A newly elected Mukilteo councilmember embraces the art of doorbelling—and promoting diversity through continual community outreach—as hallmarks of good leadership.

By: Allyson Meyer

Jason Moon, Councilmember, Mukilteo. Credit: Courtesy The Daily Herald

When Jason Moon moved with his young family to Mukilteo in 2016, it wasn’t because he wanted to make history.

 “I think it was because of how beautiful the community is—both aesthetically as well as its members,” explains Moon. An account manager at Microsoft, Moon convinced his parents, immigrants from South Korea who had owned a small dry-cleaning business in nearby Lynnwood for more than 30 years, to relocate to Mukilteo in 2020. His career in local government started in 2021, when he volunteered to serve on his adopted city’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Commission, and ended up becoming chairperson. In February 2022, he was unanimously appointed to fill a council seat vacated by Mayor Joe Marine, becoming the first Korean American to serve on Mukilteo’s council. When that position was up for reelection in 2023, Moon ran unopposed but decided to campaign as if he were running opposed, calling on local businesses and homes to build discourse, listen, and connect with the people of Mukilteo.

“You don’t see too many Asian American politicians, and that’s what I want to break the ice with, especially with young folks,” he explains. “The more I’m out there in the community, the more people are likely to know who I am and approach me for specific questions or maybe just say hi. I want to make sure I put my face out there, so I can be that kind of resource.”

Now in his first full term as a local elected, he’s still in campaign mode, focusing his outreach efforts on groups that aren’t typically engaged with local government, including the city’s Asian community, which comprises 20.4 percent of Mukilteo’s population.

“That’s my biggest goal,” says Moon, who leverages his Korean language skills in his engagement. “Always making sure the underdog has a voice, making sure people at the top realize there are people who might not be seen. In the end, it’s about serving the community, not necessarily leading the community.”

In the end, it’s about serving the community, not necessarily leading the community.

Moon also serves on AWC’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Cabinet, a position he says is essential to his service as a Mukilteo public official.

“I'm familiar with Snohomish County because that’s where I grew up, but driving to Tacoma, Puyallup, Tri-Cities, Jefferson County, and Spokane, it’s totally different,” he explains. “The ethnic makeup is different. The cultures are different. Being on this DEIB cabinet, I get to understand more about what our state looks like. That’s how I can grow, how I can build on my perspective so that when constituents come to me from my city, in my county, I can serve them.”

Tapping into people’s diversity—and embracing their differences—he says, makes the community that much stronger.

Moon stresses: “Even if someone likes peanut butter and the other person likes jelly, together it’s peanut butter and jelly. You’ve got to look past some of the issues and look at the similarities, because there are so many more similarities than disagreements.”