Whatcom County task force debates collaboration framework, misses quorum; members set tentative Sept. 3 and Sept. 15 meetings

Whatcom County’s Forest Resilience Task Force met online and failed to reach a quorum, but members used the session to press consultants and county staff to tighten the plan’s collaboration framework and to set tentative follow-up meetings.

The task force’s chair, Chris, who said August will be his last month with Whatcom County before moving to a role with King County, opened the meeting and confirmed the group lacked the nine members required for a quorum. "We did not hit a quorum," Chris said, adding that the group would "hit the high points and aim for a short meeting and reconvene next month."

Members spent most of the session on the plan’s draft collaboration framework and related graphics, which multiple participants said either overstate the county’s role or omit key partners. "This section ... is only focused really on Whatcom County," said a task force member who identified concerns with the plan’s narrow framing. Another member objected to a bubble graphic that they said suggested state…