Burien knows what it wants

Burien is getting feisty.

The small city is not counting itself out as a home to the northern neighborhoods of North Highline.

There has been an understanding that Burien would annex mostly residential southern North Highline and Seattle would absorb the northern area, which includes the White Center business district.

Burien and voters moved ahead, while in Seattle the mayor and City Council disagreed on whether to act.

In April, the southern part of North Highline officially becomes part of Burien.

King County has been encouraging cities to take in unincorporated areas that strain county resources.

Last month I wrote that Burien had done its part and now Seattle should go ahead and ask White Center residents to vote on joining us. I said it would be a good fit.

But Burien City Councilmember Kathy Keene, said no, no, no.

Keene asked me to come visit and find out why Burien would be better.

She's had her eye on White Center for a while, and it was she who pulled other, initially reluctant Burien officials to her way of thinking.

I met with Keene, Mayor Joan McGilton and City Manager Mike Martin at Burien's new City Hall, which shares space with a county library. That cohabitation is part of Burien's innovativeness, and openness, they told me.

The council meets in a room separated from the library lobby by a glass wall. They kept saying what you see is what you get, and what you get is down-to-earth people.

While we chatted, the office dog wandered by chewing on a squeaky toy turtle.

The folks in White Center are just like us, they said. Their pitch is accessibility and kinship, and a small-town feel.

"In Burien they will be 18,000 of 45,000," Keene said. In Seattle, White Center would be lost among more than a half-million people, she said. "How much power does that give them?"

And, Keene said, Seattle is always talking about "densification." The thought of skinny houses, without yards for kids and dogs to play in, makes her cringe.

Keene drove me around town. She's a retired Teamster who spent most of her career driving for Boeing.

We roamed from the "Gold Coast" Seahurst homes right on the Sound, to housing developments for low-income residents, many of them immigrants and refugees.

She pointed out small businesses along the redone 152nd Street Southwest, and the place where a 10-screen theater is proposed and the land where the city wants to relocate the car dealerships it is known for.

Keene noted every fire hydrant we passed. "We take care of our fire hydrants, unlike Seattle," she said. They were nicely painted.

Keene is in her first term on the City Council, but she's been a commissioner for Water District 20 for two decades.

She moved to the area 23 years ago because she wanted a community like Ballard was when she was growing up, small and connected.

Burien has traditionally been a community in which people were born, grew up, raised families, retired and died. But in recent years it has seen an influx of new people from Asia and Latin America.

Earlier, Martin agreed Burien doesn't have Seattle's resources for outreach, but she said they are working at it. Keene said the newcomers don't need or want to be coddled, anyway.

Our conversation moved from what's best for White Center to what is in Burien's best interest. The question that focused the city's attention on North Highline is where else can the city grow?

Keene said she's looking years ahead and that it makes sense for Burien to add territory while it's available. She said the city missed out when the city of SeaTac was incorporated on taking a chunk of land that could have been part of Burien.

Burien has been on the short end of regional development before.

An aerial photograph on the wall of Martin's office shows Burien in the '60s with a multiblock empty space, an area that was cleared out for a new mall, a mall that went instead to Tukwila.

That was a painful setback.

McGilton said if Seattle is going to be aggressive about acquiring territory, then Burien should be ready to make a move, too.

The Seattle City Council is expected to decide soon whether to ask North Highline residents to vote on joining the city.

Next Monday, Burien's council will discuss whether to formalize its interest.

Burien is flashing its feathers and strutting its stuff.

Which suitor will White Center embrace?

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.