Burien Beat
Editorial published with permissions by John L. White, long-time Burien resident
Burien is not the first community to experience what happens when DESC arrives. Seattle has lived with it for decades. And the pattern is always the same:
1. The Promise – Leaders frame DESC as a humane solution. They talk about compassion, stability, and reducing street homelessness. Cities are told this model will improve neighborhoods, not damage them.
2. The Reality – Within months, the problems surface. Drug activity flourishes. Police calls spike. Businesses nearby suffer. Residents complain. The promised services fail to materialize in any meaningful way.
3. The Defense – DESC leaders and political allies deny the problems. They dismiss concerns as exaggerations or prejudice. They point to their mission statement instead of the evidence at their doorstep.
4. The Entrenchment – Once established, DESC becomes nearly impossible to remove. The contracts are long-term, the funding is guaranteed, and the political allies are entrenched. Communities are left to adapt — often by lowering expectations, tolerating decline, and hoping things don’t get worse.
Burien is simply the latest to be caught in this cycle. What makes it more painful is that the warnings were there. Other cities had already rejected DESC. Seattle’s track record was no secret. Yet Burien was persuaded to take the risk — and now it bears the consequences.
This cycle is not accidental. It is built into the model itself. Because DESC’s funding is tied to occupancy, not outcomes, there is no financial incentive to change. Success stories are rare not because residents don’t want them, but because the system doesn’t need them. Failure, relapse, and stagnation guarantee full rooms and steady revenue.
Until that cycle is broken, Burien will continue to repeat Seattle’s story: a community drained, a downtown diminished, and a facility that survives not by solving problems, but by ensuring they never end.
To Read the First Installments,
Chapter 1: The Lie
Chapter 2: The Stagnant Holding Cell
Chapter 3: Dealing with Drug Dealers
Chapter 4: Hugo Garcia, Dow’s Bought Agent Chapter 5: Follow the Money
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