On Friday (July 21), King County Elections completed verification of the signatures submitted to their office for the City of Burien Initiative No. 1 (repeal of Ordinance 651), and determined that there were a sufficient number of signatures to move forward.

Of the 4,953 signatures that were compared against those on file with the County, 3,648 were determined to be registered voters.

Since that number met the requirement of 3,643, King County Elections determined that the petition is sufficient.

The Burien City Council is required to take one of the following next steps:

  1. Adopt the proposed ordinance as set forth in the petition (which repeals Ordinance No. 651).
  2. Pass a resolution submitting the measure to the County Elections office and asking that it be placed on the Nov. 7, 2017 ballot.

Because the second option must be completed by Aug. 1, 2017, a special council meeting will be scheduled to take place between July 24 and July 31, 2017.

Relevant links:

Also, read our extensive previous coverage of this issue here.

More information about the petition process is available here: http://burienwa.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1355

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18 replies on “Petition to Repeal Ord. 651 meets signature goal; here’s what happens next”

  1. Barely sqeaked by. And most of these same people who signed this talk about the city council wasting time on unproductive things that don’t impact the issues they claim to care about. Oh, no, no irony here.

  2. The tide is finally turning against political decisions derived from mass hysteria. The ordinance was and is nothing more than lip service and adopted by Council members soon to be ousted for good reason due to their disregard of actual legal, and voting citizens of Burien.

    1. The “political decisions derived from mass hysteria” is what is driving the unwarranted persecution of immigrants, It is what got our president elected and what drives his selective immigration restrictions against some countries, but not those which have a history of sending terrorists to our country.

  3. Did this just barely meet the requirements, or did the county stop counting when the required number of qualifyed voters was met? Do some research before spouting off.

    1. Horseshoes and hand grenades are all that matters when it comes to close enough, it passed by a required amount and that’s that.

  4. Bring it to a vote!!! Let’s see if the majority of Burien folks are bigots. All Ord. 651 did was make it so that the police in Burien don’t do Border Patrols job for them. No person is illegal!!!

    1. They already had that well established and documented policy, this was just political fluff.

      1. The petition, and now likely vote is also political fluff. It’s a wedge issue that has no productive impact on the stated concerns or is a relevant measurement by itself for the fitness of the incumbent or qualifications of a challenger. Single issue candidates very rarely work out well.

        It’s not hard to see, but you have to take off those fear blinders and remove the ideological filters.

  5. So basically if it goes to a vote it will have 3,643 votes against the rest of voting population in burien.

    1. A very large portion of the population who by being illegal can’t and won’t be voting against it and rightfully so.

      1. So QofA you think the 61% to 90% of population in burien that are registered voters in king county are illegal aliens. That’s a interesting thought

        Oh wait they don’t want loose federal funding oh wait we are not going loose the federal funding as the city attorney has stated.

        http://jonlehman.synology.me:8666/BtownBlog/2017/05/02/no-federal-liability-seen-with-sanctuary-ordinance

        Then you have the fact they will still arrest some one if they have a warrant signed by a judge or if there breaking the law. If ice or homeland security wants to question there status they can do it. If they have the proper paperwork to do so.

        1. News flash, you can’t legally vote as an illegal alien as that’s against the law.

          1. Yes of course QofA but in burien we have a small % of illegal aliens and a big % of register voters that are legal citizens.

            So we will have to see how this come to play.

            Will people fall for your repeated garbage and assumptions.

            Since the city attorney and the sheriff for king county have both proved you wrong in the lost of federal funds or criminals being possibly let free theory. I hope people are smart when comes to voting.

  6. If you are in favor of a legal system that intentionally violates the laws made and approved by representatives of the American people, want to pay taxes to encourage the inclusion of an uncontrolled population in our schools and community, willing to support the acceptance of criminals, who, if caught, are released, I encourage you to support a sanctuary city policy.

    I, for one, am not.

    1. The B-Town Blog asked King County Sheriff John Urquhart, the commander of the agency that provides police services to the City of Burien.

      “Whether a city if a self-proclaimed ‘sanctuary city’ or not, does not … matter,” Urquhart said

      If Burien Police officers, who are sworn county sheriff deputies, find there is a warrant from the FBI, “my deputies/officers will arrest and book that person into jail. No need to call the FBI at all. They will be notified as the criminal case progresses.”

      Coluccio also asked whether Burien Police would arrest a person with an outstanding federal warrant.

      “If a person has an arrest warrant signed by a judge, that person will be arrested and booked,” Urquhart said. “No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it and no need to call ICE. Just like the FBI, they will be notified as the case progresses.”

      The question that often arises is federal officers want county officers to hold someone where no warrant has been issued and Urquhart says deputies won’t do that. A legal warrant is required.

      Coluccio told the Council Monday night that his understanding of sanctuary is that they don’t actively question a persons’ immigration status at point of meeting but they will ascertain their status once they are arrested.

      “Again, sanctuary city (or not) has nothing to do with the answer,” said the Sheriff. “If someone is booked into jail, the jail does not ascertain immigrant status at all. However, ICE is automatically notified as soon as someone is booked and fingerprinted. If they want to take that person into federal custody, presumably because he is undocumented, they can get an arrest warrant and he will be held until they pick him up, or they can wait until he is released and get him at the jailhouse door (or) at his residence.”

  7. I couldn’t have said it better than Question Authority. While the KSCO already adopted it they still needed to implement something to grandstand the federal government at risk of losing federal funding and jeopardizing security. Politics without a vision, just by hysteria. Next step is to vote Tosta and Armstrong out.

  8. Michealj is correct. Our contracted police have their own policies. I dont agree with it, I Just dont understand why our city council had to bring up the issue at all.

    1. I believe it was to have something on the books instead of it being a word of mouth policy.
      Which some have used to spin people in to thinking all sorts of stuff. Which most have been proven wrong. Some people on this blog are using this to try get people out of office that don’t like for other reasons. Same dirty politics in burien happens every voting season.

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