Human Services Commission Meeting – February 3, 2026
Human Services Commission Meeting – February 3, 2026
The Bellevue Human Services Commission met on February 3, 2026 (note: meeting minutes indicate February 2, but the provided date is used per instruction). The meeting covered updates from City Council, a motion on funding language, a monitoring overview of city‑funded agencies, and the schedule for the 2027‑2028 funding cycle. Commissioners voted to direct staff to communicate the commission’s preference to maintain the intent of the original “culturally and linguistically specific services” language to City Council.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The draft minutes from January 5, 2026 were approved unanimously by voice vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public signed up to speak during oral communications.
Discussion Items
- Commissioner Report on Council Meeting: Commissioner Fan reported on a recent City Council meeting. Council approved all of the commission’s funding recommendations, but a council member proposed increasing the contingency fluctuation from 2% to 5% to allow more flexibility. This item was tabled for further discussion with staff. Council also questioned the language used for one funding priority bucket. The original priority is “more than 26% to youth programs and more than 23% to culturally linguistically specific services.” Some council members suggested broader language such as “historically marginalized communities.” Staff were directed to bring alternative language to the next council meeting. The commission discussed the importance of the original language, which came directly from the Human Needs Update assessment. A motion was made and seconded for staff to include the commission’s preference to maintain the spirit of the original language in the report to council. After further discussion, the motion passed by voice vote with no dissent.
- Monitoring of City‑Funded Human Services Agencies: Sada and Andrew presented an overview of the monitoring process. A short skit demonstrated a typical on‑site monitoring visit, emphasizing relationship building and technical assistance rather than punitive oversight. Key themes from recent monitoring visits include: growing community needs with limited funding, rising staffing and operational costs, lack of affordable office/community space, increased fear among immigrant and refugee communities affecting service access, and housing instability with shelter capacity constraints. Commissioners asked about accountability checks, noting that monitoring is preceded by quarterly reimbursement reports and backup documentation. On‑site visits occur every other year; off‑years use lighter check‑ins. The commission was invited to join future site visits.
- 2027‑2028 Funding Cycle Schedule: Ruth outlined the upcoming funding cycle. The teen after‑school and convening RFPs opened on February 3 and close February 29. The large RFP opens March 2 and closes April 6. Applications will be downloaded by staff in mid‑April, and commissioners will review them in assigned groups. Public hearings are set for May 4. Three special meetings (May 18, June 1, June 15) will allow small groups to allocate funds within percentage buckets approved by council. Public deliberations are scheduled for July 6 and July 20, with possible extension into September. Staff will begin scopes of work early to ensure contracts start in January 2027. Commissioners discussed preferences for physical notebooks versus online access; a final decision will be made once the number of applications is known.
Key Outcomes
- Motion Passed: Commissioners voted to direct staff to report to City Council that the commission supports the spirit of the original “culturally and linguistically specific services” language (voice vote, all in favor).
- Next Meeting: The regular February 16 meeting is canceled due to President’s Day; the next meeting will be Monday, February 23, 2026.
- Funding Cycle Dates: Teen/Convening RFPs close Feb 29; large RFP closes April 6; initial special meetings May 18, June 1, June 15.
- Vacancy: A commission vacancy opened; applicants are encouraged to apply when the position is posted.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, let's see here. I'm gonna just use this. This meeting is called to order at 6 p.m. Live captioning is available this evening to access this, select the show captions button in the meeting toolbar and select your preferred language. Staff and commissioners are participating both remotely and in person. Members of the public are welcome to provide public comment and listen to the meeting in person or on Zoom. I will now call the roll. Commissioners, please say here after I call your name. Vice Chair Hayes. Commissioner Gonzalez. Commissioner Sing. Commissioner Perelman. No, she's not on there. Okay. And Commissioner Rashid is absent. There is, wait, so one, two, three, four. Okay. We have four. There is one set of minutes to approve this evening. Please take a moment to review the January 5th minutes in front of you. Any discussion on the January 5th minutes? Is there a motion to approve the January 5th minutes? So moved. All those in favor say aye. All right. January 5th minutes are approved. Okay. At this time, we are taking oral communication. Staff will call the names of people in the order they have signed up, either online or in person. Members of the public may speak during one of tonight's oral communications for up to three minutes per person or agency program. After everyone who has signed up to speak has been called, staff will ask if there's anyone else who would like to speak. Staff, can you please call speakers for oral communication? We currently do not have anyone signed up in the room or online, but if there's anyone that would like to speak, you can go ahead and raise your hand. Okay. So we'll go straight to staff and commissioner reports. Do we have any commissioner reports? I can report back from this council meeting last week. So council meeting happened last Tuesday. It was me, um Tony and Michael Schiazowski, which is this always happens before the funding cycle. Um worked towards. So there was questions from council about that. Um we did have a council member ask us about our contingency, where we had a if you gotta remind me um a 2%, like our fluctuations couldn't exceed 2%. Um, and a council member did ask if we would like if they would like to recommend they would like to recommend an increase to 5%, which would give us a little not a little, a lot more flexibility in if we ended up seeing something wildly different than what we're expecting when it comes to applications, right? We're assuming we know what we're gonna see, um, which is why we have the recommendations like we do. Um, but they were offering us a little bit more flexibility. Um, they ended up not voting that, so it's still at 2%, but they might talk about it later. Um, they I think they just needed more time to talk to staff about what that actually means with that increase. Um, we did uh they did agree to our recommendations fully, so I will say that. There is a language issue with certain council members on our priority. So how we have on the priorities, we want, and I'm gonna get the numbers wrong, but um more than 26% to youth programs, and then more than 23% to culturally linguistics specific services.
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