Mayor Bruce Harrell made a swing through West Seattle on May 12 to visit Fairmont Park Elementary School and some Junction businesses on his "One Seattle Community Connections tour" that ended with a community meeting.

At the school he was joined by members of his staff and Seattle Public Schools  Superintendent Brent Jones (whom he noted he has known for 40 years). Also present were Seattle DEEL Director Dwane Chappelle, and local NAACP president Gerald Hankerson who presented flowers funded by the Fairmount Park PTA to thank the school front office staff and do a few classroom visits. This was a  joint event planned and organized by the FPE PTA led by Alicia Saka and the mayors office to honor our teachers.

They stopped by Ms Sisson’s 3rd grade class and heard their classroom song, and took questions from the students. Next up was Ms Crystal's 5th grade classroom where the Mayor shared how he works with SPS and the students proved to capable of asking good questions. One asked pointedly about his plans to revitalize downtown. The Mayor replied and spoke about making it safer, getting those with drug addiction into treatment, and promoting more cultural events to attract more people. He also suggested that improved lighting on city streets would help make downtown safer and more attractive.

From the school he headed up to the Junction meeting with the owner of Snip-Its Haircuts for kids at 4506 California Ave SW. Owner Kimora Lee. They spoke about the nature of the business, about keeping kids occupied while they get their hair cut. She said that kids pretty much tell parents how they want it cut these days with shaved sides the trend for summer. You can find them online at https://local.snipits.com/seattle-wa or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/snipitswestseattle/?hl=en

Down the street was Pegasus Book Exchange where he met with Shanna Hill, Elijah Brooks, and Eric Ogriseck and bought some books. He took some questions and explained his belief in small business and how he view ethics in politics, noting that he doesn't accept free things as Mayor and happily paid for his books.

Next up was Easy Street Records. Owner Matt Vaughan took the Mayor down memory lane as they looked through records. The mayor found Superfly by Curtis Mayfield noting "I grew up listening to this music" but confessed his turntable is in storage. "This is the best excuse to bring it out," he said. The mayor bought about four albums.

No visit to West Seattle wouid be complete without a stop at Husky Deli and owner Jack Miler was there to greet him and hand him a Chocolate Raspberry ice cream cone.

Lastly, the Mayor met with community members and business people to hear their concerns and take a measure of their attitude. The meeting was closed to the press.