Activists cheer city's new group

It's curious: a new citizens group that professes to have no political agenda, no pet peeves, no NIMBY goals. Just an interest in creating a stronger community voice and a bit of neighborhood activism.

Longtime community leader Pat McMahan attended the group's Jan. 7 kickoff session at the Mountlake Terrace Library just to check it out. He'd heard that some members had taken sides in last year's volatile City Council campaigns, and he wanted to see that they were up to.

"I wanted to see how political it was," he said.

McMahan — who served 12 years on the council, leaving office in 1990 — came away optimistic that the group could be just what it claims to be.

"It could get people interested in their local government," he said. "They could learn about how government works rather than [be] some small pressure group coming in and telling the city how to run its business."

Meeting organizer Sharon Maynard was pleased, too. She is a Utah native who moved to Mountlake Terrace two years ago from California's Napa Valley.

"We had over 20 people there, which I'm told is pretty amazing," she said.

The group named itself Mountlake Terrace Citizen Voices and decided against creating a formal board or leadership structure. It probably will meet monthly and have a rotating meeting coordinator.

Members already wrote a mission statement: They intend "to facilitate information, education and action of citizens."

Maynard said the group doesn't want to create an "us against them" environment.

"It's about how can we participate in making our city different," she said. "It wasn't about political stuff. It was, 'Can we be in conversation with each other, and do we want to?' And the consensus was yes."

Mayor Jerry Smith said it's too soon to know what the group will do, but he wishes it well.

"There's a couple or three good people in it, so this might be a good group this time, for a change," he said. "I hope so. I hope they come with a positive attitude. As long as they do that, we'll have open arms to have them come and talk to us."

Maynard already had contacted the city to request a meeting with new City Manager John Caulfield, he said.

Better-known faces in the group include longtime activist Leonard French and recent City Council candidates Eric Teegarden and Maria Quinteiro, who both lost last year to Michelle Angrick.

"People that are almost politically my opposite were there," said Teegarden, who calls himself a progressive Democrat. "Like Len French — we're cats and dogs. But when it comes to some of the issues we're talking about, we're on the same frequency."

For instance, Teegarden said, the public needs to be better informed about the activities of the city's citizens advisory committees. The group plans to ask the city to publish meeting minutes from all public boards on the city's Web page.

Quinteiro was enthusiastic.

"It's really positive and awesome and great," she said. "We only want to get into things that are very positive for the city and its growth. No name-calling. And we agreed to keep each other accountable."

Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com