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Burien Moves Towards Public Camping Ban as Encampments Expand

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Breaking

City of Burien one step closer to a NO camping ban on public property. Monday evening, the motion passed to have City Manager Adolfo Bailon craft the language of this ordinance, then present it to city council for vote at next meeting. That’s if he can get it done by then. Passionate testimony on both sides.

YES VOTES:

CM Jimmy Matta, CM Stephanie Mora, Mayor Sofia Aragon, Deputy Mayor Kevin Schilling

NO VOTES:

CM Cydney Moore, CM Sarah Moore, CM Hugo Garcia

Currently, the city only has a no camping ordinance in public parks.

Disaster in the Making

Burien’s latest out of control homeless encampment is located at the corner of Ambaum Blvd SW & SW 120th St. It’s right across the street from Mynor Florian’s home day care. He says neighbors are already complaining about open air drug use and a spike in thefts in this area. Florian says city leaders are failing and believes the homeless have more rights than tax paying citizens.

Burien Police (@BurienPD) investigators are also looking into a recent sexual assault at the camp. City officials say they cannot remove this blight on the community since there is no illegal camping law on the books except in public parks. This issue along with a potential fix is expected to be brought up during tonight’s City Council meeting starting at 7pm. Stay tuned.

Tranq Now in Burien

This King County city is dealing with a serious fentanyl crisis. These photos were taken in the Ambaum encampment. I’m going to Why are elected officials allowing this to flourish? Dealers are preying on addicts in the camps. Problem for Burien, there’s no illegal camping ban on public streets. It only applies to public parks. Who came up with this brilliant plan?

Jonathan Choe

Journalist and Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth and Poverty
Jonathan Choe is a journalist and Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty, covering homelessness issues for its Fix Homelessness initiative. Prior to joining Discovery, Choe spent several years as one of the lead reporters at KOMO-TV, consistently the top rated television station in Seattle. His in depth stories on crime and deep dive investigations into the homeless crisis led to measurable results in the community, including changes in public policy. Choe has more than two decades of experience in television news behind the scenes and in front of the camera for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and Tribune. He has also been nominated and honored with multiple industry awards including an Emmy. Choe spent several years teaching classes on emerging media and entrepreneurship to under privileged youth in inner city Chicago. As an independent journalist, Choe also contributes regularly to the Mill Creek View and Lynnwood Times and has reported on exclusive stories in the past year for Daily Wire and The Postmillennial.