We’re welcoming a new year and with it our weekly summary of what’s happening in your City government. We’ll use this weekly email to share updates, news bits, special events, construction impacts, and more.
Join our team: Like so many organizations locally and across the country, our City is experiencing staffing shortages. We have over 150 vacant positions as we start the new year. This includes vacancies left when employees resigned or retired, and new positions created as part of the 2023-2024 biennial budget. We offer competitive pay and benefits for all levels of experience and education and opportunities to contribute to our community in meaningful ways. We can’t recruit for all our vacancies all at once, so we post new job announcements in small batches each week. See cob.org/jobs for current postings and check back regularly!
MLK Day events: Honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by joining in events hosted by the City and various regional partners. Opportunities include a January 14 Day of Service volunteer work party (space limited) and a January 16 special event at WWU that includes a free breakfast (RSVP requested) and commemoration featuring keynote speaker LaTosha Brown. Details and registration information for both events available on the City website. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, January 16, 2023. City offices will be closed in observance of the holiday.
Clean, drain & dry your boats: 2022 was a great year for protecting local lakes from aquatic invasive species. Thank you to all our boaters, residents and partners for doing their part to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species. Together, we launched 14,305 invasive-free boats! Check out our short video recapping these successes.
Hazardous conditions on private property: Concerns are being expressed by community members about a tent encampment on privately owned property on Deemer Road, and rightfully so. We share concerns about the serious public health and safety hazards on this property, the impacts to property owners and businesses nearby affected by it, and the health and wellbeing of people living in these conditions. We continue to take the actions legally available to us to address the hazards on this private property, most recently taking legal action to engage the property owner and ensure the property is cleaned up and the environmental damage repaired. Read our court filing (Complaint for Warrant of Abatement of Public Nuisance and for Injunctive Relief), which includes a complete description of the property and the hazards that are present.
ICYMI – City news in your snail mail: The Fall 2022 issue of our twice-a-year newsletter was delivered to all Bellingham mailboxes late last year. In it, Mayor Seth Fleetwood describes our many actions to address public safety needs, and we offer winter weather safety tips, updates on planning for pedestrians, cyclists and our urban forest, and more. If you missed it in your mailbox, read it on our website.
By the Numbers
Lifesaving services: The Bellingham Fire Department responded to 22,899 calls for service in 2022; 17,422 were medical responses with the remainder fire and other service calls. See extensive data about this work on the Fire Department Data Dashboard. The department responds to fire and emergency medical services calls within Bellingham city limits, Fire District 8, and neighboring fire districts, as well as calls for advanced life support paramedic services county-wide.
Appreciation
Thank you, BPD: Monday, January 9, was Law Enforcement Appreciation Day across the country. We are proud of our team of highly trained, capable, compassionate law enforcement professionals and wish to share our deepest appreciation for them and their essential work in our community. See them in action.
