Burien

Interpreting Homeless Law Once again, I asked Burien Deputy Mayor Kevin Schilling how the city is interpreting the landmark ruling Martin V. Boise that says cities cannot enforce anti-camping ordinances if there aren’t enough homeless shelter beds available. This piece is frequently cited and misinterpreted by FAR-LEFT activists and other homeless advocates against SWEEPS. Even King County Executive Dow Constantine (@kcexec)weaponized it earlier this year and blocked sheriff’s deputies from assisting during the Burien dog park encampment removal. But Schilling makes it very clear, nowhere in the law does it say the offers of shelter must be in the city where the homeless are camping. In other words, if there is an open shelter bed in nearby Seattle or Renton, Read More ›

What’s Next Burien After weeks of contentious debate and public comment, the Burien City Council finally passed a “no camping” ordinance this week. This common sense bill was first championed by CM Stephanie Mora (@CmStephaniemora) and ended up being a close 4-3 vote. Now the heavy lifting begins. More than 60 people remain at the Ambaum Blvd encampment. I went there again this week. The open air drug use and trash is out of control. And sadly, Burien PD has taken multiple reports of young women being trafficked out of this encampment. Meanwhile, listen to Deputy Mayor Kevin Schilling describe what Highline Public School Dist. is doing in response to this situation. The city is now in talks to bring Read More ›

Crushing Expectations Kristine Moreland (@kmmoreland) and volunteers with “The More We Love” are way ahead of schedule. Only a handful of tents remain at the Grocery Outlet encampment in downtown Burien. No sweeps required. Most of the campers are being placed into tiny houses, motels, or detox facilities…FREE WILL CHOICE. But one man went on a bender after refusing to leave and was arrested by Burien Police (@BurienPD.) Otherwise, Moreland expects everything to be gone by Tuesday evening. When all is said and done, this needs to be a case study on how to do outreach. This was never about building more housing, spending lots of money, or warehousing people with foolish “housing first” policies. Instead, they leveraged resources already Read More ›

As city and county officials remain paralyzed trying to manage Burien’s out of control homeless encampment crisis, Kristine Moreland of “The More We Love” is building trust and relationships. “There are predators coming in from the community and preying on the people in here,” Moreland says as we walk past an encampment. She and her outreach partner, Chri Wee, are helping move men and women out of tents in the heart of downtown Burien into the services they need. They’ve been hired by local businesses to do the work politicians and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority have neglected. Together, they’ve moved more than two dozen men and women into housing or programs in just one month. “We celebrate because Read More ›

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 Read More ›

Human Tragedy The fentanyl crisis continues to play out on multiple streets in Seattle, especially in places like #Chinatown-ID. This evening, a young man in his 20’s showed me the early stages of “TRANQ FENTANYL” eating away at his skin. Pills laced with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, are starting to show up more often on the streets. It’s also leaving addicts walking around in a zombie like stupor. Another man nearby using fentanyl said, “I can see the silhouette of a demon” in his friend’s flesh eating wound. @CampSiteSeattle and others have documented the aftermath of “tranq” across the city. There is no denying the zombie drug is here. Nothing has changed in Councilmember Tammy Morales'( @CMTammyMorales) district. Where is Read More ›