A group of North Highline citizens working to keep Seattle as an annexation option organized a recent Saturday meeting, on private property. We had invited Charley Royer, former mayor of Seattle, to talk about government, and Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Tukwila, to give us an update on state legislation to provide annexation incentive funding to both Seattle and Burien.

Someone from the "We hate Seattle" group got a copy of the email and organized their group to show up in force, angry and indignant. When it was politely pointed out that the intent of the meeting was not oriented towards them and that the meeting was on private property, this group remained, sat down, and started eating our donuts. Instead of making a scene and calling the police to have them legally removed, we invited them to stay. Newly elected Burien City Council member Kathy Keene, who campaigned that she had not made up her mind on annexation, was part of this well organized pro-Burien annexation group.

During the meeting, we had to suffer from repeated venomous tirades from one member of their group, intent on intimidating us. We endured misinformation from others. As uncomfortable as it was, we treated this group with respect.

After an hour of accommodating this group, we ended the meeting. Mr. Royer and Mr. Hasegawa were departing, and we tried to politely herd this group to the door so that we could still have our planned meeting. Your Burien City Council member was the slowest to leave, acting as if she owned the building, while others from her group stood in the doorway trying to intimidate their way back in.

These people are working to stop state legislation that will allocate up to $4 million in additional state dollars to benefit North Highline residents each year, if we decide to vote for annexation to either Seattle or Burien. And it forces both cities to work together to find common ground.

Why would this group be afraid of an open and honest comparison of the level of police and fire services, property tax levels and home values that will be impacted by Seattle or Burien annexation? And by the time I got to the refreshment table, they had eaten all our donuts too.

Mark Ufkes, President

White Center

Homeowners Association