Real public safety is when people have everything they need to thrive — a place to live, a dignified job that provides economic security and access to opportunities, and the resources to care for themselves and their loved ones. The way to get there is by funding human services program that address the gaps in our healthcare, providing affordable childcare options working families, raising the minimum wage, requiring as much training in de-escalation as we do firearms for police officers, and making it easy and attractive for affordable housing developers to build homes in our community.

We are expecting police officers to do the work of crisis responders, case managers, and social workers and wondering why our incarceration rates are through the roof compared to other countries. For Burien, as a contract city with the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), we need to take the money we are spending on unfilled officer positions and funnel it into our Human Services budget for programs that provide community supports. I have been in favor of asking for a refund of unused funds sent to KCSO in the past, but think that keeping those funds on the front end will show how needed they are, and could help pass some institutional change when the time comes to discuss whether or not to add more officers (i.e. the money will already be tied up in Human Services programs/resources, and harder to disinvest from that way).

When I was on the Council from 2018 – 2021, I helped bring the LEAD program and Community Court to Burien as alternative prevention and incarceration methods. I would like to see Community Court reinstated now that we are through the worst of the pandemic. Additionally, a crisis/community response team would be incredible here, especially if funding and territory is shared between Burien and White Center (similar to the LEAD program).

I firmly believe that you can’t have public safety without safe, affordable, stable housing – period. When our community is housed, and the costs of staying housed (including utilities, having enough food, etc.) are affordable, the need to engage in crimes of poverty decrease dramatically. It also allows for better community attachments to form, instead of building support based in trauma and constant, consistent high-stress environments and exploitation.

We need to address Burien’s Business & Occupation tax (B&O). At 0.001, the B&O tax rate in Burien is less than half of that in the City of Seattle. In fact, only two cities in Washington have lower business tax rates… and if your gross sales are less than $200,000 annually, businesses pay nothing. I would also like to consider taxes on luxury real estate transfers and annual taxes targeting luxury second homes and unoccupied, vacant properties. Such legislation raises revenue while discouraging the disruptive impact of luxury development on local housing markets, and doesn’t see low-income workers and struggling seniors as revenue sources.