Former Mountlake Terrace Mayor Jerry Smith was recently recognized for his achievements by the Washington State Senate with Senate Resolution 8634 submitted by Senators Marko Liias (21st District) and Guy Palumbo (1st District) in late March. Smith passed away in December at the age of 77 after serving 17 years on the Mountlake Terrace City Council.
The Senate session was attended by current Mountlake Terrace Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, Councilmember Laura Sonmore and City Manager Scott Hugill along with Jerry Smith’s wife Judi and son Scott.
Smith leaves a long legacy in the region with 50 years of volunteer service, 18 years as a Seattle Police Officer and many years on the Mountlake Terrace City Council where he led a number of intergovernmental boards and committees. Smith served as Mountlake Terrace Mayor from 2004-2018, the longest-tenured Mayor in the city’s history.
The Resolution recapped Mayor Smith’s relentless leadership highlighted by the adoption of the 2007 Town Center Plan, testifying at Sound Transit Board meetings to extend light rail into Snohomish County, and efforts leading to the passing of a bond issue to build a new Civic Campus in Mountlake Terrace.
Smith travelled to Olympia and Washington, D.C. on many occasions to work with state and federal delegations that resulted in over $20 million to fund key infrastructure projects in Mountlake Terrace.
Jerry Smith and his wife of 56 years, Judi, founded Tour de Terrace in 1993 to help establish community pride and celebrate the city’s 40th anniversary in 1994. Additionally, Jerry, Judi and the Tour de Terrace volunteers began the Tree Lighting Ceremony tradition.
Mayor Smith is also well-known for his service to the young and the old having been MTYAA Youth Soccer President for 25 years and one of the founding members of the Mountlake Terrace Seniors Group.
“Thank you Senators Liias and Palumbo and the Washington State Senate for recognizing the lifetime achievements of Jerry Smith,” stated City Clerk/Community Relations Director Virginia Olsen. “He may have had an ordinary name, but he was an extraordinary man and leader in our region.”
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