Council Roundup: March 28, 2022

Advisory Board Appointments, City Manager Search, Native Land and Peoples Acknowledgment, Mary’s Place
Posted on 04/04/2022
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The Burien City Council appointed new members to the Human Services Commission, discussed updates to the city manager search, discussed a Native land and peoples acknowledgement, and heard about the services offered by Mary’s Place.

New Human Services Commission Members Appointed

The City Council appointed three Burien community members to the Human Services Commission. Ana Hernandez Blackstad has a background in community and technical colleges, Melodie Garcia is a former project manager for the LEAD program, and Michael Heinisch returns to the Human Services Commission. He brings more than 40 years of experience work in behavioral health and human services. Jessie Drucker and Daniel Martin were appointed as alternates. The City Council may appoint up to two alternate members to each board or commission to serve in the absence of regular members. The alternates membership terms shall be two years.

City Manager Recruitment Process Continues

Mayor Aragon presented a proposed schedule to recruit and hire the next city manager. The process will include interviews with the City Councilmembers, City staff leadership team and other key staff, and with external stakeholder groups. Active recruitment will occur in April with the first review of possible candidates occurring mid-May.  

Between four and six candidates will be invited to interview in early June. Each candidate will have the opportunity to take a tour of the community, meet City department directors, and meet external City stakeholders as part of a roundtable discussion. The first interviews will occur in mid-June. After final due diligence and contract negotiation, it is estimated that the new city manager would start in late July.

A public hearing is scheduled for April 18 for community members to provide City Council feedback on their preferred characteristics of a city manager. A website with a survey and more information about the process will be launched in the coming weeks.

Native Land and Peoples Acknowledgment Discussions Continue

The City Council discussed a proposed text that could serve as a Native land and peoples acknowledgment for the City of Burien government. Their discussion was preceded by a presentation from the City’s communications staff on the process used to gather input from stakeholders. It was followed by a presentation from a representative from the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, including high school students at Muckleshoot Tribal High School. They presented on the history of Muckleshoot, their connection to the Duwamish and local Coast Salish peoples, and the investments they have made in their community and the South King County region.

The City Council expressed support for the acknowledgment text that was presented and encouraged more discussion on how to build a relationship between the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe in the future. This topic will be discussed again later this spring.

City Council Continues Discussion on Strategic Planning

The City Council continued discussions on the strategic planning process. They heard a presentation from Creative Strategy Solutions, the firm hired to help facilitate the process. They also discussed the plan to gather community feedback into the strategic planning process, encouraging staff to organize the multiple community engagement efforts currently underway into a format that was more easily digestible and accessible to the community.

Mary’s Place Presents Information on their Positive Impact in Burien Community

Representatives from the nonprofit Mary’s Place, which operates a family shelter in Burien, presented information about the services they deliver to the community, sharing some key data points to illustrate the impact they’ve had in Burien.