Greg Nickels

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Gregory J. "Greg" Nickels (born August 7, 1955) became the 51st and current mayor of Seattle, Washington on January 1, 2002. He was elected to a second term November 8, 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, 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 addition to being mayor of Seattle, Nickels is on the executive committee and 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.

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. He now lives in West Seattle with his wife Sharon. They have two children, Jacob and Carey.

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Notable events during his tenure

Broke ground for Sound Transit light rail project in November, 2003.
Signed an executive order in 2004 giving everyone who works for Seattle city government and is married equal rights regardless of sexual orientation.
Led the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2005 to unanimously support local efforts to adhere to the Kyoto Protocol.

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