The Romans had their Circus Maximus. The Burien City Council has its Circus Annexus.
The council is on the edge of a fiscal annexation folly.
The council even has a straight man in the form of a city manager. He says things like, "Full annexation will break the bank". Members of the city council come back with the idea of annexing in phases, hoping that no one will notice that the city is going broke slowly.
The city manager says that we can pay for annexation with grants and promises of tax reimbursements. The city council envisions a long conga line where every participant has their hands in someone else's pocket, hoping that one of those pockets will be a deep one.
Members of the city council say that driving through North Highline is like taking a trip down memory lane. It sounds like the council has adopted one of Bob Hope's famous lines: "Thanks for the memories."
The council likens the many streets leading into North Highline as extensions of Burien. The streets are one-way fiscal dead end streets.
The city of Vallejo, California is heading into bankruptcy. The city council of Vallejo ignored reality and contracted for more than the city could pay for.
Columnist/humorist Erma Bombeck once said, "I never participate in a sport where there is an ambulance waiting at the bottom of the hill."
The city of Burien should not participate in an annexation where there is a bankruptcy lawyer waiting at every exit.
There is no reason why Burien should offer to take on the obligations that would come with the annexation of North Highline. The PAA should be withdrawn and if the county really wants to rid itself of North Highline, the county will make some very attractive offers to the city that could place Burien in a great bargaining position.
There is always the risk that Seattle may want to pick up some or all of the whole area, but there is always a risk with every investment, which is how the council refers to North Highline whenever they talk about it.
James Sharkey
Treasurer,
Burien Residents
Against Annexation
