On November 27, 2007 Dan Pike was sworn in as the 20th Mayor of Bellingham after living and working in and around Bellingham for 25 years. Mayor Pike’s administration is committed to fostering an open, collaborative government while focusing on key issues such as waterfront redevelopment, Lake Whatcom water quality, permitting, environmental protection and neighborhoods.
Mayor Pike is a graduate of Western Washington University's Huxley College (BA 1994) and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government (MPA 1998). He also worked for ten years in the seafood industry as a line worker, dock manager, and fisherman.
Mayor Pike started his career in public service immediately after college as an assistant Transportation Planner for the Whatcom Council of Governments, as a growth management planner for the City of Everson, and then as a project manager for the state Department of Transportation. He returned to state government after earning his Master’s degree to manage the "FAST" Corridor project, a $500 million series of freight mobility projects between Everett and Tacoma.
From 2002 until he was sworn in as Mayor Pike was Transportation Director at the Skagit Council of Governments, where he was responsible for coordinating complex projects with widely-varied stakeholders. Among his many achievements in this role is establishing the Whatcom-Skagit Intercounty Connector bus link, a project that has benefitted the Bellingham community and many others. Mayor Pike has served on Bellingham School District citizen advisory committees and is involved with numerous other activities with his two elementary-school-aged children.
