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[ Indistinct conversations ]
[ Laughter ]
-Okay, here we go.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Test one two. We're good. We're amplifying.
I'll speak loudly. I'll speak loudly.
Thank you for being here this morning -- midmorning.
I'm very excited to make an announcement
from the City of Seattle.
I'm Bruce Harrell, the Mayor of Seattle,
and I'm excited to announce that today
I'll be appointing Anthony Paul, otherwise known as AP Diaz,
as our next interim Seattle Parks
and Recreation Superintendent. And the band says yes!
-Yay!
-I'll refer to Anthony Paul Diaz as AP
because that is how he is affectionately known.
I'll describe a little bit about his background
and probably, more importantly, why he is my selection.
AP Diaz is currently the executive officer
for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks
and an assistant general manager.
Overseeing all day-to-day operations of the department,
including financial services, capital projects,
special operations, recreation, maintenance, HR,
and risk reduction matters, governance,
and leadership matters.
While assisting the general manager in all governance,
legal supported policy matters
related to the City's Park's Commission,
the City Council, the City Attorney's Office,
and the Mayor's Offices, and the LA Park Foundation.
Again, we've provided information
on his incredibly impressive professional background,
and educational background, and civic involvement.
But what strikes me, I think, in a unique way,
is that AP understands at a bare minimum
the approach to our parks is basics first.
Operational excellence first.
And then bringing about -- well, let me back up.
And through that, we talk about maintenance and enhancement
and improvements, but through that,
doing what the Parks Department is known for --
the Seattle Parks Department is known for.
Doing that with a certain level of excellence
and then thinking about which way
we want to head in the future, given the challenges we have.
The challenges with public safety,
with education, with homelessness.
With all of the other issues and components of our city.
How do we integrate our parks system that are rich in assets
and has an incredibly gifted talent?
And how do we put that and make it closer aligned
with where we're heading as a city?
We've said over and over, our goal around parks
are to keep them open, clean, and accessible.
But, of course, our priorities extend beyond that.
We want them to be safe havens for everybody.
We want them to be equity drivers.
Places for our youth to learn, to grow.
And we want these assets to have the tools within them
to create healthy communities and fight climate change.
AP's leadership on recreational opportunities,
including sports programs,
shows that he understands how recreational opportunities
can be learning opportunities and equity enhancers.
And, quite candidly, with the work
he's done down in the California area
and the Los Angeles area, that is exactly what --
the kinds of things we want to do here in Seattle.
Drive equity.
Now, we have some amazing sports teams here,
and I know that AP will even forge stronger partnerships
that advance sports equity.
And we know that public-private partnerships
can extend way beyond funding,
and so his leadership in this regard
will be absolutely awesome.
Now, we're here at this particular facility
that's one of my favorite places,
at Yesler Terrace Park and the community center,
because it shows a great example
of how we can connect all communities -
the neighborhoods, the housing,
our parks, transit, smart planning.
I frequently talk about how I played basketball
as a youth in these gyms,
and I think, again, I lead the gyms --
I think I'm somewhere in the record books
for the highest number of missed shots in one game.
I wasn't exactly known for my basketball prowess.
But this is an amazing facility
and one that I hold dearly in my heart.
I'm also proud to be joined by directors Greg Spotts from SDOT,
Jessyn Farrell from the Office of Sustainability & Environment,
and Marshall Foster
with our Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects.
And what we've tried to develop
is a team of climate champions who recognize our One Seattle
approach to fighting climate change and building resilience.
With AP's leadership, I am fully confident
that we'll continue to make Seattle's parks, quite candidly,
the envy of cities across the nation.
Indeed, across the world. AP is a big thinker.
He doesn't play small ball, he's looking at how we could use
our city, the city's incredible park system,
to, indeed, show our country what we can do
when we integrate all the components that I spoke about.
I also want to thank council member
Andrew Lewis who will speak after
AP for how he showed incredible leadership
in getting the Parks District cycle to pass.
And let's give Council Member Lewis a hand in that regard.
An 8 to 1 vote -- 8 to 1 vote.
I'm very proud of that because having served on a council,
I know that wasn't an easy task.
That we know our city loves our park systems.
We know that they have a certain standard or demand
for excellence that they want in their park system.
And these resources
that we're developing through that system --
there are competing priorities.
So, Council Member Lewis once again
found a way to harness the opinions and the needs
and come up with a great package.
And so we're very thankful. We also know that our interest
in re-establishing the Park Ranger Program,
and to reopen bathrooms, and for tree restoration,
and to have new parks and renovations
and to really perfect on the basics.
We know that people have different opinions,
so once again, we want to thank Council Member Lewis
for his leadership. And I want to, of course,
thank all of our partners and stakeholders
who join us here today.
Thank you to our incredible Parks
employees who are doing just amazing work every day.
I'll leave this presser --
press conference to spend more time with the Parks employees.
You know, having grown up with our park system
it's, again, just near and dear to me.
I say that's one of the areas in the city
where the magic happens.
I'm joined with childhood friends
that I hope don't talk about how bad
I was as a youth. They signed nondisclosure agreements.
But when I look at family and friends around me,
they know how this park system
changed our lives for the better.
And last, but perhaps most importantly,
I want to thank Christopher Williams
for his incredible service to our people,
our parks, and the city.
I'm reminded of an old Beatles song --
a Lennon-McCartney song. I'm not saying Chris is old,
but I'm just reminded of this song
that "I get by with a little help from my friends."
Chris has been a dear friend for so many years.
Chris has stepped up when the city needs him --
he's used his expertise, his commitment.
Sometimes, I feel like we're married
because we say through good times and bad times,
in sickness and in health, we get through it together.
So I want to tell you, Chris is an incredible leader.
He'll be around, of course, to help us continue
the great work that the Parks Department is doing.
And Chris, we can't thank you enough.
Chris had a relationship to some extent with AP;
they knew each other,
and Chris knew we were looking for someone to be
the permanent Parks superintendent.
And, in the meantime, Chris didn't let down at all.
Chris was never on cruise control.
And, Chris, for that -- helping us through the budget work,
helping us keep the bathrooms open now,
doing all the work you're doing. Chris, thank you very much.
And with that, I introduce to you AP Diaz,
our new interim Seattle Parks and Recreation
Superintendent. AP.
-Well, good morning, everybody.
I am delighted to be nominated to serve
as the next superintendent for Seattle Parks and Recreation.
I want to thank Mayor Harrell and Council Member Lewis,
Superintendent Williams, and all of the Parks' stakeholders,
advocates, and city employees here
who have welcomed me so graciously.
The reception has been wide and deep, connective,
and meaningful.
I can see and hear that Seattleites love their parks,
and I'm honored to stand here to work together
in collaboration to accomplish great things.
I want to also acknowledge and recognize
our Native ancestors which inhabited this area
we all proudly call Washington and Seattle.
Their history, our history,
tells us that they lived here for thousands of years.
The Suquamish, Duwamish, Nisqually, Snoqualmie,
and Muckleshoots evolved complex cultural, social,
and economic structures and merit recognition, respect,
and admiration as being our original caretakers
and stewards of our lands we so enjoy today.
I'm excited about this opportunity
because I share the mayor's vision for our park system.
Special places that drive opportunities for respite,
for health and wellness, for recreation and relaxation,
mentorship and education, equity,
climate action, urban design, and impact, just to name a few.
More importantly, we're already here to get to work
and illuminate the Seattle Shine.
That's a new phrase I'm coining, Mayor, as we reject the notion
that this is a city of insulation.
It is not. It is a city of progress,
of openness, of innovation, and of light.
It's a city of many cultures,
people, backgrounds, and diversity.
So let's illuminate brightly for all the world
to see and spotlight our amazing parks system
as reflective microcosms of this great city we inhabit and serve.
I've dedicated my entire life to public service,
and seeing the status of parks during the pandemic
as they became one of the few options
for gathering spaces and vitality,
only reinforced my commitment to amplify our park system
and the narrative of what parks are
and what they are in the future. Here in Seattle,
parks are open, safe, accessible spaces for everyone.
I am people-focused and project-minded.
I'm data-driven and thrive
in performance management environments,
where I will help focus and lead our Parks and Recreation
toward being transparent and accountable
in our spending and programming,
and implement innovative metrics and outcomes for success.
In Los Angeles, we manage big projects
and deliver innovative approaches.
In my time in the City of Angels,
I've been blessed to have shepherded great civic projects,
both big and small, but which all deliver impact.
I've led a focus revitalization of our LA river,
increased revenue and innovation
through public-private partnerships,
and readied the city and park sites
to welcome the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
And I'm equally committed to making the world's eyes
continue to be on us here,
whether through our business, arts, culture,
nature, trade, commerce, as we welcome international
and national events in the years to come.
I've also sat in the living room of real folks
over coffee and conversation.
Listened when people said they've felt unsafe, unsure,
or uneasy about their parks,
and worked hard to overcome those challenges
and make a meaningful impact.
Community relations will be at the core of my vision
and impact on this park system.
I consider parks to be essential infrastructure
like bridges, roads, and highways.
Precious areas of open space as our public parks
don't require memberships or special status.
They're critical to the health and wellness of our citizenry.
We have a duty and an obligation to grow children,
cultivate adults, and sustain our aging population.
So I'll be leaning into our Parks Foundation, to ARC,
and to all of our community partners ready for new,
big, and innovative ideas.
Reaching out to our local business leaders,
our visionaries, and everyday citizens to invest in us,
to believe in us, to confide in us.
To know that your investment will not be in vain,
but will continue to grow and spotlight the Seattle Shine.
That's why this moment is so exciting
and so crucial for the future of Seattle's parks.
Especially, with Tuesday's passage of the Park District's
next cycle. We're on track to make our mark.
To make Seattle the pride of Washington,
the nation, and the world.
More locally, it's an opportunity to focus
on maintenance and operations
and significant capital improvements.
Focusing, as the mayor said, on the basics and renovating
and restoring parks and community centers
for decades to come,
while making investments and honoring the Seattle taxpayers.
We can use this time to stay stagnant or status quo,
or we can innovate our facilities,
making sure they're world-class and top-of-the-line.
Modern. That they serve
and meet the individual needs of the community.
Equipped with smart technology, green infrastructure,
esthetically pleasing design,
and places for invitation and gathering.
I know our Parks Staff is excited to embark on the latter,
as am I.
Seattle taxpayers have been amazing.
Some of the most supportive of park systems
in the entire nation.
My conversations with the mayor and with Council Member Lewis
have solidified my decision that I will be equipped
for success in this city with their support and guidance,
as they are equally passionate and excited for parks.
All of us here today behind and beside me
have a responsibility to live up to those mandates
and to exceed your expectations in us.
I'm also inspired by Mayor Harrell's One Seattle agenda.
Recognizing the connection parks
have to so many priorities in this city,
whether it's public safety, climate,
health, opportunity, and equity.
Our constituents, our neighbors, we'll be united as fellow humans
navigating together as one Seattle, one team, one voice.
By working across departments,
we can really connect our government together,
and I'm proud to be joined by colleagues today
from the City of Seattle
as well as the community to join me in this vision.
I know that stewardship of public land
and recreational facilities can only be successful
when we're connected in the communities we serve.
For this reason, I plan to really be
in the community to listen,
to hear, and to learn. Seattle's Parks
Superintendent will be an integral part of your community
and will be inspirational and transformative
in our approach to our work.
I would like to advocate positive growth
and cultivate the proliferation of park pride here in the city.
And on that note, I'd like to recognize
that this is Latino Heritage Month
and give celebration for the diversity
that exists around our nation and also in the city.
At the end of the day, what my experience in government
has taught me is that people don't care
who is responsible for what.
They hate finger-pointing in government.
If issues arise that are not under our jurisdiction
in the Parks, we will not turn you away.
We will implement a no-wrong-door policy,
which means that even if something is not
within our immediate span and control,
we'll make sure to connect you to the people in the city
that can find those resources and be responsive to you.
To create a Seattle that is blessed, evergreen,
everlasting, ever emerald, and ever-emerging.
I want to thank Mayor Harrell
for this amazing opportunity to serve and to lead.
Thank you, sir, for your belief in me.
Thank you, Council Member Lewis,
for being a Park District champion
and for the support of your colleagues
who I'll be working with closely in the days, months,
and years ahead.
I'd like to thank my amazing network at home.
My family, Krista, Megan, and Max,
who every day frame me in love
and raise me up and envelope me with purpose.
I love those people, and I love
that I'm going to be joining a family here in this city.
Friends, you'll often hear me say that parks make life better.
It's among my favorite sayings
and I firmly believe it to be true
and that the best is yet to come.
Thank you so much for this honor.
-Seattle Shine! Seattle Shine!
I'll be using that for a little while.
I love it. You know, it's very appropriate,
I think, that Council Member Lewis,
based on what I said earlier, says a few words.
We know that for the next month and a half,
or so, they're going to be going over the budget,
so we want to be real nice
to Council Member Lewis for a while.
But in all seriousness, he's doing an amazing job,
and we know how much the park system means to him.
And it's very fitting that he's standing next to Rebecca Bear,
the president of the Seattle Parks Foundation.
It's going to take this kind of partnership,
this kind of leadership, to really take us to a level
that, hopefully, has not been done before.
To build on the excellence that we have.
So I present to you Council Member Andrew Lewis.
-Thank you so much.
It's a great privilege to be out here
and follow the remarks from our nominee
to lead the Parks Department, AP.
You know, we just went through a very long, long process
that everyone standing behind me was involved in,
in renewing the cycle of investments
for our Seattle Metropolitan Park District.
The first renewal in the existence of that tool,
to make sure our parks are clean, safe, accessible, open.
Whatever value we want to attribute to our open spaces,
we know there's a lot of work to do,
and we know it's valued by the people of this city.
And when I look behind me at the community
that helped bring that together are commissioners
on the Board of Parks and Recreation Commission
who submitted their first recommendations in May.
The steadfast leadership of interim
Superintendent Christopher Williams.
Who has been a great pleasure to work with
in shaping not just that of investment
but in providing oversight for the massive surge
in maintenance that our Parks and Recreation teams
have been doing over the last six months.
And the result that we have seen in our parks and open spaces.
I remember what our parks and open spaces looked like in 2020.
It wasn't pretty.
The legacy that we inherited of our Olmsted Park System
was being challenged and our ability to maintain
it was being questioned.
But thanks to Superintendent William's leadership,
that is not a question anymore. We could go to any of our parks
and open spaces in the City of Seattle
and we can use them to the utmost --
to the fullest enjoyment.
And we're going to build on that work because we're not done.
But Superintendent Williams, thank you.
Thank you so much for your leadership
in a very challenging year
to restore our parks and open spaces.
But for your work, we would not have been able
to get an 8-1 vote on the council.
Your work has given a vote of confidence to go forward.
And that brings us forward to AP.
It's been really great over the last couple of days
to get to know AP
because we have a very strong vested interest
now that we've passed a robust investment package
for our parks.
Because until we're implementing that work,
those are just dreams that are on paper.
Before we can get an off-leash area,
before we can get climate-conscious improvements
in our community centers,
before we can open all of our comfort stations
to be used by members of the public,
we need a leader that's going to be able to organize
and implement that vision.
And with AP we have that nominee,
and I'm excited to stand here to support his nomination
to be the new superintendent of our Parks and Recreation system.
We need someone who's capable of navigating the planning,
the organizing, the environmental review process.
All of the red tape that goes into
getting something built in our community.
The outreach that AP has emphasized
is going to be one of the cornerstones of his vision
for his office in working with community,
working with district council members
who have things that they want to see in their districts
to fully realize the vision of their residents
and the neighborhoods of this city
where the parks are the focal point,
the parks are the gathering space
for so much of our quality of life in the City of Seattle.
With AP, we have the person to take the funded mandate
that is our renewal of the Metropolitan Park District.
The mandate that we can build on in this budget process,
to put even more focus on restoring our parks
and open spaces.
And making sure that they are the true gems of our community
that they always have been for our quality of life
in the City of Seattle.
So with that, I look forward after the budget
to duly considering AP's nomination in committee
and I hope for a swift and successful confirmation.
So thank you so much.
-Thank you, Council Member Lewis.
Before we take a few questions,
I'd love for Superintendent Christopher Williams
to share a few words. Mr. Williams, please.
-Thank you, Mayor. All right. Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you for your kind remarks earlier.
I've known the mayor for a long time.
I've even had dinner at his house before.
And I really appreciate his transformational leadership
that he's brought to the city.
And if you're in a job like the one I'm in
and a lot of the people standing behind me,
you really appreciate the opportunity
to sink your teeth into something tangible
that you can really,
you know, kind of grab a vision and move it forward.
And the mayor has provided that.
I want to take a minute and acknowledge
that the work of Parks and Recreation
really involves a whole bunch of community partners.
So we have Marlon Hererra and Jessica Farmer,
our Board of Parks and Recreation
Commissioner Co-chairs.
We've got Rebecca Bear from the Park Foundation.
Jackie Hyllseth from ARC,
and we have the Yesler Community Center staff here.
Raise your hand, guys, from Yesler.
They're a great team.
We also have a set of comprehensive
plan implementation partners from SDOT
and the Office of the Waterfront,
which is sort of a statement
about kind of this One Seattle vision
and how the great work of a great park system
involves a whole bunch of partners
and sort of this comprehensive plan approach.
I want to thank the mayor for doing his
due diligence in finding AP.
AP sat down and met with our executive team
here a few days ago and there was an immediate spark
and an immediate connection,
and it was pretty obvious to everyone that he knows his work.
He's going to bring a big vision, like the mayor said,
and we're just excited to be embracing AP
and to accompany him along as he walks around the community
and gets to know people.
So, Mayor, thank you so much for your confidence in me
during the time I was the interim superintendent
and look forward to continuing to serve the One Seattle vision.
Thank you so much.
-Thank you, Christopher.
Okay, we'll take a few questions.
Are there any questions?
I do remind you that when you do this kind of work
no questions are great, but if you have any questions,
I'd be more than happy to entertain any. Yes?
-Good morning, Mayor. My name is Roxanna.
My question for you is --
I guess, for the community as well.
What's your solution for the homeless
who are living in these parks?
-So the question, just for those who didn't hear,
what are my solutions for the homeless
who are living in our parks?
The answer is fairly simple - housing.
And not only just housing in terms of a roof
or heat or water but supportive housing.
We know that the road
to homelessness is different for many.
Some may have breakdowns in their family system.
Some may have drug addictions or other illnesses
that may prevent them from being
where they want to be in their life.
So we're working with the county,
working with the Regional Homelessness Authority,
working directly with grassroots organizations
to house those living in our parks.
Because we do not want our park system to be de facto housing.
We want them -- as I said during my budget speech,
we want them to have clean water.
We want them to live in habitable conditions.
So under our One Seattle vision,
we don't leave anyone around in the cold, we house them.
And so our work dealing with those
who are experiencing homelessness
will be even urgent.
And, quite candidly, AP understands that.
When AP and I had many discussions
about all of the issues in this city --
not just our parks and recreation facilities,
all of the issues - income inequality, racism,
education, homelessness. I need to know your views;
I want to understand how you see these things.
And those discussions culminated in me
asking him to be part of our One Seattle vision.
Thank you for the question. Any other questions?
Three, two, one. We're One Seattle.
Thank you very much.
[ Applause ]
-Group photo.