City of Bellevue issued the following announcement.
Plus, Bellevue wins Digital Cities award
On Monday, the City Council had an opportunity to hear from the community during the final public hearing on the 2021-2022 operating budget and the 2021-2027 Capital Investment Program plan. The meeting included time for councilmembers to consider public input and request budget amendments or more information. The budget is set to be approved in December.
23 community members signed up to speak during the hearing and over a dozen more submitted written comments to the council. The comments voiced support for funding several varied budget items including a Bellevue cross-cultural center, human services and community resources, racial equity, environmental stewardship, Vision Zero, public safety, affordable housing, a community court in Bellevue, multi-modal transportation and the Bellevue College Connection project.
Councilmembers offered possible ways to amend the proposed budget to accommodate some of these priorities and discussed how the initiatives would be funded. Thirteen amendments were proposed including an initiative to support communities of color, adding additional policy research capacity, establishing technical advisory groups in racial equity, environmental stewardship, and a cross-cultural center, adding additional funding to support various business and community groups, adjusting funding in the capital program to support the growth corridor and vision zero, increasing funding for early wins in the Environmental Stewardship Initiative, the next phase of the cross-cultural center, and the Bellevue College Connection.
Once councilmembers review further details on the budget ideas discussed, they will determine which amendments to add to the budget and how they will be funded. Formal amendment language could be reviewed as soon as the Dec. 7 meeting, with final adoption of the budget happening on Dec. 14. The full public hearing and council discussion are available through Bellevue Television replay, and the latest budget materials are available in the meeting agenda item.
Bellevue wins Digital Cities award
In other business Monday, the council learned that the City of Bellevue earned first place recognition by the Center for Digital Government in their annual Digital Cities Survey.
The survey recognizes cities using technology to tackle social challenges, enhance services and strengthen resiliency. In particular, this year’s winners exhibited innovative ways to respond to COVID-19.
Bellevue was awarded first place among cities with a population between 125,000-249,999 for innovations that improve digital access for residents, driven by the city’s Information Technology department in collaborative partnership with other city departments and regional partners.
Key examples included a Universal Design Guide created to advance awareness and consideration for accessibility when planning events and programs, a COVID-19 chatbot available from the city’s website in several languages to answer questions from residents about the city’s COVID-19 resources and response, and the Bellevue Map Viewer showing COVID-19 resource locations in the city, including food distribution sites and locations for "Healthy Streets" closed to through traffic. In addition, the award highlighted Bellevue’s continued advancement of Smart City initiatives, including advances in smart mobility, water and public safety.
More information on the award is available in the meeting materials.
Note: Due to November 30 being the fifth Monday of the month, no council meeting will take place. Councilmembers will reconvene again on December 7.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up