From the five finalists chosen for the open Burien Council position Burien attorney Gerald Robison has been named the favorite by the council.

Councilmember Kathy Keene will be leaving the council at the beginning of the year to retire to Florida.

Robison said he did not apply to the council to push changes. He said whenever an issue comes before the council he will ask why should we do it, and what is the effect going to be?

"Let's not do it just because we can," Robison said.

"Generally the government in Burien is doing pretty good," Robison said. "I think Burien has been doing an excellent job with its money. It is a point of civic pride Burien has such better finances than Seattle."

He said Burien does a good job of providing services and improvements.

Robison has worked in property and real estate law for 30 years. He had a real-estate office in White Center before he decided to go to law school and became a lawyer. He graduated with a J.D. from the University of Puget Sound/Seattle University in 1993. He has also served on the Burien Planning Commission.

Land use and planning for growth are ongoing issues, Robison said.

He was a proponent of the North Burien annexation, an issue that could come up again next year.

The Burien council has expressed a desire to pursue annexation of that area if Seattle does not.
Robison would also like to see more businesses come to Burien. He said there are too many vacancies; something he says was a problem before the recession.

"Burien should have more thriving successful businesses than it does," Robison said. He said there is a disconnect somewhere that the city is not bringing more businesses in.

He said he has several ideas for improving Burien's economic development, but he wants to discuss the proposals with Burien City Manager Mike Martin, and other council members before he talks about his plans publicly.

The council cannot vote on a new council member to take her place until January. However, the council has stated their consensus for Robison to take Keene's vacant position at the first council meeting of next year, on January 3.

Robison has the support of five of the seven council members. Deputy Mayor Rose Clark and councilmember Lucy Krakowiak both favored finalist Andrea Reay.