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The Mountlake Terrace City Council elected Councilmember Steve Woodard as the city’s new mayor during the Thursday work/study session. He replaces Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, who had served as the Mountlake Terrace mayor since 2019.
Woodard had been on the Council since 2019, when he was appointed to fill the position 2 seat following the death of longtime Councilmember and Mayor Jerry Smith.
The City Council selects one of its seven members to serve as mayor every two years.
Woodard won reelection to his seat in November. He joined three other newly elected councilmembers — incumbents Matsumoto Wright (Position 4) and William Paige Jr. (Position 3) along with newcomer Sam Doyle (Position 1) — in taking their oaths of office at the beginning of Thursday’s meeting.
Matsumoto Wright had served as the Mountlake Terrace mayor since Smith’s death in 2019. She was first appointed to the council in 2008 and has won reelection ever since.
“I don’t think anybody was unaware of Dr. Woodard’s interest in leading the city and the work I’ve been trying to do to make sure you’d be proud of me to lead this city,” Woodard said after winning the mayor’s spot. “But it was not easy to look the mayor (Matsumoto Wright) in the eye, who’s doing well, and say, ‘Hey, I really want to be in that spot.’ And I never publicly did that, knowing that this time is going to come, and I will give you flowers on the other side if it comes that way. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done.”
Look for additional details about Jan. 8 meeting in a future story.
Bravo!
Well done.
Thank you to former mayor KYOKO for your 7 years of service to the city of MTLK TERRACE. You’ve been a wonderful friend and neighbor to us and many others as well.
Congratulations to newly elected Mayor Steve … I predicted this in March 2025!
Way to go WM PAIGE JR and SAM DOYLE.
So proud of y’all.
Amazing! So excited for the bright future of the city!
Congratulations Dr. Steve! Your Lift Every Voice Legacy family and diverse communities throughout the region are joyful at the news. And it is not unnoticed that the voters of MLT have elected four citizens of color to represent them on the city council. That may be an historical achievement in Snohomish County!