BURIEN, Wash. — Burien business owners spoke out about safety concerns Thursday as the city and the King County Sheriff’s Office remain at a standstill over enforcement of a camping ban.
The issue stems from an ordinance passed in March that prohibits camping overnight near parks, libraries, schools and other areas. The King County Sheriff’s Office took legal action, claiming the ordinance was unconstitutional, and has not enforced it.
“It’s time for government…to start working together as adults in the room, solving the homeless issue, encampment issue in Burien as a group and stop wasting taxpayer dollars,” Discover Burien Board President Monty Penney said at a press conference organized by the city.
Business owners described experiences that made them and their customers feel unsafe. Daniel Sullivan, a vendor at the Burien Farmers Market, said five weeks ago staff arrived to set up their tent and found someone died of a drug overdose, which he said was hard for him and staff members to process.
Rebecca Zielinski, co-owner of home goods store Sitka Living, said she has felt threatened in several instances. In one, she said she had to ask a man with a machete to leave the store. In another, she said a man exposed himself to her.
In the last five years that Sitka Living has been open, Zielinski said the business has not experienced the magnitude of an income shortfall as the last four months.
Zielinski urged the sheriff’s office to enforce the camping ban.
“If we keep treading water, we will surely drown,” Zielinski said.
The King County Sheriff’s Office and the city of Burien have an interlocal agreement where the sheriff’s office offers police services. King County deputies wear Burien police uniforms and logos while on the job.
After the city passed the ordinance, the King County Sheriff’s Office filed a legal complaint to determine if the law was constitutional and filed a motion to block the ban.
In the complaint, King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall argued Burien’s camping ban criminalized homelessness and wasn’t constitutional.
The city of Burien has since sued the sheriff’s office over lack of enforcement.
On Tuesday, Cole-Tindall issued a community letter claiming the city of Burien could “resolve” the situation by amending the recently-passed ordinance to reflect a prior camping ordinance that the sheriff's office said was constitutional.
Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling responded Thursday saying the previous ordinance is already on the books, and it’s up to the sheriff’s office to enforce it.
"You don’t need to revert back to something that is already in existence and enforceable by the sheriff’s office," Schilling said.
Cole-Tindall and Executive Dow Constantine issued a statement saying they have "significant concerns with its constitutionality. The statement reads, in part:
"The county’s goal is to solve this problem, not prolong it. Some Burien officials continue to insist that a decision should be reached through the interlocal agreement oversight process. However, this isn’t a debate about the interlocal agreement, but rather the constitutionality and enforceability of this new ordinance."