Dear editor:

On January 14, State Legislators will travel to Olympia to commence the 2013 Legislative Session. The City of Mountlake Terrace is proud to have the members of the 1st and 32nd legislative districts representing our community – Sen. Maralyn Chase (D-Shoreline), Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe (D-Bothell), Rep. Ruth Kagi, Rep. Cindy Ryu (D-Shoreline), Rep. Luis Moscoso (D-Mountlake Terrace), and Rep. Derek Stanford (D-Bothell).

We wish our legislators the best of luck as they tackle the difficult and challenging issues that the state faces.  We also appreciate their ongoing support of an important project to the Mountlake Terrace community — the City’s downtown Main Street Revitalization Project.

Each biennium, the State Legislature funds local infrastructure projects from its capital budget.  The City of Mountlake Terrace has never received an appropriation from the capital budget.  With the strong support of our legislative delegation, we are hopeful that the City can, for the first time, receive a capital appropriation and be able to fund our downtown Main Street Revitalization Project.

If funded, the Main Street Revitalization Project will improve the City’s downtown infrastructure and is estimated to create 1,400 new jobs and over 800 housing units.  Ultimately, the project will lead to more tax revenues to assist the state’s budget, as well as to assist our region.  It will link the City’s revitalizing downtown with the Transit Center, Freeway Station, and future (2023) Light Rail Station.  Already, the City has contributed over half of the total project cost, and we hope the state will work in partnership with us to complete the project.

We appreciate the ongoing support of our legislators from the 1st and 32nd districts and wish them well in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Mayor Jerry E. Smith
City of Mountlake Terrace