Blaine Confidential

[email to city council] Mayor Mary Lou Steward's misbehavior at the November 9, 2026 city council meeting mirrored her unconstitutional conduct at the outset of the "ethics war" in Blaine on February 12, 2024, when Mayor Steward interrupted a citizen's allotted public comment time by screaming at the citizen because she did not like what the citizen had to say. Steward, understandably on edge due to the imminent collapse of her criminal enterprise at city hall, once again lashed out at a citizen speaking at the public hearing on the 2027 proposed budget.  Why, you might ask? Because the citizen proposed saving money on the three quarters of a million dollars for outside legal services by hiring an in-house attorney and investing in training to prevent avoidable litigation. Mayor Steward immediately shut her down, claiming that the citizen was off-topic bringing up a budgetary item during a hearing on the proposed budget.  You read that right. Mayor Steward violated a ...

Local media censorship of Blaine municipal corruption 2024-26 was essential to its success. Censoring news in order to protect crooked developers and their friends in Blaine Community Development Services has been the mission of The Northern Light and Cascadia Daily News. The real estate industry could not have taken over Blaine's government without their help.  Support local journalism? You must be kidding.

[email to city council] While you are understandably reluctant to admit you were wrong in supporting self-dealing and retaliatory policing, you have a very good fall guy in city manager Mike Harmon. He lied to you about the law, he covered up crimes by Mike Hill and Sarbjit Bains, and he was the obvious mastermind to violate the civil rights of open government activists. Serving him up to prosecutors as the fall guy now will signal you understand the severity of his offenses. Waiting for the judicial nemesis will be much more painful.

[email to city council] While you are waiting for the hammer to drop at the Legislative Ethics Board and Criminal Justice Training Commission, you might want to reflect on your conduct to date and the likely consequences of its exposure in the Seattle Times when charges are filed against Senator Shewmake, implicating Blaine Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains and Blaine City Manager Michael Harmon.  While you could do nothing and hope for the best as the state auditor presently prepares a file on City of Blaine municipal corruption under Mayor Steward's administration, a better bet would be unconditional surrender. Admit you were wrong all along, and request that state and federal agencies assist the city in cleaning house. The Washington State Auditor Special Investigations Unit and the U.S. Department of Justice Public Integrity Unit can help. You cannot avoid the consequences of a federal civil rights lawsuit, but you might mitigate the punishment by showing remorse and firing the city o...