Publisher

If you have been paying attention to what has been happening to Burien in the last three years you have to be impressed.

Battered by competition from the retail boom in Tukwila that began with Southcenter 30 years ago, Burien also has been hammered and decimated by a rampaging airport, which ate up hundreds of homes and apartments plus a bunch of lively businesses where once upon a time we imagined there might be another Bellevue.

But like a pesky little terrier, Burien refused to dry up and blow away.

While prior generations of business leaders have taken their turn at promoting a renaissance here, the most recent effort began when voters elected a progressive city council, which then hired a knowledgeable city manager to sculpt a new vision.

The first move was radical surgery on Southwest 152nd, which cut four lanes of traffic in half and installed customer-friendly, old fashioned angle parking. This converted the main drag from a speedway to a more leisurely route, one more conducive to strolling shoppers.

Now a Town Square is underway. It will most likely become the centerpiece, with condominiums and boutiques, promenades and park benches.

What is also apparent is that the city is alive with activity ever since the formation of Discover Burien, a group of 145 dues-paying local businesses with the blessings - and an annual subsidy - provided by the city.

Behind all this action is a fireball named Debra George. I have watched this young (40) woman tackle the task of putting on a score of annual events, not to mention the popular weekly Thursday Farmer's Market. Between what must be dozens of meetings, she also serves as a clearinghouse for advice and assistance to numerous entrepreneurs who are getting their feet wet in the business world.

Debra does all this without a staff. She is the only full-time employee, though she does have a loyal crew - five or six developmentally disabled troopers who do the clean-up and other hand labor needed. They are carried here by Access bus, earn $8.50 an hour and work ten hours a week.

Debra was hired by John Roberts, Burien's loquacious former Highline High football coach who left coaching years ago to work in the motivational arena with another former coach, Lou Tice and his Pacific Institute.

John eventually became one of Discover Burien's founders. He still serves as unpaid president of the group. In addition he is managing Glenacres Golf Club in Boulevard Park.

The indefatigable Debra, born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, once owned her own event planning company, so she has the promotional know-how Roberts was looking for. She was also a star athlete in St. Louis, playing baseball, racquetball and golf. She even caddied for noted golfer Hale Irwin, and received a coveted Evans golf scholarship.

I have watched a handful of South King County cities take on the dragon of lethargy and the demons of mega-mall development. I congratulate the whole Discover Burien team. I also think it's about time Debra herself got some recognition for the life she is helping to breathe into a town that was sleepwalking into a dead end.

There is a lot of work left to do, but this is a fitting time to applaud the creative and determined effort already made.