by a Concerned Citizen
6, 10, 15, 20, and now 25!
Burien’s little business neighborhoods are now blighted, with the presence of the encampment, at the behest of two people who were supposed to have Burien’s greater interests at heart; they are having a profound negative impact on what should be the heart of Burien—the heart of our community. Our entire community is now at its greatest risk!
In the short time that they have been encamped on the sliver of land once the home of a community doggie park, it has brought nothing but open-air drug use, Narcan events, illegal barter and trade with shoplifted items, profanity-laced tirades, and now fear and resentment of the very businesses that pay taxes into a city that lacks the will to do the right thing. We don’t have a housing issue; we have a drug epidemic, and Burien is choosing to look the other way. Where are the consequences?
Walking the 3 blocks from 4th to 7th is heartbreaking. Trash, crime, drug use, and graffiti litter our city’s core. The city of Burien has left business owners to fend for themselves. Unacceptable!
For example, this car belongs to a “camper”; it is taking a prestige parking spot for a paying Burien customer to any one of the businesses on 152nd St. But instead, it is being used as a drug haven (see pictures). He was arrested for having warrants. The car was tagged, and he was released shortly after that, and was then seen trying to remove the tow tag. These are NOT Burien residents! These are not our “neighbors.” They are criminals using Burien to push an unreasonable ideology. In fact, they are pawns in a giant grift to our city. To our businesses and our Burien property owners: Hold this council, city manager, and staff responsible for terrorizing our city! #BurienSaysEnough!
Another example, the City of Burien (perhaps Discover Burien?) has been tasked with cleaning the camp up at least 2x a day. In this picture, this COB worker had 8 shopping carts of refuse to haul away. How do you feel about your tax dollars being used to enable 50 drug addicts?
Do not let this council and city manager get away with literally stealing our tax dollars to continue to enable this giant grift. We must demand the immediate dismantlement of these campers on our public land!
It is not our community’s responsibility to deal with the consequences of this unreasonable ideology.
What can you do? Email the entire council:
EMAIL THE COUNCIL AND CITY:
economicdevelopment@burienwa.gov
If you would like to cut and paste this statement to email:
As a member of the Burien community, I find it appalling that Burien CM Cydney Moore (position 2) and Planning Commission Chair Charles Schaefer (position 4) utilized their positions to influence the illegal campers into moving to another plot of land in the middle of the city. It is crystal-clear that there is a political ploy to roll out a sanctioned tent city in Burien, and that is unacceptable. This situation is untenable and must be corrected immediately. No tent cities anywhere in Burien. It is time to join our sister cities and make public drug use illegal.
#BurienSaysEnough!
EMAIL THE Business and Economic Development Partnership:
If you would like to cut and paste a statement and email it:
Please help our Burien businesses by standing up to this rogue council. Having druggies in the middle of our business district is intolerable. They must be made to leave immediately. No tent cities anywhere in Burien are tolerable! #BurienSaysEnough!
BurienSaysEnough@gmail.com
Below is a video of what a typical interaction can look like – WARNING: some foul language can be heard:
