Greg Nickels

Gregory J. "Greg" Nickels (born August 7, 1955) is the 51st and current mayor of Seattle, Washington. He took office on January 1, 2002.

Background

Nickels, the oldest of six siblings, was born in Chicago to Bob and Kathie Nickels. In 1961, his family moved to Seattle, where he graduated from Seattle Preparatory School and attended the University of Washington.

Nickels was legislative assistant to Seattle City Council member and future mayor Norm Rice from 1979 to 1987. Nickels was elected to the King County Council in 1987, defeating longtime incumbent Bob Grieve, and reelected in 1991, 1995 and 1999. In 2001, he was elected Mayor of Seattle and was re-elected in 2005.

He is a member of the Washington State Democratic Party and serves as Vice President of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. Nickels serves on the board of directors of Sound Transit. Since 2003, he has also been the chair of the Transportation and Communications Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and serves on the Conference's Board of Trustees. He now lives in West Seattle with his wife Sharon. They have two children, Jacob and Carey. In August 2007, his son Jacob pled guilty to one count of conspiracy for his part in a multi-state casino-cheating ring that stole money from casinos by bribing casino employees to false shuffle decks of cards. [cite news | url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003861123_webnickels30m.html | title=Jacob Nickels pleads guilty in casino scam | author=Christine Clarridge | publisher = The Seattle Times | date=2007-08-30 | accessdate2=2007-09-04]

Nickels has had several notable events during his tenure as mayor of Seattle. In 2003, he helped to break ground for the Sound Transit light rail project in November, and signed an executive order in 2004 giving equal rights to everyone who is married and works for Seattle city government regardless of sexual orientation.

Affiliations

Nickels is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, [cite web| url=http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml| title=Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members] a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Environmental record

In 2005, Nickels announced an “Environmental Action Agenda” with the goal of protecting air quality and public health. The primary goal of the agenda is to reduce Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions “to meet or beat” the levels stipulated in the Kyoto protocols. [ [http://www.cityofseattle.net/environment/ Office of Sustainability and Environment Home Page ] ] Nickels spearheaded the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, an accord between over 600 US cities committed to reducing greenhouse emissions. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6366349.stm BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Climate of hope: US cities lead the way ] ] [ [http://usmayors.org/climateprotection/ClimateChange.asp Mayors Climate Protection Center: The Agreement ] ] Nickels won the 2006 Climate Protection Award from the Environmental Protection Agency, the 2006 Edgar Wayburn Award for Environmental leadership from the National Sierra Club, and the 2006 National Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation. [ [http://www.epa.gov/cppd/awards/2006winners.html#ia 2006 Climate Protection Award Winners | Climate Protection Partnerships | US EPA ] ] [ [http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=6321&Dept=40 Nickels and Sims Receive Prestigious Sierra Club Award ] ] [ [http://www.nwf.org/news/story.cfm?pageId=F777103D-B055-8244-8576E7AA592F7999 Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels Honored for Conservation Leadership - National Wildlife Federation ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/ Seattle Mayor's Office]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8291649/ Mayor leads crusade against global warming: Seattle's Greg Nickels interviewed about how he got peers to go along] , June 20, 2005
* [http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/climate/ Mayor Greg Nickels' Climate Protection Page]
* [http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=4166&dept=40/ Mayor Signs Executive Order Recognizing Same Sex Marriage]
* [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/seattle_mayor.html CityMayors profile]