Bothell council discusses 2026 committee assignments, ARCH pilot and potential SCA withdrawal

Bothell City Council spent the bulk of its organizational meeting discussing committee assignments and regional representation for 2026, hearing staff briefings and member preferences on a range of internal committees and interjurisdictional bodies.

City Manager Kyle Stander told the council staff had prepared a matrix and scoring tool to help members choose committee service and noted a new pilot opportunity: Bothell will pilot one councilmember appointment to ARCH, a regional coalition for affordable housing, for a one-year test. "As a pilot, there's a lot of room to shape how that one's gonna go," Stander said, urging council members to consider participation.

Councilmembers debated reinstating a Public Safety Committee, suspended previously because of broad council interest in its topics. Councilmember Dodd argued the committee enabled deeper discussion, saying reinstating it would allow more thorough review of issues such as the future of Bothell Fire and police policy. Several members urged that any subcommittee conversations be recorded for transparency.

Human Services Committee membership, Lodging Tax Advisory Committee roles and technical regional bodies such as MSWAC (solid waste advisory) and K4C (King County Cities' climate collaboration) also drew discussion. Staff emphasized the LTAC funds are restricted by state law to tourism-related projects and that the LTAC membership mix must include non-council members; "That revenue is then restricted to paying for things that would bring in additional tourism money," Stander said.

Several councilmembers raised questions about Bothell's membership in the Sound Cities Association (SCA). One councilmember noted the packet listed SCA dues at $25,000 a year and said they did not see a clear return on investment. Staff heard an overall lack of strong sentiment for active participation in SCA in 2026 and was asked to prepare a staff recommendation and potential notification to SCA about intent to leave, with the option to reverse the decision later. "We would not become ineligible to be members," Stander said, adding staff would confirm procedural details for leaving and rejoining if the council chooses that route.

On appointments to specific regional bodies, council consensus was reached to notify Community Transit that Councilmember Dodd will represent Bothell at the January 15 selection committee. Other committees (e.g., North King County Coalition on Homelessness, NPRSA, ETP, Cascadia College advisory) generated expressions of interest, alternates, and notes that formal votes on assignments will take place next week when the council returns with a finalized slate.

Next steps: staff will bring formal appointment motions and a staff recommendation on SCA membership back to the council for vote at the next meeting. Committee rosters and any interlocal agreement changes will follow council direction.