5 Things You Need to Know This Week: New Year, New Mayor …

1. New Mayor Alert 🚨

At last night's Bellevue City Council meeting, a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor were chosen! Previous Deputy Mayor, Mo Malakoutian, is stepping up as Mayor, while Councilmember Dave Hamilton will be taking over the Deputy Mayor position.

"Bellevue’s new Mayor and Deputy Mayor represent a continuation of the solid, pragmatic, and effective leadership modeled by our outgoing Mayor Lynne Robinson," said Chamber President & CEO, Joe Fain, following the announcement.

"Mayor Malakoutian understands the importance of a strong economy and the value of small business in furthering the health of a community ... and Deputy Mayor Hamilton, a successful small businessman himself, has distinguished himself in critical issues to Bellevue like housing and economic competitiveness."

"Bellevue’s future is bright, and the employer community looks forward to partnering with these great leaders in the year ahead," he said.

3. Another Year, Another Tax Blitz

As much as you're sick of reading about it, we are sick of writing about it! We are spending our entire session of Executive Business Roundtable tomorrow morning talking about the tax changes impacting our state in the New Year, but for those of you not part of that program, here's the gist.

A hiked-up B&O tax, UI for striking workers, taxes on large tech companies, and more took effect on January 1. Read the reporting from Washington State Standard here.

4. Coming Up @ the Chamber

Because we know that you are just DYING to get some more Chamber events on your brand-spanking-new calendar. We've got networking gatherings, advocacy-oriented shindigs, and our annual Women's Leadership Conference all coming up in the next few weeks, so take a looksie at our Events Calendar here to secure your spot(s).

Small Biz Workshop: The Buyer-Seller Dynamic

• January 28 - Because if your salespeople aren't leading the sale, then your buyer is.

East King Chambers Coalition: Chamber Day

• February 18 - Hop down to Oly for a day of state-level policy engagement.

Women’s Leadership Conference

• February 24 - Year six of our Women's Leadership Conference! Speaker deets to come.

5. Legislative Kick Off, In Photos

Yesterday was our 2026 Legislative Kick Off event with the East King Chambers Coalition — thanks to all who joined us! We had a couple last-minute legislator swaps, so were lucky enough to hear from the following electeds …

• Sen. Lisa Wellman

• Rep. Brian Burnett

• Rep. Roger Goodman

• Rep. Zach Hall

• Rep. Drew Stokesbary

• Rep. Larry Springer

• Rep. Amy Walen

• Rep. Janice Zahn

• Rep. Debra Entenman

• Rep. Osman Salahuddin

Member News:

• New Ep of Bellevue Bound: In the most recent episode of Bellevue Bound, host Megan Adams sits down with Jennifer Leavitt, Senior Vice President of Marketing for The Bellevue Collection, to explore why this iconic destination has become one of the most successful shopping centers in the nation. Take a listen here.
• Do Epic Sh*t … for The Sophia Way!: Title Nine and The Sophia Way are joining forces to host Natalia Cohen —who with 3 other women rowed unsupported from San Francisco to Australia in a harrowing months-long journey — tomorrow, January 8. Get your tickets here.
• The Bellevue Lunch Pod: Hungry? Kottu Seattle rallied their fellow food truck pals, and are heading to the Eastside for the weekday lunch rush starting January 12. See the vendors and other details here.
• Join the Restoration Crew: Up to 100 volunteers will have the opportunity to participate in a meaningful day of service by removing invasive weeds and planting native trees and shrubs at Wilburton Hill Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Learn more and register here.