We have a city government that does not care about you or your concerns. Our council president disregards constituents, acts without regard for their interests, and fosters a toxic workplace that undermines the democratic process.
As your city council member, I will prioritize listening to every constituent and delivering on what you want and need. I want to create a vibrant city that works for you, not one that feeds into the egos of politicians.
✓ As your council member, I will always be here to listen and represent you and your interests. I will do this by:
Holding monthly office hours throughout the city and virtually, listening to every constituent's concerns, and doing everything in my power to help them.
Ensuring every constituent who wants to speak at a public comment gets time to talk and is heard.
Ensuring that council staff work for all council members, not just the majority.
Fight the bullying and the toxic workplace created under the Council President Nelson.
A True Green New Deal
When the Jumpstart Tax was implemented in 2021, the idea was to use that money for critical Seattle issues: affordable housing, economic revitalization, and Green New Deal projects. So far, this council has prioritized the Jumpstart Tax revenue to fill budget holes and increase funds towards SPD. As your city council member, I pledge to reduce the overreliance on Jumpstart revenue to fund the general fund and utilize the money as it was intended to be spent.
When FDR implemented the New Deal in the 1930s, it was to revitalize the American economy during the Great Depression by creating good-paying jobs for hard-working Americans. In 2025, as we navigate our financial and environmental struggles under the Trump Administration, we need to create a new jobs program that benefits the average Seattleite while preserving our environment for future generations.
✓ As your council member, I will:
I will advocate for a Green New Deal that creates local, well-paying union jobs, ensuring a healthy and sustainable economy, community, and environment
Focus on expanding our tree canopy in neighborhoods with limited tree coverage, such as the Chinatown International District and South Seattle.
Clean our waterways, especially at the Lower Duwamish River Superfund site, and stop the sewer discharge into Lake Washington.
Giving the public the Public Safety they want and deserve
This council, under Council President Nelson, passed the deeply unpopular Stay Out of Drug Area Zones (SODA Zones) and Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution Zones (SOAP Zones) to crackdown on drug and sex trafficking throughout Seattle. In the months since their passage, they have been a total failure. Drug dealers are still openly dealing in the SODA Zones, and pimps are still shooting each other and the public to “defend their territory” in the SOAP Zone. Instead of admitting that their SODA and SOAP Zones are not working, Council President Nelson deflected blame, tweeting in part, “Council passes laws & the Mayor's departments, including SPD, are responsible for implementing.”
Aggressive criminalization of drug use and sex work does not work. We only have to reflect on the 50 disastrous years of the War on Drugs to see the tremendous toll, in money and lives, this has taken without addressing the problem. We, as Seattleites, look at sex workers as individuals who deserve autonomy over their bodies, not to be arrested. We know that sex traffickers should be arrested and feel the full weight of the justice system for their crimes against women, trans individuals, and other marginalized communities.
Instead of listening to constituents who voiced their opposition to the wide variety of “public safety” bills they have passed, the council ignores you and gives you what they think you need.
✓ As your city council member, I vow to:
Introduce legislation to repeal the useless and ineffective SODA and SOAP Zones.
Increase funding to Seattle’s Drug Court – a proven intervention – to provide further support and accountability to the people in the throes of addiction.
Couple funding to outreach teams (CARE and Navigation Teams) for people with substance abuse issues, alongside funding for more supportive housing and treatment centers to help people get on their feet and away from drug dealers who prey on their vulnerability.
Attend the community-led public safety meetings that Council President Nelson chooses not to attend, so I can listen and know what the community wants in their neighborhood.
Develop legislation that does not turn our neighborhoods into ineffective police states, as this council has done in Little Saigon; instead, create holistic plans tailored to each neighborhood's specific needs.
Support small businesses instead of multinational corporations
When we examine the city council's actions, we see it catering to the demands of multinational corporations while overlooking the needs of small businesses and communities. The Council and Mayor devoted a significant amount of time and effort to “cleaning up” downtown in the name of tourism and return-to-office mandates. At the same time, they let other neighborhoods fend for themselves, like the International District and Capitol Hill, which is fighting to retain its identity and vitality against a city government that doesn’t care. Downtown gets street lights and ambassadors to revitalize the area, while your neighborhood is lucky to get a street cleaning or trash removal.
When you see who is funding Council President Nelson’s campaign, it's clear why her focus is squarely on Downtown. She has received the bulk of her campaign donations from large businesses and therefore must keep her donors happy. Since your business doesn’t fund her campaign, she won’t care what you have to say about the state of the city or your neighborhood.
In my campaign for city council, I pledge not to accept money from large businesses or their executives. These businesses have harmed our city, their workers, the country, our economy, and environment, and I don’t want a cent of their money. I would be honored to accept donations from workers of small, medium, or large businesses, the owners of small businesses, nonprofits, government workers, or any community members, as that is who I will represent on the city council.
✓ As your city council member, I vow to:
Use Jumpstart funds to provide more substantial financial support to the city’s small businesses, particularly in light of the economic uncertainty caused by the Trump Administration.
Expand the Downtown Ambassador program to a city-wide initiative, providing greater street cleaning and community support in EVERY neighborhood.
Introduce legislation to provide incentives to lower rent on street-level storefronts to fill vacancies throughout the city.
Work to provide more significant funding and support for “third place” businesses to create a greater sense of community in Seattle.
Provide substantial grants to our neighborhood Business Improvement Areas, such as the CID and Columbia City BIA, which advocate for small businesses.
Address the homelessness and affordability crisis.
In 2015, the city of Seattle and King County announced a State of Emergency regarding the homelessness crisis. In the decade since, it has only gotten worse, with skyrocketing housing costs and 60% more unhoused people living on the streets. Despite this, all around Seattle, you see vacant and underutilized properties: luxury apartment buildings that are mostly empty and vacant lots with nothing but weeds and trash. A city with a housing shortage as severe as Seattle’s should not have developers sitting on land or getting tax breaks for towers that house a handful of residents. We need a city that encourages development, but the kind of development that creates affordable housing for the middle class and supportive housing for the unhoused population to get them into stable environments with access to services.
This council has done little to address the underlying causes of people’s unhoused status, and nothing to ease the burden of our housing affordability crisis.
✓ As your city council member, I vow to:
Introduce legislation for a vacancy tax on large apartment complexes to fund affordable housing projects.
Streamline zoning and permitting requirements to facilitate the development of additional well-built, affordable housing throughout the city.
Use Jumpstart revenue to fund various supportive housing and shelters throughout the city, providing more options, with lower barriers to entry, for our unhoused neighbors.
Introduce legislation to levy fines and other penalties on empty, uninhabited, or vastly underutilized lots (ones with burned shells of buildings) to incentivize building affordable housing.
