Priorities

A Smarter Approach to Crime

Seattle deserves a City Attorney who will fight for fairness, justice, and real community safety—not someone who prioritizes empty prosecutions or protects the powerful over everyday people. My priorities as City Attorney are grounded in the belief that true public safety is about more than arrest statistics or case counts—it’s about accountability, prevention, and a justice system that serves everyone, especially the most vulnerable.

I will lead with values, focusing on both criminal justice reform and civil enforcement that protects workers, tenants, and communities. My vision for Seattle is a city where we don’t just prosecute crime but address its root causes, break cycles of harm, and achieves lasting results.

Criminal Justice & Public Safety

    • Public safety isn’t about filling jails—it’s about creating a system that actually keeps people safe. That means focusing on serious crimes like domestic violence, DUI, and gun violence—not clogging up our courts with low-level misdemeanors that do nothing to make our communities safer.

      Right now, too many resources are spent filing cases for things like petty theft or trespassing, overwhelming prosecutors and leading to high dismissal rates. I’ll focus on what matters: prosecuting cases that truly threaten public safety while working with King County to ensure the most dangerous crimes are handled the right way.

    • Seattle residents’ well-founded concerns about gun violence and other serious felony crimes cannot be addressed by filing thousands of low-level misdemeanor charges. Instead, the City Attorney’s Office must coordinate better with King County prosecutors to ensure serious crimes are properly handled.

    • I’ve seen what happens when we throw people into jail without a plan to help them rebuild their lives. They come out with the same struggles—and too often, they end up right back in the system. That’s not justice, and it’s not safety.

    • As City Attorney, I’ll champion reentry programs that connect people with housing, treatment, and job training—because most people who go through our courts are coming back to our community, and we all have a stake in their success. I’ll also expand diversion programs that use harm reduction and evidence-based treatment instead of ineffective “cold turkey” approaches. We need to meet people where they are, not just punish them for being there.

    • Victims deserve real support, not just empty promises. Seattle must establish a more robust victim compensation program since most offenders do not have the means to pay restitution.

    • Current responses to property crime—endless cycling through Seattle Municipal Court—aren’t working. We need solutions that break the cycle by addressing the causes of most property crime like addiction and poverty.

    • Expanding community court programs with evidence-based treatment will help prevent repeat offenses. Seattle’s Republican City Attorney unilaterally ended the city’s promising community court with no plan for a replacement; I will revive and improve this program to connect people to the services they need to get back on their feet and out of our courts.

Civil Enforcement: Protecting Workers & Holding Bad Actors Accountable

    • The City Attorney’s Office must take a more aggressive role in enforcing wage theft laws. Too many bad employers exploit workers with little consequence.

    • Wage theft affects thousands of Seattle workers each year, costing regular people millions of dollars in unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest breaks, and withheld tips. We must prioritize these cases and hold unlawful employers accountable

    • The city must enforce labor laws that protect workers, including fair scheduling, paid sick leave, and protections against retaliation. With Trump’s administration unlikely to enforce federal protections for workers, local enforcement has never been more important.

    • Expanding enforcement efforts will ensure businesses that violate labor laws face real consequences and the small businesses who do play by the rules aren’t at a competitive disadvantage for treating their employees well.

    • The City Attorney’s Office must be proactive, not just reactive, in enforcing local laws that protect renters and prohibit collusion among price-gouging corporate landlords.

    • The City Attorney’s Office must also champion Seattle’s progressive values by taking on polluters, protecting civil rights, and defending against federal overreach from the Trump administration.

A Comprehensive Approach to Public Safety

Public safety isn’t just about crime—it’s about the safety of workers who deserve fair pay, tenants who need stable housing, and families who rely on clean air and water. It’s about making sure that when someone’s hurt, there’s accountability—and when someone’s struggling, there’s a path forward.

I’ve seen the system from the inside. I know how it fails, and I know how we can make it work better. As your City Attorney, I’ll lead with courage, compassion, and a deep belief that justice should serve everyone—not just the powerful.

Together, we can build a safer, fairer Seattle—where no one is above the law, and everyone has a chance to thrive.