Come next week, Seattle will get its third mayor in a year.
Council President Harrell took over temporarily Wednesday night after Ed Murray resigned in the wake of a fifth allegation of sexual abuse. But Harrell had the choice of whether to remain in that position or not. Today, Harrell said he would return to the council instead of staying mayor. Council Member Tim Burgess could be his replacement.
âI have full confidence the council will elect a capable council member,â Harrell said today. But he would not "comment on that process."
âI was elected to serve the constituents of District 2 and I will continue to do so," Harrell said of his south Seattle council district. "I have lived in that district most of my life⌠and it is truly one of the most diverse and colorful communities in this city.â
Harrell also announced four executive orders today, including one stating Seattleâs intent to compete for Amazonâs second headquarters.
Council Member Sally Bagshaw said today she would nominate Tim Burgess for interim mayor Monday. Burgess declined to comment, but Bagshaw said he has expressed interest in the job.
Burgess, a former cop and ad man, has been on the council for a decade and championed expanded access to pre-school and the nurse-family partnership for new mothers. He also has a reputation as one of the councilâs most centrist, business-friendly members.
Making Burgess mayor would leave his council seat empty. Within five days, the council would vote to approve him mayor. Then, the council would within 20 days fill his council seat with an interim council member. That council member wouldnât be in place for long, though. Burgess was already planning to retire at the end of this year. Jon Grant and Teresa Mosqueda are running to replace him. Whichever of them won in November would be sworn in when election results are certified in late November.
The move would also mean a shakeup to the biggest issue before the city council this fall: the 2018 budget. On September 25, the interim mayor will deliver the mayorâs budget to the council, which will then revise and approve it. According to the city budget office, that budget is already largely done.
But Burgess is currently the councilâs budget chair. With him in the mayorâs office instead, another council member would take over the councilâs budget committee. Bagshaw said today she believes Lisa Herbold should take over those duties. While that role is largely a traffic cop for how the council goes about voting on small changes to the budget, it could prove good news for the councilâs left-leaning wing, which includes Herbold, Mike OâBrien, and Kshama Sawant.
In his 48 hours as mayor, Harrell signed four executive orders touching on several controversial issues facing the city:
â˘Â One order indicates Seattleâs plans to compete for Amazonâs recently announced second headquarters. The company previously said it would seek another North American city for another headquarters, setting off a storm of speculation about whether the corporation planned to ditch Seattle for a more âbusiness-friendlyâ environment. Amazon issued a request for proposals for a new headquarters but it looked unlikely Seattle would compete. Harrell said today Seattle will respond to Amazon's request by October 19.
âIf there are to be an additional 50,000 jobs, from warehouse workers to software engineers, they should be for our residents,â Harrell said.
The order also creates a âbusiness retention task forceâ that will include business and labor representatives. The city
âThis kind of issue really should not happen again,â Harrell said of Amazon. âWe need to do everything we can possibly to make sure we have the kind of environment that will be conducive to that kind of healthâthat kind of economic health and growth.â
â˘Â Another takes on the countyâs new youth jail. Voters in 2012 approved a controversial new $210 million courthouse and youth jail to replace the current dilapidated facility.
Harrell previously supported the project but has since expressed skepticism. He said today he and King County Council member Rod Dembowski have asked a âsimpleâ question about the project: âIf we knew in 2012 what we know right now about mass incarceration [and] racial disparities in our judicial system; if we knew about the quote unquote War on Drugs, how it devastates communities of color; if we knew about the abuses of prosecutorial discretion and historical and institutional racism, would we consider a different approach? And as mayor, I would say yes.â
Harrell emphasized the importance of alternatives to youth incarceration today, but he was short on specifics. His executive order will create a task force to âidentify and define best practices in alternatives to youth detention.â That task force will then help âidentify housing optionsâ throughout the county that could operate as alternatives to youth incarceration. Many of the facilities may be outside the city, Harrell said.
A mayoral spokesperson declined to elaborate on the meaning or intent of this order. The order âdoes not stopâ the youth jail, Harrell said, but âif we do this right the county may look at what theyâre building and pivot. That would be the goal.â
⢠A third order instructs city departments to identify âten priority sites for litter removalâ and increase the cityâs response to illegal dumping.
âOur city has become filthy,â Harrell said. âAs an elected official Iâm embarrassed driving and walking around some of the areas of this city⌠We have to reset community norms.â
⢠A fourth will direct the cityâs Chief Technology Officer to âassess the risksâ related to the cityâs data management, including data used to respond to public records requests. The order asks the CTO to deliver a risk assessment by November 15.
âI donât think a lot of people have an appreciation for how sophisticated the hackers are,â Harrell said.