As one of Councilor at Large Gerly Adrien’s most engaged supporters during her mayoral run, we are left to wonder: what has happened to her?
She has not attended a council meeting since she lost the primary.
Many, many Everett people and her supporters have taken notice of this.
Some of us who have lost money, position, possessions and loved ones during a long life, would very politely remind Councilor Adrien that losing is one thing.
Winning is not everything.
When you lose, as Adrien did, it is a defining moment in her young life – but it is not the end and should not be treated like the end.
There is a great deal of pride to be taken in making the run, giving the effort, putting oneself on the line for all the chips on a big bet.
Losing is not the end of the world.
It is actually the beginning of a new moment.
Stepping entirely back from public life and her public position is not consistent with the power and energy of the city’s first Black woman elected to the city council.
Nor is her withdrawal understood by those of us who cheered her on when she topped the ticket in that historic race.
How she was bludgeoned by some of her colleagues on the council, how she was criticized and diminished by their complaints, is nothing compared with her absence from city government since she lost in the primary.
We would be among the first in the public realm to say that Adrien has nothing to be ashamed of.
Losing isn’t a crime.
The crime is allowing one’s bitterness to complicate the effort of moving on with grace, of giving those who supported her the satisfaction of knowing that their candidate still has something to say and to contribute to city government and to what is right and wrong, until the new council is sworn in in January.
We urge Adrien to attend the next meeting of the council so she can have her say about the mayor’s longevity payment.
She owes this to the voters and to the taxpayers and to the residents from all walks of life who supported her.
Most of all, she owes this to herself and to her sense of pride and right and wrong.