Mayor Kevin Schilling held a community talk at Kennedy Catholic High School (KCHS) on Thursday night, June 27, 2024, to address questions and concerns about the proposed construction of a temporary pallet village on the Seattle City Light lot near Kennedy Catholic High School.
Near the beginning of his talk, Mayor Schilling revealed that – only hours before – he had received an email from King County rescinding their offer of $1 million dollars and 35 pallet homes.
“A little bit of news making tonight. I received an email from the county a couple hours ago that said they no longer want to give the $1 million dollars and 35 pallet homes,” Mayor Schilling said.
The resources offered by King County were originally accepted by the Burien City Council in November 2023 amid controversy.
Since that time, the City of Burien has been following the expected process for such a project in the city, which includes sending a proposal to the Planning Commission and gathering their input on what can or cannot happen in regards to the homeless encampment construction, and to determine if the land is suitable for the intended purpose.
This process was started by the Council in January, 2024, but, according to Mayor Schilling, going through the proper legal process is what ultimately resulted in the County rescinding their offer.
“King County decided we were taking too long,” he said. “They have now since removed the $1 million dollars and 35 pallet homes from our consideration of what we can do.”
Mayor Schilling went on to elaborate on establishing transitional housing through the proper legal channels.
“My stance has always been, I would like to go through the proper process and have a plan,” he said. “I do not want to be Mayor of a city that I grew up in, that allowed for something that did not go well or that was not fully planned out or did not go through the proper process. If it takes time, it takes time. I don’t make the rules of how much time it takes; I just want to go through the proper process.”
The mayor explained that the city is mandated by the U.S. Government to build a certain amount of transitional housing by law – it is not something the city is able to opt out of.
Therefore, transitional housing will still be built in Burien, though due to these recent developments, it is undecided as to where or when.
The Seattle City Light lot may still be developed into transitional housing should the City of Seattle wish to use it that way. The only legal hurdle in that case would be that they meet residential zoning requirements and the City of Burien’s requirements for transitional housing, which Mayor Schilling said is currently being developed by the Council.
“What [the County’s decision] doesn’t change,” said the mayor, “is the fact that we still need to plan for transitional housing, and we still need to plan for emergency housing.”
The meeting also touched on broader issues of public safety and economic development in Burien. Residents expressed frustration with the perceived lack of enforcement against public camping and drug use, particularly in the downtown area.
Schilling explained that Burien contracts its police services through the King County Sheriff’s Office, limiting the city’s direct control over law enforcement policies. He also announced that the King County Sheriff’s Oversight Committee has agreed to renegotiate the city’s interlocal agreement with the sheriff’s office at Burien’s request.
“Today, at the behest of Burien, the King County Sheriff’s Oversight Committee has requested, and they agreed to this, to renegotiate the interlocal agreement with the sheriff’s office due to what was going on in Burien,” Schilling said.
The mayor also highlighted recent economic development initiatives, including a 10-year plan aimed at attracting new businesses and jobs to the city. However, residents remained concerned about the current state of downtown Burien and its impact on existing businesses.
“Our downtown core is dying, right. Small businesses in Burien are struggling. I don’t think anyone in here is debating that,” one attendee commented.
Schilling acknowledged these challenges and urged residents to voice their concerns at city council meetings.
“Please show up and say that, because you can say that here to me, and I’ll hear it. But we also need you to show up to city council,” he said.
As the meeting concluded, it was clear that while the pallet home project may no longer be on the table, Burien faces ongoing challenges in addressing homelessness, public safety, and economic development. The mayor’s call for continued community engagement underscored the complexity of these issues and the need for collaborative solutions moving forward.
King County Releases Statement
On Friday, June 28, 2024, King County sent us the following statement regarding its decision to rescind its offer to the City of Burien:
“King County is withdrawing its offer of $1 million and 35 pallet shelters to the City of Burien, effective immediately. The formal offer has been on the table for over a year, and despite identifying the urgent need to respond to the homelessness crisis in its jurisdiction as a top priority, the Burien City Council appears to be actively working to put restrictions in place that would exclude pallet shelters on the site they selected. Nor did the city leverage the opportunity to apply for a $5 million RFP to support homelessness response or operation of the pallet shelters, instead opting to submit an application on behalf of a provider rather than the city specific work.
“Additionally, per an email exchange with Burien, King County has been informed that, unrelated to the County offer, the city issued an RFP for outreach services, including dedicated temporary lodging and shelter coming online that will be affiliated with that outreach service. King County will now direct the $1 million and pallet shelters to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) to use on outreach and emergency housing for individuals in South King County, including addressing the District Court site in Burien.
“Regarding the county-owned property near the District Court, we will fulfill Burien’s request to install portable restrooms and hand-washing stations at the encampment in addition to KCRHA’s outreach efforts. We anticipate they will be up in the next few days.”
City will Contract with ‘The More We Love’
As reported by Publicola, in a related development, Burien is preparing to sign a contract for homeless encampment outreach with The More We Love, a private encampment removal company started by Kristine Moreland, a Kirkland real-estate broker who has volunteered with Union Gospel Mission. As PubliCola has reported, Moreland sent a spreadsheet containing private information about unsheltered people to city officials and a private business person.
Supreme Court Rules on Grants Pass
In a 6-3 decision on the City of Grants Pass OR v. Johnson et al, the Supreme Court on Friday, June 28, 2024 upheld anti-camping laws, allowing cities to ban homeless individuals from sleeping in public spaces.
The court ruled that homelessness is not a status protected by the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, even in communities lacking access to indoor shelters.
This ruling has significant implications for the City of Burien, requiring local officials to reassess their policies and strategies for addressing homelessness within the legal framework established by the court.
Audio of Meeting
Below is the full raw audio of the meeting (running time 1-hour, 12-minutes):
Read our extensive previous coverage of the homelessness issue in Burien here.
Well, the Supreme Court has spoken, Mayor Schilling is correct in trying to protect the taxpaying citizens of Burien, and the communists have lost once again. They will be back though. They always just keep trying to destroy us, they never give up.
Ms. Dodd, I am a taxpaying homeowner in Burien, and I never once felt in danger from the encampment near city hall. I shop and dine in downtown Burien several times a week. The one mile bike ride there is more dangerous than the encampment ever was. I would prefer my tax dollars be used for expanding bike/pedestrian infrastructure, rather than wasting political clout to criminalize a vulnerable population. Not one of those things makes me a “communist.” I know I only represent one household amongst many, and there may be actual communists in our population, but please don’t paint so broad a stroke to assume that anyone against the homeless ban is a literal communist. That only makes you sound ignorant of history. “Camping bans are inhumane” is VERY different from “The government should own everything you earn.” While I’m disappointed in the supreme court’s decision, I do appreciate that our legal system was at least able to fully review the ban before updating the police contract. That’s simply what the constitution, and supreme court, are for, and what many of us were asking our mayor to consider, before ruining the city’s relationship with King County Sherriffs Office. In the end, it seems that Mayor Schilling did slow down and back off the fight, and for that I am appreciative.
How much time did you actually spend milling around the sidewalk adjacent to the tents? Did you ever keep your bike locked to a rack directly adjacent to the encampment? Just because you find no issues with the camp doesn’t negate the fact others have had a different experience, and it wasn’t safe or non problematic for them.
Spot on Louis. Thank you for speaking the truth
Excellent news, King County has done what they should have done long ago by giving the money to KCHRA so it can go further. More importantly Burien can now use the Supreme Court decision to force the Sheriff to uphold the laws developed to deal with the campers. The pressing question is, will King County say the camp outside the Courthouse is off limits to enforcement due to it being County land within Burien? I expect no less from Dow as his stance has been shut down by the Supreme Court ruling and he’s going to be pouting.
It is a great day for Burien and the country in general. Taxpayers no longer must support the fentanyl addict encampments. The true homeless can still get help. And crime will go down.
Hello Tom T. One of the things my anti-communist father taught me was that communists will usually say, ” Well it doesn’t affect me, so it must not be happening!”
It is an old commie trick. For me and my family and friends we have seen a frightening trajectory here and in the west coast of communist ideology being presented as progress. And if you study history at all, the losers of communist ideology are littered in graveyards all across the globe. Lets try it again only this time we will get it right! One of the scary things about communism is how they get gullible people to further the agenda and then those people are generally the first to get eaten up.
Well, Burien just keeps getting worse. Now they have lost the $1,000,000 offered by the county and it looks like they will never help the homeless. They don’t have a clue how to run a city and take care of it’s residents, weather home less or not. They do sloppy repairing of our chuck holes when they do it at all. I live in a single family neighborhood and down the street from me on 4th place south they have allowed for a four-plex the be built. I have forgotten what it is for, but renewing my tabs I see a $20 charge by Burien. FIX THE ROADS!!!!
I am wondering if after 30 years of existence as a city that perhaps Burien should consider establishing it’s own police force. That way the city will not be subject to King County’s whims on how the Sheriff’s Department will enforce or not enforce Burien laws!