[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written and submitted by verified resident(s). It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of South King Media, nor its staff.]

On March 8, The B-Town Blog published the city of Burien, and Burien’s mayor, Kevin Schilling’s comments on the recent statement by the King County Sheriff’s office (KCSO) that it would not enforce parts of Ordinance 832, the “camping ban”.

This Letter is intended as a reflection of a different view of Burien’s relationship to the Sheriff’s office, its contract and the responsibility of every person and organization, to try to do what is right and legal. 

We were both raised to value civil rights and the US Constitution as the guiding principles of our nation. These principles stand for the protection of people who often have the fewest other resources in place. As elected public servants, we took an oath to uphold the constitution. So if the constitutionality of an action is in doubt, we would like to see us err on the side of caution.

Some of the constitutional issues surrounding Ordinance 832 will be resolved in April.  While we did not personally support this ordinance, and voted against it, we fully understand that as a part of Burien’s seven person council, we were outvoted and the measure will come to pass. But if its enforcement may be unconstitutional, and a month will determine this, we do not understand pushing for preemptive action while waiting. 

Burien contracts with the KCSO for our police services. Like any contract, Burien has a set of tasks that the Sheriff fulfills. Unlike some other contracts, Burien, and any contracting city, is constantly altering the contract in a sense, by introducing and changing the specifics of its legal code, which the sheriff’s office must be updated on and some could argue, should be consulted on before changes are made – especially changes that are expected to be implemented immediately. 

The sheriff, meanwhile, also has responsibilities to comply with state and county law and with the United States Constitution. In recent conversations, they have expressed that they are not confident that all parts of the new ordinance are constitutional, and that they will not enforce those parts that come into question.

This has been framed as a political stance, because the sheriff is an appointed position. But the US Constitution is not political, it is the highest legal document in our nation, and it is surely the duty of any public official, such as a sheriff, to try not to act at odds with it. 

As a side note, we are baffled at the idea that an appointed sheriff is considered to be political and an elected one is not. For comparison, Burien’s city manager is appointed, its mayor and council is elected, and presumably it is the mayor and the rest of us councilmembers who are more engaged in the political world, whereas city staff are tasked with doing the executive tasks or running a city.

We call upon the city of Burien to work together with the Sheriff’s office in determining the constitutionality of this ordinance, rather than in demanding work that may violate it. Had our full council been informed of the discussion prior to the city releasing the statement in response, had we discussed it as a body, we would have made these thoughts known in that setting. We will seek the opportunity to do so at the next city council meeting, which will take place on March 18th. 

– Councilmember Hugo Garcia
– Councilmember Sarah Moore

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The post LETTER: Two Burien City Councilmembers: ‘this letter is intended as a reflection of a different view of Burien’s relationship to the Sheriff’s Office’ appeared first on The B-Town (Burien) Blog.