Burien City Manager Accuses King County Executive of "Establishing" Encampment Outside Courthouse
Bailon also accused the King County Sheriff's Office of "manipulating" police reports to minimize concerns about crime.
By Erica C. Barnett
In an email to Deputy King County Executive Shannon Braddock last week, Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon demanded answers to a number of questions about an encampment outside the King County Courthouse in downtown Burien, where unsheltered people have been living for several weeks. The county recently set up a fence around the encampment that prevents it from sprawling onto the sidewalk.
In the letter, Bailon asserted that the county itself had "established" the encampment around the courthouse—an accusation that not only presumes that the county is physically moving unsheltered people into camps, but also suggests that homeless people would not choose to live in proximity to each other without government intervention.
The letter begins: "Deputy County Executive Braddock - I write to express disappointment in the indifference expressed by King County to the questions and concerns raised by Burien regarding the encampment created by King County. My patience on this issue has now run out. I now demand from King County answers to the questions listed below."
A sampling, by no means complete, of Bailon's "demands":
"How, if at all, were neighboring residential apartment complexes, homes, and businesses notified of King County’s plan to establish an encampment?" (Bailon lives in downtown Burien, as does Councilmember Linda Akey.)
"What steps have been taken by King County to ensure that recent work performed at its encampment [the fence] is compliant with zoning codes that govern the City of Burien?
"Is King County planning to respond to Burien’s offer of assistance through its new service provider, The More We Love, and funds for temporary lodging?" (The More We Love, a company set up by a Union Gospel Mission volunteer and Kirkland mortgage broker named Kristine Moreland, is offering temporary stays at a hotel in Renton to homeless people who agree to leave encampments in Burien.)
"How many, if any, security and or camp management personnel are on-site during daytime/evenings/overnight?"
"I look forward to receiving a response to all of my questions," Bailon concluded.
In her response, Braddock explained that King County did not, in fact, "establish this encampment. I can only assume that individuals began camping on this property given they had no place else to go."
Last year, Burien passed a ban on "camping" in the city, defined as sleeping while in the presence of any "indicia of camping," including sleeping bags, tarps, blankets, or other items that might provide comfort or protection from the elements. The law says that the ban won't be enforced overnight (until 6 in the morning) if there is no shelter "available," but Burien has interpreted this to include shelter far outside Burien, including in Seattle—effectively banishing homeless people from the city.
In addition, Burien's sleeping ban permanently bars homeless people from sleeping within 500 feet of any public building, park, school, or day care, and includes a map of these banishment areas, which the law empowers the city manager to change without notice at any time.
The King County Sheriff's Office, which provides police services to Burien, is suing the city over the ban and is not currently enforcing it.
Braddock also noted that Moreland told the county that Burien officials directed her not to do any outreach to people living at the courthouse encampment. " I want to be clear that that is not a direction received from the County, but direction received from the City of Burien," Braddock wrote. The county, she continued, is contracting with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to provide outreach and shelter offers to people living in the encampment.
There is no general overnight shelter in Burien. King County offered Burien $1 million to help establish a tiny house village, with supportive services, in the city; after more than a year of deliberations, the city had rejected multiple locations and was on its way to passing legislation that would preclude the final option, a piece of Seattle-owned property near the Sea-Tac Airport runways. The county ended up giving the money to KCRHA to spend in South King County.
According to Braddock, Bailon offered in June to "assist" the county in moving the encampment by partnering with The More We Love, an agreement that would have required King County to help pay for Moreland's contract with the city. "If the offer of assistance is the same as what you proposed in your June 4 email—that King County would need to help fund Burien’s contract for services that have been procured by the City of Burien—the answer is no," Braddock wrote.
In his letter to Braddock, Bailon also demanded to know why the King County Sheriff's office classified at least 10 auto break-ins, or attempted break-ins, that took place on one night in an apartment parking as one incident instead of 10 or more. Then he answered his own question: "This seems to be an attempt to tailor the method for collecting data in order to manipulate results." Bailon did not explain why a law enforcement agency would want to minimize crime, or why he believed the break-ins were related to the encampment other than proximity.
Asked why the sheriff's office would classify incidents one location as a single offense, KCSO spokesman Eric White said the office "did receive a call from a community member who stated they saw 15 cars that had been either broken into or vandalized," but that person "did not make a report with us. One victim did make a report with us ... but asked to make a report over the phone[,] which he did."
"For clarification," White added, "it is not uncommon to group several crimes into one report and list multiple victims of the crime if the crimes are related to string of crimes, in close proximity (time and distance) of each other by the same suspect or suspects. Suspects can be charged with multiple crimes under the same single case number."
In a separate letter, also sent on July 23, five members of the Burien City Council asked the King County Council for "help with investigating the King County Executive Office's actions in Burien," accusing County Executive Dow Constantine of showing "contempt for for the United States Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson," which overturned a ruling that said jurisdictions must provide shelter before sweeping unsheltered people.
The council majority, like Bailon, accused the executive's office of "permitting... King County's encampment" at the courthouse, "without discussing this plan with Burien and without any community engagement."
"The Metropolitan King County Council has the authority to demand a briefing from the King County Executive Office and/or any county department involved in establishing, maintaining, and operating the county's unpermitted and unlawful encampment in Burien."
Still feeling embarrassed by our City Manager and the city counsel of Burien. They could not find a place to establish a tiny home village having had over a year to come up with a solution.
The “leadership” of Burien seems obsessed with making sure unhoused people are invisible in the city. They are wasting an absurd amount of time and resources from their own budget and that of the county to fight over this instead of providing services. I hope the people of Burien regret their choices and vote these clowns out of office, though it looks like 1 of the primary candidates would bring more of the same.