Annexation revelations at meeting in West Seattle

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Tonight’s meeting of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council focused on future planning for not only the southernmost part of the area the group covers, but also White Center, since the group – WWRHAH for short – thinks the two areas should be looked at as potentially one, given the possibility of annexation.

During the meeting, new information about that possibility came to light. Kenny Pittman, long a City of Seattle point person on annexation, said it looks like the State Legislature is going to pass a new tax-credit incentive for annexation – higher than the previous one; he said it’s made it out of the Senate and is expected to win passage in the House.

If that is finalized – and if the Seattle City Council votes to pursue annexation – he expected it could go to a vote in North Highline as soon as November 2017. But the council isn’t necessarily a lock; underscoring that, the new West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember, Lisa Herbold, was in the audience. Her position toward annexation during the campaign was less than enthusiastic.

In the meantime, the proposal has been introduced to the King County Boundary Review Board but won’t be moved forward in the process until and unless the tax credit is finalized, Pittman said.

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Barbara Dobkin, at the WWRHAH meeting as was NHUAC board member Pat Price, told Pittman he needed to come to this community with an update, since even the tax-credit status was news to them.


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4 Responses to “Annexation revelations at meeting in West Seattle”

  1. How can SPD extend itself to cover North Highline? According, to the news they have more than enough on their plate. Some Seattle neighborhoods have found it necessary to hire private security.

  2. seems if we remain unincorporated, our area is running amok with transients, low income housing (we have the highest percentage in King County…something the Housing Authority can only do because we are not incorporated)which leaves KC council to decide the shape of our area, and I am sure there is plenty of federal funding pumped into our “unincorporated” area, seems like we should annex to Burien or Seattle.

  3. I think crime in WC should go down if annexation happens, because there will no longer be that border at Roxbury for criminals to jump into and out of jurisdictions. But yeah, Seattle could certainly use more police resources.

  4. God Burien, Seattle, whomever! Just more representation please! I’m tired of North Highline being King County’s dumping ground. 17M for the homeless, but we must go without our roads being maintained.