The council heard how the city is spending the one-time federal ARPA funding to help with Covid recovery efforts. Council also honored their departing city clerk.
The Burien Council meeting on April 7, 2025 began at 5:30 pm. Councilmembers Mora and Garcia were absent. After a few pronouncements, City Manager Adolfo Bailon gave his report. Bailon focused most of his comments on the departure of City Clerk Heather Dumlao who is leaving the City of Burien to progress her career. Bailon said that Dumlao is the best City Clerk he has been honored to work with. The council wished her well.
There were no public comments during this session, as no one had signed up.
The bulk of the meeting was spent updating the council on the current status and residual funding from ARPA, the American Rescue Plan Act. ARPA began in 2022 with a one-time federal grant awarded to Burien of $10,749,000. ARPA was a product of governmental reaction to Covid-related challenges.
The funds were allotted as follows:
All the heads of the Burien staff were present. They each presented an update. Burien set goals in 2022, and budgeted the funds to be spread over a multi-year spend. However, the funding has, or will be, running out by the end of 2026.
At this time, there is no clear path to additional funding for these projects. CM Linda Akey stated, “The ARPA funding was not something we had anticipated and now we need to figure out how to keep this going.” She asked how the city planned to fund and continue these programs, once the funding was gone.
City Manager Bailon said the staff is working on other ways to reach out to residents and business patrons to share what is needed. They are respectful of the taxpayer and want to maximize the funds spent.
There being no more business, the meeting then adjourned at 6:45pm.
