The latest shot in the war between Seattle and Burien over who’s gonna get White Center (and the North Highline unincorporated area) came last week in a letter from Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to his Burien counterpart Joan McGilton following her request for formal mediation in the conflict.Says Nickels:It is now ironic that the City of Burien is ready to consider mediation after its efforts to confound annexation efforts for the past several years. It is clear that a driving reason behind this effort was to maintain a $1 million per year subsidy of existing police services through the King County tax levy. …I am prepared to once again engage in serious negotiation when there is a sincere effort by the City of Burien to address its own fiscal reality, stop its dependence on King County and the region to subsidize their police services and work constructively on a solution that will allow North Highline residents to have a voice in their future.Snap! And who can blame him? McGilton’s appearance in Olympia this past legislative session was instrumental in sinking Seattle’s hopes of a tax credit to finance the annex this year. North Highline, White Center, duck and cover.