SEATTLE — Councilmember Tammy Morales announced that she will resign from Seattle City Council after winning re-election in 2023.
The councilwoman, who serves District 2, which includes Rainier Beach, Beacon Hill, Columbia City, and Chinatown-International District, made the announcement Wednesday in a press release while accusing the council of damaging democracy.
“For the last 11 months, this Council has eroded our checks and balances as a Legislative department and undermined my work as a policymaker,” she wrote.
Morales had a list of accusations, including suppressing the will of voters, stifling First Amendment rights by arresting people during public comment, intimidating commenters by having a police presence during discussions around legislation that sparked controversy and reducing funding for social services aimed to help the most vulnerable.
The councilwoman said she took an oath to protect the health, safety, environment and general welfare of the people, but she can no longer do that with the state of the council.
Morales will be taking some time away to spend with her children and care for her father, she added.
KIRO 7 spoke with workers and people who live in the Chinatown-International District, which has been plagued with issues, ranging from drug use, homelessness and violence, including a series of stabbings in November that sent several people to the hospital.
“She never represented for us in any fashion for us at all. Never spoken up for us. Never done anything for us,” said David Tran, manager of Lam’s Seafood Asian Market, located in Little Saigon. “Hopefully, the person who replaces her will be vigilant about all the community needs and helps us.”
Dave Meunsaveng, who lives in Seattle and shops at Lam’s Seafood Asian Market, said he believes a new replacement will not fix the neighborhood’s issues after years of feeling overlooked.
“I don’t really see any changes at all. Resigning just means they’re going to find someone to replace that person, and if they don’t improve anything, then why does it even matter?” he said.
KIRO 7 reached out to Councilwoman Morales to request an interview, however, she declined to talk on camera.
We also reached out to several members of the Seattle City Council to get their response on the accusations, but we’re still waiting to hear back.
However, the council’s president, Sara Nelson, shared a statement:
“I want to thank Councilmember Morales for her dedicated service to the constituents of District 2. We worked together to pass a number of important pieces of legislation that benefit the people of Seattle, and I wish her and her family well on the next chapter,” she wrote.
Mayor Bruce Harrell said, “I can’t speak to the opposition she felt, or why she made her personal decision.”
“We don’t know for Councilmember Morales what drove her decision. I’m sure it was a very difficult decision for her. She just won an election. She served five years. So, we don’t know what went into that and we have to respect that,” he added.
Morales is expected to officially step down on January 6.
The council has 20 days to find a replacement beginning on January 7.
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