Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson recently announced her full transition team, a slate of people that includes advocates of the progressive policies she campaigned on, as well as some moderates.
The 60-member transition team is made up of established community leaders, nonprofit executives and policy experts. They will focus on seven policy areas:
- Housing Affordability and Community Needs
- Economic Development and Workers Rights
- Transportation and Environment
- Arts, Culture and Creative Economy
- Civic Narrative and Major Initiatives
- Standing Up for Our Values
- Public Safety, Parks and Wellbeing
“We have assembled a team of community builders and leaders in affordable housing, homelessness, civil rights, and many other areas who are going to help to turn my campaign platform into reality for Seattle residents,” Wilson said in a video posted on social media.
Wilson – a self-described Democratic socialist – made several notable picks, including Jesse Hagopian, a Seattle educator, author and blues musician. A longtime advocate for antiracist education in schools, Hagopian has written multiple education-focused op-eds for The Seattle Times supporting instruction on structural racism, and, in 2020, calling for defunding the Seattle Police Department and redirecting revenue toward education and health care…