Blaine Confidential

  Blaine City Council  Ordinance 26-3043   is 1)  designed to eliminate public participation  in land use decisions.  2) designed to eliminate  environmental appeal rights  for citizens. 3) designed to eliminate environmental review of most developments. 4) designed to   double Blaine's population in three years . 5) designed to   unfairly burden low-income Blaine residents. T he proposed $5,000 barrier to appeal Critical Area Determinations and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) fraud violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The proposed amendments do not arise in a jurisdiction with a clean administrative record :   1) The City has not issued an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for any Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA) developments despite multiple citizen requests and Department of Ecology guidelines.  2) City planners knowingly issued false SEPA determinations   for East Maple Ridge and Creek...

March 31, 2026 letter to Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey: Dear Mr. Richey, Please see the attached self-dealing complaint and denial to investigate regarding the City of Blaine’s handling of a citizen ethics complaint arising from Ordinance 26-3043. I also attach a June 2025 self-dealing complaint to the Department of Justice and Attorney General to which I was a party of record as well as  The concern presented is procedural. A complaint alleging undisclosed financial conflict was denied and permanently closed by the City Manager without identification of any independent review or referral outside the City’s administrative chain. Given the nature of the allegations and the overlap with other matters involving City officials, I am requesting that your office review this matter and refer it to the Washington State Attorney General for independent review. Please confirm within five business days whether your office will make that referral and advise when it can be transmitted. ...

Watch The Anatomy of Exclusion video from Water Planning Matters. Learn how Blaine's proposed municipal code changes undermine civic participation, public scrutiny, and government transparency. If these code amendments are adopted, Blaine moves toward a pay to play system where only people with money, time, and lawyers can realistically challenge harmful decisions. To file an appeal will cost $5,000, with no low-income waiver for seniors on fixed incomes or citizens living in poverty. If you value civil rights, the rule of law, and public participation, please send an email to cdscomments@cityofblaine.com and to citycouncil@cityofblaine.com

April 9 letter to City of Blaine: INTRODUCTION [I am submitting this as formal public comment and request to be included as a party of record for all proceedings related to SEPA File No. 2024019 and the proposed BMC Title 17 amendments.] DISMANTLING PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY The proposed  Permit Process and SEPA Zoning Text Amendments  by Blaine Community Development Services (CDS) are  designed to eliminate public participation  in land use decisions. These amendments  remove  public hearings for most subdivisions,  triple  the size of developments completely exempt from environmental review, and  double  the financial barriers to citizen appeals of city decisions. New developments would proceed with zero environmental protection and zero opportunity for public appeal.  This new system is not designed to evaluate environmental risk, but rather, to prevent that evaluation from happening by excluding the public.   These  poster...

When state and local governments care more about home sales taxes (commerce) than they do public health and the rule of law (democracy), citizens protecting their communities from environmental, financial, and social harm are considered obstacles, even enemies, as we have learned in Blaine. Remedying this betrayal of trust by the State of Washington, Whatcom County, and the City of Blaine will set legal precedent, and perhaps lead to public recriminations in courts of law and public opinion.

  4/8/26 LTE at CDN : Editor, The largest proposed housing developments in Whatcom County are in Blaine, yet there is no news coverage. Two planned unit developments at Birch Point of roughly 500 homes each would flood their downhill neighbors in Birch Bay Village, a gated community of 1,000 homes. The first phase of a 568-unit manufactured home park in East Blaine is now being challenged as a threat to the public water system, which serves 17,000 customers in Blaine and Birch Bay. Watch the  Water Planning Matters video  and read the complaint to the Washington State Department of Health. Jay Taber Blaine