Blaine Confidential

Madame Watchdog implores Blaine City Council to abide by publicly expected decorum , such as dressing for success, not bringing food items to eat, refraining from texting during meetings, and not taking bathroom breaks in the middle of citizen testimony.  

I initially became involved with the City of Blaine when they tore down the old city hall and I suggested holding a town hall to discuss creating a civic center master plan that included a new library, community art center, and affordable housing condos. When Kulshan Community Land Trust proposed a condo project, I met with their project consultant to show him the architectural drawings of our new library floor plan, which then came to be the partnership between the city, the library system and Kulshan.  Throughout, I recommended convening volunteer committees to assist the city in public outreach through research and education as well as in preparing grants city staff hasn't the time or expertise to do alone. We have a wealth of knowledgeable retirees moving to Blaine with experience that could help achieve revitalization of our city if invited and recognized for their contributions. As I came to realize that the city did not want our help, I asked myself why. Then when I understo...

In my opinion, official misconduct is at the root of Growth Management conflicts in east Blaine and downtown. This official misconduct in violation of the Growth Management Act has corrupted the Comprehensive Plan update process, leading to civic conflict. Knowingly manipulating the public process in violation of the law for the benefit of developers and convenience of city officials is inappropriate. We need to hold the city accountable, and maybe new leadership and voices will emerge by talking to each other about how to move our city forward. Blaine Community Forum is one tool to use toward that end. The City of Blaine could reduce conflict by communicating in two-way town hall discussions such as the Whatcom County Library System did recently on the proposed new library at civic center. The city could also inform its citizens by making the city website user friendly, so citizens can track city projects start to finish online. That would include audiovisual materials, public corresp...

BLAINE COMMUNITY FORUM Ending the Culture of Exclusion at Blaine City Hall Comprehensive Plan Timeline 3/24/2023 Blaine City Council Retreat minutes [ordering Blaine City Manager to instruct Downtown Advisory Committee to recommend comprehensive plan amendments requested by developers] 6/4/2023 Downtown Advisory Committee minutes [vote for developers' comprehensive plan amendments] 7/10/2023 Blaine City Council resolution 1923-23 [forwarding Downtown Advisory Committee's recommendations to Blaine Planning Commission] 1/11/24 Growth Management Act letter to the editor at The Northern Light by Jay Taber [regarding public participation] 2/6/24 Blaine City Manager email to Jay Taber [regarding Downtown Advisory Committee conspiracy] 2/8/24 Blaine Planning Commission minutes [recommending Downtown Advisory Committee amendments] 2/11/24 email from Jay Taber to Blaine Planning Commission [regarding Downtown Advisory Committee conspiracy] 2/12/24 Blaine City Council resolution 1...

BLAINE COMMUNITY FORUM Ending the Culture of Exclusion at Blaine City Hall The primary focus of the DAC [Downtown Advisory Committee] became one of voting on downtown zoning recommendations...and not writing a report to support those recommendations. Only 7 members of the DAC participated in the June 6, 2023, meeting and voted on the Downtown Zoning Code change options provided by CDS [Community Development Services]...when the Committee’s scope is reduced, and the main purpose of the committee is to vote on sensitive and important zoning code changes, a higher test to represent the community appears to exist, and personal conflicts of interest become relevant and important...The appearances of conflicts of interest are significant and bring into question the validity of the DAC’s recommendations... In the summer of 2022, CDS selected candidates for the DAC committee and the applications of these candidates were provided to City Council for review and approval on August 8, 2022. It app...

BLAINE COMMUNITY FORUM Ending the Culture of Exclusion at Blaine City Hall As the city of Blaine experienced unprecedented growth over the last couple of years, citizens from Semiahmoo, Salishan and East Blaine contributed ideas on how to protect critical areas (city aquifer, Cain Creek, Drayton Harbor), how to kickstart prosperity at our civic center (new library, art center), and how to facilitate meaningful public participation in planning our future. As these citizens soon discovered, corruption by Blaine officials of the planning process required under the Washington State Growth Management Act put critical areas, prosperity, and public participation at risk. When these citizens asked questions concerning conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and the city conspiring to violate the Growth Management Act, the city council retaliated. Now that the City of Blaine has closed public comment at their meetings—making Blaine the only city in Whatcom County that excludes public participation...

Citizen letters to Blaine City Council this week include exposure of false claims by Mayor Steward regarding public comment not being allowed in Bellingham City or Whatcom County council meetings, malfeasance , renting the American dream , and land of the silenced .