The Seattle City Councils newest member: John Okamoto.
The Seattle City Council's newest member: John Okamoto. City of Seattle

In a meeting mostly absent the same hostilities that defined his appointment last week, the Seattle City Council's newest member, John Okamoto, was sworn in today.

In a speech from the dais, Okamoto said it was "a day my grandparents would not have thought possible when they stepped off their boats from Japan on the Seattle waterfront to a foreign and hostile land; a day my parents would not have thought possible when they were imprisoned in concentration camps, unjustly portrayed by government officials to the public as enemy aliens."

He then went about outlining what felt like every possible policy goal he could think of: Okamoto said he wants to work on homelessness, affordable housing, education, health programs, services for seniors, domestic violence, human trafficking, job creation, pay equity, and participatory budgeting during his temporary time on the council. (Read the full speech here.)

"There is so much to do, and so little time to do it," Okamoto said. Indeed. He'll only have the job until a new member is elected in November. And, on some of the things that will happen during Okamoto's short time on the council, like, say, deciding whether and how much in linkage fees to charge developers to pay for affordable housing, Okamoto is still undecided.

Okamoto called on the council to "move forward together"—a clear, if not explicit, reference to the council drama that has been unfolding over the last week with council members criticizing Kshama Sawant for vocally opposing Okamoto.

"Making possibilities a reality can only happen through our joint and collective efforts," Okamoto said, "working hard to find our common interests that serve all in this city."

Council president Tim Burgess was even less veiled in his criticism of Sawant, although he, too, avoided naming her.

"There’s no need for personal attacks or disrespectful labeling," Burgess said after Okamoto's speech, contrasting the city council with politics in Olympia and Washington, DC. "We offer a model of democracy that works."

Riiiiight.