At a press conference Wednesday, Vancouver mayor-elect Tim Leavitt called his electoral rival Royce Pollard "the foremost cheerleader for Vancouver for the past 20 years… he will forever be mayor."
From this humble beginning, Leavitt spent the rest of his first conference as mayor-elect focusing on five areas: budget, transparency, tolls, jobs and the arts.
Addressing the city's budget woes was at the top of Leavitt's list, with the mayor-elect promising to use Washington's Priorities of Government system to find money for local necessities. The system uses a series of simple questions to prioritize needs and then find money in a budget through efficiency, money exchanges and cuts, according to the Washington state government website.
"Gov. Gregoire's staff carried out the Priorities of Government program very well and I will work with the city's staff to adapt the model for the needs in Vancouver," Leavitt said.
Leavitt also plans to set up a Business Advisory Council to work with various groups within Vancouver to help bring more business to the area.
"It will revisit how the city works with local businesses, everything from impact fees, licensing costs, head taxes, incentives for tenant improvements. We need to give small business a leg up," Leavitt said.
For a crowd of around 50 supporters and gathered local media, Leavitt continued to speak out against proposed Columbia River Crossing tolls – a major plank of his mayoral campaign that may have made the difference in the race against the incumbent mayor.
He also promised to bring more of Vancouver's "changing demographics" into the decision making process, with quarterly town hall meetings held across the city, including at community centers, schools and other locations.
"On January 1 we start Vancouver's next chapter," Leavitt said.
