A very friendly crowd of approximately 300 people showed up for Mayor-elect Mike McGinn’s transition team town hall meeting at the Northgate Community Center on November 30th. This meeting was one of a series of meetings held, one each in the North, Central and South parts of the city. He assumes the responsibilties on January 1st with an official ceremony taking place on Monday, January 4th.
McGinn and the transition team are working feverishly to get everything in place. Mike has made a few key appointments already rather than wait for January 1st.
- Julie McCoy will be the Chief of Staff for the Mayor’s Office. Julie is currently the president of the Greenwood Elementary Parents and Teachers Association. She worked on Bill Clinton’s transition team and in a number of campaigns for the US Senate and House of Representatives.
- Phil Fujii got the nod for Deputy Mayor for Operations. Phil has 24 years experience working for the City of Seattle. He has served as Neighborhood Development Manager in the Department of Neighborhoods, and is presently the community relations manager for Vulcan, Inc.
- Darryl Smith will be the Deputy Mayor for Communities. Smith is a realtor, and current president of Great City, and has served in a number of volunteer positions, such as the Seattle Planning Commission, and the Rainier Chamber of Commerce.
The town hall meeting discussions centered on 3 key questions to elicit input from the public:
- How do we build the strongest possible team to achieve the policy objectives and values set forth by the campaign (grass roots community involvement, transparency and neighborhood focus)?
- How do we build public trust in the new administration?
- What do you view as the incoming administration and the city’s greatest challenge — what should the new administration do first out of the gate?
Many diverse responses were voiced and listened to (all three town halls were filmed for the Seattle Channel). You can view the videos at http://new.seattle.gov/town-halls/ It is not to late to add your input. The web site http://ideasforseattle.org and twitter(MCGINNOUTREACH and #NEWSEATTLE) can be used to submit input.
Press coverage of the McGinn Town Halls is spotty:
- http://www.phinneywood.com/2009/12/02/greenwood-elem-pta-president-on-mcginns-staff/
- http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/186772.asp
Key web sites for the transition:
Lastly:
- mike.mcginn@seattle.gov (please note: McGinn does not promise a personal response to every e-mail, but it will be read by someone on his staff)