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ENDING THE PAYMASTER RELATIONSHIP

In Part 2 of Vanishing Science, Vanishing Fairness at Whatcom Watch , author Geoffrey Baker illustrates how hearing examiner bias favoring developers and the municipalities in bed with developers is systematically corrupt in Washington state . How can hearing examiners be unbiased when they are being paid by the very municipalities they are supposed to supervise?  Techniques used by hearing examiners to deliver favorable rulings for developers: 1) Procedural Manipulation --aka trickery and deception 2) Scope Narrowing --aka wearing blinders to evidence 3) Standard Inflation --deferential treatment of developers 4) Burden Shifting --lying about appellants submissions 5) Credibility Suppression --demeaning citizens who aren't engineers paid to say what developers want 6) Evidence Minimization --discrediting state and federal environmental concerns 7) Asymmetrical Scrutiny --appellants experts dismissed What is especially interesting about this article are the sources used.   In...
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THE BRIGHT BLUE LINE

The distinction between corruption and thuggery sometimes gets lost in municipal conflict, and of course corruption can lead to thuggery, especially when aided by corrupt local media, but the bright blue line between corruption and thuggery must be maintained. Self-dealing politicians, lying developers, and environmental pollution are one thing, death threats and retaliatory policing another altogether. When a community allows its government to cross that line, no one is safe.
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END BLAINE NIGHTMARE

Citizens of Blaine are understandably ignorant of civic issues, especially crimes by Blaine public officials. The now three-year coverup of these crimes by The Northern Light has kept them in the dark.  As Blaine City Council prepares on June 8 to eliminate public participation by imposing a $7,500 fee to question Blaine Community Development Services about Critical Area determinations and other environmental decisions on proposed developments, the only venue left to citizens is federal court.  The question now facing Blaine citizens is whether they are willing to raise the funds needed to hire competent legal counsel to protect our civil rights, public health and safety from the real estate industry that has taken over our city government. No one but a federal judge can end this nightmare.
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PROSECUTING WHITE COLLAR CRIME

Dear candidates for Whatcom County prosecutor, Blaine City Council's recurring pattern, 2023-2026, of voting on zoning matters in which Blaine officials hold undisclosed financial interests, combined with systematic suppression of public participation and manipulation of public records, represents a serious and ongoing threat to the integrity of local governance .    Below is a discussion of how white collar crime became institutionalized in Blaine, while the county prosecutor did nothing. Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains Self-Dealing Violation On March 9, 2026, Blaine City Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains voted in favor of Ordinance 26-3043, which suspends height, design, and parking requirements in the Central Business District, directly and materially increasing the commercial development potential and real property value of her and her husband's properties downtown. Councilwoman Bains did not disclose these financial interests, either her own commercial property in the affected zo...
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