Government and politics

Bothell has a Council-manager government governed by a City Council consisting of seven Council Members, each of whom is elected to a four-year term. Council elections are held every two years, with either three or four positions standing, depending upon year. All positions are nonpartisan and at-large, elected by the entire city voting population. The Council passes ordinances and resolutions, approves the budget, sets policies and adjudicates issues, and elects from its own membership a Mayor and Deputy Mayor for two-year terms.
Day-to-day affairs in the city are administered by a City Manager appointed by the council.
Bothell remains the only municipality in the state of Washington to have two consecutive amputee mayors; James Dixon (who lacked a right leg) from 1956 to 1960, followed by Monty Winestein (left arm) from 1960 to 1963.^{[citation needed]}