. 
A council member should NOT be allowed to make a decision that effects the public without an explanation. Yet they do it all of the time. They meet with private fiber providers and big telecom all of the time, go their their corporate broadband parties (described to me as hooker and blow parties by people that have attended) and then deny us access to the resources we've already paid for. The council is corrupt, the mayor is afraid to stand up to them and they are all afraid to stand up to the staff because politicians that do don't last long in office here. In  short, they have all forgotten that they work for us and we are way past due for holding them accountable. They are also impossibly lazy and generally dumb.
As and aside, Burnside's plan won't work. Is it better than our current situation? Sure, but any plan with variables in it will be manipulated by the power elite to keep housing prices high. It's what they want. There are no Republicans or Democrats. There are wealthy special interests that own our government and work against the public interest. That's where we're at. It's oligarchy and fascism.
Oh, and one other note to "pick you up." They mayor and council appointed a 30 year public works veteran that was good friends with the last 2 directors they had to fire for corruption. The new director plans on doing things in exactly the same way as the last two. We need to stop letting the major parties dictate who we get to elect. They're all a disgrace.
They show us all of the time that they hate the poor. Which is most of us now in this economy. And they do next to nothing to bring down the cost of necessities or give us the infrastructure we need for next generation jobs because they don't care about us. Let's write in candidates instead of letting the major parties dictate what dirtbags will be on the ballot next.   

Jon I agree with you on most points. One place that I would clarify the most is what we need to see happen on the City Council. we currently have a City Council that has a minority that consistently votes for protections of the watershed and for affordable workforce housing. Because they are a minority. We never see change. we do have a majority on the City Council the 10 to vote towards the interest of the people who have resources sacrificing, the people who do not. I think we need to keep Michael Lilliquist because he consistently fights for the low income community. he is one of the minority voices and I say instead of changing him out, let's give him support by putting new members on the City Council, who will also support that agenda. And I believe Kerri Burnside is definitely one of those people. I have been up close and watching her maneuver through these processes and come up to roadblock after roadblock after roadblock and yet she perseveres. I think Kerri is exactly what we need in order to remove those roadblocks. Kerri is incredibly knowledgeable about policy and about procedure as is Michael. And we already know that Lisa Anderson is a staunch advocate and ally of the poor. And though I don't know Leah Weinman quite as well, but what I have seen of her, I believe she would be an incredible asset to this team. If nothing else, the discussion will be quite robust, and they will challenge staff to come up with alternative ways to achieve what the community actually needs. 

In my time in this community, we've never had a City Council with people like this. Maybe it's time to give it a try.