Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan Marks 1 Year In Office

SEATTLE, WA — One year ago at the Ethiopian Community Center in Rainier Beach, Seattle's first woman mayor in about 100 years took the oath of office. Jenny Durkan, fresh off defeating Cary Moon by more than 10 points, came to power in the wake of the sex abuse scandal of former mayor Ed Murray - a man Durkan stood by only until his fifth accuser emerged.

But the Murray scandal feels distant today (lawsuit settlements aside). Durkan has spent the last year cleaning house and pushing her own initiatives forward, even if some were controversial.

"We are the place that invents the future — and there is no doubt in my mind that working together, we will continue to look out to the horizon and create that better future for the next generation," she said in her swearing-in speech on Nov. 28, 2017.

How has Durkan worked to create that "better future" after 365 days in office? There have been, of course, a mix of highs and lows. Here's a look back:

Some Higher Points

Carmen Best
After some turbulence, Durkan chose Carmen Best to take over Seattle police from Kathleen O'Toole (technically, Best took over from Best: she was interim chief before becoming full chief). Best is the first black woman to lead the department, and a friendly and familiar face to many around Seattle.

First Budget
Durkan wanted her first budget to be trim, and that's what she got. Durkan submitted a budget to City Council that only grew by the rate of inflation. Aside from Councilwoman Kshama Sawant trying to bring back the head tax, the budget process was non-controversial.

Seattle Promise
By next fall, Seattle public school students will be able to attend local community colleges for two years, free of charge. The effort will be paid for out of the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise levy, which easily passed in the November general election.

Police Union Contract
Durkan got the first Seattle police contract since 2014 through the Council, even though it was opposed by the Community Police Commission. Officers will get a 17 percent raise retroactive to 2015, although the contract expires in 2020.

ORCA Cards
About 15,000 Seattle high schoolers will get unlimited free transit passes, which are good for use on buses, trains, and ferries around Puget Sound. That means free access to almost all of Western Washington.

Opposing Trump
Durkan is for sure a card-carrying member of the #Resitance, and she's used her office to take on President Donald Trump. She opposed Jeff Sessions' rollback of the "Cole memo," an Obama-era document that gave recreational marijuana businesses permission to operate under state oversight; she and City Attorney Pete Holmes joined a lawsuit to block a citizenship question on the 2020 Census; she even visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas at the height of the family separation crisis.

Criminal Justice
Just this week, Durkan and Holmes announced that they would ask a municipal judge to quash about 200 outstanding nonviolent criminal warrants. These are for offenses like prostitution or getting caught driving without a license. In February, she and Holmes launched a similar effort, except for marijuana convictions.

Seattle City Light Director
Durkan picked Debra Smith of the Lincoln Public Utility District in Newport, Ore., to replace beleaguered Seattle City Light Manager Larry Weis. Smith was approved by the Council, and will even be paid just as much as Weis.

Sports
Durkan personally pitched the NHL Commission on the plan for Seattle's team. The NHL has so far been behind the effort, and might vote as early as Monday to approve the team. Also, Durkan has been a major booster for the Seattle Storm, a team that has more championships than the Mariners, Seahawks, and Sonics combined.

Some Lower Points

Performance.Seattle.Gov
Touted as a way for the public to see how the city is managing performance, the website has been "undergoing maintenance" since Durkan took office.

Police Chief Search
Best was left out of the final three candidates, and Durkan's office upset members of the search committee by issuing a press release that seemed to blame them. The release said that the Police Search Committee sent "three candidates who best [met] the community's requirements" to Durkan. In fact, the search committee sent five finalists to a competitive exam process, and from there the field was narrowed to three finalists.

"I want to express my disappointment with the wording of the press release that was issued regarding the selection process. I believe the release conveys the erroneous impression that the search committee forwarded to the Mayor ONLY three finalists and makes no reference to the fact that there was an additional step in the process that did not involve the committee," committee member Jorge Baron wrote in an email to Durkan's office in response to the press release.

One Table
Durkan, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus formed this task force (which also included business and community leaders) on Dec. 1, 2017 to "synchronize a county-wide community response" to the homelessness crisis. The One Table group did produce a list of recommendations by its third meeting at the end of the summer, but those more or less restated the problems everyone already knows about - like that we really need more affordable housing.

Head Tax
Speaking of affordable housing, the Seattle City Council did actual find a new funding source to build some. Facing opposition from the business community and, chiefly, Amazon, Durkan was able to negotiate a smaller version of the head tax, which the Council passed in mid-May. A month later, the tax was repealed, and neither Durkan nor the Council have come up with an alternative funding source.

1st Avenue Streetcar
Durkan put the project to link the First Hill and South Lake Union streetcar lines on hold in March pending a study of cost overruns. That study came out in early September, showing the Center City Connector could cost up to $52 million more than expected (a total of about $252 million). But the cost of shutting down the project could be as much as $55 million. As of Nov. 28, the project was still idled as Seattle traffic gets worse daily.

Tiny Houses
In October 2017, Durkan's campaign put out a press release touting, "Durkan is the Only Candidate with a Specific and Detailed Plan to Build 1,000 New Micro-Houses and Create More Housing." (That plan appears to be gone from the internet.) Getting tiny house villages has proved challenging. A 22-unit tiny home village opened in South Lake Union on Oct 25, but that was after neighbors challenged the village's permit. Meanwhile, the Licton Springs tiny house village, home to about 50 people, will close in March.

Safe-Use Site
It's been more than two years since the county-wide Heroin and Opioid Addiction Task Force recommended opening two safe-use sites - one in Seattle, one somewhere in King County. And while the city has budgeted money to open one, city officials can't find a site. The latest plan is to construct a mobile safe-use site. Meanwhile, drug-related deaths continue to increase.

Caption: Durkan with City Attorney Pete Holmes in a February press conference on vacating some marijuana convictions.

File Photo/Patch