North Seattle has not benefited from consistent representation at City Hall.
Cathy Moore, elected in 2023, resigned after two years for health reasons. Current interim Councilmember Debora Juarez will be replaced by whoever wins this November’s election to fill out the term. Another campaign for the council seat looms in 2027.
Residents who want an advocate instead of an ideologue ought to choose Julie Kang for Position 5.
As a doctor of philosophy and certified teacher, Kang held faculty roles in education at the University of Washington and Seattle University. In 2001, she co-founded a community bank to better serve small-business owners and ethnic communities, and she currently serves on the King County Immigrant and Refugee Commission.
Residents along Aurora Avenue North recently demanded action as a spate of shootings and chronic human trafficking and prostitution has left the neighborhood weary and unsettled.
Kang supports Moore’s ordinance to create Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution, which would allow police to arrest people known to cause problems. City Attorney Erika Evans said she will not enforce SOAP.
In addition, Kang supports the closed-circuit cameras along Aurora Avenue North that are linked to the Seattle Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center.
To decrease chronically slow SPD response times in North Seattle for the most serious 911 calls, Kang joins others on the council who want to increase the size of the department to 1,258 officers, up from about 985 currently.
“I’ve been a squeaky wheel in the community for the last three decades. Public safety is a core function of government, and Seattle needs enough officers to respond to violent crimes and emergencies. And right now, we don’t have that,” she told the board. “At the same time, we do need to expand CARE teams so behavioral health professionals can respond to appropriate calls as well.”
On housing, Kang rightly believes that, in addition to new construction, it is important to preserve the district’s current stock of older housing for folks with lower incomes.
City revenues have continued to balloon beyond population increases, but spending is growing even faster, leading to chronic budget shortfalls.
Kang believes the city cannot tax its way out of this conundrum, and that performance ought to determine which municipal programs continue and which must sunset.
The other candidates in the race are real estate broker Dimitri Georgakopoulos, University of Washington instructor Silas James and FairVote Washington political director Neeloofar “Nilu” Jenks.
Jenks unsuccessfully ran for the position in 2023. The most heavily funded of the candidates so far, Jenks told the editorial board she would vote to turn off the closed-circuit cameras on Aurora Avenue North out of concerns around federal immigration enforcement.
That’s a wrong move that won’t improve community safety.
Her campaign says she will champion the creation of 1,000 units of affordable housing in District 5, but when asked about how she would pay for the plan, she concedes it is an aspirational wish based on zoning changes instead of actual construction.
North Seattle voters deserve hardworking, honest representation in City Hall that reflects the concerns and values of the community. Endorsed by council members Joy Hollingsworth and Bob Kettle, Kang is the best candidate for Position 5.
