Debora Juarez represented District 5 for two terms on City Council, from 2016 through 2023. An enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation, she was raised on the Puyallup Reservation in Tacoma by her Native American mother and first-generation Mexican-American father. She was the first member of her family to attend college, first at Western Washington University and then the Seattle University School of Law. She worked as a public defender, a judge, and a financial advisor, as well as serving as Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs. On Council, she chaired committees overseeing parks, intergovernmental affairs, and Native communities. She chose not to run for reelection in 2023. After Cathy Moore resigned the District 5 seat in July 2025, Juarez was appointed to to serve until the certification of the November 2026 election.