Blaine Confidential

3/28/25 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: As noted in  this article  in The Northern Light, there are limitations to the number of new homes Blaine's sewer treatment plant can handle, and that the upgrades to the sewer system that would be required for the 1,000 new homes on the Semiahmoo peninsula (proposed by Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger) would require a substantial increase in utility bills city wide.  While it is advisable to reduce the Urban Growth Area (UGA) in East Blaine due to its unlawful location over the Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA) for the City of Blaine drinking water, designating a new UGA on the Semiahmoo peninsula threatens Drayton Harbor, endangered chinook salmon, and the natural/cultural resources of Lummi Nation--including their ancient village site and burial ground on Semiahmoo spit.

3/21/25 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: Environmental Injustice  is when county, state, and federal agencies such as the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fail to enforce the State Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act, leaving it to community activists such as Blaine Water Coalition to take on local governments in federal court for destroying municipal aquifers, salmon streams, and waters of the United States.  When local governments such as Blaine, Washington fight against citizens attempting to uphold the law, the environmental injustice of the  governmental system  that routinely and openly does not enforce the law is glaringly obvious. While no one in Whatcom County government seems to care about the City of Blaine and its residents, citizens of Washington State need to know that what has happened in our community could happen in theirs. 

3/20/25 letter to City of Blaine: On February 14, 2025, when Blaine Water Coalition notified Blaine City Council that Washington State law requires the City of Blaine to use the 2024 Stormwater Management Manual, Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger and Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon both told you at the February 24, 2025 city council meeting that they are using the 2019 manual and that the 2024 manual is optional. When we exposed that as a lie, Mr. Wenger changed his story and said that the city council does not need to adopt the 2024 manual because his department has been using it since August 1, 2024. The problem with that fairy tale is that only the city council can adopt the manual, not Alex the Great. On February 18, 2025, Alex Wenger omitted Blaine Water Coalition comments from the public record prepared for Blaine Hearing Examiner Phil Olbrechts regarding usage of the 2024 manual claiming our submission was not filed in time. When we submitted a screensho...

3/20/25 letter to City of Blaine: Seeing how you have rejected adopting a code of ethics for Blaine elected officials, you are left with Rule 22 of the  Blaine City Council Rules of Procedure .  Rule 22 Each member present shall vote on all questions put to the City Council except on matters in which he or she has been disqualified for a conflict of interest or under the appearance of fairness doctrine. Such member shall disqualify himself or herself prior to any discussion of the matter and shall leave the City Council Chambers. Councilman Mike Hill has violated Rule 22 around a dozen times 2022-2024, and Mayor Steward neglected her duty to uphold the rules, which each city council member is required to read and support. Not one of you has raised this issue of Hill's self-dealing to financially benefit himself in his role as an elected official.  

3/19/25 letter to Whatcom County Executive: Dear Whatcom County Executive Sidhu, The two hundred and eleven $1.5 million condos proposed for Semiahmoo Spit in violation of the State Environmental Policy Act, Shoreline Management Act, and the Clean Water Act are but one example of the environmental injustice now perpetrated by the City of Blaine that threatens the Drayton Harbor watershed, endangered chinook salmon, and the treaty rights of Lummi Nation. As Drayton Harbor is an impaired water body that falls under the protections of the federal Clean Water Act, Whatcom County--which has invested millions in the Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District--has an obligation to hold Blaine accountable. You have not done that.

3/19/25 letter to Whatcom County Executive: Dear Whatcom County Executive Sidhu, In our extensive two-year correspondence with the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington Attorney General, and the Washington Governor, we were told repeatedly that if we want the Growth Management Act (GMA), the Shoreline Management Act (SMA), or the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) enforced in Blaine, Whatcom County, and Washington State, we have to sue in court. These state agencies stated repeatedly to us that  they do not enforce the law .  This exclusive policy at the top management levels of state agencies is alarming, but you have the authority to  bring a halt to the corruption in Blaine  city government and  bring Blaine into compliance with the law . There is nothing inclusive about telling concerned citizens that local governments can break the law with impunity and that their  only recourse is to come up with $100,000 minimum to defend their ci...

3/19/25 letter to Whatcom County Executive: Dear Whatcom County Executive Sidhu, Public participation is the cornerstone of the  2025 Comprehensive Plan update  under the Growth Management Act (GMA). As the governing document that determines our environmental protection policies for the next ten years, public participation is essential to its validity under the law. The Whatcom Comprehensive Plan update page on your website has a public comment archive by month, which I have used extensively since October 2024.  One of the requirements of GMA is two-way communication, so that public participation is meaningful, not just something to pay lip service to. Unfortunately, lip service is what we get from Whatcom County government, as I have not received a single reply from the County Council, you, nor the Whatcom County Prosecutor about the strategic undermining of public participation by the City of Blaine in planning our future. Our volunteer citizen group Blaine Water Coalit...

3/18/25 letter to City of Blaine: I can see why Blaine City Councilman Davidson opposes adopting a code of ethics for elected officials. As council liaison to the infamous Downtown Advisory Committee--a self-dealing charade orchestrated by Alex Wenger, director of Blaine Community Development Services--Davidson was responsible for monitoring and reporting on the discussions and recommendations from the committee to the city. When committee member and downtown developer Gurdeep Bains voted to amend the zoning for his properties, he was lining his own pocket, and that is a crime in Washington state for public officials. Davidson never said a word.

3/18/25 letter to City of Blaine: It is on Mayor Mary Lou Steward to end the ongoing corruption by Blaine City Councilman Mike Hill. All she has to do is instruct Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon to confer with Blaine City Attorney Peter Ruffato and get back to her with a plan to force Hill to recuse himself from discussions and votes on amendments to the Blaine Municipal Code that financially benefit him. That is her duty, and has been ever since Hill first voted to line his own pockets, a practice that has become routine over the past three years without a word from the mayor or other council members.  

[ Introduction to the June 3, 2024, Blaine Water Coalition formal complaint to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] Ms. Lilian Dorka  Director U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of External Civil Rights Compliance (ECRCO) Mail Code 2310A 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20460  June 3, 2024  Dear Ms. Dorka,  We are residents of the City of Blaine and Whatcom County, Washington. We believe the City of Blaine does not balance the interests of its citizens in protecting Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas (CARAs) and Critical Resource Areas (CRAs) that ensure resilience, sustainability and safe affordable drinking water for our community and others served by our water supply. The City is discriminating against low, fixed-income and disadvantaged citizens by making it impossible for citizens to comment, modify or appeal development plans that endanger our community’s public health, welfare and safety. The City of Blaine has consistently failed to...

3/17/25 letter to City of Blaine: At the  March 24, 2023 Blaine City Council and Department Head Retreat , Blaine Community Development Services (CDS) presented an Executive Summary of the work completed by the Downtown Advisory Committee (DAC).  The city council then authorized Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon to, "develop a plan to render recommendations from the Committee"  for the purpose of 1. Reducing parking requirements, and  2. Increasing building heights in the Central Business District  (CBD). This predetermined plan--absent any public participation whatsoever--violated the Washington State Growth Management Act  (GMA), overseen by the Whatcom County Council. Blaine CDS Director Stacie Pratschner (now with the City of Mount Vernon) and her assistant Alex Wenger (subsequently appointed to replace her) then carried out their  unlawful instructions from city manager Harmon . To illustrate Ms. Pratschner's lack of integrity, she was also inf...

3/17/25 letter to Blaine City Council: As community activists at Blaine Water Coalition have learned all too well over the last two years, democracy is an achievement, not a gift in the City of Blaine. We are not there yet, but the media coverup that enabled the dismantling of democracy by Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger and Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon is about to end. We are no longer intimidated by the trickery and deceit perpetrated by Wenger, Harmon, and Mayor Mary Lou Steward in cahoots with the thuggery of Blaine City Councilman Mike Hill. All of you will go down in infamy.  Democracy is rising in Blaine, and the city council is on the wrong side.  Even your favorite environment-destroying developer (there are several) Skip Jansen can't save you from the looming judicial nemesis.

3/17/25 letter to Blaine City Council: Apparently, if you want to become a pariah on the Blaine City Council, all you have to do is suggest Blaine follow the  rule of law  using the most current stormwater management manual, restore  free speech  in the form of oral public comment at council meetings, and adopt a  code of ethics  for elected officials. All three motions by Councilman Lewis were rejected by Blaine City Council, with coaching from Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon and Blaine City Attorney Peter Ruffato. Maybe they can shoot the sequel to  Deliverance  in Blaine.

3/16/25 letter to Lummi Nation and Whatcom County: Please read the November 26, 2024,  Semiahmoo PUD Amendment  analysis by Blaine Water Coalition of the proposed  211-unit condominium complex and parking lot  within the state-required shoreline setback from Drayton Harbor on Semiahmoo Spit.  Our community citizen group has volunteered thousands of hours to improve the quality of life and resources for Blaine residents, including protecting ecological resources, public assets, water resources, sites of historical significance and tribal rights.

3/16/25 letter to Whatcom County and Lummi Nation: Water pollution can degrade our surface waters, making them unsafe for drinking, fishing, swimming and other activities. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s)  National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System  (NPDES) permit program, created in 1972 by the  Clean Water Act , helps address water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. (See  National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Basics ) The Clean Water Act prohibits anybody from discharging "pollutants" through a "point source" into a  "water of the United States"  unless they have an NPDES permit .  NPDES permits in Washington State are issued by the  Department of Ecology . According to the EPA, the 33,923 acre  Dakota Creek-Frontal Drayton Harbor watershed  is an impaired water body.  Stormwater runoff into Dakota Creek and Drayton Harbor from  ...

3/13/25 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: Blaine City Council at the March 10, 2025, meeting rejected the motion by Councilman Lewis to establish a code of ethics for City of Blaine officials using the City of Ferndale code as an example. Ferndale's code, like that of Whatcom County, is typical in that it is designed to prevent council members from lining their own pockets by their official votes. Below is a comparison between the rules of procedure in Blaine and Ferndale. Blaine City Council Rules of Procedure   Rule 22 Each member present shall vote on all questions put to the City Council except on matters in which he or she has been disqualified for a conflict of interest or under the appearance of fairness doctrine. Such member shall disqualify himself or herself prior to any discussion of the matter and shall leave the City Council Chambers. Rule 29 Councilmembers should recognize that the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine does not require that a conflict of interes...

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, ...