It was March of 1989 and the residents of Federal Way had just voted to incorporate after several previous attempts.

Thirty-seven people decided to run for the seven positions on the new City Council. A primary whittled the field to 14 and in September the seven of us were sworn in with a full audience at Decatur High School’s cafeteria/performing arts center. There was a sense of enthusiasm and anticipation as the new council was asked to autograph the evening’s programs. One by one, each of us were sworn in. I had selected to run in Position 1 so I could be the very first Council member officially sworn in.

Oct. 1989-Feb. 28, 1990 (city’s first day)

We announced our first official organizing meeting with 10 cent copies run off at the Safeway store and hand delivered to the newspapers. The meeting in the now Berkshire Hathaway building, found the council sitting on seven folding chairs we were able to find in that then-empty space. Agenda: Now what do we do?

The Association of Washington Cities put together a guide for new cities and most of us attended the free workshops they conducted for candidates and the public. To start, hire an interim city manager, create committees after electing a mayor and a deputy mayor, etc., getting a moratorium on apartment building and other uncontrolled development was foremost on our minds and that was accomplished.

The county also gave us the fire station near Steele Lake Park to use as our City Hall, and a phone “system” that looked as if someone had yanked it out of an office in the county to use. Some of us bought lightbulbs so we could see our way around in the building, others got donations of a calendar, pens, scratch paper and a full desk setup. Our lone volunteer brought her own folding table and chair.

We hired an interim city manager who helped start other new cities. My committee assignment was to secure insurance for the council and the city, and to create an interim budget. Others worked on land use (the alarming rate of destruction of pristine land for apartments with no attention to adding parks, access, or play spaces within developments was a major factor in the positive vote for incorporation) transportation, public services, etc.

The council met almost every night working on creating a new Comprehensive Plan to be ready and functional on the day following official incorporation. Much of the plan was based on the city of Kirkland’s as we found that city appealing and vibrant.

Other contracts had to be arranged, money borrowed, and library and fire district annexations approved. To ensure we followed all city financial laws, we met with representatives of the state auditor’s office and followed their suggestions accordingly, which led to balanced budgets and clean audits.

Why was Feb. 28 selected as the incorporation date? This allowed the new comprehensive plan to go into effect before the end of the building moratorium and allowed the city to collect March taxes. If we had chosen March 1, the city would have had to provide March services with no tax revenue until April.

As a council member, I voted affirmatively on so much of what you see and use today. Many of the capital improvements were often 4-3 votes, and yes, I would vote that way again. Here is a list of some of those:

• Purchase and develop the 83.5 acre Celebration Park

• Build the BPA Trail

• Have a robust street overlay program to have the best streets anywhere

• Buy the Dumas Bay Centre

• Build the Steele Lake promenade and build family Funland

• Expand the number and improve neighborhood parks

• Protect the Hylebos Park

• Support the Red, White and Blues Fourth of July Festival as a substitute for outlawing fireworks

• Build and own our own police evidence building

• Buy and renovate City Hall to bring police, courts and city staff together for greater efficiency

• Build a 911 dispatch center with other south sound entities

• Cut jail costs by contracting with Pierce County and eastern Washington cities for space

• Build the senior/community center when the county no longer supported the Federal Way pool

• Downtown improvements, such as lighting, banners and flowers

• Low tax rate, no Business and Occupation taxes

• Transportation: We brought money for transportation improvements to Sate Route 99, advocated for the five-floor Transit Center and HOV access to and from Interstate 5, neighborhood safety, such as stoplights on First and 330th, transit service on weekends, Sound Transit Express bus service

During my term as mayor from 1994-1996, I led the 7-0 council vote to start our own police department in 18 months. No city of our size — our population was 65,000 — in the United States had ever done this before.

I was part of other accomplishments as well, including the motion I made to build light rail to the airport and bringing the national headquarters of World Vision to the city from California and dedicating Sahalie Park.

So as I look ahead at the years to come as the city’s former mayor, here are some things I would like to see for our community:

• Development of the downtown, including the Performing Arts and Conference Center, link light rail extension, quality downtown housing, restaurants, shopping, offices and family wage jobs

• Maintain, improve and advertise the natural beauty of this very green city, visit the Pacific Rim Bonsai Museum, the Rhododendron Species Garden, Powellswood and the Hylebos.

• Get a fabulous business at the Weyerhaeuser site employing hundereds of people.

• Parlay our location near SeaTac Airport and the nexus of I-5 and Highway 18 into even more corporate presence here

• Get more people involved in the city by serving on one of the many commissions the city formed early in its life. Get to know our neighbors. Build on the diversity of the city. Get to know the industrious and talented people from Ukraine, Korea, Japan, China, Kenya, Ethiopia, etc. who live here.

Federal Way resident Mary Gates was the city’s first council member.