Mayor-Elect Wilson Announces Senior Staff Team

Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson announced the senior staff for her mayor’s office Wednesday. And so far, the lineup on the seventh floor of City Hall is what she promised on the campaign: a coalition of left-leaning community organizers, policy experts, business leaders, and City Hall pros.

The mayor’s office will look different from recent administrations: According to a memo obtained by Publicola, Wilson’s team has recommended that she have three direct reports: the deputy mayor, the chief of staff, and the director of city departments. The rest of staff will report to those three. (For comparison, Harrell had four deputy mayors.)  According to the memo, Wilson’s team believes the smaller number will make for a more effective office, where “each member of Senior Staff has a clearly defined role.” Instead of having nearly 10 direct reports or a series of deputy mayors, the smaller team is “the happy medium that will work best for [Wilson’s] particular leadership style.”

According to the memo, the office will be structured around five guiding principles. The hiring will build a team around her style of leadership, it says, while establishing clear lines of accountability and empowering the city’s departments to use their expertise. The authors of the memo, which is unsigned, also urged her to avoid “solving factionalism through personnel: “You can’t solve the problem of factionalism by recreating it in your Mayor’s Office,” it reads. “We think you should manage these constituencies as one unified team, not by assigning one person to liaise with each key group.”

And the small-team structure, the memo reads, is the “connective tissue” between Wilson’s personality, skills, and goals she aims to achieve. The memo also suggests Wilson hire collaborative and respectful people. Simply put: “We don’t think you should hire jerks,” the memo reads.

Brian Surratt, who’s currently part of Wilson’s transition team, will take the role of deputy mayor. His 25 years of multi-sector economic experience will presumably balance out Wilson’s resume, which includes less business and more organizing work. Surratt is currently the CEO of Greater Seattle Partners, a public-private team that works with government and local companies to draw in new businesses, expand international trade, and grow the region’s major industries.  Under former Mayor Ed Murray, he was the director of the city’s Office of Economic Development and worked in the mayor’s Office of Policy and Innovation.

Kate Brunette Kruezer will be Wilson’s chief of staff. She has a long history with Wilson: she was the treasurer of the Transit Riders Union, which Wilson co-founded, from 2018 to 2022, and has helped with Wilson’s post-election transition. Previously, Kruezer was the director of external affairs at the land use advocacy nonprofit Futurewise.

Jen Chan, deputy director of the Seattle Housing Authority, joins Wilson’s team as director of departments. Chan is a City Hall veteran. Spanning three decades, she’s had high-ranking positions in the Department of Finance and Administrative Service, Parks and Recreation, and the Mayor’s Executive Office. Most recently, she was chief of staff at Seattle City Light.

Seferiana Day Hasegawa will be Wilson’s director of communications.  Her resume includes roles with former Mayor Tim Burgess, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Pramila Jayapal. She led communications for Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development, is a University of Washington professor teaching policy advocacy, and is the co-founder of Upper Left Strategies, a strategy firm for progressive campaigns.

Wilson’s campaign manager, and long-time labor organizer, Alex Gallo-Brown will be the director of community relations. He’s worked for local unions and nonprofits for nearly a decade, and was the founding director of the Essential Workers Organizing Academy at UFCW 3000.

Policy analyst, facilitator and researcher Nicole Vallestero Soper will be the director of policy and innovation. Previously, she was policy director at Puget Sound Sage, an organization for research, policy advocacy and community organizing. Soper was also involved in founding several other community organizations such as the Fair Work Center, Front and Centered, and the Washington Community Alliance.

Aly Pennucci, who left City Council’s central staff during Sara Nelson’s reign, will become Wilson’s director of the city budget office. She’s currently the deputy executive for Whatcom County.