Cary Moon Asks Why Murray Resignation Took So Long

Image: Moon during a press conference Tuesday flanked by trans activist Danni Askini (r), Tammy Morales, and Michael Maddux (l).

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle mayoral candidate Cary Moon asked Mayor Ed Murray to resign months ago after a report from the 1980s surfaced revealing that Murray had likely molested his own foster son. So when a fifth man emerged Tuesday to accuse Murray of sex abuse, Moon held a press conference to again ask the mayor to step down.

"It's terribly difficult for victims to speak up publicly. How many victims will it take for the mayor to step down," she said to reporters.

A few minutes later, Murray's spokesman, Benton Strong, emailed the news: Murray would step down as mayor Wednesday at 5 p.m. The news hit as one of Moon's guests at the press conference, former Council candidate Tammy Morales, herself a sex abuse survivor, was speaking out about the pain of sexual abuse.

The treatment of abuse survivors is yet another issue that emerged out of Murray's sex scandal. Murray, in denying sex abuse allegations, questioned the integrity of his accusers ("His accusations are not true," Murray said of Delvonn Heckard, the man who sued Murray in May over sex abuse). Abuse survivors say that kind of rhetoric prevents victims from coming forward.

"His efforts, as a public official, to demean and belittle his accusers is a violation of public trust," Moon said Tuesday.

Reacting to the news, Moon "applauded" the mayor for stepping down. But she also chided her opponent, Jenny Durkan, for waiting until Tuesday to issue a rebuke. Durkan accepted Murray's endorsement on June 29, but seemed to give that endorsement back on Tuesday saying, "I previously urged the Mayor to reflect deeply about whether he could continue to lead and what was in the best interests of the city. It's clear that it is in everyone’s best interest for him to resign."

"I came out early asking him to step down. She has only done so today, and I think when the pressure got too high," Moon told KUOW.

Moon also highlighted that some local officials had even "circl[ed] the wagons" to protect the mayor. Indeed, this summer some public officials defended Murray. Four former Seattle mayors - Charles Royer, Wes Uhlman, Norm Rice, and Greg Nickels - wrote a letter saying Murray should not resign. Such a thing would be too "messy and time consuming" they wrote.

Council President Bruce Harrell, who will become acting mayor upon Murray's resignation, seemed to gloss over the abuse allegations saying, "I would ask that I don’t want to be judged for anything 33 years ago."

"A mayor's job is to act with integrity and to ensure that every Seattleite feels respected and safe. We have to live the values we claim to hold, and whoever is in the Mayor's office must lead by example," Moon said Tuesday.

Image via Neal McNamara/Patch.com