An opinion indeed. I do not recall you working on crime issues in White Center or South Seattle. Could you elaborate a little more on that. The ground work done on our anti crime campaign was a direct result of the City of Seattle neglecting the Delridge Cooridor, criminals crossing the borders, and finding out that a majority of the criminal acts were a result of residents living out side of our unincorporated area. It was a grass roots organization that organized on foot both sides of the border, protested both SPD and KCSO for a MOU to work both sides of the lines. Exactly where were you in all of those processes? I didn't see you out there on the streets talking to residents about holding anti crime meetings and following through with them.

Any how that is a perfect example of how Seattle neglects neighborhoods, we had to sweep up their spill over. Delridge and South Park have been neglected for half a century, nothing new.

We do not need broken promises from Seattle nor do we need their density.

I am more than sure you don't even live in our community, do you?

Here's my take - if you live in White Center and own your house and would love to sell to a developer, by all means vote to be incorporated by Seattle. If you rent, or own but would like to remain in your house, vote Burien.

What lower income community of color wouldn't love to be under the political jackboot of the DSA and Seattle developers? If this area incorporates into Seattle it can kiss what little political influence it currently has goodbye.

Question: if part of White Center joins Seattle and is no longer a responsibility of King County then are property taxes payable to King County reduced? silly question, I probably know the answer but it does seem to be a logical query doesn't it?

@kieth: King County collects property taxes for all jurisdictions, but only receives a portion of the revenue. For every property tax dollar paid by KC residents, about 15 cents goes to King County for regional services. Another 31 cents of each property tax dollar goes to local services--i.e. Seattle residents' payments are sent to Seattle, White Center residents' payments go to King County.

When areas such as White Center consume more funding than the revenue they produce, the difference is made up from the general fund--the money pot that includes the taxes that citizens countywide pay King County for regional services. So, if White Center is annexed, that would improve King County's ability to provide regional services (courts, jails, sheriff, elections, etc.) for all King County residents but, no, your taxes wouldn't go down.

Mr. Royer - you didn't answer the first question - an oversight perhaps?

Why would residents in Unincorp. North Highline want to join the Big Pond when they can be bigger fish in the smaller pond? And as for improvements e.g., sidewalks - should they get behind the other 400 neighborhoods that are missing theirs?

I am a South Delridge resident, proud of it, and our DYI work on the neighborhood with friends and neighbors (and without appreciable city assistance) and am sorry you are definately not my neighbor.

re: J.R. - regional services - "jails". That didn't go over so well in our neighborhood - truly don't want to be the dumping ground of choice for bureaucrats . . . . .

The state gave Seattle an incentive to annex White Center; it sounds like Seattle needs to give White Center some incentives to join up in return. You White Center-ites, any suggestions on what you would want?

@Leslie: Actually the jail in question was a Seattle facility, not a King County facility. King County has worked to create a regional process that will combine the Seattle and Eastside jails for misdemeanants and (hopefully) find a new location close to the downtown courts, not on the outskirts of town.

Leslie, JR is right it was a Seattle facility. Seattle tried to plant it right at the bottom of Myers Way South next to a Senior Citizen Community Housing Complex, and on the wet lands that they destroyed there when they built the Fire training facility.
Protest's of the jail being built there were heated regarding the lack of thought of even putting a jail next to Seniors.

Regarding that sliver by the river, doesn't it look like nothing less than the boundaries of a gerrymandered district? http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/nmaps/images/NN-1470L.Jpg

Seattle's southern city limits — http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/nmaps/south.htm — quite a contrast to the northern limits, which since 1953 has been a straight line from sound to lake.

Jordan Royer writes at the top of his opinion piece:

"But there are good reasons to hope the diverse neighborhood of White Center joins the city."

And then proceeds to not name a single one, or even to come close. Shorter Royer: White Center should join Seattle because it should.

Royer appears ignorant that the entire northern portion of the North Highline Unincorporated Area includes neighborhoods other than White Center, to wit: Top Hat, Boulevard Park, Salmon Creek, North Shorewood, etc.

And nowhere in his pices do we find mention of Burien, in which North Highline residents would hold the balance of political power if they vote to annex there. In Seattle, they would be last in line for services and last in line in political influence.

Pretty piss-poor piece if you ask me. Doesn't even make its own case.

Ivan, you live on Vashon Island, perhaps you should leave this debate to folks in Burien, North Highline, and Seattle. Your friends in the 34th District Democrats are not necessarily indicative of the the whole of White Center. I live just across the line in Seattle and know many people in North Highline who want to be in Seattle. An election would likely be close.

You want reasons--here are five:

1)Roxbury is an artificial line that divides a neighborhood right in half.
2)White Center(and other neighborhoods, yes I know them all) have more in common with Highland Park, Arbor Heights, Delridge, South Park, and Georgetown than they do with Burien.
3)Seattle has a large planning department capable of directing resources to improving White Center and helping it flourish while keeping its character.
4)Seattle is the largest, richest city in the county. Burien is one of the smaller, and poorer due to its lack of either big boxes or major industry.
5)Burien just took in the southern half, adding a third to their population. They have an exciting downtown revitalization project going on that requires their full attention. To all of a sudden have two downtowns to manage is too much. And you rightly point out that folks in Burien would lose their political power to the newcomers. Gee, Ivan, do you think that might cause some hard feelings among Burien residents? I do.

Ivan--you are a smart guy, but you assert that North Highline residents would be last in line for services. That is pure hooey. You know that services are allotted by formulas, not red lines on a map. Plus, Seattle will be motivated to increase the tax base of the area and you don't do that by ignoring it. As for political influence, two points. One--adding White Center,etc would only add to a South Seattle critical mass and help us from getting rolled by Wallingford. Two--Seattle needs at least partial district elections and they will return to the ballot soon. I hope you will join me in campaigning for them.

Mike might not remember Jordan but I do. And so do a whole bunch of other community activists who worked with him HPAC CAY WNC and a whole lot of neighbors and businesses that came together to make our neighborhoods safer. He worked to keep youth involved in positive activities and to find practical ways for different groups to interact with each other. He participated in evening group walks to take back the neighborhood after several murders. Jordan is a great guy and really cares about people. We need more people like him

Mike might not remember Jordan but I do. And so do a whole bunch of other community activists who worked with him HPAC CAY WNC and a whole lot of neighbors and businesses that came together to make our neighborhoods safer. He worked to keep youth involved in positive activities and to find practical ways for different groups to interact with each other. He participated in evening group walks to take back the neighborhood after several murders. Jordan is a great guy and really cares about people. We need more people like him

Mike might not remember Jordan but I do. And so do a whole bunch of other community activists who worked with him HPAC CAY WNC and a whole lot of neighbors and businesses that came together to make our neighborhoods safer. He worked to keep youth involved in positive activities and to find practical ways for different groups to interact with each other. He participated in evening group walks to take back the neighborhood after several murders. Jordan is a great guy and really cares about people. We need more people like him

Mike might not remember Jordan but I do. And so do a whole bunch of other community activists who worked with him HPAC CAY WNC and a whole lot of neighbors and businesses that came together to make our neighborhoods safer. He worked to keep youth involved in positive activities and to find practical ways for different groups to interact with each other. He participated in evening group walks to take back the neighborhood after several murders. Jordan is a great guy and really cares about people. We need more people like him

Jordan, where have you been for the last 5+ years while the White Center-South Delridge Community Safety Coalition has worked on improving our communities & making them safer with the local Police of Seattle & King County thru the "Weed & Seed" program ? Sure have not seen you at our monthly meetings, or numerous events over these years. And, this group has organized to continue going forward without the Weed & Seed funding.
And, we White Center residents can see the lack of what "Seattle has done"
for South Park, South Delridge, & even Arbor Heights - not much there to encourage us to become more small fish in the Seattle BIG pond.

"Tiptoe Tommy" gives a whole bunch of opinion and wishful thinking, and tries to spin it as fact, which it isn't, and then says he hopes I will join him in supporting City Council elections by district.

Come out from behind your alias, pal, or we have nothing to talk about. As for where I live, it's irrelevant. In my four years as chairman of the 34th District Democrats, I was immersed in this issue up to my eyeballs, and I know plenty of people on both sides of this issue.

FACT -- not opinion -- is that both Seattle AND Burien have a lot on their respective plates. Only the scale is different. FACT -- not opinion -- is that services might be "allotted by formula" on paper, but in political reality, the squeaky wheels get the grease.

Let's see if the proposal to put North Highline annexation on this November's ballot even gets through the Seattle City Council, before people start telling me what I know or don't know about this issue.

Yet another opinion piece, with ridiculous reasons for annexation like, "Because it's the right thing to do," or, "White Center a Right Fit for Seattle." Heck, there was an article just the other day in the Seattle Times by Jerry Large, about all the reasons (he didn't name any real reasons) that Seattle should annex the remaining North Highline area.

One thing that really kills me though, is that there is so much discussion on the White Center area, and very little discussion on the "other" area left in the North-North Highline area. Areas like Top Hat, North Shorewood, North Boulevard Park, etc.

Do people know that the remaining areas souther border (now Burien's new northern border) goes all the way downn to So. 116th St?, and eastward towards Military Road So.?

While many pro-Seattle folk believe whole-heartedly that the White Center area (and nearby homes)should go to Seattle (there may be a case for that), that these other remaining areas just don't seem to fit.

These other neighborhoods are becoming even more marginalized, as too much focus is put on the White Center core, simply because part of the WC area is now partly on Seattles side.

As others have said on other blogs, etc, look for the multitude of neighborhood groups that are already in Seattle come to arms over this issue. I predict it'll be pitchforks and torches at upcoming council meetings if the SCC tries to move forward with this.

AND, if it ever makes it to a vote, I predict rejection to Seattle.

Why is the North Highline (yes, it sure is more than just White Center) annexation something Seattlites should care about?

Will someone else pay for the replacement of the South Park bridge--due to close this year for safety reasons? The last I heard King County was asking for Stimulous $$$ for the replacement. Did they get it? Surely, we would have seen/heard about this. Otherwise, I understand that, if Seattle were to annex North Highline, Seattle would be responsible for funding any new South Park bridge.

All this comes during our economic downturn when Seattle's Community Centers are closed today for the first of this year's Parks and Recreation Department furloughs. And neighborhood libraries closed because of budget reductions.

Why am I going on about money? If Seattle were to annex North Highline, it would receive a share of Sales Tax revenue, but would it be sufficient to provide the services needed in this area without adversely impacting the rest of Seattle?

Finally, Seattle voters should realize that they DO NOT have a vote on this issue--it will be decided by the Mayor and City Council. Perhaps a note (okay, lots of notes) from current Seattle citizens/voters is in order?

Thanks all for the discussion. The citizens of North Highline will ultimately decide this issue. One thing is clear: The county cannot continue to provide municipal services to unincorporated areas. There has been discussion about property taxes and costs to those in unincorporated King County and what happens if they join Seattle. According to King County's property tax records: For a property valued at $250,000, in North Highline they currently pay $3,129 per year in property taxes. If they join Seattle they would pay $2,854 per year. Obviously, if property values rise, the total amount goes up but the proportionality stays the same. Again, the city council vote simply gives the people in North Highline the opportunity to decide for themselves what they want to do.

I loved the article. Beyond taxes, I do not understand the position of no annexation. More than a tax increase, I’m afraid of the fact that when I call 911 for police or fire I’m put on hold for five minutes while my neighbor’s kitchen goes up in flames because the operator needs to figure out what jurisdiction we’re in. Plus, if not appearing overnight in this community, there would still be better access to Seattle resources such as: community centers, pools, libraries, activity centers, schools, money, increased property values, and infrastructure. Burien doesn’t want what’s left of us, and I can’t imagine they have the resources or incentive to provide for our most basic of needs because they don’t have the means.
And Ivan, I'm going to use an alias because you scare me a bit. I really like the points tiptoe tommy made and the response seemed unnecessarily surly, misrepresenting as mere opinion while providing more yourself, and I would have liked to know your more informed disagreement. You talk about both Burien and Seattle having a lot on their plate, but it's like saying Bill Gates and MC Hammer both have a lot on their plate. One is still in a largely better of a situation. And couldn't we be a small fish with a big voice, or join with other neighborhoods with our concerns. I want to understand you "no annexation" folks, so information along with gratuitous invectives would be grand.

I am at a loss to understand what I might have written that "scared" anybody "a bit."

Also, I'd like to know what EVIDENCE there is that "Burien doesn't want what's left of us." I'd say the trend appears to be in the opposite direction.

Brian Bennett, an up-front annexation proponent, was elected without opposition to the Burien City Council in 2009, and Jack Block Jr., an annexation advocate, returned to the Council after defeating annexation opponent Sue Blazak, who was the incumbent.

The rich old white NIMBYs in Seahurst and Maplewild and Three Tree Point who resisted for years annexing "those people" are pretty well defanged with the annexation of the southern part of North Highline, and 15,000 new residents who by and large didn't want North Highline to be split in the first place provide a solid bloc of voters who would favor annexing the northern half.

Instead of "imagining" whether Burien has the respources or not to "provide for our most basic needs," why not have a look at what Burien DOES provide for its residents already. I doubt you'd find a lot of Burien residents complaining that their basic needs aren't being met.

As I keep reminding people, North Highline residents and voters would be a far more powerful voice as part of Burien, and far more the masters of their area's own fate, than they would as part of Seattle. The numbers simply don't lie, and fantasy nightmare scenarios don't trump the numbers.

The Burien Council and City Manager get this, which is why the annexation was phased into two parts. People should watch how the southern half of North Highline meshes with Burien before jumping to assumptions or conclusions abnout how the northern half might fare.

Mr. Royer--Just because King County cannot afford North Highline (including White Center) does not mean that Seattle can. Why is it that no one with a political bent will tackle the fact that government services DO COST MONEY. We must talk about this--instead of shifting jurisdictions or upping the sales tax a tenth to solve an immediate problem. We may not want to say it but there is no more fat in government. We need a better way to fund the services we all expect. DAMMIT!