Burien Mayor Brian Bennett has announced he will not run for re-election.

He has endorsed Burien Planning Commissioner Joey Martinez to replace him.
Bennett told our news partner, the Burien Daily, “Joey is a strong candidate and I believe he will make a great city council member for the residents of Burien.”

Bennett told the Highline Times he has “too much going on” with his family and work.

Although he says he has been approached about running for the state Legislature or county council, he has no plans at this time to seek another public office.

He said he doesn’t want to sacrifice the time away from his three and five-year old children. Although he says he will still be involved with the community, he noted he is not much of a meeting person.

“I need a break,” Bennett said. “I want to concentrate on kids, soccer practice and my day job.”

Bennett’s day job is as a business and technology attorney for F5Networks, a Seattle-based global technology company.

A Lake Burien resident, Bennett comes from a family that has lived in the Burien area for four generations.

Bennett said serving on the city council and previously as a planning commissioner has been a “wonderful experience.”

“We kept the city afloat during tough times,” Bennett said.

He denied that the current 4-3 split in the council factored in his decision not to run again. Bennett said the split actually made his decision more difficult.

Bennett said he prefer to have the city move forward, instead of being involved in divisive, personal confrontations.

Councilmember Rose Clark, a Bennett ally, said she was sad that he is not running again.

Clark said she would run. Former Mayor Joan McGilton, another Bennett ally, participated in a 34th District Democrats candidate’s forum on May 8 so will presumably run again.

With the seats of Bennett, Clark and McGilton up for election, the supporters of the three council members who have often been in the minority are hoping to flip control of this council in the upcoming election. Councilmember Jack Block Jr. is also up for re-election.

Martinez and Lauren Berkowitz, who filed a complaint against a Facebook post by Block, are holding a joint campaign kickoff on May 29 at the Burien Elliott Bay Brewery.

Arts Commission members Shelli Park and Andrea Reay have also announced they are running for council seats.

Marlene Allbright also has announced she is running for a council seat but has run afoul of the state Public Disclosure Commission for not registering with the agency.

In her public letter of intent, she declared, “It is time that the citizens of Burien take back control of their City Council.”

Filing begins Monday, May 13 and ends Friday, May 17. By the end of next week, it will be sorted out who is running for which positions.