EVERETT—Leading into 2026, the Lynnwood Times sat down with Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin – who just won another term last November with a, nearly, 11-point win – to share with you what the City of Everett has in look forward to in the coming years.
Ahead of the 2025 General Election, Mayor Franklin shared her priorities and platform, which centered on human services, housing, and public safety. Franklin shared that residents could expect to see a lot of “building on the successes we’ve had over the last eight years in those areas” during this next term.
“Public safety has been our top priority since day one and it remains a top priority as an administration and I look forward to work, in close partnership, with all of our teams and other partners to continue to work on public safety and reduce crime,” said Mayor Franklin.
Franklin highlighted some of the successes the city has seen under her leadership, from forming one of the best-staffed police departments in the region (and highest per capita), just shy of being 100% staffed.
This term, Franklin wants to hone in on youth safety, she shared, which she plans to work closely with the city’s Youth Advisory Board to address.
“Just one crime involving a juvenile, or juvenile victim, is one too many,” said Franklin.
In addition to youth safety, Mayor Franklin consistently heard from residents that traffic safety is a number one priority of theirs so she also wants to continue work on implementing Everett’s ‘Vision Zero Plan’ and do everything she can to improve traffic safety, human trafficking, and overall illicit activity.
“What you can also expect is our city to embrace technology. The tools that we’re using are working and we have good safeguards in place to protect residents, and protect data, but also reduce criminal activity,” said Franklin adding that she also plans to continue leveraging the city’s Alternative Response Team as part of the public safety network.
Transitioning into economics, Mayor Franklin’s ultimate vision for the City of Everett is to be “the best city to do business” and feels Everett is “close to getting there.”
“We have worked really aggressively to improve our permitting processes and working closely with the development community, with the port and other key partners, to ensure we are better at serving the community,” said Franklin. “The quicker we can move those permits through, it’s better for the city, it’s a better quality of life, and we can get new housing, get new restaurants. We have a housing crisis and you can only address that if you’re able to build and build affordably. Part of that is not adding more red tape for developers.”
One specific development project Mayor Franklin is particularly excited about is the city’s upcoming Outdoor Event Center which is currently at 60% design. The Everett City Council just passed a resolution last week that highlighted some of their values, and the City has already begun the bidding process on the properties.
“I’m excited for the transformation nature of it. It’s a part of our city that is so ripe for redevelopment, it’s the end station for light rail, our transit center is there, and it will really add to the quality of life,” said Franklin. “If you’re not a baseball fan that’s okay, it’s also USL soccer, and concerts, festivals, and events.”
Franklin pointed to the Angel of the Winds arena which, over the course of the last 20 years, just got up to 100 events last year. The upcoming Outdoor Event Center (the new home of the Everett Aquasox) will hold more than 100 events right out of the gate. The event center is scheduled to open in 2027, which is a target set by Major League Baseball.
Minor League Baseball generates approximately $12 million for the city, Mayor Franklin added. With the current Everett Aquasox home of Funko Field being leased out by the Everett School District, this will increase revenue for the city exponentially, which can then be reinvested into parks, public safety, and key services the community relies on and wants their city to provide.
With the FIFA World Cup 2026 coming to Seattle next year, and the City of Everett being named an official Fan City, Mayor Franklin said she is looking forward to “showcasing Everett and everything that is gorgeous, and amazing, about the city on a global stage.” But with that responsibility, Franklin, added comes strategic readiness.
“That means putting on our best face forward, making sure we are investing and really highlighting Everett in a positive way, working in partnership with the Port. I think our fan zone is going to be the best in the state,” said Franklin.
Franklin added the city will be making investments on public safety and beautification as well. Regarding public safety efforts, the City is in works with its federal partners for grant money which could be used to bolster emergency services, and police services, to create a “great fan experience for everyone coming.”
With Sound Transit planning to expand Link light rail to Everett (by 2037), but also reporting a $20 billion shortfall, Mayor Franklin, as a Board Member on Sound Transit, as asked what needs to be done to ensure that project remains on schedule.
“The entire system has to be approached with value engineering and it’s important that, as we do that, we don’t use the lever of delaying because that ends up costing us exponentially more,” said Franklin. “It’s not fair to our Everett taxpayers who have been paying into this system for years and don’t, yet, have light rail in this community.”
Mayor Franklin added that she will continue to advocate for Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, and whoever the newly appointed third Snohomish County board member will be, to ensure Sound Transit prioritizes the Everett link – as an important job center for the region with Boeing alone having 35,000 employees.
“This is not just about getting our residents to Seattle, this is about getting folks in other parts of King County and beyond into Everett and taking care of the nightmare that is I-5. Getting the system built quickly will help with some of that congestion,” said Franklin.
With housing continuing to be a top priority for Mayor Franklin, regarding EMOTE (Emergency Mobile Opioid Treatment Everett), and low barrier housing for those suffering from housing insecurity as a result of substance abuse or behavioral health issues, Mayor Franklin said the city needs to expand its services outside of the city, working with other Mayors to create pathways for those seeking treatment. She will also continue to champion for funding, in addition to working with non-profit, and faith-based, partners.
The federal government recently announced they could potentially reduce Continuation of Care (COC) amounts for these programs, which Mayor Franklin said could pose a risk for the entire region, particularly those non-profits who provide shelter, housing, and case management to populations who need it.
EMOTE, however, is funded separately from the COC so it wouldn’t be affected directly from these reductions, but if the programs who do rely on COC were to have reduced resources it could impact EMOTE’s pool of referrals.
Going into a third term, and being one of the region’s more experienced Mayors, Mayor Franklin was lastly asked what goes on “behind the scenes” of being Everett’s Chief Officer, and how she’s able to get so much accomplished.
“It’s a lot of work but we have a great team here, at the city, and I’m really honored and proud to work with them. This job is 24/7 and we have a team of dedicated public servants who are really passionate about their areas of work,” said Franklin. “When we want to build a new bridge, start a program, build a shelter, it’s all hands-on deck going the same direction. We work together across different departments, we work across different communities, different cities, we advocate to the state, to the county. I go to D.C. twice a year, sometimes more, to advocate to different departments…this is all the behind the scenes work to get all the resources aligned and the teams aligned, to start moving forward on important projects for the community.”
Mayor Franklin added that she’s grateful for talented, dedicated, staff to make that all happen continuing that her background in nonprofits helps on these fronts.
In closing, Mayor Franklin added that she wants to focus more on community engagement this term. When she first assumed office, she feels that many residents felt the city was focused more on North Everett, for example, leaving South Everett behind.
Over the course of her tenure, she has worked hard to bring in more diverse voices into her teams and commissions. As the City Council moved to Districts a few years ago, Mayor Franklin feels there’s an opportunity there to work more closely with the council to really focus on district engagement.
“I really want Everett to be the best city in the Pacific Northwest, to raise a family, pursue an education, start a career, retire and just enjoy a high quality of life. And that takes all of us. This is really a beautiful city, with rich, cultural diversity, and beautiful parks. When you’re campaigning you’re door knocking and speaking to all of these members of the community, and I can’t tell you the number of times I encouraged someone to join a commission because they’re voices matter and we really want to make sure the work we’re doing is representing them and serving them long into the future,” said Mayor Franklin.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
One Response
Real hardball interview there Kienan. You’ll win a Pulitzer in no time!
Everett is hosed. Under Cassie what has Everett expanded? It’s police department? Homeless services? Three terms with nothing to show except a city in debt. No new ideas. Blames others for her failures. Come on you could have at least pressed her about using A.I. in government which she is all for.
This isn’t a puff piece, this is straight up propaganda.