EVERETT -You don’t have to be a CEO, major campaign contributor, a mover or a shaker to get a morning coffee meeting with the mayor.
With the introduction this week of the first Mayor’s Coffee Hour, anyone may join Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson for a 25-cent cup of joe.
Three dozen seniors met with the mayor Tuesday for the first of what will be a bimonthly coffee talk at the Everett Senior Center.
Plastic-foam cup in hand, the mayor brought the seniors up to date on what’s happening in Everett, from budget woes to his newly created Vision Committee.
Stephanson allowed time for questions, with topics ranging from the city’s increasing vehicle thefts to the possibility of a four-year university in Everett.
The 10:30 a.m. coffee hour actually lasted only 45 minutes, with the seniors heading off to a lunch of baked fish and roasted potatoes.
The coffee chat was one of dozens of neighborhood, community and city staff meetings the mayor attends each month to “stay grounded.”
“What I don’t want to do is sit on the 10th floor of the Wall Street Building and pretend that I know what’s going on,” Stephanson told the seniors.
The mayor said his approach to leadership hinges on approachability.
“The information that I get (at these meetings) affects how I govern,” he said. “It helps me prioritize the things we should be working on. I just can’t get that if I stay in my office.”
Everett’s seniors in particular don’t pull any punches, he said. They tell him exactly what’s on their minds.
Dorothy Sanders, 64, who takes her coffee with sugar-free Irish cream, said she’s not really into politics but appreciates the mayor’s efforts.
“At least he thinks he’s not so aloof that he can’t talk to the common person,” Sanders said. “We vote for them, we pay their wages, so I think we should have more meetings like this.”
Don Gray, 83, drinks black coffee and said he appreciated the city news update.
“It’s a good deal,” he said. “You know what’s going on. Plus, (Stephanson) gets feedback from people.”
City spokeswoman Kate Reardon, whose sometimes uses cream or sugar in her coffee “but never both at the same time,” said attending grass-roots gatherings is a good way for city leaders to stay informed.
“On any given day, we hear from a small majority of the people on any given issue,” she said.
But since he took office, the mayor has heard an earful.
Whether residents’ feedback is positive or negative, they seem to enjoy personally talking with the mayor, Stephanson said.
But is Stephanson, a lover of black coffee, in it just for the java?
He drinks it all day – “morning until night.”
“It’s an Icelandic thing,” he said, chuckling.
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