Mountlake Terrace, Washington

How Mountlake Terrace is governed

Form of government not yet listed.

1 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

  • Kyoko Matsumoto Wright per Wikidata

  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

Website

cityofmlt.com

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Population over time

From 19,909 in 2010 to 21,286 in 2020 (+6.9%).

History

The southwestern region of Snohomish County was originally inhabited by the Snohomish people, who primarily settled along the Puget Sound and used inland areas for seasonal hunting and foraging. In 1862, Puget Mill Company acquired 17,000 acres (6,900 ha) in the newly-formed county, including the thickly-forested plateau where modern-day Mountlake Terrace sits and the adjacent Lake McAleer. The land was logged by 1900 and was later subdivided into 10-acre (4.0 ha) chicken ranches, which were sold to farmers. Judge Richard A. Ballinger purchased Lake McAleer in 1901 and renamed it to Lake Ballinger for his father, later leaving the area to become Seattle mayor. The Nile Shrine of Seattle purchased 135 acres (55 ha) on the east side of the lake in 1927, building a clubhouse and later a private golf course.

An interurban railway between Everett and Seattle opened in 1910, improving access from the farms to various markets. Many of these small farms failed during the Great Depression and were affected by the closure of the interurban in 1939, following the completion of Highway 99. The area remained home to chicken and mink farms well into the 1950s, while areas to the south underwent suburban development.

Development and incorporation

A landing field was built on the north side of the King–Snohomish county line by the federal government for use during World War II. It was abandoned after the war, despite plans to expand it for civilian aviation, and acquired by real estate developers Albert LaPierre and Jack Peterson in 1949. LaPierre and Peterson named the property "Mountlake Terrace" for its plateau-like setting with views of Lake Washington and Mount Rainier, and sought to develop a low-income bedroom community for returning veterans. Construction on the first 250 homes began in June 1949, using a simple 20-by-30-foot (6.1 by 9.1 m) floorplan with two bedrooms and basic amenities. The cinderblock homes were built in an assembly line, taking several weeks to complete and leaving landscaping and interior painting to the owners. The homes were initially priced at a minimum of $4,999 (equivalent to $52,000 in 2024 dollars) and sold quickly, requiring expansion beyond the initial subdivision.

Mountlake Terrace was one of the first large-scale suburban developments in the Pacific Northwest, becoming the second-largest residential area in Snohomish County with 5,000 people by 1954. LaPierre and Peterson developed additional areas to the north and east of their initial subdivision, later adding larger homes that remained in an affordable price range for young families. A small shopping center opened on the south side of the county line, followed by a second in the modern-day Town Center in June 1954 with the area's first supermarket. Mountlake Terrace remained an unincorporated area that was reliant on the county government for services, which were unable to cope with the rising population of the area. The telephone system used a party line shared between 10 homes, the water mains and septic tanks were prone to failure, and the community lacked protection due to their distance from the nearest sheriff's precinct.

LaPierre and Peterson funded construction of a local fire station and provided a police radio to link community volunteers with the county sheriff in Everett, but response times for emergencies remained long. Patrick McMahan, a local firefighter, began organizing an incorporation campaign in 1953 after waiting a day for the sheriff to respond to an attempted burglary at his home. He first proposed an annexation into Edmonds at a city council meeting in June 1953, where he was rejected by the mayor but approached by a city councilmember who suggested incorporating as a separate city. An incorporation committee was formed by McMahan and other residents, including two attorneys, and collected 650 signatures for their petition to the county government.

The county commissioners scheduled an incorporation ballot measure and a concurrent city council election for November 23, 1954. An anti-incorporation bloc was formed by Mountlake Terrace residents who were opposed to increased taxes and potential costs that were previously covered by the county government. The vote ended 517–483 in favor of incorporating as a third-class city with a council–manager government and elected five councilmembers, including the wife of an anti-incorporation leader. The new city council convened the following day and appointed hardware store owner Gilbert "Gil" Geiser as the first mayor of Mountlake Terrace. Geiser loaned $5 (equivalent to $46 in 2024 dollars) to the city government to file an incorporation charter with the state government, which was issued on November 29 and delivered the following day. City manager Evan Peterson was hired from Bellevue and initially conducted city business from his car before renting an empty two-bedroom house to act as an interim city hall.

Early growth

Within a few years of incorporating, the city government had rebuilt most of Mountlake Terrace's original roads, added 14 miles (23 km) of sidewalks, and begun work on a permanent water and sewer system. The early homes in the neighborhood were renovated and expanded with financial assistance from the Federal Housing Administration, which also encouraged neighborhood improvements. In 1955, the city annexed 150 acres (61 ha), bringing its population to over 5,400, opened its own post office, and established a police department with five full-time personnel. The Edmonds School District built several schools for the growing city, including Mountlake Terrace High School, which opened in September 1960.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Other cities in Washington

• Seattle 737,015
• Spokane 228,989
• Tacoma 219,346
• Vancouver 190,915
• Bellevue 151,854
• Kent 136,588
• Everett 110,629
• Renton 106,785

All Washington cities →