Where Seattle's District 5 council candidates differ most
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Cathy Moore (left) and ChrisTiana ObeySumner (right). Photo illustration: Axios Visuals; Photos: Courtesy of the campaigns
Voters in North Seattle's District 5 will soon decide who they want to be their next City Council member: an ex-judge who favors a new law that lets the city prosecute low-level drug crimes or a former social service worker who opposes the new policy.
What's happening: Cathy Moore, who has served as a King County judge and a public defender, is running for City Council against ChrisTiana ObeySumner, the CEO of a social equity consulting firm who has previously worked at organizations that help people experiencing homelessness.
Why it matters: Whoever wins will be one of four new faces to join the Seattle City Council in 2024, shaping the political direction of the nine-member body.
State of play: District 5, which includes the North Seattle neighborhoods of Lake City, Broadview, Pinehurst, Northgate and Maple Leaf, is currently represented by Debora Juarez, who isn't seeking re-election.
Zoom in: ObeySumner and Moore both told Axios that they think some sort of progressive tax revenue will be needed to help bridge the city's budget shortfall, which is projected to grow to over $220 million in 2025.
- But on other issues, they showed stark contrasts. Here are three big ones.
Police budget
- ObeySumner thinks responses to many calls, such as welfare checks and mental health incidents, should be moved out of the police department's purview.
- They say they would seek to analyze how much the police department spends on responding to those types of calls, then reduce the department's budget by a proportionate amount, shifting that money toward new alternative responses like teams of social service workers.
- Moore opposes reducing the police budget, saying she wants to hire hundreds more officers and expand alternative 911 responses without making cuts to SPD.
Encampment removals
- Moore said she wants to ramp up shelter options, including tiny homes and safe parking lots for people living in RVs. At the same time, she said the city still needs to clear encampments, which she said are too often hotbeds for gun violence and drug use.
- "To me, saying that, 'Well, we don't have enough shelter, so we're just going to let people be on the street' — I don't accept that," Moore told Axios.
- ObeySumner said that people who are concerned about seeing neighbors living outside should "redirect that energy" to helping meet those people's underlying needs.
- "I don't think we should have any sweeps," ObeySumner said, stressing that the city's current practice of encampment removals "needs to be stopped immediately."
Drug prosecutions
- ObeySumner opposes a new law that allows the Seattle city attorney to prosecute low-level drug crimes, supporting instead the expansion of overdose prevention centers and other services.
- "We know that criminalization of drug use does not work," ObeySumner told Axios, citing "the failure that was the war on drugs."
- Moore said she would have voted for the new drug law and thinks that sometimes the threat of prosecution is necessary to get people to agree to treatment.
What's next: The candidates will face each other in a televised debate at 7pm Tuesday. Ballots go out in the mail the next day.
Go deeper: A guide to the 2023 election in Seattle