Just got rejected for a transpo job that I was really eyeing and it's hitting me kinda hard. It was the first time I applied for something that really felt like it would be a career, and I was really excited at the prospect of making a positive difference in the world.
I want to do good work. There's a lot of directions I can go in right now with my life (journalism, advocacy, environmental research, etc.), but it almost feels like a master of none situation where I don't have enough qualifications in any particular field to actually get hired.
CSB stuff is fine & good & I know it makes a difference, but it's *really* hard to establish a nonprofit infrastructure from nothing. That's really what I've been struggling the most with. That's why it'd just be so nice to be hired into an already-existing org doing great work.
So, if anybody's hiring in the fields of sustainable transportation advocacy, Eastside progressive journalism, or anything else that I post about on here, maybe send me their way? Thanks.
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Tonight's Bellevue City Council meeting is a packed one - testimony on mid-bi budget adjustments, discussion on an affordable housing LUCA, further decisions on the East Main station area, and an ordinance to comply with state law re: unrelated people living together.
I hear there's going to be people testifying in the budget hearing asking for more funding to implement the city's environmental stewardship initiative. As I & others have noted before, the city wants to reduce GHGs by 50% in a little over 8 years' time.
The 1st affordable housing ordinance being discussed tonight is about strategy C1: to allow AH development on public & religious land. Staff are recommending including a 50% density bonus - allowing developments meeting affordability criteria to build 50% above current maximums.
It's two weeks & one day before Election Day, and I'm covering tonight's Bellevue City Council meeting. Important discussions on the East Main LUCA, implementation of the Environmental Stewardship Initiative, and a preliminary timeline for mid-biennium budget discussions.
Tonight's East Main study session is because CMs were unable to come to consensus around FAR & height at the previous meeting. Tonight's meeting will seek to work out those details. Supposedly staff has met with CMs to iron out their concerns.
Because it's campaign season, I expect tonight's update of the Environmental Stewardship Plan implementation to be met with CMs praising staff for their work & talking about how Bellevue is leading on this effort.
Prepping for tonight's Bellevue City Council meeting.
Two interesting topics are being discussed this evening as study session items - the framework plan for Eastrail in the Wilburton area, and another discussion on the East Main LUCA.
Regarding the former - unlike other cities along #Eastrail, Bellevue does not own the trail ROW. The majority is owned by King County, and about 1 mile near the OMFE is owned by Sound Transit. County & city have been conducting outreach to guide trail design standards.
Regarding the latter - tonight is the 5th study session on East Main and the first of several decision points. Staff are asking Council for the following FAR #'s - I'll let somebody else explain to me if they're good or bad.
Tonight's Bellevue City Council meeting has some interesting items on the agenda: a discussion on a requirement to use a certain quota of apprentices in City contracts, an update on the implementation of recommendations from the police use of force review, and ARCH's budget.
The apprentice initiative is being introduced by CM Barksdale, who notes that such a requirement would provide an avenue for tradespeople to acquire needed skills & time while providing job opportunities for Bellevue youth. He's seeking Council comment & feedback tonight.
CM Barksdale notes that out of the 17 projects awarded by the City last year, only one actually used apprentices.
I'm very interested in seeing where CMs fall on this. At first glance this feels like a good, non-partisan/non-controversial initiative, but we'll see.
Tonight's Bellevue City Council meeting will feature discussions around renaming an Environmental Education Center after Jim Ellis (local advocate), the East Main LUCA process, and all the development going on around the city.
I don't mean this as any personal slight against Mr. Ellis or his work, but it's weird hearing this item being introduced when, just four months ago, Council was (relatively) united around no longer wanting to name things after people.
As I've made clear, I believe a policy of "never naming things after people" is short-sighted - it's all about *who* you name them after and what they stood for.
But I'd at least appreciate consistency from Council on this issue.
Livetweeting Bellevue's first City Council meeting after their August recess. Topics of discussion include: nomination to the Transportation Commission, B&O Tax amendment, and an update on city's Homelessness Outreach. The latter is what interests me most this evening.
Demographic data for the people that the city's homelessness outreach coordinator has contacted in 2020 & 2021. General note to @bellevuewa - "transgender" is not a gender itself, but rather an additional adjective to be used to describe one's gender (in contrast to "cisgender").
The fact that there's no reason given for why this informational presentation is being held this evening makes me believe it's in response to the conversation around Redmond & the Silver Cloud Inn purchase.