Bellevue Selects First Ethnic Minority Mayor

Conrad Lee, born in China, heads a city that is emerging as a major commercial center for the Northwest.

by:

Diem Ly

Bellevue’s City Council has unanimously selected long-time councilmember Conrad Lee as its new mayor. Lee, who previously served as the city’s deputy mayor under Don Davidson whose term ended in 2011. He is the first ethnic minority mayor of Bellevue.

Born in China, Lee immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Bellevue in 1967. He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Washington. Lee got his start in civic administration as a regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration and as a Seattle Solid Waste division project manager. He has also worked as an engineer at Boeing.

Lee takes the position at a time when Bellevue is emerging as an important new business capital with a vibrant downtown. The city’s business-friendly environment and its growing tech sector has attracted many new residents. Bellevue now has a population of 122,000, up 11.4 percent in the past decade. Forty percent of its residents are members of an ethnic minority, including 27 percent who are Asian American. 25 percent were, like Lee, foreign-born.

"Bellevue is a wonderful place with wonderful people,” said Lee in a statement. “It's one of the most vibrant and diverse cities in the state and I am proud to represent and lead it.”

Since 1994, Lee has been re-elected to five terms, sitting on the council for nearly 20 years. Bellevue councilmembers serve four-year, staggered terms and vote one of its own as a mayor to serve a two-year term. The mayor serves as a representative head of the city, while the City Manager implements policy and manages day-today city operations. City council member and attorney Jennifer Robertson will serve as deputy mayor under Lee.

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