Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper provided My Edmonds News with the text of the speech he gave after he was sworn in Friday.

It is a great honor for me to be sworn in today as the 25th Mayor of Edmonds. I want to begin my remarks by assuring you that I will not speak as long as William Henry Harrison did in 1841, nor will my remarks be as short as those of George Washington in 1793.

I would not be here today were it not for the support of my family, who I want to thank for standing with me all of these years.  First, my wife Chrystal, who has managed to keep the home front running while I dabbled in politics. My son and two daughters are here today as well along with our grandchildren. I want to offer a special thank you to my parents Jack and Betty, who brought our family to Edmonds in 1965, when my dad became the first full-time paid fire chief in the city. I should add, by the way, that I am not the first former Edmonds volunteer firefighter to be Mayor of Edmonds. Matt Engels was Mayor in 1923.

Edmonds has many challenges and opportunities as we move into this next chapter of our history. To bring ourselves through these challenging times our nation is facing, we must all work together to succeed; the Mayor, council, organized labor and the business community must join hands and face the challenges head on.

As our country begins to work its way out of this recession, it is critically important that Edmonds do all we can to ensure that the next Air Force Tanker be built right here in Snohomish County, bringing thousands of highly paid workers back to our community.

We must have a plan for long-term sustainable spending and revenue that will assure our community the quality of life they deserve. I will deliver the council a budget that reflects efficiencies and belt tightening in non essential service. The public will need to be involved in setting our spending priorities. Secondly, we need to stabilize our revenue by asking the voters to pass a levy as soon as practical. Finally, we need to grow jobs in Edmonds by working with our business community, continuing to make economic development a priority. We have a great opportunity to grow tourism in our unique community, which in turn brings jobs.

In closing, my administration will follow the example set by past mayors and have an open door policy to the community. I look forward to serving all of you as Mayor.