KC Announces Community Public Safety Meeting in Burien but Excludes Burien Council

Sheriff Cole-Tindall, Chief Boe to host panel discussion May 6; City Manager Bailon says City was not consulted - use of Burien Logo and City Name to "add credibility" was "inappropriate."

by Katie Kresly. This morning (May 3 at 7:50am), Burien Police Chief Ted Boe, also a King County Major for the sheriff's office, sent out an email asking Community Partners to distribute information about a public safety discussion, set for Monday, May 6.Boe said, "Please distribute this flyer to your networks and encourage our community to join us for a public safety discussion on Monday night. The panel will include Sheriff Cole-Tindall, myself and experts in responding to people struggling with mental health and addiction. There will be an opportunity for audience questions through facilitated dialog with the panel members."He signed it as "Theodore Boe, Police Chief, City of Burien... Burienwa.gov" and included the following flyer for distribution:[caption id="attachment_16963" align="aligncenter" width="746"]

Flyer from Chief Ted Boe[/caption]This is the chief's normal signature, however, shortly following came an email from Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon, questioning Boe's promotion of the community meeting:

Since Burien, its council, and the City Manager were not consulted or asked to help craft the agenda, scope of discussion, etc., it is inappropriate for King County, through the Sheriff, to unilaterally determine the items of discussion and use Burien's name and logo to add credibility to King County's proposed roundtable.

In addition, since Ted is acting on the request of the Sheriff rather than the Burien City Council or City Manager, he should identify himself as a KC Sheriff major and remove all references to Burien.

Thank you,Adolfo BailonCity Manager

To find some clarification, Burien-News sent the following questions to Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall, asking her to answer by noon today so we could publish her response. As of publishing time, we have not received an answer from her, but we will post if she decides to respond later.Here is what we asked the sheriff:

1. You have repeatedly declined to comment due to the “ongoing litigation” between Burien and KCSO. How is this different?
2. Why did you schedule this community meeting to run at the same time as a previously scheduled Burien City Council Special Meeting?
3. You did not consult the City of Burien on the agenda or topic, yet Chief Boe used the Burien logo and Burien name to promote this event. How is this conflict of interest not insubordination by Chief Boe?

Meeting Location and Information from the Flyer:

• TITLE: Community Information Meeting
• DATE: May 6, 2024
• TIME: 5:30pm - 6:50pm
• LOCATION: Highline Performing Arts Center - Highline High School
• TOPIC: “Please join to learn about how the King County Sheriff’s Office and the Burien Police Dept are partnering to support public safety in the City of Burien.”
• PANELISTS: Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall, Chief Ted Boe, Susan Kroll (Mental Health Co-Responder), Lisa Daugaard (Purpose, Dignity, Action), Aaron Burkhalter (LEAD)

Burien-News will continue to report on this story as more information becomes available.