MUKILTEO — Long-time local official Joe Marine is seeking a fourth term as Mukilteo’s mayor and faces a challenge from three-term City Council member Steve Schmalz.
The mayor is the administrative head of the city, overseeing its employees and a $19 million general fund budget. Mukilteo’s mayor earns $70,800 per year.
Joe Marine
Marine, 63, was first elected to the Mukilteo City Council in 1997, serving the first three years before he was appointed as a Republican state representative. In 2005, he won the Mukilteo mayoral seat and served two terms. After losing reelection in 2013, he returned to Mukilteo politics as a City Council member in 2019. Voters reelected him as mayor in 2021.
His top priorities are preserving the city’s small-town feel, relieving the tax burden, and public safety.
Marine highlighted his experience during his time in office, pointing to the construction of a new city hall, the building of the Rosehill community center, the preservation of the Japanese Gulch, and the implementation of new traffic cameras to curb speeding as ways he said he’s made a positive impact on the city.
On the budget, Marine said the city’s finances are in good shape.
“We’re not heading for a cliff,” he said.
Some council members raised concerns after the 2025-26 budget — the city’s first biennial budget — was approved with the city’s general fund expected to be about $2.6 million short of a city requirement to keep at least two months’ worth of operating expenses in reserves by the end of 2026.
But the mayor and city staff said new revenues Mukilteo planned to collect in the months following the budget’s approval — an annexation, the sale of Hawthorne Hall and a new traffic camera program — would cover most of that gap. A city budget document projected that Mukilteo’s general fund balance would meet city requirements by 2026.
“It was revenue we knew would come in that will offset some of that,” Marine said. “We will be good through 25-26, and we’ll continue to look forward and make adjustments accordingly.”
Marine cited his work in creating the city’s long-range financial planning committee as evidence that he was keeping a close eye on city finances.
Another piece of the city’s financial puzzle is an emergency medical services levy lid lift, also on the ballot in November. The city currently is set to use about $1.9 million in general fund dollars to maintain existing services as the city’s current EMS levy rate — the lowest in Snohomish County, by far — only pays for about half of the department’s budget. If voters approve the levy lid lift, the city’s levy rate would still be the lowest in the county.
Many council members see the levy lid lift as a way to help maintain existing services and improve the city’s budget status. The city’s firefighters union opposes the measure as it battles staffing challenges and wants to see additional investment from joining a regional fire authority.
Marine supports the levy as a way to keep the city’s finances in check, and said he would continue conversations over the possibility of regionalizing fire services with the long-range financial committee.
“We need the EMS levy to pass either way,” he said.
In regards to a long-awaited waterfront redevelopment the city is undertaking in conjunction with the Port of Everett, Marine said the city is waiting on other government agencies to transfer property to the Port. He is confident the project will move forward as planned.
On housing, Marine said the state Legislature has pushed for too much density.
“We don’t all want seven-, eight-story buildings and a large mall like Lynnwood,” Marine said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, and it fits in perfectly with the light rail. But they should have that choice, the same way Mukilteo should have the choice of saying, ‘That’s not our character.’”
If elected, Marine said this term would be his last as mayor.
As of Tuesday, Marine has raised $20,470 in campaign contributions.
Marine has been endorsed by Mukilteo City Council members Tom Jordal, Jason Moon, Louis Harris and Donna Vago. He’s also received endorsements from Everett mayor Cassie Franklin and Marysville mayor Jon Nehring, among others.
Steve Schmalz
Schmalz, 61, has served on the Mukilteo City Council for 12 years across two stints in office. He works at a sales rep company.
His top priorities are public safety, managing the city budget and improving communication with residents.
Schmalz has been outspoken in his concern over the city’s financial situation. He’s said the city’s spending and use of fund balance is unsustainable, and he voted against approving the 2025-26 biennial budget in November 2024 that showed fund balances were expected to drop below levels mandated by city law.
To right the city’s financial ship, Schmalz would look to use a mix of cuts and responsible revenue growth, he said.
“My budgets will be balanced,” he said. “That means revenues will align with expenditures and not use any fund balance.”
Any asks for more revenue should go to the voters, he said. In June, Schmalz voted against a 0.1% sales tax increase to pay for transportation improvements in the city that would have made Mukilteo’s sales tax rate the highest in the state. The council voted 4-3 to approve that increase, but Marine vetoed it, his first use of the veto power while in office.
Schmalz also said he wanted more transparency about the city’s financial status.
“We really just need to be honest with the voters and the residents about what’s really going on,” he said. “The mayor thinks we’re in a great financial situation. We’re not.”
Schmalz voted to send the EMS levy to the ballot and said the measure could help plug some of the city’s financial holes.
On housing, Schmalz also wants to keep Mukilteo a “small, vibrant community,” he said.
He cited his opposition to a contentious rezone brought the city council voted down in October 2024, which would have allowed up to 200 homes to be built on a current industrial site. Although the housing units would have been mostly single-family homes and townhomes, residents argued the development would have been too dense for the city.
Schmalz said development that comes into the city should be planned in advance to prevent possible impacts to infrastructure and traffic.
In regard to the waterfront redevelopment project, Schmalz said the Port of Everett — which led the redevelopment of Everett’s waterfront — should also lead the way for developing Mukilteo’s waterfront as that agency has the expertise. He opposes the potential surplus of city land along the waterfront.
Other areas Schmalz hopes to focus on are getting funding for trail maintenance, bringing a farmers market to the city and securing additional funding for water safety equipment to provide to the fire department. He also hopes to crack down on speeding and loud modified mufflers on cars.
As of Monday, Schmalz has received $12,676 in campaign contributions.
Schmalz has been endorsed by the Snohomish County Democrats. He’s also received endorsements from State Representatives Lillian-Ortiz Self and Strom Peterson, Snohomish County Council member Megan Dunn and Mukilteo City Council member Mike Dixon.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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