Through the Static

By Gray Trammel

Julie ‌Kang, ‌who’s ‌running for the Seattle City Council District 5 position, said her long career in education, community work, and public service has made her ready to address what she considers North Seattle’s toughest problems: affordability, public safety, and holding city government accountable. The backbone of her campaign leans into her three decades teaching and advocating, and after years alongside students and immigrant communities, Kang thought it was time to move from supporting those on the outside to writing policies inside City Hall.

“I’ve done policy work, I’ve done advocacy work,” Kang told Through the Static (TtS). “But after living in North Seattle for 30 years, I’ve just been the squeaky wheel. I haven’t had the seat at the table to be able to really make change.”

Kang ‌is ‌a ‌naturalized U.S. citizen, a first-generation immigrant, and a trilingual educator. She relocated from Los Angeles to Seattle to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Washington, and helped build Washington’s National Board Certification Program. Kang shifted into mentoring teachers and supporting multilingual learners, as well as students who received special education services. Kang said that speaking Spanish and Korean helped her form real connections with multilingual families as they worked their way through schools and public services.

“Really, at this point, I’m running with the teacher’s heart,” Kang said.

That background also shaped Kang’s views on affordability: she’s seen Seattle’s affordability crisis drive many teachers to take positions outside the city, simply because living near their schools stopped being financially possible. She explained as prices keep climbing, it’s gotten harder and harder for teachers, first responders, and other working families to stay rooted in Seattle.

“My mother worked 10 to 12 hours a day just to make the ends meet,” Kang said. “We also moved 23 times.”

After purchasing a home in Seattle, Kang said she and her family rented out part of the property to help cover the mortgage, giving her a perspective on both renters and small property owners.

“I know sometimes we speak negatively about these small landlords, not corporates, but people who seem to have one additional home,” Kang said. “We were able to build a family.”

When she wasn’t teaching classes, she served on the King County Elections Oversight Committee, where she worked to improve multilingual ballot access, and later joined the King County Immigrant and Refugee Commission. She also is a founder of a community bank in District 5 focused on equitable lending for small businesses. Kang said she organized weekly whistle kits and translated Know Your Rights materials to help immigrant communities, while connecting families with trusted organizations and legal resources.

When asked about her view on automatic license plate readers in D5, she said her thoughts on surveillance cameras changed after speaking with residents and business owners along Aurora Avenue. She initially had concerns about civil liberties, but said she now supports maintaining cameras in areas experiencing persistent violent crime. Kang said police are not the solution to every public safety issue, and she believes Seattle needs enough officers to respond quickly to violent crime, while continuing to expand behavioral health services and CARE responders.

“We don’t need police for everything,” Kang said. “But right now, the gun shootings, the violent crimes that’s happening on Aurora, we need officers to respond in a timely manner.”

Along with public safety and housing, Kang said preserving Seattle’s tree canopy should remain a priority as neighborhoods in the area continue to grow. She also said City Hall needs to demonstrate how taxpayer dollars are being spent before asking residents to approve additional funding, mentioning how the government should be accountable for existing investments before requesting more revenue.

“Sometimes it’s not because the loudest voice is center,” she said. “But it’s because the quietest voice is not able to advocate for himself, herself, themselves.”

If she succeeds in the August 4 primary and goes on to win the general election, ‌Kang said she’d start by rebuilding staffing levels at the North Precinct, then push for growth of behavioral health services. Her next priorities would be setting up a District 5 council office on Aurora Avenue, safeguarding Seattle’s tree canopy, and addressing housing costs. She added that she plans to have a strong presence in District 5 by showing up for regular conversations with neighbors, not just when a crisis has emerged.

“We can’t just come to the community when there’s an emergency,” Kang said.

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