City Council - Regular Meeting

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 a heads up. It seems we are near 50, 5-0 people for public hearing comments. Therefore, we are going to have a vote before the public hearing starts. At the moment, we know exactly how many people we have. To reduce the time, we have a lot of content to cover. We want to hear as many as you are here. So we probably reduce the public comment of you to two minutes or one minute and a half. I am giving you a heads up warning to adjust that time. If you were thinking it's three minutes, it is a time to reduce your comments to two minutes or one and a half minutes. And again, the goal is to give to as many people as possible, opportunity to address us, and also we need to complete all businesses on the agenda this evening. Thank you for your understanding. With that, city clerk, are you ready for the roll call, please? Yes, thank you.

Mayor Malakoutian?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Hamilton? Here. Council Member Bargaba?

Here.

Council Member Breyer? Here. Council Member Newenhouse? Here. Council Member Robinson? Here. Council Member Sumidoria? Here.

Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Newenhaus, would you please lead us in the flag salute?

Sir, the 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.

Thank you so much. We do have three proclamations tonight. The first one is going to be read by Council Member Villar. It's the National Hispanic Heritage Month. And before she starts, I will invite Zauri Garcia, and Joy Luna, Matilda Navas, Victor Garcia, Ashley Chaverin, 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'll start going to read it. Council Member Villar, please go ahead.

With pleasure. Whereas Hispanic Heritage Month, established in 1968 and expanded to a month-long observance 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 Latine, 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. And whereas the Latino community and Hispanic community Members enrich all aspects of life in Bellevue and beyond, and their resilience, leadership, and traditions continue to strengthen our collective future. And whereas Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate Latino cultures and traditions and to support the well-being and dignity of all communities across Bellevue. Now, therefore, I, Noreen Breyer, on behalf of Mo Malakoutian, Mayor of Bellevue, Washington, and City Council, do hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15th, 2026 as National Hispanic Heritage Month in Bellevue, Washington, and call upon all residents to honor this month by celebrating the traditions, stories, and contributions of our Hispanic and Latino neighbors through programs, ceremonies, and activities. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Brouillard. One more time, do we have Zoyuri Garcia to receive this proclamation? We go to our second proclamation. Teen Mental Health Awareness Day is going to read by our Deputy Mayor Hamilton. If Bonnie Wong is here, please sit down after he's done. We would love to hear from you. Please come and sit right now. Go ahead, Deputy Mayor.

Thank you. whereas early identification, intervention, and treatment of mental health and behavioral health conditions can improve and even save lives, and whereas adolescence is an important period for mental health, with many mental health conditions first emerging during the teenage years, making early awareness and access to support especially important, and whereas Teen Mental Health Awareness Day increases understanding of the mental health challenges teenagers may experience and helps reduce stigma around seeking support and preventative mental health care, and whereas teenagers may experience stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges related to school, family, friendships, identity, health, finances, and uncertainty about the future, and whereas recognizing changes in mental health and knowing where to turn for help can empower teens, families, educators, and other trusted adults to connect young people with support when it is needed. And whereas supporting teen mental health means creating communities where young people feel heard, valued, and connected, and where asking for help is recognized as a sign of strength, And whereas mental health experiences and access to care can be affected by race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and other identities, making equitable and culturally responsive mental health resources essential for all young people. Now, therefore, I, Dave Hamilton, on behalf of Mo Malakoutian, Mayor of Bellevue, Washington, and the City Council, do hereby proclaim September 19th, 2026 as Teen Mental Health Awareness Day in Bellevue, Washington, and encourage all residents to help create a community where teens feel supported, connected, and empowered to seek help when they need it.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Bonnie, welcome. We would love to hear from you.

Good evening. On behalf of Asian Counseling and Referral Service and our Children's Mental Health Program, thank you to the City of Bellevue for this incredible important proclamation. The proclamation notes that half of all mental health conditions starts by age 14, and then most go undetected and untreated. For ACRI staff, this is not just a number. It's what we see every day in our work. Our counselors work with kids as young as six years old, helping with anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, and crisis intervention. Every week, our counselors sit across from Bellevue children and youth who are quietly caring more than anyone around them might realize. Struggling with pressures of academics, navigating complex family dynamics, dealing with bullying and abuse at school and home, experiencing thoughts of suicide and self-harm. We've seen how stigma keeps students silent, how lack of culturally responsive care keeps immigrant and multilingual families from ever seeking support, and how our youth pay the consequences when we don't invest in mental health awareness. But we have also seen what is possible when we work collectively to address and resource youth mental health. ACRI has partnered with Bellevue for more than a decade to provide multilingual, multicultural mental health care to young people and their families. This proclamation is a meaningful recognition of that shared work and success. One of our counselors reported helping deescalate a client in active crisis who was able to walk away from a plan to end their life. And another client who for the first time in five years reported no active suicidal thoughts. Another counselor shared about an 18 year old Bellevue student who came to us in crisis with suicidal thoughts. This client is now graduating and has been accepted into University of Washington. This year, our counselor also piloted two six-week workshop for parents and caregivers. They heard from parents and caregiver that the group sessions help them better understand their children's mental health, the resources available to them, and the skills they can view within the family. So when this proclamation says teens deserve early education, easy access to treatment resources, and a seat at the table in how this decision get made, we know firsthand the importance and possibility of this principle. This proclamation and the funding behind programs like ours go hand in hand. One name's the need, the other meets it. As Bellevue consider funding for the next cycle, we hope the spirit of this proclamation, a real commitment to youth mental health, carries into continue and sustain investment in the programs doing this work every day. We're proud to be a partner in this effort. Thank you again for this recognition and for standing with Bellevue children, youth, and families.

Thank you so much. Please stay with us and we can take a picture after the next proclamation. Thank you. Our last proclamation is National Diaper Need Awareness Week. It's going to read by Council Member Bargava, Stephanie Walsh, and Kate Forrest are already here on the table. We will hear from you after Council Member Bargava read the proclamation. Thank you.

Go ahead, please. Thanks, Mayor. Whereas diaper need, the condition of not having a sufficient supply of clean diapers to keep babies and toddlers clean, dry and healthy, can adversely affect the health and well-being of children and their families. And whereas nearly one in two U.S. families with young children experience diaper need, forcing many parents and caregivers to make difficult choices about meeting their children's basic needs, and whereas A consistent supply of diapers is often necessary for babies and toddlers to participate in childcare and early learning programs, allowing children to learn and thrive while parents and caregivers work or attend school. And whereas without enough clean diapers, babies and toddlers face increased health risks, while parents and caregivers may struggle to access the childcare they need to maintain employment, pursue education, and support their families, And whereas the people of Bellevue recognize diaper need as an important public health and economic issue, and addressing it helps create healthier children, more economically secure families, and stronger communities. And whereas diaper banks and community organizations play a critical role in addressing diaper need by connecting families with essential supplies and helping ensure that every child has access to clean, dry diapers. Now, therefore, I, Vishal Bhargava, on behalf of Mo Malakotian, Mayor of Bellevue, Washington, and this entire City Council, to hereby proclaim September 14th through September 20th, 2026, as National Diaper Need Awareness Week in Bellevue, Washington, and urge all residents to support diaper banks, diaper drives, and organizations that collect and distribute diapers to families experiencing diaper need so that all Bellevue children and families have the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential. Thank you. Council Member Bargavo, please go ahead.

Good evening and thank you Bellevue City Council for recognizing Diaper Need Awareness Week. I am honored to be here to accept this proclamation on behalf of Babies of Homelessness. At Babies of Homelessness, we provide diapers, wipes, and formula to families experiencing homelessness or extreme low income. We see day in and day out the need that our families are needing in the community. As mentioned, nationally, one in two families can't afford enough diapers. This means this issue is not an issue that affects families somewhere else. It's an issue that affects families right here in the city of Bellevue. You see, when families have to make a choice between clean diapers and feeding their children or paying the rent to ensure they have a roof over their head, they are faced with impossible choices. Babies don't have a choice in their circumstances. They rely on the community and their family to provide those basic needs. Providing diapers may seem like a simple act, but for so many families, it is a lifeline. It literally saves lives. We are so grateful for the city of Bellevue for recognizing this need and most importantly, bringing awareness to the community and recognizing the most vulnerable citizens in our community, the babies. Thank you for the recognition and thank you for supporting us.

Thank you.

Good evening, and it is truly an honor to accept this proclamation alongside Babies of Homelessness recognizing National Diaper Needs Awareness Week. Because when we support parents, we support our kids. And when we support our kids, we strengthen the future of our entire community. Thank you for recognizing this week. Thank you for recognizing the work of kid vantage babies of homelessness and diaper banks across our community. We are honored to accept this proclamation, not simply as an award, but as a call to action together, we can ensure that every baby has what they need to be clean, dry, healthy, and cared for that. Every family has the opportunity to thrive. Thank you for standing with our organizations, and thank you for standing with the families and the kids of Belleville.

Thank you so much. If you don't mind, just stay with us. We will take a picture after, hopefully, for the third times. I will call them, and if they are here, they will say something. Zauri Garcia, are you here? The kids that are going to get this proclamation, are you here? Please come to the table. You are all late, but you are here. So please sit and please introduce yourself, and then we would love to hear from you. Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening, honorable mayor, deputy mayor, council members, and city staff. My name is Sayuri Aguilar-Garcia. I am the president of Latino Heat.

Sorry, do you mind to bring the mic to your mouth a little bit more?

My name is Sayuri Aguilar-Garcia. I am the president of Latino Heat, Hispanos en Acción Together. I am here with my fellow officers.

Hi, my name is Matilena Escolar, and I am vice president of Latino Heat.

Hello, my name is Victor Aguilar-Garcia and I am the club officer.

Hello, my name is Ashley and I am a club officer.

My name is Joey Alvarez Luna and I am a club officer.

We are a leadership community service and culture group. We are more than just organizers and active leaders. We are youth facing one of the most challenging and difficult times in society while still balancing school life and the safety and security of our families.

Thank you for taking the time to recognize us. Your acknowledgement affirms the value of our community and its contributions while giving us an important opportunity to highlight both our achievements and our needs.

To do so, I'd like to share how our group has spent its time from fall through summer and into the present. With support from YAS Latinas, we spoke to our legislators, launched and led the Latina Girls Group, the Lake Hills Buddies Homework Club, a Day of the Kids event, Dia de los Niños, and a celebration honoring Latino graduates that brought together about 600 community members. This summer, with the guidance from Youth Eastside Services Latina leaders, Vanessa Gomez, Judith Mercado, Tina Morales, We Eastside Service Latina, Continue the Latina Girls Group and launch groups for Latino young men and Central American youth.

Our actions reflect our priorities, caring for our mental health and ensuring that younger generations are cared for and that we are heard and understood by legislators so we can create meaningful change together.

This year's National Hispanic Heritage Month theme is Unidos Somos Mas, Together We Are More. And with that, we hope that more leaders are inspired by your actions to acknowledge the history and contributions to our community. Once again, gracias, we appreciate you.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you, and I'm very proud of you. When I was your age, I was not doing what you were doing. So thank you for doing what you are doing. We will take a picture with you first. While we are taking the picture, people are standing. There are many, many seats. Please use this opportunity to come and sit and feel comfortable. Let's go and take a picture. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

I move to approve the agenda. Second.

It's been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Councillor Newenhouse. Any discussion? All those in favour say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes. Oral Communications, City Clerk, would you please go through the list?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. So we do have three pre-registered speakers for oral communication. So I just want to make comment that the Council does appreciate the public engaging and contributing perspectives during tonight's meeting and does support everyone's right to express themselves. However, I do want to mention that comments shared during oral communications represent the views of individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or values of the council or the city. So a few of the rules that I want to go over. The total time of oral communications is for a period of not 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 people speaking to items not on tonight's agenda will be called. 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 to items 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. I also want to remind folks that in compliance with Washington state campaign laws regarding the use of public facilities during elections, that 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 people do begin speaking on those topics, you will be asked to stop. One final reminder and unique thing about our agenda tonight is we do have a public hearing. As you can see, we do have many people joining us here in person. If you signed up for oral communications and indicated the budget was your topic, you have been automatically moved to the public hearing list. So with that, I will start calling our speakers, and our first one is Edward Lee.

All right. Good evening, board members and commissioners. My name is Edward Lee, a Bellevue YouthLink board member. And tonight, on behalf of the Bellevue YouthLink board, I am here to extend our invitation to you for our upcoming annual YouthLink Gumball Night on Wednesday, October 28th from 6 to 8 PM at Crossroads Community Center. For the past 28 years, Bellevue Youth Link hosts this special event that provides an opportunity for Bellevue Youth Link members to dialogue with our elected officials, community board members, and other city leadership about important topics affecting our youth today. Youth and guests share these incredibly important and valuable conversations over delicious pots of gumbo and other food. We hope that you can join us for this special and unique evening with our YouthLink members. Your perspective, experience, and support for young people are incredibly important to us. To RSVP, please contact our YouthLink staff at youthlink.bellevue.gov or call 425-452-2846. Thank you very much, and we hope to see you there. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Julie Cobb.

Welcome.

I'm going to put my main thing aside, but I do want to thank a couple of people. One is Jake. in the back unless he's left. Planning person who spoke with me at the last meeting, I have not gotten back to him. But yesterday, I decided to come back down to City Hall. And the first person I knew she wouldn't know anything, sorry. And I don't know a lot. And then she called another planning person to come down. And along with her came another gentleman because he was going to ask something about a party they were planning. But he was a planning person. So I spoke with him for about an hour. That's Titus Butcher. And the lady was Megan Davis. And they spoke to me for an hour. And we have not come to the... Any resolution, but that's a positive because Riley Pittman has not called me when I called. Number of times, but a supervisor would take my information and relay it on to him. I don't really understand that. And come to find out Titus butcher fat was the supervisor of the young gentleman who told me to go take a nap. And he said, I will deal with it. And I said, well, that's two weeks ago. So that's beside the point. But I still have the issue with middle housing income. And it is taking. It'll take 95% of our neighborhood because another house has been put up for sale. And the other family is going to leave as soon as their child graduates from high school. And this is what middle income has done. It's taken away this lot because they bought the house, they tore it down, they're building four. The one next to it, they bought it, they're tearing it down, they're building eight cottages. Now the house across the street will more than likely be bought by a... developer, the one next to them. And the nursing home would then be another eight house. 95% of this original 10 house block will be up to 30 houses. I don't think that's what middle housing land use is for. And we need to spread it out so it's not in one community. And when Woodridge, Somerset, these communities that have their CCs and their HOAs, Tam O'Shanter, they shouldn't be exempt because they should have middle housing in that area. So when one block is full, then move on. This block can do no more planning. Let's move to another block. And I just feel very strongly on that. And I have 10 seconds. And I did have some good things to say. I'm still trying to figure out about a private road, which construction people don't listen to us. It says no parking, and they just park. Thank you, Ms. Cobb.

Thank you.

Our final preregistered speaker is Alex Zimmerman.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Yeah, my name Alex Zimmerman, and I want to speak something about critical, what is I speak for almost four years here. We have a system right now controlling by these seven, what is I call, them Nazi Gestapo fascist bandita who bring Bellevue to total collapse. Four years I live here. I bring, come today like a Refugee for freedom. What does I see here? It's a pure fascism. Not only fascism, unique fascism, but it don't have analogy in state Washington. It's exactly come from Bellevue, a king country, because king country number one fascist county in America. And I want to speak something about absolutely critical. And I give you an example. But as I never see in my life, and I am political for all my life, the Soviet Union Nazi, the local Nazi, you're all identical. Hitler Nazi is better than you, I'll be honest with you. I'm sorry, it's a joke. So we have one problem that is totally confused. We, right now, have a mayor who use his not legal name. If it is small, it's not legal name. If it is small, no legal name. He sign all official document. It's a crime. It's a felony. And I talking about this many time. And I complain to Bellevue Police, because you cannot use your Not legal name for official document. Is this absolutely critical? Because it's seven idiotic here. You know what it means? I cannot find another word. Debile, you know what it means? Debile supports this. What is you doing this? He have his name, Muhammad. Why he cannot use his name officially for four years? Can somebody from you explain to me why so quiet? You don't understand. When you sign something but not legal name, it's a crime. Or don't be a mayor. Sit before, like deputy, you know what it means, for two years in doing this. Okay. But mayor who sign everything, budget, every decision, what is you have not legal name. Does this have a sense? Why is it all you quiet about this? Can you explain to me? How is this possible? Seven people who, oh, pardon, this idiot elect, only 10% elect you, only 10%. You are a junta, you are a bandita. Why you cannot doing this? He cannot change name to more, he want more, okay, with me. Viva Trump, viva law, viva Trump. We have a new American revolution. Stand up, slap and happy cow. We need changes.

That is the end of our pre-registered list. Thank you. At this point, I would ask if there's anyone else joining us tonight for oral communications. Please raise your hand if you would like to speak. Again, one final reminder that it can't be about the budget. That would be under the public hearing. So if it's not budget related, come forward, sir.

Welcome.

If you could state your name for the record, that would be great. Thank you. Sure.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Gary Sampson, and I'm a retired primary school grade teacher. I've just finished a 50 year career in education and human services. And tonight I'm here representing Family Law Casa of King County, where I'm a volunteer child advocate and a board member. We have served children in Bellevue providing free child advocacy services for 25 years. And we were a recipient of funds in the last several years, and we have reapplied. We're number 155 on that big, long spreadsheet of 177 applicants, and we've been recommended for funding for the next year. So we appreciate that consideration.

Mr. Sampson.

Yes.

I'm going to ask one more time.

Are the rest of your comments related to the budget? We do have you on the budget public hearing list.

No, they're related to the Human Services Commission.

I'll leave that to the mayor.

Okay.

If it is about Human Services Commission, please, if it is about budget, please wait.

I'm sorry, right. So just want to let you know that last night, this is two good news things. Last night, I attended for three hours the meeting of the Human Services Commission. You should be proud of that group. They acted with integrity and care and thoughtfulness, making very tough decisions there for several hours. And the other piece there is that there is something to celebrate with 177 applicants of human services who are all working to help people and restore dignity to people, to alleviate suffering. And all these agencies want to partner with the city of Bellevue. So I think that's very good news, even though it's a very challenging thing. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your teaching tenure. We appreciate you. And thank you for sitting in the... Commission meeting for three hours. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else joining us in council chambers who would like to make a comment? Okay, I do have one hand online and that's Joe Kunstler. Mr. Kunstler, can you hear me? Yes, we can. Your time begins now.

Okay, I'm going to be hopefully a lot more restrained this time, but First off, Mr. Zimmerman's continued historical ignorance, I think, deserves a rebuttal from someone with Jewish relatives and friends, not just for the council, but for the audience at home, like Victoria looks like S.H. Valtee that rebroadcast these meetings. The Holocaust, to actually have a Holocaust would require not having the school's director, school superintendent, in a Zoom call with the Jewish Federation of Seattle trying to protect Jewish students. Furthermore, the continued harassment of this council should be condemned by every friend of the Middle East side, not just people who like Bellevue, not just people who are Dr. Wynne-Romansson fans or Mayor Cohodesian fans, but people who just believe in basic decency. This has gone on long enough. And in case our experiment is listening, I suggest this debut giving a budget speech, sir. read up on on world history i'll conclude with this thought um some communities have been able to develop a hate-free zone with jewish leadership and with state representative elect vanessa kritzer i hope every community will be able to thank you for your public service and be safe out there thank you thank you i did not see any additional hands one final call out okay mayor i don't see any hands i'll turn it back to you

Thank you so much. Again, thank you for everyone who shared their comments. People should be assured that we are all listening and we will follow up if and when necessary. On that note, we have great news. City Manager, would you please share that good news with all of us? Thank you, Mayor, council members.

Yes. So we're very pleased to announce that the city's communications team has won three awards for communications excellence from the nation's premier government communications industry association, which is known as 3CMA. That's the City County Communications and Marketing Association. So I want to offer congratulations to the award recipients and to thank you also for the critical work that you do every day that helps enhance both the access to the city and government and the connection to our residents.

Just to make sure I've heard correctly, not one, not two, three awards?

Three awards from the three CMA, yes, group. And so with that, I'm going to turn it over to our Chief Communications Officer, Michelle DeGrand, to introduce the recipients.

Great, thank you so much City Manager Carlson, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council Members, good evening. We are super thrilled to be here tonight to share with you this excellent news. That's right, not one, not two, but three awards from the 3CMA, which is the City, County Communications and Marketing Association. And I just want to introduce you to everyone that we have here at the table today who is really behind this wonderful work that resulted in these awards. So first of all, we have Michaelene Fowler. She is our Public Information Officer, primarily supporting Bellevue Utilities. And she took home top honors with a Savvy Award. That is the best award that you can get at this conference. And for her utility-specific crisis communications plan. We also have Ben Shahabi. You all know and love him. He is with our Bellevue Television Group. David Richardson is the second leg of that stool who was not able to be here tonight. But they won a second place award. That is the Silver Circle Award for their Lake to Lake news show. You know them as helping behind the scenes with our council broadcasts, but they also do lots of other stories, including that monthly news show that we do. And then also we have Bridget Larson. She's from our Parks and Community Services Department. She produced a third place award of excellence, winning for her summer day camp guide for the community. And Claude is also here with us. Claude diligently provides the help for us to get all of our submissions in on time, and he makes sure that they show as best as we can. And so he is definitely some of the brute behind us winning three awards this year. Also, I just want to thank all of our team because it's important to note that everything that we do in communications takes a village, quite literally. From producing all those lake-to-lake stories for which we mine our subject matter experts in each and every one of our departments to the experts that are behind the operations for which Michaelene made her crisis communications plan, all the way to our partners in IT who help us with graphics to make all of our digital imprinted materials beautiful. It really does take a whole lot of people, so I just want to acknowledge that as well. So we're just here for your information tonight. And just to give you a little sense of kind of what this actually means for us, you may have watched the Emmys last night. Well, for government communicators, the Savvy Awards are really like our Emmys. So this is a pretty big deal for us. And 3CMA had 1,200 submissions. for this year's awards. And 3CMA is one of the premier associations. They are a training industry association and networking that is very well known throughout the nation. And they're founded on the philosophy that communications and marketing are really essential to helping governments engage with their communities and build stronger relationships with their residents. Bellevue was one of just a few cities this year to win multiple awards. I don't even know if anyone won three. We might be the only one who did that. And the last time we won a first place award, just to give you a sense of how rare this is, was five years ago. for in 2021 for our COVID special edition of It's Your City, which is the city newspaper. And actually, Claude, I also was the editor of It's Your City. So he was here for that award. And then we also won a third place award for a housing brochure in 2023. But that just gives you a sense of how rare these are to win. And this year, the folks in front of you are representing not one, not two, but three awards. So definitely wanted to highlight that for you tonight. And just very quickly, we did receive some judging comments, which are helpful. And I wanted to share some of those because they really just do show the really skill and talent behind these materials that we have produced. And you have hard copies of these things in your mailboxes and for Lake to Lake, which is digital publishing. Anyone can watch that on our Bellevue Television YouTube channel anytime they like. But for our first place winner, the Bellevue Utilities Significant Incident Communications Plan, it outlines key strategies for effective incident management. And the judges really felt that the plan was visually polished and defined significant incidents using clear thresholds that are really designed to help establish the right communications protocols quickly and easily in a time of immediacy. So that was a game changer for us. Our Silver Circle Award for Lake to Lake featured stories including our international festival, the annual Lake to Lake bike ride, innovative transportation system advancements, and a reception for some of the city's amazing public art pieces. So that just gives you kind of a flavor of the types of stories that you get to see in Lake to Lake. And the judges there felt that our show was a highly effective way to showcase what's happening in the city. It was well produced, and they even called out our editing, writing, and use of video as excellent, which is great. And then finally, our award of excellence for our summer day camp guide got rave reviews for the layout. And again, here I just have to give a shout out and thanks to Solita Upenix. She's on our graphics team, and she helped make that thing look so beautiful in terms of the visual look and feel. And the judges also liked how detailed the guide was and our inclusion of translated content, which we know is very important for our community. So with that, I could go on and on about the talent and skill of our team. But we just wanted to give you a brief highlight tonight and share the good news. Thank you so much for the opportunity. And I'm sure Mike Lean is going to have this award displayed prominently on her desk if you want to come check it out. All right. Thanks.

Thank you so much. We are all very proud of you. Not only three awards out of 1,200, but also multi-category excellence shows that amazing job you are doing. Thank you on behalf of the whole council.

Mayor.

Yeah, we can do a picture, absolutely. Especially if Councillor Robinson can hold the trophy. Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I move to approve the consent calendar.

It has been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Councillor Newmanhouse. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion passes. We have our public hearing. City Manager, would you please introduce that to us?

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council Members. John Resha, our Chief Financial Officer, is here this evening to introduce the public hearing. We will have a presentation after the public hearing providing more detail on the preliminary budget. But for now, John will just give a few slides before seeking your opening of the public hearing. John.

Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council Members, tonight is intended to be the second public hearing in a series of three public hearings as part of your overall budget process. Currently we're entering the last third of your budget process, which really comes down to your deliberations. This slide is something you will see throughout our budget process, and right now we are at 9-15, the second public hearing, and the introduction of the preliminary budget. From a council engagement standpoint, there is a budget public involvement website, webpage. If you go to bellevuewa.gov slash budget dash process, you'll be able to find that. Again, there are three public hearings. This is the second of them, and the third one will be on October 27th. It is right about the time when your strategic target area discussions are wrapping up, and you're moving into providing direction and guidance. Your deliberations are really beginning now and will go through, we believe, November 17th when we have target for adoption that evening. And if the public has any questions or would like to provide feedback, we recommend sending emails to Council at BellevueY.gov. And with that, I turn it back to you, Mayor.

Thank you so much. I think before I open the public hearing, I would love to go back to City Clerk and ask how many speakers are signed up for the public hearing.

There are 48 pre-registered speakers this evening.

Thank you. Given that number, I'm going to now ask for a motion to suspend our rules and set the time limit of each speaker at one and a half minutes. Do I have a motion?

I move to suspend Section 8.C.1.D of Resolution Number 10544 and establish a speaking time limit of one and a half minutes per person for the public hearing.

It's been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Council Member Newhouse. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes. Now we are going to the public hearing. The time is one and a half minutes. I think it's two minutes here. Do I have a motion to open the public hearing? I move to open the public hearing.

Second.

It's been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Council Member Brouillard. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion passes. City Clerk, we are all you.

Thank you. So as I said, there are 48 pre-registered speakers. Before I start calling names, I will mention the council is aware of this, but you did receive 50 written comments on the budget that have been all compiled and sent to you earlier today. You did receive them all in your email in the first instance. And again, before I start calling names, I'm going to let folks know I'm going to call three speakers at a time. If the first speaker can come to the table and the next two can come and place yourselves in the front row, that'll just help with our transition time as we have a lot of folks to move through. And with one other announcement, A minute and a half is not capable for us to set on the timer here. So what we're going to do is run a two minute timer. And when we hit 30 seconds, your time is technically up. So rather than running down to zero, that's the best that we can do on our digital timer here. So I'll remind folks when we hit 30 seconds, that's actually your time is up at that point. So our first three speakers, Pearl Lung, if you could come to the table, and then Anna Zavartz and Craig Spiesel, if you can make your way to the front row, please. Thank you.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Malacuti and Deputy Mayor Hamilton and members of the City Council and City Manager Carlson. I want to start by thanking city staff for the extraordinary work behind this budget. They listen to the community and produce a preliminary budget that translates long-range ambition into real investment, balancing a wide range of community priorities. The investments in this budget are the transportation infrastructure that makes the growth work in the comp plan. Amazon supports the balanced approach across the transportation portfolio. We see real value in funding the TBD under scenarios two and three. Bellevue earned a strong reputation of spending tax dollars wisely. And the case for acting now is simple. These needs will not go away. Waiting only gets more expensive. We want to specifically call out support for the Transportation Master Plan, fixing underperforming intersections along 112th and 116th, smart mobility technology, safe connections to East Trail, and completing major projects like Spring Boulevard. As a member of the Chamber's Bellevue Mobility Coalition, we also don't want to lose sight of improving connectivity to 405 and support funding early engineering. And we'll continue to work with city to advance WSDOT-led work. Most importantly, Amazon fully supports the Grand Connection portfolio capital budget as proposed. It is an investment in Bellevue's future that will yield generational benefits, including getting the city towards its carbon neutrality goal. The time is now to, yep, there we go, thank you. Thank you.

I'm so sorry. I apologize. Just a reminder for everybody, as Anna is sitting down, you can always email your full comments to the council. The email address is council at BellevueWA.gov.

Welcome, Anna.

All right. Good evening, council members. My name is Ana Zibarts, and I'm with the Non-Drivers Alliance. We're a grassroots organizing project that advocates for communities where all of us can move, not just those of us who can drive. A third of Washingtonians are non-drivers, people with disabilities, seniors, young people, and families who can't afford a car. For non-drivers, transportation determines whether we can get to an appointment, see a friend, or get to work, or whether we're stuck at home and isolated. That is why we strongly support the city's investment in the Grand Connection crossing. Right now, I-405 is a wall. If you walk, roll, or bike, or rely on transit, getting across safely is a real challenge. The crossing changes that with protected car-free pathway connected to East Rail and Light Rail. East Trail and light rail. For non-drivers, that's not an amenity. It's a lifeline. Funding this project means Bellevue is saying to non-drivers matter. It means a person using a wheelchair can safely cross 405. It means a senior can walk to light rail. It means a family without a car can reach the services they depend on. That's what accessible infrastructure looks like. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. As Mr. Spiesel is coming to the table, our next speakers will be Beth Osborne and Steve Kramer. If you can make your way forward, please.

Welcome. Good evening. I'm Craig Spiezel, a resident of Bellevue, speaking on regard to the budget. And I also want to acknowledge the hard work the staff made on creating it. I do not feel, I am concerned because I don't feel the budget appreciates the financial impact that residents are facing. Young families to seniors are all feeling the pinch, and now is not the time to increase the sales tax or car tab fees for projects that may not be urgent. The city needs to be prepared for a downturn between workforce reductions, decline in real estate sales, and the overall constriction of the economy. I believe the city needs to recalibrate its tax revenues and curb spending just as the state and other cities have had to do. I don't believe Bellevue will be immune. While I support the vision of the Grand Connection, I strongly oppose using the funds from TBD for this. When Council approved the TBD in 2023, it was justified to meet of reducing key capital transportation needs. It was not to approve projects such as Grand Connection, and as only two of you were on the council at that time, I encourage each council member to review the minutes and videos on how it was justified. If council wants to move forward with a grant connection, this and other non-essential programs should be put to a public vote, not unlike a public park levy. We need to focus on making Bellevue a place where one can not only find affordable housing, but perhaps most importantly, afford to live here. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Beth Osborne.

Welcome.

Good evening.

I'm Beth Osborne, I'm the Director of Public Affairs and Strategic Community Partnerships at Symmetra and I'm also a proud member of the Grand Connection Steering Committee. Thanks for being here and listening to all of our views. I'm here to express Symmetra's support for the Capital Improvement Plan's proposed funding for the Grand Connection crossing and generally support prioritizing resources towards our city's growth centers that improve transportation choices and mobility that the Chamber will talk about a little bit later today. Symetra has called the Eastside home since 1976, and as we've grown and Bellevue has grown, we are so invested in this community. That's why we're part of this broad coalition of community members, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and even government partners to advocate for this project. We think that it is a forward-looking infrastructure investment that will help strengthen the city's connectivity, livability, and economic vitality. By improving safe access across I-405, the crossing will better connect residents, employees, transit, parks, affordable housing, and downtown destinations like employers. like Symmetra is. This will help make a more accessible and vibrant city and help us move through the city without a car. We appreciate your leadership and respectfully encourage you to support this funding. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you. Steve Kramer is coming to the table. If we could have Mike Hubbard, Todd Myers, and Sarah Langton join us up front.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Malakoutian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton and Council Members. I'm Steve Kramer, a founding board member of East Rail Partners. I'm here today to express East Rail Partners strong support for the Grand Connection project. East Rail Partners is the nonprofit stewarding the 42 mile East Rail, the rail to trail project running from Renton to Snohomish that connects two counties and six cities with direct connections to light rail, upcoming stride, rapid ride stations and multiple other regional trails. The Grand Connection Crossing and East Rail are integral to each other, creating a seamless regional active transportation network that will serve communities throughout King County for generations to come. By connecting downtown Bellevue to the East Rail and Wilberton, this investment infrastructure will connect residents throughout the corridor from northern communities like Woodville to southern neighborhoods in Renton and beyond, enabling them to reach Bellevue's concentration of jobs, services and amenities without depending on personal vehicles. By providing safe walking, biking, and rolling routes that also connect to four light rail stations along East Rail, the crossing eliminates a significant obstacle to economic mobility. Residents and affordable housing developments will gain direct access to employment opportunities, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and childcare, all through active transportation modes. So, therefore, we really support this project. Thank you very much.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, Council Members. My name is Mike Hubbard. I am the co-chair of KidsQuest Children's Museum. Our new facility will sit at a key point along the Grand Connection, making KidsQuest an anchor destination on this corridor. We believe every child deserves access to enriching learning experiences regardless of their family's income or access to a car. That's why we're here in strong support of this investment. The Grand Connection Crossing gives families a safe, car-free way to reach us. A parent and child living east of 405 will be able to walk or bike to our museum. and connect to light rail along the way. For many families who need us most, that's the difference between a visit to KidsQuest and a missed opportunity. And the crossing doesn't just connect families to our museum, it connects our museum to everything else. A visit becomes a gateway to nature and to outdoor discovery. That foot traffic also strengthens the local economy, driving visitors to cultural destinations and businesses along the entire corridor. Funding this project means a child in our community can walk safely to the museum that was built for them. It means Kids Quest at our new home on the Grand Connection becomes truly accessible to every family in Bellevue. That is equitable, that is practical, and that is a kind of city Bellevue is building. We are grateful for your time this evening and excited about what this investment will mean for the children and families of Bellevue.

Thank you. Todd Myers.

Welcome.

Thank you. My name is Todd Myers. I'm the environmental director at the Washington Policy Center and have worked in environmental policy for about 25 years, including at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and on the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council. One of the most frustrating aspects about my experience has been watching government programs spend money on projects that fail to deliver environmental results. Bellevue, Seattle, King County, and Washington have not met their climate targets, but not because they haven't spent money. The key reason is that governments tend to spend money on projects that have very high costs, but do very little to reduce CO2 emissions. And the proposed city budget includes several such programs. For example, the proposal includes funding for more EV charging stations. Using public data from apps like ChargePoint, we looked at usage of existing EV chargers in Bellevue over the course of a month during weekday business hours. The data show that EV drivers are using only 25% of existing capacity. With EV range increasing, building more public EV charging stations would simply add an already overbuilt supply when public charging stations are becoming less important. There's also mention of subsidizing e-bikes. In a study published last October by the University of Washington, researchers found that e-bike subsidies, quote, did not create measurable reductions in daily vehicle miles traveled, and consequently no measurable reductions in carbon emissions. I'm happy to tell you more about what works and what doesn't, even over gumbo. Thank you. Thank you.

As Ms. LinkedIn's coming to the table, if we could have Anthony McKay, Brady Nordstrom, and Gina Kavesh join us at the front.

Thank you.

Good evening, council members, mayor, deputy mayor, city manager. Thanks for having us tonight. My name is Sarah Langton. I'm here tonight as the executive director of the Friends of the Grand Connection. We are a coalition of over 60 residents, businesses, organizations, civic leaders advocating over the last couple of years for support of the Grand Connection crossing. What a lot of people don't know is I was born and raised in Bellevue. I grew up in Woodridge, and I've worked in Bellevue now for 31 years. Don't say anything about that. And in that time, I've seen so many amazing things in Bellevue, but I have never seen a moment quite like this. The city is poised to build the next generational legacy project, the Grand Connection Crossing. This crossing will transform Bellevue. And you've heard how that will happen from lots of folks. I will add one thing, which is the positive economic impact the data shows that it will have during construction and annually for the city's budget. This project will be a gift to the entire city, both residents and businesses, for now and for generations to come. The time for this project is now. TIF was unanimously approved by our regional partners. The city was successful in getting GCCM delivery model. The contractor's been hired. The team is doing value engineering, and we're heading to 60% design. We have momentum, we have widespread community support, and we have the opportunity right in front of us to make this your legacy project for Bellevue. Thanks.

Thank you.

Anthony McKay.

Welcome.

Good evening, council and city staff. Out of respect for your time, we're going to be very quick. And I'm bringing my husband, Raymond Lai, who's speaking later. We'll do it together in a minute and a half. Thank you very much. We call Bellevue home. We live here. We love the city. We moved from abroad. And I genuinely believe our lives touch a lot of parts of Bellevue. And the Grand Connection crossing matters a lot for us from our different perspectives. I'm the Executive Director of the Old Bellevue Merchants Association in one of my roles. We represent shops, businesses, those who call Bellevue home, guests that come to the city to visit the whole city but also Old Bellevue. We feel that we're at the western end, at the start of the Grand Connection, and I think this would be something that will help draw more people into Old Bellevue. It completes a corridor that brings a lot of people to us, it'll increase foot traffic for us, and help people who may normally drive get to visit us. I also work for the Sophia Way as their donor engagement manager, and we help women experiencing homelessness find shelter and stable housing. For the women that I work with at the Sophia Way, many without a car, safe connections to transit and services aren't a convenience, they're a lifeline.

technical garden society. The garden will be well connected with this crossing to the residents on Elbeville like myself. So really appreciate all support you've given to this project. Thank you. Thank you both.

Our next speaker is Brady Nordstrom, who I believe is joining us virtually. Mr. Nordstrom, if you could raise your hand online so I could identify you, that would be great. He may not be joining us yet. I'll circle back to him. Our next speaker is Gina Kavesh. While she's making her way forward, if Maria Frost, Tim Carr, and Alex Zimmerman, of course, is in the front. If you could make your way up front, that would be great.

Good evening, council members. My name is Gina Cavish. I'm a lifelong Bellevue resident. I also serve as co-chair of the board of Cascade Cycling Club, the Pacific Northwest and US's largest cycling organization with over 10,000 members. We advocate for safe places to ride and work to make cycling accessible for everyone. I'm here tonight in strong support of the Grand Connection Crossing. Our members ride across the east side every week, and we hear the same thing consistently. The infrastructure on both sides of I-405 is good, but crossing safely is a real barrier. For families, new riders, and kids, it's a deal breaker. The crossing removes the barrier with a protected car-free connection between East Trail, downtown Bellevue, and the broader regional trail network. This is not a gap fill. It's a game changer for cycling on the east side. It is also a climate investment. Transportation accounts for approximately 44% of community-wide greenhouse emissions in Bellevue, and every bike trip is a car trip not taken. When Bellevue builds infrastructure that makes it safe and easy to choose a bike over car and advances the city's climate goals, the crossing makes that sustainable choice practical choice for how we move the needle on emissions. For Cascade and our members, this is a missing piece that makes the whole network work. It means a family can safely ride from Wilberton to the waterfront. It means the Eastside's trail system connects to the heart of the city. And it means Bellevue puts real infrastructure behind its climate commitments. Cascade Bicycle Club and our members are behind this project, all 10,000. We hope to see it in the budget, and we're grateful for your commitment to building a Bellevue that works for every cyclist, every walker, and every resident. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Maria Frost, who is joining us virtually. Maria, can you hear me? I can. Can you hear me? We can. Your time begins now.

Good evening, Council. My name is Maria Frost, Vice President of Government Affairs at Kemper Development Company. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak tonight. We strongly support the pragmatic and urgent priorities put forward by the Bellevue Chamber and its Bellevue Mobility Coalition. We've outlined those priorities in the letter John Carlson and I co-signed and sent you this afternoon. However, as Council considers raising sales tax and car tab fees through a TBD, we believe that any tab fees TBD tax increases must go to Bellevue voters for approval. This approach honors the foundational principles of Kemper Freeman Jr., a lifelong Bellevue resident who has a clear understanding of what promotes economic activity and what enhances the vitality of our neighborhoods. Letting the people of Bellevue vote on whether to increase their taxes for transportation improvements helps on both fronts. Bellevue residents and businesses have already absorbed two county-level sales tax increases this year, pushing our rate toward 10.5% if this passes. The Council should exhaust all options using existing revenues before asking the public to bear a third increase. Putting a targeted, transparent project list on the ballot would build durable public support and trust and force accountability to Bellevue residents and businesses who pay for these improvements. Please prioritize congestion relief, protect and enhance arterial capacity and safety, and let Bellevue voters decide on any TBD expansion of taxes. Thank you so much for your time and leadership. Thank you. Tim Carr.

Welcome.

Good evening, council members, Mayor Malcozian, city staff.

My name is Tim Carr. I'm here in support of the Grand Connection Crossing and a supporter and member of the Friends of the Grand Connection. As CEO of Bellevue Convention Story that operates Maiden Bower Center, Maiden Bower Theater, and Visit Bellevue, for more than 30 years, we've been a gathering place for the heart of Bellevue, home to live theater, performing arts, national and regional conventions, and community celebrations. What makes a city vibrant isn't its buildings. It's how people move between them. whether a family can walk from a dinner to a performance, whether a visitor stepping off light rail can throw us through a connected downtown. That's place making, and that's what the Grand Connection Connector does for this city. As we look around the region, city elected officials are having to make some challenging and meaningful decisions. in their budget process. The Grand Connection Crossing is a wise use of Bellevue budget dollars. Connected pedestrian-friendly infrastructure generates outsized returns in foot traffic, small business activity, and cultural participation. As a board member of the Bellevue Downtown Association, I've attended many study tours with some council members and city staff on occasion. And one thing always stands out. Potestian infrastructure investments that connect neighborhoods consistently produce positive outcomes. I encourage you to support the connection. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alex Zimmerman. And while he's coming to the table, if Patrick Bannon, Mike Stewart, and Tony Sprague can join us up front. Thank you.

Hi, my name Alex Zimmerman, I'm president of Stand Up America Party. Yeah, I live in Bellevue for 40 years, a long time, I'm sorry. Bellevue budget, 1.2 billion. GDP, $150 billion. I speak right now to this idiot who don't understand difference between budget $1 billion for people, $150,000, and $150 billion for Amazon, Microsoft. Why is this happening in Bellevue? Can you explain to me? Bellevue in collapse now. For last eight year under Mayor Robinson and Mohammed, you know what is mean? We totally come to collapse. They only support corporation. You understand what is I mean? They not support American. Why care about 150,000 people? They care? No, they're a Nazi pig. It's exactly what I told you, a pure bandita who steals money. My question is very simple. You have only 40 meetings per year. Yep. We pay you $400 per hour. You understand? People cannot live like a normal in Bellevue now. I remember time when Bellevue very good, beautiful. And for last eight year under this crook bandita could support only corporation, no people. Everybody dead.

Everybody. Your time has expired.

Thank you.

Patrick Bannon.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Council.

My name is Patrick Bannon, President and CEO of the Bellevue Downtown Association. Tonight, I would like to reflect our support for the core priorities that are reflected in this preliminary budget. It's commitment to a responsible, forward-looking plan, and it reinforces the fact that strong cities get the fundamentals right. They invest with confidence in what comes next. They reinforce Bellevue's focus on public safety, core services, infrastructure, including transportation, that will support our economic vitality and make this city, continue to make this city a place where people will thrive and businesses will thrive. Especially supportive of the Grand Connection crossing as it's presented in the budget. You've heard much support tonight. I'll just add that smart growth follows smart infrastructure. The Grand Connection Crossing is the kind of project that decades from now people may simply assume was already here. But it's not going to happen by accident. It takes vision, willingness, fortitude, a little political courage. Bellevue's done that before. This investment will help keep downtown and the city competitive while delivering economic, community, and mobility benefits for generations. So thank you for your leadership and continued investment in Bellevue's future.

Thank you. Mike Stewart.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Mike Stewart. I serve as the CEO of Kindering, a nonprofit founded here in Bellevue more than 60 years ago. Each year we have the privilege of serving more than 800 Bellevue children with disabilities, developmental delays and other diverse needs and their families. Thank you so much for the opportunity to comment on Bellevue's preliminary 2027-2028 budget. We appreciate the city's focus on maintaining services residents rely on while preparing Bellevue for continued growth. As you make those decisions, we encourage you to continue prioritizing investments that ensure Bellevue remains a community where children and families of all backgrounds and abilities can thrive. That starts with investing early. The first year of a child's life represents an extraordinary window of development. When children have access to developmental services, inclusive early learning, and strong relationships with caregivers, we can address challenges early and build a foundation for healthy development. We also encourage Bellevue to continue investing in services that help families in crisis stabilize. Economic hardship, housing instability, loss of child care, and stressors can deeply impact child development. So we urge you to continue prioritizing services that support these families in these challenging situations. Thank you so much for your service and continued commitment to making Bellevue a community where every child and family has the opportunity to thrive. Thank you.

Thank you.

Tony Sprague.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Malakoutian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton, and Council Members. My name is Tony Sprague, and I'm with the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce testifying on behalf of the Bellevue Mobility Coalition. I'm new to the role of Public Policy Manager at the Chamber, and I'm looking forward to working with you all in the months ahead. We appreciate the city's partnership on transportation planning, and my comments this evening reflect our letter to the council submitted today. We're encouraged by this budget's investment in the growth corridor, downtown, Wilburton, Bellred, East Main, Factoria, and Eastgate. And as the city considers a transportation benefit district, we'd ask that sales tax revenue paid largely by businesses continue prioritizing that corridor while car tab revenue supports the neighborhoods that pay it. We'd also ask the city to name three growth corridor intersections in the CIP, fund early engineering on key wash stop projects so they're ready for a future legislative transportation funding package, and adopt a transparent framework with real performance metrics for how TBD revenue is prioritized and spent, and to protect basic pavement preservation and vehicular capacity if revenues fall short or costs rise. Thank you to city staff for their excellent work to date. Thank you counsel for your leadership and we look forward to working together. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to circle back to Brady Nordstrom who is joining us online. Mr. Nordstrom. Can you hear me?

Hello, can you hear me?

We can your time begins now.

Great. Greetings, City Council. My name is Brady Nordstrom, and I'm the Associate Director of Government Relations and Policy at the Housing Development Consortium. ACC thanks Bellevue for your ongoing prioritization of affordable housing in the budget. This happens through more ways than you might expect, though. First, it happens through ongoing commitments to things like the Arch Housing Trust Fund and operations that continue the legacy of regional collaboration and success. Bellevue also deepens its impact within city limits through new commitments to the Office of Housing. However, in a less obvious way, the budget has another priority that will further affordable housing in Bellevue, funding the Grand Connection Crossing. Over the last several years, HTC has been working through a broad-based coalition of unlikely partners known as the Eastside Housing Roundtable. This led to a consensus in the Wolverton neighborhood that added bold jobs and housing capacity, which also included a policy that ties a portion of growth to the funding and production of affordable housing. HTC supports the Grand Connection as a transformative project that will catalyze housing development in the Wilberton neighborhood, which will not only bring housing closer to jobs and public amenities, but will also directly support new affordable housing in Bellevue. And we hope that this will make Bellevue more accessible to workers and families that can't currently find affordable housing within city limits. So thank you for your continuing value to invest in affordable housing in the community. And thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

Thank you. I would like to invite John Chilmanack to the table and invite John Harrison, Karen Armstead, and Cameron Barajas up front, please.

Welcome.

Always good to be back. Thank you very much, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council. I am here today to speak in favor of the adoption of the budget as it's planned and the financing for the Grand Connection crossing. We had some wild ideas come up about 12 years ago about what this should look like, and Councilmember Wallace and I were the liaisons to the group. So we came up with a guiding principle, memorable but doable. That's what has been followed through this entire project. This will create a transportation project, much more than a pedestrian bridge over I-405. It'll create a landmark for the city and a destination unto itself. Your vote on this project will be historic and you don't get many opportunities for a historic vote as a member of the council. They are few and far between. But this one is a transportation project and one that's transformational. So please vote for it in the budget and take it from memorable but doable to spectacular and done. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. John Harrison. John Harrison.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is John Harrison. I'm the Chief of Policy, Public and Legal Affairs with the Bellevue School District. I'm here tonight to express my strong support for the City of Bellevue's budget investment in both the Grand Connection Crossing and the Bellevue Promise. I'll start with the Grand Connection. As our city grows, we have an opportunity to create infrastructure that not only moves people efficiently, but connects neighbourhoods and creates a stronger sense of belonging. Projects that improve access and connectivity benefit families, including students walking or biking, parents commuting, and community members gathering in shared spaces. The Grand Connection crossing mitigates the concerns that we've heard from families about crossing the freeway safely. The crossing addresses these concerns directly by providing safe walking, biking, and rolling routes connected to light rail and complementing the city's Safe Routes to Schools program. The Bellevue Promise represents what is possible when a community comes together around a shared belief that every student deserves access to higher education and the opportunity to pursue their goals. The Promise is to support a tuition-free education for Bellevue School District graduates at Bellevue College. It is a unique partnership between the city, Bellevue School District, and the Bellevue College that will create a pathway to help more students, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups, access college and career opportunities. With both of these projects, we have an opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of Bellevue students for generations to come. Thank you, and thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. Karen Armstead.

Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Karen Armstead and, uh, thank you, mayor, deputy mayor, council members, and also our city manager. I'm part of the VASA neighborhood. And, uh, I would like to show those other members. We have some still here. Thank you for all of you who came. They joined me in saying how much we appreciate the way that we've been able to interact with you, to talk, to email, to walk, and to share ideas. And we also very much appreciate the way that city staff have communicated with us, helped us, assisted us. It's all been very positive, and we appreciate it. So our message tonight is thank you for our presence in the transportation budget. We are happy to be there. We're delighted that this progress is happening for our neighborhood. And we would ask you to keep us in the budget and also support the timely and perhaps urgent or priority involvement in seeing those changes that we need to start happening. So thank you, and we look forward to continuing to interact with you.

Thank you.

Thank you. As Cameron Brajas is coming to the table, I'd ask Rosemary Dunkel, Lavanya Singh, and Nihal Singh to join us up front.

Welcome.

All right. Good afternoon, Council and staff. I want to start by saying thank you for including $2.5 million per year for building decarbonization efforts in this preliminary biennium budget. As you've heard before from PCA and others, decarbonization efforts and programs take time and increasing investments in order to ramp up and have the most impact on emissions. That said, I would also like to encourage additional investments to be made, especially in Energy Smart Eastside, which is receiving a similar half a million per year that is received in past budgets. The ESE program has already stood up, and we have a reason to believe its emissions cutting impact could be greatly increased with additional funding. This additional investment would go far in chipping away at the about 52% of emissions that existing buildings are currently responsible for in Bellevue. I believe this additional funding for impactful programs could be found, as the budget currently includes $67 million per year for sustainability efforts in municipal operations, although municipal operations account for about 0.4% of emissions in the city. Having a highly efficient and sustainable government is great, and I'm very glad that the city is ahead of its emissions cutting goals. But I would also like us to get the most gain from the money we invest. And as of now, I believe that gain is found investing in cutting community emissions from transportation and existing buildings. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you for the additional investments. And I hope we can make Bellevue a leader in sustainability efforts that we can all be proud of. Thank you.

Thank you. Rosemary Dunkel.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening. My name is Rosemary Dunkel, and I live on West Lake Sammamish Parkway, down near the little store. I'm wearing what I wear when I walk my dogs in my neighborhood on my street. And I'm here to encourage you to proceed with the plan outlined in the Transportation Capital Projects Plan to improve pedestrian and bike infrastructure on West Lake Sammamish Parkway. I wear these clothes daily in my neighborhood because there's only a narrow white line separating me from cars driving 30 to 40 miles per hour. On a daily basis, I watch oncoming cars veer into the walking path as drivers check their schedules, take phone calls, put on lip gloss, and reach for their coffee. When cars are parked on the shoulder, I wait for gaps in traffic to scoot around them. I'm terrified when my son goes out on his bike. In order to access the services in my neighborhood and the beautiful parks that we've funded, I have to walk along the road. The absence of a buffer zone between pedestrians, bikes, and cars is unsafe for me and for all my neighbors. So I urge you to fund the capital transportation plan which will establish pedestrian and bike Safeway on West Lake Sammamish Parkway between 34th and North of Way. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Lavanya Singh.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, council members and city staff. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I would like to thank the council for its leadership and for including initial funding for climate action in the preliminary budget. However, we need to go further as this isn't enough to meet our climate goals. Existing buildings generate more than half of Bellevue's greenhouse gas emissions, yet the draft budget provides only half of the $12 million needed for existing building decarbonization over the next biennium. This matters because residential gas furnaces can operate for roughly 20 years. Without support to transition to heat pumps now, we risk locking fossil fuel infrastructure into our neighborhoods for decades, making our climate targets much harder to achieve. Some may ask whether Bellevue can afford the additional investment. I would ask, where can our public dollars have the greatest community-wide impact? Investing in programs like Energy Smart Eastside allows the city to leverage private homeowner investment and accelerate emissions reductions across thousands of buildings, not just city-owned facilities. Kindly reconsider and commit the full $12 million to existing building decarbonization. Thank you for your leadership and for Bellevue's future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nihal Singh, if you can join us at the table. And if Tim Motz, Alice Meng, and Gary Sampson can join us up front, please.

Good evening, council members. Welcome. Another small voice in green bandana today. I want to start by saying we recognize the $6 million that the council is putting towards building decarbonization in the draft budget. And that's meaningful progress, and I genuinely appreciate it. That said, it does fall short of what the Sustainable Bellevue Plan requires, the targets that the city has set for 2030 and 2050 for emissions reduction. I want to highlight two specific numbers today. That'll be my two cents for today. And both those numbers happen to be 1%. The first 1% number is the fraction of the budget that we ask that the council devotes towards climate action. The city budget is a total of $950 million. We just asked the city to devote 1% of that, which is close to $9 million. as the annual funding towards climate action. That's a small investment that will have an outsized impact. The second 1% number is the city plans to spend $67 million towards decarbonizing its own government buildings, but those buildings are less than 1% of Bellevue's total building square footage. A much smaller investment in the other 99% of our homes and businesses would cut far more emissions. We generally therefore ask you to increase the $6 million that we are devoting towards climate action to the full $12 million for the biennium, and together we can become a leader in climate action. Let's make Bellevue great.

Thank you. Thank you. Sharmin, I'm going to surprise you because I know Tim, our next speaker, we are going to take a 10-minute break. I promised my colleagues to not let them sit more than one and a half hour, and I think it's one and a half hour mark. Tim, because I knew you, it was a perfect time to give this break. It's 7.31. We are going to be back by 7.41. Thank you. Our city clerk, are we ready to start the meeting? Great.

Back to Mr. Motz.

Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening, council members. My name is Tim Motz. I'm the president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Bellevue, and I'm here in strong support of the Grand Connection. And as an organization that has now 25 locations in Bellevue serving 18,000 kids, as you know, access equity is at the top of everything we do. And the ability to move our children, Bellevue's kids, safely across Bellevue to access all the incredible partnerships that we have with the city, the school district, our housing authority is of utmost importance. I'm going to reduce my speaking points to turn it over to our incredible team to talk about one specific program to give you an exact example of what something like the Grand Connection can do. So I'm going to turn this over to Lance, our Director of Workforce Development.

Hi, my name is Lance Latimer. I'm actually also the executive director of Wheel Lab, which is a youth bike program that we do over on the east side. And we've saved over 3,000 bikes from being thrown away and recycled them back into the community. And to over 600 youth through our programs, we'd like to serve more youth, parents, and adults that need a safe place to ride and access services and entry to our city and connect our east to our west sides of our community. So we also have one of our interns here that would like to speak.

I'm a student at Bellevue High School and I've worked with Lance with Wheel Lab since last summer helping develop the bike program at Wheel Lab and having the Grand Connection connect the bike pass over the 405 would be incredibly helpful to youth trying to get to the Bellevue Club Center.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Alice Meng.

Welcome.

Good evening. First, I want to thank you for allocating $6 million towards existing building decarbonization in the preliminary budget. It's an important step towards meeting the city's commitments and powering a livable, equitable future. However, I urge you to allocate $12 million for the next biennium. $6 million is a good start for 2027, but 2028 will need further funding to fully scale the programs and staff from a reliable funding stream. Why now? Gas furnaces, as you've heard, have a lifespan of roughly 20 years, which means programs like Energy Smart Eastside need to be properly funded so that the community receives enough support in converting to heat pumps, rather than purchasing yet another gas furnace that lives through 2050, causing the city to miss its targets. The next biennium budget cycle ends on December 31st, 2028. That will be just 21 years until 2050, which is the deadline by which you have all pledged to cut emissions by 95%. So the next biennium is truly the last full biennium when the city can properly fund and ramp up these programs that need 20 years post ramp up to have their full effect. The city can do it. The city is planning to allocate an average of $133 million for each of the next three biennia to the city's own buildings and transportation carbon footprint. The city's carbon footprint is trivial compared to the community's carbon footprint, yet the city is able to find funding that is 11 times more than what we are requesting to be put towards the community. Please allocate $12 million towards decarbonizing existing buildings. The next biennium is the last full biennium for the city to get back on track with its 2050 emissions reductions commitment. Thank you.

Thank you.

Gary Sampson.

Mr. Sampson may have left after oral communication. So I'll ask our next three speakers. Court Olson, if you can come to the table. Neil Bakshi and Bill Finkbeiner, if you can make your way up front.

Welcome.

Howdy, howdy, good to see you all again. I sincerely appreciate that the city's planning budget drafters have awakened to the need to seriously fund programs that would cut emissions in existing buildings. Going on my knowledge from decades of overseeing the design and construction of many types of buildings, one million for Energy Smart Eastside and five million for commercial buildings is not nearly enough. It's about half of what we need to get on track to cut our emissions targets that you made. For example, let's zero in on Energy Smart Eastside alone. Sarah Phillips does a great job running that program. Thankfully, Sarah's been successful at getting some short term grants which successfully help the program to reduce emissions in single family homes. Great manager that she is Sarah still doesn't have the funding and staff needed to engage with all Bellevue homeowners when their old furnaces wear out. Consequently, nearly half of Bellevue homeowners are setting are getting new gas furnaces instead of low carbon electric. Heat pumps if the city budgeted $4,000,000 in the next biennium instead of the $1,000,000 currently shown the energy Smart Eastside program may reach its full potential impact. So let's beef up the budget folks. Thanks.

Hello, city council. My name is Neil. I am a freshman at interlake high school. Thank you for this opportunity to speak and I'm on behalf of people for climate action. And I want to thank you for putting 6M 6M dollars towards cutting emissions from buildings. But I urge you to put the full 12M dollars in this biennium and 9M dollars each year by 2029. As you know, 52% of Bellevue's greenhouse gases comes from buildings. Greenhouse gases not only affect our plants and trees, but affect every living organism on this planet. To help make Bellevue a sustainable city, we need to pay attention to programs like Eastside Energy, If you pay attention to these programs and you spend more money on helping these programs, we can reach our goal of 95% carbon emission reduction by 2050. We need to pay attention to this cause more and more and provide for it. We can do it because Bellevue spent $1.9 billion on the 2025-2026 biennium. We are asking for $12 million. We need to pay more attention. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I was nervous.

As Mr. Fink-Brandner is coming to the table, if we can have Michael Lee, Laurie McCray-Keller, and Tracy Cook-Lee join us up front.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. Just watching you operate tonight, I just think you're a council of all stars. And it's no wonder that Bellevue is a leader in this region based on the work you're doing. Thank you so much. My name is Bill Finkbeiner. I've been commuting into the exciting neighborhood of Wilberton for the last 26 years via car and bike at different times. It's really exciting what's gonna happen in Wilberton, thanks largely to the efforts of Mr. Mayor and Council Member Bhargava, and the dedication of the Planning Commission, and the great result that came out of that. And knitting that together with downtown Bellevue is really going to create a tremendous synergy that's going to benefit both, and especially with the connection to the East Rail and that bike trail. One of the things that I think might not go noticed at first that I just want to mention real quick is that there's going to be four grocery stores within a quarter mile of the landing of the Grand Connection. That's going to allow people from downtown to be able to walk to the grocery store, which is really a treat. I just want to thank you for your great work on this budget. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Michael Lee.

Welcome.

Hello, council members and staff. I'm Michael Lee and I've lived in Bellevue and practice medicine for over 30 years. I request that you please fully fund reduction of CO2. I'm very impressed with the speakers are here today. They are passionate about improving Bellevue. However, these improvements are going to be worth less when the climate changes due to CO2. Climate affects everything. Parks and public projects can't be enjoyed if it's too hot and our plants and trees can't survive a changing climate. Residents of Bellevue can't use our city services if our hearts and lungs are damaged by climate related heat, smoke, and air pollution. Climate change is a lot like cancer. Early symptoms are subtle and treatment is usually less expensive. Once symptoms are present, treatment must be done quickly and expenses are higher. Spending for partial treatment is unlikely to work. Please protect the health and lives of Bellevue residents by fully funding our CO2 reduction activities. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

Thank you.

Thank you. Laurie McCray Keller.

Welcome.

Good evening, mayor, deputy mayor, council members, and city manager Carlson. My name is Lori McCray Keller, and I first moved to Woodridge Hill in 1979 for elementary school, Hayek Junior High, and Bellevue High School. I moved here again in 2021 to care for my 86-year-old parents and in a multi-generational household with my daughter, who is a Swedish Providence ER nurse. So we have three generations currently calling Woodridge home. I also serve as a policy and government relations director for Bellevue College. where I live and where I work are so close, I am very lucky to have both a great neighborhood and a great employer in our city. Since the 1970s, Woodridge has felt like a suburb of downtown Bellevue, across 405, separated from the rest of Bellevue and the freeway as a dividing line. But the city of Bellevue is an amazing bridge builder. The Grand Connection Crossing changes the story for Woodridge, and for the first time, we will have a direct car-free connection from Woodridge all the way to Maiden Bower Bay. This is a bridge to commerce, to entertainment, to dining, to business, and to where people live, learn, work, and play. Equally, the city's proposed investment in Bellevue Promise is a bridge from Bellevue School District to Bellevue College. And for so many students, Bellevue Promise will offer a pathway to higher education. I am thankful that this city council and the city staff, who are amazing to work with, thank you, have proposed these legacy investments. Thank you. I'm so sorry.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Tracy Cooke Lee, and then if we could have Nikki Stuck, Vic Bishop, and Jennifer Keller join us up front.

Welcome. Good evening council members. My name is Tracy Coogley. I've lived in Bellevue, the city of Bellevue, for 20 years now, and I'm here on behalf of People for Climate Action. We deeply appreciate the $5 million that you've budgeted for climate reduction to meet our 2050 Climate Commission climate goals. CO2 reduction commitment. It will aid in meeting the goals of cutting emissions, but we'd like to urge you to focus on partnering with Energy Smart Eastside, for example, so that we can get a bigger bang for the city budget's buck. While we understand and appreciate the commitment that you've put toward focusing $67 million on Bellevue city buildings and the vehicle fleet, that only really accounts for 1%, as I understand, of the Bellevue building of Bellevue buildings, square footage. Whereas if you earmarked another six million or so toward the 2027-2028 biennium and increased it to the 12 million asked that we've put before you in previous meetings, we see that that same city dollar can go toward 100 times more cut in the admissions. We feel like that's a better bang for your buck. I know it's more difficult, it's more challenging, but we urge you to look in the budget for that. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

Nick is stuck. Welcome.

Mayor Malacutian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton, and members of the council, my name is Nikki Stuck, Community Engagement Manager for Lyme's policy team here in support of the Grand Connection Crossing. When fully developed, the Grand Connection Crossing will connect the most iconic features of downtown Bellevue and Wilberton, creating a continuous and accessible route across the city. Sustainability is at the forefront of that vision. The Grand Connection Crossing represents a commitment to climate action by making it easier for people to choose walking, biking, and shared micro-mobility instead of driving. This project will fundamentally transform how people move around Bellevue, investing in a sustainable way to experience and navigate our city as we continue to thrive and grow beyond traditional vehicular infrastructure. and Lime is proud to be a part of that vision. A growing portion of Lime's local riders here rely on us for their daily commutes, errands, everyday tasks, and the important first-to-last-mile connection. Investing in the Grand Connection Crossing will make Bellevue an even stronger place to live, work, visit, and invest. Funding this vision is an opportunity to take our city beyond individual transportation projects and invest in our long-term future. We encourage your full support for the Grand Connection Crossing. Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Bishop? We're going to have Mr. Bishop and then Ms. Keller. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome.

Thank you. My name is Vic Bishop. I'm a Bellevue resident, a former chair of the Transportation Commission, a lifelong transportation engineer, the chair of the legislative committee of the Eastside Transportation Association, and I'm here representing drivers. I urge you to make congestion relief on city streets a core investment. Bellevue's continued growth makes timely congestion relief absolutely essential. The Growth Management Act requires that the city's plan for growth and the roadway infrastructure needed for that growth under the concurrency rules of GMA. One of which allows the city to set its own level of service standard for traffic congestion. You have done that and you have changed the level of service standard over the years to accommodate the concept of concurrency. congestion has increased. Prior to this decade, your standard for failure at an intersection was, after arriving on a red light on the worst approach at an intersection, wait through one green light and make it through the second. Today, that standard has changed to wait through green lights, two green lights, and make it through the third green. You have identified eight intersections that have failed in 2024 under that obscene standard. Your project there will be, you projected there will be 18 failed intersections under that standard. Ask for congestion relief projects from the staff specifically, please. Thank you.

Now, Ms. Keller. If we can have Riana Kajani, Christopher Hayes, and Cheyenne Chata join us up front.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, and staff. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Jennifer Keller and I live in Lake Hills. I've been fortunate to live in Bellevue for many years. I'm here today to speak about my concerns about climate change. I'm grateful to the city council and staff for the sustainable Bellevue plan and for increasing the allocations for climate action in the draft budget. But we must do even more to meet our crucial goal of 95% reductions in carbon emissions by 2050. Programs such as Energy Smart Eastside are important steps towards reducing emissions, since our two major categories of emissions are buildings and transportation. But now is the time to scale up such programs. I support People for Climate Action's request for increased expenditures, ultimately ramping up to $9 million a year. Please, for the sake of our whole community, especially the young people and generations to come, please do everything you can to allocate sufficient funds for reducing our city's carbon emissions at the rate we truly need. Thank you. Thank you.

Riana Kajani.

Welcome.

Good evening Council Members.

My name is Rehana Kajani and I'm the Chief of Staff at Friends of Youth. For over 75 years we've provided housing, shelter, mentoring and employment services to youth and young adults facing homelessness and foster care across King County. We are here in strong support of the City's investment in the Grand Connection Crossing because for the young people we serve this project is about access. Here's what we see every day. A young person in one of our shelters lands a job interview or gets into a training program, and then the question becomes, how did they get there? They don't have a car. They don't have someone to call for a ride. The crossing gives them safe, car-free routes connected to light rail. That's not a nice to have. It's the difference between showing up and missing out. That's why... It is such a strong use of Bellevue's budget dollars. When you invest in infrastructure that connects people to jobs, education and services without requiring a car, you're investing in self-sufficiency. Funding this project means a young person leaving one of our shelters can walk safely to a job that changes their life. It means a youth aging out of foster care has a direct path to the support systems that keep them on track. It reaches the people who need it most. Thank you, council members, for including this project in the budget. The young people we serve will feel the impact of this decision for years to come.

Thank you.

Christopher Hayes.

Good evening. I'm Chris Hayes. I live in Lake Hills. I have a physical disability and use a wheelchair. I am here to talk about the Grand Connection and what it would mean for people like me. I can drive, and I'm grateful for that, but I also know that a city built for cars isn't a city built for everyone. 405 doesn't just divide Bellevue on a map, it divides daily life for anyone who walks, rolls, or bikes. for my neighbors who are seniors. parents with strollers, kids on bikes, and people who use mobility devices. Getting across that freeway safely on their own is a real challenge. The Grand Connection changes that. Funding this project means people with disabilities don't have to plan their day around All right, me and seniors stay connected. I'm asking you to invest in the kind of city where everyone can move around freely. Thank you.

Thank you so much, especially for staying two hours to give us this. Thank you.

Next speaker is Cheyenne Shala. And while he's coming forward, if Adam Deba, Ben Mikkel, and Mark Norellius could come forward, please.

Welcome. Evening, council members. My name is Cheyenne Shala. I've come here to give my support to this project. Although I will be honest with you, the advertising for the Grand Connection was not a lot since this is the first time I've heard of it. With that said, I'd like to put the support out for the bike lane and the sidewalk that's being done on Southeast 34th Street in West Sammamish. That will be a great help to us since there's been no sidewalk there, making really dangerous for especially kids. I always see like there's a bus stop there. All the kids come out. That's terrifying. So this is great for that. With that being said, I would like to put some attention towards Eastgate Way since that is an important connection connecting to Eastgate Park and Ride. I realized recently after the line bikes have been added that the bike lanes on the eastbound Eastgate Lane are not in the highest shape. They always have veins and like forgery and in general are not well maintained. I would like to see more attention put into those, especially since there's going to be more developments around that area in East Gate. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Adam Dibba.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Good evening, council members. My name is Adam Deaver, a long-time resident immigrant from The Gambia, immigrated to the East Side 29 years ago. I'm the founder and executive director of Africans on the East Side, a nonprofit serving the diverse needs of youth and families right here in the East Side. Bellevue is the largest majority minority city in Washington State, Our organization exists to make sure every young personal, forgotten voices and family in the community has a real path up to opportunity. That's why we support the city's investment in Grand Connection Crossing. Here's the reality for the families we work with. A lot of our young people come from homes where there's one car or no car at all. So when there is a job, opportunity, or an after school program they want to get to, the biggest challenge isn't motivation, it's just getting there. The Crossing gives families safe walking, biking, rolling routes, connect to light rail. That's a game changer for us. It means a young person can get anywhere they need to be on their own. That's what makes this a smart use of city dollars. But I'm going to read from the down. Funding this project means opening doors to jobs, to education, to community. It means a young person in our program can get an interview on their own and also parents access without choosing a boss. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Ben Meckle.

Hello, my name is Ben Mickle and I live in downtown Bellevue. I'm here to speak respectfully in opposition to the Spring Boulevard project. In the budget proposal, it is recommended for full funding of $75 million. My primary concern is that it would create a busy arterial cutting directly through the future Bell Red Park. Perhaps the conventional thinking has been that this park is just an afterthought, a nice way to use some spare land. I believe that Bell Red Park should be much more than an afterthought. It will be the park. For perhaps 10,000 or more residents, it will need to host events, it will need to welcome visitors, it will need to nurture developing children, it will need to be a place to exercise, to play, and to meet up with friends. While the quiet trail would be fine, building a full street would sacrifice many of those things merely in order to maybe save a minute or two for a few drivers. I've heard staff quote a ped-bike-only trail at $20 million. That would save $55 million and be an appropriate project for a park. Let's do that instead. About 40 years ago, Bellevue faced a similar decision while planning downtown park. The community wanted to create a park for the ages, but 102nd Avenue ran directly through the site. They understood that streets like that don't belong in parks, so they removed the street. We should make that decision again today for Bell Red Park. My appeal to you today is largely inspired by downtown park. I am so grateful to have a big green space where I can be far away from all the cars downtown. I think residents of Bell Red should have something like that too. It would be a far greater gift to future generations than any street.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mickle. Thank you. Mark Norellis. While he's coming forward, our final two speakers, Walter Scott and Pat Shuffles, if you could join us up front.

Welcome.

Thank you. Before I sit down, I want to reintroduce to you my two-year-old grandson.

Those of you who are still here.

I was here at the last budget meeting. I think it was June. We talked about the carbon issue, that we have a goal of, in 2050, reducing it 95%. Many of you are aware that we're behind schedule, being able to meet that goal. And I want to encourage, although I'm appreciating the budget allocation that has been set up in this budget, maybe up it. We need more. And for the reason that I'm wearing on my shirt right now, as I told you when I was here last time, I'm here to represent my grandson. because it's really not going to matter much to me. And not much of a change is going to happen during my lifetime. What remains of my lifetime, although I hope to live for another 20 plus years, it's going to be a slow change. So we need to work on it now. I have since learned, since I was here last, that I have two more grandchildren coming, one in February and one in March. So all the more reason for me to be here. And again, I appreciate your consideration for upping the budget item. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Walter Scott.

Welcome. City Council.

It's my pleasure to be here. I have a special place in this crossing of I-405. We own the property. That's our special part of this whole thing. And we have a vested interest in seeing that the property and the land gets used in the most efficient manner, as you do as well. We think that... We're there. We've had many proposals come in the past. Once, one time the city wanted to use the place to store buses so they could come and be there on time, whether they had to wait a minute or spill a minute or come earlier. They had to have the bus show up at that same time every day and make a schedule. That was not the best use of the land, we thought. And so we fought that and felt bad about fighting the city on that because the city was trying to do the best job they could. But now we have a real proposal, which is a crossing across I-405, and that's a big deal. BIG DEAL BECAUSE IT'S STRUCTURALLY AND IT'S STRUCTURALLY GOING TO CHANGE TRAFFIC PATTERNS AND THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S SOMETHING WE ALL KNOW AND WE DON'T HAVE TO REALLY SELL THAT BUT I CAN REMEMBER BEING A CITY CITY'S ALWAYS BEEN VERY FORCE HAD A LOT OF FORESIGHT And that's important to us. Our business is real slow in that regard. The improvements take a long time to come around, get approved, get built, and everything leverages off of that.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Our final pre-registered speaker is Pat Sheffields.

Welcome.

Smile. I think I'm your last speaker. My name is Pat Sheffels, and I'm a senior citizen. Bellevue resident living at the watermark in downtown Bellevue. And it's a three block walk to the proposed Grand Connection. I was a former Bellevue planning commissioner for many years. And before moving downtown, I lived in Wilburton for many years. So I've spent a good part of my life thinking about how this city grows. and I'm here tonight to talk about the Grand Connection as one of our most important investments I've ever seen this city consider. I watched Bellevue evolve from both sides of 405. As a longtime Wilburton resident, I know firsthand what it feels like to be just minutes away from downtown, but separated by a freeway that was never designed for people on foot. And now as a downtown resident and as a senior who walks for exercise, I feel that divide from the other direction. The crossing finally bridges that gap. As a former planning commissioner, I can tell you this is the kind of project we planned for. We have invested in the Light Rail, East Rail, and the Grand Connection Vision. And with it, you have a city that works. One continuous network from Wilburton and the East Side Trails through downtown to Maiden Bower Bay. As a senior, and this is plainly, we need safe, walkable infrastructure. And it's not optional for people of my age.

Sorry, your time has expired. Thank you. I'll give the rest of it to...

Thank you.

I will take that from you. That does bring us to the end of our pre-registered list. I do want to invite others who have not had the opportunity to make comment tonight. If you do want to make a comment, please raise your hand. That goes for those online as well. Okay, Ms. Cobb.

this gentleman here, but I'll ask you. Julie Bellview. In listening to all of this about the Grand Crossing, I'm wondering how they are going to patrol this. Where is the safety issue? I'm like the Burt Gilman Trail. I read where they go, I'm not on the Burke-Gilman Trail because it's not safe. I won't go there on the weekends. All of a sudden, I'm thinking, Wilberton to the lake. I don't know how wide this is, how narrow it is. Is it going to be like Burke-Gilman? But are the police going to patrol it? Or are you going to just go on it and think you're going to be safe? Personally, I wouldn't let my child ride their bike on Wilberton. Lake Washington or Lake Sammamish area, nor would I, being a former educator, I would be taking my students on the trail and I would be teaching them how to use the bicycle on the trail, but I'm worrying about the safety now. That's a lot of different vehicles on that. How's it going to be patrolled and who's going to pay for that? That's all.

Thank you.

Thank you. There are no hands on line. One final call out to our audience. Okay, no additional hands, Mayor. I'll turn it back to you.

I think we can close the public hearing. Do I have a motion?

I move to close the public hearing.

Is there a second? It has been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Councilman Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion passes. Before we go, I just want to thank you, everyone, for being here. 48 people. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Second, thank you for being flexible to shorten your comments due to the number that we have here. And lastly, if you... Still want, please email us the remaining of your comment if you have not been able to deliver everything you want to tell us. We read emails, I promise you. Thank you so much. City Manager.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and council members. I'm going to do this just a little slowly in terms of the introduction because I've written and rewritten an introduction for you tonight for this budget. It is the most significant piece of work that we bring to you. It involves the community, the council, all of our staff really in different ways, some more than others. And it's now coming to you as a proposal for your deliberative process to make the final budget decisions. I want to take a moment to recognize that it's really past and current actions of former councils, current council, former city managers, former staff, our community that have put us in a good position to bring you this budget proposal this year. It will sustain our services. So we've got the resources to sustain services and also allows us to make some investments in our future that protect and preserve the livability of the city. We know there are still unknown challenges that we need to look out for in the national and the global economy. We still promise to be extremely vigilant, and we have to continue to be cautious in the budget approach, and we've taken that into consideration with this proposal. I want to go back 2 years ago. We brought you the current biennial budget, and it also reflected a conservative approach because at that point we were looking at revenue revenue reductions in the coming biennium. and we carefully monitored what we were doing with our budget over the last year and a half. We monitored our spending and we closely watched it and spent wisely. That set us up coming into this budget proposal with the ability to ask our departments, to take a look at their existing budgets, their base budgets, and to identify some savings that could be repurposed and also reallocated to other needs that they saw coming in the next biennium. And that effort led to approximately $15 million per year in savings that were utilized to sustain services within the departments, but also reallocated across the whole city that also helped us reduce some of the funding requests that were coming forward. This, I think, reflects our commitment to continuing to use our funds wisely for our community and for you. Overall, this budget proposal is a budget that reflects the city values. It also invests in our future, as you heard much tonight in terms of the public comment. We believe that this proposal places the city in a good position as the economy grows. It will grow over time and it will allow the city to assess new programs and also invest in programs in the future. I want to give credit to John and the budget team who made improvements over the last year in past two years actually in the in the biennial budgets that have increased the transparency and the accessibility of the budget for everyone. I also want to thank John and the FAM budget team, as well as all the department financial analysts, assistant directors, deputy directors, directors and staff that worked very hard to build this proposal. It is truly a one city proposal and the decisions were made cross departmentally and with the one city mindset. So, John, who is most happy about this budget season, as always, and looks forward to coming to you to present the budget and to engage in the process. But I'm also really happy to be sharing this with you tonight. It starts the process with the council. We're looking forward to it. We'll be sharing an overview this evening, and we're really thankful to be here and to be working with you on this. So let's go to the overview slide. This is an introduction. It's also for information tonight. We'll be giving an overview. It's high level. And we're going to be available for taking questions, of course, at the end of our sharing of the slides. So the things we'll be covering, we'll do the calendar again very quickly. We'll cover what types of legislation you ultimately will need to adopt for the budget. We'll dive into a little bit of the public involvement, so how the community was engaged in shaping this over the last year. We'll talk a little bit about our general fund resources, and then we'll give you an overview and some highlights of the budget proposal. And with that, we'll turn it over to John.

We've already talked about the timeline tonight. Again, this will be a slide that will continue to advance for the next few weeks. But what is very important is as we think about some of the pieces, keeping the end in mind. In about nine weeks time, we hope and anticipate that we'll have a series of pieces of legislation somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 plus pieces of legislation, which will take place for action. Some of them are fees and rates. There's some boards and commission actions follow up. There's property tax legislation and then there is the overall umbrella ordinance. As we start to think about public involvement, we've actually gone through a very robust process relative to this budget. You'll remember prior to this year, all of the policy work that you led and came before you. But as we got into this year, again, we've had two now public hearings on the budget. On the 30th of September, we're going to have a public information session. And then the final public hearing will be the 27th. There are venues for communications available, and we always encourage folks to email council. If you've got technical questions, we have them email fam, but good stuff goes to the council. If you will remember in June, we talked about our survey and this is something that we do statistically valid over sampling just to make sure that we've got a good understanding from our public and we track over time what the interests are in quite a number of areas. What we found in our budget survey is our top areas for investments really stand tall with our safe and secure, livable city with world-class places, an incredible transportation system, and a well-managed government. We take pride in those things as staff, and they came through as the priorities from the public for you. In terms of information sessions, we added a budget 101 this year in addition to our regular outreach. But the 101 sessions have really been to, in advance, help members of the public and communities start to understand what's in the budget, how to read it when it gets here, and leading up to coming here to council to provide additional testimony, as well as thinking about the future and future engagement. There's a whole series of resources that are available online. I will actually have a QR code at the end. And when we get to the discussions on transportation, there'll be a whole additional layer about the outreach and engagement that was specific to transportation, which helped inform this budget proposal. So let's get to the general resources and revenues. This graph will look very familiar to you. In June of this year, we brought the forecast. I will tell you the numbers are slightly different. There's been a couple of minor changes, but the trends are the same. We have not seen in the last three months really any trajectory changes. That bouncy environment exists still. And at our next meeting, we'll actually dive into our tax revenues and our resources a little deeper. But we're still on that same trajectory. We're still seeing that same types of revenue that will give us the thought process and the forecast that says our recovery. We should be at that positive point in about 2029 and we're being very careful thoughtful as we go through that dip in those tax revenues. If we're thinking about the overall pies of the pieces of revenue, about 36% of our revenue resides in taxes. Those are those blue boxes on 1 side. Our charges for goods and services, which are rates and fees. And then, which represents about 31.5% of our revenues. and then the remaining about 32 and a half percent come from a whole variety of other sources that range from grants to small revenue sources and contracts. It's actually a very diverse pool of revenue that gives us some stability as we go through our overall long term. So we're very cautious and careful. And as City Manager Carlson was reflecting, The past actions of council and staff before us have really positioned us well to have a very strong, diverse revenue base and a solid basis for being able to deliver services. Now let's roll into the expenditure side. What you'll find in the budget, You as a council adopt based off of the funds or the large accounts where the dollars are. What we're seeing is a general fund that will be about 964Million and our enterprise or restricted funds, including capital will be somewhere close to 3 quarters of a 1Billion. equipment rental and other funds. Those are things like where we've been reserving money to take care of our fleets and major maintenance on our buildings and traffic signals and things like that. So that's where we have the resources for those to have that revolving fund to continue to make sure we take care of our assets. And of course, debt service. This chart is very busy, but what's very important about this begins to show you visually what 2026 through 2032. So our current projected spending for each department and then what it's how it's projected to change. The most important thing as you begin to look at the financial plan later on and you're thinking about this, the police department has a strong trajectory of an upward movement. Their investments, their spending grows because they've got their vehicles and the staff funded, but it is all positively funded through this entire six-year period. It grows at a little bit faster rate, about 5.5% to 6%, while the other departments grow at about 3% to 3.5%, which is much more closer to that inflation. You'll see some bounciness in many of these. That has to do with capital spending largely, and so you'll see some of those spikes that happen based off of the years of anticipated expenditure of capital. We actually look at our budget not just from the department standpoint but very importantly from our strategic target areas or our larger goal areas. These are adopted by you and they remain unchanged from when they were adopted by you. As we look at the investments from an operating standpoint, we do divide up the dollars, not just in the departments, but we look at how we're investing those dollars across the strategic target areas. One of the reasons why community safety and health sits at the top, it has police, fire, and our utility investments. It is our largest investment and has quite a number of different types of investments within it. Our presentations to you in October will be around these strategic target areas rather than individual departments. But our department leaders will be here before you to engage with you in those nights. There we go. And I'll turn back to Diane.

Thank you. So I'm going to give you a few of the investment highlights from the six strategic target areas. And also note first that we added very few new programs in this budget. Mostly what we did was augment existing programs. So we will call them out if they are truly new. The first one under the high performance government that I want to highlight is that we will be continuing to work on our digital accessibility with such things as investing in new technology to replace the My Bellevue app, which is important for our community to be able to communicate with us. We also have three municipal properties surrounding the Grand Connection that includes the City Hall property that we have added some funding to be able to plan for the future of these properties under a civic campus structure. We'll need to engage the community in understanding what it is they want us to be doing with these properties, what types of uses. We do think these will be public-private partnerships, so it's a pretty significant long-term effort. And then we will continue to, of course, protect the city against the modern cyber threats. So that's an investment area as well that we will be continuing in this budget. Under the vibrant economy, we have a second half of commitment to the KidsQuest Museum supporting their move. We have proposed to move from the reserve accounts into operations to fulfill that commitment, this coming biennium. And then we have some programs under our community development that include the Keep LV Beautiful and some of our economic development programs that were proposed. one-time funded. So pilot programs, they have been quite successful in this budget. We have moved them into the ongoing base services and budget. So they will continue from this time forward as long as we continue to have funding. Next slide. Transportation, we're going to spend a lot of time on. We have a night fully devoted to covering the transportation budget. In the base proposal, we will be supporting the safety program through our speed cameras and also the curb management program. There are also approximately 93 projects in the base budget proposal. So on October 6th, we'll talk a lot more about the specifics in the three different capital improvement programs for transportation, But our base budget does support delivery of all of the projects in the base proposal. On the high quality built and natural environment, we have incorporated funding to deliver six new or enhanced parks. That includes Bellwood, Bellred, Ashwood, Eastgate, Airfield, Wilberton, and Maiden Bower Bay Park. We also have some investments that we need to make in this building. So you've heard John tell you a little bit before about the age of the building and the infrastructure within the building. And so we have included some funding to end the staffing to be able to move us forward and renovate some of the guts of the building. I should not gloss over improving the speed and delivery of permitting services. You've heard a lot about that and what the department is doing. The departments are doing, showing very good success. So we're continuing to fund that effort. That includes their work on GovStream AI, their customer service work, and then also the permit streamlining actions. Next page. On community safety and health, we have incorporated funding to invest in our fire station renovation and replacement program. That includes fire station six replacement and funding towards a potential new property location for that station. On the police side, They are accredited, as you well know. We've incorporated some funding to add personnel to support that continued accreditation process. We have expanding probation caseload. So there is funding in this budget proposal as well to expand the service or the personnel that is supporting those caseloads. And then we will also have a night where we will cover our environmental sustainability program. We are proposing an innovative partnership with the state's Green Bank to support a revolving fund. that would support conversion of heat pumps in both residential and small commercial buildings. On the thriving people and community side, you've heard a little bit about the Bellevue Promise Program. We're very excited to be able to propose that to you. That partnership with Bellevue College, Bellevue School District, and private corporate donors as well that Bellevue College Foundation is working to help us gain support for this program. This would be a pilot proposal for the next two years to fund the program to allow to get state matching funds. And the other program I want to highlight in this is our homelessness and affordable housing team. That team has also been, it was formed as a pilot. They have been very successful. They have a significant amount of work that they do. We are proposing to bring that program as well into the base budget. Okay, with that I'll turn it over to John to highlight the capital improvement plan.

As part of our discussions next week, we're actually gonna spend a little bit of time on our capital program. This is a quick look at the six year. What's very important about this is we've also provided you about what the average spending per year for that capital improvement program. It is a large and robust program that totals for the six year period approximately $1.3 billion. So it's a pretty big program that goes across our utilities and our structure of it is going to be a unique piece of it as city manager Carlson has really been driving us and helping us work towards that deliverability and transparency. So we'll have some discussion about that as well. If we think some about our CIP overall, while there are very important projects in it, the general tenor of outside of transportation and parks is really around maintenance and maintaining the assets that we've got. So in fire stations, it's maintaining the facilities and replacement facilities for the great stations that we've got that are ready for replacement. in our municipal, while we're doing business transformation, we're investing in our technology systems that are coming to end of life and we're working our way through those. Electric vehicle infrastructure and major maintenance, we're thinking about those things, we're thinking about how do we deliver our city services in a way that meets your policy goals and also allows us to keep the building and the assets at the right level of maintenance. As we invest in our parks, in addition to investing in great new parks, there's also a very strong emphasis on maintaining the facilities and maintaining those parks and park facilities. So there's a lot of additional work that's being done there, including a new maintenance facility for themselves. Transportation, which again we'll spend a lot of time on, also is focused on filling those gaps in the system. And you've heard about those in your workshop and your time with transportation. We will spend time there. The base budget does propose to deliver the Grand Connection crossing without additional or other new taxes. There is an alternative as we talk about the transportation benefit district options in those discussions where if you brought those resources over would actually give you some trade offs. There's some really interesting work that's being done there and in utilities utilities is focused on that great long life cycle and making sure that our utility assets are continuing to flow. Mentioning the transportation scenarios in your packet tonight, you also received a memorandum and a large matrix of transportation projects. There are three scenarios, the base budget, which does not rely on any new revenues, and then there are two transportation benefit district scenarios. And in that large matrix, as you're looking at it, You will see some shading of some of the fields in that matrix. Important, the shading tells you what has changed from the previous scenario. So you'll see some yellow shading in scenario two and some blue shading in scenario three. Just a little bit of a cheat sheet as you're looking at that large matrix. But each one of these scenarios is unique and specific. And scenario three, which does go, scenario two includes the TBD sales tax and scenario three adds to it a vehicle fee. And what we have proposed is should you consider that, we think it would be reasonable to restrict those vehicle fee revenues to neighborhood mobility. So it really lines up the who benefits, who pays conversation that you've challenged us with over the years. As we're thinking about the roadmap of discussions, we've talked a lot about things. The way I think about it, September is a big learning month. You're reading through the budget document. You're learning about what's in it, what the revenues, and getting ready for the deeper dive into individual subject or strategic target area discussions. That starts with next week's conversation. Then we go into October where we'll focus on 1, 2, and then 3 strategic target areas leading up to a night that is very focused on your questions and your deliberations. It is also the night of the third and final public hearing. That leads us into November and after the first week of November, when we come back and see you again, that's when we get into final recommendations to get us to a November 17th. So October really is a big month and the next five meetings that we have the privilege of spending time with you. We're really looking forward to it. I do want to take a moment to acknowledge that around the room you'll see a number of the directors of the departments. I really appreciate my colleagues being here tonight to support city manager Carlson's budget. And I want to acknowledge they and their teams have done a massive amount of work. to look deeply within their organization and help us bring forward a budget that has very little in different revenues, a very approachable budget. It does have the 1% increase in property tax, which you've asked us to regularly consider, but that is the only change in revenues. And I'm really proud of this group of leaders and the group of staff who have put together an amazing, amazing recommendation that we're remitting to you this evening. For those of you who are interested, this is a QR code that'll get you to the preliminary budget page. It is available. I personally like the interactive budget book. We do have the 365 page PDF if you really want to print it, but I really encourage folks to use the electronic. It's actually a little bit cooler and it allows you to slice and dice the data a little bit differently. And if you're a budget geek, it's an easier way to go through. And with that, we're available for questions.

Thank you so much. Diane, I really enjoy when you sit over there, not there, I don't know why. But thank you, Diane, John, and all of the staff that they are here or they are not here, but they help and support developing these budgets. I can just imagine how much work you have put into a budget like this. I really, really appreciate the balance that this primary budget is trying to manage, protecting the services people rely on, managing the higher cost inflation, looking at the resources that we already have, and being very thoughtful about the use of reserves and one-time money. I think as a council and as you all, when we work through this, through the months, can you go back to the calendar? One slide, maybe back, or two slides. Not this, yeah. One further. Yeah, great. I think the next several month and a half or two months, I think a few things will be important to all of us and the people we represent. One is the long-term sustainability, making sure the choices we make today still work a few years from now. Two is affordability. Our residents, our businesses are already dealing with the higher costs, so being careful about any additional burden on taxpayer is very, very important. And finally and third is just basic cost discipline, continuing to look for ways to do things more efficiently, reduce costs where we can and make sure we are getting as much value as possible from every dollar. Approving the budget is one of the most important things we do as a council. Fortunately, again, based on this, map in front of us and calendar, this is just the beginning. We have several meetings ahead where we all go through each strategic target area in much more detail. So for tonight, I would encourage us to stay fairly high level, revenues, expenditures, the assumptions behind the budget, and we put the bigger decision and very, very specific questions about individual programs or project later according to this kind of calendar and schedule that is in front of us. On that note, we'll start with Council Member Bhargava.

Great, thank you. What an incredible evening. to hear so much input from such a diverse set of stakeholders who are so vested in the outcomes that we want through this budget process. I want to start by just saying thank you to City Manager Carlson, to our fearless leader for finance and for the budget process, all of the directors and the teams who have contributed to the process, as well as the community who has provided input in different ways to the process. It's really been a really incredible effort so far, and hopefully we can do take it to a good point over the next five weeks here. I also want to say really thank you for the one city approach that has been demonstrated in the way this budget has been laid out, involving the community input, the budget 101, making it more accessible, are all things that really resonate well in a thoughtful process that you've put together. So just first of all, kudos to you for the process so far, and I'm really looking forward to engaging further. I'm going to keep it to the Mayor's point, try to keep my questions and a few comments I have high level for this evening as knowing that we have chance to dive deeper. First question for you, really, is talking about risks in this budget cycle. I know you said you've been conservative about revenue, but I would love your perspective on What do you think could be structural risks that we need to be thinking about? And sort of hidden in that question is, how have you made sure that you're finding the balance between being overly conservative in this process with risk? Because you said there's no risk. I think you've gone too conservative. And being able to make sure that we're not overly aggressive. So I'd love your framework on how you approach this in addition to the risks that you see.

I'm going to start with not the framework because I'm going to leave that to John. Just to tell you that I'm much more cautious than John is when it comes to budgeting. We found in our budget one process That I brought to the leadership team a conservative approach. I like to make sure that we have our revenues very carefully laid out for the six years. I think the financial forecast that the team has put together helps with that question that you're raising about are we being too conservative or are we being... just careful enough, right? So I think that six year forecast really gives you that picture and John can describe that a little bit. I also really pay attention to the reserves, right? So what are we doing with the reserves? How are they looking over the six years? How are we accessing them for this budget in order to make sure that we're prepared for the future and that they are continuing to support the city in the next six years and beyond? So with that, I'm going to have John say a few words about the revenues and what kind of goes into that. Also noting that next week we'll be covering that in a little more detail.

I will all all allude that next week we actually have a very specific discussion on some of those risks digging in a little bit deeper. I think. We do have to think about some of the broader economic volatility. I think we're in a very interesting place in the state. Watching kind of what kinds of decisions are being made around us. But we're also very thoughtful and cautious and when you look at the financial plan. You'll love these. I love these. One of the things that we want to be really careful about, in the last cycle's financial plan, we got down to single digit millions at the bottom of that financial plan, meaning we had gotten to a place where we had very little margin of error. What we target as we're thinking about that extra measure of cautiousness is we want to make sure that we're in that 25 to 75, really around $50 million of truly unallocated dollars that can get reinvested should something go really wrong. Because everything above that is committed to a specific purpose. And so we're being very thoughtful and cautious. This budget invests reserve dollars, doesn't leave them sitting, with a plan on how to take care of that, and make sure we've met our obligations, while giving you the comfort to know that should something significant happen, we have the capacity to meet those changes. So we'll spend some more time in that space, but we are very thoughtful, and Yes, City Manager Carlson is more cautious than I am. And there are investment levels, and that's part of what makes this a really great leadership team, is each of our leaders come in with a different level of risk appetite, which helps us think about that in different ways and approach that thought process, and we do spend some time in that space.

Okay, no, I do appreciate that. It's a fine balance you have to find. Being overly conservative is just as risky as being not. So, and when you think about this in maybe next week's discussion, I would love to see if structural risks, and I'm specifically thinking about dips potentially in our most significant revenue sources, sales tax, BNO, for example. What happens? What are those scenarios, and how would we cover that with specificity would be very helpful. Next question for me is, what have you chosen not to do? This is a ruthless prioritization exercise. I would love to know what have you left unfunded in your base budget? Sort of a related question I have is also, when you think about base budget versus what you have put, for example, in the transportation benefit district, how have you approached what you put there versus here? And latent in that question is, if you think the TBD pieces are really important and critical for our city, why are they not in the base budget? So how do you approach that question?

I'm going to parse it out, I think. So first, what did we leave on the table? Yes. So when I mentioned that our careful spending over this current biennium allowed us to ask departments to repurpose some of their money, that allowed them to kind of self-identify. Here are some things that we would like to use this funding for that, if they had not done that, would have been proposals that would have come forward for new revenue. So many things were taken care of with that approach. We also went in with a careful budgeting approach and limited the amount of money that we were targeting for new proposals. So there's another area where the department sort of self-limited in terms of what they brought forward to us for new proposals. There were certainly proposals that were put in that process that were not funded. They were prioritized lower through that one city process. They were good proposals. All of them were good proposals. They are proposals that will continue to be viable for us in the future, and I'm sure that they will come back. But we did not find fatal flaws in terms of proposals that needed to come forward for this biennium.

Yeah, no, I... I appreciate that, and I also appreciate the self-prioritization and ways to allocate funds. I would, however, still ask for specific things left unfunded that you think were the most critical based on the one city approach. It'll be helpful for me and likely my peers to see what's left, but it'll also be very helpful for the community at large to understand that.

We'll be happy to provide that as part of the memory bank. It's a relatively short list because we spent so much time as a leadership thinking about what we were bringing forward, but there are a few things that were either scaled or not funded, and we'll make sure we provide that.

Okay. I want to keep moving quickly just in the interest of time. I know there was themes from the community identified here. Beyond the allocation of funds to those themes and the STAs, would love to see specific projects most critical, large, meaningful projects that align themselves with the community input that you've received and how you have sort of addressed all this meaningful feedback you've got from the community and from the city and from the businesses into your process. So themes translated to more specific projects and outcomes that we expect to see happen And then staying with sort of outcomes, I think it'll also be really great to see what the handful of really meaningful two, three, four outcomes. And these are things for the question bank not to be answered today. I fully appreciate that. But for the memory bank, sorry. But what are those three or four outcomes that you see happening at the end of this biennium because of the decisions that we're going to make that would be meaningful for the community. And so it'll be really good to stay anchored on that tonight, and it'll be a great way to stay anchored on that over the next couple of years for our own accountability in this process and the decisions we're making. So I would just love your perspective on that. Mayor, if it's okay, I'm just going to make three, four very, very quick asks, not for tonight. I would love to see the cumulative impact to our taxpayers of all the things, increases, fee changes, et cetera. What does it mean to a typical resident from the budget that we have got, the revenue sources in the budget that you've got? And then any places that you have seen a significant change in spending patterns from prior three years to this budget allocation, what are those places? Not for tonight again. I know you saw the graph. Very difficult to grok from that graph because there's so much information there. maybe the three or four things that you think john are and the team thinks are the places that the biggest changes maybe they're one time or maybe they're more interesting would be the run rate changes that you've made um and then roi based uh assessment of the greenhouse gas we heard so much comment today i would love to ask for us to understand to make sure that we are making an roi based assessment appreciate the six million going in that is a step function change from where we were just a few months ago and really appreciate the innovative thinking that has gone behind that and Any possibilities that we have for any adjustments there and also appreciate the support for the Grand Connection We heard a lot of community input for that a lot of support for many different reasons. So Fairly stand behind that because I truly believe it's a transportation need and not just something we're doing Thank you so much councillor Bargaba customer PDR

Thank you, Mayor. I want to begin by extending my gratitude for the fiscally conservative and really responsible approach you've had in crafting this, considering state legislation and the economic impacts of the Iran war and so on. A friend of mine involved in a city in New York mentioned that their mid-sized city is starting off with a $33 million deficit, and it took great pride in responding with, I hope you figure that out because I have no idea what that's like. So thank you again to all the department leads for their meticulous work as well. While neighboring regions have unfortunately had to conduct layoffs, you have somehow managed to turn temporary programs into permanent ones. So we are very grateful to be in this privileged position. I also wanted to really call out that for the six-year forecast you mentioned that we have left an unallocated funds and I wanted to call out that end fund balance there because for the broader audience that's listening that means we have revenue as a city and we have commitments and we have more that we have to pay off and we managed to still have money left over so we're really really grateful to be in this position. So I will get into my first question which is I understand the city's discretionary ask is modest. And the bigger driver of resident bills is utility costs outside of our direct control. Is my understanding there correct?

It is.

OK. So I just want that distinction to be crystal clear in how we communicate that publicly as well. I see a really thoughtfully put together program. And there are some key areas that I'm interested in, like transportation and understanding what the right level of investment looks like. But I understand, of course, there's time for that next week. I'd also like to ask, how are your department heads feeling, considering they had to be more mindful of their spending? Do they feel confident and well-equipped? Raise your hand with I. No, I'm just kidding. Do you have an answer to that?

I feel like, and I don't want to speak for them, and you'll have plenty of opportunity to hear directly from them, but I feel like they're coming out of this with a really positive view of where we're heading and feel really good about where we're at as a city. We would all love to be able to do more, but also respect that affordability is also a really important piece of our budget proposal.

Of course. And how are the police departments feeling as well? Do they feel well-supported and properly resourced? Great. We are getting a thumbs up for those who are watching online. OK. How have we managed to convert part-time positions to full-time in the midst of these tough economic conditions? I know that you had touched upon it lightly, but I just want to sort of reiterate that point.

Yeah, I think it is a very important piece that with our diversified revenues. We actually are in an okay position and. There was some scaling that we'll talk about as we go through the budget process, but it allowed us to really be thoughtful and say, okay, these really are important. And as we went through our budget and each of our departments went through, there were reductions and there were changes to how they do business, which freed up money that we could reinvest in those things that are emerging priorities. So we funded the most important things that we were hearing from you and from the public to make sure that those continued on.

Excellent. Thank you. And so for this matrix that you put together, I'm very, very grateful, especially with the various scenarios that are laid out. And I don't want to get too granular into this, but it seems like the third. Actually, Mayor, please cut me off if I'm getting too granular. Is my understanding correct that the third scenario provides the most investment in neighborhoods?

It adds an exceptional level of investment into neighborhoods, yes.

OK. Thank you. And lastly, can you tell me about sustainability? What are we doing there?

We will have a long conversation on sustainability. We're in the process. While we've heard a variety of numbers tonight, our investments in sustainability aren't just in our building and making sure that we're investing in that manner. If you think about your transportation programs, your parks investments, Your utility investments, there are all sorts of different types of investments all the way down to how our police officers vehicles are hybrid vehicles until we can get to electric vehicles. So, we will have actually an extensive list being provided to you that staff is continuing to work on. I will just give a note that there is a portfolio and informational piece that is in your packet. What we've found is, as we're doing some of that list, some of the numbers are a little bit off. They're a little bit lower than what they should be. And we'll be providing you with an update to that. But you're going to have a deep conversation and a pretty significant set of investments. I will share that in building decarbonization, not only is there the innovative revolving fund, which we're super excited about developing that partnership, there's also a very deep study that the staff will be doing should this get approved, which will help give you choices and a better understanding of what your policy options are when it comes to addressing building decarbonization. So to give you some more options in that equation as well.

Okay, excellent. So this actually opens up the path for more policy and allocation discussions.

Okay, great.

And then what I will end with is that I'm excited to talk about transportation, but of course I do know that tonight will be rather more high level, so I will hand it off now to you, Mayor. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Council Member Villara. Council Member Villara. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, by the way. I just want to acknowledge my colleague asked all the great questions. So I will keep mine super short. By the way, also I thanking for you. I asked all the questions before I emailed you and very specific questions. So I'm really grateful that you've been so patient with me with all the questions. And I will make sure that I share with the residents. I think something I want to give a plug to the community who show up online here is we hear stories and their concerns, their passion from every angle of the city. Because we do what the best for our Bellevue. And our budget doesn't affect only our residents, but all our businesses, our shareholders around the region. So I just want to applaud you. I think, John, we started this conversation way before this whole process, right? Yeah, because I remember when I first got on the council, you actually sat down patiently with me with a big graph, and we went over everything. So I just want to share my gratitude and also I think the effort that you and the staff, our community, have the input put in to make sure that now we only understand, we're trying to decide, but also the implication, the consequences, everything that matters. I just have two clarified questions for the slide. So for slide eight, there's a primary public hearing. Slide eight. Oh, I'm sorry, slide six. There's a second public. there's a public information session. So that's different from the public hearing, right?

It is very much different.

Okay.

It's in a week, it's the fifth week where the fifth Tuesday is, and staff will be hosting more informal, we'll have tables out for Q&A, we'll walk through what's in the budget for the public, and just give them information so they're better prepared to engage with you as you engage in your deliberations.

Would that be really helpful for the public to understand more picture to show up for the October public hearing then?

That is the intent and why our award-winning communication and public involvement team is helping advertise those to make sure that we get as many folks coming out for that wonderful evening.

I don't leave my colleague like this. I'm hoping for more than 40 people, so I'm sorry. And then I have next question is on slide 14, there is a big dip on the development services projected spending on slide 14.

That is what you're seeing on for development services is. This year, their whole of the budget is held in the general fund. We're dividing out and separating off into a separate enterprise fund. And in your packet and in your budget book, there is a separate financial plan just for that portion of their business. And what you're seeing here is just the remaining general fund or general expenditures that are not supported by rate revenue.

Okay, thank you. And one last question. Is this whole packet is on the QR code where you can download everything? Okay, perfect. So our resident can go up, learn everything about what are we talking about? Correct. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Well, my colleagues have said thank you first, Diane, John, the head of all the departments up here. Thank you. Thank you, Charmaine. So I want to mention that as well as the incredible turnout by the public this evening, as well as all the emails and the calls, et cetera, and the personal conversations that I've been having throughout the community as well. As been said before, our budget is our values document, right? And it should really reflect our residents' concerns, interests, desires, et cetera. And I really appreciate the tone of the Transmittal Letter as well and the key themes of maintaining stability and positioning the city for growth in the future. And I think the preliminary budget really supports many of those targeted investments and the enhancements in the key city services. Some of the notable examples that were just great to see in there, everything from the Bellevue Economic Development Plan, to holding on to our Keep Bellevue Beautiful program, continue the neighborhood enhancement program, traffic safety and transportation, especially further investment in our fire station six, investment in our parks, which our residents love, partnering with the state regarding the Bellevue College Foundation to support the Bellevue Promise. That is an excellent addition to this. And I'm not just saying that because we've got some representatives from Bellevue College here this evening, but that is a great program. So I just want to quickly highlight, you know, this is preliminary. Just give me some preliminary feedback and thoughts that I have as well as some questions. I'll let you decide, John, which ones you want to answer versus ones you want to put in the parking lot or in the bank there. Yeah. So first on public safety, right? So our residents consistently tell us always our top priority. And I understand we're going to dive into some of these later a little bit, diving in a little bit more. But I really want to understand whether this budget fully funds the staffing levels needed to maintain our response time targets. And what I mean by that is that As as hard and I think as much resources we put into different programs. I mean recently there was a story about this We got we got we got high expectations. We have high standards That's fantastic and that shouldn't change but at the same time we're looking at four or five years now that we really haven't been able to make a dent in lowering that number of vacancies and Got some ideas around that. Would like to talk about that more. But that's, I think, something that is top of mind for me as well as for our community to really bridge that gap to get us fully funded. Or, sorry, fully staffed. Transportation mobility. The budget includes a lot of major transportation investments that introduces the transportation benefit district, obviously. as the potential revenue tool. But as the Bellevue Chamber said in their feedback letter, the Council should also first determine whether it is necessary. So look forward to getting into that a little bit more and really understanding what is and what is not funded through that. And we really want to make sure that transportation goals can reasonably be met with it and without it. So I know we'll get a chance to dive into that a little bit more I also want to understand how we're modeling that cost escalation as well, given the continued inflation in construction materials and labor, et cetera, and also want to ensure that we are really not kicking the can down the road when it comes to some of these really core neighborhood safety projects. The easy example is the Vasa neighborhood, those living in Westlake, Sammamish. These are projects that have been approved but haven't been funded for years and years. I think we owe it to those neighborhoods and those community members that have waited long enough to improve their overall level of transportation safety. Grand Connection Crossing, really look forward to diving into that a little bit more. Really appreciate all the supporters out there. 100% agree, and I love former mayor comments on that and his work with former council member Wallace about creating something memorable. But I think it's going to be remarkable, potentially iconic in terms of what that means for our city. But I also want to lean in heavily into what we said about the doable. So really want to lean into that heavily in terms of a really well thought out finance plan for that project. Fourth, housing development and our economic vitality. I appreciated my colleague, Council Member Barg, about diving into this a little bit in terms of some of the assumptions. I might be more with Diane in this in terms of being a little bit more conservative in terms of what the tea leaves look like going forward. And the things that are outside of our control, that concerns me the most, and it'll be interesting to see what happens even after November, some things that might could be implemented that potentially could impact our city. I think every budget decision we make, and I'll stop for a second just to talk about something I really want to be clear about that I'm acutely sensitive to the issue of affordability across our city as well. In fact, I'll just share with an email that we got today. wrote, Dear City Council, taxes are out of control. I'm close to the breaking point. I'm getting to the impossible to live here anymore. I can't believe at my age, 71 years old, that I'm entertaining the idea of leaving Bellevue and my wonderful state of Washington. I was born here and lived here all my life. Thank you. That weighs heavily on me as I know it does with a lot of my colleagues. I think every budget decision we make touches affordability in some way. Again, I appreciate the cumulative effect that some of these decisions are going to have on residents. You know, whether it's housing, transportation fees, the cost of, whatever it might be, I'm going to be very sensitive to. And I really want to ensure that our choices support residents, families who are really feeling that pressure. Now, some of these things I get are outside of our control, what they're paying at the gas pump, what they're paying at grocery stores, et cetera. But still, I think we need to do everything that we can to not further burden residents when it comes to affordability. The fiscal sustainability and reserves, Bellevue has always had a long history of strong financial stewardship. I believe that tradition continues here. But I'd also like some confirmation on our reserves remaining within policy targets through 2028. And I'd also appreciate a breakdown of the major cost drivers that are growing faster than our revenues. That's something we can get into more as well. And then the capital improvement program. Again, given inflation, supply chain volatility, really want to understand what CIP projects are most vulnerable to cost escalation and whether we're prioritizing maintenance of existing infrastructure or looking at new expansion. Because I just want to ensure that the CIP aligns with our strategic targets as we move towards the 2044 Comprehensive Plan. And finally, the community input and transparency. As we move forward to adoption, I really want to make sure that we're aligning this budget with our residents and their expectations and their input. So I really want to make sure that we're being very transparent about that and with our award-winning communication team, we can do that. I feel like now we always have to say that, award-winning, right? I know there's other award-winning departments and staff, so that could get a little out of control, but since you set that standard, John, I'll continue that. But, you know, we've had a robust process. I want to make sure we have a robust document, a robust budget at the end of this that really aligns with their with their ideas and expectations of us as a council. So look forward to those further conversations. Again, great work. I look forward to diving into this a little bit more as we go into those specific priority areas, but look forward to those conversations. And with that, John or Diane, if there's anything you wanted to touch on now, great. If you want to park them and address them later, then great.

I've got one that I do. I think it's only one that I'll hit now. The rest actually are teed up in our conversation. But I think it's really important. In our last cycle, when we talked about our financial policies and we developed our waterfall, which is take care of debt service, legal obligations, then take care of what you've got, existing services and existing assets. We prioritize maintenance of our existing assets before we make the decision to invest in new. And even in transportation in the scenarios, the existing revenues are aligned to not only the capital delivery, but also the maintenance of those once they've been delivered. So we're looking at that scenario because we take that stewardship responsibility very seriously, that we do that investment. Next in that line of priorities, our waterfall tells us to do the things we said we were going to do. We're planning for Grand Connection Crossing and have been building the financial capacity to do that. That's why it's in this budget. Then we start putting away money for future. So we're starting to build the resources for fire station 10 and for affordable housing and for other investments. So we're putting dollars in resources. And then we're starting to invest in the new concepts and starting to get into new pilots. So. The policy guidance, while it's not purely linear, that's what drives us as a staff. And the budget is built on those foundations and that guidance from you. And it makes great sense to us as a staff team. And that's how you will see as we go through. We have stayed true to that throughout every one of our areas.

Thank you so much. Council Member Robinson.

Thank you, Mayor. So when I read your transmittal, I was really struck by the last few sentences that I'd like to and you wrote that this budget positions us to be nimble and future focused while being grounded in our commitment to stewardship and responsible investment practices for which we are known. This budget delivers on our commitments, advances our priorities, and sets the foundation for a prosperous and equitable future in Bellevue. And it just made me feel so good to hear you say that because that's what we aspire to, And we are known for having a good budget process and outcome. And I'm confident we can keep it going. But as we see in other cities around us, it's not easy. And I am proud of our budget. I emailed you some questions, which you can answer later this week and put into the memory bank so we can all see the answers to it. But I'm going to ask you a few questions. First of all, I was really excited about Promise Bellevue. You know, that was proposed to us quite a long time ago, like six months ago, and I didn't know if we were following up on it. And I'm just so happy to see that we can do this partnership with Bellevue College for all the right reasons, so great. So my questions are, in my mind, what makes this transportation budget unique? is that we see so glaringly how important it is to get some of these projects done. We cannot keep kicking the can down the road. And I've been on the council since 2013, and we've been talking about Lake Sammamish Parkway that entire time. And we started getting it done, and then I don't know, things happen. COVID may have happened. And this may be an answer for the Transportation Department. But I want to know how we get West Lake Sammamish Parkway and VASA completed as soon as possible. Completed, not just planning phase, actually completed. Should I go on or do you want to try to answer that?

I anticipate that that will be one of the subjects of our discussion on October 6th.

Yes, okay. And then if we do the third option, if we did a transportation benefit district, and if we chose the third option, which is the sales tax and the car tabs, Would it ultimately, we would be able to do more projects immediately, I believe.

That is a correct statement. And in fact, we've characterized it and we've thought about this from a, how can we get more done faster? It's all in the list and it's in our longer, it's a matter of time to getting to it. And we're characterizing this around growth and livability to help you think about the two major aspects and how we're keeping pace with the growth by being just ahead of it or just a little bit behind it. And our preference would be to try and keep PACER be a little ahead, but that would take resources and why we've teed it up the way that we have, and that is part of your policy discussion on the sixth.

Right. So can I assume that if we were able to get more projects done faster, that ultimately it would cost less? Because it seems like every time it takes longer to get something done, it costs so much more if we wait.

Construction inflation is higher than general inflation, and it does. But I'll also offer there is a tempering at the other side, which is our capacity to deliver and have how many of our roads torn up at a given period of time. And our transportation department has been very thoughtful about the pieces that they've brought forward and balanced speed of delivery with capacity for actually getting it done.

Can I assume that what they're proposing with the third option is feasible?

Yes.

OK, good. So I'm not usually one for taxing, but this seems like essential projects to me. And can we put a time limit? Can we say we want to put a transportation benefit district in for a finite period of time to pay for these projects?

So the transportation benefit district revenues, the sales tax that is associated with it, it already comes with a legal limitation of 10 years. You could, if you were looking at the vehicle fee, also put a sunset into that that is commensurate with the 10-year period as well and revisit that. That would all come due at about the same time as your transportation levy that would be expiring about that same point in time. but it is something that we can absolutely discuss and is definitely an option.

Okay, terrific. And then my last question is, you know, I'm the human service liaison for the council and as our population grows and the needs grow in our community, they are just inundated with requests for services to support our community and keep our community whole so people can stay in our neighborhoods and have support services when they need them. And especially for the children who are in our public school district. And I'm wondering, we haven't, we haven't seen, we saw a temporary increase in human service funding based on need, but we haven't seen a permanent increase in human service funding. And I'm wondering, is that possible? And how do we get there? If that's something that council decides they want to do.

That is a longer conversation than a quick answer right now. We'll add that to the memory bank and add it to our discussions.

Okay, I just want to have a placeholder to have that discussion for the council. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Chancellor Robinson. Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, just a fantastic hearing tonight. Initially, I thought 48 people coming up to the desk. I was a little nervous about it, a little anxious, but I thought it was interesting and helpful, and I just appreciated all the comments that I heard, appreciate all the input we've received tonight and that we've received to date, and all of the comments and interactions that I know we'll have with community members as we work towards final adoption. In November, I think the presentation tonight was great. Also, thank you for presenting us with such a solid and comprehensive preliminary budget. I really can't imagine being in a better position to start the final stage of our budget process than we are in right now. And I'm impressed with what I'm seeing and think you're clearly on the right path here. reallocating existing resources, reducing costs, strategically deploying some reserve funds and prioritizing transportation investments is the right recipe for creating a budget that implements our community priorities. All of the really good work you've done already does help ensure that all community members can meaningfully engage in the budget process, and it supports the work of the council as we continue through our process. And while we know that tonight is not the time we'll drill down into all the specific investments or funding sources, there are certainly many opportunities to do so. And as have been mentioned, we're probably focusing every council meeting pretty much until final passage on the budget and then the third public hearing also I think spent quite a bit of time on the budget public involvement page I think it's a great resource and a place to where folks can sign up to get to notified about the process the progress. of the budget. The budget summary document provides a high-level overview of how we'll support each of our adopted strategic areas and look forward to really digging into each of those. I like the trajectory that has been maintained for funding our police department and the similar consistent investment in our fire services. That's certainly on the right track. Very much in favor of funding the Grand Connection crossing and thrilled to see it in the preliminary budget. Anxious to get into the detailed discussions ahead. I think the sustainability investment summary tells an especially positive story. We've accomplished a lot. We've identified areas for additional investment. I think this is part of the budget that will need some additional analysis and discussion. Not sure we'll get to the number that we have heard mentioned quite a bit tonight, but also not sure that we've arrived at the right number either. So more to be learned there. I think the preliminary transportation CIP is very much on track and sets us on a path to maintain what we've already built and make some additional key investments. Generally supportive of funding the TBD. I'm especially interested in gaining a better understanding of what's possible with scenario three. Certainly believe that our neighborhoods have some important unaddressed mobility needs. I also think that it's time that we do move ahead with a program like this. We just can't sit back and wait for someone else to solve our transportation challenges. No one is going to come into town with a truckload of transportation investment money and ask us where to park it. I think Bellevue has been one of the most successful cities at securing transportation funding from outside sources. We go for all the available grants and our staff has an amazing track record of securing them. But with all of that, it's just not enough. I think we're falling behind and achieving the goals we have set for ourselves. Successful investments return more than we put in. We should think of investments we all make in our education, in our homes, in our families, in our businesses. We make them because we know we'll get more back in return. And I can't think of an investment that this city has made that has not paid off. Transportation investments are greatly needed, and we have a very solid plan on how to make impactful investments over the next couple of years. There is a risk to doing nothing or doing too little. Of course, there is a risk of doing too much, but there's no risk in continuing the discussion and understanding all of the options. Lastly, too, at some point, I would like to get some options to consider for deploying some of our council contingency funds. I'd like to have some ideas on how we can meaningfully fill in some gaps, especially with a focus on our thriving people and communities, STA, and sustainability generally. So I think this is an amazing start. We've had a lot of really good community input, and I'm sure more to come as we work our way to final adoption in November. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor. Thank you. I have only four quick comments. One is a request. We already had one public hearing. Tonight is our second, and we have a third. My memory is so bad that I cannot memorize my name these days. Is there a way that we can have a summary of what we have heard? Like how many people spoke, speaks, how many people gave us the written comments, what was the main budget topics people raised, and roughly how many comments supported or oppose? each major request, and I completely understand this is not a scientific survey, but I think it would be helpful for council and public to have a clear record of those, the last two, today and before, and the upcoming one that we have received into a more summary place. So if possible, I think it would be great for us to not rely on our memories.

The answer to that is yes. We had actually planned to link it with our first memory bank submittal with the next meeting. So we'll have a linkage to that. Actually, the staff's already working on it. And then also we'll gather in the written comment as well to include with that.

So you couldn't give me the credit of the genius idea. You need to say you already have done that.

Our job, sir, is to make sure that we're thinking about those things before you're thinking about them. So when you ask for it, we're ready to go.

The other thing I would love to see in the memory bank is... When I was reading all of the package, I see that we are using one-time dollars and reserves to continue some programs, and then others are being moved to core services. Do we have a simple list of the programs being supported with one-time funding or reserves, and identify which of those could require a new funding decision after 2028? Have you already been thinking that and that's already linked to the memory bank that is going to be released?

Not yet. No, we actually, from an accounting standpoint, have a very deep understanding. What's really important about that question is we line up one-time funding. with decisions that aren't yet permanent. And so if we're going to try a demonstration project or we're going to do something like right now for City Hall, the after hours that we started in the last cycle, we've got a little bit longer that it's extended, that's with one-time money. The decision hasn't been made yet to make that permanent. So we know all of those programs and are happy to provide that for you. When it comes to activating reserves, those are usually for larger purchases. Those aren't being activated to fund ongoing services. Each one of those is related to a very specific decision and that's actually spelled out in the budget itself and we'll identify those as we go through.

Thank you. The third one is, At some point, maybe this council ask for increasing have a tax for transportation or anything else. I think we should make sure we have already look hard to see where we can reduce cost or are we spending maybe too much. Is there any way we can have a lease of where already we have actually reduced costs somewhere, or change how we do something, or stop doing something because we realize there is no longer value to do that, or where do we think we can still do more cost cutting? Is that something that we can also have in memory bank? Approximately, not all of those.

We'll have to do some thinking on how to approach that. I will say, culturally speaking, we do that continuous improvement on a regular basis. And so we're constantly activating that question within ourselves and doing that work. But I think we can put some thought to some of it.

And if any big item came not in the continuous improvement, it would be great for our public to know that we are already thinking about reducing costs, and we are doing all of the stuff that we can do. So if there are some items that we can add to the memory bank, that would be awesome. And I think the last one is something that Council Member Bargaba and both Council Member Nieuwenhuis brought or talk about, is before we make any final decision, I also would like to see the total impact of everything that our constituents are going to experience through the taxes. The holistic, what is happening on property tax, utility rates, fees, transportation funding, what all of those add to a Bellevue household and a small business. If we can also, again, I know it's not as easy as I am describing here, but if we can have a full picture, it would be great.

We'll be happy to bring together what we believe is a total tax bill for our Bellevue resident looks like from our Bellevue taxes. But I also do want to say that we're not proposing other than the 1% increase in property tax, which is a total of $900,000 across all the levies. There's no increase in sales tax unless there's a decision to enact the TBD. There's no change in utility taxes. Utility rates is a different piece, and I know you've had a lot of conversation around that. But the taxes themselves aren't changing by City of Bellevue's actions beyond that 1%. There are things that other jurisdictions have done or are doing that are outside of our control. We traditionally don't document all of those pieces. We can see what we can do to draw together as much of that tax bill as we can. But I want to be really clear. Your actions and the proposal before you does not actually increase beyond that 1% the tax burden on our residents.

Completely understand. I'm just talking about total impact on our resident that includes utility rates includes all of the like They don't they is the money that they are going to spend in any capacity so if you can have a full picture of that would be Great to see the holistic view Great. Thank you so much. I just wanted to look at anyone else has any comment. I see already one hand anyone else customer new house

If we're going through that exercise, could we also add on to that the cumulative impact of, for example, King County? King County has just passed the TBD. King County also just passed, I believe there's safety tech, so that's another one. So those are all going to hit Bellevue residents as well. I don't know if we can add that to that overall cumulative effect or not, or maybe create a separate line item for that, but that would also be interesting to see if possible. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mayor.

Of course. Great. Thank you so much. We have written reports, intergovernmental affairs, monthly update of August 31st, 2026. I hope that everyone goes and read that before the bed tonight. Thanks for joining us this evening. And there is no further business on the agenda, Charmaine, so we can adjourn. Thank you.