Mujer al Volante held their 10th annual candidates forum on Oct. 22 at their office in Federal Way, this year in partnership with nonprofit United in Purpose.

As with all of their community events, Mujer al Volante provided free food and childcare to ensure the event was accessible.

Federal Way City Council candidates in attendance included Melissa Hamilton, Tammy Dziak, Nathan Orth, Martin Moore and Les Sessoms. While Jack Dovey couldn’t attend in person, current Councilmember Linda Kochmar attended the forum in his place.

Mayoral candidates Susan Honda and Jim Ferrell also attended.

Questions came from Mujer al Volante, United in Purpose and from refugee, asylee and immigrant communities in Federal Way. This forum is part of their programming calling “Driving our Democracy” to foster a culture of voter engagement and education.

In the past, their forums have focused on welcoming the diverse communities of Federal Way to gather in one place. This time, they kept the audience to organization leaders and invited guests of candidates instead. Founder and CEO of Mujer al Volante Jaqueline Garcia-Castillo said this because of safety concerns of immigrant communities due to the federal immigration crackdown.

To make sure everyone could still access the information from the event, it was livestreamed on Facebook.

Candidates answered questions from refugee, asylee and immigrant communities on Oct. 22 Photo by Bruce Honda

The first question of the night focused on that fear that many community members in Federal Way are dealing with — and what city leadership might be willing to do about it.

Specifically, the question referred to executive orders recently signed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and asked if the candidates would consider following Seattle’s example to “adopt similar policies to protect vulnerable families and preserve local authority.”

The executive orders focused on “preparedness and coordination in the event of unilateral troop deployment and protecting immigrant and refugee communities,” according to a press release by the Seattle mayor’s office.

Candidate responses landed on a spectrum from describing the federal immigration crackdown as “plain evil” and “disgusting” to affirming the importance of following the rule of law. Overall, they all emphasized a commitment to keeping city-level law enforcement separate from federal institutions like immigration enforcement agencies.

Orth, Moore and Sessoms shared strong stances against the harsh immigration policies, while Hamilton, Ferrell and Kochmar took a more moderate stance.

Ferrell and Honda both expressed empathy, with Honda sharing a personal story of her mother-in-law’s internment in a U.S. concentration camp as many other Japanese-Americans were during World War II.

Neither mayoral candidates shared any concrete actions for how they would take action to support or protect immigrants in Federal Way, but both assured the community that they should feel safe to call the police in the city if they need help.

“I truly believe in the rule of law,” Ferrell said. “I think so many Americans believe in justice and fairness and making sure their laws are followed.”

Kochmar, speaking for candidate Jack Dovey, dismissed the aspect of the question where the speaker shared that immigration enforcement is impacting people in Federal Way.

“A lot of the things that I’m hearing tonight … you’re hearing in the media, but in our city, that’s not happening here. We’re different. We’re very concerned about you. We want to hear from you,” Kochmar said.

Mujer al Volante staff time candidates during the candidate forum on Oct. 22. Photo by Bruce Honda

In a response after the forum, Garcia-Castillo said that “this is happening in Federal Way. Immigration enforcement and policy changes are impacting Federal Way families every single day.”

“Many are terrified of being profiled, detained, or separated from their children,” Garcia-Castillo added. “They worry about going to work, waiting at a bus stop, or even reporting a crime because seeking help could put them at risk.”

A later question touched on the topic of immigration enforcement impacts as well. One question focused specifically on Flock Safety, a surveillance company that a recent UW report found to have been used by immigration agencies to access local data.

Candidates again affirmed the importance of making sure that federal immigration agencies don’t have access to city-level surveillance data.

A member of the Ukrainian community also asked an immigration-related question, bringing up the increased costs and challenges of accessing humanitarian parole, which she shared can cost around $8,000 to renew right now. She asked how the candidates could help those facing these type of unexpected costs and challenges.

One split in the immigration conversation was in candidates’ framing of the role city leadership could take.

Moore said the city should take a stand and be the voice for these communities, expressing “it is plain evil in terms of what’s happening, and we as a council can take a step. Maybe it’s a resolution. We need to speak out and say to the community, we see you and we love you.”

Others expressed support, but framed their answers to absolve the city from any responsibility in taking action.

“I can tell you that we’re going to stand up for the people of our community, and we’re not going to allow anything that does not conform with the law,” Ferrell said.

While city leadership is of course limited in their ability to effect federal policy or international situations, individual municipalities have many tools at their disposal. They can share their stance, provide resources to community members, share informational and skill development, host community conversations and forums and put protective policies in place through local legislation.

In Chicago, for example, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed Executive Order 2025-6 Establishing the Protecting Chicago Initiative on Aug. 30 that “promote the well-being of our communities and to safeguard the rights of all Chicagoans in response to threats arising from federal actions and inactions.”

As Ferrell shared in the debate, even something as small as a letter can have huge impacts, as he found out when a letter he wrote helped a delivery of Ukrainian aid pass through a checkpoint in the country at a crucial moment.

Across the board, Garcia Castillo told the Mirror that the candidate responses to questions around immigration brought some reassurance, and shared that she hopes they will follow through on their expressions of empathy with action.

Two questions from United in Purpose touched on experiences of personal tragedy that have widespread impact, including on many communities in Federal Way.

Muslimo Abdi works at United in Purpose shared how her brother nearly drowned due to lack of swimming skills and suffered permanent brain damage from the incident. She is now his full-time caregiver.

Her question focused on how candidates could take steps to increase water safety and swimming skills in specifically the Black community, which faces disproportionate incidents of drowning.

After the forum, Abdi told the Mirror that this will be her first time voting and appreciated the chance to ask candidates her question directly.

Now that she’s heard their answers and had the chance to speak to them directly, she feels like she has a reason to vote and will be able to follow up to see if they follow through once elected.

To answer, candidates spoke about their own experiences with learning to swim or nearly drowning, and several shared concrete solutions.

Moore said “we have to partner with multicultural organizations. We have to partner with our school districts. We have to think outside the box to be able to reach out to every single community member here.”

Honda, Ferrell, Kochmar, Dziak and Hamilton shied away from the race and equity aspect of the question, instead focusing on general water safety and swimming lessons access in the city.

Another question from United in Purpose was around gun violence, especially its impacts on youth and the disproportionate impact on youth of color specifically.

Most candidates said youth need access to more free and affordable programs. Ferrell and Honda both mentioned initiatives they are working on to partner with the school district, although these have not been discussed much if at all at public city council meetings in the past year.

Candidates also celebrated gun safety events in the city this year including gun buy-backs and free lockbox giveaways.

Sessoms highlighted the organization Progress Pushers as an example of what he’d like to see investment and collaboration focus on.

Moore again highlighted the necessity of partnering with the organizations in the community already doing the work.

Hamilton brought up the relationship between domestic violence and general community violence, highlighting that half of all homicide cases this year in Federal Way were related to domestic violence and said: “I believe we need to focus on the root causes, supporting victims early, improving coordination with the courts and our prosecutors, ensuring protection orders were in place before this deadly violence occurs.”

Dziak focused on how providing mentorship and hope can make a difference, saying, “I believe, by giving our kids a sense of self worth, and making them feel as though they have a purpose in life that we could prevent this problem.”

At one point, Kochmar blamed violent video games for youth violence, a statement that Orth then called “ridiculous.”

The last question of the night focused on the impacts of federal cuts on local nonprofits, including Mujer al Volante, whose leaders shared they have hundreds of women on their waiting list who want to take part in their multilingual driver’s licensing classes.

Ferrell said that he has already been working on plans for how these gaps would be filled by city funds.

Kochmar brought up the free financial literacy program that Dovey has championed, and said the city could offer a driving program, although this didn’t answer the question.

Garcia-Castillo closed the event by asking the candidates and the audience to raise their hands if their family is the most important thing in the world to them.

“From heart to heart, I want to ask whoever is elected as mayor or a city council member, protect our families. Protect our communities, all of them. Please do not forget immigrants, refugees, asylees, black and brown communities, our youth and our children,” Garcia-Castillo said.

She then reminded the candidates that “we are part of this community. We want to try and flourish together. We want to work with you, but you must also make an effort to listen to us. We are here, local organizations, community leaders, ready to be part of the solutions and part of our democracy.”

Voting info

Ballots for the Nov. 4 have been mailed out. The last day to register to vote online is Oct. 27 or in person by Nov. 4.

Ballots must be mailed or dropped in drop boxes by Nov. 4. Voting in person or voting assistance is possible at KC Elections locations.

The Federal Way Vote Center will be open at Federal Way City Hall, 33325 8th Ave. S., the following hours:

• Saturday, Nov. 1, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Monday, Nov. 3, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Election Day, Nov. 4, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More information can be found at: https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elections/election-information/2025/november-general-election