Bruce Harrell Now Seattle Mayor - But Maybe Only Until Friday

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell became Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell Wednesday afternoon. The councilman took the oath of office City Hall at 5 p.m. Wednesday surrounded by city officials and other councilmembers.

But he might not be the executive for long.

In remarks before he was sworn in, Harrell said that he would announce by 5 p.m. Friday whether he will remain acting mayor (he technically has until Monday to decide), or let someone else on Council take over. He said that City Council should be prepared to vote at its Monday meeting on the interim mayor. Harrell said he wants to ensure that there's a mayor in place to present the city budget later in September.

Mayor Ed Murray on Tuesday resigned under a cloud of sex abuse allegations. Murray is the first Seattle mayor since the late 1960s to resign. Harrell's swearing in was held in the Norman Rice room at City Hall. Rice was Seattle's first African-American mayor, and Harrell is the second - his father is black, his mother is Japanese.

Remaining acting mayor might be a tough decision for Harrell because, under the City Charter, a Councilman that ascends to acting mayor can't return to his Council seat afterward. Harrell was reelected at the end of 2015, and his term doesn't expire until 2019.

Two other members of Council might better suited for the role. Councilman Tim Burgess isn't running for reelection and his term ends at the end of 2017. Councilwoman M. Lorena Gonzalez is up for reelection this year, so if she wins in November, she could go back to her seat. The acting mayor will have an abbreviated term because either Cary Moon or Jenny Durkan will take over as soon as the election results are certified in late November.

But process aside, Harrell said Friday that he wouldn't be an in-active acting mayor.

"I don't see this as a care-taking operation, I should make that very clear, I see this as an opportunity to set the stage for excellence," he said.

Harrell was also challenged on two occasions about the city's response to sex abuse allegations against Murray. He was asked whether the Council missed an opportunity to investigate Murray before the former mayor resigned (he said the Council's role is "not to be an investigative body, our role is a legislative body").

He was also asked if he had rethought something he said earlier this summer: "I would ask that I don’t want to be judged for anything 33 years ago. And I would challenge each of you to think about where you were 33 years ago. The question is are you doing your job today right now?"

Harrell said he was taken out of context and seemed to indicate he knew a victim of child abuse personally.

"I should should make this very, very clear: I'm very close, closer than I'd like to describe publicly to the issue of abuse, and certainly if one of my grandchildren were a victim ... certainly I would evaluate that. But I hope that we become a city that evaluates people based on who they are today," he said in part.

Watch a live stream of Harrell's swearing in on our Facebook page.

Image via City of Seattle