Straight from the Mayor: an exciting and challenging first month in Edmonds

Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper

We are pleased to introduce a new column by Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper, which will appear monthly in My Edmonds News.

Land use, budgets, levies, Oh My! This is the first of what I hope is many opportunities to share with you a little about life in the Mayor’s office! 

My first month in office has been both exciting and challenging. The majority of my first two weeks were spent getting to know the hard-working people who keep your city running on a daily basis. I am fortunate to lead a city with such a strong, dedicated staff. 

Aside from attending City Council meetings and managing your city, I have had the great honor to represent you at a variety of valuable events; the kind of happenings that demonstrate Edmonds rich history and culture. 

My first press conference as mayor was to share in the honor of announcing that the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce will sponsor The Edmonds International Film Festival. The Festival is scheduled for October 20 – 24.

Another highlight of my first month was attending the “Edmonds in Bloom” annual awards reception. There, I presented a special recognition award from Edmonds in Bloom to the Edmonds Parks Department flower program. The fine work they do keeping our city streets beautifully “in bloom” earned them high recognition. 

On one of our recent warm summer days, I visited the Parks and Recreation Summer Camp, where teens who have volunteered their time working at the camp were recognized. Much to my surprise, I was presented a little something for Edmonds youth in return! The campers presented me a check for scholarship funds to help young people attend camp. This was money raised by the campers themselves! What an amazing group of youth!

On another chilly day, in the earlier hours, I found myself with 34 bicycle riders, plus crews from across the United States, at “Get Your Guts in Gear.” I got to learn a little! The last several years, “Get Your Guts in Gear” began and ended their three-day, 210-mile biking fundraiser in Edmonds. I, in turn, shared a little bit about our great city.

A group of junior high and high school students from our sister city Hekinan, Japan joined me in my office. I was able to spend about an hour with the group and had a great time meeting them.  Each student shared a little about themselves and what they enjoyed about Edmonds.

The ground-breaking for the new Sounder station took place just this week. I was able to share the tremendous role commuter rail will play in the future economic development of Edmonds. I compliment the work that the Edmonds Arts Commission has done to bring together public and private money, so that the station will have public art prominently displayed. 

To close out my first month in office, I attended the grand opening of a fun new business in Edmonds. Frosted Cupcakes and Cake is located in Nama’s Candy Store on 5th Avenue and is a welcome (and tasty!) addition to downtown.

I am looking forward to sharing columns with you on a regular basis. As we move into the fall and start budget deliberations, I will keep you informed about the issues facing our city. 

I have opened a special email address for residents of Edmonds to share your funding priorities and suggestions related to the 2011 budget. Emails are limited to one page. Submit your name, address and suggestion to BudgetSuggestions@ci.edmonds.wa.us

If there are issues you would like me to write about, or if you if you have any other concerns you want to share about the city, please feel free to send me an email at mike.cooper@ci.edmonds.wa.us.

  1. This column signifies that Mayor Cooper, like his predecessor, is going to be very good at communicating with citizens. Thank you Mike!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.

By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.