While I applaud citizen desire to be involved in community affairs, particularly in taking an active role in their own governance, I question the appropriateness of some members of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council in representing me or my neighbors.

Steve Cox can and should voice his opinion as a resident of the area, however, as a King County Sheriff's deputy, his outspoken support of annexing to Burien rather than Seattle is suspect. After all, his current job and livelihood depend on annexation to Burien. Similarly, the president of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is a North Highline firefighter so the decision of which city to annex to also impacts his job. In fact, the Council membership includes two King County deputies and three people directly involved with the North Highline Fire District. This is a large portion of the council with clearly a personal or financial interest in the outcome of this decision.

These folks live in the community and have a right to their opinion. But when they accepted the responsibility of serving on the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council they also accepted the obligation to represent their constituents' views as opposed to their own. As elected representatives, the fair and honorable course of action is for them to acknowledge this conflict of interest and recuse themselves from any further participation regarding the governance issue before the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council .

Cathy Taylor

Boulevard Park