What I heard from people

As I posted just over a week ago, mayor-elect Mike McGinn asked me and 70 other transition “ambassadors” to reach out to our communities and ask for feedback on three questions to help him in his transition.  Thank you to everyone who sent feedback.  Here is the one page summary I sent to Mike’s transition office this morning.  It was difficult to summarize so many thoughtful and specific comments, therefore the detailed feedback was also sent as well.

To: McGinn Transition Team
From: Renee Staton
Date: November 23, 2009
Re: Transition outreach feedback

As you requested, I reached out to communities throughout Seattle and asked for feedback on the three questions below. Outreach was done through e-mail, a Google form, blog postings to community blogs, phone calls and in person meetings. Comments below are synthesized from feedback heard from over 120 people.

1. How do we build the strongest possible team to achieve the policy objectives and values set forth in Mike’s campaign?
Keep existing staff that are successful in their roles (there were also a number of comments to fire all or certain current directors); listen to existing staff that are successful – don’t reinvent the wheel; hire the best and most qualified people with independent thinking and leadership skills, not simply political supporters; be sure that some staff have government experience; include people from economically, culturally, ethnically, geographically (within Seattle) and politically diverse communities; be collaborative; hire people who will disagree with you and who have different views; work effectively with Council; do what you say you will do; encourage better coordination between city departments; include part-time workers, students and youth; keep Ideas for Seattle going; help those who were motivated by the campaign to stay involved; do not allow the city to be run by the same small group of people who have been in control.

2. How do we build public trust in the new administration?
Be transparent (strong theme); do what you say you will do (strong theme); do what is best for the community, not just what looks good; listen; make decisions after listening; admit mistakes; do not bully; do not speak poorly of the prior administration; do not ask for public opinion and then not act on it (use for political cover); keep holding community forums/town halls/on-line forums/participate in radio shows to listen to people; assess who is considered a community representative (especially in communities of color) as not all who claim the role of community representative are representative of the community; build relationships with other elected officials (governor, legislature, county, school board, city council); improve the city website to make it easier to find information, keep the site updated and post meeting minutes as soon as possible after meetings, remove the “marketing”; hold meetings throughout Seattle and at times that real people can attend (not just during the day and downtown), hold meetings in unexpected forums and consider moving offices to another part of the city for a week at a time; stop the tunnel/support the tunnel; end the gun ban.

3. What do you view as the incoming administration and the city’s greatest challenge – what should we do first out of the gate?
All of these were strong themes: youth crime; economic recovery and jobs; find efficiencies in the budget; transportation (light rail on the west side, bus rapid transit, bike and pedestrian master plans implemented); public safety; schools; housing.