Seattle – we've been through a lot through the last 200 newsletters.

When I took office, we were a city at a cross-roads. We were the fastest growing city in America and the epicenter of some of the most amazing advances in science, tech and innovation. Our music, art, food and urban scene were growing just as fast. The city was vibrant and alive; the sky was the limit. But we also saw a growing crisis with homelessness and Seattle also was becoming increasingly unaffordable for most, and particularly for workers, middle class families, and our communities of color.

We went to work on all of these issues, which were decades in the making with no easy answers. We began to make real progress on building more affordable housing, transforming our shelter system, creating a regional homelessness approach designed to get at root causes, investing in free college and transit for our youth, protecting the rights of domestic workers and ride share drivers, and rebuilding the resilience and strength of our small businesses, neighborhoods and communities. We took down the viaduct to make way for a beautiful new Waterfront Park and started building a new arena.

Then came the challenges of a COVID-19 global pandemic, a civil rights reckoning, the closure of the West Seattle Bridge, and more than 20 extreme weather challenges of unprecedented heat waves, snow storms, smoke, windstorms, and freezing temperatures – a reality of climate change for our region.

My term as Mayor has been defined largely by these immense and unprecedented challenges facing Seattle and our country. Through each of these challenges, I learned again: Seattle is innovative, resilient, and determined – and continues to be one of the best places to live. We believe in science and take care of each other. These last two years have been so hard on every family, business and person in our city, but we have made it through each of these challenges together, tapping into our wealth of innovation and grit.

In the last 22 months, and the COVID-19 pandemic especially has been difficult for Seattle residents, businesses, and workers. COVID-19 has put into perspective all our previous challenges and have proven our resiliency as a city.

Without any national plan or guidebook, we pioneered testing for first responders, seniors, and then free accessible testing for all. We led the country with our equitable vaccination efforts – including the largest civilian site in the country – and we became the first city to reach 70% fully vaccinated and now we’re 90% vaccinated with 51% of eligible residents boosted. We also put in place one of the first in the country eviction moratoriums for our non-profits, residents, and small business while innovating new programs like grocery vouchers, small business grants, rental assistance, and assistance for immigrant and refugees that have all continued this year.

Click the photo to read the 4 Year Review Report

While much of my term was focused on our crisis response, we never stopped focusing on the key issues of our time: housing and homelessness and building opportunity for the next generation.

As Mayor, we have invested $2.5 billion of local, state, and federal resources to create and preserve 7,600 affordable homes. We created the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to remove the siloed response to the crisis. We remade our shelter system from the less humane “mats on the floor” approach and now have nearly 3,000 shelter spaces, which are primarily 24/7 spaces. The pandemic and CDC guidelines did greatly halt progress and visible homelessness grew. But we kept working to address the root causes of homelessness while bringing people inside, and this year alone, moved more than 1,100 individuals out of parks into these safer spaces.

To build opportunity for the next generation, we created the Seattle Promise, which guarantees free college tuition for all Seattle Public School graduates. In a few years, this program has now helped more than 2,300 students have an opportunity to obtain a degree, certificate, or credential. We expanded job and apprenticeship opportunities for these students, including to help change the state law so the Seattle Colleges can now offer Promise students a 4 year degree in Computer Sciences. We almost double quality Pre-K. Our expanded Seattle Preschool and Child Care Assistance Programs were able to step in to support parents, particularly frontline workers who desperately needed safe childcare to work.

To further address the systemic inequities in Seattle, we also invested more than $150 million in communities of color through new investments and anti-displacement efforts, that were guided by community voices. We transferred important properties back into the hands of community, worked to ensure more affordable spaces for BIPOC owned small businesses and art venues. As COVID-19 had more devastating health and economic impacts on our communities of color, we also worked with frontline organizations and built one of the most equitable vaccine strategies in the country.

We also continued our work on improving and reimagining public safety. Before the pandemic, we launched Health One, an innovative approach where trained firefighters and a social worker respond to low acuity 911 calls, instead of police. I predicted at its launch that we would want to expand the program to every part of our city, and I was proud to launch our third unit last month in South Seattle. We also invested significant resources to other programs that can provide an alternative to calling police like investing in mobile behavioral health units, community-based wellness programs, credible messengers to work with youth, and supporting parents who have lost their children to violence. We need to continue building these programs.

Yet we also need sufficient police and firefighters to respond to emergencies. Both our Fire and Police Departments have lost personnel, which has strained our response to 911. I am grateful for the ways Fire Chief Harold Scoggins and Police Chief Adrian Diaz have worked with our firefighters and police officers to ensure they can respond to every part of our city when needed. I issued an Executive Order to help in recruitment through the use of hiring incentives and have talked to incoming Mayor Bruce Harrell about continuing this program and adding retention incentives.

I’m proud of the work we have done together for Seattle. We did not just respond to the emergencies we faced. We sought to build a better city for the generations to come. The Seattle of the future can continue to lead the nation on innovation, an equitable economy and climate change.

We also worked to ensure it is a city where we can come together and have fun: in a beautiful new Climate Pledge Arena for concerts, the Kraken, the Storm and hopefully Sonic games, walking at a new magnificent Waterfront Park, riding bikes on the many miles of new bike lanes, or at one of the great art and culture venues that make our city so vibrant.

Thank you for allowing me to serve the people of Seattle, and to serve the City that I love.

I know Mayor-Elect Harrell cares so deeply about our future and will work hard to build a vibrant and equitable recovery. Voters overwhelmingly supported his vision, and all of us should root for his success. We’ve spent months preparing for a seamless transition. I cannot wait to see the next chapters in this city that I love. I believe in you and the collective power of our community.

You can visit http://www.seattle.gov/mayor-elect or email [email protected] to learn what the incoming administration is doing for the people of Seattle.

Stay safe and healthy,

City of Seattle Update on Winter Weather Response

Staying Safe as COVID-19 Cases Continue to Surge