City staff share 2025 accomplishments, 2026 goals with MLT Council

The Mountlake Terrace City Council at its Feb. 19 meeting heard presentations from four city departments on last year’s accomplishments and what they plan to do for 2026. Councilmember William Paige, Jr. was absent from the meeting.

Planning Commission

Building Official Matthew Gisle and Planning Commission Chair Nick Bautista kicked off the meeting with a list of Commission accomplishments, including reviewing middle housing zoning amendments to align with state House Bills 1110 and 1337. The Commission also reviewed and recommended updates to the critical area and floodplain management ordinances and reviewed the Urban Forest Management Plan and the Engineering Development Manual updates.

“The [housing zoning] amendments also modernized administrative and fee provisions to support its implementation,” Gisle said. “This work ensures Mountlake Terrace remains compliant, proactive and intentional in how new housing integrates into our current neighborhoods.”

For 2026, Gisle said the Planning Commission is establishing City regulations for short-term rentals that require them to be compliant with local building and fire codes as well as consider housing supply. He noted that State housing code changes may be delayed until May 2027, but the Commission will be prepared for them.

Gisle said the Planning Commission will review short-term rental details during the next Council meeting.

Councilmember Erin Murray asked which subareas of the City the Planning Commission was looking at for housing zoning work.

Bautista said these areas include Town Center, Melody Hill, Gateway and the commercial region in the City’s northeast quadrant, with the latter two likely candidates for the next round of subarea planning work.

While these subarea updates will benefit residents, they will also draw  more people into the City, which will support local businesses, he said. “It’d be ideal if we could take care of all of our needs, not only within the City, but within the neighborhood, and not have to get in the car every time you want to do anything,” Bautista said.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission (DEIC)

DEIC Chair Scott Matsuda – along with Commissioners Teresa Courtney and Vonita Francisco and Deputy City Manager Carolyn Hope – listed several accomplishments from 2025, including:

• Partnered with the Snohomish County Health Department and the MLT Library to host an English-Spanish, housing-related community conversation
• Partnered with local nonprofits to host the second annual Juneteenth “More Than a Day” event on civic campus with a Father’s Day theme.
• Hosted a cultural festival in commemoration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at Terrace Park Elementary
• Hosted a Children’s Day event prior to a Council meeting
• Developed relationships with a local Indigenous parent and student group and the Latino Educational Training Institute (LETI)
• Hosted the second annual Welcoming Week outside of City Hall

“We have 11 community ambassadors onboarded and anxious to get involved in Commission endeavors,” Matsuda said. “We already have a lengthy calendar of opportunities for commissioners and ambassadors to continue growing our community engagement.”

Francisco highlighted the DEIC’s 2026 goals, including: 

• Retaining the Community Ambassadors program through 2027
• Removing or reducing barriers for community members and providing more equitable services
• Providing more opportunities to build community, improve trust, address residents’ sense of safety

Councilmember Sam Doyle, who is a former DEIC commissioner, said it’s exciting to see how far the commission has come from an “open slate” start. “We were talking about the branding of our City, and I think a lot of the branding is the feeling of our city,” she said. “A lot of the work that you’re commissioned to do has to do with how it feels to be a community member here, and how we attract community members. So thank you for everything.”

“What I enjoy is the camaraderie that takes us beyond who we are when we’re bringing ourselves to this commission,” Matsuda said. “I am not that good myself, but as a group, we can put together some thoughts about how we should proceed into the community.”

Courtney said she was a new MLT resident when she joined DEIC. “I love talking to people from different places and finding out what makes them feel safe, what they enjoy about Mountlake Terrace,” she said. “I think it’s really important to make everybody in our community feel like part of it, and I’ve made really great friends on the commission.”

Mayor Steve Woodard said while there are two former African American DEIC commissioners now serving as the City Council (Paige and Doyle), he noted there are no African Americans on the DEIC. Even so, Woodard said what they did is a “huge accomplishment.”

“Thank you all for the hard work that you’re doing. Do keep an eye on the makeup of your commission, though, I will say it is a challenge,” he said.

Arts Advisory Commission Work Plan

Arts Advisory Commission Vice-Chair Ben Hou, Commissioner Megan Hogue and Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Betz covered their 2025 accomplishments, including: 

• Obtaining the Snohomish County hotel and motel grant to support the annual Arts of the Terrace juried art show
• Hosting the the 46th annual Arts of the Terrace with 834 entries, 376 juried pieces and 58 pieces sold
• Recommending musicians for the Terrace Summer Night Music in the Park series

“There’s always a very nice artistic exhibit going on at the Mountlake Terrace Library, so it is worth to poke your head in there once a month, if not more,” Hou said.

Hogue shared the Commission’s plan for 2026, including:

• Identify and connect with Mountlake Terrace artists
• Seek new grants and other funding opportunities to expand arts outreach and programming
• Identify partnerships and sponsorships with local businesses to help fund and support arts activities
• Create and support opportunities for artists in performing and literary arts, not just visual arts

Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl said he liked the idea of filling “blank spaces” in public places with art, such as utility boxes like the ones near the Mountlake Terrace light rail station. “Anytime we see a blank space, let’s figure out how to fill it,” he said.

Regarding performing arts, Murray said she would like to see some sort of interactive water art because many residents are drawn to water and it gives people different ways to engage directly with art, which helps make the community’s identity. 

“My kids are 11 and 14… we may not always make it to an art gallery, but to have art in some place that they’re going anyway, that’s an important exposure,” she said.

Councilmember Laura Sonmore said how meaningful the art show and local artists are to her, noting the growing number of older and retired participants and the importance of prize money to show that the community values artists. 

“One of the things that I really like that you’re still doing is the Manu Sood scholarship,” she said, referring to the former arts commissioner who served from 2005 to 2009. “It was just her birthday last month, and I think she would have been 92. I just adored that woman. I was on the art commission for a long time, and [she] and I did some artwork down by the transit center.”

Sonmore added that she would not favor interactive water art because of maintenance costs.

Councilmember Kyoko Matsumoto Wright said that the City needs a piece of Indigenous American art. “We don’t have any,” she said. “I have been talking to one person who does a lot of 1% of the arts. He’s Native, and I would love to see him get a chance to do something because his work is wonderful.”

Recreation and Park Advisory Commission (RPAC)

RPAC Chair Forrest Reda, Parks Supervisor Celina Williams and Commissioners Keith Edholm and George Stanton listed RPAC’s accomplishments from 2025:

• Increased volunteer contributions to 1,524.5 hours in 2025, a 36% increase from 2024
• The Eagle Scouts contributed 402 volunteer hours in 2025,  which is 20 times higher than 2024
• Neighborhood Parks Improvement Subcommittee (NPIS) completed its annual tour and inventory of all neighborhood parks, identifying needs, projects and priorities as the “eyes and ears” of the parks system.
• Hosted many activities and events, such as Bubble Play Day, Luminaria Walk and National Days of Service
• Upgraded paths and walkways at the Evergreen Playfield
• Launched the City’s first Heritage Tree recognition

“We’re not just thinking about the next five years, but we’re thinking about the next 1,000 years in terms of how we’re planting trees, what the climate is going to be like and what’s going to survive and thrive,” Stanton said. [That] says a lot about the foresight of our city.”

The commission plans to:

• Complete the improvements on the west side of Lake Ballinger, including new signage and amenities
• Finish the transit connection corridor trail through Veterans Park, restoring its role as a green thoroughfare for residents traveling across the City
• Launch a community garden on the east side of Lake Ballinger, which includes a seed library and food forest concepts to promote community gardening and food access

Murray said that walking through Veterans Park on her commute used to connect her with nature, and she looks forward to that connection again after the restoration.

“I think the recreation part is also a really important part about how people experience in our city,” she said. “I would just love to hear a little bit more about how the commission is engaged in that work and hopefully giving people an opportunity to share their feedback.”

“We have a lot of parks in Mountlake Terrace  that we’re proud of, but we still have areas that we don’t have parks,” Matsumoto Wright said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Woodard thanked the commission and NGIS members for their work. He likened the group as the key stars that make up the Big Dipper constellation.

“You all are right there in that panhandle that’s known as Alcor and Mizar,” he said. “[Recognize] that those are actually six different bodies out there, double binary system and a binary system. They all work together to stay with their act. And to me, that’s the role you all play. We look up at that and think, ‘Mountlake Terrace.’ But without you all, it would just be a box up there.”