By Erica C. Barnett
This post has been updated with a comment from King County about enforcement by the King County Sheriff’s Office.
Burien, the Seattle suburb that recently banned sleeping outdoors at night in the vast majority of the city, tightened the vise on the city’s homeless residents last night by making it a misdemeanor to “camp” outdoors on any public property in the city, including all sidewalks. The new ban expands on an earlier (and already much-amended) law that allowed people to sleep at night in public spaces where camping wasn’t “explicitly prohibited,” including some sidewalks in downtown Burien.
The city council passed the new sleeping ban 5-2 last night after a brief debate.
The hastily proposed amendment came just one week after PubliCola was first to publish a video in which Councilmember Linda Akey ranting at homeless people who had set up tents on the sidewalk outside her condo building downtown, telling them that she had the “authority” as a homeowner to call the police on them. In the video, which made it all the way to the Daily Mail, Akey can be seen roaming up and down between the tents, telling people to go somewhere else because “I live here and you do not belong here.”
The expanded ban, which one public commenter referred to as a “survival ban,” prohibits people from sleeping or setting down items like tarps, blankets, and cooking equipment at any time of day on any public property in Burien. (Almost as if it was being sarcastic, the law says it’s fine for homeless people to sleep in apartments and other types of homes.)
“This reads like a middle-schooler’s parody of a Fox News story,” one resident, Paul Hood, said of the legislation.
Although the law includes a now-standard exemption saying police can’t arrest or move people if there’s no available shelter, it defines shelter so broadly that a bed 15 miles away in Seattle would probably qualify, as would a church-based shelter that required a person to enter treatment or participate in a religious program; under the existing and amended law, people whose addiction or mental illness makes staying in congregate or sober shelters untenable could be arrested for violating the law.
To accommodate the possibility, however remote, that people might end up sleeping in certain areas because no shelter was available, the ordinance also explicitly bans “camping,” under any circumstances, within 500 feet of schools, daycares, libraries, and parks, on the justification that “the Burien community has vociferously asserted that the significant increase in unhoused individuals has resulted in an incredible increase in crime and public indecency, and has made the use of libraries, sidewalks, and other public places uninviting if not dangerous.”
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The new law gives Burien’s city manager, Adolfo Bailon, absolute authority to add any amount of city land to the “areas protected from unhoused encampments” without any public discussion or legislative approval. Bailon, as we’ve reported, received a critical performance evaluation and improvement plan last year, but has refused to release it to the public; late last year, the firm that evaluated Bailon resigned their contract with the city because, in their view, the city had failed to take its recommendations seriously or “take constructive action” to address Bailon’s performance.
Three homeless Burien residents, along with the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, have sued the city over the previous version of the ban, arguing that it violates the state constitutional ban on cruel punishment, among other violations. SKCCH director Alison Eisinger said the plaintiffs’ attorneys are currently amending the complaint to reflect the new, even more restrictive ban.
“Burien residents told their city council in public comment that history will not look kindly on those who wrote and passed this law and drew the outrageous map, and we agree,” Eisinger said. “Our co-plaintiffs and others braved snow and freezing temperatures outside while five council members pretended that excluding people from their community means helping them.”
The bill makes creative use of “whereas” clauses, ordinarily used to cite facts that justify a piece of legislation. In lieu of facts, the law asserts political views, using unsourced, unsubstantiated, and sometimes outrageous claims to make the case that homeless people are a uniquely menacing threat to “the Burien community,” meaning Burien’s housed residents.
One clause cites “allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assaults, drug use, thefts, and trespasses in or near unhoused encampments” as a justification for the ban; another claims that “the Burien community, including business owners and residents, has demanded that the Burien City Council and law enforcement address this significant increase in crime.” A third asserts, again without evidence, that “young girls” are being “taken into tents” by predatory homeless people.
“If council wants to adopt this ordinance, there may not be the votes to prevent it,” said Councilmember Sarah Moore, who—along with Councilmember Hugo Garcia—voted “no.” “But please consider if you want [the whereas clauses] in our recorded history.”
“It’s really hard to be here and have your entire community turn their backs on you. I grew up in this town. My last listed address is here. I had my daughter in this town and I graduated [in] this town, and it’s crazy watching y’all just try to push us out.”
Many public commenters who opposed the ban noted that they, too, are part of the Burien community, and often outnumber anti-homeless voices at city council meetings. “This reads like a middle-schooler’s parody of a Fox News story,” one resident, Paul Hood, said of the legislation.
Others noted that the buildings the legislation purports to “protect,” using buffers similar to those that keep sex offenders from living in most areas, are closed at night—people aren’t using the library or going to school at 10pm, making the specific justification for the “protection areas” patently absurd. (Homeless people are still allowed to exist in Burien libraries and parks during daytime hours, for now.)
In fact, most of the commenters at Monday night’s meeting opposed the ban, including several residents of an encampment outside City Hall whose names were called while they were outside, laying tarps over their belongings as a heavy snow began to fall.
One who made it back in just as the comment period was winding up, Marina, almost didn’t get to speak. Deputy mayor Stephanie Mora tried repeatedly to shut her down, telling her she was out of order and did not have the right to speak. After several people in the crowd intervened—pointing out that Robert’s Rules of Order allow people to speak at the end of the meeting if they weren’t in the room when their name was called—Marina spoke for two minutes as Mora stared off in another direction. Here’s some of what she said:
It’s really hard to be here and have your entire community turn their backs on you. I grew up in this town. My last listed address is here. I had my daughter in this town and I graduated [in] this town, and it’s crazy watching y’all just try to push us out. … We’re waiting here for any kind of help. But you guys don’t want us here. The cops told us the other day to keep walking north. They’re the ones who shuffled us into the alleyway in the first place.
[Homelessness] can happen to anybody. I lost everything so fast, and I was trying my hardest not to. I feel like most of us are maybe just a couple bad steps away from being homeless. And we need help. And I thought y’all had the money to help us. We don’t want to be out here like this. All my friends, my family, they’re out there right now, covered in snow under tarps, miserable, cold, and completely alone. … I have nerve damage in my fingers from the cold. … Some of our people are really sick and they’re not getting the help that they need. They’re out here fighting demons, because that’s what they’re treated like. We’re treated like trash around here and that’s just not nice.
When Oasis Home Church opened a temporary encampment for homeless residents last December, Marina noted, she didn’t have to sleep on public property. The city threatened a lawsuit to stop the church from hosting the encampment.
The ban, which the city passed as an “emergency” ordinance, goes into effect immediately.
UPDATE: The King County Sheriff’s Office told the city of Burien it would not enforce the new camping ban, prompting the city to issue a statement attacking the county for “claiming the authority to decide the constitutionality of existing laws and potentially politicizing an important public safety issue”—as if a ban on homeless people existing at night was not political, and as if the existence of homeless people was an inherent public safety threat to housed Burien residents.
Asked how the King County Sheriff’s Office, which serves as the police department for Burien, plans to enforce the expanded ban, a spokesperson for King County said, “Burien adopted this ordinance with minimal notice to the public and no outreach to King County, which provides law enforcement services to Burien by contract. This is atypical. It is unclear why this measure was adopted as an emergency ordinance when prior versions of the same ordinance allowed for full public input and debate. It is crucial for law enforcement to follow constitutional norms when enforcing any law. King County is currently evaluating the ordinance to ensure that it fits within the proper mission of the Sheriff’s office.”
https://fatbeggars.wordpress.com/2024/05/26/this-post-is-not-about-morgan-spurlock/
I think the first sentence after “UPDATE” is missing a “not”.
Everyone feels the pull on their hearts to shelter those who are without shelter. BUT nobody wants to pick up a freaking hammer to do it!
Burien counsel mbers should be fired how dare you it’s not a crime to be homeless like people really want to have no home you ignorant see elf serving idiots ! I’d be ashamed to live in your district you self serving politicians gobble up all the money that should be used to house the homeless you spend money doing nothing you greedy worthless brainless dolts your an embarrassment to humanity and should be tossed out on your backside people who only care about themselves have no business representing anyone your incompetent at best if your not part of the solution your the problem. Your brains fall out on the floor everytime you open your mouth!
I’m not a fan of the Burien city council either, but they don’t “gobble up money.” The position is nearly a volunteer one — if you’re on the council, you get paid something like $600 a month, and I think the mayor get $750. While they have a lot of problems, they aren’t getting rich from these positions.
Ha to protection from the homeless is funny considering people who are homeless are more often killed or attacked by the “housed” or “normal” people. I have been on and off the streets here in Seattle since I was 14 years old. And if you read the stats homeless people are less of a threat than you think but everyone watches the news and believes everything they hear. They don’t write stories about the average joe blow who on his way to work decides to pull over and shoot a innocent person sleeping under a bridge on the way to work which happens more often than you think. I have personally witnessed it more than once in the years I was out there. As a child I did nothing to become homeless but I was. I was outcasted and spit on by grown adults and beat up by male police officers all the time. It is discrimination and I can’t believe it is allowed. And crimes against someone who is homeless for the fact that they are homeless should be considered a hate crime and it is against the constitution to kick someone off of public property period it is public property homeless people included .
Right on! You said it correctly. I am a Veteran. I have been homeless. I’ve NEVER done drugs…won’t even take any pills excepting vitamins/supplements. I stand for our flag and for our Constitution!
All the homeless should move onto the lawns of the private homes of those who passed the law and refuse to move ❤️, if they start reciecing mail at said addresses it proves residency and they would have to be evicted. Lol. Then tell the officials you’ll leave in exchange for housing.
I hope for some of your sake that you never have to suffer a major setback or disability. That’s all it takes to lose everything, even a home. It isn’t always drug addiction or alcoholism. And some of you should pray that you get more compassion than you give or gave.
It will be happening to their offspring in the future. No one us immune.
Unlike most of the poster here I’m generally OK with a lot of the sweeps that are currently occurring and with not letting folks set up permanent (or semi-permanent) encampments, but this is clearly unconstitutional. Burien is gonna get sued and lose, as well they should.
Huh. Maybe I need to move to Burien. Bravo for having the guts to finally tell those bums they are not welcome. We need a lot more of that in the Seattle Metro area.
The bums are the ones making the unconstitutional laws.
I truly hope that you never have to experience the actuality or endure the reality of being someone who is unhoused. It happens a lot more easily than you might think. According to a recent survey 59% of Americans are one missed paycheck away from experiencing homelessness† — seeing how that survey was conducted pre-pandemic that number is now likely higher. Put that alongside the number of working Americans who often subsist paycheck-to-paycheck: 65%‡. Now, while it’s true that there are many Americans out there who enjoy the advantages of secured employment and a comfortable nestegg of savings bankroll, there are millions more who lack the necessary funds to cover unforeseen costs or sudden emergencies of any kind at all. Knowing that consider that 72% of Americans are not completely financially secure, and 26% never expect to be* with nearly one in four U.S. adults (22%) who have no emergency funds or savings whatsoever**.
All of this is to say that the majority of the United States population is much closer to the possibility of experiencing homelessness than they realize. And it doesn’t take much for that to happen. For many all it takes is a one major hardship or perhaps a series of smaller ones that puts them on the path of losing everything and I mean everything. All it takes is one bad decision. One bad investment. One economic downturn of the housing market. One financial crisis such as an identity theft or one surprise diagnosis of a major health issue in-between full-time employment gigs. All it takes is one instance of being t-boned by a drunk driver who got behind the wheel carrying no insurance or holding a single asset to their name. On a sidenote, every one of the instances I’ve mentioned above have happened to someone I know and several of those were factors which drove them into homelessness — myself included.
I’m taking the time to write this to you in hopes that maybe you’ll consider treading a little more lightly the next time you see or cross paths with someone who hasn’t been as fortunate as you have with what has been handed to them. Sure, we’re all active participants if what life brings us and for better or for worse we are only as successful as what we make of whatever that maybe, with only a very slim margin of those who can claim victimization. But are you completely immune from making a mistake? From being in the wrong place at the wrong time? From someone violating your trust? From being taken advantage of? I can tell you that I’m not.
Not every person without a home is a drug addict. Or an alcoholic. Or a paranoid schizophrenic. Some are just regular people who have had shit luck or maybe made some poor life choices. But no one chooses to be homeless. Just like no one chooses to become a drug addict and until we recognize that for what it is — a disease and a public health crisis — we will continue to make the same mistakes of marginalizing human beings and pushing them onto the fringes of society. But that is a post for another time. I really hope that you’ve read this far and have seriously considered some of the things that I’ve written. I really do hope that you never have to experience a life of homelessness for yourself — it’s not something that I’d wish even upon my most mortal enemy.
† Edward Jones, “Wealth Survey”, 2019
‡ The Harris Poll, with questions by Barron’s, 2023
* Bankrate.com, February 18, 2023
** Fortune.com, February 1, 2024
Sweet angry baby Jesus, seriously Burien? This is so not the way to “fix” or even “help” with homelessness. However it is a way to show you’re a dick or that you’re full of bullshit.
I wrote an article in real change a few years back that really shows when combined with this one, just how bad residents of Wa state are being treated.
https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2018/08/08/pitfalls-renting-washington
I stand by what i wrote.
What is the 9th circuit have to say. Keep fighting for Unhoused people. They are we are human. How can a person not be homeless I live in California one of the highest rent market places I am a student and I work. We have to make 3 times the rent I order to rent a apartment one bedroom apartment starting rate $2000 pluses first last and deposit I need to make at least $8000 a month to not be homeless I rather be comfortable in a tent and not have that stress of if I can afford rent next month. Even with section 8. it feels like Big Bullies who need to open their eyes because they obviously have no heart
Burien leaders have been beaten up mercilessly on this site for not being more accommodating/tolerant of people living in public spaces. Some of it may have been well deserved, but the editorial tone of contempt for the individuals, particularly the city manager, could be cut with a knife, and intended to shape perception or incite the reader.
Keep up the good work.
Jesus: Love thy neighbor as thyself*
* offer void where neighbor is homeless
You can always count on Erica to provide a one sided political argument and never really examine the actual underlying issues.
It’s like Fox News but for progressive in Seattle.
Countering the article with words and not sourced statements?
Who’s the real Fox News?
You know, I am a long since, clean and sober, single mother of 4, and we will be living on the streets of Burien in two weeks. I’ve been trying for 18 months to get help with some kind of low income housing, my abusive, unfaithful, steal my car and my money and rob his children ex husband, decided to disappear with his new girlfriend and leave me with all the kids and a ton of debt. Ive talked to so many non-profits and low income housing developments that i literally dream having those conversations.
No one, literally NO ONE, will help someone, even sober with four kids, until they are actually homeless. Two weeks from homeless doesn’t count, you have to already be homeless to be eligible for any kind of assistance. I don’t want free, I bust my butt to financially provide for my family. I rarely eat, I barely sleep, but it’s worth it to have my children. So in two weeks, I will be on the streets of Burien myself, with three of my four kids, and I’m going to be treated like I’m nothing, like its all my fault, and possibly get arrested?? There are plenty of amazing people who don’t deserve to be homeless, would give just about anything not to be, and most definitely don’t deserve to be treated like this because of a situation that they hate just as much as you do.
Many years ago in Glasgow, Scotland, they passed a law that no-one could sleep outdoors, but that was because there were enough shelter beds for everyone. You would find a handful of people sleeping outside, but no more. The idea was to keep people safer, warm, dry and hopefully lead to permanent housing.