Once again, the Burien City Council has created a breach of trust with the citizens of Burien.

Your city council is in the process of deciding to raise property taxes to help pay for the new annexation area of North Highline.

We citizens were told, on many occasions by Mike Martin and the council, that the annexation would be "revenue neutral," and not require new taxes to support it.

All of us who looked hard at the numbers of the annexation proposal told the council, again on numerous occasions, that there was too much red ink for annexation to make sense.

But of course, the council serves their own interest, not those of the citizens of Burien, so they went ahead with annexation and now we are stuck with paying the bill for this ill-advised decision.

Could timing possibly be worse for a tax increase, during the worst recession in 50 years? No other local city is raising property taxes at this time.

A badly managed 1st avenue redevelopment, a shiny new expensive city hall that was not needed and a downtown that looks like a ghost town are all the result of mismanagement by this illustrious group, led by Mayor Joan McGilton.

We have met the enemy, and it is the Burien City Council.

Horace Parker
Burien