Cascade Party
A new path in Washington State politics.
A new path in Washington State politics.
Public Addiction Crisis.
A letter of thanks.
By Andrea Suarez (November 26, 2025)
Council President Sara Nelson leaves her position not only as a policymaker, but as a woman who transformed her own recovery into a mission that has saved lives and restored hope for so many families.
For years, I’ve stood alongside parents and friends grieving loved ones lost to addiction. We’ve lit candles and cried in frustration, wondering if our city will ever change course?
Sara got Seattle to move into the right direction. In her final budget on the city council, she redirected city resources away from enabling addiction and toward real recovery.
Seattle has long struggled to find balance between compassion and accountability. Too often, we’ve confused enabling with empathy. Sara had the courage to draw a moral line to say that distributing foil and glass pipes to consume fentanyl and methamphetamine is not harm reduction, it’s harm enablement.
Sara called it what it is, “cruel.”
On the dais, she said handing out drug paraphernalia is, “like handing a loaded gun to a person who is suicidal.” She is right — a painful truth many refuse to hear.
Her amendment put a stop to that practice — ensuring no city dollars would fund materials used to consume the drugs that are devastating families and neighborhoods across Seattle.
She championed the goal of how policy must enable recovery, and not quiet resignation to endless suffering. I am deeply grateful to her for expressing this act of conscience.
Additionally, Sara fought to dedicate $2.85 million in new public safety funds to expand access to treatment and recovery services. These connect first responders and case managers directly with regional treatment centers, and support nonprofits providing both sober housing and comprehensive care.
For recovery to work, people need safe, stable places to live. Not just a bed, but a home that supports sobriety.
Sara’s leadership wasn’t theoretical. She governed with a lived truth. Her own sobriety, now more than four years strong, gave her the humility and clarity to see how addiction is not only a public health crisis — it is a moral and community crisis. It’s about the safety of our neighborhoods, the health of our economy and the dignity of every chronically addicted person to reclaim their own life.
Sara championed friction-free access, including funding treatment in private recovery centers for those ready to get help.
The window to recovery can close as quickly as it opens. Sara understands the urgency, recognizing individuals ready to turn their own lives around by living sober.
Seattle’s incoming leaders would do well to follow her example. I hope council member-elect Dionne Foster will continue what Sara began. We must keep investing in recovery-based housing, funding rental stipends for people rebuilding their lives and supporting higher-barrier triage shelters as options that protect the vulnerable rather than enabling their decline.
Sara Nelson didn’t just save lives during her time in office, she saved our city’s moral compass. She refused to look the other way. She made us confront the hard truth that what we fund reflects what we value. And she valued life, safe communities and second chances for people struggling with addiction.
To Sara: THANK YOU! Thank you for speaking the truth while facing shouting extremism in chambers and elsewhere. Thank you for proving that compassion and accountability can coexist. Thank you for standing up for individuals and families, giving hope to those of us fighting for a city that believes recovery is possible.
I know your advocacy will continue beyond City Hall — we cannot afford to lose it. You’ve shown us what love looks like when expressed through public policy.
By Andrea Suarez, A drug policy reform advocate and Founder of We Heart Seattle.
IMAGE: Sara Nelson at podium with Andrea Suarez on the right.
