Female leaders new to politics eager for first year in office

In January, three women new to local politics will take leadership positions on Whatcom County Council and at the Port of Bellingham. Each has their own ideas for what they bring to the table. All agree stepping into leadership has been like standing in front of a firehose of information, but said they’re excited to learn.

“It’s pretty humbling,” said Whatcom County Council member-elect Jessica Rienstra.

Cascadia Daily News spoke with Elizabeth Boyle, Carly James and Rienstra about their hopes for their first year in office, the challenges they may face and how they view women in leadership.

These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. 

What are your priorities for the new year?

Elizabeth Boyle, Whatcom County Council District 2: I would say housing is my number one issue. So many issues are connected to housing.

I’ve been trying to better understand what’s possible in our community to expand sheltering options, tiny home villages and when I think about how could we cast a vision in our community to really address housing. Specifically, I think that it would be interesting to really think about a demographic and lean in on one demographic, and I think our youth and families is an area that I think we’d all agree that prevention and intervention would make a lot of sense, both for those individuals, but for the long term health of our community.

Carly James, Port of Bellingham District 2: I’m in this moment of thinking about stewardship. I get to take care of the port for the next four years and what I want to do in the spirit of stewardship is leave it better than I got it. These are not perhaps the most exciting things to be working on, but internal resources, organizational culture. It’s a culture shift, that’s what I’m most excited about because that’s something that touches everything the port does.

Jessica Rienstra, Whatcom County Council District 3: I think on the personal side, it’s going to be learning as much as possible. I think the campaign was really about safe, affordable and healthy communities. So certainly I want to be looking at affordability and stability in housing and food securing. With our recurring flood that we had, I think there will be a pretty large body of work there to dive into and lean into that safety aspect again. I think crisis really puts pressure on the cracks.

How do you make sure the expectations that you have meet the reality on the ground?

Boyle: I’ve been trying to start some conversations in our community around what capacity do we have for other funding, revenue — not necessarily new taxes, but what’s possible in the moment. I suspect there’s a lot of people with a generous heart that would lean in and make some difference. 

That may mean [asking] is there a combination of some government support, or some state or federal support? I unfortunately recognize that there are some limitations and perhaps some rollbacks at the federal level for housing which we can’t control at this moment, but I think we can control what’s happening here locally.

James: I’m making a newsletter, really articulating what this world is like for me and inviting people into it. I know other commissioners have started their terms wanting to do something and of course it fizzles because reality sets in. I think my excitement about doing this is going to hopefully carry me through to be able to keep doing it.

We’re going to be bringing two more commissioners on board in a year. I feel like this is an opportunity to create some resources within the Port of Bellingham to capture that institutional knowledge and carry it forward.

Jessica Rienstra and Elizabeth Boyle outside the Whatcom County Courthouse on Dec. 23. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)

Rienstra: There’s always going to be room for improvement. I do think communication is really helpful as far as what the legislative body can do and maybe there’s concerns that could be resources to other places when you get into something that’s under the city’s jurisdiction. Having clear communication on what can be so that the expectations hopefully match the ability of the work.

I think with the 25 hours a week, it will be a unique challenge, and balancing that with what I’d like to see move forward.

Tell me a bit about the learning curve. You’ve gone from candidate status to member-elect within a few weeks.

Boyle: People have been really reaching out with lots of learning opportunities and making themselves available. Jessica and I are doing a lot of shared learning opportunities and it’s a tremendous honor to get to serve our community and with that comes a lot of learning.

Todd Donovan has been great. He’s been helpful from day one. Both Todd and Tyler [Byrd] are taking with them tremendous wisdom and experience, and they both seem really open to continuing to share. I feel like the council as a whole has been really inviting.

James: Pretty much as soon as the election was turning in my favor, the work started. People started reaching out, people wanting to set up appointments. I basically went from candidate to ‘now you’re in it and it’s time to get to work.’ I’ve lost a bit of perspective, because I haven’t even had a moment to step away and look at the bigger picture.

I went to the Washington Public Ports Association convention and there was new-commissioner training. Ken [Bell] was there to introduce me to people and be a support for me during the transition. Port staff have been incredibly responsive to my questions, my needs. We’re creating an onboarding process because it’s been a long time since we’ve had a new commissioner. 

Rienstra: From my point of view, you can never know enough, like there’s just never going to be a way to be an expert in all of the areas of the county. I’m compiling resources as far as materials, but also people and experts. I think folks across the board, like Council Member Byrd, have been pretty generous with his time and information resources which has been really encouraging. 

Folks were pretty generous with their time beforehand as well. I’m really grateful for that because I think many of these folks are doing unpaid work for the community and really sharing what they’re championing. That’s invaluable.

Has there been a topic that gives you a bit of trepidation just because you might not be as familiar with it?

Boyle: I think even in the issues that I am passionate about and feel like I know about, I can imagine I’m going to realize I’m only an inch deep. I feel most comfortable with the health department and what they’re working on, but all of them, I feel like I have tremendous learning ahead. Thankfully, we have a lot of opportunities to deepen our learning.

Carly James, elected to the Port of Bellingham, stands above the waterfront on Dec. 23. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)

James: I don’t have reservations, I’m not hesitant about anything. I’m basically trying to get back to a place of feeling a little more confident. When I started the campaign, it was incredibly new. So we’ve all watched me learn something in a very public way. By the end, I don’t know if I was better, but I felt more comfortable and confident.

Over the last few weeks, I just had the reality check that I’m back at the beginning again. This isn’t a continuum of campaign work. It’s like I’m starting over. I’m most excited about getting back to that place and doing the work. 

Rienstra: There’s this pressure of making sure to get it as right as you can. So acknowledging this is something I’m new at, I definitely have some good tools in my toolbox. But, I have maybe less touch points — not necessarily trepidation — but I’m less familiar with the ferry. So learning more about the concerns from the community there.

I think in health care, it’s almost easier in a way because if you don’t know something or there is a new medication, there’s generally a meta analysis. What I’m finding in this work is creating those meta analyzes: who are the people, what’s happened in the past, what is the county doing? What have we tried that didn’t work? 

County council’s gender makeup has shifted while James is only the second female commissioner to be elected in the Port’s 100-year history. Talk about that impact.

Boyle: It’s so huge. I think there’s some beautiful balance to have more gender equity on the council and certainly whenever we have a diversity of experiences, whether it’s gender or race or economics, I think hopefully each of us are bringing something special to the council that’s unique. I think there’s something really cool about having more women on the council, just generally speaking, there’s just different ways we’ve been taught to think.

James: I was sent here by the people of Whatcom County so that gives me the backup and the support that I need to make sure my perspective is valid and needs to be heard. People want to look at the quantity of women at the port, somehow saying that it’s a place where women are welcome. My pushback on that is quantity matters but there’s this quality of what it feels like to be in that space, regardless of how many women are there. If women aren’t feeling drawn or welcome there, then that’s something I intend to work on. 

I hope that simply the representation, simply my presence there, hearing a different pitch of voice in the meetings, all of these things will start to chip away at what we’re accustomed to. 

Rienstra: I think representation really matters and that’s not always gender-based, but certainly there are a lot of consistencies in societal pressures and outcomes and goals. I think it’s going to be a really good and diverse blend of folks and I feel like we’ll add some balance to them.

Carly James will be sworn in on Tuesday, Jan. 6. Elizabeth Boyle and Jessica Rienstra will be sworn in on Monday, Jan. 12.

Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.