♪♪
[BRUCE HARRELL] Good afternoon, everybody.
Thank you for being here.
We're going to do this karaoke style.
All right.
This is not on my notes, but when the spirit hits you,
the spirit hits you.
I want to first give Chris Lavonne.
That music was on point and he's from Beacon Hill.
He's a local product.
He's right over there.
We got to support him.
Work for Choose 180; local talent.
That was our
that was my walk in music when you were playing.
And that was that
puts us in a good mood to talk about some exciting things.
I'm thrilled to be here alongside
with the Downtown Seattle Association,
our Office of Economic Development,
Councilmembers Lewis and Nelson.
I'll say a few words about them
later. And all of you,
to celebrate the renewal and expansion of the MID,
the Metropolitan Improvement District.
This is.
Yes, that's worthy of clapping some hands.
(applause)
This legislation reaffirms
our commitment to a vibrant and thriving downtown core.
Quite candidly, it's a core component
of the immediate action that we're taking,
part of part of our DAP plan.
People know what DAP means?
That's our Downtown Activation Plan,
but it's also wanna give each other
some DAP is something we say
because it's exciting what we're trying to do.
We're trying to rejuvenate the spirit of Seattle and also
give a special shout out excuse me, a shout out.
I don't know.
Did you time it that way
Councilmember Nelson? I was getting ready to say
shout out to Councilmember Nelson for helping shepherd...
shepherd...
Shepherdize the legislation
through the council to a unanimous vote
in support of the MID renewal and expansion and
here on the seventh floor
we like those unanimous votes
because that means we are working in sync
and that's a good machine working together
on the core competency of making sure our city comes
back.
We're pretty excited about this.
The Metropolitan Improvement District
and our partners at the Downtown Seattle
Association are absolutely critical
and absolutely essential to ensuring that our downtown,
in very in simple terms, are welcoming, friendly,
safe and activated and becomes an activation
strategy for our residents and our visitors.
So in our administration, I think other administrations
try to do the same thing, but we're trying to do it
the best we could, that when something works,
we define it, we measure it, we embrace it,
we recommit to it, we expand it.
And that's what this effort is about
in terms of our key element
of our downtown activation plan. This renewal expands
the service boundaries for the MID. It expands it.
We’re increasing our cleaning services.
It invests in unarmed security and increase downtown
ambassador salaries while maintaining improving
services that we have made in the midst we've made.
We've partnered with the MID and it's
become a valuable asset company over the years.
Quick sort of fun fact.
Harold, who's a friend and Jane,
I understand, are retiring very shortly.
They do not know
we're going to collectively
try to talk them out of retirement
because they're going to miss all this good action.
But in all seriousness, well deserved.
And they've put a lot of heart,
soul and commitment into helping us clean
the city up and restore it.
So I want to give you a personal hand right now,
Harold and Jane.
Thank you. Yes.
(applause)
I say we love catching people in the act of doing something
good and right.
And that's certainly what we did.
Years of service. Quite frankly, day in and day out,
the MID is hard at work,
whether it's cleaning the streets
or beautifying the environment with with art,
with with lights, with flowers,
activating public spaces with activities
and events, providing security, interpersonal
skills, hospitality service through our ambassadors
and the term ambassador could not be a better term
to describe what we're trying to create. The ambassadors,
I don't know who originally thought of that.
I'm sure Jon Scholes will take credit for it,
but I don't know who actually thought about it.
But that's a great way
to define our workers are our members
that are so valuable to what we're trying to do.
We truly want to recognize the MIDs hard work.
I also want to thank the property owners
who we believe this program
could not,
obviously from a funding source,
could not support, cannot be done without its support.
These are self-assessments.
These are people that believe
that they have put some skin in the game
for us to be able to fund these types of projects.
So we want to make sure
we don't take that kind of buy in for granted.
They've decided
that level of investment is worth it
and made it possible for the work to continue
during this critical season for our downtown.
We all know what we're coming out of
from a downtown standpoint. Downtown success.
will require all of us,
the City of Seattle, the MID, civic and business
partners, many of whom are here right now
to engage in
bold, visionary, committed what we've called
in our administration, Space Needle thinking, thinking big.
And it requires that we make sure
we handle the basics in and out.
You've heard me say this before...
So, yeah, shiny things are cool.
But getting to the basics, which is safe, cleanliness,
activation, getting to the basics is going to be
a core trademark of our administration.
The MID makes that possible in very simple terms.
So together will continue to address the present
and future needs of our downtown neighborhoods,
both big and small.
Harold has
heard me
say this in other forums where I say that
when you take pride in something
and you see a piece of paper on the ground,
you just don't assume someone else is going to pick it up.
We're all in this together,
and that's a spirit of public service
that we see from the DSA and through the MID
and hopefully with our 14,000 plus employees,
I tell everyone we have a role to play in this.
I want to thank all of you for being here,
not just the MID ambassadors, but the community leaders.
Once again,
we don't take any of
any of our strategies and the involvement
we're getting from people for granted.
We try to inspire and keep keep the love going.
And so that's love for the people,
love for the city and love for doing better.
So now I'm going to ask Councilmember Sarah Nelson
to make remarks.
She did, again, help,
shepherdeize this through the legislative process.
And we know how passionate she is
about this area and about making sure we're safe.
I present to you Councilmember Sarah Nelson.
(applause)
[SARA NELSON] Well, I like that new verb, shepherdize.
So in case you missed
it, here's what happened. On three
separate occasions downtown residents, small business
owners, property owners, social service agencies,
community leaders came together, packed City
Hall chambers to ask us to allow ratepayers
to charge themselves for another ten years
to make downtown a better place for everyone.
That's pretty much what they what their message was.
And of course, we said yes, because why wouldn't we?
Because we're getting a great deal as the city.
This is a the MID is an example of
public-private partnerships at their best.
We're getting services such as cleaning, urban space
activation and so much more and life saving
services from our ambassadors.
So my point is simply that I'm here,
I shepherded this through to the committee,
but it's really the work that came up
that led to this plan that and that got
everybody in line and on board with this new program.
And so I just have to say thank you to the MID,
thank you to everybody behind me
and thank you most of all to the ambassadors.
The stories we heard in chambers
about how you helped an individual cross the street,
how you save someone's life one day,
and that was witnessed and talked about.
This is what we have to be grateful for.
And thank you very much.
(applause)
[BRUCE HARRELL] All right.
We love teams here in Seattle.
The Kraken gave it a great, great run.
They made history. We love teams.
And and another member of the team will be Councilmember,
Andrew Lewis.
And, you know, when you talk about downtown, Councilor Lewis
he'll lower his voice a little bit and says,
“Oh, you in my house,
you're in my house.”
No, he doesn't say that. I say that sometimes.
So I present to you thank you for your leadership.
Councilmember Andrew Lewis
(applause)
Yeah.
[ANDREW LEWIS] Thank you so much, Mayor.
It's really good to be here and thank you,
Councilmember Nelson,
for leading us on the council
and shepherding through this historic investment.
It is so good to be here because there is no Seattle
recovery without downtown recovery.
And today we are signing the plan
to help downtown recovery along.
I look out into this crowd
and see people
who over the last four years I have worked with
when downtown was at its lowest ebb.
I look out to see Matt Griffin, where we work to keep
the convention center on track and get it open.
I look at Rick Yoder, who we helped to clean up
Third Avenue
to get tents off of Third Avenue at a time
we were reopening after the COVID shutdowns.
I look out at this crowd because downtown
is the beating heart of this city.
And with this plan through this MID renewal,
we are taking a step forward
to turn that story of resiliency
during a time of COVID to recovery.
And we are seeing that today in the news.
Fastest growing major city in the United States,
that growth is coming right here
in the neighborhood of downtown.
And as we go into this summer,
the services that we have in place with the MID,
because there is no downtown recovery without the MID,
there is no clean and safe downtown without the MID
and the work that all of these ambassadors
who are joining us here today do. A challenge to all of us,
including myself, because there's no
better place to be in Seattle Summer than downtown,
join me at Pier 62.
Join me for a Mariners game.
Join me at Westlake Park.
Join me at our convention center.
Join me at all the great amenities
that are defining this city
and defining
the resiliency of this region,
because all of it is in our downtown core.
And today we are here to activate
to build on those investments.
And I am committed to continuing to work
with everybody here to build on these investments
as a partner at the city
and really look forward
to continuing to support the great work
of our ambassadors, of the leadership of the DSA
and the Harrell administration
and the Downtown Activation Plan.
Thank you all so much.
It's an honor to be here
and I will hand it back over to Mayor Harrell.
[BRUCE HARRELL] Thank you.
(applause)
He forgot to say my name is Andrew
Lewis and I approve this message.
That's a sign off there.
So how does this work get done?
Through leaders like Lisa Nitze,
who I just want to read a little bit about her bio
and you see how we're able to celebrate this work
that we're all doing collectively.
Lisa is the MID Ratepayer Advisory Board.
In-principle, she's the chair of the Advisory Board
in-principle. She chairs the DSA MID advisory board.
The Sodo BIA board economic development committee,
the Seattle Chinatown International District
PDA Board Community Initiatives Committee,
and also serves on the board of both
the Historic Seattle Foundation and of Weld.
Additionally, Lisa manages the Pioneer Square Safety
and Security Group,
the Northern Rainier Valley Partnership, and the Alliance
for Safety, Affordability and Preservation.
And by the way, these are just the cliff notes of her bio.
She loves this city.
She loves this area.
And we're fortunate to have this kind
of leadership working for us.
I present Lisa Netze.
(applause)
{LISA NITZE] Thank you, Mayor Harrell.
for all your administration is doing to revitalize
and reinvigorate Seattle's downtown,
and for making the MID
the cornerstone of your downtown activation plan.
Most of all, thank you for reauthorizing
the MID and its manager, the Downtown
Seattle Association,
to continue their critical work
on behalf of Seattle's downtown for the next
ten years.
(applause)
The MID: many improving, invigorating, innovating
ideasting, integrating, impacting downtown.
That's the MID.
1270 ratepayers,
150 ambassadors, all here in their yellow,
300 Seattle city blocks,
$18.5 million each year spent
uplifting and upholding the Seattle that we love.
More than 1 million
with an m gallons of trash collected each year,
cleaning and beautifying downtown streets,
sidewalks, alleys, parks and public spaces,
and more than 100 events and activations each year
that bring together all walks of the Seattle community
to revel in everything that SeaTown has to offer.
At this critical inflection point in downtown Seattle,
as it navigates its way out of the pandemic and shapes
its future,
the MID and the DSA look forward
to a strong and impactful partnership with you
and your administration and with administrations to come.
Fostering and promoting a
thriving downtown core second to none.
Thanks.
(applause)
[BRUCE HARRELL] Thank you very much, Lisa.
Our next speaker is going to be Avery Barnes.
Many of you probably have seen her in action.
She's the founder of TASWIRA, a Seattle Restored
participant. I'll talk a little bit
about her company.
She's an innovative entrepreneur
on a mission to blend art, culture and empowerment.
Avery is a Seattle Restore recipient
as I said, in Pioneer Square.
Out of 150 applicant, TASWIRA was chosen
as one of only seven pop up shop shops,
showcasing its unique position and education.
TASWIRA is a sustainable African streetwear store
that offers a diverse, diverse range of products
sourced exclusively from the vibrant continent of Africa
Africa.
I present to you Avery Barnes.
(applause)
[AVERY BARNES] Good morning, everyone.
I just want to express
my gratitude
to the mayor and the city of Seattle Council
and the Downtown Seattle Association and MID
staff for your leadership of our downtown.
When I first opened TASWIRA,
I was greeted with open arms by the MID staff.
They it was so nice to come to Pioneer Square
and have such a warm welcoming,
introducing themselves, educating me on their mission,
and even visiting my gallery during business hours
and the events that we hosted just to get things off
the ground.
One aspect
that has always stood out to me was their
positive approach with our houseless communities.
They, if I do say so myself,
you know, I've seen this in action,
how they have supported these individuals with true
and genuine support, humanity,
dignity, compassion
and and this is the kind of aid that I see
that represents our best
step forward as a community.
Understanding how our city has tirelessly
worked to find solutions for this issue.
And it demonstrates how
we can address the challenges we face with empathy
and a commitment to uplifting everyone in our community.
As the mayor had mentioned,
we've worked very hard on activating colorful spaces
in our community, and I'm proud to, uh, state
and just claim that TASWIRA is one of those spaces.
Diverse diversity, equity and inclusion is at the heart
of TASWIRA’s existence in Pioneer Square.
Not only do we stand out
as the only African art gallery in Seattle,
but TASWIRA now is also the only
remaining Black-owned gallery in Pioneer Square.
Our platform for collaboration and change goes beyond
just a local reach of creating opportunities
for artisans and entrepreneurs of color in our space.
But we also partner with indigenous tribes
such as the Masai and Kenya.
At TASWIRA we showcase
items made through a women's empowerment center in Mombassa
that I began developing in 2019 and at the age of 19.
I believe in supporting their invaluable work,
which is why a portion of TASWIRA’s proceeds
goes directly towards empowering these communities.
At 23 years old today, giving back and giving
forward is a part of how my business began.
Thank you to the Seattle Restored program.
This was a crucial,
crucial milestone in realizing my vision.
And this initiative brings
breathes life into downtown
simply by filling empty storefronts
with local artisans, artisans and businesses.
All of this is to say that I believe
that the MID’s renewal and continued implementation
of the Downtown Activation Plan will further support
the success of businesses like mine.
In renewing the MID, we invest
in a vibrant and thriving downtown community.
The MID’s commitment to creating an inclusive
and welcoming downtown for all is evident
in their approach to supporting local businesses
and their compassionate outreach
to our homeless neighbors.
Together, I believe that we can continue
to make downtown Seattle a place where creativity,
entrepreneurship and compassion intersect.
Let us join hands in supporting the MID’s
renewal and the Downtown Activation Plan
so that our city can flourish and our shared dreams
like mine for our downtown can be achieved.
Thank you.
(applause)
[BRUCE HARRELL] Thank you, Avery.
We have two more short speakers.
The next speaker will be Cherie Truncer.
And she's the assistant
supervisor for the MID’s Clean Team.
And if I could speak to the ambassadors
just for a minute, you are a team
that you represent Seattle at its finest,
people that are part of a team
that's not afraid to put in the hard work.
You greet people.
You have to sometimes face situations
that are intolerable
that I find intolerable, tolerable as a mayor.
I don't like seeing just
trash everywhere and neglect.
And you are on the front lines helping us do this work.
You know, I mentioned Kraken earlier.
Three years ago, I didn't even know what a
I didn't know how many hockey players would be on the ice
at the same time. I have to full disclosure,
I didn't know what a what a power play was.
So I went on YouTube, started
reading all the history books.
I mean, the books on on hockey.
And I’ve become an avid fan.
And why?
Because we're part of a team.
When I talk about One Seattle, I talk about being on the
same team.
A team sport. We don't blame each other.
We work with one with one another.
And I think Cherie exemplifies
the spirit by which we are trying
to accomplish this here in Seattle.
Cherie, please say a few words.
(applause)
[CHERIE TRUNCER] Hello?
Can you hear me?
Here we go.
All right. Thank you.
Good morning to you all.
My name is Cherie Truncer, and I proudly serve
as the assistant supervisor of the Clean Team at the MID.
Today is a big day for us as we not only
maintain stability within our organization,
but also celebrate
the strong sense of community that surrounds us.
I, along with my fellow colleagues, have been given
the opportunity to rebuild our own lives
and in doing so, we have a profound impact
on the lives of those we encounter every day.
Our teams of ambassadors working hand in hand
with the Downtown Seattle Association, DSA,
would like
to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mayor Harrell,
the entire Seattle City Council
and all the incredible supporters of the MID.
Your votes,
kind words, assistance
and unwavering support throughout this
renewal process has been truly inspiring.
The encouragement we have received from
your feedback and testimonies has not only uplifted us,
but also motivated us
to mentor and encourage others in the community.
It is a great honor to represent my colleagues
on stage today
and have the privilege of meeting Mayor Bruce Harrell.
I express my sincere gratitude because it is our
shared goal to keep the public realm clean, clear
and cared for ensuring that our beautiful downtown
Seattle continues to prosper and flourish.
While the weather here may be unpredictable at times,
our commitment to our mission remains steadfast
and enabling our community to move
freely through all of life's adventures.
Once again, I want to emphasize
that none of this
would have been possible without the incredible support
we have received from all of you, all of you.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.
Please do not hesitate
to reach out to us and extend a warm greeting
to our fellow ambassadors of the MID.
Thank you.
(applause)
[BRUCE HARRELL] Thank you, Cherie.
So our last speaker is known as The Closer.
No, he's not known as that (mumbles).
You're going to hear from the president
of the Downtown Seattle Association, Jon Scholes.
And quite frankly, it's been this kind of partnership
we're trying to reach unprecedented levels
of a partnership to get this work done.
And I couldn't do it
without Jon, his administration
and the programs that they are implementing.
Jon Scholes, please say a few words to us.
(applause)
[JON SCHOLES] Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you
Councilmembers Nelson and Lewis, thanks to our team
and thanks to the property owners who have agreed
to make this investment for another decade
and to increase your investment.
The Downtown Seattle Association's
manage this program since 1999.
We look forward to continuing to deliver
high quality services
to our downtown community over the next decade.
This work has been guided
by a 35 member board of property owners
that help advise and oversee these efforts
and a number of them are here today.
And if you are on that board,
if you could just raise your hand
so we can recognize your service, your voluntary service.
Lisa had a couple
of plays on the MID acronym.
I had a few as well.
One is we've got momentum in downtown.
We've got mojo back in downtown.
We've got a mayor invested in downtown.
And if if anybody's handing out awards here in the coming
months or years for the most improved downtown,
I think we should apply,
Mayor.
-All right.
-So, you know, years from now, decades from now,
folks will write the history of how this city picked itself
off the mat from a devastating pandemic.
And the story will not be one of one hero, one individual,
one event or one action that revitalized
this great downtown.
It will be a story
of lots of individuals that came together,
that persevered, that demonstrated
the resiliency and innovation
that's always been true to this place.
And you all are the subjects
that are going to be in those stories.
It's about moments like this coming together, partnerships
with the public sector, all of us having our hand
on the oar, doing the right thing and keeping at it.
That's going to be the story
that is written about this moment
in time in our city
after an incredibly difficult few years.
And it's going to be a great story,
but you're all a part of it.
And I just want to lift up and hold up
all of the work that each of you
are doing from the work on the street
to investing to the public service that's being done.
We've got our work cut out for us,
no doubt, we're not there yet,
but we've made some incredible progress together.
And it's models like this.
This is the recipe for how we can continue
to sustain that progress and do it Seattle's way.
Create a place that's inclusive
and welcoming to all, a place that lifts up our values.
A downtown where everybody feels like
they belong and has opportunity.
This is a great moment to mark.
You know, we only get to do this
every ten years, so I'm glad we got together today.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thanks to our elected officials.
Thanks to all of you for being here today.
(applause)
[BRUCE HARRELL] Okay.
We're going to
physically sign the legislation
and I'll come back for some Q&A.
I agree with everything the closer said,
but if the media wanted to give someone credit
and say one, no, I'm just kidding.
We're going to sign the legislation, have some fun.
We'll do some Q&A and we'll go from there.
Let’s sign it.
(applause)
So I've been told we have a hard stop.
Jamie Housen so I can't take Q and
So let's say we have a full disclosure,
we have a White House press conference
we have to do on some funding
that we're receiving a program or participating in.
And so we have to be right a hard stop.
So I'm you know,
I don't dodge questions, but I can't take questions.
We have to go. Thank you very, very much for being here.
Yes, it's
it's part of the interagency on homelessness strategies
under the Biden administration,
we’re one of the selected communities
to be a participant.
We should be very proud of that.
And so it's going to help us
solve and address the homelessness issue.
So and it starts
and it's it's going to be different.
Okay, so
you guys are you guys are vicious.
Okay. How will it be different?
It comes with some actual some some expertise,
some federal expertise and participation,
and we build on those relationships.
So I think the distinction this particular program is
they of the Biden administration are very
they're all in on trying to help major cities
grapple with this.
And they've had their eye on Seattle
on some of our existing strategies.
They like a lot of what we're doing,
and so they're willing
to give us more resources and some expertise.
And so a little,
I guess, one
one could argue
is a continuation of some things in the past,
but we were just recently accepted.
I'm I, we were hoping to get what we got today.
And so both the King County Exec and myself will
participate at a hard 11:00.
So that's why I have to go to so see you again thank you.
One Seattle thank you MID ambassadors.
We love you. You’re putting in the work.
Thank you, Harold.
All right. Thank you for.