The Bellevue City Council held a regular meeting on September 15, 2026, featuring three proclamations, a public hearing on the preliminary 2027-2028 biennial budget, and a presentation of the budget by city staff. Over 50 members of the public provided testimony, with strong support for the Grand Connection Crossing and increased climate action funding, alongside concerns about affordability and transportation priorities.
I think we can start the meeting. Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Full house. That makes us very happy because we know that you care about your city, your voice matters, and we are glad to hear from you. Before even I go to the roll call, I wanted to give you all heads up. It seems we are near 50, 50 people for public hearing comments. Therefore, we are going to uh have a vote before the public hearing starts. At the moment, we know exactly how many people we are we have to reduce the time. We have a lot of uh content to cover. We want to hear as many as you are here. So we probably reduce the public uh comment of you to two minutes or one minute and a half. I am giving you a heads up warning to adjust uh that time. If you were thinking it's three minutes, it is a time to reduce your comments to uh two minutes or one one and a half minutes, and again the goal is to give to as many people as possible the opportunity to address us, and also we need to complete all businesses on the agenda this evening. Uh thank you for your understanding. Uh, Vidacity Clerk, are you ready for the roll call, please? Yes, thank you. Mayor Malikutian. Here. Deputy Mayor Hamilton. Here, Councilmember Bargaba. Here. Councilmember Breyer. Here. Councilmember New Enhouse. Here. Councilmember Robinson. Here. Councilmember Simador. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember New Enhause, would you please lead us in the flag salute? Sir Mayor, please rise if you're able. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. And Jessica. Thank you so much. We do have three proclamation tonight. Is it National Hispanic Heritage Month? And before she starts, I will invite Zahuri Garcia and Joey Luna, Matilda Novis, Victor Garcia, Ashley Shavirin, Vanessa Gomez, all if you want, come to the table. Are you guys in the room? Any of you. Is there anyone who wants to receive this proclamation from us? Great. We are start going to read it. Councilmember Biryar, please go ahead. Whereas Hispanic Heritage Month, established in 1968 and expanded to a month-logerance in 1988, honors the culture, history, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities with roots across the Americas, Spain, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. And whereas September 15th marks the independence anniversaries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, followed by Mexico on September 16th, and Chile on September 18th. Bellevue is proud to celebrate the diversity of identities within the Latino community, including to those who identify as Hispanic, Latino, and Latina, recognizing the intersections with black, African, Asian, Indigenous, and queer communities. And whereas Latino community members are an important and growing part of Bellevue's diverse community, compromising about 8% of Bellevue's population and contributing to the cultural, civic, and economic life of our city. And whereas this year's observations comes at a time of profound fear, trauma, and the disruption of daily life for many Latino and Hispanic community members, given the federal regulatory environment impacting opportunities to live life to its fullest potential.