Seattle Mayor-elect Bruce Harrell announced on December 13 the first important employees of his government.
The press release boasted “a diverse and experienced leadership team will support [Harrell’s] Strive to unify, inspire, and respond to the urgent challenges faced by Seattle. The team members include civic leaders from both inside and outside the local government, bringing important life and professional experience to the problems that the elected mayor will solve. “
If you look at the list provided, AAPI is not well represented.
Vinh Tang will serve as a technical and performance consultant, basically an information technology (IT) position. Elected Mr. Mayor, IT is unlikely to become a “community issue”, and this position is not a senior or director-level position, nor is it a direct subordinate position.
We know this is only the first round of announcements, but it is disappointing and disappointing. In contrast, the outgoing mayor Jenny Deccan appointed two Asian-American deputy mayors-Mike Fong and Shefali Ranganathan.
Harrell did appoint his niece as one of the three deputy mayors. But Monissa Harrell is the only AAPI descendant with a direct report. Tiffany Washington will fill the newly created position of Deputy Mayor of Housing and the Homeless, and will later hire a third Deputy Mayor of External Relations.
“I hope that the position of deputy mayor can focus on what residents and small businesses demand from the city government when they elect me,” Harrell said. “The Deputy Mayor of External Relations will help build the external partnerships needed to deliver results in a measurable way.”
Perhaps the position of deputy mayor that is now open can go to AAPI. There are many civic leaders to choose from, some of whom have been appointed by Harrell as his transition team. This person can transition well into this new role.
Last week, hundreds of AAPI community members and leaders gathered to celebrate Harrell’s victory in Seattle’s Chinatown International District. The party is now over, Mr. Mayor elected. AAPI will hold you accountable.
Perhaps, when you want to fill cabinet-level positions, you will remember the importance of having an AAPI representative.
To learn more about Harrell and its transition structure, please visit
seattle.gov/mayor-elect.
