BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The Port of Bellingham Board of Commissioners voted to expand their number of commissioners on Tuesday night.

In the 2-1 vote, the Port’s commission discussed the benefits and drawbacks of putting forward the matter to the voters during the November election.

Bobby Briscoe voted no, saying that there needed to be another public comment period before they could vote.

“The question in my mind is ‘is this the right time for the commission to bring this forward?’ We’re under monetary constraints,” Briscoe said. “I mean I think there’s a lot of things that haven’t been vetted yet that need to be talked about, and I’m not opposed to five commissioners if that’s what the people want to do.”

Carly James, challenger to Ken Bell’s district two seat, said she heard from constituents that they overwhelmingly wanted more commissioners.

In order to put the matter on the November ballot, Port Attorney Holly Stafford said they would need to vote yes at this meeting.

Adding two commissioners would require a second general election following the first one, which would put their timeline into the end of 2027 if they had voted no.

Bell, an advocate for the expansion, said that communication was difficult if they could only speak at the monthly meetings.

“I can’t tell you how many times it’s been like being on an island where you legally cannot speak to anyone except the Executive Director or the staff,” he said. “If you’re not aligned with the Executive Director or the staff, then your avenue for communicating to the other commissioners that something needs to change is limited. You literally find yourself finding way to communicate to a commissioner without going to the commissioner.”

Voters in the western portion of Whatcom County will be able to vote on the decision in November.