[0:00] Thank you for your attention.

[2:00] Good evening, welcome everybody to the regular Bellevue City Council meeting for January 6th,

[2:24] 2026, city clerk would you do the roll call please.

[2:35] Council member Hamilton, council member Malikutian, council member new and house, council member

[2:40] Robinson, here in council member Syma Doraia. Thank you. Council member Breyer, welcome to the council.

[2:47] Thank you for having me. It's an honor. Would you join a lead us in the flag salute, please?

[2:57] I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to your housing for

[3:04] Richard Sands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

[3:10] So this evening we will be electing a new mayor and a new deputy mayor from our seven council

[3:21] members. The term is for two years and we do it every even number of years and so I'm going to ask

[3:28] our city clerk to go ahead and tell us about the process. Thank you Chair Robinson. So this evening

[3:34] we will be electing a new mayor and a deputy mayor from among this seven council members and the

[3:40] term for the position as council member Robinson just said is two years and this is a process we

[3:45] go through every two years. So at this point you will recall that at the December 9th council meeting

[3:52] council member Robinson was selected to serve as the temporary chair for this evening to

[3:56] preside over the election of the mayor and then once that mayor is elected that person will preside over

[4:02] the election of the deputy mayor. For the benefit of those who may not be completely familiar with

[4:07] how we govern in Bellevue we follow the council manager form of government which calls for the mayor

[4:13] to be elected from among the seven council members every two years. That mayor acts as the presiding officer

[4:20] for the city council meetings and represents the city and a number of forms and performs a number

[4:26] of ceremonial roles. So at the conclusion of tonight's election for the position of the mayor that

[4:32] mayor will take the gavel from the temporary chair who is council member Robinson and preside

[4:36] over the election of the deputy mayor. So the council is conducting tonight's election via a written

[4:42] ballot utilizing a process whereby all nominees are voted on simultaneously. The results of tonight's

[4:50] ballots will be tabulated by myself and then the results will be read aloud. So I'll go over a little bit

[4:55] of the process so everybody understands how we are handling tonight. So the temporary chair will call for

[5:00] nominations for the position of mayor, nominations do not require a second. Each council member may

[5:07] nominate no more than one person for the position. Council members are allowed to nominate themselves

[5:13] and when no further nominations are forthcoming the temporary chair will close the floor to nominations.

[5:19] Staff have handed out the first round of ballots. You'll see them on the yellow card in front of you.

[5:26] You will write the name of your preferred candidate on that ballot. It will be collected by staff

[5:31] and then I will tabulate it on the tellers report and read the results aloud. If there's a council

[5:36] member that receives a majority vote which in this case for council members is a majority. They will

[5:41] be declared the new mayor and then that person will preside over the deputy mayor election. So if there are

[5:48] questions about the process and happy to answer any of those otherwise I'll turn it back to chair Robinson

[5:53] to handle the election. Any comments or questions? Okay I'm going to open the floor for nominations

[6:01] and I would actually like to nominate council member Malikutian to be mayor. Are there any other

[6:07] nominations for mayor? Okay so now we will take our paper. Even though there is only one nominee

[6:16] we do need to continue it. You can't do a write-in.

[6:46] Okay I can confirm that all seven council members have voted for council member Malikutian

[7:07] so he is declared mayor. Thank you.

[7:37] Here it is. First, oh yeah you're charging.

[7:57] Show me before we go to the next election. I want to thank Atkuin Mayor Robinson for

[8:11] nomination and my colleagues on the council for your trust and your votes. That trust truly means a lot to me.

[8:21] I also want to acknowledge that I am sitting with six incredible qualified leaders any of you guys

[8:30] can serve in this role with integrity and care. I feel genuinely honored that you choose me and I don't

[8:40] take that highly. Councilor Robinson, a special thanks to you six years leading this city in very

[8:50] very complex situation including COVID including the crazy significant growth that we are having

[8:58] much of the city of strength is because of your study leadership. So thank you so much. You leave a

[9:05] big shoes to feel but the good news is we do this work together we are seven people and I believe in

[9:14] that shared responsibility. Our resident expect a lot from us we all know safety quality of life

[9:22] and the city that feels welcoming and fair are small businesses or larger employers and the people who

[9:31] always every day show up here and work here are counting on our leadership and I think we can do that

[9:40] thoughtfully and it care. I am excited to work closely with my fellow council member in

[9:46] credible city of staff and the community. The best decision is when we listen well and keep the people

[9:55] at the center of our work. With that let's move forward with the deputy mayor election process I will

[10:02] open the floor for nomination. Is there any nomination? Is there any other nomination?

[10:13] I close the nomination and you guys all have a yellow

[10:44] Okay thank you and confirm that all seven council members have voted for council member

[11:00] congratulations. So at this time I call for 20 minutes recess for taking some photos

[11:13] you

[12:13] I think we are at the proof of the process.

[12:43] I just want to say that we miss a legend, former Councilwoman Lee is not with us, but also I just

[12:52] wanted to congratulate Councilman Browyer for being here, and we are looking forward to

[12:58] working with you and everyone else.

[13:02] Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

[13:06] Do you have a second?

[13:07] The second?

[13:08] Auding for the aye.

[13:09] Great.

[13:11] There is no one opposed.

[13:13] City-collect are there any speakers signed up to provide oral communication?

[13:18] Yes, thank you, Mayor.

[13:19] There are four pre-registered speakers this evening.

[13:22] So before I start calling names, I'll go over a few of the rules that the Council has

[13:26] in place.

[13:27] So the total time for oral communications is for a period not to exceed 30 minutes, and all topics

[13:33] must relate to City of Bellevue Government.

[13:35] People speaking to items on tonight's agenda will be called first, and then if time

[13:39] remains, people speaking to items not on tonight's agenda will be called.

[13:43] The presiding officer in both of those categories can give preference to people who have not spoken

[13:49] to Council within the last 60 days, or who are going to be speaking on items anticipated to come

[13:55] on to the agenda within the next 60 days.

[13:58] Speakers are allowed three minutes to speak each and a maximum of three speakers are permitted

[14:03] to speak to anyone side of a particular topic.

[14:06] And also I want to remind folks that in compliance with Washington State campaign laws,

[14:10] regarding the use of public facilities during elections, no speaker may support or oppose a

[14:15] ballot measure or support or oppose a candidate for an election, which includes one's own

[14:20] campaign.

[14:21] Any speaker who begins discussing these topics will be asked to stop.

[14:25] And with that, I will call our first speaker who is Janis Hein.

[15:00] Good evening and happy new year, 226. I'm Janis Hyne and I'm a resident of Bellevue in the Bridal

[15:15] Children's Neighborhood. And my topic tonight is good government of Bellevue through unity.

[15:25] I'm talking about unity of purpose and unity in brotherhood. And I want to begin by thanking all of you

[15:34] for your willingness to serve on the council and also your brave. We have a lot of different opinions,

[15:44] factions and I wish and pray for you God's best and happiness and fulfillment in the new year and on your entire

[15:56] term for the council. With that I'd like to offer you that you have hope here for Bellevue.

[16:06] I'd new opportunity for this new year and for our citizens. And I just wanted to talk to you about a song

[16:16] called the Star Spangled Banner. You know that's our national anthem. Francis Scott Key was forced by the

[16:25] British to watch the bombarding of the American Fort McHenry as a smoke passed. Key saw

[16:35] old glory still waving and he penned the Star Spangled Banner. Now you're all probably familiar with the

[16:44] first verse but are you aware of what the third verse says I'm going to quote it. I won't sing it for you.

[16:52] And this be our motto in God is our trust and the Star Spangled Banner and triumph show wave over

[17:04] the land of the free and the home of the brave. And that's what I wish for all of you is wisdom

[17:15] and realizing that you can get God's wisdom to do your job here. That you all could be on the same page.

[17:27] But that's going to take humbling sometime. Maybe even a repent of having your own idea. But it's submitting

[17:37] once again in God we trust and that's the God of the Bible. We hopefully you will get his purpose

[17:45] for Bellevue and Bellevue's future and that means unity in purpose. The second one is submitting to one

[17:56] another. You have the different ideas and with that I'm going to remind you of a second song. America,

[18:04] the beautiful and by the way you probably all know and French that Bellevue is beautiful.

[18:10] The signs. So I'm sorry your time has expired. I'd offer or encourage you to email the rest of your

[18:20] comments to the council. Okay thank you. We said our next three speakers I believe when I come up

[18:28] together and that's a Leah Baines, Lisa Pierce, until Leah Thomas, though each of them will have

[18:33] a separate three minutes.

[18:51] Hello you guys. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak.

[18:56] I wrote my name down. Good evening Mayor and council members. My name is Telia Thomas and I'm

[19:03] the community specialist of Clements Crossing. I'm here tonight because I want to share a bit about

[19:08] the work that I do so you understand what life looks like. My job is to organize as much activity

[19:16] connection and normal see as possible to make home feel like home. I plan activities. I cook meals

[19:23] for the residents. I take people to shows. I help them get into the broader community. Our council

[19:30] member shared with me that she would like to organize Easterbaskas for the kids that Palaris next door.

[19:37] That moment mattered to me because it shows that people really want to belong to give and be a part of

[19:42] where they live. I do this because I believe that even if you're facing challenges you don't just deserve

[19:48] to be helped. You deserve to be home. Give me a moment so I can breathe. I'm sorry. I've never

[19:54] done this before. You guys are terrifying. I do this because I believe even if you're facing challenges

[20:04] that you don't deserve to be housed you deserve a home where you're loved and where you're accepted.

[20:09] I share similar struggles as the people that I work with and even though my life turned out differently

[20:14] I understand how easy it is to be overwhelmed. Struggling is normal but it's not something we talk about

[20:19] openly. At the beginning and the end of the day our residents are just people. My mom always says we're just one

[20:25] terrible experience away from a bad situation. One loss, one act of violence, one health crisis and when that

[20:32] happens wouldn't you want someone to say I see you. I care about you and your valued. So as you guys have your

[20:39] discussion tonight I ask that you remember this. People at Plymouth are members of this community

[20:44] just like everyone else. They shop here. They give back here. They build relationships here and I call

[20:48] Bellevue home. This work matters and acceptance really matters. Thank you guys all for taking the time

[20:53] to see us as neighbors and I'm not supposed to say this part but I really hope that you guys will all come

[20:59] to my friends giving next year. You guys are all invited. Good evening. Everyone my name is

[21:11] Elia Baines and I am a Bellevue resident and while I don't represent the views of my employer I also

[21:17] work in Bellevue serving this community. I have a degree in criminal justice from the University of

[21:22] Washington and I've been working in community health for over eight years. While I'm here to advocate

[21:28] and share overwhelming support I have been disheartened to hear the opinions and sentiments shared

[21:32] towards the residents of the Eastgate campus. In a time where proven science, evidence-based practices

[21:37] and even settled law are being challenged. It is vital to highlight some key points. One year in

[21:43] permanent sport of housing is cheaper than 16 days in a King County jail or hospital or 10 weeks

[21:50] at a King County jail. While homelessness is being criminalized facilities like this campus

[21:56] that are meant to address homelessness are also being criminalized. While borders are being enforced

[22:01] now more than ever, if this city isn't the place where disabled, the sick or the poor to call

[22:06] home I ask you where should we go? If you are in a position of power and claim that every member of this

[22:13] council is pro police, despite the fact that policing is not proven to reduce crime and we know that

[22:19] homeless disabled and populations of color are most likely to be victims of crime. If you stand on

[22:25] the fence of this issue or you see it as an election year campaign point, I beg you to consider

[22:30] the margins of the community you asked to serve. Use your position of power not to just make positive

[22:36] change or hold a moment of silence for political violence without acknowledging the land that we sit on

[22:41] today but to make a positive narrative, a positive culture and a real difference for those who don't have

[22:47] the power to. Okay, well hello everybody, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Lisa

[22:57] and I've lived at Plymouth Crossing for two years. I hope you are all open to me being vulnerable.

[23:03] Oh, here we go. I didn't want to try. I was cruising through life before I moved to Plymouth Crossing.

[23:12] I was the normal person. Enjoying my life.

[23:22] I've never done drugs.

[23:25] These.

[23:29] Nor did I know in her reduction or being trauma informed was.

[23:33] I'm grateful to know what it means now. When my husband passed away,

[23:45] I was oblivious to what can happen and never imagine being homeless.

[23:55] There's all strong.

[23:56] But I care so much about clothes and everybody there.

[24:05] I believe everything happens for a reason. I'm supposed to be here at Plymouth. It's my home.

[24:14] And everyone there's my family.

[24:16] These. I don't know where.

[24:24] You can't force any major change. People have to change because they want to for themselves. When I

[24:30] took on their responsibility, a being tenant council chair, I wanted to show ownership and accountability

[24:37] for my home and community. I truly wanted to make a change in Plymouth. The council holds space and

[24:44] sports grow. Although we come from different backgrounds, we share similar struggles.

[24:51] And if I'm being honest, I don't know the Bellevue community that well, I feel that because of

[24:55] this stigma, our building has it's created a gap between our community and the Bellevue community.

[25:02] But I'm optimistic that our efforts will be a gateway to espelanial relationships to you all.

[25:07] I'm so sorry for crying. Thank you guys for listening to us and seeing us as neighbors again.

[25:16] Thank you for being vulnerable. Thank you.

[25:21] That is the end of our pre-registered list. And that was the third and final comment in the

[25:28] port of the Eastgate campus update that we'll be able to take. So at this point I would ask if there's

[25:33] anyone else joining us here in council chambers or anyone online who would like to make a comment

[25:38] to the council. We do still have some time remaining, so please raise your hand.

[25:48] Okay, Mayor, I do not see any additional hands alternate back to you.

[25:52] Thank you, Sharmin. We have now the reports of boards and commission. So council

[25:58] members, since the early 2000s, the city has had community arts and culture grants and that

[26:17] program has grown over time to support innovative art and diverse cultural traditions in the city.

[26:24] The council sets the guidelines for these grants and then approves the annual awards.

[26:30] And that's what we have for you tonight, a presentation on the Arts Commission's recommendation

[26:36] for the 2026 project grant allocations. And we're asking for council to consider approval

[26:43] of the recommendations tonight. From our arts commission, joined by the commission vice chair,

[26:50] Erica, and a motto, and Lori Hoffman from our community development department and

[26:56] minutes down. And with that I will hand it over to Lori. Thank you so much, Mayor, Deputy Mayor,

[27:01] council members. It's a pleasure to be with you tonight.

[27:08] We will ask the council consider action on the Arts Commission's recommendation recommended funding

[27:13] allocations for the 2026 project grant awards. And we have a pretty robust agenda for you,

[27:19] be short, but full of impact. We're going to talk about advancing the council's priorities,

[27:24] our process that we come to to go through these grant applications and how we get to the

[27:29] recommendation that you have in front of you tonight. We'll look at this specific request

[27:34] and the recommended allocation and then we'll dive into the public benefits that we receive from

[27:38] this grant program. We do want to start off tonight with talking about how this program that you're

[27:46] seeing tonight and the allocations events as one of council's key priorities. So we're excited

[27:51] to announce that this grant focuses on increased investment in the arts. This is in line with council priority

[27:58] number three, which is exploring options to expand arts funding through mechanisms such as the

[28:03] annual grant process, direct investment in the barred arts district or others. Previously, our project

[28:09] grants, we came at award levels of one two or three thousand dollars and those stayed consistent

[28:15] for many decades. We're very excited tonight to bring to you a project grants that are at three

[28:20] five and seven thousand dollars, as well as increased investment and number of investments in our

[28:25] barred bonus. So a lot of new organizations bringing their activities to a barred indirect response

[28:31] to council's priorities. So look forward to talking more about that. And with that, I'm going to hand

[28:36] over to minute to talk about the specifics of the program. Thank you, Lori. So the arts program

[28:44] administers three different grant programs. One is the art and cultural capital facility grants

[28:51] and east side arts partnership grants. Both of these are on a two year funding cycle and they

[28:56] will be back next year when that funding cycle reopens. Tonight we will only be discussing the project

[29:03] grants. Those are on a yearly funding cycle. So the grant process that we take is quite a reverse

[29:14] robust project process. All the grant applications are reviewed by what we call an allocations

[29:20] committee. This is a mix of art commissioners and community members. They review the grants in three different

[29:29] categories. Artistic innovation, public access and benefit and project feasibility. Each of these

[29:39] criteria are used as a scoring metric. Those receiving higher scores demonstrate a stronger

[29:46] artistic innovation and feasibility and they deliver clear public benefits to

[29:52] public residents and visitors. After they review and score.

[30:00] The committee meets all together to decide awards, and then they present their recommendations to the Arts Commission for approval before coming in front of you all.

[30:11] This year, we received 67 total project grant applications and they're totaling over 464,000 in funding requests.

[30:25] This is almost a 400% increase from last year's grant process.

[30:31] The recommended allocations tonight will only cover 43% of the requested amount.

[30:41] And you can see on the slide in front of you, the amounts broken into each type of grant.

[30:47] We have the project grants and then the bonus that isn't at on on top of the grants.

[30:53] And we are the Arts Commission is recommending 31 grants and 13 Bel-Red bonus grants.

[31:05] There we go.

[31:09] The total grant allocation recommendation is 200,000.

[31:15] These amounts broken down into each grant and the evaluation criteria are in the packet before you.

[31:23] The Arts Commission has approved these recommendations.

[31:27] And now I'd like to pass it over to Vice Chair Animoto who will highlight some of these applicants.

[31:35] These are just examples of the breadth of great offerings from the recommended grant pool for 2026.

[31:45] Thank you, minute.

[31:46] So out of the 31 project applications that we are recommending to council for approval.

[31:52] We have two projects that will present here.

[31:55] One is fine artists from Heenie Mather.

[31:58] There are proposal includes the development of pollinator hubs.

[32:02] And these would be outdoor community art installations that features two themes.

[32:07] Along the side of free library hubs.

[32:10] One of the hubs would be for bees.

[32:12] The other hub would be for butterflies.

[32:15] Each of these hubs would also be accompanied by a bench for folks to sit and visit.

[32:20] Each of these hubs offer education on artistic resources, including pollinator guides,

[32:25] coloring sheets, seed packets, and rotating community artworks.

[32:30] One of the standout points of this application was its engagement piece.

[32:34] So the artist has proposed having community painting days, which will invite residents to help decorate the hubs.

[32:42] And this will create a vibrant interactive space that educates inspires and also celebrates Bellevue's biodiversity.

[32:49] This second project we're highlighting tonight is grant to support gauges, teen arts studio at the Highland Community Center,

[33:01] which is near the Bellevue Red Arts District.

[33:04] This program itself is a free weekly year round drop in art program.

[33:08] That's designed for our teen residents here in Bellevue.

[33:11] The students will learn from a rotating professional teaching artist.

[33:17] In a variety of subjects in media.

[33:20] We expect the participants, many who have come from communities that identify as by Park LGBTQ+.

[33:27] And low income to be able to have a place where they can create community and have a sense of belonging and support at these studio classes.

[33:36] In addition to the training, art supplies and meals will be provided by gauge.

[33:42] And we've also recommended recommend that this project be to receive a Bellevue art bonus as it will take place in the Arts District here in Bellevue.

[33:57] So this year in 2026 we anticipate both the APM project grants to have a huge impacts for our city here and also our residents.

[34:06] The anticipated public benefits include serving over 1 million residents and visitors through the in-person events, performances, cultural festivals and through arts education opportunities like workshops and studio classes.

[34:20] City support ensures that over 550,000 people will have access to these opportunities through free or reduced admission prices.

[34:30] And overall, the grantees will offer programs that are designed to increase access for people of diverse backgrounds and historically underrepresented groups.

[34:38] So we're looking forward to seeing the impact that these projects will have on our community here.

[34:46] Again tonight, we are asking you to consider action on the Arts Commission recommended funding allocations for the 2026 project grants.

[34:54] Thank you so much for your time.

[34:56] Thank you so much for a great presentation, Lori, thank you so much, Manette and Vice-Share and a motto.

[35:02] Thank you so much for being here. Any questions?

[35:07] No question. Councilmember Robinson, please.

[35:11] Yeah. Well, I want to thank the Vice Chair for your work on this. It's really gratifying to see what your commission has done in making these tough decisions.

[35:20] It just seems so thoughtful, so I really appreciate it.

[35:24] I was personally sad and not to see any international fashion supported.

[35:30] I know you can't say yes to everything, but there's kind of a hub here in Bellevue of people who have actually designed dresses for the Grammys.

[35:39] So they're quite talented. I would love to see in the future, but we can bring that in.

[35:46] So the one thing that I've noticed is when we go to like the openings of events, sometimes we don't have as much public there is you just know people would love this if they knew about it.

[36:01] And I hope that we have a budget for publicity, so that the community knows about these opportunities.

[36:10] And I would love to see something regular like every Sunday afternoon.

[36:15] There's going to be something that the community just knows that every Sunday afternoon they can count on a free, something or other happening in Bellevue that they can take the family to or the kids or whatever.

[36:26] Because I would love there's so many things I would be at if I knew about them, and I don't hear about them myself.

[36:33] So that's my only ask, but I really support your recommendations.

[36:38] Thank you.

[36:40] I can't share. I think you're right on the money in terms of ways to get the word out.

[36:45] Sometimes it's really hard to know. We know amazing things are happening, but where is that one stop shop to find that?

[36:52] A couple things I will highlight, we are looking at increasing some marketing within this next year for our current recipients as part of a service that we would provide.

[37:00] I also point you towards our partners at the Bellevue Art District Community Alliance who have started a community event calendar and are starting to do regular emails about upcoming events, not just within the district, but east side wide.

[37:14] Great.

[37:15] Getting there. Thank you.

[37:18] Thank you so much. Is there any other questions?

[37:22] Councillor Borgawa.

[37:23] I want to make a quick comment.

[37:25] Just to reiterate the gratitude for the rigor and the process that the arts commission went through and goes through every year to deliver these grants to be thought full of other choices and to enable lots and lots of people in the community.

[37:40] I've heard a few stories. I don't need a side of this.

[37:44] Which has been really, really compelling.

[37:46] Thank you.

[37:48] Thank you.

[37:51] Great. Councillor Osmada.

[37:53] Would you please make a motion?

[37:55] Yes.

[37:56] There are some commission recommendations for 2026 project grant allocations and direct staff to proceed with implementation.

[38:03] Is there a second?

[38:05] All in favor say aye.

[38:07] Aye.

[38:08] Any opposed?

[38:09] There are seven.

[38:10] Yes.

[38:11] Motion approved.

[38:12] Thank you so much.

[38:13] Thank you.

[38:14] The next item is report of a city manager that is empty, so we can move to the next one.

[38:20] Thank you.

[38:21] Thank you.

[38:22] Thank you.

[38:23] Thank you, Mayor.

[38:24] Appreciate it.

[38:25] We didn't have a chance to do a proclamation.

[38:27] I just wanted to acknowledge your just quickly a moment to recognize law enforcement appreciation day, which is observed every January 9th, so that's this upcoming Friday.

[38:41] That honors a men and women who serve our community with courage and professionalism and unwavering commitment to public safety.

[38:48] So fortunate to have a police department that sets a high standard, not just in Washington, but nationally.

[38:53] The work is not abstract.

[38:55] It shows up in everyday moments when people never see the late night calls, the quiet de-escalations, the difficult conversations, the compassion shown to people in crisis.

[39:06] And the city presence that keeps our neighborhood safe.

[39:09] Our officers respond to thousands of calls each and every year.

[39:13] And they do it with a level of training, with restraint, and community partnership that reflects the very best public service.

[39:19] They are protectors in our neighborhoods and first on the scene when someone is having their worst day of their life.

[39:25] We also recognize a family's behind the badge, the spouses that children.

[39:30] The loved ones who carry their own kind of service, they share those long nights, the uncertainty, and the sacrifices that come with this profession.

[39:38] Their support makes our officers work possible.

[39:41] And law enforcement today faces challenges that are more complex than ever.

[39:45] Yet our officers continue to show up with integrity, professionalism, and a deep sense of duty.

[39:51] They don't do it for recognition to do it because they believe in this community and in the responsibility they've sworn up hold.

[39:57] So tonight, behalf of the City Council and the residents that we serve, I want to say thank you, thank you for your service.

[40:03] Thank you for your sacrifice and for your commitment to keeping Bellevue one of the safest cities in the nation.

[40:08] Thank you.

[40:09] Thank you so much, Councilman.

[40:11] You and House indeed, we appreciate them.

[40:13] The second item is appointing Caroline Ferris to serve the remainder of her full term on the planning commission that is going to expire in May 31 of 2027.

[40:28] But we, I think, at the first, she, for some conflicts, she couldn't, she kind of told us that she wants to resign and from January 1, she had other commitment.

[40:41] So we went through the process of recruitment, again, as very engaged city, we are, we had almost 30 applicants, all great and qualified.

[40:54] And we went through the recruitment process, but then Caroline Ferris indicated that she can finish her term because of her excellent work.

[41:04] We decided to just let her finish her term that is going to be May 31, 2027.

[41:12] So on that note, do I have a motion to appoint her?

[41:17] So what is there a second?

[41:20] Second.

[41:21] All in favor say aye.

[41:23] Aye.

[41:24] Aye.

[41:25] Is there any opposed?

[41:26] There is no one, so congratulations to Caroline Ferris for being appointed.

[41:33] The next item is kind of have a motion to approve the consent calendar.

[41:38] I moved to approve the consent calendar.

[41:40] Is there a second?

[41:42] All in favor say aye.

[41:43] Aye.

[41:44] There is no opposed.

[41:46] So I think we can go to our study session.

[41:51] Or city manager, can you please introduce our first study session?

[41:56] Thank you, Mayor.

[41:57] Council members.

[41:58] Yes.

[41:59] So we regularly hear the city provide opportunities for jurisdictions and public entities to present factual information about proposed ballot measures.

[42:09] In the evening, we have representatives from the Bellevue School District.

[42:13] The Bellevue School District has two measures coming up on the February 10th special election ballot to renew property tax levies.

[42:21] And tonight's presentation is an opportunity to learn a little bit about the proposal and how it may be relevant to Bellevue residents.

[42:30] With that, I'm going to hand it over to our staff, Katie Kasimahalzi, assistant director for Intergovernmental Relations to introduce our guests and start the presentation.

[42:43] We're going to have Dr. Kelly Armaki here as well as John Harrison, who will join us in just a moment.

[42:57] I also wanted to let you know that tonight you'll be hearing information from the Bellevue School District's proposed renewal of two levy propositions, which will be on the ballot and February for Bellevue voters.

[43:11] The levies would be collected over four years and would be maintaining expiring district funds and district levies.

[43:18] Tonight's presentation is informational only.

[43:22] There will be no formal action tonight and the purpose is to learn more about the levies and it's an opportunity for you all to ask questions to our two gentlemen here tonight.

[43:34] With that, I'd like to warmly welcome both Bellevue School District Superintendent Dr. Kelly Armaki and John Harrison, who is the Chief of Staff for the district.

[43:45] But I'm also very pleased that we are welcomed by Bellevue School District Board President Phil Brock, who is sitting right behind me right now.

[43:53] So, Dr. Armaki, please.

[43:55] Good evening Mayor, Deputy Mayor, City Council members, it's great to be here.

[43:59] Before I begin our presentation tonight, I want to start by saying that as you know, there are strict PDC guidelines for what district employees can say and can't say about ballot measures.

[44:10] But what we are allowed to do is talk about factual information, which is what we're here to do tonight.

[44:16] So John and I are here to share some information with you about two levy renewal propositions that will be on the February 10th ballot.

[44:25] Before I go into that, I do want to just share a few highlights about the Bellevue School District.

[44:31] We're very proud of the work that we're doing and so it's been a while since I've been able to to present in front of you.

[44:38] So I just wanted to share a few things.

[44:40] First of all, our students are thriving in the Bellevue School District.

[44:43] We have about 19,345 students now.

[44:47] As you know, 117 languages spoken, home languages spoken by our kids from 125 different countries of birth.

[44:54] So extraordinary diversity here in the city of Bellevue.

[45:00] You probably see articles written about how students in public education aren't achieving in math and reading anymore.

[45:08] But Bellevue is not one of those school districts. 83% of our students are at proficiency or above in English language arts. 80% are a proficient in math.

[45:18] And we continue to get better every single year. In the Bellevue school district, we also have extraordinary staff. We've got about 2,700 staff members right now who are working extremely hard.

[45:29] They just had a wonderful winter break and are back with the kids.

[45:34] But the school staff are really incredible in Bellevue. The average number of years of teaching experience is 12.5, which is amazing.

[45:45] 63% of our educators have their masters degree or higher.

[45:49] And over 40% of our teachers have their national board certification. It's one of the highest rates of teachers with the highest level of teaching certification in the country.

[45:59] And then lastly, our schools are successful.

[46:03] We have 93% graduation rate, 86% of all AP tests that are taken are passed.

[46:10] Four of our schools are in the top 10 in the US News and will report.

[46:14] It's usually somewhere between four and six of our high schools.

[46:18] Recently, BSD was named the best district by niche.

[46:23] And then I think most importantly is we've been talking a lot about enrollment and budget and things like that.

[46:28] Our enrollment over the past three years has grown by a thousand students.

[46:32] So just to put that into perspective, this past year, King County lost almost 5,000 students from students moving away.

[46:39] Things like that lower birth rates.

[46:42] But Bellevue grew this past year by 200 kids, mainly at the elementary level, which is really amazing.

[46:49] So a lot of that is due to the fact that we are opening up a lot of different programs.

[46:53] We started a homeschool program to support families who are homeschooling their kids.

[46:58] We started a number of different language programs to honor the languages in our city.

[47:03] And the last bullet point there is that you may have heard that Bellevue is going through some challenging financial times.

[47:10] Not different than many districts across the state of Washington.

[47:14] But our financial recovery is accelerating and exceeding state expectations.

[47:18] So we are well on our way. So we're really proud of the work that we're doing.

[47:23] With that, we do have two levy renewal propositions on the ballot on February 10.

[47:29] Proposition one is the educational programs and operations levy.

[47:33] EPNO and proposition two is the technology and capital projects levy.

[47:38] The EPNO levy continues funding for data day operations for the district.

[47:43] It fills the gap between what the state funds and what our district needs to operate schools.

[47:49] The technical technology and capital projects levy continues funding for technology, safety, security and capital improvements.

[47:58] It maintains our commitment to ensure students have safe learning environments and technology to prepare them for the future.

[48:06] To go a little bit deeper with the EPNO levy, this is our operations levy.

[48:11] It covers so many different things, but these are the four big buckets.

[48:15] The first one is high quality teaching and learning.

[48:17] The main thing I'll point out is the state funds a six period day at middle school and high school.

[48:23] Our levy helps pay for seven periods for our middle and high school is which means our kids can take one extra class every single semester.

[48:32] And by offering that the students can take things like orchestra, they can take art, they can take CTE classes,

[48:39] different kinds of electives that you wouldn't be able to take elsewhere.

[48:43] Our levy funds student well being safety and supports.

[48:47] So the allocation of counselors, for example from the state is pretty minimal.

[48:52] Our levy funds additional counselors, psychologists, nurses, social workers.

[48:57] Our levy also funds all of our safety and security staff, plus the training and emergency planning that they do to keep our kids in our school safe.

[49:06] And then the levy also funds about 25% of our special education costs.

[49:11] The levy funds enrichment like music, athletics, after school activities.

[49:17] And then the levy helps to fund operational support for our schools from transportation to material supplies, utilities, few old things like that.

[49:27] The technology and capital projects levy covers things like school safety and security.

[49:33] So we have AEDs in all of our buildings.

[49:37] We have Narcan in all of our buildings.

[49:39] We upgrade all of our cameras for safety and security.

[49:42] We have business visitor management systems.

[49:45] We also build things like safety vestibules so that visitors have to come in through a checkpoint to get into our buildings.

[49:54] We also pay for all of our safety and emergency preparedness through the technology capital projects levy.

[50:02] The technology capital projects levy also pays for building maintenance and improvements.

[50:07] So roofing, carpeting, upgrading, our heating and cooling systems.

[50:11] Any kind of repairs and maintenance that is needed.

[50:14] We also use these funds to provide environmental upgrades to our buildings.

[50:19] So putting solar panels so that we can reduce our environmental impact and improve our energy efficiency.

[50:27] And then the last thing is the technology and capital projects levy also pays for technology for our educators and for our students.

[50:35] We provide one to one devices for our students.

[50:39] We also provide a lot of professional development for teachers around using everything from software to AI and things like that.

[50:47] I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to John who gets to talk about the fun stuff, which is the details about the finances with the levy.

[50:55] Thank you Dr. Aramaki and thank you council for the opportunity to present to you tonight.

[51:02] It really is an honor to be here and we're much we very much appreciate the opportunity.

[51:07] So this pie chart I know the text is hard to see but the point is if you take a look at that dark green piece of the pie.

[51:18] That basically indicates that the educational programs and operations levy is it provides the funds for 16% of our total budget.

[51:28] So that one levy alone, 16% the lighter green is the capital and tech levy proposition to a portion of the technology and capital projects levy can be used for general operating funds.

[51:45] So combined the two levy's if you look at the 8% from the cap and tech, the tech and cap levy and the 16% from the educational programs and operations levy.

[51:55] That's a 24% of our entire budget is provided by the levy.

[52:00] So it's an important piece to show you the totality of what these two levy's combined pay for.

[52:10] The next slide is gives you a very general idea of how we spend our money in the value school district 78% of our budget supports teaching and learning and teaching support functions and so it should.

[52:23] So 78% is basically the instructional component of our operation.

[52:29] The 13% is is the next biggest piece covers a variety of topics from everything that we need to provide in terms of food services, maintenance, technology, ground security, all of basically all of the rest and those two smaller components that you see there are basically a administrative costs at the school level and administrative costs at the district level.

[52:56] This slide is the key slide.

[53:00] These levy's are collected over four years. So in the state of Washington every four years, levy's can be renewed and we use that term purposely because it really is a renewal of an existing levy.

[53:15] So what we're asking the tax fairs to support is the commitment that has previously been made in previous levy's last one of course being the 2022 EPNO and tech and cat projects, levy's.

[53:30] So for this, this session, the 2026 ballot, the EPNO levy projected tax rate is 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value where the tech and cap projects rate is 50 the projected rate is 54 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

[53:57] And the reason why we say projected is ultimately it's the county auditor assessor that actually levy's the actual tax.

[54:08] So that 75% 75 cents per $1,000 of AV at 54 cents per $1,000 of AV is a projection.

[54:19] There's a little bit of difference between the two in terms of the dollar amounts that could be collected. So for the technology and capital projects, levy, there is no dollar amount on what can be collected where the EPNO levy, there's a levy collection formula dictated by the state.

[54:40] What formula is the lesser of $2 or 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value or $3,851 per pupil in the county year 2026 and the lesser of those two amounts for us is the 38, 351 dollars per pupil based on 26 numbers.

[55:05] So it is a little complex but the point basically that we want to make is that this is the projected levy amounts per each amount per the assessed value for each of the two levy's is a continuation of a commitment already made.

[55:27] And what we're asking for what we're asking that the taxpayer is to support is the same taxation rate for the 26 levy's for both of them.

[55:36] So just to give you kind of an indication for a Bellevue home and I think the the mean price of a home in Bellevue was around 1.5 million.

[55:48] It's a lot of money but the cost for these two levy's for a home that's worth 1.5 million would be approximately $1,900 and $35 a year and that's at the top end because it's based on assessed value.

[56:04] So if assessed value continues to go up the amount that that tax rate is actually less than the amount that we're projecting and I think the next slide gives you a bit of a better indication.

[56:17] So this one is sort of gives you a bit of a look back and starting with the 22 22 EP and O levy.

[56:27] We also projected our projected tax rate was same thing 75 cents per 1000 of assessed value and those amounts were the amounts that we collected or that that rate would generate in each of those four years.

[56:45] So going into the 2026 levy on the ballot for February 10th at the 75 cents keeping that tax rate at 75 cents per 1000 of assessed value.

[56:57] Those would be the amounts that we would that we would generate in each of the four years of the 2026 levy.

[57:10] Actually, I made a mistake. I mixed up both and go back. All right. Here we go.

[57:16] State that again, just to be clear, this is the EP and O levy for the 22 22 levy at the top and the 2026 levy at the bottom and again keep in mind for the.

[57:28] For the cap for the technology and capital projects levy that's a dollar amount that's not a formula amount so in 23 24 25 26 you see the the what was collected and you see the rates.

[57:46] Besides 58 cents beginning in 23 and in 2026 it was 54 cents.

[57:53] And then moving to the 2026 you see that the amount so we will collect over the next four years beginning in 2027 would be 64,000 up to 73 cent sorry 64 million up to 73 million in 2030 again at that same rate of 54 cents per 1000 of assessed value.

[58:15] This is a really interesting slide in that it paints a picture of where we've been in the last over the last decade.

[58:26] You'll notice it's really hard to see but where the bars begin to get smaller meaning the amounts of money collected or smaller begins in 2018 because of some legislative changes of the way that basically there was.

[58:43] I'm on on levy dollars that we can collect from the community so beginning in 2018 but the interesting pieces if you move over to the.

[58:53] The 20 25 school year which just started the 20 20 24 25 the thing that's 25 are from you to see for the 25 25 25 25 25 school year is the amount.

[59:06] The combined amount collected was a was one dollar and 11 cents and so if you look at what we're asking for beginning in the if the 26 livis beginning in 2027 would be a dollar in 29 if you combined both the.

[59:24] And finally this last slide shows you kind of relatively speaking the tax burden for districts in our region throat king county and if you look at the top there and it's it's a combined tax burden so it's both levies and bonds if there are our bonds in.

[59:53] In particular district so if you look at Auburn at the top what's that a doctor and what he is.

[1:00:00] Can we see it? Vote for dollars. And if you go down to Bellevue, we are at $1.99, $1.99. That's so hard to say. Point being is that if you compare us to other districts in the region, the tax burden for our homeowners is the rate is significantly less than other districts in the region.

[1:00:26] So, with that, I'll turn it back to Dr. Armaki.

[1:00:30] Yeah, I think that is it. So, I think at this point, if there's time, we'd be happy to take any questions about either of the propositions.

[1:00:40] Thank you so much. Dr. Armaki. Thank you so much for being here. John Gray seeing you.

[1:00:46] Thank you.

[1:00:48] Or BSC board director, Mr. Fieldboard.

[1:00:51] Thank you for being here and Katie Gray seeing you and happy new year to you all.

[1:00:55] I would love to go around the table and dies and ask for question.

[1:01:00] But can you go please to the slide number two?

[1:01:12] And now looking at this slide, I know why the appealing of Bellevue and many family wants to move.

[1:01:20] I don't have a kid myself, but it is a great place by this stats to raise a kid.

[1:01:26] So, I'm very proud of the work that you are doing and thank you for leadership.

[1:01:31] Let's just go around the vice council member.

[1:01:35] Thank you for the presentation. Dr. Armaki, I had a quick question.

[1:01:42] So, according to the National Homeland Security Commission, I think roughly it was reported 70% of cyber threats take place at a local municipal level, especially at a educational level.

[1:01:52] And so it was great to see that cybersecurity was one of those core intentions that one of the levees would cover.

[1:01:57] I wanted to ask and perhaps it's too granular, but do we know how the levee funds are allocated between preventative measures like monitoring and firewalls and response and recovery capabilities?

[1:02:08] Yeah, I know enough to be dangerous about this.

[1:02:11] So, one of the things we pay for is a full-time cyber security specialist.

[1:02:15] And so, we spend a lot of time protecting because there's a lot of cyber security attack on public school systems and we do lots of trainings.

[1:02:25] And then we also conduct a lot of audits where we are our internal person sends fishing emails to stab just to make sure that people are following rules and things like that.

[1:02:35] We spend quite a bit of money on cybersecurity protections and we send him to training so that he's always up on kind of the latest.

[1:02:43] But if you look at some of the site basically what he always tells us is that school districts are attacked multiple times every hour, every single day.

[1:02:52] And it's just a matter of time and so we spend a lot to protect our student data.

[1:02:59] Hopefully that would you add anything about that.

[1:03:02] No, that's great.

[1:03:04] Thank you so much.

[1:03:05] Council members, more the video.

[1:03:08] Thank you.

[1:03:09] So, thank you for the presentation.

[1:03:11] I'm a proud product of the Bowie School District so thank you for all the work you're doing and changing the life of our kids.

[1:03:18] There's a matter of what they're coming from the social and everything background is precious.

[1:03:22] Thank you so much.

[1:03:23] I have two questions to ask.

[1:03:25] With our students speaking more than 100 languages presenting 125 countries so our school district is very diverse.

[1:03:32] And can you share with us how the EPNO lobby specifically supports the multi-lingual letters.

[1:03:38] And also the heritage and dual language program mentions in the materials.

[1:03:43] Sure.

[1:03:44] Yeah, that's a great question.

[1:03:46] I think in general the EPNO lobby helps to fund operations in general and the EPNO lobby helps to fund the teacher.

[1:03:52] To fund the teacher salaries that we pay in Bellevue.

[1:03:55] So, what we get from the state is not nearly enough and so we use the EPNO lobby to help fund additional staff.

[1:04:02] And so all of our dual language programs, our Japanese Korean, our Arabic programs.

[1:04:07] We use EPNO lobby money to help fund salaries, to help fund books, to help fund the supplies for those programs.

[1:04:14] So a lot of the programs that parents either move to Bellevue 4 or send their kids from other districts

[1:04:20] is because of the programs that are funded through in part by the EPNO lobby.

[1:04:25] I would just add I mean the bulk of the funding for multi-lingual learners is provided by the state.

[1:04:31] But we enhance that with with with with with with levy dollars and that seven period day mentioned that Dr. Armaki made.

[1:04:40] Earlier really provides the opportunity for you know for students to expand the repertoire of world language classes for example at the secondary level.

[1:04:48] And now about how many language programs we have right now for the students.

[1:04:53] How many different type of?

[1:04:55] Well we offer I mean right now we are offering Japanese Korean Spanish Mandarin Arabic.

[1:05:01] We have a French program and then that's done including all of the world language programs that we have at the high school as well.

[1:05:07] And with Spanish that's at four different schools so.

[1:05:11] Thank you. Thank you for making out his competitive.

[1:05:14] I have one last question and thank you.

[1:05:17] So as a small business on I'm always really intrigued by workforce development is there anything from.

[1:05:23] The Korean capital education program that's funded that's going to be have connecting the students to the employers and internship.

[1:05:32] Oh yes I'm so we have a number of things I think career technical education is probably the most exciting thing that's happening in the Bellevue school district.

[1:05:39] We're proud of our language programs and our AP classes and things like that.

[1:05:43] But I think what gets kids the most excited right now is maritime welding and our nursing program.

[1:05:51] And so we're trying to invest a lot in the programs that prepare kids for careers right out of high school if they want it or to go into trade schools.

[1:06:00] And then we're doing a lot of internship work in a number of different ways.

[1:06:05] Our Bellevue big picture school is building internship right into their program.

[1:06:09] But then our students with disabilities who are at our transitions program between 18 and 21 are doing internships including over at Bellevue cafe.

[1:06:20] But to in order to build their skills so that they can transition successfully from a K-12 education to productive life afterwards.

[1:06:28] So we have a number of different programs that offer internships so kids can get connected to to kind of the workforce right away out of high school.

[1:06:37] And with the CTE programs facility upgrades is also a big piece of that with with with levy dollars and again broken record the seven period day provides additional opportunity for kids to access CTE courses.

[1:06:51] Thank you so much councilmember Robinson.

[1:06:55] Thank you.

[1:06:56] I'm just going to say outside of this levy.

[1:06:59] I think our Bellevue school district is a foundation of our city success so I want to thank you for the work that you do to support our kids and that ultimately supports our economy and our future.

[1:07:14] This is kind of I'm maybe a little bit jumping the gun and I apologize but I would be interested in a future agenda discussion and consideration of a collective position and support of the levy from the council.

[1:07:29] I know we can't do that tonight and I can't do it as an individual but if we could put that on a future council meeting if the if our council tonight would want to do that I would be interested in that.

[1:07:42] Thank you councilmember near now.

[1:07:44] Thank you.

[1:07:45] I was going to that collective letter and support met a future future meeting and I'm glad we're getting so many maritime welding.

[1:07:53] With three fairies currently out of commission.

[1:07:55] We can't get it.

[1:07:56] The workforce fast enough I just say and.

[1:07:59] No, but that also I want to thank you so much for keeping our school districts one of the best school districts and not only in the region but in the country welcoming inclusive and successful.

[1:08:11] As for as Ben mentioned before you know if if if you're a parent you want your you want your child in Bellevue it's going to give them the best chance I think to to be successful.

[1:08:21] There's a lot of other great school districts out there but I'm partial to and very proud of ours here home in in Bellevue just a couple of quick questions for you.

[1:08:31] You had mentioned the number of or that the at home schooling.

[1:08:38] The 19,000 how many are learning virtually or at home right now.

[1:08:42] Yes, so we are we have a digital school that supports students who want to learn outside of the kind of brick and mortar school and head count wise we have about 800 students who are taking some form of digital classes.

[1:08:56] We just started our kind of partnership with our home school families we've got almost 100 kids who signed up this very first year and what we do for those families is we basically partner with families.

[1:09:07] We create learning plans based on what the families want help with and so we provide curriculum resources but if a parent is homeschooling their high school for example.

[1:09:17] And they don't know how to teach calculus because I mean I don't know who could do that.

[1:09:21] They have access to any of our digital programming so we can offer them calculus classes but then the parent can then teach kind of other like literacy things like that at home so almost 100 kids this first year.

[1:09:33] I think our homeschool partnership and our digital program are one of the reasons why we are one of the only districts in King County that grew this year.

[1:09:41] And the majority of them in Belvie were outside of Belvie that are doing.

[1:09:45] The majority of them are in Belvie.

[1:09:47] But we also have a number of kids who are joining from all over the state because our digital program is a statewide program now.

[1:09:55] So we have kids from all the way from Spokane, Stahomish we're basically signed up because we offer every week the kids get to meet with their advisors.

[1:10:05] They get to check in on their course work and then we offer some kind of in person kind of social interaction and engagement for kids as well.

[1:10:12] So you come by the building right next to the Botanical Garden and you'll see second or third graders doing some STEM activities and things like that while their parents are in a room next.

[1:10:24] Waiting for them to finish so it's exciting and innovative and it really builds on a lot of families desire to do more kind of hybrid home and school learning.

[1:10:36] 100% and then one last question.

[1:10:39] Could you maybe comment rightly so about the great staff and the teachers that are part of Belvie school district just curious.

[1:10:47] How competitive are we right now are we losing teachers are the parts of the state are the parts of the country right now are we holding on to those wonderful teachers are they continue to call Belvie home or are they being adversely affected by cost of living etc.

[1:11:03] How is that retention going of the great teachers that we have.

[1:11:08] Yeah I cost it living is the biggest challenge but we have teachers who cross two or three school districts just to get to Belvie in order to work here.

[1:11:16] So not many of our teachers can afford the median $1.5 million home here in Belvie most of the teachers who live in Belvie are teachers that have been here for quite some time.

[1:11:27] But we don't have a retention problem teachers who come here they know that they're going to get a lot of support we I mean we pay them pretty well and in general Washington state teachers get paid quite well so I'm proud of that fact but.

[1:11:44] With with Belvie for example the Belvie schools foundation they fund support for the certification for the national board certification and so teachers that come here will get a lot of support in order to increase their salary and things like that so.

[1:11:59] Great.

[1:12:00] We take care of our people thank you for us.

[1:12:02] Thank you.

[1:12:03] Thank you so much.

[1:12:06] Thank you.

[1:12:07] Thank you.

[1:12:09] Great to hear the presentation.

[1:12:12] Thank you so much for all the incredible work.

[1:12:15] Out of the 19,000 students 90,000 plus students in the Belvie school district.

[1:12:20] I have to in my household that have gone to the public school system in Belvie and I'm tremendously grateful.

[1:12:25] Just a little in there.

[1:12:26] And we're thankful for all the incredible work that happens for the school district.

[1:12:31] So thank you personally as well as part of this body.

[1:12:35] The really few quick things for me to really quick clarification questions and then one question but I'd like maybe a little bit of a thought for response.

[1:12:43] One is on the elementary school growth I was really surprised to hear this statistic that we're growing as much.

[1:12:50] Whereas King County has actually gone the other direction to be know what the input start to that growth or is it really the conversion of home school or something else.

[1:12:59] Yeah that's a good question so we we've done a couple of things we so we looked at the data.

[1:13:04] We actually are growing in the number of kids who live in the city so people are moving in to come to our school so that's been exciting.

[1:13:11] And then we have a lot of students that are coming from outside of the school district as well.

[1:13:15] So we're growing both in kids coming from other school districts that are neighboring us.

[1:13:20] And we're growing from kids who are living here.

[1:13:23] And then we did a survey of families on who came to our new to the Bobby school district this year asking them, you know, why did they choose Bellevue.

[1:13:31] And many of them shows Bellevue because of the ratings of our high school so they're looking kind of long term.

[1:13:38] Coming to the high schools and wanting to be a part of the pathway because if you can get in at new poor heights elementary you're guaranteed all the way through to new poor high school which is one of the best in the state.

[1:13:49] But then a lot of families also mentioned that they're here because we're the only district that offers Arabic.

[1:13:54] And so we have kids coming from I mean quite far away in order to get this opportunity for their kids to learn Arabic in the schools.

[1:14:03] But it's the same for the Japanese program and I met a couple of families who moved close to Bennett Elementary just so that they could participate in the new Japanese program.

[1:14:13] So I think it's the innovation and in the programming that we're offering.

[1:14:18] But it's also I think the reputation of the schools that people are finding ways to move in.

[1:14:23] I think one other factor is we've really increased our opportunities for families to access preschool.

[1:14:29] So with that P-12 continuum, I think we've been able to to attract students in that way too because one of the great indicators this year is that our kindergarten cohort was up significantly.

[1:14:42] And for the last several years the the concerning pieces that our kindergarten cohort was one that was if not these smallest one of the smallest cohorts in the in the system.

[1:14:52] This year we increased significantly.

[1:14:54] Yeah, remember how many kids.

[1:14:57] Yeah, it was it was significant maybe a couple don't call me.

[1:15:00] But maybe a couple of hundred kids increase at the kindergarten cohort. So that's a great indicator.

[1:15:06] It's really great. That's super positive to hear all the innovation and that's attracting people from all over to come to our schools.

[1:15:14] I want to piggyback a little bit on a council member known as this question on teacher attention, but also the fact that many of our teachers drive very long distances of commute in different ways to come in and teach.

[1:15:26] Is that anything in our budget that I treat enables or provides what's the right word?

[1:15:34] It's not incentives really, but actually facilitate that in a way that allows for teachers to be more successful.

[1:15:42] Yeah, do you want to talk about kind of a partnership with the city and with Amazon just in looking in affordable kind of workforce housing?

[1:15:49] Yeah, so affordable housing, it is a challenge. I mean, the question about retaining staff.

[1:15:57] We're not seeing a significant loss of staff members because of the cost of living, but we do know that it's challenging for them.

[1:16:07] And we have lost staff to other districts, you know, starting families buying homes where they can and that kind of thing.

[1:16:13] So one of the things that we're looking at is we, a couple of years back in the 2021-22 school year, Amazon funded a workforce housing feasibility study.

[1:16:28] And it basically indicated the recommendation or the finding was that the district has some surplus properties.

[1:16:36] And those surplus properties could be considered to bring to the table to look at developing some affordable housing with our asset, which is the land.

[1:16:48] One of the challenges, of course, for our school system is that that's not, you know, that's not our expertise, it's not, it's not what we, what we do.

[1:16:57] So we've, we've needed to, you know, to seek outside helping consultants to work with.

[1:17:02] So we did a phase two study that's basically coming to a conclusion right now where we asked the consultants, one of whom was the consultant on the first phase report,

[1:17:15] to, to provide us with some options that are viable in terms of looking at what we can do to help with affordable housing and and develop workforce housing.

[1:17:27] So I'm excited because there's, that's a conversation that's definitely going to have to involve the city and we're out of place right now where we can begin to have those conversations.

[1:17:35] So great question and and we're optimistic that we can, you know, work towards creating some workforce housing and all likelihood with partnership with other entities like yourself in the city.

[1:17:48] That's awesome. Great news. Very, very positive response.

[1:17:53] I, I want to plus one, the council member Robinson's point on coming back with a point of view on support and the last question I have for me is.

[1:18:05] This is already not again, not for like four or against the levies, just a question of understanding the details.

[1:18:11] I know you talked about lots of things that levies enable us to do the seventh period and all the technology that would go in and the operational support that this enables.

[1:18:20] If we were to take a couple of three examples of what would have to happen if this was not continued, what would be examples of that.

[1:18:33] And we would need to reduce our, if our budget by by like 24% so yeah, I mean, I don't think you need to say much more than that.

[1:18:46] Okay, I was just trying to sort of get anecdotes and what that wouldn't mean for the school district, but that's okay, don't want to put to the spot. I appreciate.

[1:18:54] Thank you.

[1:18:56] Thank you. Dr. Armaki, Mr. Harrison, thank you for the amazing work you do for Bellevue students and families.

[1:19:04] I know that the district is filled with capable, highly motivated and dedicated staff members in the classrooms and throughout the district.

[1:19:13] I attended kindergarten and first grade at Newport Hills Elementary and all six my kids spent most of their school years in Bellevue public schools.

[1:19:22] My daughter said such a positive experience attending school here that they have gone on to become teachers themselves.

[1:19:30] And so while it's hardly a secret that Bellevue that the Bellevue school district is one of the best in the nation.

[1:19:35] I know for my own experience how amazing it is.

[1:19:38] I'm grateful that my kids had the opportunity to grow and thrive in this wonderful learning environment and their experience in the Bellevue school district helped set them up for happy successful adult hoods.

[1:19:50] Our city council vision includes six strategic target areas, one of which is thriving people in communities.

[1:19:58] And we clearly state that one of the reasons we are the city where you want to be is because the city partners with residents, schools, businesses, faith communities and nonprofits to work together for the well-being of all.

[1:20:12] And we know full well and promote the benefit of our highly regarded school district and tell the impact it has on the well-being of the entire community.

[1:20:22] I would like to add on to council member Robertson and see if the council would consider officially endorsing the levees at some point and obviously there's a process for that.

[1:20:33] But again, thank you for all of your efforts on behalf of Bellevue families.

[1:20:37] Really appreciate it.

[1:20:38] Thank you.

[1:20:39] Thank you so much.

[1:20:40] The council member Robertson, do you want to make a motion about what you brought to the table the future agenda and collective letter?

[1:20:49] Do we need a motioner? Can we just, I do have not.

[1:20:53] I can walk you through a hit not if you want but I would take a motion.

[1:20:59] What I actually do prefer a motion?

[1:21:01] I would like to motion.

[1:21:02] Okay.

[1:21:04] What I would like in that motion because the state lies very prescriptive on what we can do and we have to allow equal opportunity for pro and con committee and also for the council and the public to make comments.

[1:21:16] So I suggest 10 minutes for pro and con committee and 15 minutes for each side of pro or con comments from the public and we can set that up.

[1:21:29] Okay.

[1:21:32] No pressure.

[1:21:38] Okay.

[1:21:39] I move that staff bring forward at a later date.

[1:21:43] An agenda that includes a discussion on the levy that would also include discussion of hearing from a pro and a con committee and then hearing pro and con comments from the public.

[1:22:01] Do I have a second?

[1:22:04] Second.

[1:22:05] All in favor say aye.

[1:22:07] Aye.

[1:22:08] Aye.

[1:22:09] Any opposed?

[1:22:10] There is no one opposed.

[1:22:11] I have it.

[1:22:12] Thank you so much.

[1:22:13] Thank you so much.

[1:22:14] Thank you so much.

[1:22:15] John.

[1:22:16] Thank you so much.

[1:22:17] And Mr. Block.

[1:22:18] Thank you for being here.

[1:22:19] Thank you.

[1:22:20] We will take a break till five minutes to eight.

[1:22:27] Confusing.

[1:22:31] We are ready.

[1:22:44] We have the second study session.

[1:22:47] Eastgate campus updates.

[1:22:49] Our city manager is going to introduce that.

[1:22:52] Thank you.

[1:22:53] Members.

[1:22:54] The Eastgate housing campus has three facilities.

[1:22:58] It includes the porch light mentioned shelter and the housing.

[1:23:01] A plan is crossing permanent supportive housing and then the Polaris affordable housing complex and those.

[1:23:08] The began opening in 2023 and continued and are now fully open all three of them.

[1:23:14] This fall the staff provided you with some updates about the campus and they are returning tonight with an update on the ongoing work to help support the program.

[1:23:26] We have a lot of access of the facilities and also to address some of the impacts and issues that have come from the surrounding community.

[1:23:37] That they have identified and we developed an action program.

[1:23:42] So with the focus of the providers and the staff and the community.

[1:23:47] There are some encouraging trends that we're seeing in some of the data related to the calls for service and the number of encampments.

[1:23:55] And there have been there's been good progress on implementing some of the actions.

[1:24:01] We also want to make sure that we communicate that we do believe this is an ongoing effort of work.

[1:24:08] We need to keep up on our existing efforts and to ensure that positive friend continues and the staff will talk a little bit about that tonight.

[1:24:16] So from the city manager's office we have Bianca's Eagle director.

[1:24:21] The office of housing and Nico Kehano are homelessness outreach program manager and then from the billby police department our assistant chief Andrew pop a chalk.

[1:24:30] This is an information only.

[1:24:32] A session but opportunity for council to engage and ask some questions as well.

[1:24:37] So with that I'll turn it over to Bianca.

[1:24:40] Thank you.

[1:24:42] Good evening Mayor Deputy Mayor.

[1:24:45] So as a city manager mentioned we're here with with follow up to some of our previous updates that we had shared with you in September and October of last year.

[1:24:58] We are going to briefly touch on an overview of the Eastgate campus.

[1:25:03] We'll share the status of the items that are listed in the action plan and review some of the key data.

[1:25:09] We're also going to share some of the positive impacts that the programs have had in the community as well.

[1:25:17] So just by way of background there are more than 1500 folks who have found shelter services and a place to live at the Eastgate campus.

[1:25:28] And as the city manager mentioned right this includes three individual organizations.

[1:25:33] So the porch light men's shelter, homeless crossing permanent supportive housing and Polaris workforce affordable housing.

[1:25:41] All together and individually those those organizations really help to support the city's goals to ensure thriving people and communities and really represent some essential services and resources in the community.

[1:25:57] The action plan which is included in detail in the written materials that were in tonight's packet.

[1:26:03] We had shared that initially with you last fall.

[1:26:07] I'm really pleased to support to report that we have made significant progress and implementing a number of those items.

[1:26:14] That actual plan was developed in response to community concerns that were expressed by some nearby residents and property owners.

[1:26:23] We take those concerns really seriously and we're focused on supporting a safe and welcoming community for everybody in the Eastgate area.

[1:26:33] And we are really proud of what we've accomplished since that last briefing so.

[1:26:38] There's really important ongoing work to support the success of those of those programs and the residents that live there.

[1:26:46] The highlights in the action plan, virtually at the men's shelter has done a number of operational shifts.

[1:26:54] They've evolved their nightly bed registration and assignment systems in a way that really benefits clients as well as reduces the need for those clients to be in the area early in the morning or late in the evening to register for learning if they have a bed.

[1:27:10] They have some new technology that's assisting in that.

[1:27:13] And also increased the consequences for violations of their code of conduct specifically those that impact neighboring properties.

[1:27:21] And a really exciting step is they were able to obtain some private grant funding to support a second outreach staff position so they will be able to provide outreach to folks in need in the neighborhood seven days a week and let's extend it hours as well.

[1:27:37] Crossing permits a part of housing they continue to to provide enhanced health services on site and expand partnerships with with area providers to help meet the health needs of their community.

[1:27:49] And they also worked with BPD to develop a shared expectations memo just to clarify communications protocols and response protocols so that officers and families staff are really clear on what to expect as they work together to support the safety of residents.

[1:28:07] Both BPD and our homelessness outreach team have increased their presence in the Eastgate area.

[1:28:14] The outreach team and partnership with PortSlight is doing a minimum of three weekly checks around the area.

[1:28:22] Outreach to folks and keeping an eye out for any new encampments as well.

[1:28:27] And BPD has additional presence including through some directed patrols.

[1:28:33] We also are in touch with folks at Metro because of the Eastgate park and ride.

[1:28:41] They have recently established behavioral health service team that is on site at the park and ride Monday through Friday 9 to 5.

[1:28:49] They also have 24 seven monitoring of security cameras and security patrols on on the site as well.

[1:29:01] So all of those sort of concrete steps are really augmented by this active on ongoing engagement between city staff community members and the staff of the programs at Eastgate.

[1:29:12] So PortSlight holds a monthly community advisory group and there's also a working group subcommittee of that group with representation from from nearby residents and businesses that's an outcome of the good neighbor agreement process from one that site was first developed city staff participates in that as well.

[1:29:30] We have monthly staff level coordination meetings with with women with crossing staff from multiple city departments.

[1:29:37] Again, just to maintain open lines of communication and proactively address any issues that arise.

[1:29:42] The providers on this site have also really stepped up.

[1:29:45] You heard some of this earlier tonight to to give back to the community and support the welcoming environment for residents and clients through a number of ways.

[1:29:57] So PortSlight has adopted Eastgate way.

[1:30:00] We're a doctorate program in conduct, trash cleanups. We've had volunteers from, from, I think, all three providers on site to, to participate in some of those trash cleanups as well.

[1:30:13] I'm crossing hosted a really wonderful friend's giving, I can't promote it too much, or it'll be overwhelming next year, but it was really great.

[1:30:19] Where they invited residents and, and neighbors and cities staff to sit down together and share a meal and build community.

[1:30:28] And then, of course, our cares and sea cat and outreach teams are on site regularly and have direct relationships with clients, residents, and staff of those programs as well.

[1:30:42] So, shifting to look at some of the data points and starting first with the work of porch light.

[1:30:48] So, the shelter opened in this new, you know, purpose built permanent location in the summer of 2023.

[1:30:54] It offers a hundred beds, plus their day center and some enhanced case management services.

[1:31:01] The shelter is full, basically, every night of the, you can see the numbers here, impressive.

[1:31:09] There is a huge need for, for shelter from end-in-the-community and they are able to provide that.

[1:31:17] Over 700 individuals were served through the shelter and day center program just in 2025.

[1:31:25] I should have done the go who's going to talk a bit about some of the program impacts.

[1:31:31] So, I asked for the opportunity to share stories about the impact,

[1:31:34] porch light and plimate have had on residents experiencing homelessness in Bellevue.

[1:31:38] The first person I'll briefly tell you about was a man living in his fan who previously made a living as a musician.

[1:31:44] He was part of his musical accomplishments and rightly so.

[1:31:47] Having shared a state with some of the great Pacific Northwest musical acts of the 80s and 90s, including Nirvana's Chris Novicellich.

[1:31:53] He had a million stories to tell.

[1:31:55] But over time, his opportunities dried up and a disabling conditions to really limited his ability to chart a new course in life.

[1:32:01] Bellevue native would own a home all year over 40 years ago.

[1:32:04] He would tell me an exasperation that he was from here and couldn't believe that there is nowhere in this town where he was wanted.

[1:32:10] In porch light, he found somewhere where he was wanted and valued.

[1:32:13] He was able to use the day center and overnight shelter while we looked for long term stable housing for him, which we were finally able to find.

[1:32:20] And as moving day, he told me that now that his housing search was over, he could finally resume teaching guitar lessons.

[1:32:31] So shifting to Plymouth Crossing, which provides 92 apartments for formerly homeless adults.

[1:32:39] The residents at Plymouth have a really high participation rate in the available programming on site.

[1:32:48] I believe it is one of the highest across Plymouth multiple properties.

[1:32:53] And also, the majority of the units there happened filled through local referrals.

[1:32:57] Some of those coming from from our outreach team clients as well as other area partners.

[1:33:03] So truly providing, you know, providing homes for for Bellevue folks as well as others in need in the region.

[1:33:11] The turnover rate is really low.

[1:33:13] This is permanent supportive housing.

[1:33:14] It is available to folks.

[1:33:16] You know, that are able to stay there.

[1:33:18] As long as as is needed.

[1:33:21] And the services that are provided on site really helped to promote that housing stability.

[1:33:27] This second story is actually an update about someone that originally talked to council about back in 2022.

[1:33:34] Back then there were a number of individuals living in vehicles in southeast 41st place next to factorial mall.

[1:33:40] As we were developing our safe parking program, we talked to many of those residents to get their feedback and input.

[1:33:45] I shared much of that feedback during a council presentation in January of 2022, including the words of one of those people who told me,

[1:33:52] My problem is I've had a disability in my whole life.

[1:33:55] I basically find it in the last place my whole life.

[1:33:57] I'm approaching 60.

[1:33:58] The odds for me are basically zero.

[1:34:00] When we open Plymouth crossing, they allowed us to make direct referrals.

[1:34:04] In other words, they told us here is an apartment you tell us who should live here.

[1:34:07] And let the city's homeless is our routine find the right match.

[1:34:10] He was one of the first people that we were able to directly refer through our partnership with Plymouth.

[1:34:14] Give me him the chance that he thought he'd never have. He's still there to this day.

[1:34:19] And he gets to keep listening to me because I've got one more story.

[1:34:22] I wanted to share a final story about another former vehicle resident who had been parking on the side of the road in her van in Bellevue for years.

[1:34:28] A woman in her mid 50s, she fled domestic violence and was living by herself in her vehicle.

[1:34:33] The strange former family, she was desperate for connection.

[1:34:36] Every time she told me, saw me, she'd tell me about her research, her career, her life, her beliefs.

[1:34:41] This desperation would lead her to make mistakes out of the kindness of her heart.

[1:34:44] She'd let other people experiencing a homeless sustain or a van over extended herself trying to help them.

[1:34:48] Only to have them steal from her or take advantage of her.

[1:34:51] We were able to refer her to Plymouth crossing and after she moved in, she told me that for the first time in years,

[1:34:56] she was able to cook a meal for her daughter and this representative chance for her to reconnect with her family.

[1:35:01] Her story and the other two, I've told her examples of why we're doing this difficult complex work.

[1:35:06] Because of both Plymouth and Porge Light, they're planting seeds of hope on a daily basis.

[1:35:10] If it weren't for these programs, people like the ones I just named would still be living on the streets in Bellevue.

[1:35:17] Thanks, Nico.

[1:35:19] Okay, we're going to do a hard shift here into first responder data.

[1:35:24] So, as promised in some of our earlier discussions on this topic,

[1:35:31] we are bringing back to you some updates on on first responder data as well as some of our outreach data.

[1:35:37] And our starting to look at trends over time, I'll talk in a moment about how we're going to do this moving forward.

[1:35:44] We're going to start with the fire department calls for service on the slide.

[1:35:49] You can see Plymouth, Porge Light is in the light blue, blend with them at dark blue and flourish in the orange.

[1:35:57] And what we have seen in terms of the call type of fire department response calls is that about three quarters of those are EMS calls to the Eastgate campus.

[1:36:07] And the majority of the remainder are service calls primarily with our CARES program.

[1:36:15] This is not a surprise.

[1:36:17] Folks who have experienced homelessness or are currently experiencing homelessness are more likely than the house population to have ongoing health concerns.

[1:36:26] And need support for that.

[1:36:30] What the more recent trends on the right side of this chart are showing is that really since summer,

[1:36:36] so when we when we really started implementing some of the changes that are outlined in the action plan.

[1:36:43] And focusing in on some of those issues.

[1:36:45] What we've seen is that calls for service, particularly with crossing, have started to decrease.

[1:36:52] That is also consistent with with expectations.

[1:36:56] And and the benefits of permanent support of housing so that as individuals are able to stabilize in secure housing with access to health services.

[1:37:04] They're demand for emergency health services is reduced.

[1:37:10] We can also see in the orange here that as more residents have moved in to Plymouth as that building is become fully occupied.

[1:37:17] And it's also an increase in calls of course more residents equals more equals more calls there.

[1:37:25] On the police department calls and I'll just say obviously I'm not the one in uniform here.

[1:37:29] I'm going to present the summary and then for additional questions.

[1:37:33] This is in chief is able to to respond to those.

[1:37:37] So again same same color system on this chart.

[1:37:41] What we're seeing again in more recent months is that the police calls for service are also starting to show it.

[1:37:46] Downward trend we've seen lower calls on average per month in the last few months then then over the same period in the year your prior.

[1:37:58] Similarly to the police calls we also see that the calls for for close crossing and Polaris increased as earlier on this chart as those two buildings became fully least up.

[1:38:10] But have been generally steady with with some variability since that time.

[1:38:15] We also look at call volume within the half mile and the mile radius around the East gate campus.

[1:38:24] And looking at that area excluding the calls represented here to the campus itself.

[1:38:28] What we see is that there's been a really slight increase in calls about 6% or so increase in calls over the last year.

[1:38:35] When we look at the one mile radius which definitely includes areas that are not immediately connected to to the East gate campus.

[1:38:44] Those those call volume substated relatively steady over time.

[1:38:51] This is looking at at the at reach program data regarding the encampment response of these are encampments in in the area in the East gate neighborhood.

[1:39:03] The timetable here starting in January of 2025.

[1:39:07] What we see is that over the course of the year the number of encampments generally is trending downward.

[1:39:14] There the highest number of encampments per month that's represented here is five in November there were two.

[1:39:22] And you know this could be a result of some of the operational changes and additional outreach that we discussed earlier.

[1:39:31] It's it's hard to identify specific one to one relationship but what we can see is that in general the number of encampments in the area is decreasing and we of course will continue the.

[1:39:42] The additional attention and increased outreach efforts to continue that trend.

[1:39:51] And then finally some of the recommendations and next steps moving forward so we will continue to monitor the data points.

[1:39:57] There was a slightly more comprehensive data report that was attached to the agenda item our intent is to update that twice yearly and make that available on the website.

[1:40:07] And then we continue to monitor that data actively and discuss trends with our operational partners.

[1:40:13] At least gate so we can respond to issues should they should they occur.

[1:40:19] Of course we continue our.

[1:40:21] Our coordination and collaboration with porch light and the myth staff and our participation in the community advisory groups and working groups to make sure that we're.

[1:40:30] In active communication with with all residents in the area.

[1:40:34] And then finally we.

[1:40:36] We want to recognize the benefits of the collaboration and really positive working relationship that we've developed.

[1:40:43] With with plenty of and we want to make sure that for future permanent supportive housing and Belle view.

[1:40:49] That it can also benefit from that kind of clarity and collaboration and so we're recommending is that for.

[1:40:55] For any future city capital funding awards for permanent supportive housing that we also.

[1:41:02] Work with the provider to to develop a communications plan and a safety plan that will provide that clarity expectations for working relationships.

[1:41:12] And in addition that the city would also identify staff member who would serve as a liaison to help support the implementation of those plans and positive community.

[1:41:22] Relationships as well as resolution of any issues just to make sure that it's an active ongoing partnership.

[1:41:28] We do not currently have additional permits for housing in the development pipeline, but we want to make sure that we're.

[1:41:35] You know using lessons learned and continuing positive trends from from this project to benefit future future PSH which hopefully we will see more.

[1:41:46] So just wrapping up we are committed to continuing to work with the East gate neighbors and the providers and maintaining these constructive relationships and really welcoming clients and residents to the East gate campus.

[1:41:57] It is important to non going work.

[1:41:59] And we are available for questions.

[1:42:01] Thank you so much.

[1:42:03] Bianca Niko as the city.

[1:42:05] Popo talk for bringing this forward and for the amount of work.

[1:42:09] You guys went through to pull all of these data and presentation appreciate you.

[1:42:14] But Councilman Niva has started to.

[1:42:16] Thank you so much mayor.

[1:42:18] Yeah, thank you so much for the presentation and the update.

[1:42:21] I'm glad we're finally getting an opportunity to chat a little bit more about this and dig into some of the details.

[1:42:26] And you know this is something that you know I've been looking at and I've spoken to some residents and businesses, etc.

[1:42:35] And I also just want to kind of level set this because.

[1:42:39] Based on the presentation, I think that could get lost a little bit.

[1:42:42] This is not about these are these are great organizations and I think they're doing everything they can to run these.

[1:42:49] Really needed facilities and services.

[1:42:53] I think we we all recognize that and.

[1:42:59] And that we need to be part of that solution and I think a lot of the.

[1:43:04] The issues I got me concerned is really you know a few a few a few a lot of times.

[1:43:12] But what what surprised me that wasn't in this presentation.

[1:43:19] It was no mention of the impact on residents and businesses.

[1:43:23] You know when I've talked to moms that are scared to walk by.

[1:43:27] The Eastgate park and ride or the bus stop when I talked actually went to the park and ride and literally saw open drug use.

[1:43:37] When I talked to the sunset corporate campus.

[1:43:41] They've had to spend hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[1:43:45] But to upgrade security to higher full time security.

[1:43:49] All right, I think close to full time.

[1:43:53] We talked to the high at house who's losing clients or our customers because people don't feel safe staying anymore.

[1:44:02] Same thing with the the sunset corporate campus.

[1:44:04] They're losing tenants.

[1:44:06] They're they're tenants don't feel safe anymore.

[1:44:08] So I really feel like it's a.

[1:44:10] It's a disservice that we're not.

[1:44:13] This is not part of the conversation in your presentation because I think it is part of the conversation.

[1:44:18] We all I believe we all want to see Polaris porch light.

[1:44:24] Everyone be successful and most importantly we all want to see the men and the women the families that are there.

[1:44:30] Get the help that they need to get the the the services the shelter etc.

[1:44:36] But if we can't address the problem for what it is I don't know how we're going to solve it.

[1:44:44] I totally agree that we've made some great progress.

[1:44:47] I think.

[1:44:48] But I don't think we are where we need to be.

[1:44:51] And especially for those that we serve that or that are served by porch light Polaris and clean with crossing.

[1:44:57] I think the action plan shows a lot of me.

[1:45:00] A simple steps, you know, unfortunately it has modernized like the bed registration system. Although the frustration I have with that, and you do mention that, that is complete.

[1:45:11] But on the notes, there's no mention of, has there been any impact yet. Are they saying less men to show up? Because this was one of the critical issues that we zeroed in on, and that we talked about, because I participated in some of the good neighbor meetings that one of the biggest issues,

[1:45:29] is that men come first thing in the morning to porch light, hoping to get a bed, but if there's not a bed there, then they're stuck, and then they usually stay there, and that's sometimes unfortunately when problems happen, because they have nowhere to go at that point.

[1:45:45] So that would be for me, like a key metric that I want us to start tracking, like is it reducing the number of men coming that know that they don't have a bed, or they do have a bed, whatever the case may be.

[1:45:57] And I think that goes for a lot of the action items here that have been complete or ongoing, I don't see any of those metrics yet.

[1:46:10] That might be part of your plan beyond COVID. I think that's really important to see if these are actually having the intended impact.

[1:46:19] I mean, I'm thrilled that they're complete and it's done, but I want to know it's actually working, or else it's just another check the box exercise, but it's not having a real impact on those residents and those businesses that are hurting one way or the other.

[1:46:37] And they want to be part of the solution too. They're all on the good neighbor agreement board. They're working towards this, but what I heard from them too is a little bit of desperation as things, I think, continue to get worse one way or the other.

[1:46:55] I mean, we've heard about women being accosted or assaulted at the park and ride there. We unfortunately had a man who was raped and that was a couple of men that couldn't get in that night at porch light.

[1:47:10] I don't want to see people coming in to build you and getting hurt like that. That's tough to hear when that happens.

[1:47:19] Another part of this too is just a number of calls that, and thank you for providing that data, just the overall number of calls that are coming in is really concerning as well.

[1:47:33] Now, in a lot of cases, sometimes there are just assist calls, but all those calls add up.

[1:47:39] And if I compare the data that I looked at, the total calls for service from 2223 to 2425 went up almost 100% from what I'm saying on right here.

[1:47:54] They went from just over 1,100 to 2,300 calls, unless I'm misinterpreting that, okay.

[1:48:02] So you're not, but that is the period in which the programs came online, so there wasn't sure.

[1:48:08] I understand that, but that's a lot of calls, and especially if you start thinking about the number of units that are there, number of officers are there, the time that they spend there.

[1:48:18] I mean, when I started looking into like national figures about how much each call call calls, and essentially you probably, you probably know more about this than I do, but that's just going by national averages.

[1:48:28] I cost like $300 to $600 every time a police officer goes on a call, that adds up really quickly when you're talking about, you know, those those number of calls.

[1:48:41] I mean, that's expensive, and then I also think about where would those officers be if they weren't called there to assist, or it's an overdose, or it's something else.

[1:48:54] Other parts of the city then that are not getting the service that they need, or they can't do the proactive policing that they would like to be doing.

[1:49:04] So let's start with that one question, I got a couple others, but can we talk about the metrics first and what our plan is for tracking those metrics for some of these action items, because again, I think some of them have the potential to work, but I just don't have the confidence other than it's implemented, but I don't have the confidence yet that it's that it's working and having a real positive impact on the area.

[1:49:31] So can we start with that one first? Sure. Thank you. Yeah, the metrics for, for example, for folks that that might not show up because they know they don't have a bed. I'll have to talk with porch light about that.

[1:49:47] To be perfectly honest, I don't know that that was tracked previously, that exact issue, and so it might be hard for us to compare, but I absolutely promise to investigate that and see if we can get some additional data points there.

[1:50:00] I think it's also important to note that porch light has a practice of offering transportation, so if someone does show up and can't get a bed that night, they will offer transportation to other area shelters, which are in Seattle for a adult man.

[1:50:15] So they do seek to make sure that folks who need to be indoors have the opportunity to do that.

[1:50:20] That was one of the reasons for shifting the hours earlier in the evening, so that people have an opportunity to get somewhere else before, before they close for the night.

[1:50:30] So I think what we're seeing in the calls for service data and the encampment data starting to trend downward, I hope those are the early indicators that some of these changes are having a really positive impact.

[1:50:45] And we'll work with the providers to see.

[1:50:47] I hope so too. We just don't have the data to support that right now, right?

[1:50:50] So, and that's what I'm looking for, because if it is, that's great, and then we can move on to the next issue that we need to address.

[1:50:59] But again, without those metrics, I think we're just guessing if it's working or not.

[1:51:06] Another, sorry, were you done with that metrics question or?

[1:51:10] Okay.

[1:51:11] I also wanted to bring up this, this Plymouth crossing BPD joint expectations letter, maybe assistant chief, can speak to this a little bit.

[1:51:21] But first, why was this, why was this necessary, because it's only for Plymouth, there's not one for porch light, there's not one for Polaris.

[1:51:31] And quite frankly, some of the things that are on here I thought would have been just like common sense.

[1:51:36] You know, that BPD should be granted access to a building without delay if they're called there.

[1:51:41] I mean, that's like, so was there an issue of BPD not being allowed into the building right away when BPD went there?

[1:51:50] So the joint expectations memo and why we would current generate some of my values to make sure that no matter what employees working, there's a consistent level of understanding between the police department and the police working there.

[1:52:03] So that there is no question about what steps are taken, and if you look at parts of that memo details, who has access to what, for example, we want video footage from their cameras.

[1:52:13] We want to make sure that every employee knows what the expansion is from our officers when they show up and what officers should do.

[1:52:20] And we would do something like this with an organization where a location, if we want to make sure that there was clarity between us and them as far as what would occur when the officers get there.

[1:52:31] And it's also far officers, how we get information from a certain person, because just for our officers like the employee, there are, our employees, we want to make sure that they know who to go to to get information.

[1:52:42] We want to talk to you, which is the person who has access, because in dealing with like video camera systems, we don't always know who has access, because some organizations lock, keep it on lock and key, and only certain people have access.

[1:52:53] So that's the one we want to create with this, where there's some scrutiny on the organization itself to make sure that there's expectations on both sides of what occur.

[1:53:03] You're example of the, that makes perfect sense, there's privacy concerns there, there's a number and who has control, who can, who can provide that totally makes sense.

[1:53:12] Yes, but when I see a letter of understanding of that when BPD arrives and you need to let them in, that makes me think there's some tension going on there, and there's been a prior issue that BPD was not allowed in when, when call there, because it just seems like common sense.

[1:53:28] I mean, if anyone calls the police, of course they're going to let them in.

[1:53:31] I mean, the fact that we had to put that in a mutual letter of understanding feels, I don't know, it feels odd, but I digress, is the relationship between all three now and BPD, a good one.

[1:53:46] I know that there's an, and you mentioned it in there in terms of the engagement.

[1:53:50] And, and maybe, you know, this helps set expectations great, but how would you assess the relationship with, with, with all three at this point?

[1:54:01] I would say the police department relationship is essential, right?

[1:54:04] Yeah, we have to have these relationships.

[1:54:05] Absolutely.

[1:54:06] Because without those relationships, that's everything we do every day.

[1:54:09] Yeah, so that's where we have captains assigned to this, the sector captains work with them.

[1:54:14] Captain kids actually called out in that memo specifically, because we want, we have to have the relationship of something doesn't, let's say it's not working anymore.

[1:54:23] Or there has to be the individual contact between the community and the police department in order to make community policing work.

[1:54:29] So I would describe it as good at this point in time, because we have these expectations, and we have a captain assigned to it to do this work every day.

[1:54:36] A strong belief that our captains know what they're doing, they're doing a great job at this.

[1:54:40] And it's a commitment to you, as the council members, that we're going to continue to do that, continue those relationships.

[1:54:46] Because we always want to put our hand out first and say, how can we help you, whether you're a business owner, or you're a nonprofit, or you're just a community member, in general.

[1:54:54] We want to make sure that we are working with you.

[1:54:56] So you feel safe and supported in, in, in, in, in either doing business in Bellevue or residing in Bellevue or helping out the residents of Bellevue.

[1:55:04] And I won't take too much of my time. Sorry, thank you for your time.

[1:55:08] Thank you for your time.

[1:55:10] So going back to the resource question for us, are there times where we're having to put either additional units out, or are we having to,

[1:55:16] I don't know, read just schedules in order to, with the ever increasing number of calls.

[1:55:24] How are we dealing with that? And what's been the, I guess, impact, maybe budgetary-wise,

[1:55:30] and you might not have that with you right now.

[1:55:34] But are we able to, I guess, handle this, both ongoing, but potentially increasing number of calls.

[1:55:42] Are we in the position to handle that? Are we going to have to increase, be pity budget, in order to address this going forward?

[1:55:50] I think to answer the financial question, that's something we always look at and go, how much is your cost to do this? How many officers we need?

[1:55:56] And that's something that we do look at our annual call load, how many times we're responding, can we do it more efficiently and how we work through it?

[1:56:04] In this specific incident, we do, it went from a empty lot and it became a campus of people living there.

[1:56:12] And that's happening all over Bellevue. I look at my own career, I think it was a dairy queen instead of the braver when I started working here.

[1:56:20] So as you watch Bellevue develop, of course, the cities are going to grow, our call loads going to grow.

[1:56:24] If you take an area that was empty and you put a three building complex that has individual staying at, you're going to have an increase in call load.

[1:56:33] But that's something that we do in annual basis. We look at our response times.

[1:56:37] We look at our response time, how fast we get there to have resources to do this.

[1:56:40] We have increased the number of, in instance, walk-throughs or officer directed activity there because we want both the residents to feel safe as well as the community members to feel safe.

[1:56:49] So yes, there is more officers going there at, then there was before because it was an empty lot and now we have business that's sure.

[1:56:55] But I'm not comparing it to an empty lot.

[1:56:57] No, we know that we know that the calls are increasing and I think, especially over the last, you know, six to 12 months is when I think I started hearing from residents and businesses that,

[1:57:10] they're like, this potentially is getting a little at a hand.

[1:57:14] And I do hope as well that we hopefully fix some lines of communication as well, especially with the, with the good neighbor group,

[1:57:25] because it didn't seem like all that key information that this was starting to accelerate a little bit.

[1:57:31] Got all the way up to, to ensure that everybody was aware of it so that we could start tracking this and maybe making adjustments like we did.

[1:57:39] Because I felt like they were frustrated that they weren't able to get any traction.

[1:57:45] So that's when they started coming to council members saying, we need help because we don't feel that our concerns are being addressed.

[1:57:54] So I hope that we can patch that, that communication so we can get to the city manager's office and we can come up with solutions quicker and it doesn't have to be escalated to us right away to step in.

[1:58:07] Not that I don't mind stepping in and sharing my, my thoughts on this but I just feel like we, we lost some time potentially to to make some adjustments and some really great adjustments beyond that you have suggested here.

[1:58:19] And appear to be working but I, but I don't think we're there yet and that would be my last request and then I'll give up my time is that in six months we come back and get an update on this because I do think this is an, an emergency.

[1:58:35] Because it's an emergency to the residents that I talk to you and it's an emergency to the, to the businesses in that area and I do not want to see them suffer nor do I want to see them close because of this.

[1:58:45] And, and, and, and their concerns are, are, are real and my heart goes out whenever I talk to a, I mean, of course this could happen anywhere but it just seems like the, the level of frequency around that area with the drug use and not feeling safe.

[1:59:02] Transportation wise of these gay park and ride, you know, that's, that's what concerns me and why I'd like to get an update to see if truly we are on the right track.

[1:59:10] Bianca so I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, stop there so thank you so much and I really appreciate the presentation and your time.

[1:59:16] Thank you so much.

[1:59:17] The P.T. Mayor Hamilton.

[1:59:20] Thank you.

[1:59:21] So thank you for the presentation. Thank you for the amazing work you do in our community.

[1:59:26] I think you're making a positive impact in the community and in the lives of our residents that need and deserve the extra support that they get on the East Gate Housing campus.

[1:59:37] I'm thrilled that the East Gate Housing campus is up and running and I appreciate the adjustments that have been made to ensure that everyone who lives on the campus are good neighbors to the folks who live work and visit nearby.

[1:59:50] And I want to commend the folks who live work and visit nearby for being good neighbors as well.

[1:59:55] While there have been some legitimate concerns raised, I have only heard.

[2:00:00] Record from folks that want only the best for the neighborhood and the housing campus.

[2:00:05] There is more to do for sure, but as a good friend of mine says, clap when you can.

[2:00:10] I've been impressed by the success that you've had implementing the Eastgate campus action plan.

[2:00:19] Most of the items that are not intended to be ongoing are already complete.

[2:00:25] Just curious to know if you plan to regularly update the action plan and if so, what is the process for doing so.

[2:00:34] Sure.

[2:00:35] Yeah, we revisit the items on the action plan in our regular coordination meetings with operators on site.

[2:00:42] And as I indicated earlier, we're going to be regularly checking data and in traditional data points to track the effectiveness of those actions.

[2:00:51] And then we will add items as needed. So several of the items that were on the original list were elevated by by some of the neighbors and property owners nearby.

[2:01:00] And of course, we would continue to respond to those requests as best we can.

[2:01:06] And yeah, and then we can include that in future updates to the council.

[2:01:10] Are there any actions that are currently entered consideration to be added to the plan?

[2:01:15] Yep, there are a couple items.

[2:01:18] We are hearing some continued concerns around trash in the neighborhood from some of the adjacent property owners.

[2:01:25] And so that's one of the things that that I think will pay some extra attention to.

[2:01:30] Of course, there are some regular cleanups through the keep building beautiful program, but we may look for some some other ways to help address some of those concerns.

[2:01:39] Also, definitely some ongoing coordination with Metro regarding the park and ride.

[2:01:43] And their their ability to respond to any concerns there.

[2:01:48] And then certainly, you know, we have ongoing conversations with and I apologize for not reflecting that more specifically in the presentation, but we definitely have ongoing conversations with the hotel with the staff at the sunset office building next door.

[2:02:02] And we'll continue to work with them to see how we can partner to better address their concerns.

[2:02:07] Okay, and I know that we're going to be looking at factory in Eastgate and the NAP process coming up.

[2:02:14] And when we do so, are we going to be kind of including the campus as well and is that going to be considered in that process.

[2:02:23] Yes, so I checked with our colleagues in community development about that about that project.

[2:02:29] So first of all, the Eastgate campuses, of course, part of that neighborhood area plan.

[2:02:33] So residents and operators there are have participated in some of that engagement so far. And of course, are invited to continue to do that.

[2:02:43] The scope of the area plan includes opportunities to improve neighborhood identity.

[2:02:49] You know, mixed use of neighborhood centers, gatherings, spaces, mobility, the environment, all of those things, of course, also benefit.

[2:02:57] And are impacted by residents, operators on Eastgate and throughout the neighborhood.

[2:03:04] Staff in community development have heard some of the concerns around public safety during the engagement efforts.

[2:03:11] They have passed those along to our team and to our public safety colleagues so that we're able to respond to those.

[2:03:20] And then the neighborhood area plans are also designed to support positive public safety outcomes both through policy and through a brand design strategy.

[2:03:29] So that's a consideration for the planning.

[2:03:32] We know we're going to need an additional 60 to 200 units of permanent support of housing here in Bellevue in the next 20 years.

[2:03:41] And while the Eastgate neighborhood is doing it the part to the city as a whole needs to do more.

[2:03:46] And I believe that the community wants us to do more.

[2:03:49] The need for permanent support of housing is all over the city, but the supply is not.

[2:03:54] Just curious to know how we change that.

[2:03:57] Where does the housing go and when?

[2:04:01] Yep.

[2:04:03] Consistent with state law, our land use code does allow for permanent support housing is housing by definition.

[2:04:10] And and so it is allowed anywhere that multi family housing is allowed.

[2:04:16] A major limiting factor, not just in Bellevue, but across the region across the country for permits for housing is the availability funding.

[2:04:23] It depends on a combination of you know state local city private funding to to make that those projects work and to continue to support the operations.

[2:04:33] And that funding picture you know is is challenging at this time.

[2:04:39] That's it there is additional permanent support housing coming online in Kirkland and in redmond very close to our borders.

[2:04:46] Those projects also have some local referral agreements and so me go and his team are actually already identifying some some clients who might be able to move into those projects when they open.

[2:04:58] And and so you know it is a regional solution and of course we play an important part in that too.

[2:05:05] So I wanted to just get into a little bit of the data so and I as I understand that we're really taking a close look at the area within a mile of the campus.

[2:05:15] And I see that there was a substantial 12% increase in calls for service and half mile radius of the campus prior to it opening and that it has remained consistent since then, which I think we all would consider very positive.

[2:05:34] That data shows that most of the increase is attributed to 911 hang up calls shop lifts reported at factorial mall and welfare checks.

[2:05:43] The 6% increase that you mentioned earlier in calls for service within half a mile of the campus since it's opening.

[2:05:51] While only half the size is obviously still a concern.

[2:05:54] I'm just curious what does the data show us about the types of calls for service that make up that 6%.

[2:06:02] Yes, so the difference when a call for service in a crime call for services going to be someone calling 911 it could be an assist and I believe a lot of those calls were assist.

[2:06:13] And it says could be a very broad category it could be someone with a flat tire that needs assistance and it could be someone who had questions about.

[2:06:21] Or it could be someone who's, you know, in crisis and just needs help from us.

[2:06:26] So when we look at the call for service, it's not these are actual crimes reported, but it's people calling 911 for some reason.

[2:06:33] And that's where officers have that broad.

[2:06:36] We help a broad very large diverse group of people in different ways.

[2:06:42] So it's kind of a catch all so it doesn't matter why that person is we put it into that category if it doesn't fit into something else that we do because we do more than just police work.

[2:06:50] We do more than just crimes, it could be someone looking at that at the assist and we look at those types of calls because it is something that we want to provide that service to the community.

[2:06:59] Whether or not you're calling us for a crime or not, we want to be able to help you and that's where we take those calls rather than saying nothing we can do about it.

[2:07:05] We rather try to assist that person and that's where you see the increase in calls, but you may not see it in actual crime reports because we're doing other things.

[2:07:13] Great, thank you.

[2:07:16] And I think Councilmember Nguyen House touched on this and I certainly agree that it's important that we have a thorough understanding of what's going on in East Gate in all of our neighborhoods for that matter.

[2:07:26] The most important thing is that when with that information we act.

[2:07:31] That process and the accompanying action plan that is currently in place in East Gate and the fact that we constantly review and update policies and practices there is very encouraging.

[2:07:43] We owe it to the entire neighborhood and the campus neighbors to continue to listen to their concerns and take action.

[2:07:50] I think we're doing that and the data shows that progress is being made.

[2:07:54] I'm looking forward to more ways also to be engaged with the housing campus, so I'd appreciate knowing about any future opportunities to do so.

[2:08:04] And I would agree with Councilmember Nguyen House that if you could come back later this year and give us an update I think it would be very helpful.

[2:08:12] So thanks for all the impactful work you're doing in East Gate and all around the city.

[2:08:17] Thank you.

[2:08:18] Thank you Mayor.

[2:08:19] Councilmember.

[2:08:20] Please.

[2:08:21] Bianca Nguyen.

[2:08:23] Thank you for incredible work.

[2:08:24] Assistant Chief.

[2:08:25] Andrew.

[2:08:26] Please correct me if I mispronounce that.

[2:08:28] It's great to see you again.

[2:08:29] I believe we met at the Factory at Neighborhood Walk.

[2:08:31] So wonderful to see you across the dias now.

[2:08:34] I understand that you mentioned you can't assign a direct correlation between the operational changes.

[2:08:39] And some of the trends that we're seeing.

[2:08:42] So I guess I had a by-fear-cated question.

[2:08:45] One is are there signals we can rely on to see the efficacy of the action plan?

[2:08:50] And echoing what Councilmember Nguyen House brought up.

[2:08:53] If we could offer some basic sentiment analysis, I think that'd be quite valuable as well.

[2:08:57] When we're talking about safety concerns, it's not just single family residents or property owners,

[2:09:02] but there's actually a lot of residents at Polarist themselves for a low income people of color that had brought up.

[2:09:06] That was safety concerns as well.

[2:09:08] So I think it could be a valuable opportunity here to offer more comprehensive understanding with community sentiment.

[2:09:15] Some that were positive which we heard earlier today about the fantastic work.

[2:09:18] And of course some on the other side they're not so positive, which are entirely valid.

[2:09:22] I think echoing reiterating, sorry.

[2:09:25] What Councilmember Nguyen House said that could be quite helpful too.

[2:09:29] Yes, those are my two points.

[2:09:31] Thank you.

[2:09:33] As we were touching on earlier, we can't say with certainty that the actions in the plan are resulting in safe changes in call volume or reductions in levels of encampments.

[2:09:42] But we are pretty confident that there is a correlation there between the operational changes and some of the initial data trends.

[2:09:50] So we will continue to evaluate those points and look for other ways to document and understand the effectiveness.

[2:09:57] Thank you.

[2:09:59] Thank you so much. Councilmember Rob.

[2:10:01] Thank you.

[2:10:02] Mayor.

[2:10:04] What will start by thanking our city manager for her compassionate focus on this area.

[2:10:10] You've been very responsive to the council and to the community.

[2:10:13] So thank you for that.

[2:10:15] I also want to thank our public commenters for the courage that you had to speak to us.

[2:10:20] It's really important to hear from you.

[2:10:22] So thank you for coming down tonight and speaking.

[2:10:26] This council at the time worked very hard to get this complex in here.

[2:10:31] It started out that it was just going to be a men's shelter for like part of the day or part of the night.

[2:10:39] And it wasn't anything more than that.

[2:10:41] And we really worked hard to be able to create a situation where people could get off the streets.

[2:10:48] The services that they needed get into housing that was supported them and also create housing that would be affordable.

[2:10:58] That they could graduate to or we could keep people from falling into homelessness because we had housing that was affordable to them.

[2:11:06] And so this is quite a remarkable campus really that I'm really proud that our city has done and it's new.

[2:11:14] And it's it's been quite successful. We've helped a lot of people.

[2:11:18] I think we helped a hundred people get get out off the street last year.

[2:11:22] And so that's a hundred people that are not having to live outside and that that is wonderful.

[2:11:30] I will say having said that that I have seen an increase in the crying rate within a certain pack mile or one mile radius of this area.

[2:11:41] And it doesn't matter where that is in Bellevue when you see that you are concerned.

[2:11:47] We represent the community and we represent the people who live there as well.

[2:11:52] And so whether even if you're not committing crime and you're living in that area you're going to be concerned.

[2:12:00] And so that's what we represent.

[2:12:02] So I want to make sure that we are tracking that and how to do the crime rates compared to other areas.

[2:12:10] In the city average for the amount of people that live there density.

[2:12:19] Also in the staff report there was a recommendation.

[2:12:25] See I wrote this down that that if we have a new supportive housing that we have a safety and security plan.

[2:12:36] With community and communications plan recommendations for future supportive housing development.

[2:12:44] Beyond a specific size.

[2:12:47] And so my question is do we have that in place currently?

[2:12:51] This is our only supportive housing facility of this size in Bellevue.

[2:12:56] So do we have that recommended plan in place now for that?

[2:13:01] The memorandum that we're talking about earlier with BPD is I think I would say is a component of that.

[2:13:07] We don't have those specific documents in place that wasn't a requirement for the project when it was initially funded.

[2:13:15] But the collaboration and the ongoing communication that we have is really addressing the same things that would be covered in documents for.

[2:13:25] I think what you think about is what your recommendation is is that funding be contingent on success.

[2:13:33] Am I right?

[2:13:36] I wouldn't characterize it that way that funding would that direct city funding for future PSH would carry the expectation of collaboration with the project.

[2:13:47] So so the operator would be would be expected to to collaborate with the city with being with our first responders and to ensure that there's that there's a plan for.

[2:13:59] For coordination with the community and community engagement.

[2:14:03] As well as an expectation on the city's part to help support that that successful implementation as well.

[2:14:09] So not so much of the funding is contingent on those things but that there's an expectation of collaboration for those projects.

[2:14:15] Okay, well I think there is a clause in there that puts a little bit of a contingency but I may not be characterizing it appropriately.

[2:14:25] But I will say that that seems like a good idea to me.

[2:14:29] And so I don't know why we wouldn't have it for this facility now if we don't.

[2:14:36] So I hope that we can look at the ideal and get the support that we need into what we have already.

[2:14:43] So that we can put more facilities in because my next point is that you know there isn't a lot of turnover in these facilities and once they fill up.

[2:14:55] That's it and so.

[2:14:59] It's it's a.

[2:15:00] Good news, bad news story. It's great news because people are stably housed. And that's what we want to see. It's not great for the people who we hope to house. And so, when we look at, you know, I guess I just like to know what your recommendation is. Is the recommendation to put in more programs that people can graduate? Out of that, or is it to create more supportive housing? So there's more available.

[2:15:28] You can email me the answer, but I'm curious as to what the recommendation is on that because I do think we have to, it's unrealistic to think that we can just fill the bucket and just say, okay, we did our job.

[2:15:43] You know, we have to sustain it and make sure that we're meeting the needs of the community in a way that it's a win-win.

[2:15:51] Yeah, absolutely. I will answer that just briefly by saying that the update to the city's affordable housing strategy also addresses some of those issues.

[2:16:00] How we think about that moving forward. And that'll be coming to the council in the next month or two.

[2:16:05] And so there's some action items in that plan that lay a path towards expanding affordable housing and permanent supportive housing in the city.

[2:16:15] So that's good to hear. So with the staff's recommendation, I hope you can include that in next time you come to us so that we can really understand what it is you're recommending, because it sounds good to me.

[2:16:27] Thank you.

[2:16:28] Thank you, Councillor Robinson. Councillor Borgobba.

[2:16:32] Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

[2:16:35] I'm going to start by saying thank you for the tremendous work Bianca and Nico and Mrs. Chief, that you have done on this. What I believe is really needed, important and complex work.

[2:16:50] I mean, this is not easy and there's not going to be, there's no silver bullet solutions to this problem.

[2:16:57] I really appreciate the complexity that you're dealing with and you're doing a great job and I think Bellevue has made great progress as council member Robinson talked about.

[2:17:07] And I'm really proud that we have achieved what we have so far.

[2:17:10] I'm also really, it's really positive to hear some of the anecdotes in the personal stories that you laid out of success that have transformed people's lives.

[2:17:21] And that's what makes this important and complex work really worthwhile as we are now taking a hundred people off our streets and they're giving people chances otherwise would not have happened.

[2:17:32] So, I feel a lot of pride in the work that happens and the work that you continue to support for our cities. Thank you, Mayor.

[2:17:42] I also feel like there are, you know, I want to provide Kuroson to you for sort of establishing behavioral health on site and support, which I think is a really positive step forward.

[2:17:55] So I appreciate that. I also also appreciate the technology pushed to try and get, you know, better reservations and all of that happening, which I think is great.

[2:18:06] But I do agree with a lot of what my other peers have said on the council that there is a need for us to measure efficacy of our approaches and our measures.

[2:18:18] More effectively, so that we can actually see if this is making as much of an impact or should we pivot to other strategies should we change what we're doing.

[2:18:30] I say this because there are two really important sort of stakeholders that we have to address in this process.

[2:18:37] First and most important are the folks we have to support what's most vulnerable and people who find themselves on the street or with our home and then we have to make sure that we are able to create processes that are more effective

[2:18:51] if getting them off the street providing them support that is needed mental health or health or otherwise in an effective way and we have to create and measure that tell us that we are making ongoing progress and accelerating that process in some ways throughout investments.

[2:19:09] And the second set of stakeholders are the residents of our city, the businesses and the community that these like Eastgate operates in and you know,

[2:19:19] I had a chance to sort of review some of the input that we received prior to this meeting from the businesses or the lighthouse or the community.

[2:19:28] And it's about for them it's a question of safety and it's also a question of perception of safety.

[2:19:34] And so for us we have to make a change in the way we are measuring some of these and I would agree with what's been sent in and said that we have to collect input about their perceptions of safety in addition to the hard numbers on our safety matrix if we measure and we should do that on ongoing basis because it tells us.

[2:19:57] If we are being effective in our approach or not because that's what really matters.

[2:20:03] We have to change that and so a couple of suggestions towards that.

[2:20:07] I think measuring total call volume is really important but as you know there could be seasonality in this process.

[2:20:13] There could also be changes in volume of residents or you know the number of units occupied etc.

[2:20:21] So maybe measuring on a per capita basis to see if the call volume is changing on a month or month basis on a per capita.

[2:20:30] Is it coming down or going up is it also changing the could be seasonal patterns here that we need to recognize and we should make sure that's happening benchmarking as.

[2:20:39] Concentral number Robin said Robinson said.

[2:20:42] Other parts of our city for the same time period and our same crime statistics I think is another really important way to understand the efficacy of our approaches.

[2:20:52] So those are suggestions that I think you know I would encourage you to think about so that we can come back and you know set up new metrics or new measures so that six months from now when you come back to talk about this we can be more.

[2:21:09] You know convinced that we are accelerating process and that we are having the impact for both sets of stakeholders and effective way and so those would be my suggestions.

[2:21:21] And I do other things very quickly.

[2:21:25] One is I really think it is important for us to set up a success parameter for graduation as a consumable Robinson suggested.

[2:21:34] We have to be able to move people through the different stages to being more successful and independent so that we can create back end capacity to take more people into the system.

[2:21:46] The situation in the design evaluation or that looks like what the success measures are should be part of the you know metrics we put in place.

[2:21:55] So that we can think about this as a wheel that's turning and helping people and and and and creating independent.

[2:22:02] So living outcomes for them which I think is going to be very effective.

[2:22:14] Thank you so much, Councilor Rosemba, the very young.

[2:22:18] By the way, thank you so much for this work.

[2:22:21] And I actually echo with all my colleagues as well.

[2:22:23] I think that it's important for us to look at data.

[2:22:25] Maybe we can.

[2:22:26] Is there a data showing you which of the operational change that

[2:22:29] PortSlide change or increase outreach

[2:22:32] shows the most effective rate of decreasing in call?

[2:22:38] No.

[2:22:40] I would love to see that data on that.

[2:22:43] I will continue to talk with our, yeah,

[2:22:46] with works like others to figure out if there's a way

[2:22:48] to identify that.

[2:22:49] Thank you.

[2:22:51] It's challenging to track, but we'll see what we can do.

[2:22:54] Yeah.

[2:22:55] And I think to me, this is actually a very unique and special place.

[2:23:00] I got here because from PortSlide actually I saw men personally.

[2:23:04] I know that moved to permanent housing.

[2:23:07] They were able to live an independent life.

[2:23:09] And there was success.

[2:23:10] But also I got really close to my who actually lost that life there.

[2:23:14] And so I would say I'm grateful for the work you doing.

[2:23:19] And I'm so much more grateful for the residents around their

[2:23:22] shown compassion and also patients to work with us to let us know

[2:23:26] there's a path.

[2:23:27] I'm most importantly, thank you for being here.

[2:23:30] Being a being showcased.

[2:23:32] That's what when you said I start crying.

[2:23:34] Because you are fighting for hope and that's hard.

[2:23:37] And we know that from plants housing from everyone we with.

[2:23:41] Hope is something valuable.

[2:23:43] It's priceless.

[2:23:44] And we have to do this together.

[2:23:46] So I am very appreciative for our colleague.

[2:23:48] It's also you are doing this work.

[2:23:50] And you know, I am with.

[2:23:52] I do worry about the safety of people because I actually have co-workers who

[2:23:58] when they work late and they live in flower housing.

[2:24:01] I worry.

[2:24:02] I take them home every night, 10 o'clock.

[2:24:04] And I worry.

[2:24:05] I do worry.

[2:24:06] And I see there's a playground there too.

[2:24:08] I make me thinking about as a mom and me worry.

[2:24:10] What's happening?

[2:24:11] So I am actually wondering that, you know, out of because I see these 1500,

[2:24:16] you know, our neighbors at Eastgate.

[2:24:18] They are our neighbors.

[2:24:19] So it's our responsibility to support them.

[2:24:21] But I'm wondering is there any loop that we can like, is there like a

[2:24:25] feedback loop on how safe they feel and what we can do as a community

[2:24:29] to improve that?

[2:24:30] Is there feedback from the residents there?

[2:24:34] I mean, other than the ongoing, you know, neighborhood meetings and other

[2:24:40] things, there's not a formal feedback loop.

[2:24:42] I suppose the residents survey does include some right some public safety

[2:24:47] sentiment questions, although I don't know that it's broken down by neighborhood.

[2:24:50] We'll look into some options for that.

[2:24:52] Yeah.

[2:24:53] And this is for maybe assistant chief is like, you know, when there's a

[2:24:56] question, I think is there a category of, you know,

[2:25:00] divide it?

[2:25:01] Is there, like, I don't want to repeat a Fender.

[2:25:03] I say like, maybe concentrate it in the video that's, you know,

[2:25:06] causing problems and like, you know, violence.

[2:25:08] Is there like a breakdown of these calls that directed to, like,

[2:25:13] I don't know, like, concentrate that group.

[2:25:15] I don't, I don't, I don't want to say it.

[2:25:17] And I want to say in the more of flat way.

[2:25:20] But how, like, is there a way that we can actually identify the issues

[2:25:24] and then, you know, the more violent, the dangerous cause to you receive,

[2:25:28] do you see those patterns?

[2:25:30] Yep.

[2:25:31] So we look at data.

[2:25:32] We have an individual's work for a police department to look at that data.

[2:25:35] Identify, in essence, if there's an individual who is generating

[2:25:39] frequent calls that something that we will then have our sector captain work

[2:25:43] with the location or work with, if it's C-catter or Cares or what

[2:25:48] resource we need to get that to that person.

[2:25:51] If it is an individual in crisis, is it, is there other resources that we can

[2:25:55] bring to bear other than a rest that that person needs?

[2:25:58] And that's something where we can get the sector captain engaged with, for example,

[2:26:02] this.

[2:26:03] So we, we report slide or, or plan with housing to see what we can do to work with them

[2:26:07] because a rest may not be the right answer.

[2:26:09] It may be something else.

[2:26:10] And we work in concert.

[2:26:12] Try to rest that.

[2:26:13] And that's where we see individuals that are,

[2:26:16] high utilization of police service services.

[2:26:18] That's something where we would engage that process.

[2:26:22] Okay.

[2:26:23] And that is there like a matrix of progress.

[2:26:26] If, you know, it's repeatedly identified.

[2:26:29] Individual, like, what can we do to support them better, either mental health,

[2:26:33] like, you know, so make sure that everyone else, if it was safe, I wrong there.

[2:26:37] In my experience is very unique to the person in that person's needs.

[2:26:40] So I don't think you can say, it has to be ABCD each time.

[2:26:43] It's usually a very collaborative process working with the resources we have

[2:26:46] in the community as well as like things like sea cat and carers within the police department.

[2:26:51] As well as the criminal justice system in and of itself that the person has been charged with a crime.

[2:26:55] By working with all three, we try to do the best outcome for the individual in crisis.

[2:26:59] And that's what our goal is.

[2:27:01] What's the best for that person?

[2:27:02] Because if we can address that person's concerns,

[2:27:05] it has addressed the community's concerns as well because,

[2:27:08] whether you have a person to a housing or a mental health treatment,

[2:27:11] it does improve the situation for the residents that are next to that person.

[2:27:15] That makes you afraid.

[2:27:17] Thank you. That's really helpful.

[2:27:19] And that's kind of lead to my next question about the business around there, right?

[2:27:23] I mean, as you know, economy is going down more this year, sadly.

[2:27:27] And so businesses really, really tough spot to operate.

[2:27:30] Doesn't matter what size it is.

[2:27:32] So since it's really hard to get more feedback from the businesses,

[2:27:36] and I think we saw on the reporters under reported feedback from the business.

[2:27:42] How can we do differently that engaged the businesses,

[2:27:48] where they do feel that they're operating in the safe space,

[2:27:53] where also, you know, they can collaborate with the nonprofit partners and with our neighbours,

[2:27:58] because make sure that we actually end this together.

[2:28:01] From the PDU side, that's a constant communication process.

[2:28:06] At least in my experience in dealing with these sort of situations.

[2:28:10] It is the sector captain making communication with them.

[2:28:13] It is making sure that they know they can call 911 at any point in time.

[2:28:16] If they want to make the assist call of, like I'm concerned about something tomorrow,

[2:28:20] that we are extremely responsive to them to make sure that we're sending officers out

[2:28:23] or getting a police resources there.

[2:28:25] And in instances that are not criminal activity,

[2:28:28] it's trying to refer them to our community partners that maybe can solve those issues

[2:28:32] where it may be on something that we have the capabilities with rather working concert with,

[2:28:37] with plump itself or other housing providers or if it's not to help provider.

[2:28:43] How do we work together to try to get that done?

[2:28:45] Do you think it's to add on that?

[2:28:47] Okay.

[2:28:48] Thank you.

[2:28:49] I just want to apply you are being very intentive to describe to this issue.

[2:28:53] And it is not, it's not complicated.

[2:28:55] It won't like every one of our colleagues that.

[2:28:57] And then please let us know if there's any we can support because we end this together.

[2:29:00] Thank you so much.

[2:29:01] Thank you.

[2:29:02] Thank you so much.

[2:29:03] A great conversation.

[2:29:05] It is a hard one when we talk about the shelters and supportive housing.

[2:29:09] We are talking about the people who need stability and dignity.

[2:29:14] And we are also thinking about the neighbors, the businesses,

[2:29:18] who want safety and predictability and trust in the city and this council,

[2:29:24] who can manage these sites.

[2:29:26] Both are important as all of my colleagues are mentioned.

[2:29:29] The data is great showing a lot of trends, shelter usage, housing outcomes,

[2:29:35] call for service and in campaign activity.

[2:29:39] It shows for the most part what is working and what are the concerns that is a still there.

[2:29:45] And we need to also be engaged.

[2:29:48] 100% agree that we need more surveys somehow that we receive feedback that we are all receiving.

[2:29:57] But true, a mechanism that we can have.

[2:30:00] Testimonial as we heard in today positive and some negative that we heard that a mom and a daughter

[2:30:08] not walk there because they don't feel safe. That's also important to portrait in hopefully in your next

[2:30:16] presentation. To me, this is a snapshot as what is happening there of a complex system that requires

[2:30:25] ongoing management coordination and all of the accountability that you are doing. I agree with my colleagues

[2:30:32] to suggest that we should have this ongoing six months checking. But I think then my first question is what is

[2:30:39] success? What are we looking in six months? What is the metrics that you come in six months and then we

[2:30:48] talk about our efforts, all of those action items, resolve to a success or not success?

[2:30:58] Yeah, I think that's a good question. We look for success with a lot of comes for folks who are

[2:31:06] living in or being served at these providers or any provider in the city. And we do want, of course,

[2:31:14] people in the neighborhood to feel safe as well. And we also look at the, you know, I can't

[2:31:21] my numbers at use of city resources. I think success is really a balance of those things and maybe

[2:31:27] getting to a little bit of what I can't remember Bregarbo was talking about earlier. You know, when we

[2:31:33] look at sort of throughput in the system, that's really a very complex regional question. It's not,

[2:31:38] it's not something that Bellevue does on its own. And there are a number of factors that limit

[2:31:45] our ability to move people out of homelessness and into housing. So, I will get back to you.

[2:31:54] It's a complex question, but I think what we can do is look at a number of metrics over time

[2:32:01] with the goal of supporting safety, increasing housing resources for people and increasing health

[2:32:09] and community. And you are all much more expert than me, but you need a benchmark. If you wanted to come back

[2:32:16] six months from now, you need to have a benchmark of both, like how you're doing to addressing or homelessness

[2:32:24] or stability of all of the people who are there that is very, very important, what is your benchmark

[2:32:30] of the neighborhood or businesses that you can say six months from now, that is going toward a right

[2:32:38] direction or not. So, I think we should have something that we can come back in six months and we have

[2:32:45] a definition of success based on a benchmark that we should start today if we want to come back six

[2:32:52] months and say what we are doing, all of those action items or successful or not. Can you go to a

[2:32:57] slide in 11 and 12 please or 12 because you are here assist and chief, 12 is yours.

[2:33:06] If I ask you and put you on the spot and say, if you can give me one thing that we can do right now

[2:33:13] to decrease this, I know I read all of the action items that this is case campus is doing,

[2:33:22] but with all of the experience that you have, what is one thing that we can do to address the

[2:33:27] root cause, again, I know there are many of them, but what would be the first thing that comes

[2:33:32] to your mind that we can reduce this police department calls for service? I think it's a two part.

[2:33:40] There's two things we're trying to address this. Number one is, is actual police calls for service a

[2:33:45] bad thing? Because if you look at it and go, you people need, they're calling it two in the morning,

[2:33:50] they're calling 911 because they need assistance. If they can't reach the streets department,

[2:33:53] something else, like I said, we're getting a lot of assist calls from this location. It's not a bad thing

[2:33:59] that person is calling for assistance. So I don't, I don't look up here calls for service as a bad thing to

[2:34:05] start with, but they do, as the council won't point out, they do cost money to have an officer go there.

[2:34:11] So I think that's where the communication with the care provider to identify if it's a high utilizing

[2:34:16] individual that's contacting us at 911, getting that person into something like C-CAT where

[2:34:21] they have someone else to call rather than call 911 because the actual service they need is something

[2:34:26] like C-CAT. So I think the first thing that I would do to address your, try to drive that number down to

[2:34:31] actually divert the ones that don't need to be calling 911 because they don't need a firefighter right now,

[2:34:36] or police officer right now, would be to work with the providers there to try to get them as many resources

[2:34:42] as possible. It's actually in the plan about our agreement with them is to, is to, I've

[2:34:47] officer's utilized C-CAT in CARES, is to take the individuals that are frequent callers and go,

[2:34:52] do you really need 911 or do you really need CARES or address them to the right part of the community

[2:34:58] that can best serve their needs? I think that's the first thing I would do to try to drive these numbers

[2:35:02] down further is to make sure that all of these calls coming to us, or actually calls that we are needed for

[2:35:08] versus is something that we've done in the next morning, or who they actually need to call,

[2:35:13] and that would reduce the ones that we always want to be there as a service to reduce those ones that

[2:35:18] may be able to be handled in a different way. Utilize our resources correctly. So that's these happening.

[2:35:26] How am I right? In our conversation, I can't speak to you until you 100% is happening, but I know

[2:35:31] that our captains have an in contact and having communication. That's the first thing I will go back

[2:35:35] and double check to make sure that's being done that we are telling them to do that, but that usual

[2:35:39] part of our process is to have the communication with the providers about, that's what CARES C-CAT does

[2:35:44] all the time is going, don't call 911 call us directly, that's a standard part of their process.

[2:35:49] So please, when you come back in six months, yes, let us know if, because as you with all of the

[2:35:55] experience that you are very close to this issue, are telling us that some of these calls are not correct

[2:36:04] to be present police or fire department, we can have different resources for them and that's

[2:36:11] the first thing comes your mind. So please, when you come back, let us know if that has been implemented

[2:36:15] or not correctly. Is there any other leading indicators that we can just have on the spot with the

[2:36:26] help of providers that before escalate into community frustration or safety concerns, we can

[2:36:34] address that or they can address that or there is no leading indicators, is just something happen and

[2:36:40] they just call 911 because they are desperate. I'm sorry, I don't understand the question, sir. My question

[2:36:46] is majority of these calls, something happen and they just call 911. Is there leading indicators that we

[2:36:55] can notice earlier or the providers can notice earlier before and they can manage that themselves

[2:37:04] before we just call 911? Yes, you're hitting exactly what I went, I was talking about the previous one,

[2:37:10] where that's part of what C cat does is give them an outlet rather than 911 or another service

[2:37:15] provider that they can contact without contact. That is the question that we want. So are they being educated

[2:37:21] in that is who being educated? I don't have the answer that question. Great.

[2:37:29] Then my last question is, I think Deputy Mayor kind of brought that up, the data shows some variation

[2:37:35] between the half a mile and one mile radio around the escape campus. How should we interpret that difference?

[2:37:43] Yes, so if you look at a half a mile radius, you're in essence going down to a

[2:37:55] factorial boulevard and I don't remember how far each that goes. And like southeast 26th to

[2:38:03] the residential area just south of i90, if you're looking at a circle, where if you're looking at that

[2:38:08] full mile, you're also encompassing Victoria Mall, the escape shopping campus. There's other parts

[2:38:14] that would cover it that are more dense than the specific half a mile area around it. And I believe the

[2:38:20] full mile also covers Bellevue College if you look at the full mile. So there's a different

[2:38:25] the density of what we're looking at, the type of businesses that are there. If you look at where the

[2:38:31] campus is located, you have mixed use businesses there, you have a parking right there, but you don't

[2:38:38] have a shopping mall. So when you look at that mile, you're encompassing a lot more business districts

[2:38:44] than you are in the half mile radius. And in the trends, the difference between the trend in those two,

[2:38:51] what is telling us? Well, if you look at your looking at data that's only half a mile in a distance,

[2:38:57] so you're, you're cutting out, you're looking at data of possibly more like location. In other words,

[2:39:03] you don't have a shopping mall right next door, but when you look at that half mile radius, you're going to

[2:39:08] incorporate a very different density of business district than you are looking at a half mile. So that's

[2:39:13] what's telling you a little bit different is saying that you're going to see more consistent types of

[2:39:20] businesses and property than you are looking at the full mile. You're going to see something very different.

[2:39:25] Just like I went right now, looked at downtown Bellevue versus summer set, you're going to see a very

[2:39:29] different type of calls, a very different type of, you're going to see very few shoplifts, but you're

[2:39:34] going to see more burglar responsibly in the residential area. So you'll see a different type of calls in there,

[2:39:39] as well as the volume of calls will change, because you're having more people call 911 in those business

[2:39:45] business districts. Is there, am I reading the data correct that in the half a mile, we have an

[2:39:54] uptake in the calls, but then we go to the one mile, is there steady calls, service calls?

[2:40:00] I believe that as I have to look at that slide again, I'll think it was in the slides there, but I believe

[2:40:04] that is correct. What do I look like? If I could jump in, so typically when we're looking at this

[2:40:12] information, we focus on the half mile radius because that is more more localized to whatever the

[2:40:18] site is that we might, we might want to look at. The one mile data was, was provided in response to

[2:40:23] community requests. They wanted to see that broader picture, and so we've definitely, you know,

[2:40:29] we have done that. I think some of the concerns that the Assistant Chief was raising about the,

[2:40:35] maybe the level of information that that larger radius provides, because it's about so many other

[2:40:41] use types of it and other influences. It's perhaps less informative about the, about the local

[2:40:48] impacts of any particular site. Okay, so the uptake in the half a mile is because of the Eastgate campus,

[2:40:58] the one mile radius is as usual, because it's much more data and nuances and is just a bigger population

[2:41:07] different businesses. But my question is, can can are you correlating the uptake in the service

[2:41:13] calls in the half a mile due to camp, due to not properly managing of Eastgate campus? Can we correlate that?

[2:41:23] I don't think we can correlate that. And even less at the half a, at the full mile, because for example,

[2:41:28] if Walmart closes and another business opens, the amount of calls there's going to change completely

[2:41:34] which will affect all of your data with that mile. Your ability, one movement may not even

[2:41:40] associate with your campus, but changes your data. So that's where we look at this. I don't think we can

[2:41:46] tie that directly and say that is this and the farther out, the more data, the farther out we go,

[2:41:52] the less accurate that's going to be. Thank you. I really appreciate your care and bringing these

[2:41:58] data. And again, it's a very context nuances, complex. And I think we all, as you heard, we want to

[2:42:05] be compassionate and responsible. And I think we are looking forward to another report back in 19

[2:42:11] Councilman Robertson wants to add. I apologize. In listening to my colleagues, and I feel the same way.

[2:42:18] I think we're looking for how do we measure success. And I know it's really complex. How do we measure

[2:42:26] success for the people that we're living there? That we are hoping to stabilize,

[2:42:34] optimize their lives. How do we measure success for the efforts that we're doing with the city that

[2:42:42] Nico's working so hard to do? How do you measure success? There's a bunch of different ways to do it,

[2:42:48] but I would love staff to come back with kind of a little bit of a description so that we actually

[2:42:53] can measure success and see how we're doing if we're meeting the goals that we're setting out for ourselves.

[2:42:59] Because we come at this with a with a big heart. And I really want to be able to see if we're meeting our

[2:43:08] expectations. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. We do have a

[2:43:15] written report, 2026 report on emergency procurement for utility connections to the shower and

[2:43:23] laundry trailer and for the safe parking location and 106 average notice. Please read that on that

[2:43:29] note happy new year and be adjourned. Thank you so much.

[2:43:59] Thanks that will arrive first unless the perpetrator is still on the scene as my understanding.

[2:44:30] And then just if you are a victim, please know that there are people out there who take these

[2:44:36] crimes seriously. We're willing to prosecute and we're willing to move forward with with this process.

[2:44:44] In terms of reporting that the Department of Justice worked with local prosecutors and because

[2:44:51] they had been a lot of mistrust, especially doing the hide of the social justice movement.

City Council Regular Meeting on 2026-01-06 6:00 PM

Agenda

Transcript