Dan Eder sworn in as director of City Budget Office

Thanks for being here.
I'm really excited,
Dan, to say a few words about you and embarrass you and Joela a little bit.
That's always the mayor’s
privilege on these exciting days.
A few things.
We all know why we're here.
To celebrate the close,
it was a 5-4 vote for your confirmation.
No, it was unanimous.
As director of the city budget office during a critical time.
Not just for our city, but I think in our country.
I want to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules
to celebrate.
You know, I always say repeatedly,
you got to find things to celebrate almost every single day in life.
And clearly, this is one of them.
Joela, thank you for, being with him.
Probably leading him, through very tough times that we have.
And so I'll talk a little bit about that.
For those that don't know, what our budget office does.
I don't know all what they do, by the way.
My jokes are a little flat this morning.
This is funny stuff I'm throwing out here.
I got to broaden my laughter here a little bit.
They balance our books and develop options for the mayor
and the city council to consider when we are looking at the quality
of services that people expect and indeed they deserve in our city.
I think as departments go,
they're sort of the, I would say the brain center,
the nerve center, and what we could do, we always want more resources.
And you and I, it come into the state around the same time in 2008,
and I don't recall a time where every department
and every constituent said more, more, more.
And we understand that, Seattle is a very demanding city and rightfully so.
We're a phenomenal city.
So your office looks at how we can sort of navigate
through all of these challenges and indeed in an area where in a time
where cuts in front of funding, they're targeting vital programs
to, to our services that meet in clearly many of our most vulnerable neighbors.
Your work and the work of your colleagues here.
And I see many of the CBO here.
I'm very happy that you are here.
Your work becomes incredibly important.
I think more so now than ever before, at least in my professional life.
So, thank you.
I am not talking to you, Dan,
talking about all the people that have come here to support you.
I've learned, many years ago that
success is not a
one person's journey.
You can't have success without a team,
and you have a very successful team
doing outstanding work.
You know, I,
when I'm around people, I always say
try to lead with integrity.
Lead with your values.
Lead with who you are.
And I'm very pleased with the level of competency
and the level of integrity coming out of your office.
These are tough jobs we have, we sign up for.
We did, it was a blue pill and a red pill.
I don't know what pills in the matrix.
This was the pill you took.
But the pill we all took is to serve this public and servant with
integrity and a commitment to a people outside of ourselves.
So thank you, Dan. A little bit about Dan's background.
He went to Swarthmore College.
Many of you know, that's one of the top liberals
arts colleges in the country, at least in Philadelphia.
Full, full, full honesty here.
I didn't know what, who
or what Swarthmore was until my son started looking at colleges.
And I, we looked at some of those, small colleges
which realized, there's a reason why I'm not retired, by the way.
Because these are not cheap schools.
But you then, came to your senses and got your,
graduate degree from, you're an MPA from the University of Washington.
So I know you're still a true, Husky at heart.
I haven't, I don't know about Swarthmore’s...
are they in NESCAC or?
They... do you know which conference?
You don't even know what conference they're in.
But they didn't make it to the Final Four.
We know that much for a
Division three school.
But as I said earlier.
Yeah, you and I joined the city family back in 2008.
And I will tell you, it's a fun fact that when I had, won my election
and I started thinking about the team that I wanted to develop
and was one of the first
people I bumped into, when I called and reached out.
Fun fact again, is actually bumped into you.
Remember when I was in Costco, Costco shoppers.
And we had a great conversation and,
I was removed from city politics for a short period, and I just
you always just impressed me with just sort of who you are.
Joela, I see why you fell in love with him. I fell in love with this guy, too.
So, just how you carry yourself with such
an analytical thinker, it's easy
to get emotional about these issues.
It is.
Trust me, it is.
But when you push the emotions aside and just look at trying
to do the right thing and make smart policy decisions, whether it's
tax policy or reducing expenses
to push the emotions aside and just think about it very soberly.
I think you're the best and I can learn from you as mayor because I
when we worked together on this city council, you always impressed
upon me and how you were able to logically do that.
Plus, you used to always do this thing
where you

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