Seattle City Council Names Six Finalists for District 5 Vacancy

The Seattle City Council has selected six finalists to fill the District 5 vacancy left by former Councilmember Cathy Moore. The finalists are: Bourey, James M; Haima, Katy; Jenks, Nilu; Juarez, Debora; Kang, Julie; and Wilson, Robert D. A public forum with the finalists will be held on July 21, and the Council is expected to vote on the final appointment on July 28.

The Seattle City Council has named six finalists to fill the District 5 vacancy left by former Councilmember Cathy Moore. The finalists, who were selected from a pool of 22 applicants, are James M. Bourey, Katy Haima, Nilu Jenks, Debora Juarez, Julie Kang, and Robert D. Wilson. The Council has scheduled a public forum with the finalists on July 21 and expects to vote on the final appointment on July 28 [1].

The finalists represent a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. James M. Bourey, the executive director of the Seattle Architecture Foundation, previously served as city manager in Newport News, Va., and Greenville, S.C. Katy Haima, a community planning manager for the city of Seattle, has worked in various roles for the last decade. Nilu Jenks, who previously ran for this seat in 2023, is the political and partnerships director for FairVote Washington. Debora Juarez, who previously represented District 5 on the City Council, is the first Native American to serve on the Council. Julie Kang is the director of professional and continuing education at Seattle University and serves on numerous community boards. Robert D. Wilson, a senior product manager at Amazon, addressed his lack of experience in public office in his application letter [2].

The finalists will participate in a public forum at North Seattle College on July 21 and again on July 22 during a special council meeting. The City Council members are expected to hold a final vote to appoint Moore's replacement on July 28. Moore's replacement will serve until the 2026 General Election results are certified and a successful candidate has been sworn in [3].

The Council has 20 calendar days to fill the vacancy, which ends on July 28. From the date of the appointment, the newly appointed councilmember will serve until the 2026 General Election results are certified by King County Elections and the newly elected councilmember representing District 5 takes the oath of office [3].

References:
[1] https://council.seattle.gov/2025/07/17/council-names-six-finalists-for-district-5-vacancy/
[2] https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-city-council-names-6-finalists-to-replace-cathy-moore
[3] https://www.seattle.gov/cityclerk/council-vacancy