Several other staff people here who are volunteering their time.

Huge thank you to those staff people.

And we also have a couple members of senior leadership.

So Linda Abe and Bianca Siegel are also here with us tonight.

And I think I saw some planning commissioners and maybe a human service commissioner in the room.

Any of you are border commission members, you just want to raise your hand or give a little wave.

Thanks for joining us.

So for today's agenda, we're going to be setting some context on some commonly defined terms that are used in affordable housing, as well as talking about some of the affordable housing work that the city has already done.

And then the main event for tonight is talking about the upcoming work in 2025.

Welcome everyone.

Thank you for being here and taking the time to engage with our city and with the work we do here.

Your voice matters, and we are super glad to hear from you.

With that, City Claire, are you ready for the roll call?

Yes.

Mayor Melakutian?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Here.

Councilmember Breyer.

Here.

Councilmember Bargava.

Here.

Councilmember Newman House.

Here.

Councilmember Sumadoria.

And Councilmember Robinson is joining us remotely.

Councilmember Robinson, can you hear us?

Yes, I'm here.

Thank you.

Great.

Deputy Mayor Hamilton, would you please lead us in the flag salute?

Please rise if you're able.

I plug the leaders to the United States.

One agent.

So I want to begin tonight by acknowledging the fear, uncertainty, and concern.

Many people in our community are feeling right now in light of recent federal immigration activities in our region and across the country.

Federal immigration enforcement actions are outside the control of local cities.

The city of Bellevue does not participate in those activities, and our local police officers do not have a role in federal civil immigration enforcement.

What is our responsibility is to uphold our community's values of integrity, respect, and care in the work we do locally.

Bellevue remains committed to being a welcoming and safe city, one that serves and supports all who call this community home, including the many immigrants and refugees who contribute so much to our city.

We have shared resources on our website at BelleviewWA.gov, including a message from our police chief that explains how the Belleview Police Department operates in relation to federal activities.

And now we have two uh proclamation.

The first one is international Holocaust Remembrance that Councilmember Newenhause are going to read.

And then we have Regina Friedland here to receive that.

Councilman Newenhaus, please.

So whereas January 27th marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration in extermination camp, and to honor the memory of those who perished.

And whereas January 27, 2026 marks 81 years since the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau, serving as a solemn reminder of the passage of time and the enduring responsibility to remember and to bear witness.

And whereas on this day and every day, we honor the memory of the six million Jews who were systematically murdered during the Holocaust, along with millions of other innocent victims, including people with disabilities, political dissidents, and others targeted for persecution.

And whereas anti-Semitism is defined as a certain perception of Jews that may be expressed as hatred towards Jews, including rhetorical and physical acts directed at Jews at Jewish or non-Jewish individuals, their property, Jewish community institutions, and religious facilities.

And whereas anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise and represent an assault on the humanity of all people, underscoring the urgent need to remember the millions of men and women and children who were killed because of their beliefs and because of their heritage.

And to reaffirm our collective commitment to those to the atrocities, that the atrocities and the genocide of the Holocaust are never repeated.

Now, therefore, I, Jared Newenhouse, on behalf of Mo Malikutian, Mayor Bellevue Washington and the City Council to hereby proclaim January 27th, 2026 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Bellevue, and I encourage all residents to join in solemn remembrance of the victims, educate themselves about the Holocaust, and work together to confront and eradicate anti-Semitism in all its forms.

Thank you so much.

Regina, please.

On behalf of American Jewish Committee, AJC, we want to thank Mayor Malakutian, Bellevue City Council, and especially call out Councilmember Jared Newenhouse for your proclamation and recognizing the importance of marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Today we remember six million Jews and the millions of others Hitler deemed worthy of elimination, murdered by the Nazi regime.

We honor their lives, their stories, and their humanity, and we reaffirm that the Holocaust was not inevitable, nor was it an accident of history.

It was the result of choices, choices to dehumanize, to remain silent, and to allow hatred to harden into policy.

Commemorations like this matter because remembrance is not only about the past, it's a commitment to vigilance in the present, to recognizing warning signs, to pushing back against anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred, and to ensure that no community is ever again isolated or targeted without a response.

On behalf of our Jewish community, thank you for standing with survivors, their descendants, and with the truth.

Thank you for remembering, and thank you for helping ensure that never again remains a promise and not nearly a phrase.

Thank you all.

Thank you so much.

And if you stay around after the second one, we can take pictures.

So come to the to the table if you can.

And also we have our amazing former Councilmember Lee, who is also going to join us.

Please join to the table if you want right now, and then she can read the proclamation.

Great to see you, sir.

Welcome back.

Councilmember Sumataverio, please.

Whereas Bellevue is home to a vibrant, dynamic community where more than 15% of the residents identify as being Chinese descent, enriching the culture fabric of our city.

And whereas the Chinese American community reflects a rich tapestry of histories, perspectives, and experiences, each contributing to the preservation of cultural identity while strengthening civic life as Americans of Chinese descent.

And whereas in May 2023, Governor J.

Ansley signed the legislation formally recognizing January as a time to honor the invaluable contribution of Chinese Americans and Americans of Chinese descent to the history and heritage of Washington state.

And whereas Washington is the only state to designate a month-long commandation honoring its Chinese American community, reflecting a commitment to its inclusion, visibility, and recognition.

And whereas in reflecting on the experiences of Chinese Americans, it is important to acknowledge the challenges they have faced, including historic mistreatment, exclusion.

We're also celebrating their resilience, achievements, enduring contributions to the society.

And whereas Bellevue's strength lies its diversity.

And the city proudly embraces the rich cultural heritage and the vital presence of Chinese Americans, whose legacy continues to shape Bellevue's past, present, and future.

Now, therefore, I, Claire Summa Dioria, on behalf of Mo Melanchou Tian, Mayor of Bellevue, Washington, and the City Council here do hereby proclaim January 2026 as Americans of Chinese Descent History Month in Bellevue and encourage all residents to take this time to reflect upon and recelebrate the profound impact, accomplishments, and cultural contributions of generations of Chinese Americans, including recent immigrants, as we honor the enduring influence in shaping our community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Smudaveria.

Welcome back.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council members.

It's really a pleasure to be here to attend this meeting.

I'm honored, and also as a private Bellevue residents and citizens.

It's indeed my pleasure to here be with my uh my cohorts and to receive this proclamation.

I just want to take the time to introduce my three young people that will make some comments.

But I want to add one more thing.

I'm so spoiled when you come here with your welcome.

I want to be sure that I do not abuse it.

So I hope that uh we can continue and uh as you you know I mentioned, it's a really great city, and I missed it a lot.

But at the same time, I think as a private citizen and residents, you know, I would intend to uh stay active and be uh productive to help everyone in the city.

So thank you very much.

So go ahead, starting with you, right?

Good evening, Mayor and City Council members.

My name is Gideon.

My name is Gordon.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today.

In school, I have learned about Black History Month, and we also celebrated the contributions of Hispanic Americans.

Those lessons were important and meaningful.

But notice that American of Chinese Descent History Month had never been formally taught or introduced in my classes.

That's why I am very glad and grateful that the city of Bellevue is recognizing American and Chinese descent.

Recognizing American of Chinese Descent History Month is very important.

It is just as important as celebrating the history of any other ethnic group.

Chinese Americans have helped build this country in many ways, from working on railroads to starting businesses, serving in the military, and contributing to science or in education.

Which helps us feel seen and proud of who we are.

I hope that Bellevue will continue to have this proclamation every year so more people can learn about Chinese Americans and celebrate together with us.

Will we share stories?

Our community becomes stronger and more united.

Thank you for supporting diversity, education, and inclusion in our city.

I re I really appreciate this opportunity to speak today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are you going to even mayor and council members?

My name is Yulan Wang, and I'm a sophomore from Interlect High School.

And thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today.

Bellevue is a community with many cultures.

Chinese Americans have played an important role in the country from building the transcontinental railroad to enduring labor exploitation and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

These contributions and experiences are a part of American history, yet they are often overlooked for these reasons.

The city's decision to have an issue and Chinese Americ uh Americans of Chinese Descent History Month proclamation is especially meaningful.

I hope Bellview will continue this proclamation every year.

So this recognition becomes a lasting part of our city's civic tradition.

As a second generation immigrant, I have seen how limited education about the history of Americans of Chinese descent can weaken young people's sense of identity.

Without learning this history, students often struggle to understand their background and feel connected with their cultural roots.

Outside the Chinese American community, awareness is often limited, and Chinese culture is sometimes reduced to stereotypes and rather than deeper understanding.

Recognizing Chinese American History Month helps address this.

It allows students to feel pride in their identities and encourages all residents to learn from one another.

By continuing this proclamation each year, Bellevue sets an example of inclusivity and leadership.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you so much.

And now we are going to come down and uh take a picture with you all the time.

That was great.

Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

Move to approve the agenda.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Everyone said aye.

Great.

Oral communication, city clerk, are there any speakers signed up to provide oral communications?

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

This evening there are nine speakers on our pre-registered list.

So before I start calling names, I'll go over a few of the rules that the council has in place.

So the total time of oral communications is for a period of no more than 30 minutes, and all topics must relate to City of Bellevue government.

People speaking to items on tonight's agenda will be called first, and then if time remains, people speaking to items not on tonight's agenda will be called.

The presiding officer is authorized in both of those categories to give preference to those who have not spoken to council within the last 60 days, or who will be speaking on topics that will come in front of the council within the next 60 days.

Each speaker is allowed to speak up to three minutes, and only three speakers are allowed to speak to any one side of a particular topic.

And one final reminder that in compliance with Washington state campaign laws regarding the use of public facilities during elections, no speaker may support or oppose a ballot measure or support or oppose a candidate for election, and that includes one's own campaign.

If anyone begins speaking on those topics during this portion of our agenda, you'll be asked to stop.

There is a special provision for an item later on our agenda tonight where the council will consider taking a collective position on a ballot measure.

So we will go through that uh when we get to that on our agenda.

So with that, I'll call our first speaker, who's Eric Fourner.

Welcome.

Councilman.

Please see the yeah.

Thank you very much for uh having me tonight.

Um my name is Eric Forner.

I'm here representing uh OMA construction, the low bidder on the Mountain to Sound Greenway Trail Project, bid number two five zero nine five.

Um the agenda for the council tonight, agenda item number 26-148 is a motion to reject all of the bid protests and to award the that contract to Johansson Construction, who was the fourth lowest bidder.

Um I'm here today to urge the city council to reject this motion and award the contract to the low bidder OMA.

Um this would save the city more than uh one million two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.

The difference between OMA's low bid and Johansson's bid.

Um the city's rejection of OMA's OMA's bid is based exclusively on a failure to include one single item of information on a document called the bidder questionnaire, which is a piece of the bid proposal that needed to be submitted.

Um this is a document used to report information on every single proposal received by the bidder um from a subcontractor.

So essentially, if the bidding company receives a proposal from a subcontractor, they have to report that and information regarding that subcontractor.

Here, OMA and it's bid reported all the proposals it received from its subcontractors, uh, but one subcontractor refused to provide its gross receipts, a category of information that needs to be provided there.

Um may therefore put into the gross receipts field in the bidder questionnaire that the subcontractor would not provide this information.

Within its rejection of OMA's bid and subsequent rejection of its uh bid uh bid uh protest, the city relied exclusively on this missing piece of information.

Uh, despite the fact that OMA provided email confirmation that the subcontractor refused to provide this information prior to the bid.

Um did not even utilize this subcontractor in its proposal, so it had no value, and that OMA proved that it did not gain any advantage over other bidders, the standard for determining whether a bid irregularity is material.

Um rejecting a bid on this uh basis creates a troublesome precedent for the bidders to either be truthful and report the information that's received or fabricate information to us to get their bid in.

Um in the limited time that I have left, the city has also reinforced its position because of this project's federal funding.

Um the equal opportunity specialist from the Secretary from the Office of the Secretary of Transportation for the Federal Government has uh provided guidance that the federal requirements are no longer going to be enforced because of executive orders from the current administration.

Thank you very much, Councilman.

Our next speaker is Arlen Nordhorn.

Welcome.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Firstly, Councilman Louhaus.

My wife and I are both first generation.

Immigrant family.

And our family was directly impacted by what she went to say.

I was amazed.

Thank you.

Okay.

My name is Arlen Nordhorn.

This is my wife Frida.

She also happens to be my caregiver.

And we are residents of Bellevue and Lake Mount Woods since 1990.

And I would like to discuss with you tonight the city of Bellevue establishing some assistance programs for 100% disabled veterans.

And I hear some talk today about our country, our city.

And a lot of states have programs or cities for 100% disabled veterans.

Now, I don't know if any of you people are veterans, but in the scheme of things, there is a veteran, there's a disabled veteran, and then there's a long process of disability where you become 100% disabled veteran.

People who are impaired immensely.

And if you ever been to the V hospital in Seattle, you see tens of thousands of people a day that go through the system.

And Bellevue is perhaps one of the most affluent cities in the country, if not in a state.

And I would I talked to some people about utility relief or whatever relief the city has control over that they would consider establishing some programs for guys like me now.

I'm 87 and I'm 100% disabled fit.

And it means a lot.

And I don't think there are a lot of us in the city, because I don't think they can live here.

They can't afford to live here.

Yeah.

And I would say that you son of your staff, you know her.

She's been so supportive of talking to me.

Anyhow, if someone would like to have us work with his staff or work with the city, I could get uh veterans of foreign wars or disabled veterans associations to work with the city on establishing all kinds of programs just because you're disabled 100%.

That's the only qualification you would need.

Anyhow, thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Thank you so much for being here and sharing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker honor, this is Michael Huffman.

Hello, my name is uh Michael Huffman, and I'm here to talk to you about my experiences with housing first and Plymouth Crossing, as well as supportive housing in general.

I was homeless for eight years living in Redmond before I was offered a studio apartment at Plymouth Crossing back in November of 2023.

I spent much of my work life in the tech industry, starting with AT ⁇ T Wireless in Bothell in the early 90s and moving on after 11 years of watching the company grow, yet devolve when a software project to improve their call centers failed badly.

After seeing that software fail, I conducted my own investigation, found that software had been shelled by many companies, uh causing millions in losses.

I presented my findings to our managers and C-suite executives where it was disregarded.

That led to nearly half our employees on stress-related leave due to the software in a five-part series in the Seattle Times.

Eventually, the company was sold to Singular after I left.

As the years went by, I worked for more tech companies in the area as a contractor, which resulted in short-term employment and instability in housing and quality of life.

After years of this, I finally ended up homeless in April of 2014.

During that time, I still worked in IT contracting, bouncing from company to company and seeing multiple failures.

Now, Microsoft recently spent seven billion on a new campus, then turned around and laid off many of the employees who would work on that campus.

We need to face the fact that we are creating a society of growing unhoused with few who can afford rent and live with real day-to-day fears of losing what underpaid job they have that will likely cause them to become unhoused as I did.

As it becomes worse, there will be an increase in persons like me who worked in tech, worked in the white collar world and worked hard and worked competently, yet still ended up homeless through no fault of their own.

I understand that institutions like Discovery Institute and Jonathan Chow and the website Factoria's Gone to Hell will try to place the blame on the poor and disenfranchised.

What they failed to acknowledge is that society for decades now has been encouraged to dismiss those persons while never providing a solution to the problem.

The information from those organizations comes from a group that thrives on division and denigrating others, never on the common good.

Please be sure to do your own research and be aware that the time to kick the can down the road has come to an end.

We cannot do that any longer.

Society and the future of the country is at stake.

Just briefly a quote from uh the Bible for I was hungry and you gave me food.

I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

A stranger and you welcomed me from Matthew 2535.

Finally, Jonathan Cho and Discovery Institute would have you believe we are chaos goblins.

Persons who tear down shelters, steal personal property of the homeless, are the true get are the true chaos goblins.

And I guess at this point, if Jonathan's here, he should take a bow for what he's done.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Michael, for sharing.

Thank you.

Our next speaker on the list is Lisa Pierce.

Hello, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council members.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

My name is Lisa, and I'm at Bowie resident in the Eastgate neighborhood.

I've lived at the Plymouth Crossing for two years.

You may remember me from my public comment on January 6th council meeting, where you all discussed an update on the Eastgate Affordable Housing Campus.

After I shared my comment, I listened to the data that was presented.

I remember thinking that the data was good and showed that Plymouth Crossing was engaging with the Bellevue community, connecting with neighbors, and seeing better outcomes.

I was feeling good and excited to be engaging with all of you.

But in the conversation after those good things were not talked about.

The great things that are happening at Plymouth were not celebrated.

Only negative perceptions and ideas about me and my neighbors were shared.

I can't control the negativity being shared online or the misinformation being spread about our building.

But I can remind you that at Plymouth I've been given a foundation to restart and support my life.

It was my choice to speak earlier this month, and I wanted to come speak to all of you again today alongside Michael.

I've been given a gift, and I will spend the rest of my life supporting helping my home and my neighbors.

Like I said last time, I'm optimistic, and our efforts will be a gateway to us, building our wish with you.

Today I'm asking you that you match our efforts.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lisa.

Thank you.

Our next speaker on the list is Paul Rood.

Thank you, Council.

Noise pollution is the top quality of life issue in Bellevue.

The seven of you are the only ones that can affect noise regulation and enforcement.

Your instrument appears to be a resolution and a red line of the noise regs.

So I've prepared a resolution and a red line for you.

I will post them along with the noise data that I prepared for you earlier on written communication site tomorrow.

Updates to the BCC 9.18 include a ban on some gas-powered lawn equipment, including leaf blowers, seasonal ban on all leaf blowers.

Limit noise hours in residential zoning to 60 hours per week.

Council, when you act on noise reduction, hopefully next Tuesday.

Several things.

You must get input from outside these four walls.

City staff do not have expertise on the physiological sociological or medical impacts of excessive noise on childhood development or adult health, nor do they have technical expertise on noise quantification and reduction.

In particular, this can't be done in development services due to the obvious conflict of interest.

May we please have ordinances that limit noise without concessions to contractor profit margin, business size, do-it-yourselfers, moonlighters, or low-income people.

Excessive noise imposed into our homes is offensive no matter the source.

Lastly, I'd like you to make yourselves aware of the number of noise complaints coming in.

I understand that noise complaints directed to council members, I bypassed directly to staff where they evaporate.

I will attach a link to a list of cities that have already acted to restrict or ban gas-powered lawn equipment due to noise pollution and air pollution.

This includes Seattle, Portland, and many cities in California.

Some will argue that noise limitations make yard care more costly.

Rightfully so.

I'm a do-it-yourselfer and have maintained my home for 35 years within the 60 hours per week.

This is a very reasonable limitation, council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker on our list is Liz McKinney.

Hi, my name is Liz.

I'm a pastry cook, a contracted dining worker at Meta Cafes in Spring District.

Last July, me and a majority of my coworkers publicly informed the company of our decision to form a union.

I have spoken about this with many of you before.

You already know that Meta has been pushing back against our efforts to unionize, and that they have refused to acknowledge a majority decision.

You have been sympathetic when I have spoken about the harsh conditions we work through, about the layoffs that affected many of my co-workers, and about the struggle to pay rent as we face rising costs of living.

But despite your sympathy, you have refused to act.

We asked you to sign a letter, both voicing your support for dining workers and all but one of you refused.

We asked you to host a public forum, and we were denied.

And we invited each of you to join our picket protesting the anti-union campaign at Meta, and you looked the other way.

Right now, I have co-workers afraid to drive to work because they know they could be stopped by ice.

And if ice shows up at our workplace, we have no guarantee for Meta that they would be denied entry.

These are protections won by unionized dining workers at Microsoft, and these are the protections that we are also fighting to win.

But your continued inaction as we fight for the rights of our immigrant co-workers makes me angry.

My co-workers have the right to come to work every day without fear.

And you have a duty to protect the workers of Bellevue, and you have fallen short.

The fight for American democracy is happening in Congress and it's happening in Minnesota, and it's happening right here in your backyard.

And if you are willing to stand up for the immigrants in your community, reach out to Meta and tell them that you stand with their contracted dining workers.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Liz.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Adam Coke.

Hi.

My name is Adam.

I work as a line cook for Lavish Roots in the Meta Kitchens, also in Spring District.

And every day at work is an upward battle.

We have tons of broken equipment, all of which are causing major safety hazards.

We have hood vents for our ovens and our grills that are not properly filtering out pollutants, and we've had one worker who is hospitalized because of that, and we have many others who are having carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms.

And in my kitchen, whenever somebody's using the grill, the entire back of house is all smoked out.

And so we're forced to work constantly in a smoke-filled room, just breathing in the grill smoke.

And Lavish continues to punish us for calling out sick.

If we don't have sick time, they don't accept any doctor's notes.

They give us points, and if you get too many points, you get fired.

So our coworkers are simply getting fired for being sick, which is just not okay.

These working editions are a small fraction of why we have been openly organizing our union since July.

And Lavish has continued pushing back and making people scared to speak out, with a large portion of that being our immigrant co-workers.

Winning this contract will allow us to fight for the same immigration rights that uh Microsoft already has.

We're asking that Meta does the same, and we need your support to see that through.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Adam.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Juliet Ducher.

Hello, uh, my name is Juliet Dutcher.

I also work for Meta.

I uh lavish, I've been with the company for seven years uh cooking.

Um sorry, I'm here to ask for your help again.

Uh I was here a couple months ago talking to a few of you.

And me and my co-workers are at a point of our trying to fight for the union, and many of us are working with lots of pain with our hands, our backs, our knees, even our mouths, meaning then we can't afford the dentist.

For me to get one hand with my carpal tunnel, it costs me $2,000 out of my own pocket.

It's either me doing that and I don't pay rent and I get homeless.

And that goes for many of us that can't afford our insurance through lavish that we are, and it's it's not okay for this to happen.

For me to put my wife on my insurance, my insurance goes for $4,000 to 1200, 12,000 fifty dollars a paycheck.

There's no way in hell I can do that.

I apologize.

That some are not appreciative of what we do.

We bust our asses for that.

We bust our backs, we broke our hands, we hurt our knees.

We deserve to have insurance that we can afford and get the proper surgeries that it won't make us have to have decisions to live or be homeless.

All we're doing is asking for you guys to help us and fight this for us in the families that we have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Juliette.

Thank you.

The final speaker on our pre-registered list is Maria Hudson.

Hi.

I was in California with my daughter at my boyfriend's house.

He is an officer of the court, civil litigation for more than 30 years.

We had to do a 5150 equivalent to an ITA.

While my daughter was in a California hospital, she disclosed to me that she was sexually assaulted when she had been ITA'd here at three separate mental health hospitals.

Fairfax, Smokey Point, and Nabos.

When I went to Kirkland to have my daughter report this, and I had the text, Sergeant Quiggle or Lieutenant Quiggle was questioning my credibility as a reporting parent of a vulnerable adult because of vice detective Alexander Slesser and all of your other officers who quite frankly have smeared me as a parent when I report sexual assault of my daughter.

So I'm here today for numerous reasons.

You're going to do a criminal investigation into your officers, and I'll tell you why.

Because sex trafficking law in America is black, the 13th Amendment.

If you pull the records, Congress discussed stopping sexual slavery, okay?

And involuntary servitude.

And the school to prison pipeline is a verb, and your officers are nouns.

They have infected reports when Brianna Chloe, Xavier and Gerard, and other perpetrators, strangers or sexual assaults occur at hospitals.

They sit atop the King County special assault unit to collaborate, cooperate, and to facilitate one interview with all the jurisdictions.

John Walsh was not called angry because he told the police that his child was taken or murdered.

The white people that got killed by state violence in Minneapolis were immediately smeared.

You're going to criminally investigate the kids for cash scheme that has been occurring between Bellevue Police Department and Bellevue School District because they have made false reports against me on all manner.

False support reports of child abuse, false reports of vulnerable adult abuse, even while I was in California with the licensed attorney of the court.

It is not okay for your officers to impede criminal investigations because Quiggle was clearly stating to me that your officers told them that I was not credible.

I'm not going to be subject to not being able to protect my daughter because of the criminal acts of the case.

Thank you.

You need to pass the criminal investigation.

Ms.

Hudson, your time is expired.

With that, I will do one final call out for oral communications.

We have space for probably one more speaker.

If you would like to speak, please raise your hand.

No.

Okay.

Yep.

Miss Burser, thank you.

I should be in Africa.

I should be celebrating our marriage and getting our children together, but the political turmoil in Tanzania has prevented them printing out the visa I have already paid for, and Qatar won't let me on the airplane without a piece of paper in my hand.

Even though normally if you're a U.S.

citizen, you get your visa when you land in Tanzania.

But that has nothing to do other than to let you know that I'm here tonight because I can be.

Uh at the corner of Saudi 16th and 156th, the I I think they may be Cambodian immigrants, have been paying for gravel on your right-of-way to keep that so people can park things there.

I think it's a responsibility of Bellevue to pay for that gravel and distribute it.

And I just learned about this uh a couple nights ago when my neighbor came up and he should have come with me tonight.

Uh I I don't know, he's busy, he does check things or something.

I asked for his mother to come, but he said his mother's English wasn't good enough.

And so I didn't bring her with me tonight.

I do want to compliment the um traffic light people.

Many of the things that I brought to their attention, they have corrected, and I have been very happy recently.

Most of the lights are working a lot better than they were.

And most of the potholes are here are filled.

I still have trouble remembering once I see one to note where it is and call.

But I think that's something that you can get the police to do.

They drive over these streets, they notice one, they have a computer, and when they take their coffee break, they could let street maintenance know.

And it wouldn't cost anything.

Um I'm so happy to drive around Bellevue.

I you know, Jamaica is a pothole capital of the world.

And if it's not paved in Tanzania or Kenya, you need a Range Rover or a Volvo.

Um so thank you again for being available to me when I need somebody.

I'm still housing homeless people.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That is the end of oral communications for tonight.

I'll turn it back to you, Mayor.

Thank you, Charmaine.

Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I move to approve the consent calendar.

It's been moved and seconded.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Everyone says aye, no opposed.

The motion passes.

Uh we have an ordinance.

City manager, please introduce the Bellevue school district proposition.

Thank you, Mayor Malkutin, uh, Deputy Mayor and Council members.

So tonight you will be considering whether to take a position on two Bellevue School District levies that are appearing on the February 10th special election.

And because this is a special process, um, I would like to turn the microphone over to Charmaine Arradon, our city clerk, to outline the process for you to make this consideration.

Charmaine.

Thank you.

City Manager, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council Members.

So a very quick reminder that at your January 6th meeting, you did hear an informational briefing from the Bellevue School District about those two levies.

The city manager just mentioned.

And at that meeting, the council did direct that this item be placed on tonight's agenda to allow the council the opportunity to take a collective position uh on the levies via resolution.

So normally that prohibition that I talked about earlier before uh oral communications each meeting that does not apply in this instance.

Uh, there is a safe harbor clause in the state law that allows the council to express a collective position on a ballot measure if there are certain uh things that have been met.

And those requirements are that the agenda contains the title and exact language and number of the ballot proposition, and that members of the council and the public are offered an equal opportunity to express opposing views.

So both of those requirements have been met this evening, and as part of the equal opportunity for the pro and con campaigns uh to provide comments.

We've invited both of the campaigns to present up to 10 minutes this evening about the levy.

And then as of earlier this evening, uh only the pro campaign has indicated they would be presenting, which is who I'm going to invite to the table here shortly.

And after the presentation is complete, the floor will be open to members of the public to provide comment.

Um with that, I will introduce Mendy Carroll, who is the co-treasurer of the Bellevue Quality Schools, and she will be providing the pro presentation this evening.

So Mindy, I'll turn it over to you.

Thank you.

Um, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council members.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak tonight.

Um my husband and I moved to Bellevue 22 years ago for his tech job.

We stretched our budget to buy a house in Bellevue because we wanted a Bellevue education for our daughters.

The quality of Bellevue schools is the cornerstone of a beneficial cycle.

It attracts hardworking families of all income levels.

Employers cluster here to benefit from this talent pool, and the resulting city revenue supports the beautiful parks, well-maintained utilities, and excellent schools that make Bellevue such a wonderful place to live.

Under Washington law, school levies expire every four years unless voters reapprove them.

The levies on our ballot in February replace levies approved in 2022, expiring at the end of 2026.

This is a oh that is this is what happens when you uh get the assignment at 9 a.m.

Um this is a true replacement um renewal levy.

The estimated levy rate for the next four years is exactly the same as the 2026 rate and actually lower than the 2023 rate.

Um, the educational programs and operation operations levy funds the high quality instruction and student services that Bellevue is known for, going well beyond the basic levels funded by the state.

It gives us art and music in our elementary schools, nurses, counselors, mental health, and safety and security staff taking care of our kids.

Athletics and other after-school activities, uh robust world language curriculum for students K through 12, preparing our students for the global economy.

A key feature that our levy funds in Bellevue Schools is the seven period day in the medal and high schools.

This seventh period makes it possible for students to meet graduation requirements while still developing their personal strengths and interests.

It allows students access to strong arts programs to CTE education that gives students a head start on careers in building trades, culinary arts, auto mechanic work, nursing, and more, and robust STEM curriculum that prepares students for college programs and engineering, medicine, and other science and technology programs.

This levy also funds needed services that the state requires but does not fully fund.

It gives our students safe transportation to and from school.

It provides enhanced special education and advanced learning services so that students at every level benefit from Bellevue's educational quality standards.

Your February ballot also includes proposition two, the technology and capital projects levy.

This gives our students access to safe and comfortable buildings and technology supports.

A computer and tablet for every student, STEM learning and new technology and software that keeps our students learning and updated as the world as technology progresses.

Technology supports such as cybersecurity teams that keep our students safe in the digital world.

This levy also funds large and small improvements to our school buildings, basic repairs and maintenance, safety updates to our buildings, energy conservation updates that pay off in savings over the next several years.

All of these educational benefits require substantially more funding than the state provides.

The current levies provide 24% of the 25-26 Bellevue School District budget.

Losing the leven revenue, losing the levy revenue would mean devastating cuts to our educational programs and facilities.

Fortunately, Bellevue's vibrant economy allows our city to support our schools at one of the lowest property tax rates in the county and even the state.

I'm not sure how legible that slide is, but you can see that here Bellevue the Green Line is really one of the lowest rates in the county.

Only three other cities with lower rates.

In fact, while total levy collections rise annually, the actual levy rate applied to taxpayers has trended downwards for over a decade.

Strong schools are the foundation of a strong community.

I urge the city council to approve a resolution supporting propositions one and two, renewing Bellevue School District levies.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Carroll, for that presentation.

I did not receive any response from the con campaign to the invitation to present this evening.

However, I do want to provide the opportunity for you to identify yourself if you're in the audience tonight.

Okay.

Comment is limited to 15 minutes total for those in support and 15 minutes total for those in opposition.

So with that, I'll call the pre-registered list in order of sign up.

And the first speaker is Philip Block.

Welcome.

Thank you, Counsel, for considering this, and I appreciate the chance to present to you.

I'm Phil Block, a Bellevue School District Parent and the school board, elected school board director and current president of the Bellevue School Board.

Why support Proposition 1 to renew funding for enrichment experiences for Bellevue school students?

For students and families, the funding supports critical components of our schools, things many people consider to be basic education that are not funded by other sources.

This includes sports, the seventh period class that allows secondary students to explore and discover their passions and tutorial where students can gain support from their classroom teachers or catch up on missed assignments.

Sports, theater, visual arts, and music are all funded by this levy.

Things that help students find joy and learn grit.

College counselors, mental health, and college level courses are also supported.

For our community, Bellevue Schools provide a top-ranked public education.

This attracts residents and businesses to Bellevue.

Our schools provide critical components of our community, a place where cultures can come together and education is celebrated.

Our students are the future, and ensuring that they receive the tools and support to be successful.

Today helps ensure that they will be the leaders of tomorrow.

This levy is a renewal of the community's trust and investment of our schools, something we take seriously as we manage the system.

I've seen firsthand the positive impact that Bellevue schools have on students.

My oldest student graduated last year as a merit scholar as a national merit scholar with more than 50 college credits and was awarded college scholarships and had their choice of colleges.

Like many students, ultimately, they found their community and their school theater program, a program that wouldn't exist without this funding support.

Please join me in supporting Prop One to invest in teachers and programs that make these schools and students succeed.

Proposition two supports technology and capital projects at Bellevue Schools.

Our community has made tremendous investments in our schools.

These levy funds help maintain those investments by replacing critical infrastructure like elevators that were damaged by power outages and windstorms, or heating boilers that have reached the end of their design lives.

Technology has become a critical component of learning into the 21st century.

Bellevue schools invest in laptops for students so that they can access teacher notes, curriculum materials, and complete assignments.

Families trust Bellevue schools with their children.

We take that seriously, and to keep children safe, we have safety specialists and invest in safety improvements and preparedness.

Please join me in renewing support for the infrastructure and technology that keeps our schools exceptional and safe, places for students to learn by supporting proposition one.

Thank you for supporting these investments that support our community.

Thank you.

Hello and good evening.

My name is Maggie Wong, and I'm here to speak in favor of the Bellevue School District propositions one and two.

Like everyone in the room, I wear many hats each day.

I'm a resident of Bellevue of 18 years, a mom of students at Jingmei Elementary and Tilcombe Middle Schools, president of the Bellevue Mandarin Dual Language PTSA, and a residential real estate broker.

Just last week, the general membership of the Bellevue Mandarin Dual Language PTSA voted emphatically in favor of supporting the two BSD 405 school levies.

We are a school of commun, a school community built on the commitment to raising world citizens.

Language and the arts are the vehicles by which we strive to do so.

I grew up in the public school model where kids go to their neighborhood schools.

But when the chance came to be part of the Mandarin Dual Language School Choice Program, my family jumped at the opportunity.

It is paid off in innumerable ways, but my favorite moments are the ones where my kids can easily communicate with their Mandarin speaking grandfather when English is a struggle.

A known truth in the real estate market is that sellers set a price, buyers decide their tolerance, and the market is determined by consensus.

Age and size of home, lot size, corresponding property taxes, state of disrepair or updates.

All of these factors have an impact.

There are other more intangible impressions that also influence the local housing market, the neighborhood, the schools, and even the road noise.

Buyers with children check for quality of schools and the ability to tailor the school experience for their kids.

Some of this is by research and some is by reputation.

A well-regarded school district absolutely unequivocally has an impact on not only the desirability of a home in the present day, but also on the ability of that home to maintain its value long term.

Investing in schools is a further investment in homes and neighborhoods.

Thank you for your time and consideration of these important levies.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Steve Miller.

Welcome.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council Members.

My name is Steve Miller.

And I want to thank you for the service you provide our community.

You have a large array of issues on your plate.

I've heard a number of them tonight.

But the issue of public education has got to be one of the paramount matters.

And the cooperation that this city council has provided with the school district over decades has helped make this community what it is.

I also served 13 years on the Bellevue College Board.

I've been involved in public education in our community for a long time.

The support of the community is essential to our students, to our families, to our children.

The district does what it can, but it's limited.

The numbers you saw and the numbers that will be on the ballot are not the numbers that will be collected.

It'll be a smaller number because of lids that the state puts on the district collections.

But the alternative of losing a levy.

When I first got on the school board, my first year was 1984, and the February Bellevue levies failed, all three measures.

First time in 20 years.

Let's not talk about niceties of seven period day.

But taking 24% of your operating budget would be devastating.

This community supports the schools.

Again, thank you for your time for the opportunity and hopefully the support of passage of the levy in two weeks.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That is the end of the pre-registered list for those in support of the levy.

I'd do one final call out to see if there is anyone additional who would like to speak.

That goes for those online as well.

Okay, I do not see any additional hands.

Uh and there were no speakers pre-registered in opposition to the levy, but also I will do a call out in case anyone is joining us who would like to speak in opposition to the levy.

Okay, Mayor, I will turn it back to you so that the council can discuss this resolution and whether to take action.

Thank you so much.

Do we have a motion?

I move to adopt resolution 10579 supporting Bellevue School District proposition number one and proposition number two.

Second.

It's been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Councilman New and House.

Any discussion.

There is no discussion.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

I think the motion passes seven zero.

And I just need to say that Bellevue School District plays a critical role in supporting the students, families, and long-term health of our city.

Uh strong school support, strong neighborhoods, strong war forks, strong future.

So we are very happy for our partnership with Bellevue School District and very happy about the motion.

Thank you so much.

I think on that note, we deserve a break.

Great.

Yeah, absolutely.

I just wanted to say I grew up in public school in Dallas, Texas, where our textbooks were falling apart, but our stadium was 57 million dollars.

And so, you know, I was learning to build shrines to the Dallas Cowboys, but my fiance, who's Bellevue uh raised and educated, was learning how to code at age nine years old.

So I wanted to say uh thank you for the incredible work that you're doing, and that it is such a stark contrast coming from other places.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh see you all in great.

The first one is uh human service needs update.

Uh, City Manager, please.

Thank you.

Mr.

Mayor, thank you, Mayor.

Council members.

We have um here tonight with us our Parks and Community Services Commission Chair, Angela Than, and our director of Parks and Community Services, uh Michael Shiasaki, Tony Esparza, our assistant director, and Ruth Blah is in the audience.

Um she's our human services manager.

They're here tonight to share some information and data from the 2025 uh needs update and also the the commission's recommendation for funding to the council.

And before they begin, I would like to take a moment to recognize Mr.

Shiasaki.

This is his last presentation to the council.

We have been so fortunate to have Michael in this role for the last six years, and he is retiring soon.

He's brought passion for parks and community services, um, incredible stewardship, excellent public service, and that leaves a legacy both for our community and for his colleagues here.

Um he's a leader that brings inspiration both within the department and also has been a champion for our one city approach to leadership.

And we so greatly appreciate it.

I want to thank Michael and of course wish him the best in his future endeavors.

And with that, I will turn it over to him to begin the presentation.

Thank you so much, City Manager Carlson, and I'll just say it is uh pleasure to be here this evening.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and members of the city council.

So uh tonight we bring for your consideration the preliminary human services funding recommendations for the 2026-27 biennium.

Um, and we uh we ask you to consider directing staff to prepare a resolution approving the Human Services Commission's percentage allocation recommendations and a contingency plan for 2027-28.

So tonight we will cover two related important topics.

So, first, the human services needs update, and that portion of the presentation is uh information only.

As I think you know, every two years, the Parks and Community Services Department conducts an extensive assessment of the human services needs and issues affecting Bellevue's most vulnerable residents.

This is uh responsive to the role in the comp and the comprehensive plan as educators and planners.

And this data supports decisions across the city and within the community.

In addition, tonight, uh, we are bringing recommendations from the Human Services Commission on how to allocate human services funding uh for the next biennium.

Your direction will guide the commission as they uh review funding applications, and it will uh streamline uh the entire funding process, provide transparency, uh equity, and efficiency.

I now hand off the presentation to assistant director Tony Esparza.

Thank you so much, Director Shiasaki, and thank you for the privilege of serving under your leadership for the past six years.

Um, we will start um as indicated with data from the human services needs update.

So, first of all, um I'll talk to you about how we gathered data.

Um, this data was gathered um in early 2025 when we were at a turning point and still remain there, one of tremendous growth, but also widening and uh widening inequities and human services needs.

Um, more than 700 individuals contributed to this report.

We gather data via surveys, subject matter expert interviews, focus groups, and also provider surveys.

We focus on extensive outreach to make sure that we engage those that most need the human services system and to engage voices that frequently are not included.

We tabled at community events at Crossroads Mall.

We also distributed the survey via the school district and community partners.

The data in this report is truly representative of the needs and voice of Bellevue residents.

79% of the survey respondents live in Bellevue, and all 62 providers surveyed serve Bellevue residents and are contracted with us for those services.

So we are hearing that voice.

In addition, the survey respondents came closer this year to meeting the demographics of those who use human services.

More than 20% of respondents identified as Hispanic or Latino, 24% as Asian, 15% of survey respondents indicated they are disabled, and 12% identify as LGBTQIA 2S plus.

We're going to talk in a little bit about the data we heard on service needs, but first want to talk about some cross-cutting themes we heard across every single area of need.

The first of those are culture and language barriers, and how our residents are struggling to get access to services that meet their needs in this way.

In addition, other access barriers such as transportation, long wait lists, or a digital divide.

We also heard across all areas about provider strain, how funding cuts are coming while need is rising, and clearly those two things do not pair well, making it difficult to recruit and retain staff and keep services at the level even currently in existence.

We also heard from both providers and residents about stigma and mistrust, and that stigma can come from within our own community.

It can also come from an originating community, and just a growing sense across the community of an uh concern about who can be trusted with a vulnerable part of your life.

The challenges are in connect interconnected, and addressing any one issue in isolation will not be enough.

This is a statistic we track over time.

We ask our residents about their ability to access services when they need them.

These are actually two separate statistics that we track.

Our residents indicated that approximately 54% of respondents could get access to services when they needed them.

Separately, we ask if they can get access to services that meet their culture and language need, and again, about 54% indicated that they were able.

While the statistic is the same, it is tracked separately.

But what this means at the end of the day is that we have Bellevue residents in need of help who want help and can't get it.

These are the nine areas of need that we will be talking about, that the data pointed to this evening will go in depth on each one.

But full data is in the report.

Clearly, we are going to stay at a pretty high level, and the full report can be found on the City of Bellevue website.

To start with, the three top areas that we heard about, and we heard that they are critical to sustain the actual physical safety and the lives of our residents are financial assistance, food and basic needs, and shelter.

And so, in summary, it's keeping a roof over people's heads and keeping them fed, and that a time of critical need, rising need, and funding cuts that a focus on the actual safety and life of our residents is paramount.

The first area that we'll focus on this evening is shelter.

Homelessness is on the rise across Keene County and Bellevue.

In addition, chronic homelessness has grown.

It now represents more than half of all cases.

And this is a change from a time when someone might enter homelessness and anticipate to be able to regain stability.

It is now taking years to gain access to housing and to exit homelessness.

In addition, Bellevue itself conducted a three-day count of people living in their vehicles and found approximately 123 people here in Bellevue, and approximately 40% of those were children.

The numbers are growing across the county, 16,800 people in a given year are experiencing homelessness.

And here localized to Bellevue, the number of children experiencing homelessness is also at a very high rate.

Most recent school year was 651 students, which was more than three times as many as in 21-22.

And it's important that we understand the rippling impacts of homelessness or being unsheltered.

We know that homelessness equals trauma and instability in all areas of life, not just an impact on your housing status.

And so, for example, for children in Bellevue, while we know that graduation rates are relatively high at 94%, for those experiencing homelessness, graduation rates are only at 51%, showing the impact when a child experiences homelessness.

And we also know that data demonstrates disproportionate impact for those of our community members who are black, Hispanic, and Indigenous, along with those who are disabilities have disabilities.

We're also going to talk about housing stability and heard about this from our community.

We know that stable housing is a foundational element, and that when individuals or families lose their stable housing, every other part of their well-being is at risk.

In Bellevue, 32% of residents are cost burdened.

This means that they're spending more than 30% of their income on their housing, which frequently means that if something comes up unexpected, they're tipped into homelessness.

But perhaps more important to note, even than that, is that this is a higher impact on lower income households.

So 74% of those earning 0 to 50% AMI and 64% of those earning 51 to 80%.

And again, we see disproportionate impact.

Black and our Hispanic families earn wages that are 40 to 45% lower than the city's median income.

The demographics of our city are changing, and so is the level of need.

We are now at a point that 23.8% of our households are low or moderate income, which is an indicator of households that may be need and in need of support in order to maintain stability.

That also is an indicator of who can ever actually come to live in Bellevue, and then once they attain the ability to live in Bellevue, who can stay?

And if they are not able to stay, that of course affects our diversity in the community, not just economic diversity, but also other areas of diversity.

And in support of housing stability and other areas of stability, the need for financial assistance was a huge area of need.

Some examples of contributing factors is that public benefits do not adequately address household costs.

TANF is an income subsidy, but for a household of three, the max is $195 a month, which we know will not go very far to maintain your stability.

And we know that our cost of living is substantially higher than other parts of the region.

We heard from our residents that they are facing the difficult decision of where to make cuts.

We heard of residents contemplating whether to pay their rent, or should they pay for their groceries, or should they buy hygiene products for their children, should they pay for child care, or should they seek out mental health support?

And this burden does fall disproportionately on some members of our community more than others.

We are also hearing about growing food insecurity.

We know that access to daily essentials are crucial for stability and dignity of every resident.

Students qualifying for food assistance went from approximately one in five students two years ago to approximately one in four students in the Bellevue School District now.

And in our region, most people would not think that one in four of our students may be in need of access to more healthy and stable food supply.

The number of households qualifying for what is called SNAP benefits has gone up, but the benefits themselves have been cut and reduced.

And so this is one of many federal cuts to the human services infrastructure that are impacting our residents and increasing the level of community need.

In addition, again, from a disproportionate impact perspective, our immigrant families report even more difficulty accessing food that meets their cultural need.

So we saw an increase.

But we also heard from our residents that recent changes in immigration policy have led to immigrant women remaining in dangerous situations due to a fear of losing their visa or residency status if they leave their abusive partner.

Caring for our children is a priority in the city of Bellevue.

We heard from our residents about a concern for access to child care and early learning.

Infant care costs can average $3,400 per month for an infant child in Bellevue.

And that might mean that the cost of child care for a lower moderate income household would exceed the income they would make if they went to work.

This leaves families with a difficult situation of not being able to afford child care or perhaps facing leaving their children with unlicensed care providers, which could lead to safety concerns.

It may also lead to some households being forced to leave their children unattended at a younger age than what they would like or what is recommended.

Behavioral health is inclusive of both mental health and substance use disorder.

From a statewide healthy youth survey, we understand that 30% of our students report feeling so sad or hopeless that they've stopped doing their usual activities.

And 15% of our students have considered suicide.

Yet average therapy weight lists stretch six months or more.

The number of residents in our area experiencing an overdose remains high, yet access to treatment remains difficult, and the costs for access to treatment have actually increased.

So all of this means that even when people want help for their mental health or to address a substance use disorder, they can't access it.

And this can trap our residents in a cycle of harm, which can lead to other impacts on our systems, such as homelessness or involvement with the criminal justice system.

We also heard from our residents and providers about the medical and dental needs in our community.

Over 11% of adults in King County delayed medical care simply due to cost.

Specific to Bellevue, 20% of our Bellevue residents who are on a system called Apple Health did not have an annual visit with their physician.

We also know that costs can lead to children having untreated dental needs, and that untreated dental conditions can lead to preventable ER visits, which are all the more costly.

In addition, while our medical providers have historically been a place of safety, changes in federal administration policy have led to our community our immigrant and refugee community members indicating that they're avoiding medical care out of fear.

And this, of course, will only lead to increased medical needs and costs over time.

They told us that they frequently get lost in the process.

With immigrant and refugee communities making up 40% or more of the Bellevue population, we know that that represents a need for support in navigation, support in accessing legal services.

These are community members who add to our community's strength and brilliance, but the demand for services to support them has rapidly escalated.

In addition, case managers indicate that they are stretched incredibly thin, risking service continuity gaps.

And finally, we also heard loud and clear from Bellevue residents and providers that equity and safety are not side issues.

They're core issues to our community's health and well-being.

Residents of color, LGBTQIA, immigrant and disabled residents still face systemic barriers.

Hate crimes are known to be underreported.

That being said, there was 112 hate crime incidents reported recently in King County in a given year, and 15 of those were in Bellevue, and they disproportionately impacted our Black, LGBTQIA, and immigrant community members.

In addition, disabled residents also face barriers across all systems.

223 of the housing discrimination complaints in a recent year were related to disability and barred access to housing.

As Bellevue celebrates our diversity and our strength, it's imperative that we build out a system that makes our community supportive and sustainable for our diverse residents.

Our human services providers across the continuum are working to increase their responsiveness to identify unique needs and make adjustments in time.

And this is called being culturally responsive.

In addition, you'll see in the needs update that residents have identified the need for services where the entire framework is built with their needs in mind, where they have had a voice and their needs were centered when designing programs and services.

And this is referred to as culturally and linguistically specific services.

Expanding access to culturally and linguistically specific services benefits the entire community.

All of our agencies that we contract with in Bellevue are required to serve all residents.

So investing in culturally and linguistically specific programs does not decrease access for anyone.

Rather, it may increase access for residents whose culture and language needs are not being adequately met, and thereby expands the safety net for all Bellevue residents.

And if I could share a specific example, I myself have a hearing disability.

And when I seek out support for my disability, I can go to someone who cares deeply about my needs and has offered me support.

But frequently, when that person does not have a hearing disability themselves, they offer me solutions, and unknowingly, those solutions don't actually work for my disability.

When I've received support from someone who also has a hearing disability, they know the nuance of my needs.

They know what support will meet my needs, and thus I'm able to walk away feeling heard and actually have my needs addressed.

Again, much more data in the report itself, and we're going to transition into the Human Services Commission's recommendations because that data contributed directly to the recommendations that they will be forming.

And this is where we will be seeking your direction this evening.

We're going to be talking about three different funding sources that were considered in these recommendations, and I will go through each of them just to make sure that we explain what those funding sources entail.

The first of those is the city's Human Services Fund.

This is general fund dollars.

We estimate for 2027 that that will be approximately 4.8 million dollars, and these dollars can be used for any type of human service within the human services continuum.

There's not a restriction to a particular type of service.

The next is funding from our housing stability program.

This is a council adopted 0.1% sales and use tax.

Tonight we will specifically be talking about what the council adopted within the framework that 15% of those funds be set aside for behavioral health and housing related services specifically.

We'll also be talking about funding from the community development block grant.

This is has always been a fairly predictable source of funding.

There is some uncertainty around this funding at this time, but we are including it in our considerations in anticipation of the possibility of funding in the future.

Tonight we'll be talking about specifically 15% of that funding that HUD allows to be used for their term as public service, which essentially means human services.

The Commission and staff are guided by your policy.

So there is an entire human services chapter in the comprehensive plan.

I would tell you that the council should feel very proud of that.

Many jurisdictions do not have a human services chapter in their comprehensive plan, and it provides extensive guidance and commitment to those in our community.

Also, strategic target areas.

This body of work falls under the Thriving People and Communities Strategic Target Area.

You've also adopted council priorities, two which touch on this work, one related to equitable access to human services, and one related to homelessness.

In 2024, you also adopted a strategic plan that provides guidance on this investment, and most recently the Diversity Advantage Plan, and of course the data from the Human Services Needs Update.

And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Chair Fan from the Human Services Commission to discuss the Commission's recommendations.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council members.

My name is Angela Fan, and I serve as the chair of the Bellevue Human Services Commission.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here.

I want to start by naming that this was difficult, and I say that intentionally.

These decisions affect real people, real families, and the organizations that show up for them every day.

Knowing this mattered even more as we considered the very real impacts of federal funding cuts and the growing uncertainty for service providers.

We ultimately centered our recommendations on three critical needs housing and shelter, financial assistance, and food access.

These are not abstract categories.

They are the difference between stability and crisis for many residents.

Together, these areas now account for just over half of the available funding, reflecting modest but intentional shifts.

We also recommend a modest increase in support for fostering well-being, recognizing that barriers related to language access, cultural responsiveness, and stigma consistently surfaced in their needs updates.

These issues cut across systems and directly affect whether residents can even access the help that exists.

To make these adjustments, other areas saw slight decreases.

Importantly, the commission was also very intentional about maintaining overall funding stability.

In a time of federal cuts and uncertainty, minimizing disruption for service providers felt like a responsibility, not a convenience.

This is for the allocations.

So this is also a commission recommendation that I'll invite uh Chair Fan to chime in on.

In addition to the percentage allocations for service areas, the commission also adopted two targets related to what we mentioned in the data as disproportionately impacted communities.

So these targets set an investment goal across all service areas.

Youth were a priority of the council in the last funding cycle, so the commission chose to strategically adopt a target for that area again in this cycle.

So the 23% target would represent a goal of cumulative investment of 23% of all funds into youth services.

In addition, the comprehensive plan and the human services strategic plan both name the priority of investment in culturally and linguistically specific services.

So as we consider allocations of funding, considering the demographics of need is how determinations were made.

For example, 6% of Bellevue residents, actually, I believe it's 7% now, identify as Hispanic or Latino.

Yet, due to systemic barriers within the Bellevue School District in the 24 to 25 school year, approximately 65% of students experiencing homelessness are Hispanic or Latino.

Thus the council adopted a policy in our comp plan and in our human services strategic plan to encourage invest and expand access to culturally and linguistically specific services to ensure those in need of services can access them in a way that respects the dignity and honors the strength that Bellevue's diverse individuals and families offer to the community while supporting them to achieve their self-identified goals.

In addition to the percentage allocations, the commission also adopted a contingency plan.

We recognize that we were forming our recommendations without actually having applications.

Thus, we would like the flexibility of adjusting the percent allocations by small amounts without returning to council.

Should the applications come in widely different than what we anticipate.

In addition, the commission is recommending to council that should any additional funds become available in the 27-28 biennium.

Recently, when additional funds have become available for human services, it has been allocated to specific areas of focus with the most critical needs.

In that regard, the commission recommends that any additional one-time funding be directed to the three areas of most critical need to sustain life be the priority.

Shelter, financial assistant, food basic needs.

Finally, the commission emphasized the two priority target areas with youth and cultural linguistics specific services.

Thank you to Chair Fan, and also thanks to the entire Human Services Commission for their thoughtful deliberations.

The commission followed council's guidance in making recommendations that are supported both by data and by your adopted policy.

As I mentioned, in human services, our decisions have to reflect the demographics of those in need, which may differ from the larger community.

The needs update that we spoke of tonight provide us with insight on the demographics and experiences of those who use human services in Bellevue.

You can see the emphasis supported by data on critical needs that save lives.

And you can see the emphasis also supported by data on youth and on our many community members whose diversity makes us stronger, yet who cannot access the services they need to thrive here within our community due to a lack of culturally and linguistically supportive services.

The counts uh commission's recommendations are responsive to the voice of the community and the data that we collected.

And just as a next step, once we receive your direction, staff will be publishing an RFP, including your percentage allocations, the guidance that you give us.

The commission will then undertake an extensive review process.

They focus on good stewardship of city funding and equitable access for agencies and residents.

A quick high-level summary of the process.

Our staff read the applications and create a summary for the commissioners while they are also asked to read every single application, which was more than 150 applications in the last cycle.

Information that staff highlight in a summary for them is have we funded this agency before?

If we have, have they remained in compliance with their contract?

For reference, 99% of our agencies are in compliance with their contract.

Our agencies work very hard.

We also call out for them the number of residents anticipated to be served, the cost per unit, how many service units will they provide, and are they verified as eligible to contract with the city of Bellevue based based on some fairly rigorous contracting standards?

We look for audits, their budgets, a non-discrimination policy, and if they're collaborating with other agencies.

And with that, um, we will turn it back to you all for questions.

Um we are seeking your direction this evening to prepare a resolution, approving percentage allocations and a contingency plan.

Thank you so much.

Heavy information.

Michael, thank you so much.

Honor to know you for the last two years and congratulations on your well-deserved retirement.

We wish you all the best.

We will miss you and just be happy for you.

Uh Tony, thank you so much.

Um Chair.

Angelo Fan, thank you so much for you uh for you and your whole commission uh for the time, uh, care, and seriousness that you brought to this work.

I would love to start with Councilmember Robinson.

She is uh I don't know where even she is, but um hopefully she's awake.

Councilman Robinson, if you are awake and you're here, please go ahead.

I'm very awake.

I have to leave my camera off just for better connectivity, so I apologize.

But um, I want to start by thanking Chair Fan for and the entire commission for the amazing work that they do.

I'm glad that you were all able to kind of describe the process because it is so involved and it's so important for our community, and I want to thank you and thank Tony Esparza for all the work that she does, and Michael Shiosaki, thank you for your service to our city.

We're gonna miss you very much.

Um, in looking at the uh recommendations, let me see if I can say this.

Um the services percentage funding recommendations.

Um I have a little problem with the proposed statement because to me it reads as prescriptive and identity-based rather than needs and outcomes based, and it's to me actually inconsistent with our recently adopted diversity advantage plan for 2035.

Um so I'd like to kind of uh offer an alternative.

Um, and I want to say I was I want to thank our public commenter, the disabled representing disabled veterans.

That was a really powerful input.

I appreciate that.

So um I recommend that the priority statement and the percentage at the bottom of that chart read uh 26% target for programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized communities, and we can include what we put in our diversity advantage plan or not, um, but intending to be consistent with what we said there, which is and delivered by individuals or organizations that demonstrate meaningful engagement with the communities they serve, including through staff partnerships or governance that reflect community experience.

And um, the contingency plan, it would include 26% for youth programs, and you say 23%.

I'm wondering if you mean that.

Okay, so 23% for marginalized communities.

That would be my change to that.

Um, but otherwise uh I think it's a great recommendations.

I think it's very inclusive, represents our community, and still gives the uh human service commission that latitude to determine which marginalized communities we're going to be serving.

That's my comment.

Thank you, Councilmember Robinson.

Can you please bring where she is referring to for everyone to see if you can?

Yes, absolutely.

Uh so I thank you.

One um item the mayor, I'm sorry, that councilmember Robertson did catch is a discrepancy.

So if I could correct that.

Um, here it says that the target is 23% for youth and 26 for culturally and linguistically specific programs, and that is in line with the commission's recommendations.

Those numbers inadvertently got flipped on this slide.

It should reflect the same.

Um so I um it's so this slide is the correct one.

This is these are the correct things.

These are the correct ones.

Okay, great.

Um, and I'll allow council member Robinson to correct me.

I I think the language that the council member is offering is not printed on our slides, but is more uh definition that was adopted within the human services strategic plan by the council of um the definition of culturally and linguistically specific programs.

Councilmember, am I correct that that's the alternative language that you are offering?

Well, I'm I want that to be part of the programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized communities and delivered by individuals or organizations that demonstrate meaningful engagement with the communities they serve, including through staff partnerships or governance that reflect community experience, and that now is consistent with our diversity advantage plan.

So uh Councilmember Robinson, the original sentence that you want to be changed is from human services strategic plan uh plan language.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Great.

Originally it said programs and services that are designed for a particular linguistic or cultural community and delivered by individuals from that community.

And my recommendation is for programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized communities and delivered by individuals or organizations that demonstrate meaningful engagement with the communities they serve, including through staff partnerships or governance that reflect community experience.

Great.

I got this.

Uh Councilman Robinson.

Councilmember Sumodaverio.

I was trying to take notes, but okay, I can't go.

But well, thank you, by the way.

Thank you, Michael, for being with us, and then you know, bring so much awards to our city.

Thank you.

And we are gonna be miss you, and I'm gonna miss you because our work time was so short, but thank you for its amazing commission to come out with this really thorough um I think recommendation.

And thank you, Tony, for always showing up for the community events, especially with the youth.

That's very delightful.

She she's really great at serving cornbread and everything.

So thank you for doing that.

Um I actually have some so from the observation.

I think that you know, behind these um stories, I you know, it's a consistent that they are community member, the most most marginalized, they are struggling with food, shelter, and access.

That is the foundation of any humanity that they deserve to have.

And I think that the fact that they could um ask to have the access in their own language, it means they have a tremendous amount of trust in you.

Because as a first generation immigrant, it is hard to share that vulnerability and also ask for help.

Um, and so I just have a few qu uh one a few questions to clarify.

Um is with the mental health, um, because we know that mental health is a top priority for youth, and then you know, as you know, one of our BSD students, a ninth grader just took her own life.

Um, yeah, from big picture.

So this is some this is a this is an issue that everybody's gonna have some experience with close, um, you know, far.

Um so looking at the percentage, was there I think there's a little shift, like very minor shift, right?

On the let me see.

What's the last line here on the screen, council member?

Yeah, so it's the minor is a so it's gonna be a little bit less than um is point to one percentage decrease in the scale of things, it may not look seem to be really big, but I think when you look at bigger scale could be bigger.

So, how are we figuring out how can we support you know the kids and you know individuals that's going through?

Because as we know that when someone doesn't have food on the table, it's gonna affect their mental health.

Um, when someone's living their car, it is gonna affect that as well.

So is there any um support, you know, the human service commission can support?

How can we uh meet that difference and the decrease in the funding for that?

Um I'm happy to share an observation and chair fan if you would like to chime in as well.

Um, so uh a an explanation to provide some further insight there is um when we talked about the various funding sources, we stocked talked about the housing stability program, and the council adopted a framework to set aside 15% of those funds for behavioral health and housing related services.

So thus you'll see a quite high percentage of investment of our funding into behavioral health because it has, in essence, somewhat of a dedicated funding source.

Um, as you can imagine, um uh these are variable economic times, and so we have a slightly um different estimate of funding for that source moving forward, and that represents the anticipated small dip in the investment, is the potential of perhaps a little bit less revenue in that area.

Um, on a on a different note, I will say that uh there is expanded resources being built, particularly within King County to respond to the behavioral health needs of our community.

Um, you may be aware that um voters passed uh a levy for crisis care centers within the county, and the county is is in the process of standing up five of those and has already stood up one in our approximate neighbor, Kirkland.

Um, it is a resource for any of us and our family members.

It offers a new form of care.

Um, it offers uh urgent care for behavioral health, which we are familiar with for our physical health, but most of us are a little less familiar with when it comes to our behavioral health needs.

This could mean that you are at home and you realize your child has run out of medication, but when you call your doctor, you can't get in for six weeks, and you can walk in with your child and meet with a doctor and get a short-term renewal of your prescription, potentially.

Um, if your child or you or a family member or loved one is also perhaps emotionally struggling a bit, they offer a next step of care that maybe you need more than a doctor's appointment, but less than hospitalization, and they offer 23 hour stabilization.

Um, and then in an expansion of that, if someone does need more intensive care, they offer a 13-day stay, um, up to a 13-day stay to really come around you with services, and that all is immediately available to our community.

So in the midst of trying times and a struggle for funding, the county has secured funding in a way that enables us to expand that resource when perhaps our neighbors have not been able to do so.

Thank you.

That's really helpful.

I'd also like to add we're we sit here in a very privileged state because as I'm looking at the differences, the percentages, and I'm thinking about porchlight losing 500,000 of gen of federal funding cuts, and that we're talking about the difference between point two and so thinking, understanding that this is a time where we had to really make some really tough decisions and feeling very proud that our tough decisions didn't become completely drastic.

So thank you very much.

Yeah.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

You know, I think that I have really deep compassion and a connection with the homeless population, as I was used to sit on the Porsche Light Board.

And I think that these are intertwined.

That's why I ask, you know, if because you can you need service for everything, right?

Together.

Um, another question is because you know that our nation is even very divided place right now.

And as we know that for somebody like myself have living experience, it is also very important to have the unity from the allies around me.

The proximity of allies can support the causes really matters and make us stronger together.

So I was gonna ask the the similar and the um the question is you know, the for the program that deliver by the individuals from the community leaders, um, is there any flexibility about how the organization actually who are very deeply centered with the living experience with the proximity, how are they supporting?

So, for example, if a nonprofit that they're helping kids, and then even though the leadership may not represent a living experience, but they uh putt all the effort, make sure that the coach, the teachers, everybody who can connect with the teacher, would they be qualified to apply for the awards and then be even considered at all?

Yeah, absolutely.

And thank you for that clarifying question.

I apologize.

Would you like to speak?

Okay.

Um, so um, in to give context, in our most recent funding cycle, um, so uh culturally and linguistically specific agencies received approximately two million dollars, and all other agencies received approximately seven million dollars.

So indicating that we want to have a target for investment in culturally and linguistically specific services is not exclusionary, it expands inclusion.

Um, it reaches the needs of those that right now are saying, I I'm not getting served.

Um, so we absolutely welcome applications from all agencies who serve the entire community.

And again, important to emphasize all agencies must serve all people.

Um that is a criteria of our contracts with our agencies.

Um what we are saying is we also want to acknowledge that there are some needs that might be better met when someone has a shared experience with the person that they are serving.

Um so we ask all of our agencies to be culturally responsive.

That's a standard expectation that you respond to the needs of the person that you're serving.

Um, and in some ways, if you need human services, you are by definition marginalized.

Um, and so that is the expectation of our agencies that they served marginalized community members, that they consult with the community, that they are responsive and use interpreters, um, and then this target that's directed by the comp plan that's directed by the human services strategic plan is to say, and also we have a gap.

The community keeps telling us we have a gap and we need some services that help address that gap given the demographics of those in need in our community.

This um one last question is after that, is there any data that we can follow through for the nonprofit we partner with who the leaders have living experience?

So, for example, maybe pushlight somebody else that you know who has living experience or myself, right?

English wasn't my first language.

That when I asked for access on my parents asked for access, how can we see the effectiveness of that?

And then we can support and provide those resources for the dedicated population so they can get those resources faster.

Um because different nonprofits different capacity to able to reach different um demographics.

Absolutely.

Um, if I understand your question correctly, council member one, just to clarification, um it's not a focus on the leadership of the organization, it's a focus by program.

So we fund by program and we fund currently 188 programs and a smaller number of agencies.

But when we're looking at things, we're looking at it at a program by program basis.

Um all of our agencies can receive technical assistance from us in determining how to fill out an application, in determining how to describe their work and how to let us know their work.

And so staff meet with all agencies as extensively as they want to, both in completing their application and helping us understand their work and in also in the reporting side, some of our small emerging agencies, we might be their first government contract.

We work extensively with them to make sure that they feel like they can come into a contract, um, and that really is directed by your policy as well that talks about equitable access to funding for agencies.

And then the first step to be part be part of this partnership is um make sure that nonprofit has RFP with the city.

We yeah, we publish an RFP that is essentially saying please apply.

Um we share an application portal with um uh all a large number of other cities in King County, and so it's one place that agencies go in to apply.

Um, and uh then they just indicate which cities they're asking for funding from, and uh and then that's also the place they go to report on their work for all of the cities as well.

Great, thank you.

The reason I'm really passionate about this because we are in the time that we really need unity and that we cannot this do this alone in Bellevue, we are different from many other places.

People here we are not as scared because we know we have a united together of community.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilmember Smother Virgia.

Uh Councilmember Broyer.

I have no comments at this time.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Borgovel.

Okay.

Uh I want to start by again just repeating what has been said, but congratulations on a glorious career and good luck on your next uh adventure.

Uh grateful for what you've done for Bellevue.

And also uh uh wanna share uh gratitude with you, Tony, for the work you continue to do and the entire Human Services Commission for the fabulous work that you do.

Um congratulations.

Um I want to just make a quick note before we go on to sort of the allocations related question I have.

The themes that we heard, the cross-cutting themes, they seem really concerning to me.

I've expressed this to you in the briefing as well.

But the fact that we find access barriers, linguistic and culturally oriented challenges, and I also fact that we have stigma and mistrust seem like really fundamental chall challenges that we have to address.

Like they're not small or they're very concerning for me.

So would love to sort of over time uh uh understand how you know those fundamental root causes of these issues can be addressed beyond the allocation of funding, because that's that's difficult.

So if you have any reflections on that, that would be great to hear, but uh that isn't the the core of my uh my question.

The second thing uh I'd like to say is um you know the allocation uh for this year, and I hear you, and I it's not lost on me that it's really important to address needs across all the categories on the screen here.

And uh disruptive uh changes are not helpful, and that isn't lost on me either.

However, that said, when I think about shelter um food uh requirements, they're really sort of thinking about it in sort of the Maslow framework.

The very lowest rung of that triangle.

And uh my question to you is how do we have confidence that we have made those allocations correctly, and that staying if I squint a little bit almost with the same percentages 20 year over year is the right answer when we think about the basic needs for our community.

Why is it, for example, not a disproportionate amount spent on the first three categories, which are like if I don't have food and I don't have a place to live, you know, I may not be as much concerned about how much dental support I have.

Uh and so like that's a little bit facetious, but but that's the sort of the spirit of my question, and I'd love to see what gives you uh confidence that those decisions are sort of fundamentally correct uh in terms of allocations based on the needs assessment that you've seen.

Um I'm just gonna say one a huge huge piece of this work is the human service staff.

They are the subject matter experts in this, exactly this.

And so I have a lot of trust.

The commission has a lot of trust and the numbers that we are given by the human service staff, they do a phenomenal job.

Also, we need to shelter our people.

Like they need to have a they need to have a roof over their head, and so it's one of those things where I feel confident, knowing that as soon as we get them in shelters, as soon as we have them stable, that we can feed them.

And so until it until the needs assessment tells us something different, housing is one of the number one critical needs.

I'm listening to the community and the human needs update on what exactly they need.

And while it's just across the board not great, we can pick out those three things as the critical needs.

So that's how I feel confident.

Did I answer your question?

Because you're asking about confidence.

Exactly, but I could go ahead.

You know, I think the other part, and I've certainly learned this from Tony is that you know all these needs are interconnected.

And so you need you need to offer a little bit of all of this.

If you you know put all you know your dollars in one bucket, I mean, there are issues that develop, you know, somewhere else.

And so it really is the interconnected nature of all these things.

It is truly a network of all these services that come together.

Yeah, and to that point, I think um continuing some funding in all areas while prioritizing the ones Chair Fan mentioned is an indication that if you can't place your child in child care, you can't go to work, and then you get pushed into homelessness.

And untreated mental illness is a high contributor to homelessness.

Um, and if you don't know how to find services because there's not case management or navigation available, the options are are high that you will get pushed into homelessness.

And so it's addressing those in a critical state while trying to prevent others from moving into that critical state at the same time.

With a full acknowledgement, council member, that um the need is far greater than um what one city can fund.

This is a collaborative effort with other cities with the county and with the state and federal administration to acknowledge the needs of our community, and we are just one piece of the funding puzzle.

Yeah, no, that's uh helpful, and I appreciate that.

Um I also appreciate the interconnectedness of these uh needs.

And you know, the only direct sort of suggestion to consider that I would make to that point specifically is whether we should have a slightly larger, I don't even want to call it a whether you call it a contingency or the flexibility that you're talking about to allow us based on the proposals we get to navigate that in a way that doesn't constrain us from addressing the most compelling causes.

That would be like my suggestion, and I'd be open to thoughts from others on that.

Um and then very briefly, uh two or very quick things to say.

Uh one is I really appreciate, even though it's a dedicated source of funding, uh, the 18% focus on mental and behavioral support, and uh, you know, strongly uh advocate for that being such a large portion of our budget allocation, and it's it's really really foundational uh to the point that uh councilmember some of the Vera made as well.

Uh you know, the anecdotes are very, very uh uh sort of revealing of the underlying challenges.

So I appreciate that a lot.

And then uh I just want to say support for uh council member Robinson's suggestion on making that more open in terms of the the the chief suggestions.

Thank you so much, Councilman Bakerboard.

Councilman Yohan House.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I also want to say thank you for all your work and time and dedication and expertise that you brought to uh Bell V, you'll be missed.

I actually thought we were losing you to Seattle for a second.

And I was like, oh you know, he's retiring.

Okay, that's okay.

I didn't want to lose his shell.

I've already been down that road.

Exactly.

I was gonna say um uh Tony, thank you so much for your continued work and and and all the human services staff that we have.

We the city benefits greatly from all your expertise, and uh thank you, Chair Fan, for pointing that out.

Um, it seems like a week ago when I was appointing you to the Human Services Commission.

It's nice to see you as chair now.

Thank you and the entire commission for all the great uh all the great work that you do.

Um I am supportive of the uh uh of the recommendations.

I think they're thoughtful.

Um I think they're uh on point in terms of uh the the work um that's gone into this, uh what we're seeing in our community, uh the the needs, I like the contingency.

I'm okay with the uh uh the the slight change.

I think that uh Councilmember Robinson mentioned um if that needs to be agreed upon, I'm not sure it does, but uh for clarification purposes, if we do, then um I'd be totally fine with that.

The um the only thing uh and you may have um verbally have stated this, but um, and I missed some of it, but for me, and this is something you can come back uh uh to me on, is some of the percentages around what we're seeing in the community.

Um, you know, I think uh let me see here.

Like on um slide 10.

We're making a lot of references to King County, which is great, and it's and it's a good prominent to be watching, um, certainly as we're part of King County.

However, I would like to see more Bellevue specific data if we can get it across all of these um different categories here.

Because if you were to ask me right now, I was like, well, well, where are we seeing the greatest, you know, uh increase you know, between now and the last update we did, I'm not sure I could answer that.

I mean, we we we we talk about the increase overall in homelessness in King County, which is a good data point, but you know, I I would like some more specifics to to Bellevue across all these.

Um the domestic violence was another one.

I think uh slide 19, slide 16.

So just more specific data to Bellevue would be really helpful.

Plus, I think it would you know, really give us um a sense that you know we're on the right track in terms of the it don't be wrong, it feels right, and I'm all um uh all for the recommendations, but um again, I think if we have more specific data to Bellevue, the better off we are.

So I'd like to see those numbers if you have some of them.

I know some of them might be uh difficult to uh to to pinpoint, but um I think um that would be uh really great to share and for this body to see.

Thank you.

We'll dig in and see if we can identify for you.

Thank you.

Back to you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Ewanhouse.

Uh, Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um Michael, um wish you all the best in your retirement.

I think um that it's very interesting to me that uh you're here uh the night that we have our international Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation, because I know full well that your dad is a World War II hero and put it on the line time and again, put his life on the line for his country, for his fellow soldiers, and for citizens around the world that were brutalized and imprisoned by the Nazis, and he put it on the line time and again.

And I really feel like you've done that.

You've put it on the line here for this community, uh, as you've served in Seattle, but you have made an enduring uh difference and change to this community.

We're gonna continue to reap the benefit of all the work that you've done, the courage you've brought to this work time and again.

It's gonna last here for way beyond all of us, and it's greatly appreciated.

I appreciate personally uh the mentorship and the conversations and guidance you've provided me.

So you I wish you all the best, you certainly deserve it.

Um I also appreciate the presentation, Chair Fan.

Uh, thank you for being here.

I think you've done a lot of great work.

Uh human services funding is one of the most important investments we make in our community.

City staff and contracted providers stretch every dollar that we dedicate.

The investments are impactful and at times modest, a modest amount can go a long way.

I'd like to see us continue to push ourselves to increase human services funding, and when it's possible to increase the amount we invest in the critically important services that our growing community needs.

I appreciate all of the hard work that the Human Services Commission has done in thoughtfully determining the percentage of services that should go into the broad categories of various community needs that we fund.

The Human Services Commission has done a masterful job of ensuring that their recommendation is guided by our recently adopted comprehensive plan.

And while a few sections of the complan have guided their work here, I'll highlight HS-20, which emphasizes our commitment to create a community where equitable outcomes exist for all by investing in services that address or eliminate inequities which may be experienced disproportionately by some community members.

Our adopted human services strategic plan is also clearly incorporated into the recommendation, expanding equity focused and data-driven decision making and expanding access for Bellevue residents to culturally and linguistically specific human services are properly prioritized in the recommendation.

And community feedback that we have received has provided us with critically important insights.

The commission has heard that feedback, and it is also reflected in their recommendation.

I think we understand the need, and I think we are aware of the barriers that exist for many of our community members.

We also know that there are disproportionate impacts on historically marginalized groups right here in our city.

The recommendation is the starting point to help us leverage our limited funds so we can better meet our human services funding commitments.

Of course, we are near the beginning of the human services funding process.

This recommendation provides a strong foundation to support next steps.

The contingency plan also appears reasonable, and I appreciate it being included so that we're able to act quickly if we are able to find additional funding or requests don't meet expectations.

Again, excellent work here.

I'm convinced that the process that the commission has used is sound, and I'm ready to move forward on their recommendation.

Just a question though, if I could, Mayor.

I know that Councilmember Robertson has offered some additional language, and then Councilmember Bargava has also offered to add something as well.

And I'm not sure if that's going to come in the form of a motion or how we might handle those things.

Yeah, I think uh we can talk about that.

Uh do you have any concern about that or uh yeah?

Well, I do.

I mean, um while I think these are things that should be explored, uh, that makes sense to me.

Uh I'm just not sure how this how either of those fits into the percentage allocation recommendations.

And I think just in light of the fact that it's brand new information for me, and I don't even have language to look at, I'd like to see us take some time, uh exit look at what's being presented, and then have a chance to discuss it before we take any action.

So that would be my preference.

I can ask the city manager to chime in.

Uh is this presentation and tonight a right time that we change a language in human service strategic plan language, or should we do that in a later time?

And I think let me just rephrase my understanding.

Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Bargabo, and maybe even Councilmember New Enhouse are suggesting changing a language that is in human service strategic plan.

And Councilmember the Premier Hamilton is asking, is this a right night to do this?

I'm going to ask um Tony and Michael to weigh in on this a little bit, but I believe that the decision in front of you today or the recommendation is related to the percentage allocations.

There is some language that's in an attachment A that guides kind of the definitions.

I don't think that's what was being asked for direction tonight.

Correct.

That that would be correct.

It was just the percentage allocations and not going back and opening up the human services strategic plan or any of those other documents or the direction in the comp plan either.

So yeah.

So if a number of council members wants to change a language on the human services strategic plan, when would be a time for that?

I assume that that would come back as a separate item to revise it.

I believe you know that plan was uh a five-year plan, is that correct, Tony?

2024 to 2030, so a six-year plan.

A six-year plan.

So I guess we weren't planning to bring it back soon, but uh may I ask one more question for staff if you don't mind.

So utilization of that language in the process.

Is it something that is important if you could um articulate that for the council?

Is it important for the human services process, the commission's process to have a clear understanding of that if the council is interested in adjusting it?

You know, I don't believe it would significantly change the process.

I will look to the specifics from you, Tony.

I sure um so if I'm understanding the questions correctly from all of you, um, the percentages tonight and the contingency plan could be adopted, should you so choose separate from this conversation, and then as far as this conversation, whether you have it tonight or you have it on another date, the way that information would then show up is um the definitions were included for reference of what the commission meant when they made these percentage targets.

So that's they were included for you to understand when the commission said this area, this was the definition that they were referencing.

Um the next place that definition would show up, or any of these definitions would show up, would be when we publish our request for proposals, because we will be including your guidance for agencies as they apply.

And so that um I believe that request for proposal is set to be published March the second.

Um it is done in conjunction with others, so we cannot adjust that timing.

Um so we want any different guidance on how to define some of these categories, um, one of which is in uh the adopted strategic plan and comp plan, then yes, that would be the timing for that to occur.

Great.

Thank you so much.

I go to Councilmember Robinson and then Councilmember Bargawa, and then I may chime in myself.

I disagree with some of what staff has just said.

The proposed statement is not consistent with our adopted diversity vantage plan.

Just like the uh percentages were not consistent with what the other, you know, there was a discrepancy there.

Um I think that it's very okay to make uh definition change here, and I would like to take this up at our council retreat, which is I think coming up in February or March.

But um I would like to make a motion tonight to change it to what I recommended.

I think that is the um council's prerogative.

I think it is supported by what council's comments are tonight, and I think it is consistent with what the Human Services Commission is trying to do, which is to identify marginalized communities that need extra emphasis of funding.

Thank you, Councilmember Robinson.

Councilman Bargava.

Yeah, I'm gonna go back to the uh the flexibility piece just uh so I can zero in and be more precise about my suggestion.

If you go back to the slide that uh or the talking point that you had around if you got proposals that would be more compelling across different categories, you were allocated a is it a two or three percent two percent uh adjustment not to exceed.

My suggestion is to have more flexibility there, and I propose maybe a five percent number that says that allows you to based on I think you're talking about a different topic.

Let us finish the first topic.

No, no, are they related, you think?

In my mind, they're related, and I'll say how.

So you allocate these percentages and we say yes to the percentage.

What this two percent number does is allows for changing those percentages between them up to 2% without needing additional approval from council.

All I'm suggesting is to increase that percentage to five percent based on the compelling nature of proposals you get, because these are not based on specific proposals.

So that flexibility will allow us to, in my mind, hopefully, allocate funds to the places where the needs are greatest and gives you more latitude in the work you're doing.

That's my suggestion.

But that's the different topic that one council member Robinson is talking about to change a language in the Oh, so those are two separate separate thoughts.

The one I was bringing up is yes, yes.

Let's just talk about that topic, and then we come to your two percent and more flexibility to make it.

Yes, uh, Councilmember Robinson, I see your hands up.

We are still talking about your language.

Okay, that's removed.

Okay.

Okay.

Any other council member has any opinion or chime in?

Can I ask you a question?

Yeah, please.

Uh yeah.

So first of all, I am ramping on parliamentary procedures, so I'm starting to learn now, need to learn that withholding comments doesn't insinuate a position.

So my apologies, needless to say, thank you for the work that you're doing.

And I think that the percentages that you've allocated make a lot of sense and are quite strict straightforward.

That being said, in terms of the language and the definition uh item that's being discussed right now.

Can you help me understand if a program, let's say, addresses, I don't know, hypothetically a Russian-speaking population in Bellvy that's historically not accessed X and YZ services.

If that program is funded and I go up to them as not a Russian or Russian-speaking background person, they're still required to serve me and help me out.

Is that correct?

Absolutely.

Correct.

Okay.

Okay.

I just need that clarification.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other on the first topic?

You are still on the first topic.

Councilmember.

Okay.

Yeah, sorry, go ahead.

Uh, just clarifying again that if we were to look at that language, it would not affect the allocations that we discussed tonight, correct?

I believe that was your Michael when you looked over at Tony.

Right.

So um, I think we would need your clarification on that direction, to be honest.

And so um a path and so it sounds like the path that council member Robinson is proposing um to honor uh her input is that tonight you change the definition attached to that target for culturally and linguistically specific services, so that when you adopt those percentages, it is clear what you are are indicating that's uses for.

Um another item that has been discussed is adopting the percentage and then later discussing what the definition of that term is, is my understanding of what's happening this evening.

That would be yeah, that would be correct.

So I think I would fall on the latter camp.

Let's get the allocations done this evening.

Do we have uh time to adjust before the RFP goes out that that language?

That is a difficult question.

Uh month.

So I think we would find time to bring it back to you.

Okay.

Um and we could do it expediently.

I believe this this item you're giving direction tonight.

It does have to come back.

Yeah.

Um, we would prefer to get the direction solidly this evening so that we can bring you back something that you've um generally uh agreed to.

Um but we have a little time to work on that before we bring it to you, if that's if that's something that the council would prefer not to be able to do that.

Yeah, my preference would be to approve the um allocations this evening, bring this back to us before you need to publish that, just so we're not rushing through it, unless it's we have to get through it tonight.

But um, I I'd rather have staff come back and give us some options on that and compare it to the diversity advantage, et cetera, just to make sure we're on the same page.

I think that would be the better approach at this point.

Awesome.

Can I just add something just as if has anyone um has anyone ever filled out an RFP as an organization?

Sure.

Um language is very important, um, making it as low barrier as we can and understandable as we can.

And so unfortunately, I didn't understand what council member Robinson was saying as the change of language.

It didn't was not clear to me.

So I would feel like it would definitely need to be something that you thought about um from that perspective as the organizations that are applying, because it's very, very important that we reach our communities, the ones that haven't been served.

And if they don't understand if they can even apply to it, they will not apply to it because it does take time and money to apply to an RFP that you might not get.

So please please take that into consideration if you're thinking about changing the language.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Samotoveria.

Please.

Yes.

I actually agree with that because RP is really hard to understand, and that's the biggest barrier actually for especially small organization.

So maybe before we decide on a language, let's make a very simple English.

Make sure we take our time, think about a language that RFP is now that create actual barrier to apply.

Great.

And uh I chime in and then council Council Robinson, you have your hand raised.

I do.

You go ahead.

No, but go ahead.

Go ahead.

I go after you.

Nope, I want to hear you first.

So I actually uh I think what Councilmember Robinson suggested, it's makes the whole thing more flexible for people to actually uh do the RFP.

What I understand maybe uh what I understand as simple and more flexible is not what uh the people who are in the business of nonprofit applying uh understand.

So I completely get that.

But I think to me, uh it is important and we should be clear about who we are trying to serve and why.

And I think those two are very important.

It should centers marginalized communities and give us flexibility to fund programs that are trusted and effective, uh, whether that trust uh shows up through a staff, through partnerships, through governance, all of those wars that is in the recommended language that's uh again.

I don't I think no one has seen that.

That's maybe uh disconnect here.

I wish we could uh put it on the uh screen for my fellow council member.

But again, to me, the key uh is who we are trying to serve and why, and I think the original language maybe uh lack that uh flexibility.

Uh Councilmember Robinson, that was my chime in.

Please go ahead.

I appreciate that because that is the intent of the language changes to uh be inclusive.

And um, so I'm actually going to make a motion, and you can decide if somebody can decide to second it or not.

But I move that we direct staff to prepare a resolution approving the Human Service Commission's recommendations for percentage allocations for the 2027-28 human service funding with the proposed changes.

Uh Council Bargava's contingency plan will not exceed 5%.

And then this is just quoting our diversity advantage plan and delivered by individuals or organizations that demonstrate meaningful engagement with the communities they serve, including through staff partnerships or governance that reflect community experience.

That's something we already voted in.

So that's my We have a motion from Councilmember Robinson.

Is there a second?

Is moved uh by council member Robinson, seconded by Councilman Bargawa.

Any discussion?

Yeah, please go ahead.

Yeah, so I guess I I'm really struggling with this.

I I don't even have that language in front of me.

I haven't had a chance to see it.

Is it possible that we put that language to the screen?

But pardon me, Mayor.

Um I I don't think that this is not good form, it's not good practice.

I don't think we should be expected to be prepared for a meeting for a study session item, and then to come in and to have last-minute changes without any benefit of having seen it or having a chance to talk about it.

I have no idea where that is.

So I think this is really a poor practice, and it's just something that I couldn't support.

I'd be willing to talk about it later, but um I just really think excuse me, excuse me.

Um, I I think this is is not the way we should operate.

I think we've committed to being transparent and to working with each other and collaborating, and I don't see that this fits that commitment.

And so if this is going to be the motion, there's just no way I could support that.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Any other discussion?

Council Robinson, your hands is up.

Is that keep forgetting?

Yeah.

Any other discussion?

Is there any way we can prod project that language on the screen?

Again, I know that doesn't maybe change deputy mayor comments, but in general.

I'm gonna let the city clerk answer that.

We can read it to you.

I don't know that we can I don't even know that I can read it because I don't have it written down in front of me.

So I can have it honestly.

I can ask uh council member Robinson read uh the motion one more time.

Sorry, and then we go one more time, uh ask for a discussion and then we go for a vote.

Councilmember Robinson, would you please read uh your motion one more time?

Okay, it's uh as recommended by the Human Service Commission of greater than 26% target for programs and services.

Now, this is my revision programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized communities.

We can leave it at that, or we can also include what we already approved when we approve the diversity advantage plan with the which is the definition.

I don't think we need to include it, but and delivered by individuals or organizations that demonstrate meaningful engagement with the communities they serve, including through staff partnerships or governance that reflect community experience.

If you just want to um write the motion as greater than 26% target for programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized communities, I'd be fine with that.

Great.

So we have a motion on the table.

It has been go ahead, Councilman Robinson.

No, no, go ahead.

It has been seconded.

Any discussion.

Councilman Bargova.

Are we is it in the best interest to have a motion that actually includes both these changes if they're split across this?

I'm not sure.

Because right now we're the increase from two to three three percent to five percent to five percent is a simpler issue for maybe potentially than the language for us to consider.

And so I'm just putting it out there.

That is the motion on the table right now, but they have combined them into a single motion.

Um there may be a chance for us to think about a motion separately for each of these issues.

So I think we can again Charmaine can chime in, but I think we can go with this motion if it's voted, then if you're happy, I guess, with your five percent.

If it didn't motion, you can have a motion just have that two to five percent as uh alternative.

Charming, is that my solution good or bad?

Judge that, but we suggest um that this has become a very compounded motion, and I would suggest that you divide the question to make it more simple.

What was in front of you tonight was just a motion or direction on the appropriations.

I would suggest that that be separated from any amendments on other items.

But there is a motion that has been seconded right now.

There is, but it is compounded with other elements that if you vote the whole thing down substantively, you won't be able to bring back just the appropriations motion because you will have voted that down.

Ah great.

So what shall we do with this motion right now?

I would suggest you divide the question, which is a formal parliamentary term.

If there is agreement amongst the council members to divide and separate the appropriations motion from everything else, then I would suggest taking the appropriations motion first.

So the motion that you have been written here.

Yeah, the directing staff to prepare a resolution approving the Human Services Commission's recommendations for percentage allocations for the 2027 to 28 human services funding.

Great.

We go with this and assume we voted yes, and then each of councilmember Robinson and Councilman Bargawa can have the motion to change some of these languages.

Because to me, the 5% to 2% is part of this allocation.

So I don't know how we can go with this motion.

So the I understand Councilmember Robinson is a separate thing, is a is a human services strategic plan language, but I don't understand how the 5% to 2% to 5% is separate than the motion on the table.

So your the actual percentage allocations, the entire resolution will come back to you for action.

You're not taking action on that tonight.

So you're directing staff to bring it back for action.

At that point, you can make amendments to the percentages.

Does that make sense?

Kind of.

Okay.

Great.

So what shall we do with this motion that right now is on the table and second it?

I suggest that you divide the question and just take the direction to staff to bring the allocations back.

Great.

So is Councilman Robinson dropping her?

What is the next separately?

So do we need a new motion or we are just separating them?

Yep.

We are just separating them.

Great.

So is there any discussion to just vote for whatever it is in front of us and the staff brought for the percentage allocation for the 2027-2028 human services funding for action at the future council meeting?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any oppose?

Great.

I do have a parliamentary question.

Charmin, are we able to vote that we didn't?

Do we have a second on just voting on this?

Or there was a second.

We have divided the question.

We are safe to move forward to vote.

Yep.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So there was no oppose, so the motion passes.

So that's the dividing first part.

Charmin, am I correct?

Okay.

The second part of the motion is this a combo of what Councilmember Robinson and Council Member Bargava said, or just you're separating them two.

That's where I'm a little unclear because I don't actually have it written in front of me either.

But just break them for the sake of uh simplicity.

If the council agrees, yes.

Yes.

So we go first with Councilmember Bargawa because that's more simpler to me.

Is the change from 2% contingency to 5%?

You are talking about just that motion already seconded.

So is any discussion on that part?

Am I allowed to ask staff a question?

Yeah, absolutely.

That's part of the discussion.

Staff, what is your but not staff, sorry, Tony, uh Chair and Michael?

What is your uh um insight on changing this percentage?

How does that impact you?

I mean, you're doing the groundwork here.

I'd like to understand how you feel about this change.

I mean, I would say this would be huge flexibility given the I'll say tweaks in the percentage amounts on some of the others.

This is huge.

It would be truly significant.

And I'll just say a great deal of flexibility.

So general positivity?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

Thank you.

And I do have one question also in practice last year, years ago.

How often do you expect that flexibility to be used?

And what signal would trigger it.

Uh so historically, in every single area, we receive a significantly higher request for funds than what we have to allocate.

Um seeking council direction for these percentage allocations was acknowledging that the larger pool meant the commission was forming recommendations across larger amounts and may not land in the categories the council so intended.

So there's benefits, uh, there's pros and cons.

Um a pro would be yes, the commission could read applications and and flex more.

And so if the commission felt they wanted to increase one area by five percent that would also lead the commission to decrease by five percent somewhere that in the end council may have not intended is what I would highlight for you.

That's that is a large pool of flexibility in the funding.

So you're putting the flexibility in the in the purview of the commissioner then what is the value what's what is five percent of how much typically like how much are we talking about?

Let me do some here for you because I'll show you the um dollar amounts oh sorry I ruined it do we want to do math in our head here?

Yeah 4.8 plus 1.6 so 5.86 about 6.5 million dollars um so if you were no 7.5 million dollars right soural this is embarrassing 4.85 uh yeah per per year correct per year um so um you know a one to two percent of that is is minimal variance but when you get to five that could some of these smaller categories could be completely swept away I guess is the way to look at that so some of these categories are not currently receiving direction even for five percent and so I'm not suggesting how the commission you're just telling us the factual that five percent could remove possibly whole categories should you choose to give that direction any other discussion or question so we are still talking about increasing the contingency from two percent to five percent by council uh council robinson I see a hand thank you um Tony I was just want to clarify with you is it kind of the average grant about ten thousand dollars and so five percent it would be five hundred dollars um I I don't pretend to um I think you hold numbers in your head council member Robinson in quite an impressive way um I don't have those numbers in my head what I would tell you is um our base contract is ten thousand dollars that's the lowest contract that we currently offer I would anticipate that the average which this is just a guesstimate I can get back to you all with more concrete numbers would probably be more like 50 to 60 thousand dollars absolutely council members isn't of an individual by adjusting the percentage to higher variance is that gonna be making the giving out to answer the needs slower because there's more time you need to decide would that affect that?

No all the decisions are made at one time and contracts are allocated at one time and I think um Director Shiasaki has a really important clarification.

You know the the the clarification on the 5% as opposed to 2% it's not on an individual contract.

It would be on the overall amount of human services funding.

So it's not like $500 it's quite different than that.

So yeah right so for example if you know we've got 50% a little 51% going to these three areas if if you increase that to 56% to those three areas um you could or five percent even per category it could drastically change should the council wish for that to happen it would just give that level of flexibility.

Great clarification Council member Bargov yeah so I just want to clarify two percent of that five percent latitude is already part of the proposal that was laid out correct it is just a question of the three percent incremental correct and if I did rough mat in my head the you you were talking about 4.8 plus 1.6 and so it adds up to 5.5 6.5 roughly if you include the 1400 and if you do about three percent of that 6.5 million it's like 195000 that we're talking about in terms of movement.

Thank you for that yes Deputy Mayor just curious if you have a recommendation on that I'd like to hear from you Tony and then chair fan as well.

A recommendation on moving from two to five to that like I said before that's great.

It's great to have trust in your Human Service Commission and have that flexibility because that you guys appointed us and we kind of know what we're doing.

And then we also have our wonderful human service staff that also know what they're doing.

So it's it should be I'd be very happy happy with that flexibility.

Yeah Tony our commission is highly trustworthy.

Um and it um came about through multiple conversations that we had with you all in a recognition that um the council was um uh providing guidance once contracts had already been allocated um or recommended for allocation.

And so this process was intended to introduce guidance from the council at a level that would then shape how those contracts are allocated.

Um so I do have a lot of trust in the commission.

My voice is just to make sure you recognize the level of flexibility that you are giving that could change um these allocations in a way that I just want to make sure that that's clear.

Um that they could choose, I don't know that they would to completely eliminate some service areas in favor of increasing another area.

Um and so that that's just what you would be extending to them.

I understand.

Do you have a professional recommendation?

I think five percent is is high.

Okay, thank you.

Wow.

Uh my vow was I'm changing my mind on my decision in my brain, but I'm hearing more comments.

So uh councilman you have to do.

Well, thanks the question.

Um, what would be if we did increase it?

What do you think would be the proper uh number to land on then, Tony?

So something that we talk a lot about as staff under Michael's direction and with the commission is the reality in human services is there's no wrong investment.

This this is all about human need.

And so there I there's very few times I can think of something being something I would have disagreed with as an investment.

Um so that is the hard nature of human services.

That is the nature of the hard work of the commission is looking at needs that we want to fund them all and recognizing that we cannot.

And so um nothing that's being proposed is wrong or against a city value.

No, but you said that you think it's high, so I do.

I'm just struggling for my response to you, council member.

If I'm being really honest with you, I'm maybe by the way.

We don't need to run out the clock.

Um but if if if you you know I don't mean to put you on the spot, but um, but if you say it's high, that does give me some pause for for for sure.

So um but I I don't want to put you on the spot and give us a number, but thank you for that feedback.

Yeah.

Any other discussion?

So yes, absolutely.

I'm sorry.

Um, but we this we're going to provide direction tonight.

We're going to get something back, and when it comes back to us, we could uh address this two percent to five percent and make a change then.

So if we don't do it tonight, doesn't mean it can't be done, but we'd have a little bit of time to think about it and and kind of work through a process.

Is that right?

Yes, you are providing the ration to staff when it comes back to you for adoption.

You can make further amendments.

So well, by knowing that do you want to still can he if he chooses, can he drop his motion, or we are still voting for that?

If you if you would like to withdraw your motion, it does now belong to the body, so it does require a motion um and a second and a vote to withdraw.

Um do you wanted to go through that, or do you want to continue with your motion?

I think we should just vote it out as great.

Um last minute discussion.

Wait, the way great discussion.

I'm learning so much from you guys.

Okay, all those in favor say aye.

You are just voting the two percent contingency increase to five percent.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

No, no, no.

I'm confused.

I'm sorry.

I thought we were voting down the motion, so that was.

No, no, no.

We are continuing the motion that councilman Ubargawa has from two percent to five percent to five percent contingency.

Uh councilman Bargawa uh is favor and said yes.

Uh the rest of us said no, we are waiting for you.

Okay, no, sorry, Michelle.

Great.

So the motion uh did not pass, but we have the option to bring it back, maybe more uh justification, hearing more from the staff and uh um staff.

Yeah.

Okay, now the last part of this is the change uh of the human service strategy.

Yes, Diane.

Uh if I might offer that I believe that what you're um talking about tonight is the definition of the culturally and linguistic specific programs that's provided in this attachment A.

So that's guiding this uh allocation process, not changing the strategic plan.

So um I hope that's helpful clarification because changing the strategic plan um was not in front of you today.

Just the attachment A, the language and attachment A.

Attachment A, which guides this allocation process.

Um, and I will just offer that um if the council is interested in um having staff work on a definition that meets um the intent uh that councilmember um Robinson articulated and is also consistent with the DAP language.

We could also bring that back to you if you give us that direction this evening.

That's great.

Uh Councilman Robinson, I see your hands up.

Yeah, I'm not that is not what I'm recommending.

I'm actually recommending that the priority categories be youth programs and um programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized communities so now I'm totally totally confused.

Uh can you just repeat what you just said?

So do you mean the mistake in this slide?

Are they already fixing that mistake in the slide?

No, that's not what I'm saying.

Um there is a slide that talks about or uh there's a human services commission's funding recommendations for 2027-28 in the areas of need, and then at the bottom of that it says priority categories, the recommended percentages are estimated targets, and will we contingent upon actual applications submitted?

The priority categories are youth programs, and then they say culturally and linguistically specific programs, and I'm asking that instead of culturally and linguistically specific programs, we say instead programs and services that are designed as to serve the needs of marginalized communities.

Oh great.

I got it.

So you are just trying to change the name of that target areas.

And changing the priority categories.

Great.

Is there so I think if you can uh council member, if you can see on the monitors, the second, the third row, cultural linguistic specific programs.

Uh Councilmember Robinson is uh recommending to change that.

Can you repeat to what one more time for those who doesn't have them in the in their uh screen?

Programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized communities.

Great.

Okay, uh we already I think is part of our very complex motion.

So any discussion.

Uh Deputy Mayor.

Um I just wonder if that ship's already sailed.

I mean, we voted on the uh commission's recommendation, and we're moving that forward.

So I I just wonder if making any changes to what we've already voted on is it's too late for that.

I think that was our agreement that we are uh dividing this very complex uh motion, and then we do the allocation first, and then we go to the two percent to five percent, and then we also talk about this change.

So the motion is on the table.

We are voting yes to council member Robinson or no uh to her.

So that's what the motion is on the table.

Go ahead, Councilmember Bargawa.

Just so I can understand this.

This isn't just a change in the language, this is broadening the category that is categories of of proposals that are covered under the 26% target.

So it's it's it's more than a sort of a nomenclature change uh as maybe not intended to be framed that way, but that may be coming across.

It is a a broadening of the target proposals that we're talking about.

And and council uh member Robinson, uh, that is your intent, right?

This is just my own clarification.

Also, you know, I I truncated this a bit because I had also included the definition of culturally and linguistically specific.

And that's in our diversity advantage plan.

So to make it simple, yes, I want to just say programs and services that are designed to serve the needs of marginalized community.

Uh do you have a do you have this question for the staff, or you already got what you wanted to get?

Uh I got the the clarification from Councilmember Robinson is helpful.

The question I have for staff is, and it's and you can say difficult to answer because this is on use as well right now, sort of new information, but the broadening from linguistically specific and culturally and linguistically specific programs to marginalized uh within the community.

Is that specific enough for the intent that you were trying to frame this?

I would say that that is so broad that it would include every program.

I mean, there's a reason this language was designed this way, quite honestly.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's helpful.

Great.

Yeah, Councilmember Sumataverio.

Sorry, Kay, I understand we went through you know 700 different feedback.

Can you help us kind of understand how do we lend it on the cultural linguistic Pacific programs?

Like, can you just like simplify a couple of steps?

Like, you know, how do we lend exactly to this?

Like what are the needs?

It's very Pacific.

Sure.

Yeah, thank you.

This showed up both in our last needs update and this one.

And the last needs update also fed into the adoption of the human services strategic plan where this was named as a priority.

Um, a few data points for you from this needs update that support it further is feedback from providers.

Uh 46.8% of providers said that their clients couldn't access culturally appropriate providers.

50% said they couldn't access uh services in their language.

Umly 10% of providers were completely or mostly satisfied with the availability and quality of culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

So our providers are naming this as a gap as well.

Um and then focus groups, um, they highlighted the disconnect they were feeling and the exclusion they were feeling from lack of culture and language access.

Um, again, a theme of stigma, discrimination, and bias, um, and language and cultural uh barriers.

And then, you know, I gave this data example, which is just how the representation in the community is not necessarily indicative of the representation of need and gave that example for the students experiencing homelessness.

Um I think I would go back to to what I said to an earlier question of of all human services investment is responsive to need.

And so um the language council member Robinson is suggesting is indicative of need.

Um the um marginalized community members, you know, without further definition, in my mind represents every single person who access human services.

Um and so they are all marginalized, they're low income.

Um that alone is a marginalization.

Um, and so this language which we defer to your wisdom on whether this is the right language to use, but this language was crafted to target this gap that's been identified by providers and community members, and to make sure we knew what council's direction was when applying it.

So, would the marginalized group language actually include a youth program?

It technically would.

Yeah, so maybe it's more of a marginalized is more of an umbrella term.

Okay, um, and uh also the policy within the diversity advantage plan is a strong policy, it's an umbrella policy that says serve mark we will, as a city, serve marginalized community members.

We will ask our agencies to collaborate in the community, like that's our that's our policy and our value.

This is supportive of that and saying, and within that, we will make sure we're expanding services that meet culture and language needs.

So this is a subset of um broader policy.

Okay, thank you.

Great.

And this is kind of tied back to your example that you said that lot is that make sense that the the one that you said Latino residents is seven percent, and but the students who are facing homelessness are approximately 65 percent.

That's totally makes sense why you have uh now they call it this okay, great.

Yes.

Okay, Councilmember Breyer.

My question was just to to reiterate because I'm trying to make sure I'm being clear as possible.

According to the data you just shared, providers who give services in partnership to the human commission explicitly stated this gap that they're seeing.

And this is what informed the language.

Am I correct in understanding that?

Yes, okay.

I think that helps inform my decision.

Thank you.

Yeah, they are.

I think you you had one expert said it's not just about access, is about belonging.

Right.

And I think that's kind of relate to the language of cultural linguistic specific programs.

So you're trying to do the gap, kind of close the gaps, build some trust, and strengthening the safety nets for that specific sub-marginalized group.

Right.

That is cultural linguistics.

Okay, I got I got this.

Thank you.

Any other discussion?

Oh, Councilmember Robinson, your hands.

Thank you.

I I first of all, I I want to thank my colleagues for going through this discussion with me.

It's been really informative to hear from staff and from the commission the intent of what we're trying to do and discuss how we can best accomplish that.

And I appreciate not having judgment on my recommendation because I'm just trying to do the best as we all are.

And so I'd actually, and I don't know the process for doing this, but kind of like to change my motion based on what I'm hearing back.

And I'll tell you what I'd like to change it to, and then Charmaine, you can tell us a procedure for doing that.

But I would recommend my motion would change to leave the culturally and linguistic specific programs, but just to put in the next thing that's consistent with our our diversity advantage plan.

It's just really important to me that we be consistent with that.

I need some more.

So anyone on the can explain what can you just explain one more time what you are recommending?

So you want to leave the cultural linguistic specific program as 26% that we are seeing in our uh screen, and then what do you want to add?

Just add that it that uh that the programs and services that are designed for a particular linguistic cultural community and delivered, and then it says individuals from that community, and that's just not consistent with what we said in the diversity advantage plan, which was and delivered by individuals or organizations that demonstrate meaningful engagement with the communities they serve, including through staff partnerships or governance that reflect community experience.

That's what we already voted in our diversity advantage plan.

And I just want to true it up with what we voted.

Okay, that's I think to me, that's another different topic, and again, I want you explain this is the language that is in human services strategic plan that who is the provider.

I think that's what you are referring to right now.

Yes, well, what the way they're describing it here, I think that's important that is just be consistent with the diversity advantage plan.

Yes, I think you are saying that in the human services strategic plan, the language is the provider who deliver is by the individuals from that community, but in the uh advantage plan, we change that to something more uh general.

Am I understanding you correct?

Yeah, you can characterize it that way.

Okay.

Uh city manager is yes, go ahead.

Well, first I'm gonna ask Germain about the process.

If she wants to, if council member Robinson wants to make an amendment to the motion, we can do that.

There's a process for that.

So she would have to offer that as an amendment, it'd have to have a second, and you'd vote on the amendment.

But to me, it's not the is to me is not amended.

To me, is dropping that or change to me is two different to my brains two different things.

Yes, I understand.

The formal process is to amend it.

The other option, which if you all agree, you can just allow by unanimous consent the modification.

So if she has offered it, if you all understand what she is offered and you agree.

Okay, we can make this.

Uh I think our city manager wants to chime in, and then I asked the council colleagues here.

Yes, I'm I'm gonna um try to pick up on what council member Robinson said.

So leaving the category, and then I'm just gonna read you from the DAP.

Um the diversity advantage plan is programs that provide access to services in ways that meet the needs of communities in a culturally and linguistically specific way.

So we can find some language that's consistent with that and meet the intent, I believe, of councilmember Robinson.

That's not quoting what we voted in a couple of weeks ago, Diane.

What I said.

I'm reading that from the E61 from the thriving peoples and communities from the DAP.

Um so I think I guess what I'm saying is I think we can find some language for you if you want to give the direction that we're consistent.

I uh Councilman Robinson, again, you can make an amendment, but uh the room is very confused about what language we are talking about.

So you can amend what I am hearing from Charmaine's, you can amend so keeping the what we are seeing on a screen as it is and changing the strategic human services strategic plan with whatever language you want to amend, or we can direct a staff to bring it back when they are coming back.

Uh, when are you coming back?

We will come back in time to meet the needs of the process.

Um, so within the next month.

In the next month.

So we can postpone that to the next month, or you can amend your motion.

Okay, so I think the confusion is that I'm looking at the packet, and the packet has a whole nother sentence that this slide does not have that defines culturally linguistic specific programs.

The definition in the packet is not the one that we it is not uh updated to what we voted in a couple of weeks ago.

So I'm just asking that the definition that we're voting on on culturally and linguistically specific programs be consistent with our newly adopted diversity bandage plan twenty thirty-five.

Simple as that.

So my motion.

If I could I can't see anyone, so um, it could be a head nod thing, is just that whatever culturally and linguistically specific programs are that it's consistent that definition with what we voted in on the diversity bandage plan twenty thirty-five, and staff can bring that back to us, and we can look at what they bring back at that time.

So we're not voting on any particular language tonight.

Great.

Uh go ahead, Michael, and then I mean just thought, you know, as we think of cultural and linguistics specific programs, we believe it falls under what uh Councilmember Robinson has been talking about.

I mean, the policies within the DAP twenty thirty five are broader, and we believe that suggests a multitude of ways that things can be implemented.

Um, and we believe this certainly fits under that, you know, larger umbrella.

And you bring this back.

So yeah, we I don't think these are in conflict at all.

Okay, so Councilmember Robinson, if you uh are okay with what you heard, we they can bring it back when they are coming back.

I think uh Director Shiyosaki totally understands what I'm saying, and I agree with him and appreciate that.

Great.

So Charmain, should we do anything else or we are good to go?

No, I'm seeing that none of you are objecting, I'm taking this as unanimous consent to do what you just said.

Great.

Is there any objection?

So the wrap up is you guys are bringing back, and we talk about about this language when you are back.

Great.

Uh thank you so much, Michael.

That was your last meeting.

That's why we make it very very exciting for you, you know.

Not an easy one.

Uh the transportation folks, we are going to take another break, sorry.

Uh, we come back in ten minutes.

City manager, would you please introduce our next study session that is just for information?

This is just for information.

Thank you.

This is an update on the safe speeds program.

Staff is here from their transportation department to give you an update of this program, which reviews the speeds on our street network.

It's part of our Vision Zero initiative.

And with that, I am just going to introduce Chris Long, John Murphy, and Benjamin Wright from Transportation.

And hand it over to Chris.

Thank you.

And thank you, Mayor Malcutian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton and Council.

We're excited to be here on this information topic.

So again, we were here in May, and we were able to deploy those speed improvements on four corridors based on your approval.

And just a reminder that this is rooted in our vision zero program where we are looking to reduce or eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by twenty thirty, and safe speeds is a key component to that.

And so that's why we are looking to control those speeds and bring them down.

So with that, I'll pass it to John.

Yes, thank you, Chris.

Um wanted to just quickly provide an overview of the results of what happened when we lowered the speed limit from 35 miles per hour to 25 or 30 on four corridors.

Upon receiving direction from council in June to lower these speed limits, staff went out and lowered them in July.

Some of the high-level findings of our outreach are there's widespread agreement that speed is an issue and that it there's a direct impact to the safety of people walking and biking.

Um there was specific interest in if we're looking at speed limit reductions to also look at other things like enforcement and engineering changes to the street.

And when presented with the safety benefit of what lower speed limits can offer in terms of changing behavior, majority of our survey respondents were in favor of uh lower speed limits.

I'll turn it over to Benjamin to talk about our proposed speed limits.

Thank you.

So, what are safe speeds?

Um, as mentioned, these are part this is part of our safe systems approach, and it is the highest speed that people should drive their vehicles on the street based on the context.

We're taking we're not taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

We are looking at every corridor and street individually to minimize the risk of a person being killed or seriously injured, and we're looking at all of our current 30 plus mile an hour streets.

And this is the first time that we've evaluated our uh speed limits at a citywide level, um, even as we continue to grow over decades and become more dense, have more conflicts, and have more active transportation.

Um, as part of our study, we looked at the level of conflicts as well as the activity.

Uh, conflicts is broken into the density of crossing points like intersections, uh, mid-block crosswalks and driveways, and modal mixing is the infrastructure for people to walk and bike on a street separate from people driving.

And then activity level, we look at things like the land, the type and density of the land use, as well as things like on-street parking, bus routes, and other things that make a street more or less active.

And so we measure those those levels of activity and conflict and rate them high, moderate, or low based on the metrics we've developed.

And uh we note that where the conflicts and activity are high, uh, we generally would recommend a 25 mile an hour speed limit.

Um, and where conflict uh conflicts and activity are low, we would recommend closer to a 35 mile an hour speed limit, which would be the highest recommendation for our street in our city.

Um, and then a couple just notes that where activity and conflicts are especially high, we we looked at a 20 mile an hour speed limit, and where for certain other combinations uh we we wanted to maintain some flexibility and engineering judgment to decide between 25 and 30.

And so that all factors into our recommended uh speed limits, which are shown on this slide.

You can see we have two graphics to kind of break down those changes.

Uh, in the first one, you see that the change in speed limits.

We have about 20% of our streets that would stay the same under this recommendation.

About 60% would go down by five miles an hour, and 20% the speed limit would go down by about 10 miles an hour.

And then the other chart just shows the breakdown of the new speed limits.

And then you see our map.

And on the next slide, I want to just zoom into a couple areas for additional discussion.

The first is in our downtown, uh, due to the high level of activity and conflicts there, we're recommending generally a 25 mil an hour speed limit.

And um there's certain areas around the downtown park and old Belle View that we recognize have a different character and the way the streets is used and functions.

And so we're recommending a lower 20 mile an hour speed zone there.

Additionally, we want to look at our borders with Redmond.

There are a few streets like 148th Avenue as well as uh a portion of Bell Red Road where the center line actually is split between Bellevue on one side and Redmond on the other.

And so it's absolutely essential that those speed limits are agreed on by staff and council of both cities.

And we've already begun uh presenting our proposed speed limits to Redmond.

They're also working on a safe speed study, and we will continue to work together with them to arrive at a joint recommendation.

And so we're our implementation plan.

Uh, we know the speed limits um we're likely to implement these in phases.

Um just increase the number of signs so that that speed limit is also more visible.

About every 30 seconds, somebody driving the speed limit would see a sign, and on larger streets, we would make those signs slightly larger per national standards.

A way we might go about uh phasing this implementation is starting with the urban core, then uh looking at something like our high injury network for the next place to expand, and then finally um covering the rest of our street network.

Um, and that and the safer speed limits, more signs, and then adjusting the signal timing.

This is just the first phase of our program that we've planned.

Uh, we also want to go in with additional tools to continue to manage speeds using technology like radar signs and speed safety cameras, using traffic calming tools like narrowing lanes, adding speed cushions and medians, and making our crossings slower and safer by things like raised intersections and race crosswalks.

Um with that, I will turn it back to John to talk about our timeline.

Yeah, just to round out our presentation here.

Um, our touch point today is right in the middle of this effort to evaluate speed limits.

Uh, our goal is to return later this year, tentatively in June with the draft speed limits for your uh consideration to approve.

Tonight does mark the first time that the community has seen these uh proposed speed limits.

So outreach is going to be a continued emphasis for the project team to make sure that they're aware of the changes.

Um there's definitely appetite, um, but they haven't seen these specific lines on the map.

So we really want to get this out in front of the community again, emphasizing in-person events, our digital and print communications, um, and really helping to refine our implementation strategy and answer any questions the community has about uh this proposal.

And with that, we can take any questions.

Thank you so much, uh Chris, John, Benjamin, and Andrew uh for the amazing work on this.

It is technical analysis, data, community engagement.

So I really appreciate you guys.

Councilman Newenhouse joke that we need to leave here by 10.

So I ask you guys to go with one question each, and we start with Councilman New Enhaus and can is Councilman Robinson here?

No, she didn't have a lot of people.

Okay, perfect.

So Councilman New Enhaus.

Thank you so much.

Um yeah, great presentation.

I'm just gonna get to a couple of just a quick questions.

So I think uh enforcement is is key, uh, as I think you've already um um mentioned.

And how are we going to what what are the metrics?

Because uh and again it'd be great if you can also let me know at this point how much investment we've put into this project, but what are the metrics are we're going to be tracking in order to really understand um the the key benefits of this program?

Because uh I've had this concern from from dayway.

I I think the people that have been driving the speed limit will see that the speed limit's been reduced and they in turn will drive at a slower speed.

But if our goal is to impact those drivers that were doing the 40 plus before, are they going to adjust their driving habits because the speed limit now has been reduced?

I'm not certain that they will.

If they weren't doing it before, just because that number changed on their sign on that sign, I'm not certain they will, unless there is specific enforcement attached to it.

Um I'm also concerned about you know, too many signs.

Uh actually, this is something that I actually have talked to the director about where you have you know uh the signs like all over the city, reminding everybody what the speed limit is.

Um that's that's a little bit of a concern too, but obviously signs are uh are needed and and required, but maybe you can uh uh just touch briefly on on my concern there about the enforcement and then and then how are we going to because you've put um these additional tools here, but what is the um I guess approach in terms of which tools and what levers you're gonna start pulling if we don't see the kind of uh results going back to the metrics that we're not seeing that uh we kind of escalate those those tools.

Can you uh walk me through that a little bit?

Yeah, um I'll try to keep this quick.

Um I think as Benjamin shared, the this initial phase is really about setting the the right speed limit.

Um similar to how we measured the after speeds on those evaluation corridors.

Um we have a pretty strong commitment to continue that type of evaluation.

Yep.

So if we see a big delta between the future speed limit and actual operating speeds, that's our signal to look to those other tools that'll kind of unlock additional opportunities to reinforce that new posted speed limit.

So if people it's posted 30 and people are still going 37, well, maybe we need some speed cushions along that corridor that'll further reinforce um operating speeds.

Yeah, as we as we look to prioritize additional interventions to help achieve those speeds, um, the difference between the posted speed limit and what we see people going will be one of the main factors that we use in that prioritization.

So do we do a study on speed every six months, every 12 months?

Do we look at metrics of people that feel unsafe in general in certain streets and we've heard feedback?

Do we look at number of uh uh individuals that have been uh injured or God forbid have um have have perished on our street?

I mean, these are the kinds of I I I guess things I would hope that we would be already thinking about.

I know we're in early stages here still, but I just want us to be thinking about this so that um we know exactly what we're tracking towards, and then we have those escalations in terms of the additional tools, and we can pull that win when when when needed, versus this just being uh you know more more of a more of a you know I it it feels safe, but we're not sure, or we're not sure about the overall impact um that it's having long term.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Uh Council.

Thank you for the great presentation.

I think any work done to reduce the amount of injuries and fatalities experienced by speed is objectively a positive thing.

So excellent work.

Um what I'm trying to understand is that the longer term version um here is to reduce the need for is it to reduce the need for intensive enforcement over time and do we do we couple enforcement um with that?

Like Councilmember Newenhaus was mentioning.

Um are we are we tracking this?

Sorry if that's a compounded question, just and I can reiterate if you need, but I'll pause there.

So there's a concept, there's a concept in this body of work called self-enforcing streets where where streets um would be designed in a way that the design by itself um helps manage the speeds that we want to see and we believe are safe just by the design of that street, and no enforcement would be needed in that case.

Um obviously that requires um a lot of improvement work in some cases, it would it would requires a much larger budget than we have to affect change on a citywide scale.

Um so we see enforcement as uh sort of a maybe like things like speed cameras or radar science as a as a bridge to getting to that vision.

Okay, that's fantastic.

Thanks so much.

And just a quick note on enforcement.

We've been working with our colleagues in the police department to make sure that they're in step with these proposed changes.

Um and uh they recently unveiled their safer roads initiative to focus on egregious speeding and and racing and vehicle noise.

A lot of those corridors that they are emphasizing are a lot of the same corridors where we're looking at proposed speed limit reductions, so there's kind of a nexus and um in the approach.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh try to be crisp.

Um really appreciate the framework of starting with sort of lower speeds, the design processes that might come in, whether it's you know, speed bumps or other design strategies coupled with an enforcement, which has sort of been the flavor of the conversation so far, and I think that seems like the right approach.

Uh uh I'm also a little bit unsure about the communication strategy.

Is it just the signage or is it more than that uh that is going in?

And then really the one question that I'm allowed to ask today, I'll ask is um you said about implementation starts with the urban core and it goes to areas where there are uh I forget the exact language, but higher likelihood of intermodal uh sort of injury or intermodal sort of crossing path uh sort of the way you framed it.

I I really agree with that matrix, by the way, the three by three, which is the intensity and the opportunity, which I think is great.

But if you follow that framework, wouldn't you want to start your implementation rather than a geographic location within the city to places where you have the highest likelihood of intermortal uh sort of crossing over or the chances of accidents that are you know fatalities or high you know serious injury?

Like, wouldn't that be I'm just curious why wouldn't that be our approach for implementation?

It they they very closely align.

We mentioned the high injury network and a large portion of our high injury network is in the urban core.

So it and the urban core is a big swath of 25 that we're doing, and so it it does provide a natural first step, but that was just an initial recommendation.

We were open to other other approaches as well.

This is also partially based on uh what we we still need to work through before we come back is the the pace at which we can do this based on the budget that we have available.

So that's gonna that's gonna play into it as well.

But uh that was our initial thought because of that overlap is to is to do the urban core where we see the greatest amount of of activity uh and then and then branch out to those other uh high injury corridors beyond that.

Yeah, I appreciate the only nudge that I like to that I would just react to say that I would look at urban core or other parts of the city and try to isolate the places that we have the highest likelihood of injury um and then maybe focus on those as a thought rather than just within I I appreciate the concentration, maybe the urban core, but there might be a couple of places within the city, but it's a really high likelihood of these happening and they leaving them out but given the time it takes to implement and uh you know the sort of the learnings come through and then we start to go to phase two uh might be worth considering.

And they leaving them out, but given the time it takes to implement and uh you know the sort of the learnings come through, and then we start to go to phase two.

Uh might be worth considering.

Great.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Sumothery.

Um, thank you.

And you know, I'm really grateful for this work because this is really amazing to move forward to zero death by 2030.

Right?

Okay.

Well, I'm no question.

Thank you so much.

Uh Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um, really good work here.

Love the outreach approach.

Uh, great outreach ensures we get the important information we need to be sure our approach to reducing injuries on our streets in this case uh can be effective.

Not surprised that your efforts showed such a strong community agreement that speed is a safety issue on our streets.

75% of those surveyed believe the speeding driver that speeding drivers directly impact the safety of drivers, walkers, and rollers.

Uh the outreach work incorporated into the planning and implementation of the street evaluation trial and helped ensure that we learned as much as possible.

And the street evaluation process shows a well planned and executed speed reduction effort can show dramatic positive impacts.

The 42% reduction in high-end speeding on the evaluation street in factoria was a pleasant surprise for me to see.

Um we want to deliver on our promise of safer streets in our city, so our solutions need to be practical and effective.

And when we embark on an effort to change longstanding behavior, it is all the more important for us to focus on the wisdom of the folks who have the practical experience to be part of the solution.

So I'm excited to see what you find out as you move forward in the process and continue to engage our community members to further refine this work and inform the council's decision this summer on lower speed limits in the city.

Please keep up the great work.

See you back here in the summer.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

I just wanted to also acknowledge that how we are shifting from how we were doing this in the past and now how we are doing it right now.

It was based on how fast people drive, and then 85 percentile of that.

I think that to me is crazy.

But we were doing that.

So this approach looks what's happening actually on the street and what keeps people safe.

I really appreciate you are doing this because that's reflects how Bellevue has changed uh instead of just car now.

We have more people walking, biking, and leaving along these corridors.

So thank you so much for um that it is basically it's asking what is survivable, not just what is common.

I think that's very important.

Uh I appreciate also that we are preventing serious injuries and saving lives.

I think that's exactly what this reduction is in uh speed is doing.

Would love to see as has been mentioned the measure of success.

Uh I'm sure you are going to do, and I'm sure you are coming back with some data on space crashes and unintended impacts of this at some point in future.

But my only question is there were mentioned that there is some worry about drivers shifting onto neighborhood streets, and this uh going to be some uh diversion risk.

Uh but they haven't has you have you done any done any modeling that shows okay, we are reducing a speed here.

That driver that councilwoman New Enhouse was talking about that is doesn't care, he's changing his street to go to different streets.

Have we done any study on that and the risk of that um that's a it's an interesting question.

Uh we're you know, generally we although the street will be slower, we are also reducing the speed limits on our local streets too.

So, and in a lot of those parallel routes that exist have have seen treatments such as speed bumps to to manage those speeds because they have you know over time have been identified as diversion routes for whatever uh may be going on on our major arterials.

So it is a it's an interesting um observation that we'll need to keep an eye on.

Um we it's not something we are anticipating because of this effort, but um you know that that is a a place that we can also be making investments because we you know we will be trying to make sure that people are following the speed limits we're setting in those places as well.

Great, thank you so much.

Um I appreciate you all, and we are going to see you back soon.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you, Kia.

Um we have uh land use reports.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council members.

This is a quasi-judicial item uh that was in front of you last on January 13th for initial consideration, and tonight you're being asked to take final action on it.

Um so I'm going to turn this over to our attorney, Trisna Tannis, to walk you through the necessary steps for this evening.

Thank you, City Manager Carlson.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members.

This rezone application is back in front of you.

Uh, and to consider uh adopting an ordinance to approve the rezone from uh for the property from OLB, that's uh office is office limited business to NMU, uh neighborhood mixed use, land use district.

This adoption um would be consistent with the hearing examiner recommendation.

Uh as a quick reminder, council's role is to consider and then take action on this rezone application.

Uh you have now the benefit of uh the staff presentation, administrative record, uh, and the hearing examiner recommendation that were all presented to you a couple of weeks ago.

Um council has to do this in this quasi-judicial capacity.

Um, if you recall, this is like acting like a judge over this application.

So there are some ethical obligations as well as the appearance of fairness uh doctrine that must be followed.

Um so to put your compliance in the record.

I'm just gonna pause to see if there is any disclosure that you wish to make hearing and seeing none.

Um just uh I'll note for the record that there is no ex-party disclosures.

Um to approve the application here.

Um the reason has to be consistent with these criteria that are um up here on your slide.

Um first, the reason has to be consistent with the comprehensive plan.

It has to relate to public health, safety or welfare.

Third, it has to be warranted in some way either to achieve consistency with the comprehensive plan or to allow reasonable development of the property.

The fourth criteria is to have the reason will not be harmful to other uses or other properties near this property.

And lastly, the rezone must have merit or value for the community again.

The action tonight is to consider adopting the ordinance to rezone the property from OLB to NMU district.

With that, I'll turn it back to you, Mayor.

Thank you, Trisna.

Uh is uh do I do I have the motion, please?

And then we can have discussion.

I move to adopt ordinance six eight nine nine approving the rezone application, rezoning a 4.55 acre property located at 999 118th Avenue Southeast from office limited business to neighborhood mixed use and amending ordinance number 3149 to repeal and terminate application of this ordinance number 3149 as to this property.

Is there a second second is being moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Councilman Bargava?

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

There is no opposed.

The motion passes.

Great.

I think that's it.

We can adjourn the meeting and see you all, I guess, next week.

Great.

Have a great night.