By Jack Mayne
Three new councilmembers along with reelected Deputy Mayor Nancy Tosta took their oaths of office Monday (Dec. 18) at the final Burien City Council meeting of the year.
Following a reception for outgoing and incoming 2018 Burien Councilmembers, King County District Court Judge David Christie administered the oath of office to incoming Councilmembers Pedro E. Olguin, Jimmy Matta, and Krystal Marx. Deputy Mayor Nancy Tosta was the lone incumbent reelected on Nov. 7 – here’s a video of the ceremony in front of the packed council chambers:

Departing Councilmembers Steve Armstrong, Lauren Berkowitz and Debi Wagner were presented with proclamations thanking them for their service by Mayor Lucy Krakowiak. Armstrong and Wagner thanked the citizens for giving them a chance to serve, each with a single four year term, but not reelected at the November election.
‘Built a movement’
After her proclamation of thanks, departing Councilmember Lauren Berkowitz listed the many times she led opposition to the Council taking certain actions.
“No, you will not criminalize body odor,” she said, then listed many other potential actions by the Council on which she led the opposition. Berkowitz did not seek reelection. She is replaced for Burien Council position 1 by Pedro Olguin.
“We built a movement,” she said of her supporters, who cheered. “We will need this movement because we have a lot of acts we must undo before we can even begin to address the goals we intend to accomplish. But this time it will be different. We will get to say yes. I could not be more excited. Congratulations and good luck.”
Here’s a video of Berkowitz’ full speech:

Councilmember Stephen Armstrong said his single term on the Council was rewarding and the work often hard. He was defeated in the primary election.
The winner of Armstrong’s seat in the general election was new Councilmember Krystal Marx, who defeated Patty Janssen.
Councilmember Debi Wagner said fighting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) turning prop jet airliners over Burien was a challenge, and was proud that a small group of people in a small town stopped the FAA.
Wagner was defeated in the general election by new Councilmember Jimmy Matta.
The only incumbent Councilmember reelected in the 2017 elections was Deputy Mayor Nancy Tosta. She thanked the three leaving members for their service, noting that they agreed on some things and disagreed on many others.
“I just have tremendous respect for all of you for putting in the years and the work to try to make this a better community,” she said.
Proclamations
The Council approved two city proclamations, one to recognize “the contributions of the men and women in the military who have served our country, and who continue to serve their communities.”
The second proclamation says post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that follows the experience of trauma, are the most common mental health problems faced by returning troops” adding that “between 11 and 20 percent of people who have served in combat operations have PTSD.”]]>

Senior Reporter Jack Mayne passed away in December, 2021. In his honor we have created the Jack Mayne Journalism Scholarship.