State of the City Address
Mayor Greg Nickels
February 7, 2005
Watch the Speech on the Seattle Channel

Making the Right Choices for Seattle

Members of the City Council, honored guests, friends and family, and citizens of Seattle , I’m here to report that Seattle is back.

The curtain has come up on our wonderful city- and it looks spectacular. As long time St. Paul Mayor George Latimer told me last week – our city is “cooking”!

Council President Drago -- Our hard work, relentless focus and a spirit of cooperation has paid off.

Every mayor has a responsibility to start with the basics and build upon a strong foundation. My colleague, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin recently summed it up by quoting St. Francis of Assisi : “Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” They are right.

We started three years ago by focusing on the basics, rebuilding people’s confidence in their city government. We worked to keep people safe, filled thousands of potholes, and made sure a human being answered the phone when a citizen called with a question.

Over the past three years we’ve moved from the basics to tackle the possible.

We prioritized our spending and balanced our budget by living within our means. We’ve given new hope to neighborhoods that have long felt neglected by city government. We’ve made city departments more responsive so that taxpayers and businesses don’t fear doing business with the city. We made sure that every public celebration, protest or gathering would be safe for our citizens to attend.

We began to re-connect the city to its people.

Throughout this coming year, we’ll make many choices that will define the legacy we leave for our children and grandchildren over the next century.

Our values will never waiver from building a city that reflects our humanity.

If we stay true, our City will make the big decisions and the small ones from its soul. We know that we are nothing more and nothing less than the dignity we show our neighbors.

The past three years have been the most difficult for thousands of people thrown out of work. It has seemed even worse because of how quickly our boom times turned to bust.

We all remember how flush we were in the late 1990s into the year 2000. Then, in the flash of the World Trade Center disintegrating on the morning of September 11, 2001 it was largely gone. Our whole world changed with the terrorist attacks of 9-11.

Our city has had to reach back, focus on our core values and protect those things that are most important to us. Our choices have often been difficult. At times, good things that we care about had to give way to things that were truly essential. But we’ve come through the hard times with our spirit, our values and our City intact.

I’m proud to say that things are much better in Seattle today than they were three years ago.

At my first State of the City address, I made a pledge to get back to basics. I outlined four core priorities that I believe define our city’s values and humanity.

• Creating jobs and opportunity for all;
• Building strong families and healthy communities;
• Keeping our neighborhoods safe; and
• Getting Seattle moving.

Creating jobs and opportunity for all

These priorities have shaped my administration and led us to the point we’re ready to take full advantage of opportunities that will grow our economy and create opportunities for all.

It’s working. We took care of the basics and then tackled the possible.

The signs of rejuvenation are all around us. Employment and home-ownership are up. Venture funding in Seattle start-ups is expanding again, thanks in part to our investments in promoting biotechnology.

Our Seattle Jobs Initiative placed over 500 people in jobs last year. And last year City Light realized a positive net income for the first time since 1999.

There are many good stories to tell about how we’ve been keeping small businesses in business and revitalizing our neighborhoods.

Last week I helped celebrate the grand opening of Courtland Place on Rainier Avenue . The project has already created 200 construction jobs and another 200 jobs will come with the next phase. The result is 208 affordable housing units for seniors available now and another 178 units for families when it’s all done.

The University District is another success story. There has been a genuine resurgence on “The Ave.” We worked with the community to bring it back to what it once was -- a wonderful place to shop, meet friends and enjoy a good meal. We’ve re-engaged with the University to help them grow and increase opportunities for learning, employment and investment in our city.

And years of impasse have finally been overcome as the Northgate community prepares for change - and with it a promise of new vitality. Soon we’ll see a new community gathering place, a new library, open space and walkable streets.

And last week, the owners of the Northgate Mall agreed to sell the south lot to Lorig & Associates. This is a major step forward. It means there will soon be new housing and retail. Where once there was a desert of asphalt, water will again flow into Thornton Creek.

And South Lake Union promises to become one of our great urban neighborhoods. Investments are happening every day and hundreds of new jobs have moved there just in the last few months. New homes have been added, and parks are expanding. A new supermarket – the neighborhood’s first-- is underway and I have hope that South Lake Union may someday become the home of Seattle’s first downtown public school, placing it right in the heart of a diverse and lively community.

And there’s more. We’ve taken care of the basics and then tackled the possible to make a difference in people’s lives.

Let me tell you about David Clayton. Don’t make my mistake and call him David. He prefers Clayton and he is a shining example of a person who has invested in his community.

Back in 1983, Clayton took a risk. He started a business called Clayton’s VW Repair. And he located that business where he lived – the Rainier Valley .

Now imagine what must have gone through his mind when he heard that Sound Transit was going to take his business in order to build light rail.

My guess is that he never expected the city to be helpful. He probably lost sleep at night worrying about the future of his business.

We made a commitment to people in the Valley, people like Clayton. The promise was: You will do as well, or better, than if this project wasn’t happening.

I bet few of the businesses in the path of “progress” believed it would work out for them. They might have thought that it simply was not possible.

Well, it is possible. We made a choice to establish the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund. We’re committing real dollars to help the businesses whose continued success is vital to their neighborhood.

Today, Clayton’s old repair shop is dust and he is in a new space down the street on MLK Way . The move let him do something that he has wanted to do for years: grow. His new location is three times bigger and will produce more jobs in an area that needs them.

We invest in people like Clayton and then the Claytons of our city reinvest in their neighborhood. That’s how you move a city beyond the possible.

We can never take our success for granted. But we have learned that if we make wise choices and provide help when it’s needed, our future will be filled with promise.

Creating jobs and opportunity: Goals for 2005

The community in southeast Seattle is longing for more vibrant neighborhoods where all forms of diversity are embraced, immigrants are welcomed and everyone has access to economic and educational opportunities, to housing and open space.

All of this is possible through our Southeast Seattle Action Agenda.

By 2009 we will re-connect the City, and the region, to the people of the Rainier Valley with fast, reliable and safe light rail transit. Businesses and homes will be located near light rail stations, with childcare and open spaces for families to enjoy.

Through the Community Development Fund, the City will continue to make sure that businesses not only survive, but can thrive and grow, like Clayton’s VW Repair. So far the Fund has invested nearly $4 million dollars to assist 69 businesses.

In 2005 we’ll re-connect the city to the people in the Valley by creating more green and open space. The Chief Sealth Trail will provide a new recreational path for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park , John C. Little Park, and the Van Asselt Community Center will all get some much needed attention.

More quality housing is coming. Families and individuals, from all backgrounds, will move to and stay in the neighborhood.

And more resources through the Families & Education levy will be coming to the Valley to ensure that our children are ready to learn and succeed in school.

The Rainier Valley is being transformed. Things we thought to be impossible have become possible.

Building strong families and healthy communities

Seattle is a forward looking city. As mayor my job is to make decisions that achieve the greatest common good and reflect our common values.

Ours is a city with a place for everyone that cares as much for the least, the last and the lost as it does for the rich and famous.

That’s why we set a goal to end homelessness in 10 years. Here is an example of what we’re doing.

One year ago, Crystal Rodrigues of West Seattle was four months pregnant and homeless. She was spending her days at Angeline’s Day Center , but more often than not she didn’t know where she’d be sleeping from one night to the next. She had little hope for herself, or her child.

Because of the YWCA’s Opportunity Place , Crystal found people who were willing to take a chance on her. Opportunity Place helped her to get off the streets, back on her feet, and into permanent housing. Crystal not only found hope, she found success.

Today Crystal has a clean, safe, one-bedroom apartment and childcare for her seven-month-old son, Daemion. She’s studying for her high school equivalency degree and is determined to become a medical assistant, so she can “take care of people in need.”

I would like to acknowledge and thank Rita Ryder and the YWCA for making Opportunity Place a reality.

What’s great about Seattle is that we believe strongly in helping people and leaving a legacy that future generations will look back on with appreciation for choices wisely made and the values behind them.

Do what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible. It just takes a little longer.

When the people of North Seattle pointed out that our beloved Green Lake , the busiest park in Washington State , was giving “green” a bad name, we acted and now Green Lake is clean and, well, a little less green. It made a difference for the thousands of people who enjoy Green Lake each week.

Seattle is a place where inspiration and the best of American values are seen.

A few weeks ago I asked my staff to come up with some ways for city employees to help the people of South Asia suffering from the aftermath of the tsunami.

We started out with an idea of setting up giving stations at city buildings for our employees. As is often the case in Seattle , a good idea gets bigger and travel farther.

Soon, we had over three dozen locations signed up to help -- including branch libraries and community centers, which had never been used for fundraising before, and we opened up the giving stations to the public.

We ended up raising, in six hours, more than $33,000. That’s the true spirit of Seattle . Never turning our backs on those who suffer.

And that’s why we seized the opportunity to keep the world’s most influential philanthropic organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a vital part of our city – permanently. The day the Foundation and I announced it would be locating its world headquarters next to Seattle Center was a very good day for Seattle.

Building strong families and healthy communities:
Goals for 2005 – Environment

Truly, Seattle is becoming a place for leadership and inspiration to the world. We’re also home to a whole lot of frustrated skiers these days. We all know it shouldn’t hit 62 degrees in January and February! We know that global warming is real and it will have disastrous consequences if not placed in check.

I quoted the patron saint of the environment at the beginning of my speech today and indeed some say that the challenges of global warming will take a miracle to meet. What is needed is leadership.

Global warming is an issue that the nation’s capitol has turned a deaf ear toward, so the leadership must come from others.

In eight days the Kyoto Protocol will take force and effect in the 127 countries which have ratified it. On that day I will announce the City of Seattle ’s plan to meet the threat of global warming and I will challenge other American cities to join with us. We will show other cities what is possible. And together we will challenge our nation through our example.

We can also protect our environment by opening up the immense possibilities of our Center City .

We know this region is expected to grow by the tens of thousands, so we must make smart choices about how to prepare for that growth.

By far the most important thing that Seattle can do to protect our environment is to encourage “smart growth” in our downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods. This is the urban core of not just our city, but of the greater Seattle region.

What does “smart growth” mean? -- Put housing, parks and grocery stores near transit so people can live without cars- improve the air we breathe by reducing automobile pollution.

We can have it both ways; we can preserve our wonderful single-family neighborhoods and the county’s rural areas.

My Center City strategy is about attracting people to live close to downtown, but it’s also about building a sustainable quality of life.

Schools

Seattle will lead by example on the environment. We must also lead in our commitment to our children and our schools. People of all income levels need to have confidence that their children are getting the same high quality education as someone with more wealth. We demand a city where all people have the opportunity to learn, to be able to get a good job, and to support their families.

The true foundation of this guarantee is high-quality public schools.

Here’s a statistic that really bothers me. In the north end of our city, less than half of the school-aged children attend public schools—the rest are going elsewhere – and many families are moving out of the city during their children’s school years.

This must not continue.

Last year, only 38 percent of the tenth grade students passed the math section of the WASL. Less than 60 percent of the class of 2004 graduated on time.

We cannot allow our public schools to be only for the kids whose families don’t have the money to make other choices. And the State of Washington should be ashamed that we now rank 42nd, behind Oklahoma and just ahead of Alabama in the amount we invest in our children’s schools.

We need to make sure the next generation is ready to take advantage of the 21st century opportunities we are creating for them. We need scientists and engineers, artists and athletes. We need people who can dream, who can plan, who can think.

It is necessary and possible for this city to help our schools, our children. The voters in Seattle have shown their support by passing the expanded Families and Education levy last September.

The Levy is focused on academic achievement. We’re going to help 4 year olds get ready for kindergarten. We’re going to increase the number of students who pass the WASL. And we’re going to give students a reason to stay in school.

Levy funded programs will take us a long way- but we still have more to do.

We can’t turn a blind eye to our schools and say “It’s not our problem.” It’s everyone’s problem. We all have a stake in making sure our public schools are successful.

Keeping our neighborhoods safe

Our city streets are safer today and we feel more secure in our homes. Both our police and fire departments are headed by leaders who listen – both to the men and women who serve under them and to the citizens they serve.

Thank you, Chief Kerlikowske and Chief Dean.

The men and women under your commands continue to impress so many of us in their desire to serve and protect everyone in our city.

On January 7, 2002 I pledged to the citizens of Seattle that each day I would work hard to ensure that when our children leave their homes, they will return safely. We’re doing that.

It wasn’t long ago that it seemed impossible to have any kind of public gathering, protest or celebration, that didn’t involve fear. Fear of violence, fear of police officers with tear gas.

WTO and a tragic Mardi gras had shattered confidence in our city’s ability to keep us safe.

It was necessary to turn this around.

In three short years we did what some thought was impossible. We restored peace on our streets. We sent a clear message that we would protect free speech and not tolerate violence.

Public gatherings are now safe and respectful of our citizens. The fear is being replaced with confidence in our police and city officials.

Last week, Chief Kerlikowske and I announced that crime in Seattle significantly decreased in 2004.

• We had the fewest murders since 1965.
• Violent crime rate has decreased by 12 percent since 2000 making Seattle one of the safest big cities in the nation.
• Seattle police accelerated the rate of solving crimes in 2004.

But victims of crime don’t care about the numbers, their pain is real. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the work of men and women of our police force who helped solve a brutal rash of robberies and assaults in south Seattle.

Late last year a group of thugs were targeting some of the most vulnerable people in our community, the elderly.

Helpless seniors locked their doors - stayed home, fearing that they would be the next victim.

Led by our police department, the neighborhood and the police worked together, tirelessly, over several weeks to catch these criminals.

More patrol cars and undercover detectives were assigned. Crime Prevention coordinators and block watch captains pulled together community meetings. Witnesses came forward.

Together, we made this neighborhood safer. Eight people are now awaiting trial.

Keeping our neighborhoods safe: Goals for 2005

We still have much work to do.

The past three years have been lean times. We’ve been forced to cut our budget, and then cut it again and again. One place, though, that we’ve held the line in the last two budgets is public safety. Do any of us believe that these tremendous gains in the safety and security of our citizens would have happened with fewer police officers on the street?

Of course not, maintaining the force was absolutely necessary, even if doing so seemed impossible.

At the same time we became acutely aware that there were places where more officers were needed in our neighborhoods throughout the city. Councilmember Licata was particularly passionate about needs in the East Precinct.

Today, I am pleased to announce that we’re taking a significant step toward meeting those public safety needs. I am sending legislation to the Council to add 25 new police officers to the force. That’s an average of five new officers per precinct. Councilmember McIver, I look forward to working with you and the Budget Committee to get this Bill passed.

We will use some of the utility tax increase the Council adopted last November. At that time – in the final throes of the budget -- there wasn’t time to talk about funding priorities like public safety – now there is.

Getting Seattle Moving

Doing what’s necessary and getting the basics done right. That’s been the hallmark of the past three years. We’ve been filling potholes and making streets safer for children to cross.

Let me tell you about an organization called MOMSS, which stands for Making Our Magnolia Streets Safer.

MOMSS was started by Barbara Caruthers in 2002.

Barbara had been calling the city for some time to get safety improvements around the Catherine Blaine elementary school. You see hundreds of kids and their families come to Blaine school every day to play soccer, to go to school or to visit the community center.

Barbara knew first hand that the crosswalks were dangerous. She had witnessed the horror of seeing her own child hit by a car. She didn’t want other parents to go through what she had.

Barbara described her previous efforts to get improvements as hopeless – too much red tape.

We changed that. We made it possible. It made a difference.

Streets near Blaine school now have painted medians and new signs to get the attention of drivers when kids are around. We call them “floppy signs.” They’re bright yellow and they bounce back if they’re knocked over.

We’re also using bright paint and flashing beacons in other parts of the city.

A serious need with a simple solution.

We will never stop our relentless focus on doing the basics right. Because of this focus, the citizens of Seattle have given us their confidence and support to do more. People want us to make smart transportation choices for this century.

That support has helped us move further than anyone thought we could. It has helped us do the impossible. We broke ground for light rail. We approved building a monorail and then reaffirmed that decision – twice!

We continue to make progress and we’re not shying away from tackling the biggest “impossible” challenges.

Getting Seattle Moving: Goals for 2005

President Ronald Reagan once said “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Suddenly the impossible became possible. I remain convinced that we have a once-in-a-century opportunity to reconnect our City and Elliott Bay.

We can build Seattle ’s front porch by replacing the worn out, crumbling and loveable old viaduct with a tunnel that will create a waterfront for all.

What we don’t want is to have Mother Nature decide how and when that viaduct is torn down.

The Viaduct and seawall are challenging problems but the opportunity is huge - how we act on the Viaduct and seawall will shape Seattle 's face for the next century. We will use this opportunity to reconnect the city to its waterfront.

The city is poised to do its part, so is the state. Our Seattle legislators have put up a united front to ensure that state funding for this vital need is there. We’re working day and night – leaving no stone unturned - to get the necessary dollars for this project.

We’re going to ask our federal government to help. Some have said getting help to replace the Viaduct will be “impossible.” I say the impossible just takes a bit longer. We’re going to seize on a once in a century opportunity to remake the very face of our city.

Conclusion

I am proud of the city and the progress we have made together. I believe that healthy, strong cities have constructive critics. We need citizens to be thinking about their city, evaluating its progress, treasuring what’s good and improving what needs work.

I’m proud of how we’ve come through these difficult times and the choices we’ve made. I thank you, members of the Council for working with me for the good of our entire community.

And I am humbled by the people of Seattle , whose faith, perseverance and values have shown why this is a wonderful place to live.

Seattle is a much better place because of the choices we have made to take care of the basics and tackle the possible. Imagine what awaits us in the years to come.

Thank you for all your hard work and may God bless each of you and our home – Seattle.