Together, we are One Seattle

 

Bruce Harrell was elected Seattle mayor in 2021 by the largest margin for a non-incumbent candidate since 1969. Harrell brought a new tone to City Hall as mayor and championed collaborative initiatives to improve public safety, address housing affordability and homelessness with urgency and compassion, support workers and local businesses, and strengthen Seattle’s spirit of innovation through new policies and programs. 

Select accomplishments include:

A Safer, More Compassionate Seattle

• A comprehensive approach to public safety that has reduced levels of violent crime, delivered help to those in need and focused police efforts on those committing crimes of violence and trafficking deadly drugs on our street.
• Creation of the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department with behavioral health responders equipped to support people in crisis. 
• Stabilized SPD staffing– higher retention rates and officer applications at their highest rate in over a decade.
• Established a dual public health and public safety approach to the crisis of fentanyl, with new treatment strategies like the Health 99 Post-Overdose Team and enforcement efforts that are contributing to an 18% reduction in fatal overdoses.

Record Housing and Shelter Investments

• An over 80% decrease in tent encampments, more than 60% decrease in RVs at encampments, and record numbers of shelter referrals and placements, helping those in need find stability, services, and a pathway to recovery while ensuring parks, sidewalks, and public spaces are open and accessible to all.
• Historic, record investments in affordable housing, including funding over $1 billion dollars toward affordable housing in his first term to create thousands of units. 
• Decreasing red tape to make it easier and quicker to build housing. 
• A Comprehensive Plan Update proposal to double Seattle’s housing capacity, address historic inequities, and improve affordability for families, seniors, and working people.

Landmark Climate Efforts

• Passing the nation-leading Building Emissions Performance Standard to create clean buildings, advancing community-driven climate investment strategies. 
• Supporting sustainable healthy food programming, and issuing an Executive Order to accelerate climate action citywide. 
• Leadership that is earning recognition from the international “C40 Cities” coalition of urban areas leading global response to climate change. 

Revitalizing Downtown & Helping Small Business

• A Downtown Activation Plan with new initiatives driving revitalization in the core of the city, supporting millions of visitors and hotel occupancy at pre-pandemic levels, and preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• Completing the transformational Waterfront redevelopment project, including the opening of Overlook Walk and the new Ocean Pavilion at the Seattle Aquarium.
• Supporting local businesses with dedicated staffing to help entrepreneurs open doors, programs to assist with impacts of vandalism and graffiti, and opportunities for growth in new neighborhood centers citywide. 

Support for Workers

• Increased wages for human service providers and hardworking City employees, strengthened protections for gig workers, and passed legislation to improve equity in the cannabis industry.
• Leadership recognized as MLK Labor’s Best Elected Official in 2024.

Improving Mobility

• Led proposal and passage of the “Keep Seattle Moving” transportation levy – an unprecedented $1.5 billion investment in a safer transportation system, increased transit access, needed new sidewalks, and maintaining and modernizing existing streets, bridges, and other assets.
• Leading efforts on the Sound Transit Board of Directors to expedite construction of the West Seattle to Ballard light rail line, secure needed funding, and connect people to efficient, clean transit citywide.