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Greg Nickels is the 51st Mayor of the City of Seattle.  Since becoming mayor in 2002, he focused on four priorities: getting Seattle moving, keeping neighborhoods safe, creating jobs and opportunity for all, and building health families and strong communities.

Nickels led the effort to build light rail in Seattle and worked with regional leaders to tackle longstanding problems such as replacing the dangerous Alaskan Way viaduct.  Nickels has made a strong commitment to public safety, hiring a record number of police officers and upgrading fire stations across the city.   As mayor, he has promoted investment in Seattle neighborhoods, supporting businesses to create good jobs.  And Nickels has put a priority on human services, protecting those less fortunate and funding thousands of units of low and moderate-income housing. 

Nickels has earned a national reputation for his leadership on climate protection.  Rolling Stone called him the "Pied Piper" of mayors for his work to protect our climate and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded him its 2006 Climate Protection Award.  Nickels launched "Seattle Climate Action Now," a grassroots effort to give everyone the tools to protect the climate by taking action at home, at work and on the road.

As a leader in the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Nickels began an effort to enlist mayors across the country to pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, meeting the standard of the Kyoto Protocol. The U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement now boasts more than 950 cities, representing 84 million Americans.

Getting Seattle Moving:  Nickels has worked since 1988 to create a light rail system and currently serves as Sound Transit board chairman.  He was a key leader in delivering a system that opens in 2009, connecting downtown, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley and communities south to the airport.  That system is now being expanded to Capitol Hill, the University District and Northgate.  In 2008, the Mayor led the effort to gain voter approval to expand further north and south and across Lake Washington to Bellevue and Redmond.  Nickels also backed construction of the city’s first modern streetcar.  The Lake Union line attracted more than a half-million riders in its first year and there is now funding to add to the streetcar network.

Nickels was instrumental in a plan to replace the dangerous Alaskan Way Viaduct.  The solution will reconnect downtown Seattle with the waters of Elliott Bay, by building a deep tunnel, rebuilding the Alaskan Way surface street and improving transit.  The mayor is also tackling a problem that has frustrated drivers for years—fixing the "Mercer Street Mess."  His "Bridging the Gap" program has doubled the City's annual capital investment for street and bridge maintenance as well as new sidewalks and bicycle lanes.  One of Nickels’ first actions as mayor was to urge drivers to call-in potholes (684-ROAD) and he directed crews to fill reported potholes within 48 hours.

Keeping Our Neighborhoods Safe:  Seattle is one of the safest big cities in America and has seen some of its lowest crime rates in 40 years.  In 2007, Mayor Nickels unveiled a Neighborhood Policing Initiative, calling for 154 new officers on the streets by 2012—a dramatic 25% increase in the patrol force.  Today, there are more officers on the police force than at any other time in the history of the Seattle Police Department.  To provide a faster and stronger approach to protecting neighborhoods, the plan calls for revising shifts to deploy officers where and when they’re needed most. 

Another priority in the Mayor’s public safety efforts has been making sure fire stations are prepared for emergencies such as a major earthquake.  Nickels proposed and voters approved a fire levy program to upgrade, renovate or replace fire stations in neighborhoods across Seattle.  The program has delivered a new fire training facility, improved marine fire response and new emergency facilities, including an emergency operations center.

Creating jobs and opportunity for all: Mayor Nickels pushed an aggressive jobs program, attracting new investment in Northgate, the University District and the Rainier Valley.  His South Lake Union Agenda has created thousands of jobs, supported development of a new biotech and life sciences hub, and provided new housing and open space for thousands of residents.  Following the 2001 California Energy Crisis, Nickels put Seattle City Light on a path to financial recovery and in 2006, proposed the largest City Light rate decrease in 35 years.  With a national recession beginning in 2008, Nickels announced "Seattle Jobs Forward," an initiative to accelerate projects and put people to work quickly.

Build strong families and healthy communities:  A longtime Seattleite with deep roots in the community, Nickels has worked side-by-side with City work crews and picked up litter with neighborhood volunteers at more than 100 Clean & Green Seattle work parties.  He has joined firefighters for dinner at every fire station, shared coffee with police officers, and reached out to community groups across the city.  He began the City's Race and Social Justice Initiative and improved services to the 100,000 immigrants who call Seattle home.

Despite difficult economic challenges in 2009, Nickels preserved funding to human services.  To address homelessness, Nickels has been a strong advocate for "Housing First," an innovative approach to take chronically homeless individuals off the streets and to give them a permanent place to stay without preconditions.  Under Nickels’ leadership, more than 350 Housing First units have been built, providing individuals with safe, decent housing where they can benefit from in-house medical and mental health services.

Deeply concerned about incidents of youth violence, the mayor started the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative to fundamentally change how the city and community engage and help young people.  To build a sense of community, Nickels partnered with United Way of King County to enlist 10,000 new volunteers in Seattle.  In 2008, he launched the "City of Music" campaign, honoring Seattle’s rich music history and celebrating its ongoing importance to the city’s economy and culture.

Nickels was named President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2009, promoting Seattle and the role of cities in the nation’s economic recovery.  On issues ranging from transportation to job creation, Nickels has urged direct investment in cities by the federal government to put people to work and stimulate the economy.

Nickels is the oldest of six children born to Robert C. and Kathie Nickels. Born in Chicago, he has lived in Seattle since age six. A graduate of Seattle Prep, he began his public service career at age 19 with the City of Seattle while attending the University of Washington.  He served as legislative assistant to then-City Councilmember Norm Rice from 1978 to 1987. In 1987, Nickels was elected to a seat on the King County Council where he served for 14 years.  His many public service accomplishments include working to make government more efficient by reforming Metro, protecting children from tobacco advertising, and preserving more green space.

Nickels and his wife Sharon own their home in West Seattle, not far from where Nickels grew up. Their son Jacob and daughter Carey both graduated from Seattle Public Schools and attended universities in Washington State.

Learn more about past Seattle mayors