Blaine Confidential

In May, Whatcom County Council will adopt the 10-year update to the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan, that includes the City of Blaine Comprehensive Plan update. Blaine's update includes municipal code changes that   eliminate public participation ,   financially benefit Blaine officials , and threaten public health .  All are illegal, and this should be communicated by Blaine and Birch Bay citizens to the county planning commission, county council, and county prosecutor ASAP. Whatcom County contacts: pds_planning_commission@co.whatcom.wa.us council@co.whatcom.wa.us 2025update@co.whatcom.wa.us erichey@co.whatcom.wa.us

At the June 17, 2025, meeting at Blaine Public Library with county council members Scanlon and Elenbaas, I confronted them for neglecting their duty under the law to hold Blaine accountable for fraud and financial conflicts of interest by City of Blaine officials in preparing the 2025 10-year update to the Blaine Comprehensive Plan. When I announced our Formal Complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice against the City of Blaine for municipal corruption involving self-dealing by Blaine developers in their role as city officials, Blaine City Councilman Richard May suggested the city might be better off just letting developers [such as Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains] do whatever they want. On March 9, 2026, Blaine City Council did just that .

The one tenth of one percent of Blaine citizens who correspond with county, state, and federal agencies to return the rule of law to Blaine can't do it alone.  Those who are now learning what happened over the last six months--when the real estate industry took over our city government with help from The Northern Light--need to become involved in making our community a place where we can disagree with the mayor without receiving death threats and police retaliation . In the United States, we have the right to hold her accountable for criminal misconduct by Blaine officials. The downtown public assets give away and denial of our civil rights  by Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon--because we oppose self-dealing by Blaine officials--must be stopped if we want to end criminal enterprise at city hall. Complaining to the criminals won't do it. Complaining to those who can investigate and prosecute them might. For starters, contact  Whatcom County Prosecutor   Eric Richey....

April 17 letter to Whatcom County Prosecutor: Dear Prosecutor Richey, I have not heard further from your office since your April 10, 2026 reply regarding my March 31 formal request to you to refer the Blaine Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains  self-dealing  matter (see attached letter to you) to the Washington Attorney General. This matter is of urgent importance, as Central Business District landlords, businesses, and residents of Blaine are drastically affected by the unlawful suspension of the Blaine Municipal Code to benefit downtown developers, including Mrs. Bains and her husband, Gurdeep. Your apparent stalling on upholding the law is causing significant harm. I would hope that your apparent reluctance to refer this for AG investigation and prosecution is not due to Whatcom District Court Judge Angela Anderson overruling you on November 4, 2025 and issuing civil protection orders for me and my associates. While we are grateful to Judge Anderson for protecting us from a convicte...

Blaine has become a community of the depraved and the deprived . Depraved city officials working on behalf of the real estate industry have deprived the elderly on fixed incomes and those living in poverty (13.1%) of any voice in planning Blaine's future. The insatiable greed of the developers and realtors in Blaine is propelling the city toward municipal bankruptcy, due to already unfolding environmental impacts of unrestricted growth, as I warned city officials repeatedly.  The cumulative effect of Blaine's ghastly mismanagement by city manager Mike Harmon, combined with Harmon's propensity to defame--even demonize--open government activists who demand civic reform in order for the city to comply with state and federal law, is severe municipal dysfunction . This dysfunction will ultimately lead to resolution in federal court, once state and federal agencies intervene to reestablish civil rights and the rule of law in our community.

I am a low-income senior and   open government   advocate who just filed a civil rights complaint with the EPA against the City of Blaine for threatening legal action against our group  Water Planning Matters , in retaliation for our adjudication request for a   declaratory order   from the Washington Department of Health, to prevent contamination of our public water system that provides drinking water to the 17,000 residents of Blaine and Birch Bay.  I also filed a complaint with the Washington State Auditor regarding widespread misconduct by Blaine officials--including  self-dealing  and supporting  death threats  against Water Planning Matters leaders. Municipal corruption is exemplified by the current city proposal to  eliminate civic participation, public scrutiny, and government transparency  for city environmental decisions. These  Title 17 SEPA Zoning Text Amendments  to the Blaine Municipal Code vio...