Former City of Edmonds Senior Planner and two-time mayoral candidate Brad Shipley has endorsed challenger Mike Rosen in his bid to unseat first-term incumbent Mike Nelson.
“I worked with Mike Rosen when he was chair of the Planning Commission. He brings a wealth of experience leading large teams behind a common goal. Rosen has a servant leadership style and has the collaborative and communication skills to lead Edmonds at this crucial time,” Shipley said in a news release issued by the Mike Rosen campaign.
“As Edmonds takes on an update to its Comprehensive Plan, a 20-year vision for the city, we need someone like Rosen who will listen to all sides, bring his analytic skills to the table, and lead a diverse community to a solution we all can support,” Shipley added.
Shipley resigned his post in May to run for mayor, the second time he has run for the position. He and City Councilmember Diane Buckshnis lost in the August 2023 primary to Rosen and Nelson. Shipley also lost in the primary race for Edmonds Mayor in August 2019.
Since Shipley’s resignation, the Edmonds Planning Division has seen two other top staff resignations: Planning Manager David Levitan and Aassociate Planner Michelle Szafran.
Shipley cited the lack of trust between all branches of city government and the need to return to the basics of municipal operations as reasons for endorsing Rosen. He said other resignations from top posts in the city are expected if Nelson is reelected and organizatonal issues are not resolved.
“Staff is stretched thin and has been for some time,” Shipley said. “The number of projects they are undertaking with limited resources is incredible. While many of these projects have merit, leadership needs to understand that the organizational challenges must be addressed first. I know Rosen understands this and am confident in his ability to make the proper changes.”
Rosen and Nelson finished in a virtual tie in the August primary, with Nelson at 35.05% of the vote and Rosen at 34.68%. Buckshnis finished in third place with 21.15%. She has not made an endorsement for the general election.
Great to see this endorsement. Mike Rosen truly is the candidate to lead us into 2024 and beyond. I look forward to a time when city employees and council have a Mayor they can work with.
I will vote for Mike Rosen……
Joining you in this wise decision for the future of Edmonds.
Great endorsement of Mike Rosen, and well deserved.
Mayor Nelson has been the most divisive, uncommunicative, non transparent, self-serving Mayor perhaps in the history of our city.
We need a Mayor who listens to the citizens of Edmonds and does the best for our community.
Mayor Nelson skipping recent City Council meetings because he disagrees with the City Councils approach on reaching to Governor Inslee for the State’s help with Marsh and Salmon restoration is but the latest example of his unfitness to serve as Mayor.
Thank you Mr Shipley for also pointing out the toxic work environment Mayor Nelson has created for our city employees, which has cost us so many talented long serving city employees.
I believe we have lost 9 Directors on Mayor Nelson’s watch – totally unprecedented and costly to the city to replace so many senior leaders.
It is time for new leadership in our city.
We need a lot less long range planning and planners and a lot more short range get the job of actually running the town efficiently doers I think. It’s time to start budgeting and planning based on what we need in order to have a really livable city now for everyone actually living here and for the next five years of so. No one really knows if we will grow by 30% or if we will really be riding around in self driving electric pods twenty years from now; so why not just whip out these stupid state mandated imaginary plans as quick as humanly possible, whether they are right or wrong, and get down to the important real business of what we need to get done now and in the very near future. I hope this is future Mayor Rosen’s view of things too, but I certainly have my doubts. I’ll believe it, when I see it.
If #DropTheMike Nelson loses and #PickUpTheMike Rosen wins, we hope that some of Edmonds freakin’ potholes get filled(a metaphor) …
Just sayin’
Our Mayors are powerful people by design of the system, you know, Strong Mayor/Weak Council; and Mike Rosen will probably be the next person to have that power. The secret to his success will be having the good sense not to take advantage of that power to try to control the narrative all the time. That has been Mike Nelson’s downfall and his predecessors weren’t a whole lot better as some love to claim.
How we say our government works and how it actually works are two different things. Mike Rosen’s challenge will be to make it work the way we claim it works; with the citizens really being at the top of the organization chart. Less worry about state mandated plans and programs of all sorts (that are never really enforced or even considered for the most part) and more worry about the nuts and bolts of just having a good city to live in, would be a start. Balance the budget, take care of the priorities and basics in logical order and learn to live for today more and worry less about some mythological future that may or may not come about.