Blaine Confidential

January 26  Blaine City Council   voted 5-0 (Bains, Enos, May, Newland, Sorrell) to approve Avista at Birch Point   planned unit development. The development was opposed by   Water Planning Matters   (formerly Blaine Water Coalition). Mayor Steward recused herself, and Councilwoman Sonia Hurt was reportedly hiding in the backroom. Sorrell refused to recuse himself, despite publicly supporting   death threats   against Water Planning Matters   open government activists   by his friend David Brudvik, whom Judge Anderson ruled threats to murder. The applicant for Avista, Wayne Schwandt, was also the developer of Sea Smoke, which has caused downhill flooding for Semiahmoo homes, as well as roadway damage. Schwandt received a setback to his plans at Birch Point, when  Whatcom County rejected the proposed annexation by the city of unincorporated Birch Point . The City of Blaine has lower environmental protection standards than the county , mak...

January 28 letter to Ferndale City Council: Ferndale Chief of Police Matt Huffman conspired with Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk   to defame four open government activists for "harassment"  of Blaine City Council. This so-called harassment consisted of  demanding public records and holding the city government accountable  to state and federal laws (see attached). Ferndale Police Officer Richard Hart covered up felonies by Blaine officials, ignoring public documents proving they committed perjury, self-dealing and fraud. Hart then defamed us in retaliation for filing a complaint against Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk with the WA Criminal Justice Training Commission. This defamation was repeated without question by The Northern Light newspaper, after Chief Funk sent them the November 14, 2025 Ferndale Police Report (see attached) hastily concocted by Officer Hart on Chief Huffman's orders. This violation of my constitutional right to equal protection under the l...

January 27 letter to Blaine City Council: The January 21, 2026  letter to the editor  by former Blaine City Councilman Rhyan Lopez thanks our "outstanding city manager" (who committed  perjury, fraud and defamation  of those who opposed him). Lopez then thanks Blaine Police Department for it's "integrity" (even as three Blaine police officers, including Chief Rodger Funk, face investigations by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission for  violating the U.S. Constitution  equal protection rights of the mayor's opponents).  Topping off his shameful career on council, Lopez on October 13, 2025 presided over the town hall where convicted violent felon David Brudvik  threatened to murder  four people for holding the city manager, mayor, and chief of police accountable. While Lopez made sure to cut off his opponents at the two-minute mark, he gave Brudvik and other friends of the mayor several minutes extra to speak, most notably ...

January 27 letter from Donna M. to Blaine City Councilman Isaac Newland: Council member Newland,    I did not know who you were before you entered Blaine politics. That gave you an opportunity most people do not get: a clean slate.  The first time I noticed you was the night a convicted violent felon publicly threatened to murder four citizens. I watched the video carefully. You did not clap. When I later saw you at a council meeting, I recognized you and introduced myself and congratulated you for that. I meant it.  Last night made it clear that my initial assessment was wrong.  With Mayor Mary Lou Steward recused from the Avista vote, you were given your first real taste of power in Blaine politics. From the citizens’ perspective, you failed—miserably.  Let’s review what you presided over.  The city attorney, Peter Ruffatto, invited comments on whether any council members should be excluded from participating in the vote. A citizen raised a legitima...

January 27 letter to Blaine City Council: Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon is widely considered the actual source of the so-called "anonymous letter" he produced, that Mayor Steward relied on to demonize  open government activists  holding her, Councilman Hill, and Harmon accountable. As such, Harmon is likely the instigator of the Brudvik-Hill incident at Blaine City Hall on October 13, 2025, when convicted violent felon David Brudvik threatened to murder four of the open government activists, including me, while former councilman Mike Hill led a lynch mob standing ovation. Former Blaine City Councilman Mike Hill, owner of Chevron, Starbuck's, Blaine Visitors Center, and Bordertown Mexican Grill, has a record for assault and battery.  Brudvik spent 30 months in prison for two drive-by shootings . As a city councilman, Hill committed two acts of criminal self-dealing by voting to increase the value of his commercial properties in the Central Business District. On October 2...

It isn't easy being a Drayton Harbor oyster. Currently under a 303 listing at the EPA for Category Five (filthy) human and canine fecal bacteria pollution, Drayton Harbor is unsafe for humans.  Some of this urban pollution is possibly due to unregulated residents at Semiahmoo Marina, but the most likely culprit is the Lighthouse Point sewage treatment plant in Marine Park. (Cain Creek contributes additional human fecal bacteria to Drayton Harbor.) Marine Park was created over a municipal dump on state tidelands. Toxic waste seeps out into Drayton Harbor and Semiahmoo Bay. The old shipyard at Blaine Marina still has a toxic waste site nearby where petroleum products saturate the soil.  Mike Hill's Chevron adjacent to Drayton Harbor is the site of another toxic waste site on the waiting list for cleanup by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Meanwhile, benzene in the groundwater across Peace Portal from the Chevron station is headed for the harbor. In Drayton Harbor, tha...