Mountlake Terrace leaders formally opened their first meeting of the new term on Jan. 8, swearing in newly elected councilmembers and choosing leadership for the coming year. The council unanimously elected Councilmember Steve Woodard as mayor for a two‑year term and selected Councilmember Wall as mayor pro tem after a 4–3 vote.

Clerk-administered oaths formalized service for newly elected members including Sam Doyle, William Page Jr., Steve Woodard and Kyoko Matsumoto Wright. After the oath for Woodard, he appeared emotional and told the chamber, "I'm trying not to cry," as colleagues congratulated him.

Following roll call, the council called for nominations for mayor. A member moved to nominate Woodard, and the clerk conducted a roll call vote; each councilmember answered "aye," after which the mayor announced Woodard would serve the two‑year term. Council later opened nominations for mayor pro tem; after members used seniority/drawing procedures to determine voting order, votes were recorded as 4 for Wall and 3 for Murray and Wall was declared mayor pro tem for the coming year.

Council members and staff then moved on to other agenda items, including public comment, board assignments and several consent matters. The meeting closed with remarks from the new mayor recognizing the city’s history of peaceful transitions and the council adjourned.