Eastside Mayors — fishermen's finest

The Eastside Mayors of Bellevue, Duvall, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kirkland, Mercer Island, North Bend, Redmond, and Renton joined together today along with Claudia Balducci / King County Council, and Sam Cho / Port of Seattle Commissioner to address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the post-Covid world.

Claudia Balducci and Sam Cho headlined the DEI event.

The East Side Mayor’s luncheon was hosted by Cascadia College and sponsored by the Port of Seattle, Puget Sound Energy, Cascade Water Alliance, Amazon, Microsoft, AAA of WA, and the City of Bellevue.

As Fishermen’s Finest is headquarted in Kirkland and Kristian Uri attended and sat with the Kirkland Table as well as met with Mayor Penny Sweet, we’ll focus on the Kirkland perspective of the great event.

Mayor Sweet said that in the post-Covid climate, it is important to have an agenda and to stick to that agenda without being distracted by the Covid fallout. On her agenda was eliminating a community council, which she accomplished during the past two years - the decision to sunset the Houghton Community Council in Kirkland was unanimously supported by the Kirkland City Council and the State Legislature upheld the City’s decision. As mayor Sweet said, ‘Check.’ She added that you need to stay focused and that we need to be careful when viewing the world through privileged eyes, making sure in her case to keep her eyes wide open when dealing with issues on a National, Local, or Tribal level.

Mayor Sweet charged the crowd to, “Embrace your community, take responsibility, and be kind.”

In closing, Councilmember Balducci charged the DEI crowd, “Stand up to a bully,” and Port Commissioner Cho said, “Find a Mentor and listen to your opposition.” LE announced that they had a new President and CEO stepping in, Jeni Craswell with the goal of building community, connecting people, cultivating vision, and driving positive organizational results.