90 Years of MRSC
Created in commemoration of our 90th anniversary, this historical timeline shows MRSC and Washington State developing together over nine decades.
1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
1930s
The 1930s were marked by the Great Depression, which first destroyed Washington State’s economy, then sparked public works development through New Deal (1933-1938) funding.
Hooverville in Seattle during the Great Depression, Courtesy Museum of History & Industry
During the mid-to-late 1930s, the state built an electrical grid, dams, roads, and bridges. The decade also brought about the end of Prohibition, the creation of new cultural institutions, and the expansion of the statewide trails and park system, including Olympic National Park in 1938.
Olympic National Park, Courtesy Library of Congress
In 1935, Governor Clarence D. Martin signed the Revenue Act of 1935, which remains the foundation of the state’s tax system today.
Prior to the 1930s, there had been several attempts to create a municipal research service to advise cities and towns, but limited financial support meant a permanent group wasn’t formed until 1934, when MRSC’s precursor, the Bureau of Governmental Research, was formed in Seattle. As a division of the University of Washington’s Political Science division, the Bureau was funded by the university and the New York-based Rockefeller Foundation and Spelman Fund.
The Bureau was created as the research arm of its advocacy-oriented partner organization, the Association of Washington Cities (AWC). The new organization’s stated purpose was “work[ing] in conjunction with the officials of the Association in providing better information through greater research facilities, all in the interest of better and more economical municipal operations and services.” Housed together in Condon Hall (now Gowen Hall), the Bureau and AWC had the same director, Russell Barthell, until 1939.
In its first year in operation, the Bureau answered 293 questions from local governments across the state, including this one:
Inquiry requesting information about voting machines, 1936
By 1935, the two organizations had outgrown their offices and moved to Commerce Hall (now part of Savery Hall). The new space consisted of an outer office, a private office, and a library where the Bureau stored local ordinances staff members could mail out to government officials when requested.
Commerce Hall (now Savery Hall), University of Washington
That same year, the Bureau held its first annual Institute of Government. The multi-day conference held at the University of Washington was designed as an “in-service training school” for public officials. It consisted of intensive training on municipal law, taxation, budget preparation, accounting, and personnel administration. The Institute was held for 35 years, until 1969.
In 1939, the Bureau secured its own leadership, one of the first steps of separating from AWC (though the two organizations remain closely tied up to the present day). Dr. Donald H. Webster, a lawyer who served as the chief counsel and legal adviser for the Washington State Tax Commission, led the organization until 1967. Dr. Ernest Campbell was assistant director.
1940s
The 1940s brought about World War II (1939-1945), and along with it, increased migration and industrialization in Washington State. In preparing for the Pacific Rim theater of the war, the federal government bolstered war-related industries in Washington and encouraged soldiers and workers to relocate to the western states. Military bases were constructed, as were manufacturing plants producing warships and planes.
Soldiers loading onto a Navy LST at the Seattle Port of Embarkation, 1945, Courtesy National Archives
The U.S. Coast Guard Women's Auxiliary (SPARs) practice a gas mask drill in Port Angeles, 1943, Courtesy National Archives
During this period, the region became more populous and diverse. At its peak, the Hanford Engineer Works, which manufactured plutonium to be used in atomic bombs, employed 45,000, considerably increasing the population in the Tri-Cities, which stood at 7,000 in 1940.
Cities and towns were interested in developing housing programs for wartime employees and their families, as well as creating civil defense and war effort support programs. The Bureau advised its customers on these topics, as well as on more mundane ones like the inquiry below:
Inquiry regarding ordinances providing for the control of pests such as tent caterpillars, 1941
Throughout the 1940s, the Bureau's Institute of Government morphed into a general conference on emerging municipal issues, or as some called it, the “20th Century version of the ‘ole Town Hall meeting’.” As it opened to the public, the Institute gained wider popularity, attracting more than 1,000 attendees in 1949.
In 1945, Dr. Webster secured permanent state funding for the Bureau through House Bill 213, which designated the organization as the official research and service agency for the state’s cities and towns. AWC also allocated a portion of its motor vehicle excise tax to fund Bureau operations. Two years later, the Bureau of Governmental Research officially changed its name to the Bureau of Governmental Research and Services.
Name change announcement, 1947
1950s
The Cold War (1947-1991) continued to make Washington a center for defense and aerospace. In 1949, the Seattle-Tacoma airport opened, and throughout the subsequent decades, the state developed air force bases, naval facilities, Army posts, and shipyards. The decade also brought about the creation of the Washington State Ferry system, which began operating in 1951. Before the creation of the statewide system, private companies operated ferry routes.
Politicians and business leaders also successfully lobbied for Seattle-based Boeing to become a major supplier to the U.S. Department of Defense. Boeing also started producing commercial jets, the 727 and 737, the production of which encouraged the growth of the Pacific Northwest during the 1950s and 1960s.
Other significant events in the early 1950s were the Korean War and the polio epidemic. In response to the latter, local governments operated vaccination programs at school districts and hospitals.
In 1950, President Harry S. Truman spoke at Gonzaga University in Spokane about racial equality, saying that no person or group had the right to rule over any other person or group. In 1951, the Bureau of Governmental Research and Services took this message to heart by adding a Civil Rights section to the Institute of Government, and welcoming Charles Stokes, the third Black legislator in the state’s history, as a panelist.
Throughout the decade, the Bureau of Governmental Research and Services annually answered around 500 to 600 inquiries, including this one from a city in 1952:
Inquiry regarding regulation of television aerial towers, 1952
In 1959, the state legislature approved the Planning Enabling Act, allowing counties to regulate land development and to add a planning department and commission, as necessary. The legislature also started mandating comprehensive plans with land use elements and transportation routes, as well as creating the board of adjustment to approve zoning permits.
1960s
1962 World's Fair
Washington's interest in aerospace and technological innovation continued into the 1960s, with the Seattle World's Fair, or the “Space Age World’s Fair,” in 1962. As the name implied, the fair explored futuristic development in the year 2000 and beyond, with the Space Needle serving as its signature building.
However, many Washingtonians were uncomfortable with the state’s rapid industrialization and supported social, political, and environmental movements. This tension between advancement and social concern lasted throughout the decade, with the U.S entry into the Vietnam War in 1964, the passage of the Federal Civil Rights Act that same year, and the moon landing in 1969.
Vietnam veterans returning home to Seattle, 1969
This decade also signaled growth for the Bureau. In 1963, the organization moved with AWC to a new office, designed to serve as a “municipal clearing house and research center for Washington cities and their administrative officials.”
MRSC and AWC's office, 1960s
The number of inquiries addressed by the Bureau grew from 815 in 1960 to more than 1,000 in 1963.
Total number of inquiries answered, 1968
In 1969, the Bureau of Governmental Research and Services was dissolved, and in its place came an independent nonprofit called the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC). Though MRSC was a nonprofit, it was funded by the state excise tax on motor vehicles and trailers and continued serving Washington municipalities in an official capacity.
The renamed organization still used the library, publications, and inquiry materials dating back to the 1930s, while also continuing to develop field studies and publications, hold educational conferences, and offer legal and technical advice to cities and towns.
1970s
In the 1970s, Washingtonians prioritized the environment. Washington’s senator Henry S. Jackson authored the National Environment Protection Act in 1970, voters approved the Shoreline Management Act in 1972, and Spokane hosted the world’s first environmentally-themed fair, Expo ’74. In 1977, the Clean Water Act in 1977 was passed, and municipalities were required to treat all wastewater before discharging it into waterways, spurring the increased development of municipal wastewater treatment plants. MRSC advised local governments on how to deal with these new federal and state regulations.
Local governments also increasingly relied on MRSC to advise them on a range of topics. With John Lamb and Ernest Campbell introduced as co-directors in 1970, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission assigned MRSC its first contract project, a Model Traffic Project. From 1970 to 1973, MRSC compared local laws with the Uniform Vehicle Code, and the legislature used the organization’s findings to pass traffic safety bills in 1974 and 1975.
Government transparency was also important to the state legislature and voters. In 1971, the legislature introduced the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), making government meetings open to the public, and in 1972, voters approved the Public Disclosure Act, increasing transparency between government entities and the public. This later became the Public Records Act (PRA).
These issues still have a tremendous impact on local governments, as evidenced by the inquiries we received in 1997 (OPMA) and 2002 (PRA). Even today, public records-related webinars are the most popular and well attended fee-based webinars MRSC offers.
OPMA and public disclosure inquiries, 1990s
The 1970s also marked MRSC’s increasing independence from the University of Washington. In 1972, MRSC and AWC moved to a new shared office. Together, the organizations started publishing their first newsletter, City News.
AWC's building in Seattle, also home of MRSC
The number of inquiries also significantly increased in the 1970s, from 1102 in 1970 to 2,500 in 1977.
1980s
Perhaps the most significant event in Washington State in the early 1980s was the eruption of Mount St. Helens, causing the largest debris avalanche in recorded history. The magma flow destroyed everything in its path for 200 miles. Fifty-seven people were killed in the eruption.
Boys sweeping ash from Mount Saint Helen, 1980, Courtesy Yakima History Museum
Like other organizations in its tech-oriented home city, MRSC continued adopting new technologies to better serve customers throughout the 1980s. In 1985, MRSC moved to computers and word processors to achieve greater productivity using spreadsheets, databases, and more. The organization also automated inquiry records and its library classification system using the dBase III computer program. dBase allowed consultants to gain instant access to the full texts of previous inquiry records through simple key word searches, and the ability to cut and paste prior guidance into new documents.
Floppy disk for dBase III computer program
To house these technologies, MRSC also moved from Seattle to Kirkland in 1988. MRSC’s 20 staff members used an office separate from AWC for the first time.
MRSC moves to Kirkland, 1988
Throughout the 1980s, MRSC also received more inquiries from local governments than ever before. In 1980, the organization answered 3,258 inquiries; by 1989, this number had increased to 4,785 inquiries. See this inquiry from 1986:
Inquiry, 1986
1990s
From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, the number of inquiries MRSC received increased considerably, as evidenced by this graph from 1990:
1990 Inquiries
In 1990, Washington state adopted the Growth Management Act (GMA), requiring fast-growing cities and counties to develop comprehensive plans to manage population growth. Under the new leadership of Richard Yukubousky as executive director, MRSC supported cities in meeting GMA requirements by hiring a planning consultant, developing a model land use inventory, and adding GMA resources, like this publication from 1994, to the MRSC lending library.
GMA publication, 1994
John S. Lamb's retirement, 1990
Also in 1990, MRSC produced the first issue of its print newsletter, Municipal Research News. Published four times a year, the 14-page publication featured MRSC news, staff-written articles, and Ask MRSC samples, among other content. Until the year 2000, the newsletter was MRSC’s primary way to communicate with the public.
MRSC's first print newsletter 1990
In 1992, MRSC introduced an electronic database called the Washington Information Cities Partnership, a municipal clearinghouse of ordinances, resolutions, reports, brochures, and forms. MRSC staff also adopted the document indexing and retrieval software program Folio Views 2.1 that allowed them to search and retrieve more than 10,000 already-written inquiries.
Throughout the 1990s, MRSC increasingly became an aggregator of information, helping local officials sort through the new quantities of information available via the Internet. In 1993, MRSC rolled out its first website iteration, the MRSC Electronic Bulletin Board. The platform gave the public access to WAC and RCW databases, 1990 census data, discussion boards, and downloadable library files. Legal researchers could also access the state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court decisions through this resource.
MRSC's first website, 1993
Seeking more space, MRSC moved into the IBM Building (1200 Fifth Ave) in downtown Seattle in 1995. The larger office gave MRSC room to expand its library, since municipal clerks across the state now had to send passed ordinances to the organization.
MRSC's office in the 1990s, in Seattle's IBM Building
In 1996, MRSC published its first non-bulletin board-style website, www.MRSC.org. The website featured weekly news, sample documents, state statutes and administrative rules, articles, publications, court decisions, and inquiry responses. Consultants also started handing out MRSC on CD, a searchable database of MRSC’s legal opinions, Ask MRSC, publications, sample legal opinions, and policy research responses, at conferences.
MRSC's first non-bulletin board-style website, 1996
The website was popular. In the first year of operation, the website received only a little over 30,000 visits. Two years later, in 1998, the website recorded more than 382,000 visits.
Topics of expertise at the time were:
- Finance
- Human services
- Information systems
- Public safety
- Public works
- Management and leadership
- Parks and recreation
- Personnel
- Planning/community development.
Throughout the decade, MRSC also expanded the local governments it served. After SSB 552 authorized a county research program, MRSC started providing services to counties in 1997. These services were funded through the county share of the liquor excise tax.
MRSC starts serving counties in 1997
In 1999, the Olympic pipeline exploded in Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham, killing three people. Responding to the disaster, MRSC developed resources to help municipalities understand transmission pipeline regulation and franchising. Later, MRSC assisted the Washington City and County Pipeline Safety Commission in maintaining a website on pipeline safety.
That same year, voters passed Initiative 695, which abolished the motor vehicle excise tax, MRSC’s primary source of funding. Although Initiative 695 was found unconstitutional the next year, the state legislature replaced the tax with a $30 licensing fee rather than reinstating it. So, by the end of the millennium, MRSC’s future was in limbo.
2000s
After the loss of motor vehicle excise tax funding, MRSC urged cities and counties to contact the legislature and preserve MRSC by replacing the lost funding with a fraction of the distribution of liquor profits. Local governments responded to the call, and in 2000, the new Substitute Senate Bill 6357 funded MRSC with state liquor board funds.
MRSC has a new funding source in 2000
With nearly a million website user sessions recorded in 2000, MRSC also started assisting local governments with the transition to electronic services for applications, including payment and billing, purchasing, contracting, small works rosters, business licenses, and public records management.
In 2001, MRSC relocated to the Belltown neighborhood of downtown Seattle, where it would remain until 2024.
MRSC's office in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, from 2001 to 2024
In 2002, MRSC marked this change in office space by rolling out a new logo:
MRSC's logo 2002
In the mid-2000s, MRSC started communicating more frequently with customers, developing a biweekly email for subscribers in 2003 and creating 82 In-Focus e-newsletters each year, starting in 2006.
That same year, MRSC also added some special service districts (SPDs) to its client list. RCW 43.110.080 authorized MRSC to serve SPDs; however, it failed to fully fund the service, so MRSC continues to develop additional agreements with SPD associations to cover service costs.
MRSC starts serving special purpose districts in 2006
In 2007, the City of Lynnwood discontinued its Puget Sound-based shared roster, and in turn, MRSC introduced its MRSC Rosters program, a small public works contractor roster and consultant services roster for public agencies. The program is designed to assist cities, counties, and special districts in finding project bidders. Today, MRSC Rosters serves over 600 Washington cities, counties, and special purpose districts and, per Second Substitute House Bill 5268 (2023) will become the statewide roster.
MRSC Rosters begins in 2007
MRSC celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2009, with the website recording nearly 250,000 site visits per month, totaling 3,216,493 website visits annually.
MRSC staff on the organization's 75th anniversary
2010s
Throughout the 2010s, several key pieces of legislation changed life in Washington State. New executive director Tracy Burrows, who took the helm from Rich Yukubousky in 2011, guided MRSC through these developments.
Tracy Burrows served as executive director from 2011 to 2024
Also in 2011, the organization introduced a platform that further connected MRSC with its customers. Consultants and guest authors shared their insights on MRSC’s newly-created blog, MRSC Insight. From the early 2010s onward, MRSC has produced more than 100 blogs each year.
In 2012, the state legislature passed Initiative 502, which legalized recreational use of marijuana. Local governments needed to decide to allow or restrict dispensaries from operating in their communities. In response, MRSC developed a webpage on recreational marijuana uses, along with dispensary siting and regulation advice. In conjunction with the 2014 opening of the first cannabis dispensary in Seattle, MRSC published its Marijuana Regulatory Compliance webpage (now titled Cannabis Regulation)
Marijuana legalization in 2012 resulted in many inquiries and the development of web-based resources
By Dennis Bratland - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
In 2015, MRSC launched a professionally-designed, custom-built website for the Rosters program. By the end of that year, 428 Washington public agencies and 5,200 businesses had registered for the program.
MRSC Rosters website launches in 2015
In 2016, Initiative 1433 set the state minimum wage for most employees and required every employer in the state, including local governments, to provide employees with paid sick leave.
Paid sick leave inquiry, 2016
The 2017 legislative session brought about the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program.
Paid FML inquiry, 2017
MRSC continues to provide guidance and training on both paid sick leave and the PFML.
2020s
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began. Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency on February 29, 2020, which was followed by a statewide stay-at-home order on March 23. For the next several years, MRSC developed web material, free trainings, and blogs, as well as collecting sample documents related to the pandemic. Topics covered in these materials included furloughs, financing, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, community support, HR issues, operational issues (electronic signatures, meetings, OPMA, vaccines, facemasks), and reopening.
COVID-19 inquiry, 2020
As the organization emerged from the pandemic, MRSC staff decided to continue working remotely in 2021, aside from quarterly in-person meet-ups for staff meetings, holiday parties, and other gatherings.
Remote social meeting, 2021
Reflecting the need for less office space, MRSC left Seattle after nearly 30 years and moved to Tacoma in June 2024, moving into an office building it purchased.
Packing up the Seattle office, 2024