Council Roundup: Human Services Needs Update, Strategic Plan

Plus Sound Transit 2 Line brief, council meeting shift

The City Council on Monday received an update on the city’s Human Services Needs Update and directed staff to return to a later meeting with a resolution adopting the Human Services Strategic Plan.

The city’s Human Services Division conducts an extensive human services needs assessment every two years to get a comprehensive overview of the needs and issues affecting Bellevue community members. The Human Services Commission uses data from the Human Services Needs Update to inform funding recommendations to council.

The assessment identifies the significant areas of need, strengths, challenges and opportunities of the city’s human services infrastructure. Overall, the assessment showed a shortage of human services, with a more significant gap in services meeting particular culture and language needs of the city’s diverse communities.

The council also received a presentation on the city’s first Human Services Strategic Plan with key objectives that will direct funding allocations for the next six years. Councilmembers voted to adopt the plan.

The full discussion of the Human Services Needs Update and the Human Services Strategic Plan is available on video replay through Bellevue Television.

Sound Transit shares updates on the opening of the 2 Line

The council received a briefing from members of Sound Transit’s East Link team regarding the first phase of service on the 2 Line scheduled to begin this spring. Sound Transit highlighted the strong partnership and shared vision between Sound Transit and the city that has helped bring light rail to the Eastside.

The first phase of the 2 Line includes a 6.3-mile stretch on the east side of Interstate 90 that will serve eight stations in Bellevue and Redmond: South Bellevue, East Main, Bellevue Downtown, Wilburton, Spring District, BelRed, Overlake Village and Redmond Technology. The 2 Line service will kick off with a series of grand opening celebrations, including a ribbon-cutting at the downtown station, as well as the other Bellevue stations, with programming from community partners such as Eastrail Partners and the BelRed Arts District Association. Sound Transit will announce a date for the grand opening along with information on how to ride public transit to the events soon.

Sound Transit also shared details on what riders can expect once service begins. 2 Line trains will run every 10 minutes between 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., seven days a week. The end-to-end travel time between the South Bellevue and Redmond Technology Center stations will take riders approximately 17 minutes. In this initial phase, King County Metro and Sound Transit express buses will continue with current operations and routes. Future service changes to the Eastside bus network in alignment with rail service will come with the full opening of the 2 Line anticipated next year.

Day of Remembrance proclamation

The council proclaimed Feb. 19 as Day of Action and Remembrance for Japanese American Incarceration during World War II, a national recognition of the unjust internment of Japanese Americans. In honor of the occasion, the city will host “Within the Silence,” presented by Living Voices at City Hall on Thursday, Feb. 22, 6-8 p.m.

Change to council meeting day

The council voted unanimously to move council meetings from Monday to Tuesday evenings, starting in April.

Changing the meeting day will result in more time between agenda packet publication and the meeting day, giving community members and councilmembers additional time to review agenda items and become informed on citywide topics.

Further details related to this change will be communicated to the public in advance of it taking effect. More information is in the meeting materials.