Seattle's next mayor must change the culture within City Hall
HELP WANTED. The Emerald City seeks a dynamic leader and consensus builder to lead a $5 billion enterprise during an unprecedented time of challenge and opportunity. Ideal candidate will have experience with a proven track record of working with different stakeholders to craft effective public policy that can bring siloed groups together to guide Seattle during a period that will define the city and region for years to come. Narrow-focused, bombastic personalities need not apply.
No doubt, we are a critical moment in Seattle’s history. The person who succeeds Mayor Jenny Durkan will also need top-shelf leadership skills to address a bevy of critical issues. To secure its future, Seattle must improve equity and inclusion, support all businesses pummelled by the pandemic, increase resources to end homelessness, continue to invest in affordable housing and bolster behavioral health resources.
Anyone who hopes to defeat those dragons (and those surely lurking ahead) must be an inclusive, proactive and visionary leader. Their agenda and approach cannot be beholden to or have the singular focus of any particular interest. The new Mayor of Seattle (MoS) cannot be in the pocket of labor, best friends with business or allied with activists. To be effective, they must listen, build consensus, and champion compromise.
The pathway to durable and effective public policy isn’t reactionary politics that are all too often walked backed by the council or couched in litigation as was the initial and unsuccessful attempts on the business head tax. This approach wastes precious political cycles that are better used to pursue meaningful and lasting change.
The occupant of the corner office at 600 4th Avenue should be filled with a proactive desire to seek the counsel of people who don’t share their point of view with an eye toward getting the job done and moving forward. It’s too easy to listen to and be influenced by the loudest voices at raucous city council meetings and think those voices represent the consensus of the city. It’s time to demand and enforce decorum and civility.
Our present city council often looks at our region’s largest employers as the root cause of our problems instead of viewing them as partners with solutions. The new mayor must continuously seek to understand and “pump the brakes” when city council members choose demonization over cooperation.
Seattle’s top job isn’t easy, and one could argue that our current time is one of the most difficult moments to hold the post. However, our circumstances offer an incredible opportunity to shape our future.
Whoever fills Mayor Durkan’s shoes must have a clear vision for the future — one not affected by concern for their own political future or relying on referendums to dodge tough, forward-looking decisions. Seattle needs strong management, with a lesser focus on being a springboard to building personal legacies. To lead Seattle today, candidates must have their own North Star aligned with the good for all of Seattle, putting our community ahead of personal ambition.
Qualified candidates apply now.