I want to share what keeps me hopeful for Burien’s future as we navigate our way through the opening chapter of 2025.
We’ve made good progress on our strategic plan direction of achieving financial stability. In December, your city council adopted a fiscally responsible biennial budget that is mindful of the services needed today while also focused on ensuring that funding will be available tomorrow. The challenge of ensuring this balance is never-ending and requires constant attention and support from all city residents.
The City of Burien has consistently accomplished a lot with limited resources. Most people would be surprised to learn how few employees we have when compared to similarly sized cities and, in some cases, cities with smaller populations. Over the last year, we have shifted or reorganized our staff structure to respond to emerging needs and issues, helping us fulfill the policies and direction of the City Council. Several staff have either been promoted or moved into different positions as we continue to develop the best organizational structure to meet the needs of our community. New positions were made possible due to securing additional funding through grants or by restructuring existing positions to meet new demands for service.
As genuinely dedicated public servants, your City staff continues to find innovative ways to serve the community despite overwhelming obstacles. However, there are limits to what can be achieved with creativity and passion alone. Without proper resources, our work becomes unsustainable, and service levels drop. And now we face some extraordinary new challenges.
Local governments across the region are reckoning with the state-imposed limitations on their ability to ensure revenues can keep up with growth and inflation. Governments, much like ours, across the nation are dealing with the consequences and uncertainty that come from frozen federal funds.
With renewed determination to deliver the services our community needs and expects, we continue to explore potential revenue sources, including incorporating community feedback to develop a ballot measure option as directed by our strategic plan.
At all times, remaining diligent stewards of public funds is paramount to our work. I see examples of this every day in Burien. I see it in our Green Burien Partnership program, which funds nearly 93% of its almost $1 million cost with in-kind donations, volunteer support, and existing staff time.
I also see it in our approach to comprehensive community health and safety, which combines a multidisciplinary approach with strategic partnerships to allow us to deliver significant results with limited resources.
It is this hard work, collaborative style, and innovation that will give Burien a fighting chance – and I am proud of the team that makes it all possible. I get to see the good work they do up close every day, and I’d like to open the door and invite you all to come see for yourself – and I’ll even bring the coffee!
Our first “Coffee Chat” was held in January at the Burien Community Center, providing attendees with a unique opportunity to sit down with both our police and fire chiefs to ask their most pressing questions about public safety.
I’m looking forward to continuing to host this new series, which will provide a variety of opportunities to meet and engage with those who serve Burien every day. Join us on April 23, 2025 at 5 p.m. at Burien Community Center to meet our knowledgeable and dedicated Community Development staff, learn how they’ve hit the ground running on implementation efforts following the adoption of our 20-year comprehensive plan, and bring your toughest questions about city planning.
Looking forward to seeing you there,
Adolfo Bailon
Burien City Manager
