Blaine Confidential

The Stormwater Manual fraud by Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger is, like his many other acts of fraud, doomed to failure. Last Blaine City Council meeting, Wenger, Gandhi, and Harmon  all said that the City of Blaine was using the 2019 DOE Stormwater Management Manual and that the 2024 manual is optional . In the interim, Wenger et al came up with the clever idea that  they would tell the city council they actually have been using the 2024 manual but not applying it because the PUDs were vested under the 2019 manual  prior to August 1, 2024 (2024 manual effective date).  However, vesting PUDs or other amendments to the Blaine Municipal Code using fraudulent SEPA determinations is illegal. Applications approved under unlawful SEPA determinations are invalid, and  all these PUD SEPAs were fraudulent . 

3/5/25 letters to City of Blaine from Blaine Water Coalition: Mike-Harmon-Failure-to-Acknowledge-Receipt-of-Complaint-recusal-by-Mike-Hill-in-City-Voting City-of-Blaine-is-non-compliant-on-its-comprehensive-growth-plan-submission Failure-by-CDS-to-include-timely-public-comments-for-Hearing-Examiner-Record Fourth-time-provision-of-timely-comments-and-refusal-by-CDS-to-consider-2024-Western-Washington-Storm-Manual Fw--Part-2---Urgent-Action-Needed-Blaines-Stormwater-Violations-and-Benzene-Risk-to--WOTUS-Drayton-Harbor Fw-DOE-Report-submission-for-Mike-Harmon-and-Harpier-Gandhi---environmental-issue-regarding-City-of-Blaine-non-compliance Fw-SEPA-APPEAL---DNS-2025006---City-of-Blaine-WA--Planned-Commercial-PC-Zoning-District-Update---DRAYTON-HARBOR-impact Fw-SEPA-Appeal-Unfair-SEPA-agency-appeal-process-at-City-of-Blaine-Saving-Money-Let-Whatcom-County-run-SEPA-for-Blaine Request-for-Intervenor-status-and-notification-of-formal-grievance-filed-for-SEPA-appeal-denial-with-EPA-Whatcom-Count...

3/7/25 letter to City of Blaine : As I understand it, Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon was notified in October 2024 by the Blaine Boys and Girls Club director that the toilet was leaking water and they had to constantly mop the floor when Blaine children used it. Three months later, in January 2025, Blaine Public Works reportedly sent someone to fix it. It soon started leaking again, and as of a couple weeks ago, had yet to be replaced with a new toilet. If it were your children that had to endure this negligence by the City of Blaine, would you tolerate this misfeasance?

3/7/25 letter to City of Blaine : Once the story of corruption in Blaine breaks in regional media, Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon and Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger will no longer be able to work in public service. Even if they somehow manage to avoid criminal prosecution, their careers are over. No public institution will hire them again after their names and crimes are known.

3/5/25 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: Under the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA), Whatcom County is required to harmonize its Comprehensive Plan with the City of Blaine Comprehensive Plan. That has not happened.  As an example, Whatcom County and State of Washington shoreline setbacks are 200 feet. The City of Blaine shoreline setbacks are 100 feet. Whatcom County and the State of Washington use the state-mandated 2024 Department of Ecology Stormwater Management Manual. The City of Blaine uses the outdated 2019 manual. Cumulative impact analysis is required by the state and county. Blaine's last assessment was in 2006.  The City of Blaine is not even following its own 100 foot setback requirement, and is armoring the coastline with 8 violations reported by Blaine Water Coalition to Blaine building codes enforcement and no action was taken. City of Blaine plans to develop additional properties on the shoreline of Drayton Harbor that violate both setba...

3/4/25 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: From: DonnaBlaine <DonnaBlaine@proton.me> Date: On Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 at 12:38 PM Subject: Re: Does This Hot Mic Moment Catch the City Plotting A Citizen's Arrest? To: Richard May <RMay@cityofblaine.com> CC: Eric Lewis <ELewis@cityofblaine.com> Richard, by you telling me that this was "not a secret plot," you have just now  victimized me again . This did happen. I was warned by someone who actually  HEARD  the conversation  FIRST HAND  that city council and the police were going to arrest outspoken citizens. This person knows more about the law than you. This person did not tell me that the mayor might ask me to leave the room. This person told me there was a plan to  ARREST CITIZENS .  You are wrong when you said, "this doesn't mean someone gets arrested....unless you punch the cop, or handcuff yourself to a table, or refuse to leave unless dragged out kicking and screaming, ...

3/4/25 letter to Whatcom County Council: Thirty years ago, when I led North Cascades Audubon Society et al to victory at the Washington Supreme Court--establishing legal precedent for Critical Areas protection statewide--little did I think at the time that I would need to go to federal court decades later to force the State of Washington to uphold the law. Both Whatcom County and the State of Washington have turned a blind eye to official corruption in Blaine, despite our numerous letters over the last two years to the Washington Attorney General, Washington Department of Ecology, Whatcom County Council, Whatcom County Executive, and Whatcom County Prosecutor asking for help. This willful negligence by county and state authorities has allowed the City of Blaine to violate county, state, and federal laws with impunity. Whatcom County won't even protect Blaine citizens from assault by public officials at Blaine City Council meetings. Our civil rights are stomped on daily. What is wro...

3/4/25 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: Appealing fraudulent SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) decisions by Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger costs $2,500. Citizen SEPA appeals in Seattle cost $150, in Spokane $100.  The City of Blaine is forcing us to pay a fortune in Superior Court where the City's attorney CSD law has influence with the Whatcom County judges.  This is environmental injustice and a violation of our civil rights  requiring us to hire expensive lawyers, all due to corruption at the State and County governments that allowed the City of Blaine to do this to us over the last three years. Governor Ferguson as Washington Attorney General had a chance to end this corruption in Blaine and his staff blew us off. Now we are forced to sue in federal court to clean up the mess Ferguson should have cleaned up.  

To quote Donna, "Let’s be absolutely clear. Council Member Lewis was explicit in his motion when he stated: "Madam Mayor – I’d like to propose a motion to restore oral public comments at Blaine   CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ."   The emphasis on   CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS   was intentional. A town hall is not a Blaine City Council Meeting, despite the mayor’s attempt to conflate the two. She even acknowledged that a quorum isn’t required, and that attendance isn’t mandatory for council members. A town hall is no different than the one held in the Salishan neighborhood or an informal gathering at Starbucks. It is   not   a study session, an executive session, a council retreat, or—most importantly—a   Blaine City Council Meeting,   as clearly motioned by Councilmember Lewis."

3/3/25 letter to Blaine City Manager : Dear Mr. Harmon and Mr. Wenger, Blaine City Attorney Peter Ruffato has a conflict of interest for which he should be disbarred. He has not exercised his duty of care. His failure to correctly advise Blaine City Council at the February 24, 2025 meeting regarding the  mandatory 2024 Department of Ecology Stormwater Management Manual  and the  Code of Ethics  motion introduced by Councilman Lewis violates the  Blaine City Council Rules of Procedure .  Section IV--Order of Business and Agenda Rule 13 — Council Meeting Agenda The City Clerk, under the direction of the City Manager, shall arrange a list of such matters according to the Order of Business and prepare an Agenda for the City Council. After the proposed Agenda has been approved by the City Manager, a copy of the Agenda and supporting materials shall be prepared for City Councilmembers, the City Manager, the public, and the press at least twenty-four (24) hours be...

3/2/25 letter to City of Blaine : Councilman Lewis February 10, 2025 motion-- Restore Oral Public Comment : 3 minutes per person,  twice a month ,  on the record , at city council meetings. Mayor Steward February 24, 2025 motion-- Initiate   Phony Town Halls : no guarantee of time to speak,  once a month  for 30 minutes,  off the record , before city council meetings.

3/2/25 letter to City of Blaine : According to Blaine City Councilman  Richard May , he and Blaine City Attorney  Peter Ruffato  came up with the idea to  sabotage Councilman Lewis'  February 10, 2025  motion to restore oral public comment at city council meetings.  Mayor Steward--who unilaterally (and without opposition from the city council) banned free speech a year earlier--then  violated the Blaine City Council Rules of Procedure  and introduced a separate unrelated motion on February 24, 2025 to have  phony 'town halls'  that are  off the record, do not allow three minutes per person, and  with council attendance optional.   The oral public comment at city council meetings  previously allowed any citizen three minutes . Mayor Steward's proposal limits the total 'town hall' time to 30 minutes. And unlike the 6pm start time, a 5:30 start time makes it difficult for people who work 9-5 to make it. Luckily,...

3/2/25 letter to City of Blaine : As the  judicial nemesis  deadline approaches, you might want to consider the consequences of lying  under oath  before a federal judge. For those of you accustomed to telling lies and half-truths without consequence, this will be a new and educational experience. Some of you could become  cooperating witnesses , which might reduce your culpability. Some could  go to jail .

3/2/25 letter to City of Blaine : On February 27, 2025, three Blaine Water Coalition activists spoke to the Whatcom County Planning Commission itemizing the many laws intentionally broken by the City of Blaine over the last two years. Their three-minute statements exposed 'the machine' we are up against here in Blaine: 1. the Police, 2. the Press, and 3. the City . Specific recommendations to the commission--which oversees the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan--included informing the City of Blaine that the 2024 Department of Ecology Stormwater Management Manual is mandatory , and that development proposals approved using the 2019 manual are invalid . Listen to the three excellent testimonies by Blaine Water Coalition here .

3/2/25 letter to City of Blaine : An alternative scenario to being shredded in federal court and  publicly humiliated  in the Seattle Times is  unconditional surrender by the City of Blaine , admission of your many crimes against our community, and request for assistance by state and federal agencies that can help to reestablish the  rule of law  in Blaine. Perhaps under the supervision of a federal trustee.

3/2/25 letter to City of Blaine : Apparently, the  'town hall' cabal  that unlawfully hijacked the  restoring oral public comment  motion by Councilman Lewis at the 2/10/25 Blaine City Council meeting--in order to  prevent the public from speaking on the record  and telling the truth about  City of Blaine official corruption-- was hatched by Councilman May in cahoots with Blaine City Attorney Peter Ruffato, who counseled the council on ethics later that day. If true,  Councilman May conspired with the city attorney to violate the Blaine City Council Rules of Procedure  in order to continue the  ban on free speech  declared by Mayor Steward on 2/12/2024. This is grounds for removal of Steward, May and Ruffato from their official City of Blaine positions, and possible loss of Ruffato's license to practice law.

3/1/25 letter to Blaine Planning Commission and Whatcom County Planning Commission : The Blaine  Planned Commercial to Urban Mixed Use Rezone Proposal  at the mouth of Dakota Creek cannot legally proceed until the City of Blaine revises its Shoreline Management Plan and  setback requirements for wetlands and shorelines of statewide significance  to harmonize with the setback recommendations of the Washington State Department of Ecology and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as with those of Whatcom County under the Washington State  Growth Management Act and Shoreline Management Act. Endangered species such as juvenile chinook salmon in the Drayton Harbor estuary  for Dakota and California Creeks use eelgrass along shorelines to hide from predators, and the unlawful shoreline armoring elsewhere in Drayton Harbor and Semiahmoo Bay--allowed by the City of Blaine--combined with an ongoing  track record of falsifying SEPA documents  by Blaine Commu...

3/1/25 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: The Blaine Comprehensive Plan is not--as required--harmonized with the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan under the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA). In particular, the  destruction of community forests  over our drinking water aquifer and on the Semiahmoo peninsula not only  violate GMA , but also  impair cultural tribal resources  and  perpetuate environmental injustice  while  threatening the public health and safety  of Blaine citizens.  No  Critical Areas analysis  or  cumulative impact analysis  of razing Blaine's community forests has been done.  Critical wetlands, shorelines and streams are being polluted  by substandard stormwater management and  fraudulent State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) designations  by Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger and the failure of the City of Blaine to adopt the require...

3/1/25 letter to City of Blaine : In case you hadn't noticed,  the Community Development Services (CDS) shell game is up . CDS director Alex Wenger and his partner in crime Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon have been  caught lying to you on the record at the February 24, 2025 Blaine City Council meeting  about their illegal use of the outdated 2019 Washington State Department of Ecology Stormwater Management Manual, and Alex Wenger has been  caught altering public records to cover up this malfeasance.  Grace McCarthy won't be able to  cover up your crimes  forever, and when this sordid tale breaks in the Seattle Times, you will be the laughing stock in Washington state. I don't expect you to change your ways by having  criminal charges brought against Harmon and Wenger , but you can avoid some of the pain by firing them now. These two should never again hold a position in public service, and they will be  publicly humiliated --along with yourse...