5 Things You Need to Know This Week: City Happenings, Spooky Shenanigans
1. Candidate Forum, Recapped: The Next KC Exec
At our October session of Chamber Lunch, we hosted a fast-moving King County Executive candidate forum with King County Councilmembers Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay. Spoiler alert: We asked the hard questions so you don't have to!
Moderated by John Carlson, Saghar Amini, and Chris Daniels, the discussion focused on public safety, homelessness, housing supply and permitting, regional transit, and federal funding pressure ... all issues central to Bellevue’s economy and quality of life.
Miss out? Read the recap here on our blog, or watch the footage using this link.
2. City Happenings: The Light & Feel-Good
Easing into our City of Bellevue weekly rundown, we've got some updates from the COB.
The City of Bellevue is spreading the word about their ongoing efforts to reduce crashes and improve safety on city streets, and have identified 37 potential locations for new speed safety cameras.
See the map of proposed locations here, fill out the community survey here, and if you want to engage further, consider attending an information session on October 28 or 30.
Our very own lil municipal news show, the October episode of Lake to Lake covers Grand Connection — and those adorable decals of Belle the Bobcat you may have seen around town on sidewalks — as well as a look into the autumn-ified Kelsey Creek at their recent Farm Fair celebration.
Watch the video for yourself using this link, or on the Bellevue Television Youtube page here.
To prepare for the World Cup in Seattle next summer, the City is inviting businesses and cultural organizations to host celebrations along the 2 Line during that time.
There is an activation info session being held TODAY at City Hall from 4 to 6 p.m., and those interested in hosting events will meet city staff and partners, learn about the activation timeline, and get details on funding opportunities.
3. City Happenings: The Beefy Issues
Last night’s City Council meeting was a doozy for housing policy enthusiasts, as the group convened to discuss the state of our Affordable Housing Strategy, as well as the current implementation of a citywide MFTE, or multifamily tax exemption.
Both of the updates detailed below aim to address the affordability gap, deliver deeper affordability, and improve accountability and transparency, and while the direction is ambitious, final decisions will come later as Council continues deliberation and votes on code changes.
The City shared an update on its Affordable Housing Strategy — first adopted in 2017 — reviewing what’s been done so far and what’s planned for the next major update.
The work continues to focus on five goals: Increasing income-restricted housing, improving equity, addressing specific community needs (like seniors or people with disabilities), keeping people stably housed, and increasing the overall supply and variety of housing.
A gap analysis showed current policies will only get the city to about 65% of its 10-year goal (about 3,700 of 5,700 units), with the biggest challenges in serving lower-income households.
Staff also presented proposed updates to the City's MFTE program, which offers tax exemptions to encourage affordable units in new projects.
Key recommendations included a new 20-year option for homeownership, allowing office-to-residential conversion projects to qualify, a pilot 8-year MFTE with deeper affordability in Wilburton, and a “supercharger” option.
The Council showed strong support for the Eastside Housing Roundtable-backed “supercharger” in Wilburton, which has already jumpstarted thousands of units of housing in the neighborhood before the ink is even dry on the Chamber-negotiated code update.
4. The Forecast: Gloomy w/ a Chance of Taxes
🎶 Guess who's back ... back again? 🎶 (It's Bank of America's Joe Quinlan!) The Chamber’s Economic Forecast Summit is a member-favorite, with business professionals from across the area flocking to listen to top financial advisors each year.
7:30 - 9:00 a.m. @ the Meydenbauer Center
Our longest running speaker, Quinlan flies in every fall to give us his predictions for the coming months, and muse on what has happened since we've seen him last.
5. Boo'in in Bellevue
Spooky or sweet, Bellevue's got you covered when it comes to Halloween festivities.
Kelsey Creek Farm is letting kiddos trick or treat with the farm animals, Forum Social House is hosting a Demon Hunters watch-a-thon, Main Street is gearing up for their “Little Monsters” event, and Visit Bellevue is bringing out the big dogs for a fall drone show. If you’re looking for some a bit more ~adult~ make reservations for the W’s party, “THE GOTHIC AFTERLIFE,” or Ascend’s Gothic Glam Halloween here.
Check out our community calendar here for more events, and be sure to fill out this form if you want to share your own organization’s get-together.
Member News:
- Breakfast w/ the Chief: The Bellevue Fire Foundation's annual breakfast is on Halloween this year, and the program will introduce Bellevue’s new Fire Chief, Dave Tait, a 28-year veteran dedicated to firefighter safety and our community’s well-being. Register and learn more here.
- After Hours: Join us at State Farm for some fun after hours networking on November 5! Details can be found here.
- Let the Shopping Commence: Believe it or not, the holiday season is pretty much here. Don't fret, though — we are putting together a Chamber member Gift Guide! Using this link, submit your own business's gift ideas to be included in the listing.
- Joining Forces: Two of our members, 4 Tomorrow and Pasifika Grill and Bar, are hosting a fundraiser for the former organization! Throughout the month of October, diners can fill up on Pacific Island inspired dishes, tell them 4 Tomorrow sent you, and they will donate 5% of your tab to the group. See the flyer here.
- Lucky Duck Spookeasy: Reality Break Escapes has a new themed game for the spooky season — take a look for yourself here.