‘Gaslighting and manipulation.’ Why Tammy Morales is leaving Seattle City Council

Tammy Morales wants Seattleites to know that her decision to leave the Seattle City Council, just over a year after she was re-elected, has nothing to do with policy differences, or the election of a new, more moderate Council majority in 2023.

She says her early departure in January is more about gaslighting, toxicity, and a lack of democratic process than it is about taxes, homelessness, or policing.

“I believe that this Council is sliding towards really undemocratic behavior, and I think that's dangerous for the city and and dangerous for our constituents,” Morales told KUOW’s Soundside. “So, it was important to me to make sure that all of those behaviors get daylighted as I'm leaving Council.”

Morales said she fully expects to have disagreements and to work with other members to overcome those differences and find common ground, and she has done exactly that since she was first elected to the Council in 2019.

RELATED: Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales steps down, citing harmful work environment

But she said what she has seen in the last year has raised deeper questions about the Council’s ability to function in the best interest of the public. Morales said central staff have had their memos “scrubbed” if the contents of those memos doesn’t match the story the Council majority wants the public to know.

“This is about several kinds of behavior on this Council that are leading us toward a place where we have no transparency, no accountability, where certain constituents are disenfranchised, and where our ability to make sound decisions is tainted because we aren't getting the kind of information we need,” she said.

KUOW reached out to Council President Sara Nelson about the allegation of changing nonpartisan memos from central staff but had not heard back before publication.

Morales said she has been misrepresented in Council meetings and accused by Councilmember Cathy Moore of labeling other members as “evil” and “corporate shills,” a charge that Morales vehemently denies.

On the contrary, she said she was the one who was vilified.

“When I raise the issues on the dais, I am met with this seething anger just for expressing my policy priorities or my perspective, and when that is the reaction, and it's coming from a Council that came in talking about collegiality and civility and respecting one another's differences, the hypocrisy is also really problematic,” she said. “When they blame me for my reaction to their toxic behavior, but never discuss the disrespect that set this off, that is the textbook definition of gaslighting and manipulation.”

Morales said the Council’s unfair treatment was impacting not only her but also her constituents in District 2, which includes the Chinatown-International District, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, Rainier Beach, and Yesler Terrace.

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For example, during a September hearing over two controversial ordinances — Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA) and Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution (SOAP) — Morales said the Council had 10 police officers in the back hallway.

“When you start to engage with the public in that way, when you know that there are strong feelings about policy that's being proposed, and your reaction is not to allow people to speak, but to call the police, that's really problematic, to have to have the voice of the public stifled like that,” she said.

In contrast, Morales said when chambers are full of people concerned about an issue that aligns with members’ concerns, there is less police presence and tense situations are not escalated.

After Morales steps down on Jan. 6, the City Council has 20 days to appoint her replacement. That person will serve until a special election in November 2025.

One of the names that has come up to serve as her temporary replacement is Tanya Woo, Morales’ former opponent for her District 2 seat. After her loss to Morales, Woo was appointed to fill a citywide seat, but she lost her bid to keep that seat to Alexis Mercedes Rinck in November.

RELATED: Tanya Woo not ruling out another Seattle City Council run

Morales said she did not think Woo should be appointed to serve until the special election in 2025.

“I think if she wants to run for this seat, she should run just like anybody else who might be interested,” she said. “I do not think another appointment is appropriate.”

As for Morales, she said she plans to continue serving the community, but she’s not sure at this point what that will entail.

“The reality for me is, if I can't affect change from the City Council dais, I'll find another way to do it,” she said.