Burien Beat
Thanks to the actions of Councilmember Stephanie Mora, the October 6th Burien City Council meeting was significantly less heated than previous meetings. (See public comments below.)
At the last council meeting on Sept 22, 2025, Councilmember Stephanie Mora introduced an amendment directing City staff to take responsibility and process an internal fix to the comp plan and zoning—an amendment that passed by a 5–2 majority. For more on this motion, read this article.
All councilmembers were present at the October 6th, 2025, Burien City Council Meeting, although Councilmember Akey joined on Zoom
Proclamations
Councilmember Matta issued two proclamations, one for Hispanic Heritage Month and another for Indigenous Peoples Day. Councilmember Andrade issued a proclamation for Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Presentations
Burien Airport Committee (BAC) representatives Brian Davis and Jeff Harbaugh presented an update to the council on their work to mitigate the harmful effects the airport has on the health of Burien residents. They have been frustrated by the airport’s apparent indifference to their concerns and have requested that the council approve a letter to be sent to the airport, instructing them to address these issues immediately. This specifically involves fixing 9,400 failed installation packages for property owners. They also expressed irritation that the airport has put this off for multiple decades, and therefore, their strategy needs to change to be effective. Most of the members of the council expressed their approval of this course of action.
Following this was a much longer presentation to introduce critical areas ordinances. This was presented by Community Development Director Liz Stead, and Planner Amanda McIntire. They discussed their proposed amendments to confirm plans for wetland buffers, stream regulations, and the advanced mitigation program. Many of the council members asked questions, while Council member Akey and Deputy Mayor Moore both admitted that this is a complicated subject, and they don’t yet completely understand all the details.
Council Reports
The city manager advised the board to recess after such a lengthy meeting, but Mayor Schilling decided not to recess until Council reports and public comments were over.
As with previous meetings, Council member Jimmy Matta’s report focused on the ongoing issue of food trucks in violation of health codes, a problem, he said, is unfortunately growing worse.
Council member Andrade acknowledged Council member Matta’s concerns with the food trucks, then moved on to discuss her visit to the Highline Food Bank. She referred to it as an “essential service,” and talked about how to ensure these services are provided for citizens, given recent developments. This likely referred to the current government shutdown. She also mentioned recent events, such as the Brat Trot held by the Highline School District, and the joint Burien + Normandy Park recycling event.
Council member Akey briefly discussed meeting with the Highline Forum, where she learned about the SeaTac Part 150 Noise Study update, and the search is underway to find a new Executive Director for the airport. She also mentioned that she will be attending the FAA final environmental assessment meeting on Wednesday. She concluded, by voicing her support for the closing of the illegal food truck businesses.
City Manager Report
- The food truck issue is affecting the entire region, and the City Manager is working with King County to resolve it
- Coffee With the City Manager, featuring the Finance Department, will take place on Tuesday, October 14th at 5:30 p.m.
- Council is invited to visit DESC to help them understand the situation at the facility
- Laws regarding animal loss are being discussed by Deputy Mayor Moore and Council member Andrade
- Thanked the council for their work over the course of the year.
Council member Mora, on behalf of her children, jokingly clarified that going after “illegal businesses” does not include lemonade stands.
Public Comments
Public comments at this meeting could be best described as “the calm after the storm.” After months of public outcry over the zoning issue, Stephanie Mora’s crowd-pleasing motion at the last meeting, which forced the city to solve these discrepancies, resulted in a mere four people showing up to give testimony. The public comments covered a variety of issues, from DESC, to the critical areas presentation from earlier in the meeting. One particular comment not only criticized the aforementioned zoning motion from the last meeting for undoing something that a large amount of time and money went into, but also praised DESC, which was previously declared by Council member Akey to be “Nothing more than a federally funded crack house.”
Business Agenda
The council took a five-minute recess and reconvened at 7:21 PM
After the consent agenda was unanimously approved, the business agenda was fairly short. The first item was the Mid-Biennium Revenue Update presentation from the Finance department, presented by Finance Director Casey Headley. They explained sources of revenue and where money is being allocated. They also touched on the Public Safety Levy lid lift, which voters will decide whether to approve or deny on November 4th. The levy lift would increase funding for the Co-Response program and help them maintain their current level of staffing.
After the second item, which was a brief discussion of the meeting schedule for the council in 2026, the meeting adjourned at 8:03 PM.
Members Discussion