A letter to the council, administration and the community regarding the opportunities of 2022,
To my colleagues on council: I am honored to serve as your council president. I see my role as fostering an environment of collaboration and respect, ensuring that your ideas are included and considered, and leading with transparency and reliability.
While we may occasionally disagree on the means, we are all motivated by a common desire to make Edmonds strong and vibrant. Let’s come together over the results we want and approach the issues before us with the open mindedness, diligence and devotion they deserve.
To the mayor and staff: Thank you for your efforts in navigating these unprecedented years and for your commitment to the Edmonds community.
This term, I would like to prioritize heightened collaboration between our branches. Let’s take advantage of our shared expertise, our different perspectives, and resident input. Let’s generate solutions together through brainstorming phone calls, council committee meetings or scheduled agenda items to discuss ideas in their early phases.
To the Edmonds community: I am grateful for your insights, your engagement, and your attentiveness. I have learned from so many of you already and hope that you continue to share your proposals, knowledge and experiences.
I ask that each of you communicate with all of us via council@edmondswa.gov. This will mean that all seven of us have the same information when it is time to vote and that we can faithfully carry out our duty to represent you. The best of representative government comes from synthesizing different suggestions and considering these perspectives in the context of the big picture.
I look forward to working with all of you.
Sincerely,
Vivian Olson
Council president
Thanks Council President Olson. See you tonight… virtually of course.
This is true leadership. Thank you Vivian.
Thank you for your leadership!
Thank you for your letter supporting and leading the City. Your request for community involvement is what we have needed to hear for the last 2 years. Thank you for reaching out.
Council President Olson, thank you for your leadership. The city is fortunate to have you in this role.
Ms. Olson, thank you for taking on this leadership role and your open minded approach to the numerous issues facing our town and our region. I’m looking forward to the type of debates and decisions that I think your approach to legislating at the local level may foster.
We seem to have become a town consisting of two major business and living areas that have been allowed to develop a festering conflict over desired life styles, views about what makes an area livable and just general hard feelings toward each other. That has to change and I’m hoping you are exactly the change agent that will facilitate getting that done.
Our two major business and living districts should complement each other and be a mutual admiration society that celebrate each other by proudly presenting their differences that make Edmonds one great place to live, work and play. Hwy 99 neighborhood should be a local gem of International business facilities; a safe place to live and a place that has great American business success stories like Employee owned Winco Foods and Dick’s Drive-Inn for all to enjoy and be proud of. It’s high time to get our main police precinct and city offices in the 99 neighborhood where they belong and will fit in much better. The Bowl city facilities could serve a much better purpose than they are serving now. The Bowl should be the lesser police presence precinct instead of the main one. Giving up local control of our Fire Department is starting to look like it was a huge mistake.
For the first time in a long time, I’m sort of optimistic about where our city government might be taking us. Good luck Vivian, other council members and mayor. You have a lot on your plate.
During the Depression that will likely kick off on your term, the biggest challenge for the city will be managing the payroll, bonds, grants, what to cut, and building in equity and efficiency.