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My First Week

I have now officially been mayor for a little over a week.

I don’t know how I imagined my first week would be. I know it probably didn’t involve a fire, a heart attack by my predecessor or a Polar Vortex.

I did imagine it a whirlwind experience, filled with people from every neighborhood, visits to every corner of the city – a reminder of the great honor and responsibility I’ve been given.

And that’s what it was, and so much more.

I shared my vision with a packed crowd at City Hall, read to kids at North Regional Library, and took city council members and other local leaders on a tour of our transit priorities. At one listening session, low-wages workers shared stories of the struggles they face, while at another, community members talked about the racial inequities they deal with on a daily basis.

I visited with a group of women working on development at Cornerstone Group, a group of men with MAD DADS focused on promoting and demonstrating positive images of fathers, and a group of students at the University of Minnesota to talk about how to address crime on campus. I spent an afternoon with local leaders at a Somali mall and an evening with members of the Downtown Council.

I talked about how we embrace the winter, shared in Shabbat services at a local synagogue, live-tweeted my favorite movie, joined partners like Chief Harteau and the Minneapolis police department to talk about the safety of our city, and took a moment to recognize the economic vitality of our city.

We also came together for a celebration, which was unlike anything I’d ever been to before. Through music, poetry, comedy, art, food and more, the evening was a sweet, magical and perfect celebration of our city.

There was so much more – too much to mention here – as we tried to make the most of every minute.

We celebrated together, and we mourned together.

And I realize while no week will ever be exactly like this one, they will all include that balance.

As your mayor, I look forward to celebrating with you in good times. We will work together – diligently – to solve the problems our great city faces. We will mourn when tragedy strikes our community, coming together in the way that puts us on the path to being One Minneapolis.

Thank you to everyone who supported me this first week. Let us continue to heed the call, which I shared at my inauguration Monday:

“To be more than just a great city, to be a new city: shining as a beacon brightly enough to show our nation and the world that when we come together as a people, in government and in community, it is possible to be transformed.”

Here’s to week two.