He set about trying to build a more diverse staff. As he promised in his campaign, he took on little stuff, like potholes and sidewalks. His stable of political advisers grew. Nickels won the election by just 3, votes.
But he proved unafraid to take political risks. Many of them paid off, but his approach to the messy work of government hurt his image. Early on, Nickels took on development restrictions in two stymied Seattle neighborhoods: South Lake Union, where Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was a major landowner; and Northgate, where neighborhood groups had battled for years over future development.
He set about persuading people that to have a bustling, diverse, hour-city, you need density. Nickels believes density and environmentalism go together, so he pushed for taller buildings, new condos in neighborhoods, and more dense development along bus lines and in urban centers. Critics said he was too close to developers and gave away too much, especially to Allen, who teamed up with the city to build a streetcar line in South Lake Union.
Nickels spent what might have been his last bit of political capital on an agreement with the state to tear down the Alaskan Way Viaduct and replace it with a tunnel. He was the oldest of their six children, with four brothers and a sister. The family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, in and lived there for five years before moving to Seattle in They lived in West Seattle until , then moved to Capitol Hill.
In the s Robert Nickels made a complete career change when he left Boeing, passed the Washington bar, and began practicing law he had earned a law degree back in Illinois, but never previously practiced. He founded a private, nonprofit public-defense firm that represented juveniles in trouble who did not have anyone to advocate for them. Greg Nickels later said his father's example reinforced his decision to go into politics: "That was the big lesson to me. That was 'follow your dream'" Chan.
The younger Nickels worked on Mayor Wes Uhlman's b. Senator Warren G. Magnuson He was elected president of the King County Young Democrats in , and served as president of the Washington State Young Democrats from to In early , when he was 19, Nickels went to work for the City of Seattle.
He worked first as a purchasing trainee, a job that lasted a little more than a year. After a hiatus in the summer and autumn of to work on Uhlman's unsuccessful campaign for governor, he returned to work in the city's Department of Community Development as a grants and contracts specialist.
He later explained that he ran for county council instead of city council because he thought the county council made wider-reaching decisions.
Nickels seemed an unlikely candidate given his limited name recognition and experience, especially since Greive was well-known and generally well-regarded. The incumbent was a former state Senate majority leader, and he'd been on the council since However, he was also 67 years old an age perhaps considered to be somewhat older and closer to retirement in than it is in the twenty-first century , and there were reports that he occasionally seemed confused, sometimes dozed in council meetings, and often missed votes.
Liberal Democrats complained that he ignored their interests, and his generous pension benefits also became an issue. Nickels was in the right place at the right time, and picked up the support of several influential Democrats and union leaders. He won in the primary that September, and was unopposed in the general election.
At age 32, he became the youngest person elected to the county council up to that time in King County's history. Taking office in January , Nickels became known for his work on transportation issues.
During his first year on the council he co-sponsored a measure that led to an advisory vote on building a regional light-rail system. The vote helped win state legislation that in turn led to the formation in of a regional transit authority that later became known as Sound Transit.
Nickels served as the first finance chairman of Sound Transit and later in became chairman of its Board of Directors. As a county councilmember he was a proponent of the restoration of Seattle's Union Station, which became Sound Transit's headquarters. He was also an open-space advocate during these years and promoted the Open Space bond measure protecting open spaces in the county from overdevelopment.
Nickels won reelection to the county council in , , and , but lost in a run for county executive in In he ran in the primary for Seattle mayor, but even with Mayor Rice's endorsement, lost to Paul Schell , who went on to win the office, and Charlie Chong Not dissuaded by the defeat, he ran again in Despite Nickels's years of experience in Seattle politics he was plagued by a lack of name recognition outside of West Seattle, even though The Seattle Times pointed out in a article that he had represented Seattle voters longer than any of his 11 opponents in the primary that year, including his two main opponents, Mayor Schell and City Attorney Mark Sidran b.
But he again was in the right place at the right time. Schell, who had beaten Nickels in , had fallen from grace after the World Trade Organization WTO protests in downtown Seattle, the Fat Tuesday riots in , and the move of Boeing's headquarters to Chicago that same year.
He became the first incumbent mayor to lose in a primary in more than 60 years when both Sidran and Nickels outpolled him and nine other candidates in the September primary. During the general-election campaign that followed, Sidran amassed a two-to-one funding advantage and a large majority of press endorsements.
He was a Democratic candidate in the election for Washington Secretary of State. He lost in the "top-two" primary election on August 7, finishing third behind Kim Wyman R and Kathleen Drew D , who squared off in the general election on November 6, Nickels was born in Chicago, but grew up in Seattle with his five younger siblings. He attended Seattle Prep and then went on to pursue higher education at the University of Washington, where he began his public service career at age 19 with the City of Seattle.
Nickels became legislative assistant to then-City Councilmember Norm Rice in , and remained in the position until , when he was elected to the King County Council.
Nickels served two terms as Mayor of Seattle, and sought a third, but was defeated in the primary. Since then, he taught a semester at Harvard and served a one-year term as a special representative to the United Nations. Greg Nickels was Mayor of Seattle from He lost his re-election bid for mayor in the Democratic primary. Nickels was a popular mayor for the better part of his two terms, making substantial strides in promotion of environmental conservation, public safety, and public transportation.
His defeat came as a surprise; It was widely speculated that his sinking approval ratings leading up to the election were the result of poor handling of the city during an exceptionally snowy winter, and the loss of the Seattle SuperSonics.
Nickels was elected to the King County City Council in , and from , until he was elected Mayor of Seattle. Nickels ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in He faced 6 other candidates in the August 7 blanket primary election, in which he will needed more votes than at least 5 of his opponents, regardless of party preference, to advance to the general election in Novemeber.
On his campaign site, Nickels discussed his commitment to raising voter awareness and participation in Washington elections. As mayor, he focused on four priorities: getting Seattle moving, keeping neighborhoods safe, creating jobs and opportunity for all, and building strong families and healthy communities. Nickels led the effort to build light rail in Seattle and worked with regional leaders to tackle longstanding transportation problems. Nickels made a strong commitment to public safety, hiring a record number of police officers and upgrading fire stations across the city.
As mayor, he promoted investment in Seattle neighborhoods, supporting businesses to create good jobs. And Nickels put a priority on protecting those less fortunate and creating affordable housing. Nickels earned a national reputation for his leadership on climate protection.
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