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The majority of Mountlake Terrace residents approve of the City’s governance, public safety and quality of life. That’s according to 448 residents surveyed by Polco, a private company that helps governments and public organizations collect resident feedback through surveys, polls and interactive tools to improve decision-making.
The Mountlake Terrace City Council received the survey results during the Council’s May 28 meeting.
in the survey, Mountlake Terrace was compared with 400 similar communities nationwide. The results have a margin of error of 4.6%.
According to Polco’s Executive Vice President of Data and Insights Sonya Wytinck, the highest-rated areas were safety, natural environment, parks and recreation, and mobility.
“Nearly all residents felt safe in the neighborhood and in the downtown commercial area during the day,” she said. “A large majority also felt safe from violent and property crime, and from fire, flood or natural disaster. [Residents] say they felt safe from property and violent crime improved from 2024. Three quarters or more gave excellent or good marks to the police and sheriff services, animal control, and crime prevention services.”
However, Wytinck reported that residents were more concerned about the economy, arts and culture, and community connection. “Lower ratings were seen for shopping opportunities, the vibrancy of downtown commercial areas and employment opportunities,” she said. “Affordability was also of concern, but this really mirrored the national and custom cohort communities.”
Perceptions of city government have improved since 2024 and remain comparatively strong, Wytinck continued. She reported that a majority of residents feel the city treats people fairly and with respect and acts in the community’s best interest, and about 6 in 10 say the City is doing well at being open and transparent, welcoming and informing residents about key issues.
Councilmember Erin Murray said there needs to be more discussion with residents about growth and affordability, noting that 61% are worried about loss of affordability as the City grows.
Councilmember William Paige, Jr., asked if the results could be broken down geographically because “our neighborhoods are pretty unique…some of them have better sidewalks than others, and better public transportation than others.” He also asked about ballot stuffing, which is where an individual or household submits more than one response or vote.
Wytinck said ballot stuffing is rare, and Polco does remove duplicates. Any duplicate would change the results by “less than 1%,” she said.
Mayor Steve Woodard said the most important qualities of any government is treating residents with respect and fairness. “I don’t think there’s two better variables that I want to see at the top of the list when it comes to the government,” he said, especially given the “context that we’re in now.”
You can see all the survey results on the City’s website.
Other parts of the May 28 meeting can be read here.
Watch the entire meeting at the City’s YouTube channel.
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