In a highly unusual process, Port of Bellingham commissioners have authorized spending $100,000 for a public relations campaign to make the public like them without a word of discussion taking place about the program.
During the commission’s August 13 meeting, commissioners approved a $98,535 public relations contract between the port and Conflux Associates as part of a consent agenda. Consent agendas are typically an aggregation of regular business items that are approved by commissioners without discussion.
The commissioners approved both a three-year proposal from Conflux and a one-year contract prepared by executive director Rob Fix. When asked if commissioners ever discussed the campaign, port public affairs administrator Michael Hogan told The Northern Light on September 11, “The Port Commission did not publicly discuss the strategic communications campaign during a Port Commission meeting, nor was there any requirement to do so.” Hogan later wrote that the commission had not discussed the campaign in executive session, either.
Fix placed the contract on the consent agenda, which was approved by commission chair Ken Bell.
The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) mandates a formal bidding process for contracts between $50,000 and $200,000 unless the port has an alternative policy. Hogan explained that the port uses a Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) roster, allowing them to bypass the formal bid process for contracts under $100,000. Notably, the Conflux contract was priced just $604 under this threshold.
While informal solicitation is allowed for smaller contracts, the law requires multiple firms be considered, and the process must be documented. Hogan said Fix directly approached Conflux Associates requesting timelines and deliverables. As evidence of competition, Hogan provided an internal review draft dated January 22, 2024 from another firm, EnviroIssues, which proposed a one-year campaign at nearly half the cost of Conflux’s services.
In addition, Hogan referenced an ad run in the Bellingham Herald on June 5 that invited companies interested in providing consulting services to the port to register with the MRSC roster at any time. The ad made no reference to a public relations campaign or any specific consulting service. The Conflux proposal was given to Fix the following day.
When asked why Conflux was selected, Hogan cited the firm’s local experience and understanding of port-related issues in Whatcom County. He added Conflux owner Peter Frazier had for three decades provided consulting and design services for Fortune 100 companies, small to medium businesses and nonprofits.
According to Frazier’s LinkedIn profile, he graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in 1991 and prior to Conflux Associates, was director of communications and development at RE Sources for Sustainable Communities.
Conflux Associates was registered with the Washington Secretary of State as a corporation in 2017 with a Chuckanut Point Road residential address and lists Peter and Aimee Frazier as principals.
The contract with Conflux originally outlined a three-year engagement, with a monthly cost of $8,283. However, Fix modified this agreement to be one year, reducing the overall cost to $99,396 – just $604 short of triggering the formal bidding process. The contract allows for extensions at the port commission’s discretion, which could circumvent state bidding requirements.
RCW 53.19.020 prohibits structuring contracts to evade competitive bidding requirements, and while Hogan said the port followed the appropriate process, questions remain about the contract’s structure and the lack of documentation showing a competitive selection process.
There are penalties for failing to comply with the competitive procurement and other requirements.
The state auditor is responsible for auditing violations of RCW 53.19.020 through its regular financial and accountability audits, while the attorney general is responsible for prosecuting those violations.
While commissioners may not have been vocal about the need for public relations before they approved the Conflux contract, they have since spoken up. At the commission’s September 17 meeting, Bell told fellow commissioners he saw the need for a public forum where the port could solicit input as well as communicate to the public the port’s accomplishments.
“We could put a public meeting together that would be in a very public place, a very large event … just to basically lay down our story to the city, to the county, to the people in our community, so that we are more transparent than we’ve been in the past,” Bell said. “I think it’s really important for us to get our story out.”
While fellow commissioner Michael Shepard was in general agreement with the idea, commissioner Bobby Briscoe bristled at the idea. “I almost feel like we’re on defense here and I’m not really agreeing with a whole lot of what we’re discussing tonight. …We’ve been attacked by a couple of newspapers for doing a shitty job. We’ve hired a PR company that they’re upset about, which was the people’s request. We had a certain city counselor that told me that we needed to do a better job,” Briscoe said.
The Northern Light emailed Briscoe on September 18 asking Briscoe to elaborate on his comments, pointing out that there was no record of any discussion by commissioners of the need for a public relations campaign in any commission meeting in 2024 or 2023, which Hogan had confirmed.
The Northern Light copied its email to the other commissioners inviting them to weigh in on the subject.
To date, no commissioner has responded.
Government officials in Washington state can discuss things in private but they are not allowed to make decisions in executive sessions. They must announce why they are going into executive session.
There are a number of reasons why a governing body can convene in executive session; typically, these include potential or actual litigation, property deals or contracts, the qualification of a job applicant, performance of a government employee or complaints against an employee.
In 2023, 76.4 percent of the port’s regular commission meetings had executive sessions; 39.9 percent of total meeting time was spent in executive session. The most common reason given was potential litigation followed by performance review and land acquisition. So far in 2024, 87 percent of commission meetings have had an executive session with 41.1 percent of total meeting time spent in executive session.
In contrast, the Port of Everett has held just four executive sessions in 2024, or 36 percent of its meetings. Just 12.1 percent of total meeting time was spent in executive session. The Port of Port Townsend has held just one executive session this year lasting 21 minutes in the last 15 regular meetings.
Port of Bellingham attorney Holly Stafford told The Northern Light that “The Port has been involved in lawsuits which began after January 2023, all of which are a matter of public record.”
She did not provide any further information regarding those lawsuits.
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