Burien reappoints two members to Airport Committee; applicants urge stronger Port cooperation

The Burien City Council unanimously reappointed Brian Davis and Karen Viloria to the Burien Airport Committee on March 24 and spent the interview time hearing both candidates’ goals for addressing airport impacts.

“My first goal…is to obtain tangible benefits for the city of Burien and its residents,” Brian Davis told the council, describing efforts to secure compensation or mitigation for the community’s proximity to Seattle‑Tacoma International Airport.

Why it matters: Burien lies directly under large portions of Sea‑Tac flight paths. Residents and councilmembers said they want the committee to press for repairs to previously installed residential noise‑insulation packages, advance a legislative agenda and improve Port of Seattle coordination on project reviews and environmental justice.

Davis, the committee’s current vice chair, told the council he wants to pursue three priorities: negotiating tangible benefits for Burien residents, strengthening a legislative agenda that can be taken to Olympia, and expanding engagement with residents who live under the flight path. Davis criticized parts of the Port of Seattle’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan review where, he said, the Port limited environmental review to airport property and did not sufficiently account for impacts on adjacent communities.

Karen Viloria, a three‑term member of the Airport Committee and Burien’s STaRT/roundtable representative, said her priorities include pushing for more port‑package noise‑mitigation repairs, creating job pathways to airport employment for local youth and improving community access to noise monitoring. Viloria described recent coordination within the STaRT roundtable and said she expects continued relationship building with Port staff; she said a Port representative has offered to install a noise monitor at her property.

Deputy Mayor Sarah Moore praised both volunteers’ long service and said the city must “stand up and say this is what we’re doing for the city of Burien” while continuing to collaborate with the Port and other stakeholders.

Council made a motion to appoint the two candidates; the motion was seconded and carried with unanimous approval. The council did not record individual roll‑call votes but announced unanimous consent for the appointments.

Ending: The council recessed briefly after appointments and thanked the committee members for their service, noting the continued local impacts of airport operations on quality of life in Burien.