By Erica C. Barnett
This year, voters in North Seattle will be choosing a councilmember to replace former District 5 councilmember Cathy Moore, who quit a year and a half into her four-year term. The district has lacked an elected councilmember for an unusually long time thanks to the timing of Moore’s resignation, which came just a few days too late for the city to schedule a special election for the district. As a result, former councilmember Debora Juarez has served as Moore’s city council-appointed replacement since mid-2024.
North Seattle’s choices in this long-awaited election are FairVote Washington political director Nilu Jenks, a second-time candidate for this position, and longtime university educator Julie Kang. Seattle Nice, the podcast co-hosted by me, political consultant Sandeep Kaushik, and longtime radio journalist David Hyde, will be hosting a live debate between the two candidates at the not-quite-in-D5 National Nordic Museum at 6:00 tomorrow, October 21; if you can’t make it, we’ll be publishing the whole debate on our podcast the following day. Election Day is November 3, but please vote early if you vote by mail, or drop your last-minute ballot in your nearest drop box before 8pm on November 3!
Julie Kang is a first-generation immigrant who grew up in Los Angeles, came to Seattle as a PhD student at the University of Washington, and has worked for UW, Seattle University, and Seattle Public Schools as a teacher and administrator overseeing professional development for decades.
Kang also co-founded a bank serving Korean American clients, Pacific International Bank, in 2001, to make it easier for immigrants rejected by traditional banks to access capital. The bank merged with a larger institution in 2013 after a series of headline-grabbing financial controversies.
“A lot of the board members with deep pockets did not want to contribute more, and that was one of the reasons” for the financial crisis at the bank, Kang said. “And so, by default, as the only woman and the only bilingual board member, they said, you figure out a solution.” Kang said her mother used BBCN Bank in California, “and I know they were interested in coming up” to Seattle, so she managed the merger. Kang is no long affiliated with the bank.
Kang has lived in North Seattle for about 30 years; she’s endorsed by the Seattle Times, former councilmember Sara Nelson, and current Councilmembers Bob Kettle and Maritza Rivera and Council President Joy Hollingsworth.
Our interview, conducted last week at Pilgrim Coffee just off Aurora, has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
PubliCola (ECB): The mayor just put out a budget that you have said was pretty fiscally responsible.
Julie Kang (JK): Yes—the fact that we have not only closed [the deficit] but also anticipating that we’re not going to keep asking for these one-time things.
I believe that we need to have right amount of first responders to respond in a timely manner. So the fact that [Wilson] decided to add 66 [officers through 2027], I was like, okay, that could be the number. But I also want to make sure everybody understands that even though North Seattle’s District Five is made up of about 100,000 people, the reality is we have 250,000 people during the day. So when we have first responder calls, we need to account for that. At our Northwest Hospital, we have beds and facilities for 70 emergency visitors a day, and now they’re getting more than 130—that’s almost double. We need to think about that. When we have so many of the permanent and supportive housing [buildings], that requires 1.4 times more firefighters. This allocation of first responders based on the number of residents may not be the right approach.
ECB: Let’s talk about Aurora. Both you and your opponent, I think, believe that public spaces around Aurora need to be safer, particularly when it comes to sex trafficking and gun violence. Beyond more police or surveillance cameras, what’s your public safety plan for Aurora?
JK: We really can’t afford to have more police for everything, right? The CARE Team, when there’s behavioral wellness checks, I think they should be able to go and do those things. That’s what they’re supposed to do. And I know that there’s all of the contract issues—that sometimes because there is a possibility of a weapon or you know they’re armed, officers have to go first. But I think we need clear rules and responsibility. We got to get them to the table and have that conversation.
But what I have committed to is I want to be physically present. I want to sit at my district office. And when people think about a district office, is it fancy? Is it expensive? No. We have so many storefronts. I’m already [upstairs at] the Lake City Library at least once a week. I just need to be present because District Five hasn’t seen their council members, haven’t had the emails or phone calls returned. And how do I know? Because I’m the one who’s been the squeaky wheel, emailing behalf of my elderly neighbor, or the young, busy people who don’t have the time to always use the [Find It Fix It] app, right? So I think that establishing trust in the government, it’s important. And for me, that’s showing up. That’s the first step. So I want to set up my district office. And people have said [mimicking fear] “Oh, Aurora,” and I remind them, I lived here for 10 years. I have faith, and I know that I’ve come this far. I am gonna be fine. I grew up crossing through MacArthur Park [in LA] every day to get to the library,
ECB: The barricades are still there—
JK: They’ve been there for over 100 days.
ECB: Do you think they’re working to reduce gun violence?
JK: No, they’re not working. Well, it’s quieted down a little bit, but if you walk two blocks over, it has shifted. And if you go in the morning, you can see the foils, the condom wrappers, the needles. Those are not things that our children should be seeing. We’re normalizing this behavior. So I think a lot of my advocacy work comes from the seven-year-old, 10-year-old Julie, who did not have a choice but to go through MacArthur Park to get to the library at the end. You know, as a latchkey kid, there was no other options. But we’re in 2026, and we are still fighting, and our daughter, 22 years old now, born and raised in North Seattle—we had to have those discussions. Why can’t we enforce the laws that we have? As soon as you get over to 145th to Shoreline, why is it that their streets are clean and people understand that there are rules and we’re not going to be permissive about violent crimes?
ECB:. My understanding is that they invested quite a bit of money in improving the street design to make it safer, and Seattle has not done something similar.
JK: Even in speaking with [King County Prosector] Leesa Manion extensively, she always reminds me she’s the same King County prosecuting attorney for other places where things are working. So again, if you were here 24/7, you would understand the urgency. Aurora is in a state of emergency, and we have put a few Band-Aids here and there, but we haven’t gotten to the root of the issue.
We want to protect the victims and we want to be able to provide the mental care or the housing and all of the services that we need, right? But we should go after the johns and the pimps. I know [City Attorney Erica Evans has continued to point out that there’s over 5,000 cases [backlogged]. But I also know that there’s a little bit of disconnect between the King County and the city.
So when I changed my position on [surveillance] cameras, it’s because as a naturalized U.S. citizen, and I am also serving on the King County Immigration Commission, and we didn’t know how that information was used. Of course, surveillance—you know, I don’t want it either. But I talked to a lot of the people, including the 50 blocks of neighbors and Councilmember Kettle, and spoke with the North [SPD] Precinct and did a ridealong. And I know that nothing is 100 percent safe, but at least there are safeguards and some things that we’re doing about retention that are in place. I’m not saying it’s perfect. I thought, well, if the community most impacted wants it, let’s use it, but we can’t just use that. [alone] It’s only a tool, right?
ECB: Have you seen evidence that the cameras are working?
JK: Well, this morning when they talked about the shooting last night, at least there was a little bit of the footage from the shooting, [Editor’s note: The footage was from business surveillance cameras, not city-operated CCTV.] And again, you can have all the footage you want, but it’s what you do with it. But if you don’t have the footage, my understanding is that you can’t even open up a case. So we need evidence. And it’s interesting that we’re relying on neighbors and other people to have evidence. And I recently heard somebody says, “Oh, you can plug in your business camera to the police camera [system]. And I just thought, “Wow, we are now asking our business owners to take on that responsibility.”
ECB: A big concern for surveillance opponents is the possibility that ICE could get access. They just need to file a subpoena. And there’s a lot of faith being put in this into Axon, the company that provides Seattle’s surveillance cameras, to do the right thing and not share this footage with bad actors. I think those are legitimate concerns.
JK: That’s true, and that’s the risk. That’s why when I spoke with people who are against cameras and I proposed, what if we built our own system, they said, actually, they could live with that. So again, let’s not continue to have this fear get in the way of what our neighbors, our constituents are feeling. And if we already have the cameras on, and we’re able to maintain the terms of the contract that say long the footage can be on our servers, by the time you get a subpoena, you know, maybe [the footage will] be gone. And my understanding is we don’t keep anything unless it’s in an active investigation.
How long have we had it since all of the ICE stuff? I’ve been going to Common Power to create whistle kids since last November. It’s been over a year, right? And we also know that that’s not working perfectly because our neighbors continue to get taken at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and in our neighborhoods.
ECB: Going back to Aurora for a sec: The city hasn’t funded a lot of resources for women wanting to leave the sex trade or escape trafficking. Do you have a plan to help the women and girls working in parking lots on Aurora?
JK: We have Aurora Commons, which is one of the few resources up in North Seattle. And Liz [Dahl], the ED, you know, told me yes, they’re able to provide the OB/GYN care with the UW hospital. But if we happen to have somebody who steps up and say, “I want to get out of this business,” she doesn’t have shelters she can refer them to. We should be able to say, Julie came in for service. She needs housing. She needs the mental health [services]. She needs X, Y, and Z. And our case managers should be able to make sure that we are following through and delivering services. And I’m doing to make sure that when we advocate for funding, I want us to be connected to the outcomes and the return on investment. I think we have been compassionate, but if we’re compassionate without accountability, we’re just investing more and more. And I think that’s where the fatigue comes.
ECB: I hear “we need more accountability for spending” from candidates every year, and I often wonder what that is supposed to look like. Because we do have audits, we do have staff that review the budget, we have an entire budget office that looks at how money is being spent. What additional accountability are you looking for?
JK: But Erica, you also know that a lot of audits have been incomplete and are still pending. For me, that’s not acceptable. And again, going back to my university budget experience, being a project manager is when we develop a program, we review it on a quarterly basis, and we also measure that against the outcomes, the deliverables. I think on the council we also need somebody with that level of expertise. So, if we have that oversight and accountability, I don’t think we’re going to lose money or have some of the challenges that we’ve had.
ECB: Your opponent has said that District 5 needs to have community violence interrupters like the ones working in South Seattle, and also that the city should invest more in putting CARE Team members up here. How do you think your approach differs from hers when it comes to, not just Aurora, but public safety in North Seattle generally?
JK: In terms of prevention, there’s so much that could be done, even with our two high schools and two middle schools. And not only as a mother but as a teacher, I’m already working with the principals on safe routes to schools. I’m asking, how did a 15-year-old [at Ingraham] get access to a gun? Where did that come from? And did that student have at least one person that they could confide in? So I want to make sure we focus on a lot of the interventions in schools and in community centers. I think that’s, again, where me showing up and having the years of experience mentoring students, and mostly students of color, is going to be a benefit.
We’ve also heard from the community meeting that happened on Aurora Commons when the mom said, “My daughters are being approached with lots of cash.” The community leaders are already trying to do so much, but most of these meetings—actually all of the meetings that I’ve gone to, the people who are the decision makers, the elected officials, they are not there. There’s so much that could be accomplished by attending, listening, and activating the leaders who already come with a lot of the lived experience and solutions based on those experiences.
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ECB: Speaking of students, are you supporting or opposing the two statewide initiatives—the one banning trans girls from girls’ sports and the one that allows parents to see their kids’ school counseling notes?
JK: As teachers, we think it’s important for all children to be welcome and included, and any act of harm or hate is unacceptable. That said, I think parents have made some comments, and the students also have voiced their comments. So, for me, again, it’s listening to the constituents and the people,
ECB: But do you support the initiatives or oppose them?
JK: So, at this time, as much as I respect everybody’s identity, I just want kids to play sports. I don’t know if we need to go and do biological testing to see where they stand.
ECB: The other initiative would essentially give parents the right to see any notes that were taken about confidential conversations they had with adults at school.
JK: Right now, there’s already that protection for the kids after 13. [Editor’s note: Kids 13 and over have the right to obtain confidential mental health care in Washington state, but this does not apply to school counseling.] I understand there’s some arguments about if every kid is able to make those decisions. But I’m gonna go with supporting the kids. [Editor’s note: After our conversation, Kang reached out to clarify that she opposes both initiatives].
ECB: Do you support the proposed comprehensive plan rezone around the new Pinehurst light rail station, which has been delayed by appeals, and would you change it in any way?
JK: Right now, neighbors are in limbo about what is happening with their housing. We expect 90 percent of riders to get there using other modes of transportation. But the reality is, they’re saying, “My front yard is becoming a parking lot.”
I definitely support that we should do density. But before we get there, you also know that we lost power multiple times, right? So we know our electric grids, our sewer systems, all of the infrastructure is also outdated. I want to make sure we take care of those infrastructures before we keep building more units, because losing power is something that the people who are already there and have been neighbors for a long time are negatively impacted by. People are losing their precious groceries. It’s $100, $150 to fill up your grocery cart, if that. So I want to make sure that we grow the community with the infrastructure and make sure that we are taking care of the sidewalks, because walkability is huge if you’re going walk to the station. And right now we have some areas that are very disconnected.
ECB: Do you support Mandatory Housing Affordability, which encourages growth in some former single-family areas?
JK: I’m actually happy with Councilmember Foster’s plan to give some relief, because what I have learned is we are missing so much revenue that was generated through the permits, creating workforce jobs for builders and plumbers. When I think about quick permitting, it’s not that we lessen the requirements, but right now that sequential model, I just don’t understand. So I think we have to look at the whole system and break it into chunks where we can have predictability. Because anytime they’re waiting for a permit, that’s lost opportunities.
ECB: The city plans to revamp the whole MHA system in the next couple of years. What do you think needs to change about the program?
JK: Well, right now I think we have to incentivize builders to build and build the right kind of housing. It doesn’t make sense if you have one lot, and you want to build eight different million-dollar tiny homes, because I think then we are going to compromise some of those mature trees that I also love. So maybe we can be creative about creating a fourplex. Everybody wants to not have their shared walls, but I also think being able to look into your neighbor’s living room with those small spaces—I’m not sure if that’s the right thing. And in LA, we had a lot of fourplexes, triplexes, and that’s how we were able to even afford our first home, because we could live in one and rent out the others and make the mortgage. So I think we have to be more creative in working with you architects who are thinking about protecting the green space and being able to build in a way that meets our neighbors’ needs.
I mean, we are number four in terms of the city rankings, and when I talk to people, it’s because of the beautiful green space, and I think that makes Seattle Seattle. And if we are going to continue to build and get rid of these 100-year-old mature trees that are healthy, I think we are not thinking about our next generation. I mean, we think about climate change. We think about all of the positive things from trees. And yet when we keep saying we’re going to just build, build, build, I don’t think that is the right answer for the next generation.