King County Sheriff Serves Two Masters - Who Wins?

In the competition for law enforcement loyalty... Burien is the loser.

by Martin Barrett. Ancient wisdom says no man can serve two masters. The servant will either, "love the one and hate the other or serve the one and neglect the other." King County Sheriff's Office is paralyzed, serving two masters. This dysfunction has now led to two lawsuits, which will cost taxpayers dollars, and more importantly, continue to destroy the lives of those who need help.A Sheriff takes an oath to the Constitution, not to a person. The Sheriff is supposed to serve and make all decisions based on upholding the Constitution. When King County voters abdicated their responsibility to elect the Sheriff and handed it to the King County Executive, they converted a nonpartisan office meant to uphold the law into a servant of politically ambitious players. It has not gone well, especially for Burien.Here is a review of the steps that led to Burien filing a lawsuit against the King County Sheriff. March 4, 2024: The Burien City Council passed ordinance BMC 9.85.150 banning camping in public spaces and sensitive areas around schools, retirement centers, daycares, environmentally fragile spaces, and other such locations. To make it clear to all, a map was drawn so all parties would know the parameters. The map was subject to change and new environmental zones, schools or other sensitive sites would likely emerge while others might cease. Moving campers from these banned areas could only happen if beds were available for the night. March 8, 2024: Cole-Tindall emailed Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon that her department would not enforce BMC 9.85.150 in Burien. "At this time, the King County Sheriff's office will not enforce the public camping portion of Burien Municipal Code (BMC 9.85.150) until the constitutionality of the ordinance is resolved. We have substantial concerns that Burien's new ordinance violates binding federal case law. Because Burien adopted its ordinance on a highly accelerated timeline, there was no opportunity to address the serious constitutional issues raised by this ordinance. At this time, the King County Sheriff's office will not enforce on the public camping portion of Burien Municipal Code (BMC 9.85.150), until the constitutionality of the ordinance is resolved."March 8, 2024: Bailon responded to Cole-Tindall, "Does the Sheriff's office have the ability or authority to determine what is and isn't constitutional? I thought that's for judges to decide. Hasn't the Sheriff's department been enforcing the ordinance prior to this? There's no substantial change; this is just an amendment."Mayor Kevin Schilling and Bailon sought a meeting as soon as possible to discuss the impasse and find a solution. Bailon also notified Cole-Tindall that Burien will trigger the Oversight Committee, the agreed-upon mechanism to resolve disputes in an orderly way. Both Burien and King County are bound by contract to first submit to the Oversight Committee process. "Following up on the City Manager's request for meeting, it seems that your decision to not enforce city laws in compliance with our [Interlocal Agreement] ILA would necessitate a meeting to happen sooner rather than later to discuss that very ILA", wrote Mayor Schilling to Cole-Tindall on March 8, following a request by Bailon.March 8, 2024: Burien informed the Sheriff that refusal to enforce Ordinance No. 832 was a breach of the ILA. Burien also stated that the matter should be referred to the Oversight Committee as provided for under the parties' ILA. March 11, 2024: Cole-Tindall dropped a lawsuit against the city of Burien. This week, Cole-Tindall told a Burien-News reporter that Burien did not request a meeting prior to dropping her lawsuit on Burien. Clearly, there is some confusion. Why? Political pressure? Burien-News.com has asked for clarification from the Sheriff. At time of publishing no response from Cole-Tindall has been received.March 28, 2024: The City of Burien filed a breach-of-contract suit against the King County Sheriff for failing to uphold the ILA. The question remains: why is the same law constitutional in Bellevue and SeaTac but not in Burien? King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall reports to the Constitution and to Dow Constantine. This "two-master" situation has created confusion as the law is applied differently based on Constantine's political objectives. Sheriff Cole-Tindall reports to Dow Constantine, who she refers to as her "boss." She also said that she alone decided to bring the lawsuit against Burien and she alone decided to instruct her King County Deputies assigned to Burien to cease enforcing all of Burien's camping ordinances. So the people of Burien are led to believe that a suit against a city the county is contracted to serve, costing untold dollars and relational capital with the potential to terminate the ILA (Interlocal Agreement) for law enforcement between the County and Burien, was not discussed and affirmed by the person ultimately responsible? Even if she decided alone and Constantine, her boss, had not instructed her to rescind the suit, then Constantine must agree.This begs the question once more: Why has Constantine not sued Bellevue for the same law Burien has put into place? Constantine has had over one year to act but has taken no action. Why did Cole-Tindall instruct her deputies to cease enforcement in Burien but not in Seatac? Seatac also has the same law. Inconsistent application of the law is a red flare for politics at work! Adding to the confusion at the highest level, in Burien we have the same situation: two masters over one person. Burien Police Chief Ted Boe has two people to report to: He is a Major in the King County Sheriff's office, so he reports to Cole-Tindall. Boe also reports to City Manager Adolfo Bailon. However, Boe is now clearly operating under the direction of Cole-Tindall. Boe has chosen his master. Burien, in every way, is a law enforcement orphan.