Morning, everybody.
Good morning.
We had this drawn up perfectly on June 13th,
a soft breeze, a sunny sky.
But sometimes things change and now I'm fighting a wind.
Hold on for one second.
All right.
So today is an absolutely awesome celebration.
I want to thank from the bottom of my heart
for those, that profound.
More than a land
acknowledgment, I think is a acknowledgment of the land,
but acknowledgment of the people in every value we stand for.
Thank you very much. Thank you kindly.
I want to thank all of you for being here.
My name is Mayor Bruce Harrell,
and we are celebrating the opening of this great park
at this city park as you may recall, City Hall Park closed almost two years ago,
and that was a different time in our city.
I'm just seeing a handful of people wearing masks right now.
Those are the smart ones because they realize
that we're not completely out of the dark,
but we all had on masks a few years ago for the obvious reason.
And moreover,
a lot of our parks were not accessible.
We had people still living unsheltered in certain areas
and we had to find resources to help shelter them.
And under our model, under our one Seattle approach,
our commitment to our Parks sort of reflects our commitment to people.
We want them to be safe, vibrant,
healthy, a place where you can recreate,
shake the hand of a neighbor, introduce yourself to a stranger.
That's what our parks are here for.
Trees are lungs of the earth.
A great place
to be your authentic self.
And that is why we are celebrating.
Today's celebration reflects the energy and vitality
that we're all thrilled to bring back to City Hall Park.
You may recall back in April, we previewed immediate actions
that we would take as a city to activate our downtown area.
We commit.
We made a commitment in my comms team.
They always hate when I make commitments on certain days.
But we did say we're going to open this park by June 15th.
And they sort of, they cringed a little bit.
And I said, Well, my wife's birthday is this week.
I want to give her a birthday present.
I wanna give the city a birthday present to show that we are on the right track.
That becomes important because you have to have a North Star in
anything and everything that you do.
If your plans, if you have plans to achieve something
and then plans don't work,
you don't vacate the plan.
Or perhaps you modify it.
Another fan.
I think there
perhaps you do vacate the plan.
You have to evaluate, but you never vacate the goal.
You never vacate the goal.
And that was what we're trying to do here.
We're joined by some of our great partners who are committed to ensuring
that this park remains a
well maintained and welcoming space in our city center,
moving forward. This rejuvenation of City Hall Park
filled with enhanced, enhanced amenities and a robust activation
plan is not just an investment in our city's landscape,
but an investment in you, our people.
And quite candidly, even people that like to yell,
That's okay.
I get yelled out on a daily basis.
It sounds like music to me
because in this city we don't
we don't denigrate one another.
We don't cast that kind of judgment.
We try to build our community up, no matter how loud that noise gets.
And when we talk about thank you
and we talk about safety,
safety
should be a unifying element in all of our communities.
I don't care what your race is, your culture is, your personal
identity, your age.
You could be old like me.
It doesn't make any difference.
Safety is a unifying element.
We want everyone to feel and be safe.
We want them to be able to self optimize to their authentic selves are.
That's why I'm proud that we will say we will have our park rangers here.
Our park rangers are here to protect and serve and keep us happy and healthy.
This reopening is more than just an opening of a park.
It's a celebration, a reflection of our shared vision
of a downtown and of a vibrant and safe downtown area.
That's what that's what this is symbolic of.
And quite frankly,
a lot of work, a lot of commitment, a lot of faith went into these efforts.
And that's why it is always appropriate to start
with the authentic land acknowledgment.
And having said that, I'd like to welcome to the stage
superintendent, AP Diaz.
And I just want to say a few words.
I'm going to forewarn you,
AP, that if you have written notes, you better bring up something.
It's windy up here, AP
But AP joined the city
some time ago, and there's few individuals I would say this about.
They have that early morning courage
and commitment to change the city for the better.
And he is the superintendent of our park system
and we all take pride in our parks, which means
the magnifying glass has been on AP Diaz And I'm proud to say
that he's been one of the finest leaders that this city's ever had.
I present to you AP Diaz
Not as tall as the mayor.
Going to lower this a little bit.
I didn't know we were going to church this morning with Mayor Bruce Harrell,
but as always, his comments are spot on.
The comments you just heard from the mayor today are a reflection
and a steadfast commitment from him and his team
to revitalize and recapture
our downtown core neighborhood and our city of Seattle.
I am a new resident here, a new worker, but I've already captured
and fallen in love with this amazing city.
And we absolutely cannot and must do it with all of our will in my together
to come up with solutions to continue
the vibrancy of this amazing city.
We cannot settle. In the mayor's office,
and if you're part of the mayor's team and there's many people here today,
many of my fellow colleagues, I see directors from the Office of
Economic Development, the Seattle Center, Housing, transportation.
We are all united
in a common mandate that the mayor has given us
not to settle on downtown,
not just settle on Seattle.
It's going to take work.
It's going to take strategy.
It's going to take vision and partnership.
And this opening today is a reflection
of a start of this city coming back better and stronger.
Parks proved themselves throughout the pandemic.
They were the one saving place that got us through the pandemic in
and now getting us out everywhere around the world.
When the entire world was sheltered, people came to parks
for respite, for recreation, for nature, for wellness.
And now we're reopening our parks little by little.
Do not give up on Seattle parks.
We were just ranked by the Trust for Public Land,
the number eight parks system in the entire United States.
And that's a testament to everybody here today
who has invested their time, their sweat, their energy and their money
through our Metropolitan Park district funding to make our parks
better and stronger.
And I want to thank all of you for investing in parks.
I want to thank our partners here today from the county courthouse,
from the Pioneer Square Alliance, from our Seattle Parks Foundation,
as well as leadership team.
My direct supervisor, the executive general manager.
Adiam Emery is here
as well as Director
Tim Burgess and Director Markham McIntyre.
We work weekly together
on downtown issues, on downtown activation
strategies because that is what the mayor has asked us to do.
So this is a day of great celebration.
You mentioned we have new employees.
Our park rangers went from 2 to 12,
we're going to 14, and then we're going to go to 28.
And that's amazing.
We need rangers in our park system.
So I want to salute all the Rangers.
And if you see a Ranger today, please go up to them.
Introduce yourself, shake their hand, tell them welcome,
welcome them to the table.
Tell them thank you for your service.
And together we'll make this park system even better than it is today.
I just want to talk about this park before I step away to the next speaker.
But you can see some of the amazing improvements
that have occurred in this park.
And it took a lot of work as the mayor mentioned.
I want to thank people on my team from our Parks and Environment Division,
all of our maintenance crew.
They worked throughout the year.
When it's hot, when it's cold, when it's rainy, when it's snowy,
they work in all of our parks and they never stop.
I want to thank them all today.
I want to thank two of our deputy superintendents
that are here, Andy Shaffer and Mike Schwindel and their teams.
They do amazing work.
If you know those gentlemen, you know that
they represent the best of the Parks Department.
So right now we're working on strategies for Prefontaine Plaza.
We're working on strategies for the street across the way at the extension,
and we're working with our county courthouse.
I want to thank all of our judges that are here today
and the King County Courthouse for leaning in with us
because we know that the challenges of today are not easy.
But together we're stronger and together we make this city better.
So there will be an activation and a robust plan here
you see some of the games on the lawn.
They're going to stay here.
We're going to have buskers here throughout the summer.
We're going to have food trucks, we're going to have new lighting,
we're going to have activations, we're going to have events.
And if you have great ideas for this park, let us know
because it's your park and it's for us all to enjoy.
So get ready for more of these in downtown Seattle.
Get excited for the good things ahead.
And remember Seattle shines on our park system and on our city.
Thank you so much.
All right.
Our next speaker is going to be
the Presiding Judge Patrick Oishi, from the King County Superior Court.
Fun fact about Judge Oishi
I'll call him Patrick.
He was a junior
high school teacher and a coach.
And I don't know about you, but I was a pretty good grade school student.
I was pretty nice in high school.
But during junior high acted out.
I don't know anything about that period.
So, you know, if someone is teaching
junior high school, middle school kids, they have a special heart.
He's been a judge since 2011, and he was raised in Maui.
So he left that beautiful weather in Maui to come to this.
But he's been a fine prosecutor and fine defender of rights for people.
And it was out of the fears of a lot of the employees.
You may recall they raised some of the issues
in the park and issues inside the courthouse.
So we're very honored to hear,
Presiding judge of the King County Superior Court, Patrick Oishi.
Thank you, Mayor Harrell
So, first of all, I just want to welcome
everyone to this exciting and historic day.
I want to start first by giving Mayor Harrell and his office
and the others a huge shout out for all the investment
that's being made into downtown, into this park.
I know Mayor Harrell is very committed to public safety
as well as really revitalizing downtown.
And I think the Mayor and his office should be commended
for that.
It's actually very appropriate
that this stage is set up here
because just here to my left
is the historic entrance of the King County courthouse.
And it's appropriate that we're standing here because I just want to say
a few words about the intersection of the courthouse in this park.
Hundreds of
people every day of the year, year in and you're out.
Come to the King County courthouse seeking justice.
And these are folks that are facing some of the biggest challenges
of their lives.
It could be a civil case or a lawsuit.
It could be a divorce, a child custody case,
it could be an eviction case or a criminal case.
All of these cases are extremely difficult.
And what we do here at the King
County Courthouse is we provide a safe
space for people to resolve these difficult disputes
in a very peaceful and orderly way
under the rule of law.
City Hall Park is indeed
the gateway to the King County courthouse.
And the courthouse, again is where
(fire engine sirens passing by)
and again
the courthouse is where people come to seek justice.
Access to justice in the truest sense
requires that everyone's going to be safe in and around City Hall park,
and that includes everyone who works here at the courthouse,
the jurors, the litigants, witnesses,
lawyers and judicial officers.
And again, King County Superior Court is very, very excited
to work with Mayor Harrell and his staff.
And again, I just want to commend Mayor Harrell for his commitment
to making City Hall Park a safe and a welcoming space for everyone.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is
going to be Lisa Howard, the executive director for the Alliance for,
Pioneer Square. A few words about Lisa.
This is sort of her home, so to speak, every single day, five, six,
seven days a week.
She's here working with businesses, working with homelessness
advocates, working for people, trying to help people with her leadership.
It's very, very appropriate for her to share a few words,
a few thoughts with her.
And I want to say, as the mayor, she's been an incredible partner in us
trying to navigate through the last couple of years,
through the pandemic and what we're trying to do now.
Lisa, please share a few words.
Thank you.
Vibrant communities and vibrant
parks can exist when they work for all members of the community.
City Hall Park
is an irreplaceable green space, one that holds our history as a city.
And so to the nexus of our neighborhood and our civic life.
When we look back on today in ten years, my hope is that history shows that
today is a tipping point, a point in time where we transition
from fencing off challenges to facing them together in partnership.
We're going to create a safe, welcoming place for the surrounding
residents and businesses.
Workers, jurors, tourists and everyone that passes through
on behalf of Pioneer Square.
I want to thank Mayor Harrell and AP and all of the city team
who put in countless hours to make today and the upcoming
upcoming summer programing possible.
And to wrap up.
We're gathered here in this space today.
Have you been here before? Welcome back.
If this is your first time
within the boundaries of this park, make sure that it's not your last time.
We're in this all together. Thank you.
Thank you, Lisa.
Okay.
You ready for a closer? I'm.
I'm messing with Tija.
Tija, this is not. Public speaking is not what
Tija does all the time.
But we love her.
She is the chair of the Pioneer Square Residents Council, and she was the former
owner of Seattle Fitness, which is a gym in Pioneer Square.
And of course, Tija is her leadership on the Pioneer Square Residents Council,
the people who live here that are here all the time.
Their voice is is of incredible importance.
And we're very honored to have Tija share a few words.
And she's the closer.
Let's give her that warm introduction, that warm hand, and she comes up
the closer!
Thank you, Mayor Harrell.
Three weeks ago,
I was here in City Hall Park on Mayor Harrell's one Seattle day of service.
I was here with others and we were picking up trash.
We're planting the flowers and the vines in eager anticipation of today.
I'm thrilled to be here today.
It's much more than I even imagined.
I'm honored to speak to you.
We're going to kick this off with the reopening.
Personally, I lived in Pioneer Square for over 30 years,
and this park means so very much to me.
I think parks are important.
They're important for environmental and recreational benefits.
They allow all of us to gather. They’re places, to think and dream,
to speak your mind
and so much more.
There's community celebrations, you name it.
My dog will tell you this is her green park
and her stress reducer and her social hot spot.
So from the roughly 3000 of us
that live in Pioneer Square and call it our home
and our 500 dogs, believe it or not, we want to thank Mayor Harrell
and all those involved in the efforts to reopen City Hall Park to everyone.
Amen.
Can I get a amen?
The reopening
and programing of this park is a huge win for all of us.
Thank you.
Thank you Tija, great closer.
Okay, let's stick around and socialize.
I just want to say this in closing.
We have to believe and we have to feel
and we have to see our efforts, not the city
council's efforts or the mayor's office or the city attorney.
When I say our efforts, I'm talking about everyone in this city
that we when we came up with the one Seattle concept,
we weren't saying we're not going to disagree,
we're not going to argue, we're not going to slip and fall.
We're not going to have some missteps.
That's life.
But we don't lose
sight of our North Star community, our North star
we found in our hearts and our values
and trusted, trusted.
We are a compassionate city.
This country looks at what we do here in Seattle.
Seattle is on the map.
I've been around the world and people some people pronounce it “Seatle”,
by the way, because it looks like it's, s e a t l e.
But they know what Seatle or Seattle stands for.
It stands for our good people.
This is symbolic of where we're heading in this city.
We will keep it clean. We'll keep it safe.
We'll help those who need help.
We will show up for those who need shelter.
That is one Seattle at its best. It's a great day.
Thank you for being here.
As we open up City Hall Park.