(The Center Square) – The Seattle City Council has narrowed its list of candidates for its vacancy down from 22 candidates to five, featuring former elected officials, Seattle employees, community leaders, education officials and Amazon managers.
The District 5 seat, representing the Northgate, Greenwood, Lake City and Crown Hill neighborhoods, has been vacant since July 7 after Cathy Moore resigned due to health and personal reasons. She served for just over a year and a half.
Former Seattle City Council President Debora Juarez is the most notable applicant due to her previously serving as the District 5 representative from 2015 through 2023. She declined to run for reelection in the 2023 general election.
The other four finalists include James Bourey, a former city manager for Newport News, Va. and Greenville, S.C., who has 37 years of local government service. In his application, Bourey touted his experience working on more than 25 annual budgets. Seattle is facing a $251 million budget deficit.
Katy Haima, an urban planner within the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development, stated she would be an advocate of small businesses and seek to improve the Aurora Avenue corridor that lies within District 5, which has a reputation as a prominent area for crime.
Nilu Jenks, a community leader who previously ran for District 5, wrote in her application that her top priorities are public safety, housing, homelessness and affordability.
Seattle University Director of Professional Education Julie Kang has worked in the education sector for 30 years. She said District 5 needs “more decisive, community-driven action” to address the area’s uneven development and public safety concerns.
Robert Wilson, a senior manager at Amazon Web Services and military veteran, rounds out the list of finalists. Wilson acknowledges he does not have experience in an elected office, but said he would question the status quo and care to get the details right if appointed.
The city council will meet on July 22 to interview finalists, followed by a vote on the final appointment expected to take place on July 28.
The successful candidate will need to get a simple majority of five votes from the full council.
