Someone said the other day that the subject of whether the North Highline Unincorporated Area should be annexed to Seattle or Burien has been going on for years and people are plain getting sick of it.

Regardless of the ever on-going discussion, it will mean a great deal to the 30,000 people who live there. Their taxes will likely go up no matter which city takes the region, services will be different and even those who wish life would just go on as it is will have to finally understand that change will happen no matter what.

The argument is heating up. Many people in the area say do not chop us up and sever our neighborhoods. Several committees are saying "Get Lost" to Burien whose city council seems to change its mind with each meeting. Many Burien residents say swallowing this area would ruin their city. Nevertheless, the Burien Council now wants to put a preferred hold on North Highline, as least for now.

Seattle, whose mayor makes not bones about wanting North Highline, seems passive like the cat that knows his dinner will be served soon enough. But, beneath the quiet exterior we know there are wheels turning - one does not ignore Mayor Greg Nickels without suffering the consequences.

Regardless of the political twisting and turning, it seems obvious to us that North Highline, all of it, should be the southern part of the city of Seattle. Those who say the 30,000 resident there would be ignored by Seattle City Hall should take heed from some of the eye-catching actions of the Delridge Neighborhood, of South Park and strides taken by many other community groups, who have realize they can and do get heard by downtown.

We wish this endless drama would speed up, but we suppose the train will just have to chug at its own pace to the inexorable conclusion of adding North Highline to the Emerald City.