With a focus on helping Edmonds residents and businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and an eye toward future initiatives from Highway 99 renewal to racial justice, Edmonds Mayor Mike Nelson delivered his first State of the City address Thursday night.

The address, which was shared virtually both via Zoom and on the city’s cable channels, began with introductory remarks by Edmonds restaurateur Shubert Ho. He acknowledged the impacts of COVID-19 on the community, and also on his business — which “pivoted” to outdoor dining and takeout — and his family. “My wife’s a teacher in the Edmonds School District, so her world drastically changed, as did the day-to-day experience for our two school-age daughters,” Ho said.

When Nelson came to the podium, he first acknowledged the city councilmembers watching the address virtually. “They are some of the most dedicated people I know, and I know how deeply they care for their city,” he said.

The mayor then said that while he planned to talk about the city’s future, he first wanted “to recognize how our future is being shaped by our recent past.”

in early 2020, just two months into his job as the city’s new mayor, Nelson said that due to the pandemic he was “forced to make unimaginable decisions to help protect our residents, closing our businesses, our city buildings, our playgrounds, our cemetery. Each day I asked myself — how can I protect our city, our residents, our employees, my family, my boys.”

The pandemic “also has exposed wounds that have never healed,” the mayor added. “Racism and discrimination of Black people, and other people of color, in every city in our nation — including ours. This virus has taken a toll on all of us. It has changed how we view we relationships, how we interact. We learned isolation does not bring out our better angels.”

Despite the many challenges, Nelson said, the city was able to carry on. “Our employees never stopped working to keep our employees safe,” he said. “We found safe ways to keep our businesses open, safe ways to help teach our children, safe ways to communicate with each other, safe ways to govern.”

Edmonds residents “stepped up too,” Nelson said. “I know they ordered more takeout in one year probably than they have in their entire life to keep our restaurants afloat.”

The mayor then presented a photo slide show of his accomplishments during the past year, from creating a walkable Main Street for outside dining and shopping during the pandemic to grants — funded through the federal CARES Act — supporting the Edmonds Food Bank, senior citizens and small businesses.

Among the highlights, Nelson pointed to the city’s Learning Enhancement Activity Program (LEAP) at the Frances Anderson Center, which has been providing on-site recreation programs and academic support for children in grades 2-6. The program, Nelson said, addressed the unrealistic expectation, following COVID-related school closures, that working moms “could just suddenly somehow give up their work and now stay home and teach their kids.” Scholarships have been provided to families who otherwise couldn’t afford the program, he added.

The mayor then moved on to his priorities for 2021, “to make our community better and more liveable.”

Highway 99 renewal: In an area that some believe “has been treated like second class,” Nelson said the city this year is designing a safer and more welcoming highway, including a median planted with trees, welcoming signs and new pedestrian crossings.

“It is not just a roadway, it’s a neighborhood, and we want to begin to have a community renewal plan this year that sets the stage for future redevelopment of properties along Highway 99, particularly along the southern corridor, where problems of crime, graffiti, nuisances, code violation and general disinvestment persist,” Nelson said. This could include “potentially replacing abandoned buildings, buying derelict property, cleaning up trash and grafitti,” he added. The city also hopes to open a satellite office on Highway 99, to connect residents to city services. “I’ve already directed our staff to find existing office space for rent, so we can hopefully open this year as soon as it to safe to do so,” he said.

Helping the most vulnerable: Long before the virus, housing prices skyrocketed and some residents were a paycheck away from homelessness, the mayor said, noting that “COVID has exacerbated this situation.” While the city was able to assist those in need with CARES Act funding, “that is just the beginning,” Nelson said. This year, the city is creating a new human services sprogram that will include a full-time social worker. The aim is to “help our seniors, those who are housing unstable and unsheltered, and prevent those from beoming homeless in the first place,” Nelson said.

Taking action to promote equity and inclusion: The mayor quoted from Amanda Gorman, youth poet laureate at President Joe Biden’s inauguration: “We learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice.” The mayor then said that “keeping things just where they are is not good enough.” Last year, Nelson said he commissioned an equity and justice task force to look at “the implicit or explicit forms of social injustice or bias that might exist in city government and identify specific ways we can be supportive to the Black community.” The task force been diligently working on a report, which it hopes to finalize this month, with recommendations likely to include a citywide equity and justice toolkit and a work plan for the city to follow, Nelson said. This toolkit “will impact every major decision our city makes, and we will look through the lens of how does it impact equity,” he said.

Also on the topic of equity and inclusion, Nelson said that new grant funding will be available through the Edmonds Arts Commission “that focuses on the challenges faced by the arts to address social concerns about diversity and equity.” In addition, to honor indigenous people “in a more meaningful way,” Nelson said he’s asked the city’s parks department to begin developing a communty event in October — as well as commissioning a new piece of public art — “to celebrate and honor local indigenous people of our region.”

Expanding parks and protecting open spaces: The city now has an open space land acquisition fund “to help purchase tracts of private land — undeveloped, thriving with nature — or restore land to natural space,” the mayor said. To protect and enhance salmon habitat, the city will be pursuing a Salmon Safe certification that includes a review of current city policies and practices. Cleaning up and restoring the Edmonds Marsh is also a top priority, the mayor said.

Supporting the local economy: The housing market and construction continue to be strong during the pandemic, and the city is projecting “a very strong economy during the coming year,” Nelson said. With virtually no drop in sales tax revenue during the past year, despite COVID-19 challenges, “the City of Edmonds finished this year in a strong position financially and is well-positioned for 2021,” he said. Noting the success of last summer’s Walkable Main Street, Nelson also said he will be working with businesses to make the pedestrian-friendly downtown “a permanent feature.”

In summary, Nelson said, “We’ve been through a heck of a lot and we have much work to do. I’m committed to help make our community better.”

— By Teresa Wippel