(Image: Wilson for Seattle)
Mayor-elect Katie Wilson has announced a 60-member transition team with a handful of Capitol Hill and Central District connections as she spends December preparing to take office in the new year.
Wilson says the team will focus on “housing, business, labor, arts, community safety, civil rights, transportation and other fields.”
For the city’s residents, business owners, and workers, the roster is an invitation to fire off an email, dig through your contacts to send a thoughtful text message, or make a phone call to speak up for what priorities you want to see the new Wilson administration pursuing first and hardest.
“Over the next several weeks, members of the transition team will identify and reach out to dozens of additional community advisors to gather the broadest possible range of input, identify priorities, and help equip Mayor-elect Wilson to successfully execute her vision as the next mayor of Seattle,” the announcement reads.
As she overcame criticism of her lack of leadership experience inside Seattle City Hall to defeat incumbent Bruce Harrell in November, Wilson has said she hopes her transition effort will help build on her career as a community organizer and leading the Transit Riders Union to help make sure her administration gets off to a strong start with a productive roster of early priorities.
Wilson’s transition efforts will be fronted by a five-member leadership team announced prior to the Thanksgiving holiday with deep experience working in previous administrations and one of the driving forces behind the city’s move into social housing development. Leading the transition planning effort is Andrés Mantilla who served as the longtime head of the Department of Neighborhoods under both Ed Murray and Jenny Durkan.
Tiffani McCoy who has helped lead the House Our Neighbors effort to create and fund a public Social Housing Developer in the city is also helping to lead Wilson’s team.
Wilson said her new roster of transition team members will take part in meetings and discussions with “additional community advisors” to nail down first priorities and legislative efforts. The transition team also includes six student and youth advisors.
There are several members of the transition team with connections to Capitol Hill and the Central District.
Colleen Echohawk, CEO of Community Roots Housing, is Wilson’s co-lead on affordability and community needs planning.
Community Roots is developing the new eight-story apartment building under construction at Broadway and Pine as part of the Constellation Center affordable housing, youth education, skills training, and employment academy project in partnership with YouthCare.
Echohawk works from the Community Roots Housing offices on Capitol Hill and recently moderated this Capitol Hill public safety forum with discussions about the growth of the new CARE Department and safety investments around the planned Crisis Care Center at Broadway and Union.
Lisa Daugaard of the Purpose.Dignity.Action organization also took part in the recent forum and will be Wilson’s policy co-lead on public safety issues.
Meanwhile, Nakita Venus, Executive Director of Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center on E Pine is also part of Wilson’s transition team focusing on affordability.
Simon Kreft from Broadway’s Seattle Central College will be part of Wilson’s student and youth advisors team.
First Hill community leader and former city council candidate Alex Hudson will be heading up Wilson’s “Civic Narrative & Major Initiatives” transition team.
The Central District is also represented on Wilson’s team including Elisheba Wokoma of Wa Na Wari working on policy and priorities around arts, culture, and the creative economy.
Unlike most recent mayoral transition teams, Wilson did not name multiple small business representatives to her effort though Jon Scholes, president & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association is joining Echohawk to lead the affordability and community needs policy area:
Transition Team Leadership
Andrés Mantilla, Transition Director; Uncommon Bridges
Karen Estevenin, Transition Co-Chair; Executive Director, Protec17
Tiffani McCoy, Transition Co-Chair; Co-Executive Director, House Our Neighbors
Quynh Pham, Transition Co-Chair; Executive Director, Friends of Little Saigon
Brian Surratt, Transition Co-Chair; President and CEO, Greater Seattle Partners
Housing Affordability & Community Needs
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Colleen Echohawk, CEO, Community Roots Housing
Jon Scholes, President & CEO, Downtown Seattle Association
Policy Area Members:
Cate Bridenstine, Executive Director, Imagine Institute
Alvertis Brooks Jr., Executive Director, Rainier Valley Community Development Fund
Gregory Davis, Managing Strategist, Rainier Beach Action Coalition
Alison Eisinger, Executive Director, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
Nakita Venus, Executive Director, Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center
Economic Development & Workers Rights
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Richard de Sam Lazaro, Senior Director, Government Affairs, Expedia
Corina Yballa, Political Director, MLK Labor
Policy Area Members:
Jeanie Chunn, Founder, Seattle Restaurants United
Arif Gursel, Founder and Executive Director, The Union
Toshiko Hasegawa, Commissioner, Port of Seattle
Joe Mizrahi, UFCW 3000, Seattle School Board
Terrance Stevenson, Director, SeaCiti Initiative, WTIA
Transportation & Environment
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Shemona Moreno, Executive Director, 350 Seattle
Anna Zivarts, Program Director, Disability Mobility Initiative
Policy Area Members:
Lowell Bander, 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub
Lindsay Goes Behind, Chief Impact Officer, Seattle Foundation
Lee Lambert, Executive Director, Cascade Bicycle Club
Paulina Lopez, Executive Director, Duwamish River Community Coalition
Gordon Padelford, Executive Director, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
Arts, Culture & Creative Economy
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Randy Engstrom, Co-Founder & Principal, Third Way Creative
Ben Hunter, Artistic Director, Northwest Folklife
Policy Area Members:
Michael Greer, President and CEO, ArtsFund
Jesse Hagopian, Educator, Author, and Blues Musician
Edwin Lindo, Co-Founder, Estelita’s Library
Amy Nguyen, Executive Director, Watershed Community Development
Elisheba Wokoma, Co-Executive Director, Wa Na Wari
Civic Narrative & Major Initiatives
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Alex Hudson, Executive Director, Commute Seattle
Joy Shigaki, President & CEO, Friends of the Waterfront
Policy Area Members:
Lilliane Ballesteros, Executive Director, Latino Community Fund
Dr. Ana Mari Cauce, President Emeritus, University of Washington
Andrea Caupain Sanderson, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Ile Kimoyo
Leo Flor, Chief Legacy Officer, Seattle FIFA World Cup 26
Mari Horita, SVP, Seattle Kraken
Standing Up for Our Values
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Roxana Norouzi, Executive Director, OneAmerica
Jaelynn Scott, Executive Director, Lavender Rights Project
Policy Area Members:
Caedman Cahill, Civil Rights Attorney
Deaunte Damper, Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention, King County
Mubarak Elamin, American Muslim Advancement Council
Faduma Fido, Collaborative Governance Lab Leader, People’s Economy Lab
Abdi Jama, Community Legal Advocate
Public Safety, Parks, & Wellbeing
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Lisa Daugaard, Co-Executive Director, Purpose.Dignity.Action
Dominique Davis, CEO, Community Passageways
Policy Area Members:
Asia Adam, Executive Director, OurHope
Erin Goodman, Executive Director, SODO Business Improvement Association
Rev. Dr. Robert Jeffrey, Sr., New Hope Missionary Baptist Church
Gregory Joseph, Communications Director, Alliance for Gun Responsibility
Lonnisha Landry, CEO, Just/Us Love Ones
Student & Youth Advisors
Leo Falit-Baiamonte, President, Seattle Student Union
Russell McQuarrie-Means, Student, South Seattle College
Bailey Medilo, Staff Organizer, Washington Bus
Simon Kreft, Student, Seattle Central College
Rayne Thompson, Student, University of Washington
Sonal Virk, ASUW Vice President, University of Washington
Following her victory over the incumbent Harrell, Wilson has said she enters office “with a strong mandate” to pursue policies to attack the affordability crisis, address homelessness, “and build a city for working people” following a sweep of progressive victories in the election.
A strong early focus will be on homelessness.
“I think obviously the homelessness crisis is going to be a very, very top priority for me,” Wilson told CHS following her victory. “We have an aggressive timeline in the first six months of next year, leading up to the FIFA World Cup to really tackle the homelessness crisis as it affects the downtown core and adjacent neighborhoods.”
Another early opportunity in Seattle will be the city’s new Social Housing Developer. CHS reported here as 2026 will bring its first revenue from a voter-approved social tax starting in February. The tax is expected to raise more than $50 million annually. Officials said the funding will give the development authority power to borrow enough to build or acquire 2,000 units of housing over 10 years.
Wilson will also spend December, she hopes, building connections with the new 2026 Seattle City Council following progressive victories by incumbent Alexis Mercedes Rinck and newcomer Dionne Foster as well as new District 2 representative Eddie Lin.
Meanwhile, Erka Evans easily defeated incumbent Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison in their race giving Wilson another potential ally in her efforts to change the city.
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Many on the transition team are very well known, and to some, might be considered to be bringing serious baggage with them as policy makers.
I hope this isn’t the death spiral of a Seattle version of FAFO under a social progressive. If we hardcore fail, our Seattle mayor, that many of you are fully supporting, could set back national progressive discussion and policies..long term.. like really making a run for single payor coverage.
So you guys complain because you don’t think she has enough experience and then she builds a team of a ton of super experienced people and you think they have too much baggage? She can’t win.
None of them have ever pulled a gun on anyone in a parking lot as far as I know so… they can’t have THAT much baggage.
It’s ok, I can have differing views than you. I do not believe the City of Seattle, lead by a group of niche and (some) controversial activists, will be prosperous and successfully run.
Well? Corporate interests ruled and failed.
Let’s look at just one of these, how about the Policy area board members?
Horita, SVP, Seattle Kraken
Leo Flor, Seattle FIFA World Cup 26
Leo Flor is connected with SeattleFWC26, who are one of the groups that pushed for SPS to spend tax money that is supposed to be going to the public school systems but is now going to rebuild Memorial Stadium so that Seattle can have a professional soccer team.
The stadium could’ve been sold to help reduce the huge debt the schools are carrying, but Seattle Public Schools acts like one big pot of money funneled to developers instead. We get massive new schools where there aren’t enough students, and elementary schools losing their playgrounds so more buildings can go up, buildings that will still sit empty.
Of course these people shape policy, why do you believe that the PAC groups paid all the dark money that they did in order to have her elected? Some of the folks are names that the PAC groups want to promote others are there because of the groups they promote.
No corporate interests? Ticketmaster, a couple of larger regional construction companies, and all the rest.
Amazon plays both sides of any debate, look through the names yourself and you will find the pony they placed their bets on.
Or just keep doing what you are, meaningless assessments of groundless alienation.
omg…Seattle has pro soccer teams both men’s and women’s. But you can just do whatever man. It’d be quite a downgrade even if Memorial was brand new. Lumen Field is where the Seattle teams play.
YOU LOST! NOTHING HAS HAPPENED!
Can you just let her screw it up first? Quit with the sky is falling based on nothing more than your opinion. A F- on substance.
I’m not losing anything. It’s Seattle that will lose if she blows it. I do not believe some on her leadership team are competent for their assignment. It’s ok, I can have that opinion. B- on your reply effort. You kept it under 50 works and didn’t mention MAGA once, the all caps took away from your overall score.
Oh, you again. She really has no idea what she’s doing. She literally said that back in January she wasn’t even thinking about running for Mayor — and then somehow her privileged self just becomes Mayor. Wow.
Meanwhile, Black folks have to prove ourselves over and over just to be seen as “worthy,” but she gets to step right in with no experience, hasn’t spent time in every neighborhood, and is completely out of touch. I’m honestly so over it.
And that picture of her on the bus? Eye roll. The whole thing feels so performative.
Of course it is performative; the photographer used bokeh effectively, which isn’t something someone shooting with a phone can usually achieve.
If it feels familiar, it’s because it resembles the well-known photo of Rosa Parks looking out the bus window. Wilson is standing in a mostly empty bus, though, which is unusual. Politicians are normally photographed on a crowded bus, surrounded by people, and they usually look directly into the camera. All business casual like, so it appears “she there to do business.”
She has no bag of any sort, no jacket… where is the bus pass or phone?
The photo is supposed to be iconic, performative; the bus is just a stage.
It is performative, that is the point of the photo.
you makin’ it racist?
You want reparations as part of Bruce’s agenda?
It is racist — that’s the part people keep dancing around. I’m not asking for reparations as part of Bruce’s agenda. I’m asking for you to actually see my side as a Black woman. And the fact that you can’t — or won’t — is exactly the problem.
You’re looking at this like it’s just politics. I’m looking at it from the reality of being a Black woman in Seattle, dealing with the stereotypes, the assumptions, the dismissiveness, the way my concerns get minimized or intellectualized instead of believed. That’s the part you’re not getting.
I’m telling you what it feels like to watch a white woman walk in with no real experience and get elevated instantly, while Black candidates — especially Black women — are treated as “risky,” “polarizing,” or “too much.” That’s racism. I’m not trying to fight. I’m trying to explain the lived experience you keep overlooking.
And that’s the whole point: you can’t understand it because you’ve never had to live it.
Mkay…The same lame arguments.
“And that’s the whole point: you can’t understand it because you’ve never had to live it.”
So anything you say supersedes anything I say. Got it. I’ve never heard that one before as a lame comeback.
Who did Bruce beat to get to the Mayor’s seat? Yeah, oops. But NOW it’s a racist outcome because a white chick won? Talk about racist? Holy crap!
Also? This “I don’t know” stuff? I do not disagree that racism is a thing and getting worse. Look a6t Trump and his cult. I am not denying your assessment. I do not tolerate racist, bigoted and any other BS.
But because I voted for Katie? I am a white Devil. Got it.
So, you are saying she started late. Had no real name recognition or support. Never did anything up till now. Then became Mayor of Seattle?
Okay, then Bruce must have royally sucked right? Or is this some argument for reparations now that Bruce lost and the other MAGA politicians sank to the bottom with him. Meaning what? Even with Katie completely out of the equation? Every single progressive nationwide is crushing it. Corporate Democrats are going the way of the Dodo. The kids are the voter block that is in charge now. It will only get worse because states will be De-Gerrymandered. Minorities will never vote for a right winger ever again.
Independents are swinging left in enormous numbers. The progressives have the MAGA/corporate Dems. shaking in their boots. Ask Schumer. He’s toast. Bernie is passing the torch to Alex. She’ll be a senator next election. Others will too. Many of these folks have ZERO experience. Never mind that the “inexperience” card only plays once.
But Katie is the one who has no right to be Mayor. Right?
Gimme a break.
Transition team members won’t be shaping any policy. That’s City Council. Thanks for playing.
So much privilege in Seattle today, it’s truly amazing! How about you come over to the Central District, where Black folks are actually sharing our opinions about Katie Wilson? Oh, that’s right—you want to tell us how to feel, classic white savior complex.
Apparently, we’re not supposed to speak up or share our perspectives out loud, because heaven forbid we “offend” white folks. Meanwhile, our lived experiences and voices get dismissed or ignored. It’s exhausting, and honestly, it’s time we stop tiptoeing around people who think they know better than us.So you can get mad and call me a MAGA or tell me I;m wrong, but I have the right to have an opinion. This isn’t the 1950’s anymore. .
I’m not going to call you a MAGA. You have a point about Wilson’s lack of experience and intersectional privilege, and an even stronger point about liberal white fragility and the unfair, mostly unrecognized burdens it creates for Black people, especially those who participate in civil society. But judging from the precinct maps it does appear that Wilson won the Black vote by a substantial margin. That suggests a widespread dissatisfaction with Harrell within the community that I would respectfully urge you to consider the possible reasons for.
Not every Black person voted for Katie, and the folks who did are simply hoping she actually follows through on the big promises she made.
That’s all. I can hold space for that while also naming the reality: I would
love to see a Black woman in the mayor’s office, but Seattle isn’t ready for that. Too many white people here are afraid of what real Black leadership would actually look like.
I’m not going to fight with you about this, because you won’t understand what it’s like to move through this city as a Black person — the looks, the stereotypes, the assumptions. It wears on you. And then a white woman in a thrift-store blazer pops up out of nowhere and suddenly she’s the one who can “fix everything”? Why? What makes her so immediately believable and electable? Let’s be honest: her whiteness plays a big part in that.
But precinct maps don’t mean every Black person was on board — they show that some voters were frustrated with Harrell, and they’re taking a chance on someone new. That’s their call. It doesn’t erase the racism baked into Seattle politics or how differently Black candidates are treated, especially Black women.
Nationwide America is swinging very left. Corporate Dems. are in serious jeopardy.
Five of the seven committee members for “Standing up for our values” are specifically activists for the black community. The Arts and Culture community members are also the same racial makeup (five out of seven being black activists).
Did you know there are three times more Asians in Seattle than there are black people? Do you think they get three times as much power and advocacy then black folks do? There are half as many Jews as there are black people. While there’s a couple Jewish people in this entire group there is not one person who actually stands up for the Jewish community. Zero pro Jewish advocates. Several dozen pro black advocates. A handful of anti-Jewish activists (like Jesse Hagopian) but no anti black activists.
It is hard to imagine how you think black people are being short-changed In this city. Both the Wilson and the Zahilay transition team are about comprised of about 30 to 40% black activists. In a city where blacks make up 7% of the population. And when I include in that group only those who specifically work to advocate for the black community.
All other minorities combined do not have that sort of representation or advocacy.
I think what often gets lost in these conversations is how hard every marginalized community has had to fight just to be seen, let alone represented.
For Black folks in Seattle, the road to even basic political visibility has been generations of struggle — constant organizing, pushing against systems that were never built for them, and carrying the weight of discrimination that touches housing, schools, healthcare, employment, and policing. Nothing about their presence in leadership today came easily. It was earned through decades of labor, sacrifice, and advocacy.
At the same time, it’s also true that Seattle’s Asian communities — which are large, diverse, and far from monolithic — have their own history of being overlooked or treated as invisible. Being a bigger population hasn’t translated to proportional political influence or advocacy support.
Many Asian communities have had to fight against stereotypes, erasure, and the idea that their struggles somehow “don’t count” because of the model minority myth. Their path to recognition has been hard too.
That’s what makes this so frustrating. People from every community have fought incredibly hard to create space, and then someone like Katie Wilson steps into a position of power without having had to overcome nearly the same barriers. That’s where the issue of privilege comes in — she didn’t have to fight through generations of exclusion or discrimination to get there. She benefitted from a system that still, despite all the activism and progress, tends to favor white leadership by default.
So this isn’t about denying what any group has been through. It’s about acknowledging that the struggles of Black and Asian communities are real, deep, and hard-earned — and yet, somehow, a white candidate with limited experience can still be elevated above people who have worked their entire lives for this kind of opportunity.
That’s the frustration: not that representation for one community is “too much,” but that white privilege still opens doors that marginalized communities have had to break down brick by brick.
SoDone…yet always commenting.
Thank you for recognizing the account and that I am an engaged community member.
This localized blog provides a forum for the public to discuss the ongoings of the area, and that is what I am doing.
I have a vested interest in keeping Seattle a robust and innovative city. This little logging outpost and seaside town, has been the last stop to make it or the beginning of a new journey. We have pushed the envelope in progressive ideas and development, we have risk takers and dream makers. Seattle flourished with rugged individuals and bootstrappers that played a system and made success happen. We had the well off that had the environmental fertilizer and resources that could push
further, far beyond an already upward trajectory.
This little no nothing area has incubated some of the largest, most successful, global corporations. This mayor-elect, has spoken negatively about two of them. It is my hope, that this generational, elite academic, from Binghamton, New York, does not begin to crater the city. I appreciate elites that have grit, this mayor-elect has zero grit. Even George W. — not exactly celebrated for academic brilliance — was at least a cheerleader and graduated Yale. Katie is a graduated HS and “some college.”
/end smooth type rant. I’m SoDone.
It’s a paradox that Airbnb is encouraging people to shift rentals to Airbnb to cash in or the fifa tourist wave.