Tag: Adolfo Bailon

LGBTQ+, Uncategorized

Burien City Manager Filed Complaint Against Public Commenter; Seattle Library Hosts Another Anti-Trans Event

1. The Seattle Public Library is, once again, renting out public space to an organization dedicated to eliminating the rights of trans people—this time, a trans eliminationist group called Women’s Declaration USA, which will hold a panel discussion in the large auditorium of the Central Library downtown at 7 pm on Sunday, November 17.

Like other anti-trans groups, the WDI argues that being trans is an “ideology,” and that their goal is to stop people from believing they are trans, not to eliminate specific trans people. However, their policy prescriptions are dangerous for trans women, in particular, making them potential targets for anti-trans violence and subjecting them to legal discrimination. For example, the group supports banning trans women from using all women-only spaces as well as girl’s and women’s sports; one of the speakers at next week’s event, April Morrow, recently wrote that allowing trans women to be jailed with other women will subject cis women to attacks by “serial killers, pedos, and rapists.”

According to the invitation, WDI’s event will include discussions about “the atrocity of pediatric sex change”; a rehash of the Olympus Spa case, in which a trans woman sued a Tacoma women’s spa for kicking her out; “K-12 indoctrination”; “how women’s prisons in Washington state are no longer safe for women due to the inclusion of men,” and other inflammatory topics. (In fact, trans women in men’s prisons are at high risk for sexual assault, forced prostitution, and other dangers. According to The Marshall Project, just 10 of the approximately 1,000 trans women in federal prison are incarcerated in women’s prisons.)

The panel will include six different anti-trans activists, including Morrow; Amy Sousa, who argues that “the cult of trans ideology is one of body dissociation and external validation seeking”; detrans activist Elle Palmer; and Carol Dansereau, an activist who argues that parents should avoid “affirming” their gender-nonconforming kids’ gender identities and raise them as the sex they were assigned at birth.

Echoing a blog post the library posted last month, library spokeswoman Laura Gentry said, “Unless speech expressed by a group booking a Library meeting room directly incites imminent criminal activity or comprises specific threats of violence, it is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“The Seattle Public Library works hard every day to support and amplify the voices of vulnerable or historically excluded groups, including trans and queer communities,” Gentry added.

The directors of Capitol Hill Pride and Lynnwood Pride, Charlotte LeFevre and Philip Lipson, asked the library to cancel the event, arguing that members of WDI are associated with far-right militia groups. In response, library director Tom Fay said the library couldn’t cancel the event, but doesn’t endorse the views of WDI or any other group; he also noted that WDI agreed to hold their event after hours “to mitigate potential disruption and address concerns from staff,” and that the library will have additional security, including Seattle Police Department officers, on hand.

The library hasn’t figured out how much it will cost to have extra security, including police, on hand for the event, but Gentry said the funding for security comes from SPD’s budget, not the library’s. WDI paid $1,150 to rent the auditorium, including a $250 security fee.

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2. The state Public Disclosure Commission has dismissed a complaint against a Burien resident by Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon, who accused Rashell Lisowski of violating state law during a Burien City Council public comment in October, when she urged the council to pass legislation raising the city’s minimum wage to $20 an hour instead of sending the proposal to voters.

During the meeting, Burien City Attorney Garmon Newsom II told Lisowski to stop “campaigning for an initiative.” She did not urge a yes vote on the measure, but did say Burien residents supported a higher minimum wage.

In addition to asking the council to pass the higher minimum wage, Lisowski—who owns a small business in Burien and works for Washington Community Action Network—used her two minutes to talk about her personal experience working for low wages in the service industry.

Lisowski said it was her first time speaking at a city council meeting, and she found the way the city attorney and city manager “zoomed in on me” shocking. “I didn’t know why they were treating me like that,” she said. “If I wasn’t someone that had been in public speaking situations or had experience dealing with people treating me like that, I would have felt very intimidated and silenced. …  I’m a constituent, and they treated me like I had no stake at all in the community.”

The state’s Open Public Meetings A/ct prohibits elected officials and public employees from using public facilities, or allowing them to be used to promote political campaigns. The PDC dismissed the complaint because Lisowski is not a public official, and noted in their dismissal—issued just one week after Bailon filed his complaint—that it’s up to the presiding officer of the city council to stop people from electioneering, meaning that Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, rather than any member of the public, could be liable if he let people use public comment to campaign.

In his complaint, Bailon described Lisowski as “the perpetrator” and provided “screenshots of the Washington Community Action Network website that promotes Ms. Lisowski as an organization employee [and] a website screenshot hosted by the Transit Riders Union, sponsor of Initiative Measure 24.001, that promotes involvement from Ms. Lisowski in their campaign effort.” According to Burien budget documents, Bailon made $225,000 as city manager this year.

 

 

homelessness, King County

Burien City Manager Accuses King County Executive of “Establishing” Encampment Outside Courthouse
“I look forward to receiving answers to all my questions”: Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon’s “demand” letter included several photos of the encampment, including this one.

By Erica C. Barnett

In an email to Deputy King County Executive Shannon Braddock last week, Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon demanded answers to a number of questions about an encampment outside the King County Courthouse in downtown Burien, where unsheltered people have been living for several weeks. The county recently set up a fence around the encampment that prevents it from sprawling onto the sidewalk.

In the letter, Bailon asserted that the county itself had “established” the encampment around the courthouse—an accusation that not only presumes that the county is physically moving unsheltered people into camps, but also suggests that homeless people would not choose to live in proximity to each other without government intervention.

The letter begins: “Deputy County Executive Braddock – I write to express disappointment in the indifference expressed by King County to the questions and concerns raised by Burien regarding the encampment created by King County.  My patience on this issue has now run out.  I now demand from King County answers to the questions listed below.”

A sampling, by no means complete, of Bailon’s “demands”:

“How, if at all, were neighboring residential apartment complexes, homes, and businesses notified of King County’s plan to establish an encampment?” (Bailon lives in downtown Burien, as does Councilmember Linda Akey.)

“What steps have been taken by King County to ensure that recent work performed at its encampment [the fence] is compliant with zoning codes that govern the City of Burien?

“Is King County planning to respond to Burien’s offer of assistance through its new service provider, The More We Love, and funds for temporary lodging?” (The More We Love, a company set up by a Union Gospel Mission volunteer and Kirkland mortgage broker named Kristine Moreland, is offering temporary stays at a hotel in Renton to homeless people who agree to leave encampments in Burien.)

“How many, if any, security and or camp management personnel are on-site during daytime/evenings/overnight?”

“I look forward to receiving a response to all of my questions,” Bailon concluded.

In her response, Braddock explained that King County did not, in fact, “establish this encampment. I can only assume that individuals began camping on this property given they had no place else to go.”

Last year, Burien passed a ban on “camping” in the city, defined as sleeping while in the presence of any “indicia of camping,” including sleeping bags, tarps, blankets, or other items that might provide comfort or protection from the elements. The law says that the ban won’t be enforced overnight (until 6 in the morning) if there is no shelter “available,” but Burien has interpreted this to include shelter far outside Burien, including in Seattle—effectively banishing homeless people from the city.

In addition, Burien’s sleeping ban permanently bars homeless people from sleeping within 500 feet of any public building, park, school, or day care, and includes a map of these banishment areas, which the law empowers the city manager to change without notice at any time.

The King County Sheriff’s Office, which provides police services to Burien, is suing the city over the ban and is not currently enforcing it.

Braddock also noted that Moreland told the county that Burien officials directed her not to do any outreach to people living at the courthouse encampment. ” I want to be clear that that is not a direction received from the County, but direction received from the City of Burien,” Braddock wrote. The county, she continued, is contracting with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to provide outreach and shelter offers to people living in the encampment.

There is no general overnight shelter in Burien. King County offered Burien $1 million to help establish a tiny house village, with supportive services, in the city; after more than a year of deliberations, the city had rejected multiple locations and was on its way to passing legislation that would preclude the final option, a piece of Seattle-owned property near the Sea-Tac Airport runways. The county ended up giving the money to KCRHA to spend in South King County.

According to Braddock, Bailon offered in June to “assist” the county in moving the encampment by partnering with The More We Love, an agreement that would have required King County to help pay for Moreland’s contract with the city. “If the offer of assistance is the same as what you proposed in your June 4 email—that King County would need to help fund Burien’s contract for services that have been procured by the City of Burien—the answer is no,” Braddock wrote.

In his letter to Braddock, Bailon also demanded to know why the King County Sheriff’s office classified at least 10 auto break-ins, or attempted break-ins, that took place on one night in an apartment parking as one incident instead of 10 or more. Then he answered his own question: “This seems to be an attempt to tailor the method for collecting data in order to manipulate results.” Bailon did not explain why a law enforcement agency would want to minimize crime, or why he believed the break-ins were related to the encampment other than proximity.

Asked why the sheriff’s office would classify incidents one location as a single offense, KCSO spokesman Eric White said the office “did receive a call from a community member who stated they saw 15 cars that had been either broken into or vandalized,” but that person “did not make a report with us. One victim did make a report with us … but asked to make a report over the phone[,] which he did.”

“For clarification,” White added, “it is not uncommon to group several crimes into one report and list multiple victims of the crime if the crimes are related to string of crimes, in close proximity (time and distance) of each other by the same suspect or suspects.  Suspects can be charged with multiple crimes  under the same single case number.”

In a separate letter, also sent on July 23, five members of the Burien City Council asked the King County Council for “help with investigating the King County Executive Office’s actions in Burien,” accusing County Executive Dow Constantine of showing “contempt for for the United States Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson,” which overturned a ruling that said jurisdictions must provide shelter before sweeping unsheltered people.

The council majority, like Bailon, accused the executive’s office of “permitting… King County’s encampment” at the courthouse, “without discussing this plan with Burien and without any community engagement.”

“The Metropolitan King County Council has the authority to demand a briefing from the King County Executive Office and/or any county department involved in establishing, maintaining, and operating the county’s unpermitted and unlawful encampment in Burien.”

Courts, homelessness, human services, King County

Burien Forfeits $1 Million for Shelter, Will Contract With Controversial Group for Outreach and Hotel Rooms

By Erica C. Barnett

King County has withdrawn its offer to provide $1 million to the city of Burien for emergency housing after the city spent a year considering and rejecting locations for a tiny house village. Most recently, the Burien City Council considered legislation that would prohibit tiny houses on a lot, owned by Seattle City Light, that they had tentatively approved as a shelter site.

The bill, which the council postponed, would have limited the size of lots where shelter is permitted to a size much smaller than the City Light lot; an amendment, proposed by Councilmember Stephanie Mora, would have also explicitly prohibited tiny houses by requiring that any shelter structure have permanent foundations.

In a letter to Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon, Deputy King County Executive Shannon Braddock wrote, “we are withdrawing King County’s offer of $1 million and 35 pallet shelters effective immediately,” in part because the county’s formal offer has been on the table for over one year and Burien has yet confirm a site and make use of the funds. In addition, the Burien City Council appears to be actively working to put in place restrictions that exclude pallet shelters on the site selected by the Burien Council.”

On top of the $1 million, the county offered Burien the chance to apply for $5 million to fund the operations of the tiny house village, but Burien “chose not to apply,” Braddock noted. Council members who opposed the funding frequently complained that it didn’t come with any operations funding beyond the initial million dollars. Burien’s annual general fund budget is around $36 million.

Braddock told PubliCola in a statement that the county “will now direct the $1 million and pallet shelters to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) to use on outreach and emergency housing for individuals in South King County, including addressing the District Court site in Burien” by providing portable toilets and handwashing stations.

Bailon has complained to the county about an encampment outside the courthouse and “shared [his] outreach team will not be able to service that area,” according to Braddock’s letter. In his response to Braddock, Bailon said he hadn’t asked for the toilets or handwashing stations, but said the city “is pleased to learn that steps are being taken to address the public health issue created by King County”—that is, the presence of homeless people at the courthouse.

In a related development, Burien is preparing to sign a contract for homeless encampment outreach with The More We Love, a private encampment removal company started by Kristine Moreland, a Kirkland real-estate broker who has volunteered with Union Gospel Mission. As PubliCola has reported, Moreland sent a spreadsheet containing private information about unsheltered people to city officials and a private business person.

 

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The More We Love will reportedly use a small private system called Diversion Management Information Services, rather than the Homeless Management Information System used by most homeless service providers, to keep track of its clients’ data, including health and service information.

“Throughout the review process it was determined TMWL’s work proposed fit our funding goals, will be accessible to Burien’s unhoused community, and will be implemented in a timely manner,” Manuel Hernandez, a spokesman for the city of Burien, said.

Moreland’s group will receive funds originally allocated to other groups. First, they’ll receive the remaining funds that were previously allocated to REACH, a countywide outreach organization whose contract Bailon unilaterally terminated earlier this year; the city issued a request for proposals for $380,000 in outreach funding earlier this year. Second, they’ll get funding that was originally earmarked for a day center at Highline Methodist Church in Burien, which also hosts a severe weather shelter in the winter. Continue reading “Burien Forfeits $1 Million for Shelter, Will Contract With Controversial Group for Outreach and Hotel Rooms” →

homelessness, King County, Police

Afternoon Fizz: Meanwhile, In Burien…

Thought things had quieted down in Burien? Not a chance. The sheriff is out, the city manager has 911 on speed dial, and the council is still looking for ways to ban a tiny house village.

1. Burien Police Chief Ted Boe resigned from his position on Monday after nearly three decades at the King County Sheriff’s Office, which provides Burien’s police force through a contact. On Wednesday, the city of Des Moines announced that Boe will be its new police chief.

The news came two months after Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon informed Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall that he planned to look for a new police chief because “I can no longer state that I trust Chief Boe” to enforce the city’s laws—specifically, a law that passed earlier this year banning unsheltered people from sleeping or “living” in public anywhere in the city. The sheriff’s office sued the city over the ban earlier this year, calling it unconstitutional.

Boe was widely liked and respected among Burien residents and his own officers, dozens of whom signed a letter expressing “no confidence” in Bailon and Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, who claimed the sheriff’s office (and, by extension, Boe) was directly to blame for overdose deaths at encampments.

In a statement to PubliCola, Sheriff Cole-Tindall called Boe “an exemplary leader [and] a valued member of the command staff, evidenced by the staunch support of the community he serves and the officers who have served under him during his six years as the Burien Police Chief.”

Bailon did not respond to PubliCola’s questions, but a spokesperson for the city of Burien sent a statement in which he thanked Boe for his six years as police chief and said the city would work with the sheriff’s office on the selection process for a new chief.

2. As his police chief looked for other jobs, Bailon was busy calling 911 to report apparently homeless people in the park next to City Hall for alleged offenses such “setting up a tarp,” “not moving along,” walking up to a van, “refusing to leave,” possessing “bongs, foil, etc.” and having their head under a towel, “so probably hi[gh].”

The 911 logs come courtesy of a PubliCola reader who requested Bailon’s calls for emergency services. Over the course of five week earlier this year, Bailon called 911 42 times, or more than once, on average, every work day.

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According to the records provided by the sheriff’s office, Bailon frequently called 911 when he felt people were violating the camping ban or using drugs; many of the dispatchers’ notes say Bailon confirmed that the people he was watching were high, or said they were setting up “tarp encampments.”

Most of the records include officers’ comments describing what they found when they responded to Bailon’s calls. “There were three uninvolved males who were under a tarp but it was not a camp,” one typical note says. “I advised them they were fine so long as they did not set up a camp and wished them a good day.”

“People were there waiting for the person who stores their stuff to arrive,” another note reads. “I smel[led] burnt pill but no one had paraphernalia. Very friendly and. understand group was educated of the camping laws and general trespass info. They were cleaning up to move.” None of the calls appear to have led to an arrest, and several were downgraded in priority after officers responded.

3. The Burien City Council still has not approved a tiny house village that has, most recently, been proposed for a property owned by Seattle City Light near SeaTac Airport.

 On Monday, June 3, the council punted on legislation that would effectively ban the tiny house village by setting the maximum lot size for transitional housing at two acres—less than half the size of the City Light lot. Councilmember Linda Akey asked for additional study to make sure two existing transitional housing sites that serve women would still be legal, and Councilmember Stephanie Mora proposed a new amendment requiring all transitional housing units to have “permanent foundations,” which would permanently prohibit all tiny house-style modular shelters from the city.

Courts, homelessness, King County, Police

Burien City Manager Demands Removal of Police Chief Who Won’t Arrest People for Being Homeless

By Erica C. Barnett

Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon sent a letter to King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall this week demanding a replacement for Burien Police Chief Ted Boe, whose “actions,” Bailon wrote, “no longer represent the City of Burien best interests, vision, and goals, in a manner that supports trust between the City and King County Sheriff’s Office.”

The sheriff’s office provides officers, including Chief Boe, who serve as the city’s police force through a contract with the county.

Last month, Cole-Tindall sued Burien over its total ban on “camping” in the city, calling the ban unconstitutional. Burien responded by countersuing the sheriff’s office, alleging breach of contract—an ironic claim, given that Bailon responded to the county’s lawsuit by directing city employees to stop paying the sheriff’s office for the services it provides under the same contract.

In his letter, Bailon accused Boe of violating a portion of an agreement between the city and county that says the police chief will act “in a manner that supports and maintains trust” with the city, and another that says “Police Chiefs are expected to represent the City’s point of view, consider City needs in carrying out their duties and advocate on behalf of their City similar to other City departmental directors.” Effectively, Bailon is saying Boe has an obligation to enforce a law he and his actual employer, the Sheriff’s Office, believe is illegal.

In his declaration, Boe laid out some of his concerns with Bailon’s, who he said repeatedly demanded that Boe “redeploy resources away from other public safety matters such as 911 calls and to address several non-criminal aspects of camping. … He also made repeated calls to 911 to redirect patrol resources away” from actual emergencies—at least 45 last year, as PubliCola recently reported.

In her response dismissing Bailon’s request, Cole-Tindall noted that just “two hours prior to Bailon’s letter, Burien was given detailed statistics on the first three months of 2024 that demonstrate the high level of police service in Burien,” including an uptick in arrests for drug-related crimes and an overall reduction in both violent and property crime since last year. In February, Cole-Tindall continued, city council members lauded Boe for his “excellent” performance.

By demanding Boe’s removal, Cole-Tindall continued, Bailon appeared to be retaliating against Boe for statements he made as part of the sheriff’s lawsuit against the city. In his declaration, Boe laid out some of his concerns with Bailon’s, who he said repeatedly demanded that Boe “redeploy resources away from other public safety matters such as 911 calls and to address several non-criminal aspects of camping. … He also made repeated calls to 911 to redirect patrol resources away” from actual emergencies—at least 45 last year, as PubliCola recently reported.

“State law prohibits any local government from retaliating against a person for raising concerns with the constitutionality of government action,” Cole-Tindall wrote. “King County cannot be party to retaliatory action against the chief.”

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Boe’s statement notes that until the city council hired Bailon, “I had limited challenges in addressing the unhoused persons living in Burien. I worked collaboratively with the City Manager who was not focused on addressing homelessness as a crime.” But once Bailon arrived, Boe said, “the approach to unhoused persons began to shift,” as Bailon began asking the department to arrest unsheltered people rather than working with service providers like REACH to find shelter and services.

Bailon unilaterally canceled the city’s contract with REACH, which is funded with federal ARPA dollars, earlier this year. He is reportedly working toward a new contract that would replace REACH with The More We Love, a controversial group that until recently advertised “sweeps” at a rate of $515 for each homeless person they remove from a site. (The city’s contract was with Discover Burien, a downtown business group that led its own encampment sweep last year, because The More We Love was unable to get the required insurance.) It’s unclear whether The More We Love meets federal requirements for ARPA funds. Continue reading “Burien City Manager Demands Removal of Police Chief Who Won’t Arrest People for Being Homeless” →

homelessness, King County, Police

As Burien Countersues Over Homelessness Ban, Another Unsheltered Person Dies Downtown
Burien’s map showing where unsheltered people are banned at all times is misleading in one key respect—most of the light-gray areas (which are not restricted) do not include public spaces large enough for people to set up tents or sleep without violating other city rules, so the actual restricted area is much larger than the map suggests.

By Erica C. Barnett

On Thursday, the city of Burien sued King County and the King County Sheriff’s Office for breach of contract, seeking to force the sheriff’s office to drop their own federal lawsuit against the city. In its complaint, the city claims the sheriff’s office breached an agreement to provide police services to the city by refusing to enforce a recently passed camping ban.

That law prohibits people from sleeping or possessing “indicia of camping,” such as sleeping bags, in public spaces at all hours of the day or night unless there are no shelter beds available. It also bars homeless people from “living” within a 500-foot radius of all parks, libraries, schools, day cares, and other public facilities under any circumstances—effectively banishing them from most of the city.

Two weeks ago, King County Sheriff Cole-Tindall filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming the ban on “camping” violates the constitutional rights affirmed in a landmark case called Martin v. Boise, which prevents cities from banishing homeless people from public spaces unless adequate shelter is available. Burien has claimed shelter is “available”—just not in Burien. A group of unsheltered Burien residents also recently sued the city, charging that new “camping” ban violates the state constitution.

On Friday, another unsheltered man died in downtown, reportedly of an overdose, PubliCola has learned—the second death in the encampment in less than two weeks, and the first since the city announced it was terminating its contract with REACH, which provided outreach and case management to people living unsheltered in Burien. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately have more information about the death.

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, the city said the county had had “placed its judgment over that of Burien’s duly elected officials; denied the City of Burien its authority to assist and protect Burien residents, businesses, and property; prevented Burien’s City Manager from providing direction to the contract police as stated in the Interlocal Agreement [between Burien and the county]; and interfered with Burien’s effort to provide guidance for the unhoused within the city’s boundaries.”

A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said, “The constitutionality of Burien’s anti-camping ordinance is squarely before the federal court.  Burien’s attempt to avoid a binding judgment by filing a lawsuit in Snohomish County is just a misguided distraction as we await decision from the federal court.”

A spokesperson for the city of Burien responded to PubliCola’s questions by sending a link to a web page the city has set up about the lawsuit.

The lawsuit asks the Snohomish County court to require King County to drop its lawsuit against the city, participate in a resolution process that could force the sheriff’s office to enforce the law, and pay the city damages and attorney’s fees.

Those fees could be substantial, because Burien has hired a large downtown Seattle law firm, Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC, to represent them. It’s unclear how much Burien has budgeted for the case, including attorneys’ fees and other costs the city could incur if it loses; as the city’s chief executive, City Manager Adolfo Bailon can issue contracts of up to $50,000 without a public process or council approval. The city faces a $2 million budget cliff next year.

Burien City Manager Called 911 Dozens of Times 

Over the last year, Burien’s approach to homelessness has seemed to focus primarily on making the city an inhospitable place to live. For the last year, the city has swept a group of unsheltered people from location to location while delaying action on a shelter that would provide them with a place to go.

City officials have also tolerated  individual actions designed to drive homeless people out—or participated themselves.

Public records shared with PubliCola reveal that City Manager Bailon called 911 at least 45 times last year. PubliCola has reviewed summaries for 10 of these calls, which all concern people located just outside Burien’s downtown library and City Hall. In one call, Bailon reported seeing a person with their head “under a towel” and three tents set up in violation of the city’s encampment ban; in another, he told the 911 operator he had been watching a man wandering around and yelling for a while but had finally called in because his “butt [was] exposed.” Another call involved a man “adjusting his pants a lot but pulling them lower and lower” while kids played nearby; in another, Bailon reported seeing people in the park with “bongs, foil, etc.”

Last month, City Councilmember Linda Akey was caught on video berating a group of unsheltered people outside her downtown condo, yelling, “I live here and you do not belong here and threatening to call the police.

And, more recently, Taproot Church—whose mission is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever by making disciples of Jesus Christ”—set up a large spotlight in its parking lot and aimed it at the group of tents; the light, which is powered by a noisy generator, reportedly floods the encampment all night.