Dear Mayor-Elect Wilson:
Congratulations. You are about to become the 58th mayor of Seattle. You bravely put yourself forward and won. Come January you will manage 14,000 city employees and administer a city budget of $8.9 billion. This is an awesome responsibility for anyone, most especially for someone who previously worked as the director of the Transit Riders Union, a small, volunteer group you helped create in 2011.
To persevere, you will need all the help and advice you can secure from your transition team and from others. In that spirit, I’d like to offer a few suggestions. These thoughts were acquired during my 12 years on the city council and observations as a journalist. Please know my only motive is wishing you success serving all Seattle – those who voted for you and the almost 50 percent who did not. Always remember you do not have a mandate…