SEATTLE — King County District 8 seat is up for grabs, and the two candidates vying for the seat are current Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda and Burien Mayor Sophia Aragon.
KING 5 asked each candidate why they wanted to leave their current elected role to represent King County District 8.
District 8 makes up West Seattle, Burien, White Center, Maury and Vashon Islands.
“The county is actually the place that has purse strings and policy purview over public health. I want to go to the county to directly invest in health services, and complement that with investments in housing, economic support, and greater opportunity for all to have good living wage jobs,” said Teresa Mosqueda.
Aragon said she sees the county council as an opportunity to serve the community in bigger ways.
“We here in Burien experience a lot of the challenges that are all over King County. Public safety is No. 1 that I've been out and talking to people is their greatest concern. I certainly see that as the mayor here,” said Sophia Aragon.
For both candidates, one of the biggest issues the district is facing is homelessness.
“I would love to work with the regional homelessness authority and our state legislative partners to provide a stable revenue stream for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority so that it can be successful. That money needs to not only go to building more places for people to go, but the workers necessary to keep people stably housed,” Mosqueda said.
“For every given night, there might be 10,000 people on the street, there's only room for 5,000 people. We need that transitional housing so we can bring people inside and then direct them to what they need and then the ultimate goal is finding them affordable housing,” Aragon said.
Burien has experienced encampments, including one close to City Hall. Aragon supported a camping ban on public property, something her opponent has criticized. KING 5 asked Aragon for a response.
“It's really about keeping our public right of ways clear so that we can all use them," Aragon said. "Also, it's not safe to be camping or in a public right of way, because they're really close to the traffic and cars. So, it's really easy for someone who is unhoused to be injured. The other piece is really making sure we have effective outreach so that we have people out there who are trying to connect those who are unhoused to services that they need.”
Aragon’s campaign focused on public safety. She pointed to the defunding of the police movement as a reason for an officer shortage. Aragon supports an increase in King County Sheriff’s Office funding. She said she supports having more officers, which would "be helpful to the local police departments as well."
"I know that there is a shortage, which is the issue with defund the police. It is that it caused that and it's making it really difficult to recruit and retain officers,” Aragon said.
Aragon said she is also focused on tackling the fentanyl crisis in King County citing it as a public health emergency and wanting to do prevention education for youth.
Teresa Mosqueda has previously voted for police reform and cuts to the Seattle Police Department as a council member. KING 5 asked if she stands by her voting record and what could help reduce crime in King County.
“The strategy of moving funding upstream when those dollars are not being used for any salaries are not going to be needed for hiring officers and cannot be deployed according to the chief, the mayor, and the department, it's important to put those dollars immediately into community services," Mosqueda said.
She added, "It was celebrated by our officers in terms of the right thing to do in investments in lead and mental health, gun violence prevention strategies, and both are needed."
Mosqueda said she supports making sure that people have stable housing and necessary health services, along with the personnel needed to help get people into counseling.
"Those are things that we can do to help reduce crime,” she said.
Both candidates agree voter turnout for the primaries is low and are urging people to make it to the ballot box.