To the editor:

Many Burien neighborhoods are blighted: 46% of Burien Residents don’t like this. Blighted neighborhoods have created Burien’s economic challenges by depressing home values and curtailing economic activity. Clean Up Burien is committed to eliminating blights through Code Enforcement.

Cleaning Up Blights

Burien and its Code Enforcement department can rid Your neighborhood of:

Junk Vehicles: Burien requires all vehicles located on public or private property to be licensed and operational.

Trash & Debris: Burien requires garbage to be stored in an approved container for no more than 7 days before disposal. Also, Burien prohibits broken or discarded machinery, automotive parts, furniture, appliances, and construction materials from accumulating on private property.

Residential Parking Issues: Burien prohibits more than 4 vehicles per residence unless there are at least 4 licensed drivers living at that address. Additionally, all vehicles must be parked on an approved surface or City street; not the front lawn.

Trash along the City Right of Way: Please report illegal dumping directly to Burien Public Works @206-248-5521. Please provide the location, type of debris and approximate quantity in pickup truck loads for speedy removal.

Abandoned Vehicles: Call the Burien Police Department @ 206-205-0969 for vehicles parked on City streets for several weeks without moving. Please provide make, model, color, license plate #, tab expiration date and location of vehicle to have it ticketed for removal.

Clean Up Burien (C.U.B.) is Your no cost liaison to get Code Enforcement action to clean up blights. C.U.B. files the paperwork while maintaining Your anonymity.

When You send a brief description of the problem and the address, the ball starts rolling. C.U.B. visits the site and files Code Enforcement paperwork. Contacting Us sooner about problems gets them cleaned-up sooner.

Code Enforcement can take several months to get a problem resolved. The City visits the site to confirm the violation. Code Enforcement then sends a demand letter requiring clean up within two weeks. Oftentimes, the blighter cannot meet the time-line due to the severity of the problem or financial issues.

Code Enforcement then works out a cleanup plan. Individuals who cannot afford cleanup are offered vouchers to offset disposal costs. If the blighter ignores Code Enforcement, Burien takes them to Superior Court to get action.

My name, not Yours, appears on all filing documents with the City.

June 2020

A City that takes care of itself is a City where people want to live.

In June of 2020, the State starts phasing out the Sales Tax Credit that added 1 million dollars annually to Burien’s finances for annexation. The phase out ends June of 2021.

Cleaning up blighted neighborhoods will attract new residents to shop and spend money in Burien. New purchasing power flowing into Burien will fill City coffers without raising taxes.

Burien has pressing needs for:

• More Police

• Fixing roads

• New Community Center

• Homeless Prevention

Burien has the lowest Police per Resident ratio of any South King County city. And, Burien has one of the higher crime rates in the State of Washington. Additional Police doesn’t have to cost You a dime.

Retail Sales Tax is is the biggest source of revenue for Burien. This tax doesn’t come from Businesses, it comes from You and Me choosing to shop in Burien. Cleaning up Burien encourages people to move into and shop in Our City.

Burien’s infrastructure is in sad shape. Many roads are in need of repair. Each passing year without an increase in economic activity increases the Structural Deficit. The Structural Deficit is the unfunded amount of money it takes to keep Our roads and bridges safe.

A safe infrastructure reduces accidents. Vehicular collisions have been trending upward the last 5 years. Accidents can easily involve an hour of Police time that could be better spent patrolling Burien. Patrolling Burien will help drive out gangs and other criminal activities that make Burien undesirable.

Burien’s Community Center is an ongoing financial drain due to its condition. Additionally, it doesn’t meet current needs.

A new Community Center could help drive gangs out of Burien by expanding after school activities. This will help break the allure of gangs by offering students something more than bowling to occupy their time.

Homeless prevention is a high priority. Increasing economic activity will encourage the creation of living wage jobs. This will stabilize the neighborhoods and City finances.

For the homeless or Residents who suffer addiction/mental health issues, the City has a dedicated person to connect them with service providers at little to no cost to the individual or the City. Without action, this valuable service may be in jeopardy after June 2020.

Action

I am asking for Your support in turning Burien around. I want You to email me with the addresses of blights in Your neighborhood so they can be cleaned-up and Burien can be a City we are proud to call home.

Dick West

Clean Up Burien

cleanupburien@aol.com