Carol Consuela Moon (born June 21, 1963) is an American political activist who was part of the campaign to re-open

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

's waterfront after the replacement of the

Alaskan Way Viaduct The Alaskan Way Viaduct ("the viaduct" for short) was an elevated freeway in Seattle, Washington, United States, that carried a section of State Route 99 (SR 99). The double-decked freeway ran north–south along the city's waterfront for , e ...

. Moon was a candidate for

Mayor of Seattle The Mayor of Seattle is the head of the executive branch of the city government of Seattle, Washington. The mayor is authorized by the city charter to enforce laws enacted by the Seattle City Council, as well as direct subordinate officers in ci ...

in the 2017 mayoral election, finishing second in the primary and advancing to face

Jenny Durkan Jenny Anne Durkan (born May 19, 1958) is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Seattle, Washington. She is the daughter of Martin Durkan. Durkan is a member of the Democratic Party. After ...

. During the general election, she trailed Durkan in preliminary results and conceded.

Early life and education

Moon was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

and raised in

Buchanan, Michigan Buchanan is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,456 at the 2010 census. The city is located at the southeast corner of Buchanan Township, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Niles. History The community ...

, one of seven siblings. The Moon family owned an industrial

respirator A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres including fumes, vapours, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne pathogens such as viruses. There are two main categories of resp ...

manufacturing business, which Cary helped run in the early 1990s. Moon attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, earning a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

operations engineering Operations engineering is a branch of engineering that is mainly concerned with the analysis and optimization of operational problems using scientific and mathematical methods. More frequently it has applications in the areas of Broadcasting/Indus ...

, and later earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

with a certificate in

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban de ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

in 1997.

Career

Moon moved to Seattle in 1998, establishing an urban design and landscape architecture firm named Landscape Agents and serving as its

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the office holder/ or boss in any school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in ...

until 2006. One of the firm's major projects was a neighborhood plan for

Pioneer Square Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

that was commissioned by the city government. Moon co-founded the People's Waterfront Coalition (PWC) with activist Grant Cogswell in 2004, in response to plans to replace the

, an elevated freeway on the Seattle waterfront, with a new freeway. The PWC proposed a surface option, demolishing the viaduct in favor of a boulevard, parks, and transit priority instead of the proposed elevated structure or freeway tunnel. The viaduct replacement plan was rejected in a public referendum in March 2007, earning Moon a

Stranger Genius Award The Stranger Genius Awards, given by Seattle alternative weekly newspaper ''The Stranger (newspaper), The Stranger,'' "bring attention to, and recognize the contributions of, … outstanding artists in Seattle."The Stranger The Stranger or Stranger may refer to: Film * ''The Stranger'' (1910 film), a short drama film * ''The Stranger'' (1918 film), a film starring Oliver Hardy * ''The Stranger'' (1920 film), a film starring Hoot Gibson * ''The Stranger'' (1924 ...

''. The group was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing construction of the replacement freeway tunnel, but the surface option was adopted along with a waterfront park.

2017 mayoral campaign

Moon declared her candidacy for mayor of Seattle on April 17, 2017, running primarily on the issue of housing affordability in the city. This included a right-to-shelter housing policy for the homeless. Moon finished second in the August primary election, behind former U.S. Attorney

, and advanced to the November general election. Moon finished narrowly ahead of activist

Nikkita Oliver Nikkita R. Oliver is an American lawyer, non-profit administrator, educator, poet, and politician. They were a candidate for Mayor of Seattle in the 2017 mayoral election, but finished third in the primary with 17% of the vote. Oliver was defeat ...

in the primary election, with a margin of 1,170 votes (0.6 percent). Moon finished 20 points behind Durkan in the initial returns on November 7. The following day, she conceded and congratulated Durkan.

Personal life

Moon is married to Mark Reddington, a principal with

LMN Architects LMN is an American architecture firm based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in 1979, and provides planning and design services to create convention centers, cultural arts venues, higher education facilities, commercial and mix ...

, and has two teenage children. She divorced her first husband in 2005. She lives in a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

near

Pike Place Market Pike Place Market is a Marketplaces#Types, public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott B ...

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west b ...

and has assets worth $4.1 million.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moon, Cary 1963 births Living people 21st-century American politicians American political activists American urban planners Housing reformers People from Buchanan, Michigan Politicians from Seattle University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni Washington (state) Democrats Women in Washington (state) politics 21st-century American women politicians Candidates in the 2017 United States elections