by Jim Branson

On Monday (March 15th), David and Rene George received a harrowing call from a dog groomer near Five Corners in Burien: their beloved black lab, Charlie, had somehow escaped.

David and Rene searched and put up fliers, but they didn’t really know the best way to look for their lost dog until they contacted the Missing Pet Partnership.

My dog Kelsy and I have been volunteering for MPP for a couple of years, and we have been trained to work as a team to find missing dogs. Kelsy, a black lab who looks very much like Charlie, has learned to follow the scent trail of a dog, and my job is to read her body language and help her find the dog. Actually, my main job is to hang onto the end of the leash while Kelsy drags me along on the search.

Tuesday morning at dawn, I obtained a scent article from David and started Kelsy on the trail, beginning at the groomer. Kelsy followed the scent trail from Five Corners to the library, to Firestone, down past Albertson’s, down Ambaum to 174th, and then back up First Ave to about 163rd, where she found Charlie hiding in the bushes!

I never would have seen Charlie, even if I was looking right at him. Kelsy’s nose alerted us to his hiding place in the brambles.

Charlie didn’t want to come out, even with the lure of food. I called Rene, and she took a little time off of work to come get Charlie. When Charlie heard her voice, he came right out of the bushes to her. David and Rene are very glad to have Charlie home safe, and Kelsy has her reward of finding the missing dog. Plus some treats and a belly rub.

BTB Contributor Jim Branson alerts us that he’ll be leading a “native plant” hike through Seahurst Park for the Washington Native Plant Society this Saturday.

This event will consist of a small group hike through the park, and observing the native plants within, including Trilliums, aka “skunk cabbage.” The weather forecast for Saturday is for sunny and warm.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Washington Native Plant Society’s hike through Seahurst Park

WHEN: Saturday, March 6, 2010; 11:00 a.m. Over by 1 p.m.

WHERE: Meet at the lower parking lot at Seahurst Park at 11:00 am.

RSVP: To sign up, contact Jim at pseudotsuga@gmail.com

INFO: From an email:

This field trip will introduce you to the native plants of Seahurst Park, including Trillium and skunk cabbage.

Last year, patches of snow covered the ground when a few intrepid people toured the park, and the Trilliums were late.

This year, the Trilliums are up early, and the forecast for Saturday is sunny and warm.

Also of interest: the oldest living tree in Burien, which is less than twenty feet tall.

This leisurely one mile loop walk may be muddy, so wear sturdy shoes. You’ll also want to dress in layers, as you’ll be plenty warm by the time you reach the top of the hill.

If rain threatens, be sure to bring an umbrella or raincoat.

Limit of 20 participants.

Photo by Michael Brunk.

by Jim Branson

Despite the city’s own ordinance against graffiti, the graffiti on this “Welcome to Burien” sign located in Olde Burien has been there for nearly three months.

Here’s a photo that was posted on The B-town Blog on July 19th:

Here’s another photo of the same sign, taken just last week:

Ironically, Burien’s own ordinance (see below or download the PDF here) says it saves money and effort by cleaning up graffiti quickly, before it attracts more graffiti and makes more work.

Why, then, is the City of Burien inviting more vandalism and crime by leaving this graffiti up on its very own sign, in violation of its very own ordinance, which stipulates removal “within 5 days”?

From the City’s municipal code:

CITY OF BURIEN, WASHINGTON ORDINANCE NO. 488

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BURIEN, WASHINGTON, RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF GRAFFITI; AMENDING CHAPTER 8.55 OF THE BURIEN MUNICIPAL CODE; AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF GRAFFITI AND SHORTENING THE TIME PERIOD FOR GRAFFITI REMOV AL; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE

WHEREAS, in 1999 the City Council of the City of Burien adopted Ordinance No. 270 (codified at Chapter 8.55 BMC) establishing new requirements for removal of graffiti found upon public and private property in the City of Burien, and

WHEREAS, the graffiti removal regulations currently provide that all graffiti upon public or private property that is visible from a public road or right of way shall be removed by the property within ten five days of notice given by the City, and

WHREAS, the graffiti removal regulations do not specifically prohibit the use of very hard and sharp objects to etch words, designs, and other markings on glass or other surfaces which is a relatively new type of graffiti, and

WHEREAS, the City finds that, graffiti on fences, walls, glass, buildings and other structures attracts more graffiti and invites additional vandalism and crime; unabated graffiti sends a message that the community is not concerned about the appearance of its business districts and neighborhoods; the presence of graffiti generates neighborhood fear and instability, signals an increase in crime, lowers property values, hurts business revenue, is economically detrimental to the City, and is a sign of urban decay; the National Crime Prevention Council reports that studies have determined that if vandalism and graffiti is repaired or removed within 24 – 48 hours, there is little recurrence; by covering graffiti as soon as possible, the vandal is deprived of the effort and time it took to vandalize or tag property; that expeditious graffiti removal is the best deterrent to future incidents; that a quick removal response by property owners is the key to successfully combating graffiti; unless the City acts to remove graffiti from public and private property, the graffiti tends to remain and other properties then become the target of graffiti; and, entire neighborhoods are affected and become less desirable places in which to be, all to the detriment of the health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents, and

WHEREAS, the Council finds that graffiti is a public nuisance, and

WHEREAS, the City Council finds that amending Chapter 8.55 BMC to establish a shorter period to remove graffiti and to prohibit the etching as a form of graffiti will help prevent the spread of graffiti vandalism and will support the City’s program for the prevention and removal of graffiti, and

WHEREAS, the City Council intends, through the adoption of this Ordinance, to provide additional enforcement tools to protect public and private property from acts of graffiti vandalism and defacement, all in support of the general health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents;

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURIEN, WASHINGTON, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Amendment of BMC 8.55.010 (Definitions). Section 8.55.010 of the Burien Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
8.55.010 Definitions.

(1) “Graffiti” means the defacing, damaging or destroying by etching, spraying of paint or marking of ink, chalk, dye or other similar substances on public or private buildings, structures, places and properties.

2) “Graffiti abatement procedure” means the abatement procedure which identifies graffiti, issues notice to the landowner to abate the graffiti, and cures in absence of response.

(3) “Private contractor” means any person with whom the city shall have duly contracted to remove graffiti.

Section 2. Amendment of Section 8.55.040 (Graffiti – Notice of removal). Section 8.55.040 of the Burien Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

8.55.040Graffiti – Notice of removal.

(1) Whenever the city manager, or designee, determines that graffiti exists on any public or private buildings, structures, and places which are visible to any person utilizing any public road, parkway, alley, sidewalk or other right-of-way within the city and when weather conditions permit the painting of exterior surfaces, the city manager or designee shall cause a notice to be issued to abate such nuisance. The property owner shall have 10 5 business days after the date of the notice to remove the graffiti or the same will be subject to abatement by the city.

(2) The notice to abate graffiti pursuant to this section shall cause a written notice to be served upon the owner(s) of the affected premises, as such owners’ name and address appears on the last property tax assessment rolls of King County, Washington. If there is no known address for the owner, the notice shall be sent in care of the property address. The notice required by this section may be served in any one of the following manners:

(a) By personal service on the owner, occupant or manager of the property;

(b) By U.S. first class mail, or registered or certified mail addressed to the owner at the last known address of said owner. If this address is unknown, the notice will be sent to the property address.

If notice is served by U.S. first class mail, notice shall be deemed to have been received three (3) days after depositing such notice, postage prepaid, in the United States mail in a properly address envelope.

Section 3. Severability. Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, be declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid for any reason, or should any portion of this ordinance be pre-empted by state or federal law or regulation, such decision or pre-emption shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance or its application to other persons or circumstances.

Section 4. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be published in the official newspaper of the City, and shall take effect and be in full force five (5) days after the date of publication.

ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AT A REGULAR MEETING THEREOF ON THE 21ST DAY OF JULY, 2008, AND SIGNED IN AUTHENTICATION OF ITS PASSAGE THIS 21ST DAY OF JULY, 2008.

ATTEST/AUTHENTICATED:
______________________________
Monica Lusk, City Clerk
Approved as to form:
______________________________ Christopher Bacha, Kenyon Disend, PLLC Interim City Attorney

So then…WHEREAS, the City of Burien has chosen to ignore its very own ordinance on its very own property…

THEREFORE whatever shall we, as its residents, do…?

Please take our Poll or Comment below…

by Jim Branson

Have you been to this area’s’s off-leash dog park?

Grandview Park is Disneyland for Dogs, the happiest place on earth, according to my dogs.  My youngest will start yipping with joy as soon as we turn off of I-5 at the 200th Street exit.  Although this park is actually in Sea-Tac, it’s only ten minutes away from the middle of Burien, and it is supported, in part, by Burien tax dollars.

We have been going to this park ever since it opened in 2003.  It’s a great place to visit on a sunny spring day, but it’s even better, from a Labrador Retriever’s perspective, when we’ve had two inches of rain, or when it has a blanket of snow.  Actually, there’s never a bad time to visit the dog park.

With 37 acres to roam, you can spread out and find your own space, or you can congregate at the main play field to let your dogs socialize.  To the north of the main dog areas, you’ll find a healthy forest with native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers.  The park is maintained, in part, by volunteers from SODA, Serve Our Dog Areas.

Currently, the grass is higher than a dog’s eye.  It’s kind of fun to play in, but one of my dogs came home with a tick, which must have been lurking in that tall grass, waiting for a tasty dog to trot by.  I’m sure they will be cutting the grass soon.  It’s hard to find a ball when it goes into that deep grass, and the mower will probably be spitting out shards of tennis balls on mowing day.

My youngest dog always finds a mud hole to wallow in, but you can keep your dogs clean if you steer them away from the low spots.  I have found that a muddy dog is a happy dog, and I can always give them baths when we get home.

PROS:

• Large open space with good gravel surfaces and plenty of grass.
• Great view of Mt. Rainier, most days.
• Friendly, happy dogs.
• A nice trail through the forest to the north.
• Bathrooms, bag dispensers, and drinking water.
• It provides a place for Burien’s dogs to play off-leash, instead of our local parks, which aren’t designed for dogs to safely run off-leash.

CONS:

• DO NOT leave valuables in your car.  Many cars have been broken into.
• Dog walking services sometimes come with dozens of dogs at a time, and they can’t always keep track of all the messes they should be cleaning up.
• It’s not actually in Burien.
• It is not 100% fenced, so people with dogs at risk of running off should choose a fully-fenced dog park, such as Westcrest, Genesee, or Magnuson.

Here’s a photo slideshow of my dogs in action at Grandview Park:

Click to View Slideshow

Grandview Park is located in SeaTac:

View Larger Map

An Editorial by Jim Branson

Imagine how quickly and simply this fiasco might have been solved if Mike Martin had said the following:

“I would like to apologize to the citizens of Burien for my actions on the night of April 19th.

As anyone who read the news reports must know, I was clearly intoxicated, and the decision to drive that night put myself and others at risk. Drunk driving kills more than 200 people in Washington every year and ruins the lives of countless others, and it is not something to be taken lightly, ignored, or denied.

I want to take this opportunity to accept full responsibility for my actions, not only because the citizens of Burien deserve the truth, but also because admitting that I have a problem is the only way I will be able to work toward living a healthy life again. I have entered into counseling for alcoholism, and I am following the recommendations of experts on the best way to overcome this disease. I will immediately and voluntarily install an ignition lock on my car to prevent me from ever driving while intoxicated in the future.

If, in spite of these measures, I ever drive under the influence again, or if I am ever intoxicated at work or in public, I will immediately resign and forfeit any severance package I might have received.

I feel the best way to deal with a problem is openly, honestly, and quickly, and I want to assure the citizens of Burien that I am capable and willing to deal with this problem, put it behind me, and do the best job I can as City Manager of Burien.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

That’s what Mr. Martin should have said on the morning of April 20th.

If he were the pillar of society that some people claim he is, he would have taken responsibility right away. Instead, he resorted to legal weaseling to save his job and avoid telling the truth about what happened.

He has stated, in a legally binding contract (download/view the PDF here), which he signed:

“…[he] denies that he committed any wrongful or criminal act….”

It doesn’t matter what Mr. Martin says now. He has already shown that he refuses to tell the truth, and he cannot be trusted.

Further, he is willing to drag others into his deception. Mayor Joan McGilton’s signature is also on the document that denies the facts of April 19th.

The motto of Burien government, displayed prominently in conspicuous places, is:

I guess by “innovative” they mean they are willing to resort to lawyerly tricks to avoid telling the truth.

Very innovative indeed.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Branson is a longtime area resident and activist.

Previously, he's written editorials on Mike Martin, Earth Hour, and Burien's claims of being a "Tree City".

What do you think of his opinion on Mike Martin? Please Comment below...

If YOU have an opinion about a local issue and would like to share with our Readers, please email us.]

An Editorial by Jim Branson

At Monday’s City Council meeting, several prominent Burien citizens spoke up for City Manager Mike Martin, saying he has done a good job and he deserves another chance. They said he shouldn’t be judged before the facts were known.

Former Council Member Jack Block Jr. said he (Block) had the disease of alcoholism, he had sought treatment for it, and it did not stop him from being a contributing member of society as long as he took the right steps.

One difference between Mr. Block and Mr. Martin is the admission of having a problem.

Mr. Martin has had plenty of chances to come forward and explain what happened.

The Seattle Times reports:

“Martin’s breath strongly smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred and he said he had consumed a couple of glasses of wine and two beers, a deputy wrote in a report.”

That is something that needs explaining. If Mr. Martin wants to protect himself from paying the legal consequences for his actions, he was smart to refuse the sobriety test and the breathalyzer. If Mr. Martin is serious about serving the City of Burien, he could have, while he had the microphone at Monday’s meeting, said he was sorry. He could have given a minimal explanation of what led up to the accident. If he shouldn’t be judged before the facts are known, then why doesn’t he tell us the facts? At a minimum, if he couldn’t discuss the matter for legal reasons, he could have apologized to the Council and to the City for putting Burien citizens at risk, whatever the reason or circumstances. He could have outlined his plan to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

Ideally, he could have offered his resignation and let the Council decide whether they would accept it at that point or discuss it further.

Instead, he went on with his report as if his DUI arrest weren’t the burning issue on everyone’s mind. Yes, the City does have many other important matters to discuss, but first we need to know if the person we rely on most for our public safety and fiscal well-being is someone we can really trust.

It is not only in the City’s best interests for Mr. Martin to explain himself; it is ultimately in his best interests. If he has a drinking problem, he needs to seek treatment before he kills himself or someone else. If he hopes to have a future in Burien, where he has purchased a home, he needs to resolve this quickly and openly. If he hopes to ever have another meaningful job after leaving this one, it would be in his best interests to address the matter directly, without equivocation.

The City Council tip-toed around the issue, adjourning to executive session to discuss “a personnel issue,” as if everyone didn’t already know they were going to talk about Mr. Martin’s DUI. What do they need to discuss in private that they couldn’t discuss in public? A negotiation or a settlement? How to spin this incident for the least damage to Burien’s image? The way to handle it with the least damage for all would be to discuss it openly and honestly. Although Mr. Martin has passed up many opportunities to speak, he can, at any time, explain to the Citizens of Burien what exactly happened and why he should or should not continue as Burien’s City Manager. The longer he waits, the more he and the City Council discuss how to deal with the situation instead of actually dealing with it, the more it looks like he, and they, have something to hide.

The way to deal with the Mr. Martin’s accident is to tell the truth. He doesn’t need a lawyer for that.

If he can’t tell us the truth, he has no business being our City Manager.

So, what do YOU think Mike Martin should do? Please answer our poll:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Branson is a longtime area resident and outspoken activist. Previously, he wrote an editorial on "Earth Hour" that received quite a few Comments from Readers.

What do you think of his opinion on Mike Martin? Please Comment below.

Also if you have an opinion about a local issue, or a "Letter to the Editor" you'd like us to post, please email us.]

An Editorial by Jim Branson

On Arbor Day, the City of Burien called our attention to the beauty and value of trees by planting a dogwood in Dottie Harper Park.

This is commendable, and if it inspires people to plant appropriate trees in their own yards, it could have some long-term benefit.

We might also benefit by paying attention to the trees we’ve lost. In recent years, Burien has lost hundreds of trees, a few here, one there, a dozen more over here. These trees fall silently, when we don’t pay attention, and one might not even be aware of the gradual loss of canopy if no one takes the time to notice the missing trees. Ideally, the City of Burien should have an inventory of its trees, with notes on their health, so we can know if we are successful in being a Tree City U. S. A., as we were designated 7 years ago. This would take a coordinated effort involving arborists, but we can start by cataloguing the trees we have lost recently.

If you go to Google Maps and choose the Street View at 4th SW and SW 152nd, you can drive down memory lane and see the trees we’ve lost in that block beside the new Town Square. It was a green canopy from more than twenty trees, making a shady street, providing relief at the height of summer, and softening the big ugly box of the Dollar Tree store. Most of those large, healthy trees are gone, and it will take 30 years for that canopy to be replaced:

View Larger Map

Along Des Moines Way, from 156th north to the freeway, we’ve lost about a dozen large shade trees to a public works project. You can see them on the Google Maps aerial view, but they are missing at the time the street view was shot. Further south on Des Moines Way, at 176th, you’ll see a wide swath cut through the margin of a wetland. Dozens of trees were cut down for this “park,” but I have visited this site a dozen times and never seen a single person walking along this trail to nowhere. It seems more likely that the sole purpose of bulldozing those trees was for the convenience of the sewer district when they installed a new line.

At Lake Burien School Park, the large poplars were deemed healthy by the first consulting arborist, but the City found a different arborist to say they were diseased, and they cut them all down, healthy or not. Whatever the reason, we are losing trees far faster than new ones can take their places.

It’s not just public lands that feel the bite of the chainsaw. Private property owners are taking down mature trees, one by one. You don’t necessarily notice one tree missing here or there, but if you take the time to walk through your neighborhood and check, you’ll see that the missing trees add up to a substantial loss. In the Seahurst neighborhood, in the past year, at least fourteen significant, mature, healthy (as far as I could tell) trees were cut down at ten residential addresses. For the most part, these homeowners cut their trees legally, although a few in areas with steep slopes might have required a permit and might have been denied. State law prohibits the cutting of trees without a permit within a certain distance of the eagles’ nest tree in Eagle Landing Park, but those rules are confusing and enforcement is lax.

If we wanted to, instead of Arbor Day, we could celebrate Chainsaw day, and all the homeowners in Burien could cut down all their trees at once while the City mows down trees in parks and along streets. Obviously, this would be absurd and horrific. Why is it any less absurd and horrific to lose our trees one by one?

The Tree City USA website says that Burien has been a Tree City for seven years. It also says that in order to be certified as a Tree City, the city need to satisfy four requirements:

• A Tree Board or Department
• A Tree Care Ordinance
• A Community Forestry Program With an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita
• An Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation

As far as I can tell, the Tree Board disbanded a long time ago, and I was unable to find any reference to Burien’s Community Forestry Program or its budget (perhaps it’s a subcategory of some other budget or program). The City’s tree ordinance has a host of inadequacies, but it doesn’t even cover the majority of our trees, located on private property.

Twenty years from now, when we celebrate Arbor Day with the planting of another tree in another park, what will our urban forest look like? Without a detailed inventory, and if people don’t pay attention to this gradual loss, we might be significantly poorer in trees without even realizing it.

If you look at the King County aerial photos of Burien for 1936 and 2008, you can see, obviously, that we have lost the majority of our urban forest canopy:

For many reasons, environmental, economic, and aesthetic, it is important to reverse that loss and start increasing our canopy cover. If we don’t get serious about managing our trees collectively and offering incentives for homeowners to plant and retain trees, Arbor Day plantings will only be symbolic and futile.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Branson is a longtime area resident and environmental activist. Previously, he wrote an editorial on "Earth Hour" that received quite a few Comments from Readers. What do you think of his opinion on Burien's trees? Please Comment below.

If you have an opinion about a local issue and would like to contribute, please email us.]

by Jim Branson

Having heard about Earth Hour on the news, (it was the lead story on Google News all day), I shut off all the lights and headed out for a walk with my dogs. I expected to see a few like-minded people out enjoying the festival of darkness to save the planet. I wondered what others were doing to celebrate Earth Hour, and I speculated that there might be a spike in births recorded in hospitals around the world on December 28th.

Instead, I found the streets were empty and lights blazed in almost every home as people sat in front of their TVs. Even yards that had prominently displayed political signs for pro-environment candidates had floodlights blazing. Fewer than one home in ten appeared dark, and some of those may have been vacant. One guy, the one with the immaculate lawn that he waters all summer and mows even in the dead of winter, had all the lights in his home on, and he also had a full-size truck running in the driveway with its headlights on, aimed out into the neighborhood. I’m not sure if this was his personal statement against Earth Hour, or just his standard practice.

The dogs and I walked through Olde Burien, and I expected a few of those shops, run by people who, one would hope, tend to pay attention to what’s going on in the world, to be participating in this global event. I thought some might even use it to promote business, inviting people to enjoy a candlelight dinner, perhaps. Not only were the open businesses fully lit, but most of the closed business had their lights blazing. They seem to leave them on all night, every night. The shops of Olde Burien even had extra lights strung along the tops of the buildings. All those lights make it a cheery place, I suppose.

The real kicker was the new Town Square. It is completely vacant right now, but lights shone from every floor of the residential building. The City Hall and Library building glowed so brightly it was hard to look at. I needed sunglasses to walk by it. These lights also stay on twenty-four hours a day, even at 9:26 on a Saturday night when no one is working. Participation in Earth Hour wouldn’t necessarily save the planet or even slow global warming, but it was a chance to raise awareness and show solidarity with our fellow earthlings as we recognize that our actions make a difference.

The city of Burien, its citizens, businesses, and government, seem to be sending a different message to Planet Earth:

“We hope you die a slow and horrible death, you stupid planet.”

Way to go, Burien.

Here are some photos of how other places around the world celebrated Earth Hour:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Branson is a longtime area resident and environmental activist. On a personal note, when "Earth Hour" rolled around at 8:30pm Saturday night, we actually turned off all the lights in our home and sat in the dark. It was not only peaceful, but it felt...different. Mostly because when we stepped out on our porch and looked around, we noticed that ours was the only "dark" house on the block. Sure, some think this is a silly exercise. And some think global warming is a bunch of hooey. We wonder if any of our Readers participated? If you did, what did you do? And if you didn't...why not? Please Comment below...]