ELECTION 2026: One more look at King County Council District 8 candidate Nick Duda

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Tonight we continue our series of interviews taking “one more look” at the candidates in two contested races on local ballots.

We’ve already featured the 34th District State House Position 2 candidates – Mary Anito here, Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon here – and now we turn to King County Council District 8. Like the Legislature race, this is a sprawling district, including West Seattle, White Center, Vashon/Maury Islands, and more. This race also has an incumbent and a challenger, both of whom we interviewed recently. Tonight, Nick Duda, who has worked in the corporate world as well as at Seattle City Hall during a short stint on Councilmember Maritza Rivera‘s staff. (Here’s his website bio.) According to the state Public Disclosure Commission, he’s raised ~$35,000, about a fourth of his opponent’s ~$145,000.

After the unedited video of our interview is a summary of the Q&A comprising our conversation; interviewers were WSB’s Tracy Record and Torin Record-Sand. Both questions and answers are paraphrased, except for what you see in quote marks.

WSB: What’s your elevator speech?
DUDA: I got into government after time in the private sector – ability to translate data into actionable items – think the county has dropped the ball on some things – grew up in Detroit and saw what happens when a once technologically advanced city goes wrong. Lived here 10 years so far.

Think we need to improve public safety and public health. Too many cases of “unhinged behavior” in our community. Public health, the addiction problem is a key part. We’ve become a “real outlier” =- current policy more enablement than treatment or helping get people on their feet. Tax policy needs to improve too.

WSB: Lots of politicians talking affordability. What could you really do?
DUDA: First problem,saw this when I moved into city government and it’s a county problem too, we invest lots of tax dollars in programs we never really measure. No goals and targets set. So we end up with programs that sound good but don’t do anything. Frustrated because I am a liberal who wants to see social programs succeed but have seen taxes go up and quality of life deteriorate. Need to measure. If programs deliver, scale them up. County just passed another sales tax that raises money for which there’s no goals and no criteria for what it’ll be spent on. Some vague things that we already spend a lot of money on. “When we think of affordability it’s two parts, cost and value.”

WSB: If you trimmed the fat, where would you redirect the money?
DUDA: Two areas – public health. Not enough spent on treatment and recovery. Need recovery housing for people who’ve gone through treatment. Permanent supportive housing, mostly low-barrier, has double the overdose level of general population. San Francisco has changed this. We should move some of our current housing funds to this. Public safety – the jail. Medical facility policies change so if people show up and say they’ve taken drugs or been sexually assaulted it’s a “medical decline.” Police have to make the choice of what to do. Also, prosecutors understaffed, not all charges getting filed.

WSB: Are medical declines just a matter of money?
DUDA: Speciic type of accreditation required. Saw an SPD presentation that in one precinct alone in a matter of a few days 51 hours of police time off the streets so they could sit with suspects at Harborview.

WSB: Besides the need for recovery housing, other areas of county government you think are underperforming?
DUDA: “Harm reduction.” Started with needles, expanded to foil and pipes. Generates dangerous trash. Not, while handing items out, working to connect individuals with treatment. Not working to help them is a failure for not only the suffering individuals but also the community “bearing the weight” of that. We’re really an outlier in seeing drug use and addiction this way. If you want to use in private, “have at it,” but when your habit becomes a community issue, including crime, that’s when it becomes a public problem.

WSB: So are you saying everyone out there using illegal drugs should be arrested?
DUDA: “I’m a huge proponent of leading with treatment.” We need to expand our treatment offerings. Expanding crisis-care centers is one thing the county’s done right in recent years. But …we need to offer treatment, and if it’s resisted a certain number of times – say, three – then arrest might be appropriate. We place so much importance on the (addict) and their needs but they’re just one stakeholder in this.

WSB: Back to affordability. Just reining in county spending doesn’t seem like it’s going to make life more affordable.
DUDA: More interconnectedness than you might think. But look at some of the other things. Like public disorder. You’re seeing increased costs like park cleanups, library spending, things that should be controlled by public-health efforts spilling into other departments. Many of the things we’ve done might look good “on net” but they have affects like restaurants dealing with the minimum wage and passing the costs along. Elected officials seem unaware of the effects o what they pass. Look at my opponent – never found a single tax she hasn’t voted for. Our region has higher inflation than other parts of the state, other states, WA has one of the highest unemployment rates .. “I don’t think there’s a silver bullet” but all the regulations add up to a cumulative effect – look at housing – we need a Permit Applicant’s Bill of Rights. Overall, “our value set can cloud our ability to assess the effects of the decisions we’re making.” Wants to see “vast majority” of existing programs working, frustrated with stretched timelines and ballooning costs. Lack of leadership – no one will speak out and make difficult decisions.

WSB: There may not be a silver bullet but is there some key thing you want to do that would make a difference?
DUDA: It’s not the time for “punchy rhetoric.” Right now I don’t think Seattle and King County “are a beacon of light for liberal policies.” The lack of willingness to admit we made mistakes is a real problem.

WSB: So you’re talking, get to root causes, not just symptoms.
DUDA: Yes.

WSB: Need to talk about some other local issues. Transportation – especially, what about Metro buses and the Water Taxi?
DUDA: Big transit rider. Lack of people commuting downtown has hurt Metro. Interesting that we look at transit as interconnected but Metro and Sound Transit governing structures so totally different. We should restructure some of how that looks. What I haven’t heard leaders talk about, the technology for how we get around as changed, the costs of infrastructure have changed. Would like to see county explore autonomous-vehicle connector route through neighborhoods. “The existing issues aren’t going away.” KC Exec was supposed to deliver report in August looking at future of Water Taxi, potential to expand it, apparently that’s been pushed off to January. Probably makes sense to look at expansion, especially for Vashon, but want to see those numbers.

WSB: White Center. Since unincorporated, you’d be like their city council.
DUDA: And Vashon too. Visit WC often, did a cleanup with A Cleaner Alki, had to haul trash to city side because county wouldn’t pick it up. People say county’s consituent services lacking, Housing …. the comp plan upzoning is good but no major developments yet, building conditions admittedly not great. Roads deficient too. Need to change tax structure so unincorporated areas get bigger share. In WC, build transit-oriented development around RapidRide lines.

WSB: Since you spent. a year in city government – what were your takeaways.
DUDA: When you look at elected leaders they tend to have more public than private sector experience. What I gained working for City Councilmember Rivera for a year: Lot of connections. Lot of surprises, seeing how things worked. Working on the Comp Plan, gained knowledge of every part of the city. What I bring uniquely to this is, background in public and private sector “gives me a lens” including how people are affected. With JumpStart …. it was clear that any tech company would move its high-earning employees, and they did. In private sector, started own company, shut it down, but also was early employee for company that grew, saw how that growth happened. Policies we’ve put in place might be hampering businesses that will grow into significant job creators. Need “well-paying jobs for growing companies” to fund our priorities. Pro-business does not mean anti-worker. In a startup I saw decisions being made about where jobs would be created.

WSB: Three areas where translating city experience to county might be challenging.
DUDA: Need to build relationships with county folks … unique aspects in jurisdictional control … finally, the size of the district, balancing the different areas’ constituent needs will be challenging but I juggled so much in private sector that it’s “something that deeply excites me.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Tomorrow (Thursday) night, our fourth and final candidate interview, with County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. The voting deadline – aka Election Day – is Tuesday (November 3); so far 27.2 percent of voters in our area have turned in their ballots.

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