White Center Now: The blog about White Center

White Center Now also covered tonight’s annexation-information meeting presented by Burien city leaders in Boulevard Park; we will bring you a complete report, including video, a little bit later, but one highlight: Burien Councilmember Gordon Shaw explained the reasoning behind one frequently asked question — why isn’t Burien seeking to annex the entire White Center/North Highline area right now? He believes that Burien runs “efficiently” right now and that could change if the city takes on too much territory all at once. Stand by for much more information from tonight’s meeting, including the status of plans for more meetings like this, even as ramifications of the procedural development we first reported last night continue to unfold.

Though yesterday’s move by the City of Burien (first reported here at White Center Now last night) takes its North Highline Annexation proposal off the table, Burien city manager Mike Martin confirms to WCN that the Sept. 2 Boundary Review Board hearing is still on – as is Burien’s annexation-info open house in Boulevard Park tonight (6:30 pm, BP Presbyterian, more info here). We asked Martin what happens next regarding a timetable; his reply: “As for negotiations, Seattle has steadfastly refused to talk, respond to e-mails or anything else, so the ball is in their court. We’ll send them a formal letter asking them to meet, but so far not successful.” (Here’s what Seattle Council President Richard Conlin told us earlier.) P.S. Another meeting of interest to White Center neighbors tonight — NOT annexation-related – the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety monthly meeting, with the agenda including a presentation on 911-call “best practices,” 6 pm tonight @ St. James Place, 9421 18th SW (map).

As promised when we broke the story last night of Burien announcing it’s withdrawn its North Highline annexation proposal (you can see the formerly proposed map on our White Center Annexation Info page), we are continuing to pursue comment. Burien city manager Mike Martin confirms the annexation info meeting in Boulevard Park tonight is still on; meantime, we asked Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin what he had to say – here’s what he e-mailed back this morning: Read the rest of this entry »

Just happened to check the City of Burien website and found this bombshell: Burien has withdrawn its North Highline annexation request (which included part of White Center). Read the city news release here. This does not appear to have been reported anywhere else as of this time (10:08 pm Wednesday) – just checked newspaper sites and other area sites, so you’re hearing it here first. The news release notes that a new round of negotiations, involving Seattle as well, is expected to start. More shortly; we’ll be checking for reaction from some of the folks who have contributed more than 60 comments (thank you!) to the intense annexation discussion below this WCN post from two weeks ago tonight. ADDED 10:42 PM: In case you have any trouble with the direct link to Burien’s website, here is the full text of the announcement posted there: Read the rest of this entry »

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is inviting you to a 9/18 community meeting on topics including annexation and graffiti-fighting – here are the details just in from Heidi Johnson: Read the rest of this entry »

JAIL-SITES FIGHT: The Highland Park Action Committee, the community group leading the fight against two potential city-jail sites in West Seattle — including the Myers Way site close to White Center — has its next meeting tonight, 7 pm, at 1116 SW Holden (map).

HELP MAKE YOUR COMMUNITY SAFER: The monthly White Center/South Delridge Community Safety meeting is at 6 pm Thursday, St. James Place, 9421 18th SW (map). (Free dinner!)

ANNEXATION OPEN HOUSE: Burien is starting a series of
“informational open houses” about its proposed North Highline Annexation Area (which includes part of White Center), and the first one is Thursday night in Boulevard Park (still waiting for word on the first one closer to White Center, so if you’ve got burning questions, you might as well go to this one), 6:30-8 pm @ Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church (1822 South 128th; map).

Just six days after this website went live, I happened to be covering the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting in West Seattle for WSB, when Seattle City Council president Richard Conlin was asked about the annexation issue. Since I was already online from the meeting room, I quickly posted a short item here on WCN about his response. Little could we have guessed that one short item would draw 51 comments with spirited debate and information exchanges about the ongoing annexation issue. I mention this today, because two more long, thoughtful and thought-provoking comments came in within the past 18 hours, and are worth going back to read if you haven’t checked that thread since the first day or two. (See the original post and all 51 comments here.) Thanks for taking time to discuss, debate, and inform — WCN coverage will continue, and your participation will make it even better. (And keep an eye on our Events Calendar for important meetings on the issue.)

Spotted this while checking for “next steps” on the ongoing annexation issue: King County’s Boundary Review Board plans a public hearing on the city’s North Highline Annexation proposal at 7 pm September 2, at Riverside Residences in Tukwila (11244 Tukwila International Blvd.; here’s a map). Read the official public-hearing notice by going here.

Tonight at the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting in West Seattle, guests included Seattle City Council president Richard Conlin. During Q&A, Dr. Arun Jhaveri asked Conlin about the status of potential White Center annexation. Here’s exactly how Conlin answered:

“The Council has adopted a Comprehensive Plan policy that says we are open to the annexation of that area. We have not been able to come to agreement with the city of Burien on how that’s going to work, and unfortunately the Legislature has approved a sales tax credit if Burien annexes … it’s structured so that it doesn’t apply to cities over 40,000 population … The problem is, (for Seattle to annex) we would need to have some kind of credit. The important thing from my perspective is that people in that area should have the right to make the decision on where they want to go, Burien or Seattle.”