Burien

Explosive Meeting Despite intense opposition from neighbors, it appears Highline United Methodist Church will proceed with it’s homeless day shelter in Burien. Tuesday evening, Pastor Jenny Partch held one final public meeting to answer questions. The vast majority of people in the room were concerned about public safety and more drug addicts coming into their community from places like Seattle. However, Pastor Partch downplayed the potential risks and believes this will be a vital resource for people living on the streets. That did not sit well with neighbors and biz owners nearby. In fact the pastor got called out for living in Des Moines, several miles away from any potential problems overflowing from her day shelter in Burien. Deputy Mayor Read More ›

Controversial Church Shelter Tuesday evening, Highline United Methodist Church in Burien is hosting another public meeting. Starts at 7pm. Church is trying expand day shelter capabilities. But neighbors say this is a disaster in the making. #Burien. Questions from Community Meeting for Day Center How are you finding the people? They’re allusive and hard to find. Flyers are being placed at Burien’s two libraries, the L.E.A.D. office, Burien Transit Center and Share & Care. Caseworkers have been given leaflets to give to clients. We have let other human services agencies who work in Burien know. We will also let the businesses near the transit center know. What was the basis for the how the notices were distributed? What was the Read More ›

Amateur Hour Wednesday evening, Highline United Methodist Church Pastor Jenny Partch and moderator Krystal Marx (@bcckrystalmarx) told me I was not allowed to record a PUBLIC MEETING about a controversial day shelter for the homeless at the church. Neighbors say they learned about this city funded project last minute. Anyway, the pastor and Marx called Burien Police and tried to have me removed from the property. They clearly do not understand how PUBLIC MEETINGS work. In the end, common sense prevailed and I was allowed to stay and record. As for the furious neighbors, they went off on church leaders and unloaded their concerns about the potential for crime, open air drug use, and other issues following the clientele and Read More ›

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 ›