Steady Leadership in Uncertain Times
I’ve kept my promises to keep a steady hand on the City’s budget. Our tax rate is lower than it was four years ago, and we’ve made wise investments with city revenues, funding our priorities and what matters to you.
We haven’t cut public safety, in fact we added a traffic motorcycle officer who can safely patrol our streets. We also have a new School Resource Officer, who we brought on board without raising taxes. It’s not just about answering 911 calls, but also helping struggling kids and families. In 2014, I heard that a Domestic Violence victims coordinator had never been a priority here for the City administration. I added that role and have expanded it to provide support to all victims of a crime. It is so important for a City to take care of our residents in their most vulnerable moments.
Supporting a healthy economy is a priority for me. Locally owned businesses play a central role in healthy communities and are among the best engines that we have for advancing economic opportunity. Small business ownership has been a pathway to the middle class for generations of Americans. It will be my priority this year to focus on rebuilding our small businesses. We distributed over $400,000 in grants to over 100 small businesses this year. Looking forward, we all need to continue to support the restaurants, shops, and other businesses that are the backbone of our City.
We’re building for the future too. With a visionary waterfront plan and ownership of Japanese Gulch, we’re ensuring a bright future. I worked to secure state funding for the Harbour Reach Corridor to take traffic off the Speedway and create better connections. Harbour Reach Corridor will open this spring, and I can’t wait to see our neighborhoods connected, traffic congestion reduced, and more walkers and bikers taking a new, safe route, instead of braving the Speedway. And it’s not just in the Harbour Pointe neighborhood: kids at Olympic View and Mukilteo Elementary will finally be able to walk to school this fall on sidewalks along 76th Street, for this time in our history.
Our City and I will focus on continuing to make this city a fabulous place to live and do business- to make sure we have clean streets, safe neighborhoods and business districts, clean beaches and forests, and the most transparent government our City has ever had.
Safe, strong neighborhoods
Mukilteo is a strong community, where we support diversity and inclusiveness in our community. Our first responders ensure residents are safe in our homes and neighborhoods. We make sure Mukilteo connects our neighborhoods and is a great place to live.
We’re building for the future
Our vision for Mukilteo means that we will budget efficiently and effectively to align with our priorities; we plan well and look forward to the future in decision making. As we look to the future, we manage appropriate growth that minimizes environmental impact and uses land efficiently while improving accessibility and mobility to destinations throughout our community.
Living within our means
I’ve kept my pledge to take a break from tax increases and look at city operations to ensure we are working as efficiently and effectively as our community deserves. We’ve taken a LEAN look at our permit process and streamlined efforts, and cut the Mayor’s office budget by 10%.
