Formal meeting, so we won't be gaveling in. But I'm pleased to welcome you all here for our inauguration of council member elect Molly Coleman. And as council member Buoy told me, it's very exciting to have another, central alum joining us, and so I am dressed I am dressed accordingly. So with that I am pleased to welcome our mayor Melvin Carter first to say a few words. Welcome, mayor. Council president Nanker, members of the city council, it's so wonderful to be here. Congratulations to us all, council member elect Still Coleman. It is wonderful to see you in this space. I've gotten a chance to know you for a very long time. Back to your days at Central High School,
which for the record, I too am a Saint Paul Central High School graduate. We are in an era that needs leaders like you. We're reminded every day of the solemnness of the task that we take on. We in this space have navigated a number of existential crises over just the last eight years or so, ranging from a pandemic to the murder of George Floyd, to civil unrest, to a cyber attack. And just this morning, we woke up to fresh news of just how important our work is to guide community and to care for people in community.
If it would be okay, council president, I'd love to ask us, the the the folks gathered in this space today, to join me in a moment of silence for the victims in the mass shooting event that occurred in Minneapolis this morning. Thank you. Council president, members of the city council, through the the height of the pandemic, I told my team a simple thing many times, and that is that in, nobody cares who captains a ship at sea during a calm and sunny day, that you give me the wheel on a calm,
sunny day at sea, and I can probably point the nose of that ship in the general direction that it needs to go. But when the winds come up, when the rains come down, and when the waves beat hard, that's when leadership really matters. That's when leadership really shows. And it is an honor to welcome you, council member Coleman, at a time when we have an opportunity to lead. We have an opportunity to demonstrate what leadership can look like, what leadership can mean, and what incredible leadership the difference that it can make in community and in specific people's lives.
It's an honor to have you join in this space, at this time with this historic council in this pivotal time for our city. We are excited to have have you, join this space to continue our work together with this council to meet the moment, and all the demands, that this moment requires. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge, my mentor, my friend, and my longtime coworker and colleague, former mayor Chris Coleman, who's in this space. It's wonderful to see you, as well as former first lady Connie Coleman and the entire Coleman family. Congratulations to you all,
for, Molly Coleman joining the family business of public service. Thank you all and congratulations. I look forward to our continued work together. Thank you very much, mayor. I don't know about you, but I am tired of saying council member elect Molly Coleman. So who's ready to make it official? Council member elect Coleman, one of the things that I have really enjoyed about getting to know you just over the last couple of months is seeing how you both take the work so seriously and also are a whole person and balance the work. I could have said it better with your family.
And so I think it says a lot, that you're gonna be sworn in just now, along with your family standing behind you. So I welcome all of you up right now. Can you raise your right hand and repeat after me? I state your name. I am Molly Coleman. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. To support the constitutions. To support the constitutions. Of The United States Of America. Of The United States Of America. And the state of Minnesota. And of the state of Minnesota. And that I will discharge faithfully. And that I will discharge faithfully. The duties defaulting upon me. The duties falling upon me As a city council member As a city council member
of the city of city of of the city of city of to the best of my judgment and the best of my judgment and ability. And ability. Congratulations. Council member Coleman. That's right. Would you like to say a few words? I would. Thank you all. Thank you all so much for being here. Thank you, president Nigger. Thank you to mayor Carter. Thank you to everybody, my new colleagues on council. I am so delighted to be here. I'm so honored to have so many people in this room who I have known some for a very long time, some who I have gotten to know over the course of the last five to six months. It is such an honor and privilege to be standing here as the new council
member for Ward 4. I want to first just extend my immense gratitude to our outgoing interim council member, council member Matt Porowski, who has served our ward and our city so well. He's saying that he's here to be fired, which I don't think is exactly what this is. But sure. And, of course, to former council president Mitra Jalali who set the bar so high for what it looks like to be a progressive principled leader for Ward 4 for the city of Saint Paul. I am very, very big shoes to fill to to fill,
and I'm so grateful for her leadership, for our community. Also, to former former Ward four council member Russ Stark, our chief resilience officer, we just have such a long legacy in Ward 4 of folks who have really shown up, shown what it means to be in community, to fight for community, to fight for a better city, and I hope to be able to continue on that work over the next three years. I hope somebody wants me to keep this short, so I will. I I just want to say I ran for city council for three reasons. The first, I love the city of Saint Paul. The second, I believe that we have a duty to build an economically just city.
The third, I believe that we have an obligation to build a functional democracy here in the city of Saint Paul. And as we heard in the mayor's remarks, I think that moment is so daunting. There's so much work in front of us, both locally and when we look at the state of our country. I could not be more optimistic about our ability to do this work. I am so excited about the ability to join this council that has been such a strong source of leadership for our city for two years, almost two years now with this council. And I'm so, so looking forward to the work ahead.
The last thing that I want to say is just a huge, huge thank you to the central staff on city council, Jay, and everybody else who has been so generous in getting me up to speed over the last week, two weeks, ten days. I don't know. However long I have been showing up in this building to try to learn what we do here and how we do it and to make sure that Ward 4 gets the immediate leadership that we deserve in our community. So with that, I think we are headed out to get cookies. Thank you all. Thank you all so, so much for being here. Alright. Let's go eat.