The Mountlake Terrace City Council on a voice vote authorized the police chief to sign a memorandum of agreement with BlueBridge Alliance, allowing officers to deliver short‑term, on‑the‑spot assistance—food, clothing, transportation, minor vehicle parts or repairs and short lodging—to people facing immediate crises.

The pilot is intended to let officers use prepaid debit cards tied to a BlueBridge account so they can address urgent needs in the field. Commander Scott King told the council the program would start with seed funding provided through an onboarding grant and matching donations, and that officers would provide receipts and short reports for every use.

Council members and staff said the program aims to reduce harm and get people connected to longer‑term services. "Our officers would be equipped with debit cards preloaded with a modest amount," Commander Scott King said in his presentation, describing how the program would let officers buy a headlight, a bus ticket or an overnight hotel room instead of issuing a citation or leaving someone without help.

BlueBridge (named alternately in the meeting materials and presentation as "Blue Ridge Alliance," "Blue Bridal," and "BlueBridge") offered a $2,500 onboarding grant and a matching offer of up to $2,500 in seed funds, for a total of $5,000 to start the local account; King said the department already has $2,500 in donated funds available to seed the account. BlueBridge provides participating agencies with debit cards and a tablet to track transactions and receipts.

Council members raised questions about caps on individual expenditures, privacy of information shared with the nonprofit and the contract's termination clause. King said the program would not be used for large repairs; "we wouldn't be able to do a $2,500 fix," he told the council, but "if somebody needs a headlight or something within reason, a couple hundred dollars, we would be able to help with that." He also said officers would not share names or dates of birth with BlueBridge—only receipts and a short synopsis of what the money was used for.

City Attorney Hillary described the memorandum as "very unusual" and said she had reworked the contract before sending it back to BlueBridge; she told councilors, "This is a very unusual contract... I basically rewrote it for them," and that while the language was not ideal, she did not expect the city to lose funds under the agreement. Council members asked for regular reporting; Commander King agreed to include BlueBridge activity in the department's quarterly reports.

Council member questions also flagged a termination clause in the BlueBridge agreement that allows the nonprofit to terminate and, in certain cases, require forfeiture of funds to BlueBridge's general fund. King and Hillary said the language was unusual but that similar versions of the contract have been used by other cities; Hillary said BlueBridge declined some proposed edits because it "didn't have a lawyer" and that the organization may be open to future changes as it matures.

Mayor Pro Tem Tim Wall moved to authorize the chief to sign the memorandum of agreement. The motion was seconded and passed on a unanimous voice vote.

The council requested periodic reporting on program use and equity/access questions; staff said transaction tracking from the provided tablet should make simple reporting possible. The city will rely on donated funds and the BlueBridge match to sustain the card account beyond the onboard grant.

Actions at the meeting included approval of the MOA:
Motion: "Authorize Chief to sign the memorandum of agreement with BlueBridge Alliance." Mover: Mayor Pro Tem Tim Wall. Second: not specified. Vote: unanimous voice vote; tally 7 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain. Outcome: approved.