By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Bruce Harrell taking the Oath of Office on Sept. 14, 2017. (Photo by John Liu/NWAW)
SEATTLE — Seattle’s temporary mayor, appointed after Ed Murray resigned amid sex abuse allegations, spent just 48 hours on the job before announcing on Sept. 15 he didn’t want to keep it.
But Bruce Harrell, the city’s first Asian mayor and second Black, made the most of his brief tenure, signing four executive orders — including one that seeks to land Amazon’s planned second headquarters back in its hometown.
“Now is the time to explore all alternatives to keep those jobs here,” Harrell said. Harrell said the city would submit a bid to Amazon after the tech giant announced it will spend more than $5 billion to build another headquarters in North America to house as many as 50,000 employees.
Seattle, already home to the company’s sprawling urban campus headquarters, will join dozens of cities seeking the new Amazon facility.
Bruce Harrell signed an executive order, after taking the Oath of Office and becoming Seattle mayor. (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)
Harrell became mayor last week when Murray resigned because of sex abuse allegations, which he has denied.
After making the announcement about the Amazon bid, Harrell said he will not serve as mayor until voters decide later this year between former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan and urban planner Cary Moon, both Democrats.
Tim Burgess became the 55th mayor of Seattle on Sept. 18 when his City Council colleagues elected him to fill Murray’s remaining term.
Before he took the Oath of Office, Burgess said, “We are united in our desire for Seattle and our region to be a place where you can go to work and return safely to your home, where you can raise a family, where your children can receive the best possible education, where you can start a business and watch it soar, where our employers—from the smallest to the very largest—can thrive and expand our economy for everyone.”
Burgess has served as a Seattle City Councilmember since 2008.
Staff can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
This is a somewhat misleading headline. Other than mentioning Mr. Harrell’s race twice in the story (I didn’t realize he was biracial), you gave no other information about him. It would’ve been helpful to readers if you had mentioned which Asian and African nationalities he came from, how many generations his parents have been in America and particularly Seattle, etc. I believe this is all relevant to the fact that he is the first major of Asian descent.
Also, since you mentioned that he was the 2nd black mayor, it would’ve been helpful to mention who & when the first one served. (I happen to know that it was Norm Rice who also happened to be classmates with Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver. I lived in Denver when he was mayor, and my mom lived here when Mr. Rice was mayor, which is how I learned of the connection.) Many of your younger readers may not remember Seattle’s first black mayor or even know his name.