Pub. Note: Click HERE if you haven’t read the fantastical Mayor’s Fate of the City Address, where John Shannon was announced as director of the new Homeless Central—a “first step” in quelling the growing homeless/drug/mental health/crime crisis. OK—now that you’ve joined the hundreds of others who have read the Address—let the fantasy continue…
So, just who is this John Shannon? The Seattle mayor’s office has yet to issue a press release on the appointment, but our resourceful marketingnw.com staff did some digging, and here’s what we learned.
Shannon will celebrate his 60th birthday next February 29th (actually his 15th, being a Leap Year baby!). He has a strong background in business, deep roots in the community and is planning to work “for at least another decade.” He holds an engineering degree from the University of Washington, where he met his wife, Catherine, and both are rabid Husky alums. Their two adult children are UW graduates, as well.
He worked in the power industry in the Northwest for about five years and spent another three in the local printing industry before his entrepreneurial bent overtook him. Thirty years ago, he bought controlling interest in INK-WELL, a large-format printing company originally located in the Denny Triangle.
When property values in the Triangle began taking off, he used proceeds from the sale of his building and lot to move to larger facilities in the SoDo District, east of the two stadiums. There he grew the staff from four to more than 30 and quadrupled revenues, serving a variety of high-end clients.
A year ago, a larger competitor acquired INK-WELL and kept Shannon on staff to work through the transition, handling the accounts he had brought with him. Ironically, he was “looking for new challenges” when he got a call from a staffer in the mayor’s office.
“It was straight out of the blue,” John said, “I had no clue why they were calling. The first thing I thought about was whether I had any outstanding traffic tickets,” he chuckled. He went on to explain that the anonymous person who had suggested the Homeless Central idea to the mayor apparently knew about his situation and background and had recommended his name.
As a volunteer, John had worked on a number of homeless projects in the city over the years and, coincidentally, had just had lunch with the director of one of the missions to see how he could be of assistance. Now, the shoe is on the other foot with his director friend.
“When I met with the mayor. she said that I’d been fully vetted by her staff and that they settled on me for the position because of my extensive business background, my work with the homeless and my collaborative approach to problem solving,” Shannon said. “Despite that, I still had some reservations about taking the job. But when the mayor told me I’d be working directly for her, that sealed the deal. I wasn’t about to take a job that would get bogged down in the bureaucracy from the get-go.” He said he’ll have full authority to tap personnel and resources in any area of the city’s operations, needing only the mayor’s approval.
John’s a long-time resident of an upscale neighborhood just west of downtown Bellevue. His hillside home has an unobstructed view of the Seattle skyline that continues to grow—along with the squalor and insecurities in the streets below. He credits his several years as president of the homeowners’ association with honing his skills as a negotiator.
His wife is an executive at Overlake Hospital, his son is an Alaska Airlines pilot and his daughter works in the IT department at Nordstrom. Ironically, her husband is an anchor at KOMO-TV, which aired the Seattle Is Dying documentary that is driving the demand for solutions to the complex crisis.
Shannon described himself as “a bit right of center” in his political views, but he was quick to echo the words from the mayor’s Address: “This not about Conservative or Liberal, or Republican or Democrat. This is about humanity,” adding: “I can’t talk a lot more about the job just yet, but I can promise you that there will be action.”
He’ll begin work April 10, with the initial task of locating space for Homeless Central. We’ve learned that his annual salary will be $250,000, which is on par with other major city department heads.
Back to reality once more…
Actually, there’s more fantasy in the spine-tingling saga that Ted Leonhardt is weaving about the potential of creative co-ops (a real entity) to deal with the alarming problems of a dystopian world. See the latest installment—Chapter 3: The Challenge.
And be sure to read Stanton On… My Walk, as we also continue to explore the actual situation on the streets of Seattle. And for those who’ve not yet voted on the Homeless Central idea, please do so below:
If you haven’t already, please cast your vote below:
[polldaddy poll=10282613]
—Larry Coffman
