Glad everyone could join us this morning.
Whoa.
I sound like Barry White.
Here, let me check.
this is always exciting to do for this particular position.
When I talk, say a few words about Mina is particularly important.
I think, in the world of should I just say, with an election
coming up, the world of politic political radioactivity, I'll say,
this is my honor as the mayor to,
give the official oath of office to the city's newest director
of our Office of Intergovernmental Governmental Relations, Mina Hashemi.
I know she's joined with family here, so I'll be particularly kind.
Otherwise, I beat her up pretty badly.
I would never do that, given her work history.
And I'm going to talk about that a little, a little bit.
Before joining this city director, Hashemi was a pivotal member of the King
County Executive Dow Constantine's office, where she spearheaded high
priority government affairs projects for the county.
She previously worked as the executive director
of the Washington State House Democratic Campaign Committee,
and in this role she built deep relationships
with legislators statewide, including our own Seattle delegation.
She's already enhance our city's connections by leveraging her
strong relationships
with the county and state legislatures and other governmental officials. Now,
those are sort of my prepared remarks at the end of the day.
And I know you started working for my knowledge back in 2007,
working on former Port commissioner, Gayle Charlton's, position, among other jobs.
She's she's had
you spent a professional career developing relationships.
And in our administration that becomes particularly critical,
particularly now in 2024 or 2025, that at the end of the day,
people will disagree on certain fundamental, issues.
They will disagree.
But how we could,
grapple with our disagreements and how we achieve
an end becomes a critical skill for success.
And you have that.
And quite honestly, that's why we did the kind of search we did to find you.
You didn't find us. We found you,
and your proven track record in that regard.
we are the beneficiaries of that.
A few, attributes that's been described about you.
A proven leader in governmental relations, a thoughtful and creative collaborator
who was able to who are able to bring people together
with competing and diverse interests.
A big picture thinker,
passionate about public service.
The big picture thinker, as was described, is always
sort of keeping your eye and your heart on the North Star.
that becomes, again, critically important in what we're trying to do here.
So since you've joined our administration five months ago,
you clearly hit the ground running as we gear up for the January state,
legislative session.
And this is going to be a pivotal,
pivotal time of year for, your office in particular.
And you and I have had discussions about, you know, one thing I don't like to do
is just, continue doing the things that others have done,
just sort of to roll with the punches.
my charge for
you being the leader you are, will be to make history.
Make history and everything that you do.
Drive that kind of passion in the people that work around you.
And we already see it.
I also want to say, I believe I'm going to be bold enough
to say your mother's name is Terry.
If I'm saying Terry
already on a first name basis, how do you like that?
You call me Bruce, okay.
well done by you.
Whatever.
Whatever you did, whether,
and how you went about raising her,
you've she's got the values that indeed we rely on to make this city important so.
Well, and she she'll get all the credit.
But I really know as a parent I know where credit really is deserved.
and I believe the oath of
office that pin will actually be, done
by your niece, Merriam Merriam, who is,
now, see, I forgot already.
No, I did,
I was nine years old, but she told me
she was 13.
Now, she didn't, she a she's as cute as they come.
So, again, I want to also thank, your colleagues for being here.
It's always important when your team and your colleagues in the city come for this.
The city Council, in their wisdom, recognized the kind of talent we're trying
to bring in.
And personally and professionally, I can't thank you enough for,
taking our call and being part of our team
so that let's do the oath of office and,
and the ceremonial pinning.
Let's go.
All right.
Thank you. Please repeat after me.
I, Mina Hashemi swear that I possess all of the qualifications,
swear that I possess all of the qualifications prescribed
in the Seattle City charter, prescribed in the Seattle City Charter
and the Seattle Municipal code and the Seattle municipal code
for the position of director of the office of Intergovernmental relations.
For the position of director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
Then I will support the Constitution of the United States.
That I will support the Constitution of the United States,
the Constitution of the State of Washington,
the Constitution of the State of Washington, and the Charter and Ordinances
and the Charter and Ordinances of the City of Seattle, of the City of Seattle.
And that I will faithfully conduct myself, and I will faithfully conduct myself
as director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations,
as director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
Congratulations. Thank you. Thank.
You. Okay. Yes.
Okay.
Thank you for.
Whoo
Good morning everyone.
If this is a bit overwhelming, but I appreciate you all being here.
It's truly an honor and a privilege to stand in front of you all.
Thank you, Mayor Harrell, for offering me this opportunity to lead this office
in serving your cabinet, but also for your own leadership over our great city.
And thank you, Deputy Mayor Wong, for your trust and confidence in me,
as well as your guidance over these past few months.
Relationships are at the heart of what OIR does,
and relationships have always been so important and fulfilling to me.
Looking around this room, I feel so supported
by the relationships here, some that I've had since birth,
some since my first job after college,
and some have just gotten to know me over the last five months.
And during the interview process for this role,
and while going through my council confirmation, I had the opportunity
to reflect on my career and the experiences and the leaders
who shaped me.
I stand on the shoulders of so many women, children of immigrants
and people of color.
And as I told the mayor in one of our early conversations,
his leadership is the first biracial mayor of Seattle, has inspired
me and given me confidence in my own abilities as a biracial woman.
I also want to thank and call out my mom for being here today,
a strong working woman who gave me
some of the most formative experiences that brought me to this type of work.
She took me to the polls to vote with her, and taught me
how elections and levies have direct impacts on our communities.
She took me on my first visit to the state capital,
and she showed me how to bear witness
to the events of the world with empathy and a drive for justice.
I'm so excited for the role and to be here.
I feel very lucky to have found a position that so perfectly aligns
with my passion and expertise, and I'm grateful
for my team of talented staff who have been so welcoming
and who show up every day ready to advocate for the needs of our city.
While I've worked in politics and government for a while now, it's been
so rewarding to finally serve the city that I love and that I call home.
For those of us who work here at the city, we know our work is most effective
when we are regular and collaborative participants in conversations
with other governors and our external partners over our play.
Such an important role.
Building and stewarding positive relationships
on behalf of the city and connecting us with government partners
at the regional, state, federal, tribal and international level.
And we do that through many avenues, including on the ground lobbying.
Participating in regional committees effectively communicating
about the city's needs
and priorities, and just simply talking with our partners at a regular cadence.
Our work spans every department in the city,
giving us a unique bird's eye view of the needs and priorities
across the entire city, the mayor's office and the council.
And it's a great position to be in because we truly get to experience
one Seattle in action.
We see firsthand many of the successes and the challenges
that the city is facing, and we appreciate our role in that work,
helping to solve problems and helping folks make the right connections.
I don't take this responsibility lightly, and as your OIRA director,
you can count on a fierce advocate for the city's needs and residents
and a builder of relationships and consensus.
When I asked the mayor what success
would look like in my first 90 days, I was struck by one of his comments.
He told me he would want to see me happy in my job and excited to be here.
So, Mr.
Mayor, I would like to report that I am very happy here at the city
and I truly look forward to coming to work each day and to the challenges ahead.
Thank you again for this tremendous opportunity.
Thank you to my team at OHA for your hard work and your warm welcome
and thank you to all of you for being here today, especially my family
and my brave niece Mariam, who did me such an honor today.
Thank you.