Burien, King County homelessness feud continues with latest planned sweep

Tensions have again flared in Burien over homelessness and an ongoing plan to sweep an encampment in the city, with conflicting claims from Burien’s city manager and county officials.

The claims center around an encampment on 6th Avenue Southwest in Burien, where the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) has posted notices that the camp will be cleared and that officials have created a list of residents selected for housing. The notice did not list a specific date for the sweep.

A notice posted by KCRHA warns homeless people in the camp of a pending sweep, but does not state when. (Photo: Sam Campbell, KIRO Newsradio)

Burien city manager criticizes King County’s plan to sweep camp

On Wednesday, Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon sent KIRO Newsradio a letter, criticizing the county’s “unilateral” plan to sweep the camp, saying, “Despite claims of collaboration in the closure notice, Burien was neither informed nor involved in the encampment closure decision-making process.”

Bailon, who has over the past year supported progressively more restrictive anti-camping ordinances in Burien, wrote that the city has not been given answers to “serious questions,” including: a timeline for the camp’s closure, which organizations and service providers with the county are working in outreach in the camp, the “fair treatment” of homeless people in the camp, how the county deemed which people in the camp were eligible for shelter, whether said shelter is temporary or permanent, what will happen to those not on the county’s list for shelter and more.

A homelessness outreach worker familiar with the plans told KIRO Newsradio that county officials and other outreach workers have already moved an unknown number of people from the camp into housing, but that more people have arrived since a county shortlist for those needing housing was closed.

Bailon also claimed the county unilaterally “permitted or hosted the camp.”

King County Executive’s office addresses letter

Amy Enbysk, press secretary for King County Executive Dow Constantine, addressed Bailon’s letter in an email, claiming the county did not establish the camp, and largely dismissed the perception the city was left in the dark about it.

“It’s important to note that before the start of this outreach work by KCHRA, the Burien Police Department’s Crime Reduction Unit, and Co-Responding Mental Health Professionals spent time in and around the encampment location working on both addressing criminal behaviors and connecting those living there to resources, so they have had regular engagement at this site which did not seem to be an issue with the City of Burien at the time,” Enbysk wrote.

Enbysk added the county has continually arranged weekly trash pickups, delivery of port-a-potties and sanitary stations and sent nurses to address the homeless population’s medical needs.

The competing claims from Burien city leadership and King County officials underscore a shaky political relationship between the two, characterized by repeated disagreements over the past year about solutions to the city’s homelessness issue.

Past conflict between Burien City Council members

In 2023, Burien City Council members sparred for months about how to use a county-provided pallet shelter and $1 million in homelessness aid before the offer for help expired and the county redirected funds. Enbysk highlighted the ordeal in her email to KIRO Newsradio, writing “These resources remained unused for over a year and have since been redirected to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to assist in resolving this encampment and help move people into shelter or permanent supportive housing, which is underway and has been for several months.”

Political clashes over homelessness festered again recently when a controversial lawsuit over an anti-camping ordinance in Burien was dismissed without clear direction on how it could be enforced. It was brought by King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall, who asked a U.S. District Court to determine whether deputies could lawfully enforce Burien’s latest anti-camping ordinance, which she feared was unconstitutional. In return, the City of Burien accused the county — which provides the city with police services — of violating its law enforcement agreement and has filed a lawsuit in Snohomish County Superior Court, alleging the county has breached its contract.

Bailon’s letter suggested lingering tensions over the city’s reliance on the county for policing, pointing to a mention of the “Burien Police Department” on notices posted by KCRHA to the camp.

“It is disheartening to see King County disregard Burien’s authority and need to protect its community while King County presents a façade of collaboration,” he wrote. “Since King County controls the sheriff’s deputies assigned to Burien, references to clearing or sweeping King County’s property should refer to the King County Sheriff’s Office, not the ‘Burien Police Department.'”

Outreach workers at the camp from multiple organizations told KIRO Newsradio they fear the mission of helping homeless people — the most vulnerable in the community — is getting lost in the political drama.

Concerns rise over people not on housing list

A separate Burien city official told KIRO Newsradio on background that the city is concerned about what will happen to the people not on the housing list because, with nowhere else to go, they do not want them shuffled back onto city property where the sheriff’s office has continued to refuse to enforce the latest anti-camping ordinance.

Homeless people in Burien have previously described to KIRO Newsradio feeling like political pawns, stuck in the middle of a never-ending philosophical debate.

Cydney Moore, who runs the Burien Community Support Coalition and previously drew criticism from city leadership over organizing a tent village behind a church, said she is happy the county appears to be diverting many resources to the camp.

But when asked about Bailon’s letter, she said his complaint was made in bad faith.

“Everywhere somebody tries to offer solutions, the city actively tries to block that while maintaining this aggressive tactic of chasing people around and passing more and more aggressive policies that basically either result in people being cycled in and out of jail or just shuffled from place to place, which solves nothing and helps no one,” she said.

Burien City Council member: Bailon’s letter is ‘faux compassion’

Moore, a former Burien City Council member who consistently pushed against restrictive anti-camping laws while in office, said Bailon‘s letter expressed “faux compassion” for the people at the camp.

“The city manager purporting to have concerns about the rights of the unhoused here in Burien is almost laughable given that the city manager has been largely spearheading an effort to, arguably, violate many of these unhoused folks’ rights,” she said, referencing Burien’s Ordinance 832, which prohibits daytime camping on public property and introduces so-called “buffer zones” excluding much of the city’s property for camping.

However, through the discourse, other outreach providers not directly involved in KCRHA’s plan said they made headway in helping one of the camp’s residents.

While at the camp Wednesday, Kristine Moreland with The More We Love said a young woman agreed to take her offer to transport her to a detox program outside Seattle. Neither she nor the program were identified for privacy reasons.

Read Bailon’s letter in full here and Enbysk’s response from the King County County Executive’s Office here.

Sam Campbell is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Sam’s stories here. Follow Sam on X, or email him here.

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