[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written by a Reader. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The B-Town Blog nor its staff:]

Dear Council Members,

You’re wasting Our time discussing unfundable Council projects. It’s time for You to focus the Council Leadership on Burien; not their Mayberry fantasies.

Misplaced Priorities

This chart shows Your Leadership’s commitment to Burien. The three topics on the left are Community Priorities (PDF: 2016 Survey). Items to the right are personal agendas wasting time and money (click image to see larger version):

This synopsis demonstrates Your involvement in Burien’s decline:

  • 2014 saw you working on 9 Community priorities compared with 2 personal agendas. Residents won 5:1.
  • 2015 saw you working on 13 personal agendas compared with 6 Community priorities. Residents lost 2:1.
  • 2016 saw you working on 14 personal agendas compared with 4 Community priorities. Residents lost 3:1.
  • 2017 sees you working on 6 personal agendas compared with 1 Community priority. Residents are losing 6:1.

Minimizing Our public safety priorities is creating the crime wave engulfing Burien.

Leadership

A successful Leader makes things happen by building consensus. Building consensus oftentimes requires bridge building skills so every Council Member is heard; not ignored.

Mayor Krakowiak’s Council honeymoon ended with the passage of Trespass Ordinance #606. She had a 4:3 majority, failure to use this advantage stalled her momentum, hobbling the Council and economic development in Burien.

As Mayoral influence declined, the Deputy Mayors’ Business Agenda influence increased. Note the chart changing from green (Community Priorities) to red (Personal Agendas) after mid-2014 (PDF: Council Accomplishments). The red colors reflect each Deputy Mayor’s preference for certain personal agendas.

Defunding C.A.R.E.S. was former Deputy Mayor Edgar’s unsuccessful choice. Deputy Mayor Tosta chooses to endlessly discuss Homelessness, sponsor an unprepared Sanctuary City Ordinance, and permit disruptive behaviors in the Council Chambers.

Former Deputy Mayor Edgar squandered Council time on C.A.R.E.S., instead of notifying the Attorney General about his concerns. His C.A.R.E.S. obsession blinded him to his City function obligations: provide Police for public safety and promote economic vitality.

Deputy Mayor Tosta’s May 8th email to me, demonstrates failure to act (PDF: Tosta). In Her opening paragraph she asserts:

  • “I have NEVER said I wanted a Day Center”
  • “the city does not have the resources for a Day Center”
  • “I asked we look more broadly at the public safety and crime issues surrounding City Hall”

The Deputy Mayor’s argument that she doesn’t want a Day Center doesn’t square with the Public Record: Her 2nd placed a Day Center on the Business Agenda. 20 second You Tube Video:

Her knowing Burien couldn’t afford a Day Center raises ethical questions: Why did she knowingly endorse City Staff wasting time on someone else’s pipe-dream?

Crime is raging beyond Our Downtown core. Wanting more public safety around City Hall seems naive: It appears she is not cognizant of the depth of the issues, or the need to combat them.

Earlier in her email thread she laments the Council fracturing. One of the easiest ways to create Council cohesion is to champion ideas Residents can get behind: Our needs; not Your personal agendas.

Open questions to the Council: Why don’t you collaborate with the City Staff to turn Burien around? Has ignoring Resident Public Safety priorities created a rise in crime? If yes, why do you kowtow to Leaders making Burien unsafe?

Burien as an I.S.O. 9001 Quality City

A Quality Assurance (QA) system creates structure. Structure allows the Council to objectively evaluate priorities. Making Burien safe and desirable should be Your highest priority.

Installing a Burien QA system will:

  • Decrease costs
  • Increase revenues

The Burien Municipal Code is incomplete, allowing avoidable costs to drain City coffers. Surrounding Cities have successfully dealt with Apartment based Gangs, Slumlords and Banks through their Ordinances. Burien could easily copy these Ordinances at little cost.

QA systems red flag avoidable costs for attention. A few issues needing attention are: Gangs operating out of apartments, Slumlords and Banks damaging Burien’s property tax base. Directing the City Manager to implement and enforce Ordinances to crack down on these scofflaws will improve Burien. As crime and blights abate, people will gravitate to Burien, supporting Retail expansion to continue improving Our City.

Installing a QA system is a hands-on operation taking about 2 years to accomplish. Making a QA system Your personal piority will free up significant implementation time.

Burien’s QA system requires data. I want You to meet regularly with the Community on Gang and criminal activities occurring in each of Burien’s quadrants. Council collaboration with City Staff, Police, Business Owners and Residents crafting strategic Ordinances will squeeze criminals out while invigorating Burien.

– Dick West

[Have an opinion or concern you’d like to share with our ~80,000+ monthly Readers? Please send us your Letter to the Editor via email. Include your full name, please cite your sources, remain civil and – pending our careful review – we’ll consider publishing it.]

Since 2007, The B-Town Blog is Burien’s multiple award-winning hyperlocal news/events website dedicated to independent journalism.

3 replies on “LETTER: ‘You’re wasting our time discussing unfundable Council projects…’”

  1. Dick west unfortunately your wasting are time and yours by pushing these letters to the editor. Down are throats you should be spending your time coming up with a run for city council. Then maybe your ideas might get some attention from other city leaders.

  2. And how much would we pay a consulting firm for the ISO certification. These certifications are not free.

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