City of Bellingham Proposition 2026-07: electronic signatures on city contracts (charter amendment)

Official plain English statement

This proposed Charter amendment would streamline and modernize the City's contract process to remove requirements for wet ink signatures and allow the use of electronic signatures. Currently, the Charter requires the Mayor to physically sign "all written contracts, bonds and instruments of every kind and description to which the City shall be a party" with a wet ink signature and requires the finance director to attest to the Mayor's signature and affix the city seal. These out-of-date requirements create inefficiencies in the City's contracting process and complicate the use of electronic signatures by requiring sequential signing, attestation of a prior signature, and physical attachment of the city seal. These requirements also prohibit the City from transitioning to a paperless contract process, which would improve efficiency, reduce costs, and support environmental sustainability. If adopted, this amendment would allow the Mayor to assign a designee to execute contracts in the name of the City and remove the requirement that the finance director attests to the Mayor's signature and affix the seal. The Mayor would remain responsible for ensuring that all city contracts are faithfully kept and performed.