Seattle City Council: District 5

Question 1

Business Taxes: Would you increase, decrease, maintain, or otherwise change the JumpStart payroll expense tax? Why?
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Nilu Jenks

I would maintain the JumpStart payroll expense tax. It was created to fund important priorities including affordable housing, equitable development, Green New Deal investments, and support for small businesses. Previous City budgets have relied on some of that revenue to help address general fund deficits. I would like to see us move toward using JumpStart revenue for the purposes it was intended to support.

We have a significant housing and homelessness crisis, and JumpStart provides an important revenue source to help address it. I would not take this money away while there are 20,000 homeless in the Puget Sound area. I wish we had taken action sooner and been more responsible with taxpayer’s money. I think we need to use the resources we already have responsibly, protect the investments we have committed to, and demonstrate that we are delivering results with taxpayer dollars.

At the same time, I recognize that businesses have choices about where they locate and grow, and we need Seattle to remain a place where businesses want to invest and create jobs. As I have stated before, I would not support expanding the payroll expense tax during a recession. Economic conditions matter, and during a downturn we should be particularly mindful of the pressures businesses and workers are already facing.

Julie Kang

I would maintain JumpStart rather than increase it. Seattle needs revenue for priorities such as affordable housing, but we also need employers to continue locating jobs and investing here. Before increasing business taxes, I want the City to demonstrate that existing revenues are producing measurable results and consider the cumulative cost of doing business in Seattle.

My approach comes from experience. I co-founded a community bank in District 5 to serve immigrant entrepreneurs and small businesses that often struggled to access capital. As Audit Chair and later Chair of the bank’s holding company, I had to balance our mission with fiscal responsibility, regulatory requirements and long-term sustainability. The bank grew to five branches and approximately 50 employees before its merger.

That experience taught me that good intentions are not enough. Decisions have economic consequences. On Council, I would bring that same discipline to JumpStart: maintain it, demand transparency and measurable outcomes, and work to make Seattle a city where employers want to create jobs.

Question 3

Public Safety & Homelessness: What would you do to address public drug use and unsheltered homelessness? Do you support technologies such as CCTV to improve public safety?
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Nilu Jenks

North Seattle’s Priority 1 response time is ten to twelve minutes against a seven-minute goal. My plan is about sending the right responder to the right call and getting help to arrive faster. I support hiring more police officers to address public safety, especially more detectives, as we have significant investigative and case backlogs.

We must also fund and allow CARE to run 24/7 citywide. The previous police contract restricted CARE’s work without CARE’s union at the table. I want those restrictions renegotiated so CARE can respond to the calls they are trained to handle. Every call CARE takes frees an officer for a robbery or shooting. Fund LEAD, create a community court connecting people to treatment with accountability, and build an opioid recovery center in the North End.

On homelessness, I oppose sweeps. They move people a block and spend money that should go toward solutions. I support outreach paired with real placements, more shelter beds, and 1,000 affordable units in D5.

I have serious concerns about CCTV and want to see what Seattle’s audit tells us about its public-safety impact. If the City continues or expands the program, I want strong privacy oversight, clear rules on access, retention and data sharing, and regular public review of whether it is delivering public-safety benefits. We also need safeguards against federal overreach to protect immigrants and people coming from out of state for reproductive or gender-affirming care.

Julie Kang

We cannot normalize public drug use, drug dealing or people living in dangerous conditions. I support enforcement paired with treatment, behavioral health care, shelter and housing. The City should focus enforcement on dealers and repeat offenders while expanding diversion and treatment. Unsafe encampments should be addressed with meaningful shelter and service options.

I have spent thousands of hours walking District 5 and personally knocked on more than 10,000 doors. Along Aurora and in Lake City, I have met directly with residents and businesses dealing with shootings, trafficking, public drug use and homelessness. I have also spent time observing CARE and Community Service Officers responding to people in crisis. Those experiences reinforced that police, behavioral health responders, service providers and housing systems must work together.

I support targeted CCTV for persistent serious crime, including gun violence and trafficking, with strong privacy protections, short data retention, independent oversight and safeguards against use for civil immigration enforcement. We should measure results and adjust based on evidence.

Question 5

Business Climate: What would you do to attract businesses, reduce commercial vacancies, and make it easier and less expensive to operate a business in Seattle?
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Nilu Jenks

A small builder in Lake City told me his duplex sat in permit review for fourteen months. Every week added carrying costs he passed on to the buyer. This delay is like a tax on the people least able to pay.

I will push for clear permit approval deadlines by project type with fee refunds when the City misses them. I support concurrent review, so land use, building, fire, and utilities review a project at the same time with one point of contact. SDCI should be staffed to match volume with published fees.

I want a small business liaison at the City, so a restaurant can call about a permit, loan, or break-in. Small business grants and technical assistance should reach businesses outside of major Business Improvement Areas. We should also make it easier for people to operate small businesses from their home, an increasingly common way to start and grow a business.

On vacancies, I want people living near storefronts. Housing near transit and co-located with retail helps neighborhoods keep shops open. I am interested in commercial rent stabilization for small tenants and a vacancy tax on commercial property left empty for years. I know those are not DSA’s positions. I would rather tell you now than surprise you later, and I want DSA at the table on both.

While I’ve been clear about my interest in new taxes, I would consider the impact of any new revenue proposal on Seattle’s business climate and talk with potentially affected stakeholders, including DSA, before moving forward.

Julie Kang

Seattle should be a city where businesses want to start, stay and grow. I would speed up permitting and licensing, review duplicative regulations and fees, establish clearer timelines, address public safety and activate vacant storefronts. Businesses also need greater predictability in taxes and regulations to make long-term investments.

I understand these challenges personally. My immigrant in-laws built businesses in Seattle, including a Korean grocery store, restaurant and newspaper, and my husband operated a restaurant in North Seattle. I saw firsthand how hard small-business owners work and how security, labor, insurance and other operating costs add up.

I am applying that perspective in District 5. After the loss of Fred Meyer, Bartell Drugs and other businesses in Lake City, I have met with business leaders and residents about restoring essential retail and improving public safety. I want the City to actively recruit grocery stores, pharmacies and neighborhood-serving businesses while making it easier for existing businesses to remain and expand.