A SAD DAY FOR BURIEN AND WHITE CENTER:

As Burien citizens return from their summer vacations in September, they will be surprised to discover that the Burien City Council has decided to annex White Center, with no public hearing and with no citizen advisory vote on this, the most important issue in Burien history.

The financial analysis they will quote to justify this will have been done by their consulting group which is in bed with the city council, the literal fox guarding the hen house. Joan McGilton will say it is all "revenue neutral."

They will do this in August so no citizens are around to know about it. Shortly thereafter, the good citizens of White Center will be asked to vote on whether they want to be annexed to Burien, and they will most likely say yes, because they feel Burien is their last port in the storm now that Seattle has said they can't even remotely afford the cost of supporting White Center.

Citizens will also discover the leader of the Economic Development Council has been fired by Mike Martin because of his views against annexation. The council accordingly will ignore the advice of their own business council NOT to annex.

This decision will put Burien squarely on the path to financial ruin and eventual municipal bankruptcy, as Burien is forced to pay for the millions and millions of dollars of red ink, social service needs, and backlogged capital projects that reside in White Center.

It's very bad news for the citizens of White Center also, who, will discover when the Burien government Trojan Horse rolls into White Center that out will pop.........nothing! No social services, no money, no creative leadership....

We can't get sidewalks or roads replaced in Burien, but we can support White Center too? Seattle can't afford White Center, but we can? The deserving and well meaning citizens of White Center would be best advised to hang on a few more years until Seattle recovers a bit and can afford to annex and support White Center in the way it needs and deserves.

The city council, along with unsteady city manager Mike Martin, are hemorrhaging bleeding heart liberalism that drives them to conduct a social experiment to ride to the rescue of _White Center, even when it makes no financial or business sense at all...

The only balanced, reasoned thinking on the subject consistently comes from Lucy Krakowiak, who has been the one lonely voice of a rational view against this ill-advised annexation.

Shortly after the hollow Trojan Horse has been exposed, our property taxes will go up, permanently, to support this experiment to sooth the desires of the likes of Rose Clark and Joan McGilton. And of course Joan will say,..."don't worry, it's revenue neutral."

And then we will all look at each other and say..."how could this have possibly happened"...and we will remember the summer of 2011, when this misguided and underqualified city council sold us down the financial river with nary a peep from citizens to demand a vote, their basic democratic right.

Horace Parker
Seahurst