by Martin Barrett
On July 27, the 33rd and 34th Democrats gathered in Burien to try and find and press toward a solution to the homeless struggle. There were about 35 folks who showed up. The concern for the homeless was clearly genuine. The panel was most of the “Who’s Who” of the Burien Democratic Party, including current Council Member Cydney Moore, Sarah Moore, and Hugo Garcia. Candidates Krystal Marx and Patricia Hudson were also present, both endorsed by the 33rd and 34th Democrats, plus a panel of former planning commissioners and organizers.
There were a few themes that came out repeatedly:
- The housing shortage, which Garcia stated has been 10 years in the making, due to restrictions leading to a lack of inventory. During much of this time, Garcia was on the Planning Commission. August Hahn said that the county has a new home construction goal for 2035, but the actual erection of buildings is too far behind to meet that goal. Garcia capped that part of the discussion by saying “It will take years to get out of this,” and “we have done as much as we can.”
- Many group members also stated a lack of compassion. Pastor Jenny Partch said that those who do not believe in the “housing first” model lack compassion, which brought agreement with most of the dozen panelists.
- Citing the cursing, objects thrown, and threats hurled at those in the tents, the group voiced agreement that folks not in agreement with them have dehumanized these people.
In the end, there was no new solution.
During the meeting Council Member Cyndey Moore shared that she had reached out to the King County Regional Housing Authority to follow up on the announcement made at the July 24 Burien City Council Meeting by Council Member Kevin Schilling and Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon of an agreement with reblx partners. The organization turns old apartments and hotels into studio housing units. Reblx Partners lists a downtown Renton facility, but it does not show in their website display of locations. According to Moore, she talked with the KCRHA, and they said that there are not 116 rooms, and if there were, they would not qualify for the $1 Million King County has offered to Burien to find housing. Moore stated to the meeting that she had it in writing from the county. When asked for a copy several times, she responded, by text, “The city manager has all the written communications and has had additional conversations on top of what information I received that he can verify.”
In a conversation the following day, Councilman Schilling, who was not at the meeting, said that Moore did not talk with the person at KCRHA who works with Burien. He confirmed that the hold on this is KCRHA, which refuses to apply the funds offered by King County because it would move the homeless from Burien to Renton. When asked what the word “regional” meant in the KCRHA, if it was not helping find housing regionally, Schilling said he did not understand.
Burien News reached out to City Manager Bailon Friday afternoon, but no response has come yet. So we have confusion once more in city hall. And once more, it is Cydney Moore at the center of it. Is it the role of a Council Member to step into operations (and around the City Manager?) Why not produce the documents she claimed to have? More questions about Moore!
