The Bellingham City Council Legislative Log is an online help that can be used for tracking, researching, retrieving Council business items from introduction to final disposition.
By way of background, all agenda items/topics appearing on the City Council agenda are supported by an agenda bill, which establishes a method for organizing and controlling the material included in the agenda packet. The agenda bill provides a consistent and easily understood format and serves as a guide to assure that all necessary materials are provided for Council review.
The bill is also used to track, research and retrieve information considered by the Council. Details regarding any agenda item/topic are concisely and clearly explained on the agenda bill, together with the staff recommended action, in order for the Council to make an informed decision on any issue brought forth at a Council meeting Following action by the City Council as recorded on the agenda bill, the Legislative Coordinator enters specific details from the agenda bill into the Legislative Log, including numbers which serve several purposes, primarily reference and retrieval. The shared data is accessible by all City departments and interested readers online. In general, it provides readers an overview of Council business and, in particular, a description of agenda item/topics, departments of origin, introduction/disposition dates, and, finally, assigned number(s) for accompanying resolution or ordinance adoptions (if any) used to locate information in the City Clerk vault, in addition to providing readers a more accurate historical following of the issues.
This database will track the introduction of a new agenda bill item and its passage. Descriptions of the View items are as follows:
CATEGORY Classification of the Agenda Bill.
AB # Agenda Bill Number. Assigned by the Legislative Coordinator.
CB # Council Bill Number. Assigned to an ordinance, after intiial approval and prior to final consideration at the following meeting. The Council Bill Number is noted on the face of the agenda bill under block marked Council Action.
DEPT Department abbreviation.
SUBJECT Topic of interest; basis for action.
ORD # Ordinance Number. Numbers assigned following Final Adoption of Ordinance,
Ordinances must be introduced twice.
RES # Resolution Number. Numbers assigned following Final Adoption of Resolution.
Resolutions need introduction once.
INTRO DATE Introduction Date. Council meeting date that Agenda Bill is introduced on the council Agenda.
DISP DATE Disposition Date. Meeting Date when the final action/disposition on the subject matter occurs. Agenda bill and files can then be retired to the city archives.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the Legislative Log, please feel free to contact the Bellingham Council Office at 360/676-6970 or via Internet e-mail: citycouncil@cob.org .
Thank you for your interest in City government.