By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor
As always, plenty of new community information emerged when the North Highline Unincorporated Area Councill hosted its first meeting of 2026 last Thursday at the North Highline Fire Station.
ROAD SERVICES: A trio of King County Road Services reps came to talk about the 16th SW project and what else their department is doing in the area in the months ahead. Here’s their full slide deck – key points below:
Amy Breslear said the 16th SW work from 100th to 107th has been planned in three phases – the 16th/104th pipe replacement, the rechannelization, and now the pedestrian improvements, with final striping expected in spring.
What’s left? Bulbs are going in now, then pedestrian pushbuttons will be added, as will the bike lanes.
Other upcoming WC projects: 26th SW sidewalk repairs to fix tree damage and give trees room to grow; plus projects in spots near Steve Cox Memorial Park (pushbuttons) and near Evergreen High School and Cascade Middle School (raised sidewalks).
Lilli DeLeon from customer service said you can send requests through the 24/7 helpline – someone answering at all times at 206-477-8100, optimally used for urgent issues like a leaning tree or sinkhole. For non-urgent problems, maint.roads@kingcounty.gov It’s checked M-F, 7 am-3:30 pm.
Illegal dumping is an issue too – submit a complaint via kingcounty.gov/illegaldumping.
Best practices for complaint info: Be sure you’re ready to provide contact info, which side of the road, photo or video, exact address – all that will help accelerate the processing. Once you make a request or report, a “service request” is created, a work unit is assigned to investigate.
DeLeon also had a pie chart showing that 480 service requests had been made and closed in this area last year. Illegal dumping was the most common complaint. Do you install “no dumping” signs? someone asked. Breslear wasn’t so sure that would be a deterrent, but suggested requesting it anyway.
Another attendee mentioned a roadside ditch – no curb – that she’s reported repeatedly, along with a fire hydrant that’ in dangerous enough to be in danger of getting hit. Breslear suggested the attendee send in the address for investigating, because it might be on private property, but they’d have to check. Someone else noted that Seattle has a lot more signage, more structures like traffic circles, etc., just over the line north of White Center. “Why don’t we get the same urban treatment that Seattle gets? I feel like White Center shouldn’t be treated differently.” Amy said that new leadership in the county and Local Services might be an opportunity for things to be reconsidered. But it was noted that structures like the stop sign at Delridge/Cambridge (in the city) don’t always improve everything. The flashing-light stop sign by McLendon and Steve Cox seemed to, though, said the attendee. Concern for pedestrian safety was voiced too, as were some other problems – a pothole on 106th, for example. What about areas where asphalt repaving is needed? Amy said those too should be repaired “so we’re happy to come out and look at it,” though funding is tight. Another attendee said the 112th crosswalk is much appreciated.
On a semi-amusing closing note, the Road Services team brought some swag including a brochure about their snow/ice response. “But that’s not happening this year, I’ve decided,” Breslear joked.
KING COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE: Major Coby Hamill, Southwest Precinct commander, was a surprise but welcome guest. He said he had “good news” – in recent months he’d heard a lot of concern about an increase in White Center crime, so they took extra action. For background, the Sheriff’s Office is still short 112 deputies out of 800, “a pretty good chunk of vacancies we have” – the retirement wave is hitting too – “as fast as we’re hiring, folks are retiring” – his staffing is still at 70 percent and they still don’t have the staffing to bring back the White Center storefront deputy. He did bring on a traffic deputy, who is a winner of KCSO Deputy of the Year, Deputy Manjot Singh, whose twin brother works in Burien. He’s been on since April and has made 700+ traffic stops, close to 100 DUI arrests, written about 700 traffic tickets, 100 criminal citations, 50 or so criminal arrests including “some with guns,” and handles abandoned vehicles so that doesn’t take a patrol deputy away … even vehicle-collision investigations. “He’s doing amazing work,” Maj. Hamill enthused.
Now the announcement – he said that after meeting with community members and others who were worried they don’t often see deputies – there are still two covering this area – Maj. Hamill asked the detective sergeant for support, so they brought out an emphasis patrol earlier that day (Thursday, February 5) close to 12 deputies, undercover detectives too. They took 12 people into custody, had “4 more charged via investigation, 45 total contacts in 4-hour period, cited somebody riding a 4=wheeler iproperly” … Maj. Hamill said 60 percent of the day’s arrests were for warrants, 40 percent for on-view including Metro bus stops – participating officers included Metro Transit Resource Officers as well as Bike Squad deputies. He said they’ll do this again on occasion throughout the year, “most of these people were on duty anyway.”
Here’s a doc with the latest crime stats – throughout all three areas, is crime down 24 percent, though some categories like shoplifting have gone up a bit, the emphasis patrol arrested somebody who’d been stealing at Dollar Tree. But the traffic deputy is the big win, he said, for violations including abandoned cars, “they’re taking those outo daily.”
(Side note – reporttosheriff.org is a way to report crime online, provided it’s not urgent/happening now, in which case definitely call 911.)
What about law-enforcement involvement with schools? Resource officers were eliminated so aside from responses to crime reports, not a lot. Maj. Hamill expressed distress about the deadly shootings in Seattle recently, noting that KCSO “got the call initially” because it happened at a bus stop. Why were the resource officers eliminated? He said people were “mad” at law enforcement back around the 2020 George Floyd murder, “sometimes that happens,” though he wished they still were part of the force so kids could have positive exposure to police early.
Does the KCSO have a gang unit? No, they haven’t had money for most specialty units for a while. Also, he said in response to questions, gang activity is dramatically less than it once was. “It’s still out there” but “it’s nowhere near as frequent as it used to be.”
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Phillip Le chatted informally with the board. He said there’s a new ice-cream shop set for the renovated storefronts on the fire-damaged side of 16th SW south of Roxbury. He said the former Chase Bank building is a target for efforts to activate empty spaces – artist showcase, music – County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is pushing for activation of empty spaces. Le said he spends most of his time supporting businesses “so they can stay in White Center” and also via beautification that helps them keep customers coming back.
LIQUOR AND CANNABIS BOARD: Eric Thomas was there for the first time in a few meetings, saying there had been some reorganization a few months back. Now they cover King County with four officers; used to be six; Skyway and Tukwila are now in his portfolio as well as White Center, Burien, and Normandy Park. “Any business that sells liquor directly to the public is my responsibility,” he explained – public safety being the priority – when someone asked exactly what he does. He just offered some general discussion such as that he stresses education rather than punishment. And if you think you know of an establishment committing violations, let the LCB know!
FUTURE TOPICS: What would you like to see NHUAC meetings cover? Board members can schedule topics and invite guests – just let them know what interests you! You can contact the board here.
Please join us for a very special, in-person Pre-Meeting Program on February 11 at 6:00PM, at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California Ave SW, West Seattle. All are welcome! This program will be immediately followed by the 34th District Democrats’ General Membership Meeting.
