Burien council votes 4–3 to place ordinance repealing council-adopted minimum wage on next consent agenda

The Burien City Council on May 4 voted 4–3 to place Ordinance 892 on the consent agenda at the council’s next regular meeting. The ordinance would repeal Burien Municipal Code chapter 5.15 (the council-adopted minimum wage) and consolidate minimum-wage rules under chapter 5.16, the voter-approved initiative.

A presenter noted the city remains engaged in litigation over the minimum wage and offered to answer factual questions in open session, while reserving privileged legal discussion for closed session: "the city is still engaged in litigation regarding minimum wage, but I am happy to answer any factual questions this evening," the presenter said.

Public commenters addressed the council before the ordinance discussion. Jennifer Fachamba and Kelsey Vanhe urged that the city ensure the minimum wage covers all workers with no carve-outs; Kelsey Vanhe told the council she supported repealing the council-adopted ordinance in favor of the voter-approved version and warned against exceptions for youth and people with disabilities: "I urge you not to carve out exceptions for any workers regardless of their age, regardless of their disability status." Other commenters disagreed about whether tips should count toward the wage; Karen Sincula urged that tips not be counted, while Omaha Sternberg said tips should be included and argued small businesses might struggle with higher wage floors.

During council debate, Council Member Rocco DeVito said he supported the motion because it honors the will of the voters: "I'm voting for this today because I believe in honoring the will and vote of the people." Deputy Mayor Hugo Garcia and Council Member Sam Mendez also voiced support, with Mendez noting the initiative includes phased approaches for smaller businesses and urging clarity on how the voter-based wage rates would be calculated.

When council put the motion to a roll-call-style count, the mayor announced four in favor (Sam Mendez, Deputy Mayor Hugo Garcia, Mayor Sarah Moore and Rocco DeVito) and three opposed (Linda Akey, Kevin Schilling and Alex Andrade); the motion passed 4–3. Council instructions placed Ordinance 892 on the consent agenda for the next regular meeting; the ordinance itself will be available in the meeting packet and any legal or privileged issues can be addressed outside the open meeting as appropriate.

Next steps: Ordinance 892 will be scheduled on the consent agenda at the next regular meeting for final action or further consideration. The council also signaled that the administrative rules process required under the initiative would follow to set implementation details such as employer-size wage floors.