28 Facts About Bruce Harrell

Bruce Allen Harrell was born on October 10,1958 and is an American politician and attorney serving as the 57th and current mayor of Seattle, Washington.

Bruce Harrell was a member of the Seattle City Council from 2008 to 2020.

Bruce Harrell was acting mayor of Seattle from September 13 to 18,2017.

Bruce Harrell was elected mayor in his own right in the 2021 Seattle mayoral election, becoming the city's second Black mayor, and its first African-Asian American mayor.

Bruce Harrell attended Garfield High School and played football there as a linebacker, becoming named to the all-Metro team.

Bruce Harrell graduated from Garfield in 1976 as class valedictorian.

Bruce Harrell played for the Washington Huskies football team from 1976 to 1979 and was named to the 1979 All-Pacific-10 Conference football team.

Bruce Harrell received the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award, made the national Academic All-American First Team in football, and was named the Husky defensive player of the year.

Bruce Harrell graduated from the University of Washington in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law in 1984.

Bruce Harrell received the University of Washington Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007 and its Timeless Award in 2012.

Bruce Harrell was elected to the Seattle City Council in 2007.

In 2014, Bruce Harrell was the only dissenting vote when the City Council's land use committee voted to rezone the area around the Mount Baker Light Rail Station to permit dense housing construction.

Bruce Harrell unsuccessfully introduced amendments that would have delayed the upzoning indefinitely for further study and reduced the amount of housing that could be constructed near the public transit station.

Bruce Harrell won the November 2021 election and was sworn in as the 57th mayor of Seattle on January 1,2022.

Bruce Harrell appointed Adrian Diaz, the interim chief of the Seattle Police Department, to become permanent in September 2022.

Bruce Harrell appointed Gino Bettis, the former assistant state's attorney for Cook County, Illinois, as director of the Office of Police Accountability on August 1,2022.

On February 1 2022, Bruce Harrell announced the appointment of State Representative Jessyn Farrell as Director of Sustainability and Environment.

In July 2022, Bruce Harrell nominated Gregg Spotts as director of the Seattle Department of Transportation.

In September 2022, Bruce Harrell named Parks Anthony-Paul Diaz as Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent.

Bruce Harrell named his niece and former campaign manager, Monisha Bruce Harrell, as senior deputy mayor in 2021.

Bruce Harrell resigned the position in 2023 amidst disagreements on public safety issues.

In 2023, Bruce Harrell sought to limit the applicability of a new Washington state law that permitted construction of fourplexes and sixplexes in zones previously zoned exclusively for single-family housing.

Bruce Harrell's administration faced harsh criticism for continuing to remove homeless encampments during the heat wave.

In July 2022, Bruce Harrell's administration reversed a decision made by former mayor Jenny Durkan to allow the Department of Transportation to issue parking violation tickets instead of the Seattle Police Department.

In September 2022, Bruce Harrell signed Green New Deal legislation in Seattle allocating $6.5 million for climate projects in the city, including funding towards efforts to get city-owned buildings off fossil fuels by 2035.

Lisa Daugaard, the director of the Public Defender Association and overseer of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, a program to provide care for those who break the law due to extreme poverty, said that its relationship with Bruce Harrell was still "in good shape".

Bruce Harrell appointed his niece, Monisha, as senior deputy mayor from 2021 to 2023.

In 2022, Bruce Harrell was honored by Gold House.