At Press Conference, Majority of Burien Council Demands Sheriff Enforce Camping Ban They Overturned
The city has refused to pay the sheriff's office for services they're providing; sued the county; and fired its homeless outreach provider.
By Erica C. Barnett
Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, who has repeatedly butted heads with the King County Sheriff's Office over the city's 24-hour ban on "living" outdoors, held a press conference with three other city council members Thursday morning to criticize the King County Sheriff's Office for refusing to enforce an anti-camping ordinance the sheriff's office calls unconstitutional. (In Burien, the council selects a mayor from among its members every two years).
The sheriff's office, which provides police service to Burien under an interlocal agreement, sued the city last month, arguing that the ordinance violates the constitutional rights of people living unsheltered in Burien. The city responded by withholding payments to King County for police service; countersuing; and demanding the removal of Burien police chief Ted Boe, who works for the sheriff's office. The city also terminated its contract with its homeless outreach provider, REACH.
"There has been no [judicial] order calling our ordinance unconstitutional. It has just been the sheriff's office and the county executive saying it is, without any kind of legal support for that statement," Schilling said.
KING 5 attended the press conference and posted a full video on Thursday.
The expansive new ban repealed and replaced an earlier law, Ordinance 827, that banned "camping" during daytime hours and placed restrictions sleeping in public at night. The newer, more restrictive law includes exceptions for people to sleep outside at night if no shelter is available, but the city has interpreted that to include shelter in Seattle, 12 miles away—another matter of dispute.
Schilling held the event in a meeting room at the King County Library, which shares a building with City Hall. He did not inform city staff about the event, which some staffers didn't realize was happening until they walked by the press conference on their way to their offices.
Schilling appeared alongside three other members of the seven-member city council—Alex Andrade, Linda Akey, and deputy mayor Stephanie Mora. Under the state Open Public Meetings Act, it is illegal for a majority of any elected body to hold a scheduled or special meeting without providing at least 24 hours' notice, such as by posting the meeting agenda on the city's website. Not only did Schilling not post any public notice of the meeting, he did not inform city staff it was happening.
A spokesperson for the city declined to comment on the potential open meetings violation. "[S]taff were not involved with nor made aware of the event in advance, so we don't have that level of detail to share at this time," the spokesperson said.
During the press conference, Schilling repeatedly claimed the sheriff's office could simply start enforcing the previous version of the sleeping ban. "The ordinance is already in place," Schilling said. "It is the King County Sheriff's office's stated goal to not enforce any part of the ordinance and they're choosing to do that."
"We have requested again and again and again for them to just go back and enforce the parts of the ordinance that are already in place," Schilling said.
In a joint statement, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Sheriff Cole-Tindall said the sheriff's office had no problem enforcing the earlier law, but the city would need to reinstate it. "In the media event today, Mayor Schilling claimed that there is no need to reinstate the prior ordinance because it already exists," Cole-Tindall and Constantine said. "But it was replaced and amended with the adoption of the new one. This leaves KCSO with nothing to enforce except the new ordinance which, again, appears unconstitutional on its face. "
The US Supreme Court will likely rule early this summer on a case called Grants Pass v. Johnson that could overturn a 9th Circuit ruling that prohibits cities from sweeping unsheltered people if no shelter is available. If the court upholds Grants Pass' camping ban, it could affect the portion of the lawsuit that is based on the 8th Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment, but it won't impact the sheriff's 14th Amendment claims.
That amendment, which guarantees due process, prohibits laws that are too vague for an ordinary person to understand. Burien's camping ban bars people from "exercis[ing] nontransitory exclusive control over any portion of nonresidential public property" without explaining what "nontransitory exclusive control" is; it also includes a map of areas where no one can "live" at any time, even if no shelter is available, and gives the city manager unfettered authority to expand the prohibited areas without notice.
Cole-Tindall and Constantine also disputed Schilling's claim that the sheriff has an obligation to enforce the law until a court determines whether it's constitutional. "Both Burien Mayor Schilling and Deputy Mayor Mora have admitted in writing that the constitutionality of the new camping ordinance is for a judge to determine, which is why we have placed it before the federal court," they said. "The city has yet to present a defense of its new law, which we believe cannot be done. Rather, the approach has been to avoid and delay resolution."
As a burien resident, My sincere question for the city is. Why did you kick the unhoused out of the church parking lot? The church wanted them there, they were providing support and accountability. Now they're downtown in front of the library, my son is afraid to go to the library. My wife is nervous about going to workout at the studio, it's gotten so bad the studio sent a letter around for everyone to sign and email the police. Absolutely unacceptable behavior from the city, just pointing fingers at every one else. Instead of owning up to their failures