District 2 Councilmember Tammy Morales Looks Forward to New Council, Even One With Her Former Opponent

by Lauryn Bray

You might have thought the Seattle City Council District 2 race between Tammy Morales and Tanya Woo was over, but in some ways, it's not. By next week, Woo could be joining Morales on the dais at City Hall as co-councilor.

Morales was reelected in November to represent southeast Seattle after initially trailing Woo in early ballot returns and then surging past to narrowly win 50.7% to 49.1%.

Still, it's not yet over for Woo. Following former District 8 Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda's resignation (effective Jan. 2), which opened up an unexpected vacancy on the City Council, Woo has a second chance at a seat at the table.

Seventy-two applicants for the empty seat were narrowed down to eight following a Council vote on Jan. 12. Woo was nominated by District 7 Councilmember Bob Kettle but was also the top choice for Councilmembers Cathy Moore and Maritza Rivera. Alongside Woo, Neha Nariya, Mark Solomon, Mari Sugiyama, Juan Cotto, Vivian Song, Linh Thai, and Steven Strand will also be considered for the vacant seat. Solomon also lost to Morales in 2019.

The Council will hold a special public meeting Monday, Jan. 22, for public comment on selecting a candidate to fill the open seat. On Jan. 23, the Council will vote on an appointee. The Seattle City Club is also hosting a public forum on Thursday, Jan. 18, at the Bertha Knight Landes Room on the first floor of City Hall.

Morales is just one of three members on the nine-member Seattle City Council to remain in office, along with Dan Strauss and Council President Sara Nelson.

"All of us on Council won by just a few points, and in my case, we won despite the lowest voter turnout we've ever seen [and] despite the conservative wave that would happen across the rest of the city," explained Morales. "That's a big victory, particularly for the people in District 2, because it is the most progressive part of the city."

Morales acknowledges she will have to navigate a Council that's leaning more moderate, closer to Woo's stance during the election.

"We just had a shakeup in our central staff, and I fully expect there to be a different tone on Council," said Morales. "The political landscape has shifted in the city. It is more conservative — at least by Seattle's standards."

During the election, Woo, the more moderate of the two candidates, spoke to an audience of voters who prioritize issues like public safety, lack of policing, and business. During her campaign, Woo talked about her work in the community with CID Community Watch, a neighborhood watch organization. As a lead volunteer, Woo organized a rally to protest the expansion of a homeless shelter. Morales, on the other hand, has spoken out against over-policing and advocated for more affordable housing, fewer encampment sweeps, and equitable development with increased access for all.

Because at least three councilmembers have already shown public support for Woo, some believe her seat on City Council is set in stone. Additionally, an email from Tim Ceis, former deputy mayor and City-paid consultant, in which he attempts to rally support from business executives to lobby councilmembers into voting for Woo, was leaked. In the email, Ceis writes, "The independent campaign expenditure success earned you the right to let the Council know not to offer the left the consolation prize of this Council seat. Please support Tanya Woo and let the Council know about it."

Woo has no prior experience working in public services and has been criticized for her lack of participation in local elections.

Morales stated in an interview with PubliCola that she would prefer a more experienced candidate to take the seat. Morales herself has a background in neighborhood planning, which she says influences most of her policymaking decisions.

"I'm not unwilling to change my mind, but I do have a point of view. And that is to — as people probably get tired of hearing me say — repair the harm that's been done to Black and Brown communities, especially as somebody who's trained as a neighborhood planner."

"That's a very specific thing I'm trying to do. But it's a huge thing, because it's changing the way all of our land use decisions have been made that have allowed or restricted our community's ability to access health care, access commerce, access capital," explained Morales. "All of those things that make our neighborhoods thriving and healthy are the things that I'm trying to address, which means that I don't focus as much on what our policing statistics look like, or what the best method is for addressing the fentanyl crisis."

Morales has been criticized for not focusing enough on public safety. During a press conference in September 2023 regarding growing concerns for public safety, Nelson criticized Morales for not attending the press conference, saying, "I wonder to myself, where's Tammy Morales on all this, and how is she responding?"

Morales, who was in a committee meeting at the time of the press conference, responded on X — formerly known as Twitter — saying, "For the record, I was not invited to this campaign event for my opponent. My question for Sara is, why were you campaigning instead of attending our Transportation committee?"

When asked about this, Morales said, "I think it is important to understand the difference between campaigning and governing, and last year, I was doing both. My team and I work really hard to be available to our constituents. We will continue to be present in the districts, [and] to have district office hours to attend meetings in the community. We've attended hundreds of community meetings over the last four years, around lots of different issues. Just because one person didn't happen to be at all of those meetings doesn't mean the meetings did not happen."

As for the future, Morales says she looks forward to playing nice with her new co-workers.

"My hope is that even despite maybe having different political views, we will be able to work together and agree to disagree without having the sort of personal attacks or adversarial kind of relationships that have existed in the past."

She is also looking forward to chairing her new committee. "I will be chairing land use, which I'm very excited about. We have some legislation that we will be working on this year. I'm sure you know we've had dozens of fires in the South End, and so we're working with the fire department to try to understand how we might incentivize or force property owners to allow those spaces to be activated in some way so that they don't sit vacant for extended periods."

Overall, in the face of the criticism, Morales says she is happy people know what her stance is. "I don't think anybody is confused about where I stand on issues. I think that's one of the things that I do hear over and over again from people: 'I don't always agree with you, but I always know where you stand, and I appreciate knowing that.' So that's important to me."

📸 Featured Image: Councilmembers Lorena Gonzlez and Tammy Morales in a 2020 photo. (Photo: Chloe Collyer)