Editing Mayor of Seattle (section)

==History==

Seattle was initially incorporated as a [[town]] on January 14, 1865, by the [[Washington Territorial Legislature]], governed by a [[board of trustees]]. Charles C. Terry served as president of the board of trustees,<ref>{{cite news |last=Suffia |first=David |date=November 30, 1969 |title=City Charter 100 Years Old Tuesday |page=94 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> which remained unchanged until the town's disincorporation on January 28, 1867.<ref name="Archives"/> The town of Seattle was incorporated a second time on December 2, 1869, with a new [[city charter]] that established the position of mayor. [[Henry A. Atkins]] was appointed the first mayor of Seattle by the Territorial Legislature, and was elected to the office on July 11, 1870.<ref>{{cite news |last=Conover |first=C. T. |date=August 21, 1960 |title=Just Cogitating: Town of Seattle Was Incorporated Late in 1864 |page=5 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref name="HistoryLink-Atkins">{{cite web |last=Tate |first=Cassandra |date=September 8, 2004 |title=Henry A. Atkins is elected first mayor of the City of Seattle on July 11, 1870. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/5737 |work=HistoryLink |access-date=November 26, 2009 |archive-date=October 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019073237/http://www.historylink.org/File/5737 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A new city charter, the Freeholders Charter, was adopted in 1890 and extended the mayor's term in office from one year to two years, but barred consecutive terms.<ref name="HistoryLink-Devin">{{cite web |last=Oldham |first=Kit |date=March 5, 2014 |title=Seattle voters approve new city charter and re-elect Mayor William F. Devin on March 12, 1946. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/3560 |work=HistoryLink |access-date=September 13, 2017 |archive-date=September 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914125803/http://www.historylink.org/File/3560 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McDonald |first=Robert T. |date=March 12, 1944 |title=Seattle's Mayors |page=35 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The charter also moved elections to the first Monday in March and required the mayor to be at least 30 years of age and live within the city for two years.<ref name="HistoryLink-Devin"/><ref>{{cite book |date=October 1, 1890 |title=Charter of The City of Seattle, Commonly Known as The Freeholders' Charter |page=31 |publisher=The Northwestern Printing Company |location=Seattle |oclc=38579564 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBNPAAAAYAAJ |via=Google Books |access-date=September 13, 2017}}</ref>

A new city charter that was approved by the city's voters in 1946 lengthened the term of office for mayors from two years to four years, starting with the 1948 elections.<ref name="HistoryLink-Devin"/><ref>"Seven Seattleites Seek Mayoralty" (February 24, 1948).  Associated Press via ''[[The Oregonian]]'', p. 9.</ref> In 1969 the age and residence requirements were removed from the charter.<ref name="Charter-Amendment">{{cite web | url = http://clerk.seattle.gov/search/resolutions/22144 | title = Online Information Resources - CityClerk {{!}} seattle.gov | access-date = December 14, 2020 | archive-date = September 26, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210926064354/http://clerk.seattle.gov/search/resolutions/22144 | url-status = live }}</ref>