By Erica C. Barnett
City Councilmember Cathy Moore accused her colleague Tammy Morales of “vilifying” her colleagues, calling them “evil… corporate shills,” and being less than “civil” after a council committee voted down Morales’ bill to reduce red tape for affordable housing developers last week. The bill, which Morales has been working on for the last two years, would provide density bonuses and zoning flexibility to developers who partner with community groups to build low-income housing.
“I’m gonna have to stay very calm,” Moore said Monday. “I just wanted to give a heads up that I will be carefully reading the council rules to utilize tomorrow, if I feel that there are any ad hominem attacks being made on fellow council members who chose not to vote this bill out.”
Then, addressing Morales directly, Moore continued: “This vilification of your fellow council members in the media—it is uncalled for, it is unprofessional. We can have a respectful difference of opinion without [saying] that we are evil or corporate shills or we have no concern for our fellow human beings or we’re opposed to affordable housing. None of that is the case, and I am tired of that being the narrative that I hear coming [from you]. And so I’m just—again, I’m going to stop because I’m losing my temper. But I want this to be a respectful conversation tomorrow based on policy, not personality and no impugning of my or my fellow colleagues’ motivations.”
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Morales told PubliCola she never called colleagues corporate shills or evil. She has expressed frustration with the sudden opposition to her bill, telling reporters she was “disappointed” in the decision. According to the Seattle Times, Morales said, “Despite the fact that everybody’s talking about the need for more affordable housing, when it comes down to it, there’s either no understanding of how we actually get there, or no willingness to really take action.”
PubliCola was unable to find any evidence that Morales has ever personally vilified her colleagues, called them corporate shills or anything remotely similar, or said they were evil or did not care about humanity. Former councilmember Kshama Sawant did say things like this, but (despite being a brown, progressive woman) she is not Morales—and is no longer on the council.
This isn’t the first time Moore has said she feels threatened by people who disagree with her, but it does seem to be the first time she’s directly threatened to use council rules to silence a colleague for a purported lack of civility. Earlier this year, Moore said she felt “physically threatened” by advocates for refugees who banged on windows after being ejected from council chambers, suggesting that, if left to their own devices, the demonstrators would smash through the windows and violently storm the dais.
The council will discuss and vote on Morales’ proposal at its 2:00 full council meeting this afternoon.