TNT endorsement: Here’s our pick for Tacoma’s City Council Pos. 5

This year, voters in parts of East and South Tacoma have a choice between two approaches to some of Tacoma’s most pressing problems. This race, which is for City Council Pos. 5, is one of two primary races where an incumbent is challenged by someone with experience organizing in the community.

The News Tribune Editorial Board is endorsing the incumbent, Joe Bushnell. He won this newspaper’s endorsement during his first election, and he’s earned it again this time. Bushnell, 35, combines an eye for reform and the insights gained from experience, making a strong case for his ability to be an effective council member.

His familiarity with recent reforms to housing policy makes him well suited to oversee their rollout. Those include Home in Tacoma Phase 2, the city’s multi-pronged approach to increasing affordable housing, and the recent votes over tenant’s rights reforms. Bushnell lists his work on those two issues among the biggest accomplishments of his first term.

He also has a well rounded perspective on how different problems in the city play off of each other. For example, he listed services that keep people out of homelessness, improved police recruitment and retention and investment in services that lift up youth and the community to prevent crime.

Bushnell also touts his work on lowering response times to 911 calls through efforts to fill vacant law enforcement jobs. The board hopes that, if re-elected, Bushnell will combine his laudable long-term vision on crime reduction with attention to the impact of crime today.

Bushnell is endorsed by mayor Victoria Woodards and five other sitting members of city council; County Executive Ryan Mello, U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland and a slate of local state lawmakers and state agency heads also endorse him.

A product of Tacoma and Stadium High School, Bushnell served in the U.S. Marine Corps before transitioning to civilian life and a job with the Washington Hospitality Association.

Zev Cook, the other candidate who participated in the endorsement process, talked about policy ideas that hew to the platform of the Tacoma and Pierce County Democratic Socialists of America. That group also endorses her.

Those policies include raising the minimum wage in Tacoma, and creating a public social housing developer to help achieve her goal of building 25,000 affordable homes. Zev, who will turn 26 in September, is also a proponent of an excessive income tax on big businesses, which resembles what’s commonly called a wealth tax.

The editorial board was split on the merits of her ambitious policy proposals, but agreed that there wasn’t a realistic way forward for many of them in Tacoma’s current fiscal and political landscape. What’s more, her lack of experience in government stands out during an election year when four council seats and the choice of a new mayor will be on the ballot.

Cook describes herself as a community organizer who has worked as a shelter manager and case worker for people experiencing homelessness. She’s no doubt familiar with the struggles many Tacoma residents face and her clear commitment to finding solutions is praiseworthy.

She has the endorsement of several unions, and two other city council candidates in other races. Those are Silong Chhun, who is also challenging an incumbent in district 4, and Latasha Palmer who is running for Pos. 6, an at-Large seat on city council.

Brandon Vollmer is also running, but did not participate in the endorsement interview process.

The News Tribune Editorial Board is: Laura Hautala, opinion editor; Stephanie Pedersen, TNT president and editor; Jim Walton, community representative; Justin Evans, community representative; Bart Hayes, community representative.

This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.