A Mayor’s Duties

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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             During a campaign people can get caught up in the politics and goings-on of the moment, and certain aspects of what is at stake can get a little displaced in the shuffle.  However, at the heart of this process is the fact that whomever is elected to be mayor has a specific job they are to do and will assume legally mandated duties and obligations.  

             There are two aspects to the mayor’s job, one aspect relates to the duties and obligations a mayor has under the Seattle City Charter, the second aspect is the temperament and character they possess as an individual, which will determine how they carry out those duties and obligations. 

              The mayor’s duties are set out in Article V, Sections 1 through 10 of the Seattle City Charter.  Under the Charter the mayor’s duties are to: Enforce the laws of the City, direct and control all the subordinate officers of the City, maintain the peace and order of the City, and in an emergency the mayor may assume direct control in whole or in part of the police force of the city.  The mayor also performs a myriad of legally proscribed duties incidental to their office.  

             The mayor appoints the heads of the various departments of the City, with the confirmation of the City Council, and annually is required to give a “State of the City” address in February, along with making any recommendations for the future operation of the City, including proposing a budget for City operations; the mayor also has “the right to make special communication to the City Council from time to time as he or she may deem useful and proper”. 

             The mayor’s job is also to ensure “that all contracts and agreements made with the City or for its use and benefit are faithfully kept and performed and to this end he or she shall cause any legal or equitable proceedings to be instituted and prosecuted”.

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             Of the above duties I believe the most important is to ensure the peace and order of the city.  Without that, everything else fails to function, and I believe that by experience and temperament I am qualified to carry this duty out. 

             Maintaining peace and order includes such basic things as making sure in a snowstorm that the streets are cleared to such an extent that the daily commerce of its citizens is not disrupted or becomes unduly burdensome; or ensuring that criminals and other assorted individuals who put the health, welfare, and safety of all citizens at risk are not allowed to proliferate or gain traction to such a point where their actions impede or influence the daily lives of law abiding citizens  -  in other words, the mayor is supposed to maintain and operate the city in such a manner that people do not have to be unduly worried that their mobility is impeded, that their economic lives are not disrupted, and that all times they are reasonably assured that they can safely pursue life, liberty and  societal and personal happiness in Seattle. 

             The other aspect of maintaining peace and order is that it carries with it the possibility that whomever is mayor may one day during a state of emergency directly gain control of the police department, so both ways, it is important to have a mayor who understands the operation of a police department, the constitutional (both federal and state) constraints and guidelines under which it operates, and to have a mayor who is not likely to abuse the powers granted to them under such a circumstance.   This requires a person that believes in loyalty and fidelity to not just their office, but to the people whose lives and livelihood they are seeking to keep secure.  I am such a person. 

             This leads to this final caveat, and the unwritten but most important duty of a mayor, to be all the people of Seattle’s mayor, to treat all citizens subject to the mayor’s administration of the City’s business, equally and equitably.  Such is not the case now.  On that note alone, and this is based on these individuals’ public acts and record, that is why I believe that the present mayor should not be returned to office for a third term and why the city councilperson seeking to become mayor not be elected mayor; they do not treat all citizens, all neighborhoods, all businesses, all interests equally and equitably.  

             In contrast, I am totally committed to the equitable treatment of all people that live or work in Seattle, I believe in equality among people.  By word and deed I have pursued this moral imperative and paradigm throughout the community work I do and throughout all the other endeavors in my life that I have been involved in.  Equity and equality are more than just concepts to me, they are values which inform how I live my life, and they are part of the job description for mayor. 

 

 

*  Note:  Above seal was proposed for the City of Seattle in 1897