Burien Requests Replacement for Police Chief Boe

Sheriff Cole-Tindall responds, accusing Burien and City Manager Adolfo Bailon of unlawful retaliation. Bailon sends timeline to Council.

by Katie Kresly.The battle for Burien continues to escalate. Last night, April 11, City Manager Adolfo Bailon sent an email to the City Council, clarifying his "decision to seek a replacement for Police Chief Ted Boe."In the email, Bailon gives his "statements of fact and timeline" that reaches back to late February when he first expressed concerns to the Oversight Committee regarding Boe's continued service in the city.Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall claims the April 10th request to replace Boe is retaliation for Boe's sworn statement on March 13. However, her claim doesn't track, because the chief testified on that date that he already knew of the city's intent to replace him.The process of replacing Chief Boe is complicated. Burien cannot fire the chief, because as an employee of the contractor King County and the KC Sheriff's Office, Boe is not an employee of the City of Burien.It's messy.Here is part of City Manager Bailon's April 11 email to the council:[caption id="attachment_16006" align="alignnone" width="467"]

Source: City Manager Adolfo Bailon's 4/11/24 email to the Burien City Council.[/caption]On April 10, City Manager Bailon sent a letter to Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall formally requesting a replacement for the chief. Bailon stated, "Chief Boe’s actions no longer represent the City of Burien best interests, vision, and goals, in a manner that supports trust between the City and King County Sheriff’s Office." (See full text and Bailon's letter below.)Later that day, Sheriff Cole-Tindall responded by asserting that the intent to replace Boe was retaliation for testifying. (See Cole-Tindall's full statement below)Bailon's April 11 email to the council calls the sheriff's accusation false. Cole-Tindall already knew the City of Burien was seeking to replace Boe before she filed her lawsuit on March 11.[caption id="attachment_16007" align="alignnone" width="518"]

Source: City Manager Adolfo Bailon's 4/11/24 email to the Burien City Council.[/caption]Bailon further details how the intent to replace Boe has been in process since late February 2024, in advance of city's new camping ordinance on March 4, and before the county's lawsuit was filed on March 11.[caption id="attachment_16008" align="alignnone" width="536"]

Source: City Manager Adolfo Bailon's 4/11/24 email to the Burien City Council.[/caption]Finally, Bailon's April 11 email summarizes his intent:[caption id="attachment_16009" align="alignnone" width="504"]

Source: City Manager Adolfo Bailon's 4/11/24 email to the Burien City Council.[/caption]Bailon has made it clear that the trust is gone. It's time to replace Chief Boe.

April 10, 2024 Letter to Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall from City Manager Adolfo Bailon:

Subject: Intent to Recruit New Chief of PoliceDear Sheriff Cole-Tindall:This letter is to inform you of my decision to seek a new Chief of Police for the City of Burien.I can no longer state that I trust Chief Boe to fulfill the requirements listed within the Interlocal Agreement (i.e. the conditions listed under Exhibit C, Section B, Paragraph 3, Subparagraphs (c) and (f)) between the City of Burien and King County. More specifically, efforts to address specific issues of concern within the City of Burien have led me to determine that Chief Boe’s actions no longer represent the City of Burien best interests, vision, and goals, in a manner that supports trust between the City and King County Sheriff’s Office.Please let me know at your earliest convenience with whom from your staff I should work with to commence the recruitment process.Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter.Sincerely,Adolfo BailonCity Manager[caption id="attachment_16012" align="alignnone" width="483"]

Letter to KCSO from City Manager Bailon 4/10/24[/caption]

Sheriff Cole-Tindall’s Statement on request to remove Burien Police Chief:

(Source: KCSO on April 11.)

On April 10, without providing any supporting facts, Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon sent Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall a letter demanding the removal of Major Ted Boe of the King County Sheriff’s Office as Burien’s chief of police. Sheriff Cole-Tindall responded with a request for examples of any factual incidents that might support Bailon’s request, as well details on why the city manager has reached this conclusion. Bailon has yet to provide this requested information.

The request was surprising because, approximately two hours prior to Bailon’s letter, Burien was given detailed statistics on the first three months of 2024 that demonstrate the high level of police service in Burien. Under Chief Boe’s leadership, Burien PD has made 439 arrests, led by 82 arrests for public use or possession of drugs and 70 arrests for assault. Auto theft, residential burglary, vandalism, and assault are all down from last year over the same time period. An increase in robbery was tied to a specific crime spree where the suspects are now in custody. These results were consistent with preliminary 2023 stats, which showed a 7% decrease for Burien in both crimes against persons and crimes against property.

These results demonstrate excellent policing and do not show that there is a failure of leadership in the Burien Police Department. Indeed, at a February 12, 2024, special meeting of the Burien City Council, Councilmember Akey thanked Chief Boe for his work and noted the great amount of respect in the community for the Burien Police Department. Councilmember Andrade echoed these remarks, pointing out that Burien holds its police department in high regard. Councilmember Matta said that Chief Boe had “done a great job as the executive head of the police department.”

Because the facts show that Chief Boe is doing a great job leading the Burien Police Department, Sheriff Cole-Tindall told City Manager Bailon that the timing of his request to remove the chief raised its own concerns. Chief Boe has provided sworn testimony in a lawsuit regarding the constitutionality of Burien’s current public camping ordinance. State law prohibits any local government from retaliating against a person for raising concerns with the constitutionality of government action. King County cannot be party to retaliatory action against the chief.

Moreover, in response to Bailon’s unsupported demand to remove Chief Boe, the sheriff pointed out that Burien was withholding all payment for police services at the city manager’s direction, even though those services continue to be provided every day to the residents of Burien. Until the city resolves this breach of its agreement with the Sheriff’s Office, there is little need to account for the city manager’s undisclosed concerns.