A Thank You to City Staff, Preliminary Election Results
With all the acrimony surrounding this year’s election cycle, I would like to pause and thank City of Bellevue staff for the good work they do, every day in our community.
Earlier this year, I contacted Bellevue Parks staff and suggested installation of a bench at Bannerwood Sports Park. They agreed and now there is a new bench and picnic table in a nice shady area facing the Richards Creek basin, a great place to experience local flora and fauna.
Thanks again to Bellevue Parks staff for your customer-service attitude! Read the full story on page four, in the October issue of Bellevue It’s Your City.
Preliminary Election Results
While much of election night media coverage focused on which party would control the U.S. House and Senate, there were two ballot measures of importance to business, right here in Washington.
The Bellevue Chamber opposed Initiative 1631, establishing a carbon fee and supported I-1634, preempting local option grocery taxes. Read more about our positions in recent issues of Bellevue Blitz.
Here are the preliminary statewide results:
Initiative Measure No. 1631 – carbon fee
Measure Vote Vote %
Yes 850,861 43.68%
No 1,097,277 56.32%
Total Votes 1,948,138 100%
Initiative Measure No. 1634 – grocery taxes
Measure Vote Vote %
Yes 1,062,381 54.78%
No 876,921 45.22%
Total Votes 1,939,302 100%
To see vote totals by County or to track election results over time, visit the WA Secretary of State elections web page.
Holiday Food and Toy Drive
Bellevue is a generous community and once again, the Bellevue Fire Foundation will be conducting a holiday toy and food drive at local fire stations through December 10th. New, unwrapped toys will be distributed at the annual Youth Holiday Party at Crossroads Community Center on December 18th.
Monetary donations will be accepted through December 24th and will be used to purchase toys and non-perishable food. Find out which fire stations will accept your donations and additional details regarding the holiday food and toy drive here.
Sound Transit Service Changes
Major changes to Sound Transit Regional Express Bus service are planned for March 2019. In particular, the Route 550 which serves many Bellevue residents, will be removed from the DT Seattle Transit Tunnel and will operate on surface streets. Moreover, once the light rail service begins in 2023, all Regional Express trips serving the I-90 corridor will be truncated in Bellevue or on Mercer Island.
In the meantime, you can provide input on the proposed March 2019 service changes in several ways. Sound Transit will be holding a public hearing at 1 PM on November 8th and an open house from 5 – 7 PM, also on November 8th. Both meetings will be held at Union Station, Ruth Fisher Board Room, 401 S. Jackson St, Seattle.
Alternatively, you may provide written comments via e mail at servicechanges@soundtransit.org or via USPS at Service Planning, 401 S. Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104.
Learn more about the Service Implementation Plan at the Sound Transit service planning web page.