The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council (NHUAC) urges a YES vote for annexation of "Area Y" to Burien (Proposition 1 at the end of your ballot). Our support is based in large part on the positive impact of Burien's 2010 annexation of our neighbors to the south. Roads have been paved, long neglected parks have been improved, and the people have been given a voice and a say in their future.

A Burien annexation will ensure that the White Center and Boulevard Park Libraries will not be moved out of the communities they currently serve. Without Burien's advocacy these essential community resources would have already been lost, but without annexation, according to the King County Library Board, they will be closed.

A few individuals who own significant amounts of land in North Highline and have advocated for years for a Seattle annexation, now want you to believe that we can remain unincorporated or "independent". Neither is true. At NHUAC’s October 4 Annexation Forum, State Senator Sharon Nelson, and Karen Freeman, from King County Executive Dow Constantine's Office, made it clear that the State Growth Management Act and King County Policies, require us to be part of a city. In addition, King County’s fiscal crisis will continue to result in drastic cuts to our services.

Our King County Council Representative, Joe McDermott, noted that the county’s new road service plan will eliminate any maintenance or repair to approximately 36 miles of our residential streets. Additionally, he discussed other ways that remaining unincorporated would negatively impact our quality of life.

King County Sheriff Steve Strachan, Burien's Assistant Police Chief, Carl Cole, Fire Chief of Burien and Normandy Park and acting Fire Chief of North Highline, Mike Mars, and Burien City Manager, Mike Martin, also shared pertinent information and answered questions. We highly recommend if you have any doubts about voting YES for annexation that you view the video of the forum that can be accessed on the NHUAC website www.northhighlineuac.org .

If we join our neighbors who annexed to Burien in 2010, we will be slightly more than half the population of Burien. Our taxes, which will be invested in our community, will increase approximately $10 a month. A small price to pay for the opportunity to live in a safe healthy community, where we will finally have a say in the issues that directly impact our quality of life.

As the late Deputy Steve Cox, a proponent of our annexation to Burien, often said, “What you see is what you get”.

Vote YES for a brighter future, vote YES for Burien.

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council