At the July 13, 2026, Burien City Council meeting, local leaders tackled an agenda including high-stakes regional issues, personal milestones, and political friction.
The evening’s discussions highlighted a public forum on the environmental and local impacts of the Sea-Tac Airport expansion, alongside a federal funding update that underscored the challenges medium-sized cities face amidst a gridlocked Congress.
The council celebrated the joyful news of an impending addition to Councilmember Sam Mendez’s family and streamlined zoning laws to boost housing supply.
The atmosphere grew highly charged following an executive session. Tensions flared as a split vote to approve a $67,000 legal settlement with the King County Transit Riders Union drew fierce criticism from Councilmember Kevin Schilling, who raised sharp conflict-of-interest concerns regarding the entire council majority’s ties to the organization.
Public Meeting On Airport Expansion July 14
Interim City Manager Bob Larson shared that there is a public meeting from 6–7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14 to discuss potential impacts from the planned expansion of SeaTac Airport. The meeting, which is in conjunction with the cities of SeaTac and Des Moines, will be held at Burien City Hall.
Federal Funds Update
Jake Johnston of the Johnston Group gave an update on federal policies and funding, as they relate to Burien. He explained that Congress is functionally stuck right now, and struggling to perform routine business. Meanwhile, the entire country is desperately awaiting decisions on many important bills that have an uncertain outcome.
The city currently has a big ask of $2.7 million dollars to support the development of a new international market. The Senate’s decision on this is still unknown, but the House has approved $500,000 for the endeavor. The project has already received an additional $850,000 during a previous funding cycle.
Johnston said that until 2021, cities of Burien’s size were effectively disqualified from receiving many government grants. These generous grants were generally only awarded to larger cities where they would affect the most people. Medium size cities have similar expenses to large cities, but far fewer opportunities for funding.
In 2021, lobbyists began asking for this to change, and now some very large grants have requirements that a percentage of the recipients be cities of fewer than 100,000 people. These lobbyists want to extend this parameter to other types of federal grants, upping Burien’s chances of receiving funding in the future.
New Council Baby On The Way
Councilmember Sam Mendez shared that he and his wife are expecting a second child in late December. He joked that he simply was not busy enough with one small child, a full time job, and his position on the council. Congratulations were shared with Mendez and his family.
Zoning Changes
The council approved zoning code amendments that will make it less burdensome to convert buildings from commercial to residential use. These changes are required by a new state law, and are one of many recent mandates meant to increase the housing supply. To date, there have been no inquiries from developers about making a residential conversion in Burien.
Selecting Council Candidates For Interviews
The contenders for former Councilmember Linda Akey’s seat have been whittled down. From a field of fourteen qualified applicants, the council chose their top five to move on to the next phase. Interviews with the candidates will take place at the July 27 council meeting, and will include:
- Patricia Hudson
- Jacques Colon
- Jessica Ivey
- Krystal Marx
- Torrance Dixon
There was discussion about limiting interviews to the top three candidates, who received the highest ratings during the decision making process. It was mentioned that conducting five interviews during a council meeting would take a lot meeting time, particularly when there were already three clear favorites. However, the council majority insisted on interviewing the top five candidates.
Executive Session Conflict of Interest
Following an Executive Session to privately discuss legal matters, the council voted to approve a $67,000 settlement with King County Transit Riders Union (KCTRU). This vote was a 4–2 split, with Councilmember Kevin Schilling vehemently opposed, along with Councilmember Alex Andrade. Schilling explained that KCTRU endorsed the entire council majority while they were running for their seats, including Mayor Sarah Moore, Deputy Mayor Hugo Garcia, and Councilmembers Sam Mendez and Rocco DeVito.
Councilmember Schilling was frustrated that these councilmembers had not recused themselves from discussions on issues pertaining to the KCTRU – or this vote – when there was a clear conflict of interest. In addition, he felt that staff were remiss in allowing this decision to be taken in light of the conflict of this organization having supported councilmember elections. He specifically called out Interim City Attorney Ann Marie Soto and Interim City Manager Bob Larson for not requiring these four councilmembers to recuse themselves from this process.
Video
Below is full, raw video of this council meeting:
