Blaine Confidential

September 30 letter to City of Blaine: In 1999, the City of Blaine intentionally desecrated a Lummi Nation burial ground on Semiahmoo Spit, unearthing over 100 human remains they threw into the back of a pickup truck, and got caught, costing the city $3.5 million and two acres of land. This propelled Blaine into stardom at Western Washington University urban planning studies, which made the Blaine fiasco a staple in their examples of how not to do urban planning.  Now, with the 2025 Blaine Comprehensive Plan based on perjury by the city manager, self-dealing by Blaine officials, and fraud by the Community Development director, the City of Blaine will enter the major leagues of planning done wrong. Maybe someone will go to jail this time.

September 29 letter to City of Blaine: The City of Blaine  public records controversy  did not happen in a vacuum; it happened due to three years of intense attacks by city staff on Blaine Water Coalition for holding city hall accountable to the Growth Management Act, State Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Water Act, while the city appointed three realtors to Blaine Planning Commission, who promptly rezoned Blaine in violation of these laws and the Ethics in Public Service Act, adding to the numerous acts 2024-2025 of  self-dealing by Blaine officials with direct financial conflicts of interest .  Those of us who protested the free speech ban by the mayor (now 18 months of no oral public comment at city council meetings) and self-dealing by Blaine City Councilman Mike Hill, Downtown Advisory Committee member Gurdeep Bains (husband of Blaine Councilwoman Sarbie Bains), and Blaine Planning Commissioner Sam Randhawa were repeatedly dismissed and defamed by Mayor ...

September 29 letter to Whatcom County: The  excellent op-ed  in The Northern Light by George Erb, secretary of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, explains why Public Records Act requests are important for citizen oversight of their public officials. As Erb notes,  "Embracing transparency would help Blaine City Hall escape the volatile climate that has engulfed it...City officials, starting with mayor Mary Lou Steward, should follow the letter and the spirit of the state Public Records Act...Dismissing records requests as a nuisance completely misses the vital role they play in our civic life. For 53 years, the Public Records Act has proven itself, again and again, as one of our most effective accountability and transparency tools." The controversy created by the mayor is due to city policies developed over the last three years that deprive Blaine citizens of information and a voice. Banning free speech and hiding documents from the public while intimidating tho...

September 29 letter to City of Blaine: The allegations by the City of Blaine that Blaine Water Coalition is costing the city with public records requests belies the fact that the city staff are incompetent to process public records requests, and that the city website is dysfunctional, which generates the requests in the first place. All the information we have requested should have been easily accessible online, thus freeing up staff time.  As an example, we recently requested 200 very specific communications by the city manager; city staff sent us 30,000 communications and a bill for $405.04. We have not had this problem with Whatcom County, which has a functional website and competent staff. Read the op-ed on Blaine by Washington Coalition for Open Government.

September 28 letter to Blaine City Council: The City of Blaine is like a reckless drunk lashing out at anyone who condemns the dishonesty, incompetence, and irresponsibility of the lot of you. Trashing our CARA, turning Drayton Harbor into a cesspool, and greedily committing election fraud (Prop 7) in order to do the same to Birch Bay.   Jay Taber, Blaine Water Coalition

Lisa Guthrie, Past President, Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce Pat Jerns, Birch Bay resident

September 26 letter to Whatcom County: "Managing Extinction" was the takeaway from the Shared Waters presentation by Whatcom Watersheds Information Network at Blaine Public Library yesterday. A sad documentation of the failure of governments--despite heroic efforts by Tribes and First Nations--to prevent the looming extinction of Salish Sea chinook salmon, orcas, and Indigenous cultures. I shared the Whatcom Watch  Blaine Case Study  with the audience, which was surprised to learn that City of Blaine shoreline setbacks (that protect chinook salmon) on Dakota Creek, Cain Creek, and Drayton Harbor were reduced this spring to half that of county standards, in violation of the Clean Water Act. Even more surprised to learn that the Department of Ecology let them. The coverup of these crimes by Cascadia Daily News and The Northern Light on behalf of their developer friends has apparently left everyone in the dark. Meanwhile, Blaine Mayor Steward has attacked Blaine Councilman Lewis...

The 2025 Blaine Comprehensive Plan under the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) relies on 1)  perjury  by City Manager Mike Harmon (regarding adoption of the 2024 Department of Ecology Stormwater Management Manual), 2)  self-dealing  by Blaine officials Mike Hill (city councilman), Gurdeep Bains (downtown developer and Councilwoman Bains husband), and Sam Randhawa (realtor and city planning commissioner), and 3)  fraud  by Community Development director Alex Wenger [altering public records]. Like the deceptive  Proposition 7  titled Reduction of City Limits that is intended to expand the city limits, the comprehensive plan is an  exercise in deception .  The ordinances amending the Blaine Municipal Code that illegally reduced shoreline setbacks on Cain Creek, Dakota Creek, and Drayton Harbor to financially benefit commissioner Randhawa in violation of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and Clean Water Act also increased ...

September 23 letter to Blaine City Council: It was good to see the mayor forced to surrender to public opinion against her for her power play two weeks prior, in which she interfered with the general election by defaming two candidates for Blaine City Council who opposed her February 12, 2024 elimination of free speech. It was amusing to listen to the exchange between Councilman May and City Clerk Crawford about adding the phrase "subject to compliance with state and federal laws" to his motion for paper voting by council in order to avoid undue influence and intimidation by other council members, such as we witnessed numerous times by the disgraced former Councilman Mike Hill. Violation of state and federal laws has never concerned Councilman May or the other council members enough to oppose direct and repeated violation of state and federal laws by Community Development director Alex Wenger, City Manager Mike Harmon, Councilman Hill, Commissioner Randhawa, or Councilwoman B...

September 22 letter to Blaine City Council : It isn't easy to remove a crooked mayor when the city council rubber-stamped every crooked plan brought forth by the crooked planning commission enthrall to the real estate industry. After all, the council never said a word when the mayor allowed Councilman Mike Hill to line his own pockets on Central Business District rezones that skyrocketed the value of his numerous commercial properties downtown.  Nor when Gurdeep Bains, husband of Councilwoman Sarbie Bains, also voted to line his own pockets (and Sarbie's) on the Downtown Advisory Committee--overseen by Community Development director Alex Wenger. And when planning commissioner Sam Randhawa (agent at Freeman Real Estate) likewise voted himself a $50K commission increase and his clients a $2 million windfall by rezoning properties on Cain Creek and Dakota Creek, the city council rubber-stamped that perjury, self-dealing, and fraud by Blaine officials without a peep.  Now you know...

September 20 letter to Whatcom County executive: Does Mayor Steward have a drinking problem? The reason I ask is that she is  exhibiting behavior  common in alcoholics, where one is oblivious to their own shortcomings, and routinely project their personal psychoses on anyone who challenges their outlandish conduct and remarks. Does Mayor Steward think she can just return to business as usual after her over-the-top defamatory remarks on the record and in the press toward Councilman Lewis, myself, candidate Leone, Blaine Water Coalition, and others? Dream on. Does Mayor Steward--who declared war on ethics and free speech--think she can continue as mayor as though nothing happened? That is a classic alcoholic response. What we know is that she is incoherent, vindictive, and likely to explode at any time.  Jay Taber, Blaine Water Coalition

September 20 letter to Blaine City Council: What gets lost in Mayor Steward's delusional ravings against Councilman Lewis and Blaine Water Coalition is the fact that what set her off on her paranoid tirade was that Lewis attempted to establish a Code of Ethics for Blaine officials, and to reinstate Free Speech by returning oral public comment at city council meetings, both of which were opposed by the Blaine City Council. Now that Mayor Steward's pathological lying places Blaine in an extremely vulnerable position in terms of liability--which won't be covered by city insurance due to the underlying official misconduct by the mayor, city manager, development director, and council--removing her from office and firing the city manager is your only way out. I expect, based on your past behavior, that some of you will choose to go down with her. So be it.   Jay Taber, Blaine Water Coalition

Instead of recklessly throwing your weight around in Blaine politics based on lies told to you by our pathological mayor, you could do your homework, where you would discover our mayor's crimes. If you want to serve your constituents rather than crooked politicians like Mayor Steward, you will use your influence to weigh in with the Attorney General and State Auditor, who have knowingly and repeatedly neglected to do their duty to protect us for two years in Blaine.  Jay Taber, Blaine Water Coalition

September 20 letter to Washington Attorney General: The sheer incompetence of Blaine City Council and the unparalleled corruption of Mayor Steward's administration--especially Community Development Services director Alex Wenger and City Manager Mike Harmon--is bankrupting Blaine. Running up $25K per month in legal bills trying to defend her criminal enterprise is unsustainable. In a desperate attempt to avoid prosecution, Steward chose to attack Blaine Water Coalition for holding her and her staff accountable. It is time for the State of Washington to end official misconduct in our city. Jay Taber, Blaine Water Coalition More info: REGULATORY CAPTURE BLAINE CASE STUDY  

September 20 letter to Whatcom County: The City of Blaine Comprehensive Plan cannot come into compliance with the Growth Management Act, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), or Clean Water Act until Blaine City Council repeals the Self-Dealing Ordinances involving three Blaine officials voting on rezones over the East Blaine city aquifer, in the Central Business District, and on Cain Creek, Dakota Creek, and Drayton Harbor. These rezone votes included Blaine officials Mike Hill, Gurdeep Bains, and Sam Randhawa who all failed to recuse themselves when voting on increasing the value of properties in which they had a direct financial conflict of interest. Mayor Steward, responsible under the Blaine Municipal Code and State Ethics in Public Service Act for preventing conflicts of interest, never once said a word--thus enabling perjury, self-dealing, and fraud.  

The false Prop 7 narrative that de-annexing Grandis Pond is necessary to save it is ridiculous. All the city council has to do is redesignate the East Blaine Urban Growth Area (UGA) as a conservation area.  The city didn't need to place a proposition on the ballot in order to do that. Prop 7 is only for deceiving Blaine voters, in order to get the county to let the city annex Birch Point.  If the city annexes Birch Point, they will have to pump sewage all the way around Drayton Harbor to the Lighthouse Point (Marine Park) treatment plant.  The Reduction of City Limits Proposition 7 is intentionally misleading. This "UGA Swap"* is the first step in expanding the city limits by 759 acres in the Semiahmoo headlands to accommodate 1,500 luxury homes, which will SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE BLAINE UTILITY BILLS, and could easily cost over $100 million for sewer, water, and stormwater upgrades. Four qualified applicants against Prop 7 were rejected by Blaine City Council,...

Whatcom County 20-year plan for Birch Bay

Whatcom County Voters Guide City of Blaine Prop 7

September 19 letter to Whatcom County: One way for Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward to reduce the $25K per month legal bill from CSD Law firm is to stop aiding and abetting crimes by Blaine officials, such as City Manager Mike Harmon, Community Development Services director Alex Wenger, Councilman Mike Hill, Planning Commissioner Sam Randhawa, and Downtown Advisory Committee member Gurdeep Bains, husband of Councilwoman Sarbie Bains.  If they stop committing crimes, she won't have to run to the lawyers all the time.  

September 19 letter to Whatcom County: Under the six-year reign of Mayor Mary Lou Steward, the City of Blaine has been an exceptionally poor steward of the salmon streams and estuary that defines our community. In February, Mayor Steward was  interviewed on CBC radio , where she stated that Blaine was improving Semiahmoo Bay for development of the shellfish industry, which was a complete lie.  Under Steward's reign, Cain Creek greenway has been characterized by neglect, allowing the stream-shading conifers to die from English Ivy invasion, and the Dakota Creek/Drayton Harbor estuary to be polluted by stormwater runoff from Planned Unit Developments over our city aquifer that she unlawfully railroaded through the planning process without a single Environmental Impact Statement.  When the Washington State Department of Transportation announced plans to replace a culvert for Cain Creek under Peace Portal Way as part of  salmon restoration , City Councilman Mike Hill--wh...

September 18 letter to Whatcom County: In her  May 18, 2022 ,  letter to Blaine and Whatcom County  governments, April Hashimoto submitted a petition representing 455 residents of Blaine in Semiahmoo, noting their concerns with Semiahmoo uplands development and lack of compliance with development codes. (Blaine's codes are far weaker than Whatcom County's, unenforced, and are frequently violated by waivers issued to friends of Blaine Community Development Services.) As Ms. Hashimoto observed, "the city council and county council have a fiduciary duty to ensure that growth is managed in compliance with federal, state, and local laws, particularly the Growth Management Act and State Environmental Policy Act ("SEPA")." The petitioners demanded among other items a comprehensive storm water strategy that meets the standards of Washington State, and an Environmental Impact Study--neither of which has been done by the City of Blaine in the three years since. Writin...

  Birch Bay residents opposed to Blaine annexation of Birch Point give Whatcom County an earful.

September 18 letter to Whatcom County: The  City of Blaine Comprehensive Plan  process--characterized by official perjury, self-dealing, and fraud--is a  Case Study  in  Regulatory Capture , a system designed to undermine public participation in order to serve special interests, in this case, the real estate industry. In a scheme to do an end run around the requirement for "early, continuous, and inclusive public participation throughout the planning process" under the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), Blaine set about vigorously pursuing back room deals with developers that culminated in a blitzkrieg of Planned Unit Developments and expanding Urban Growth Areas without a single Environmental Impact Statement.  No public orientation  to the 10-year comprehensive plan update was ever done, and the retaliatory  free speech ban  on oral public comment at city council meetings--imposed by Mayo...

September 17 letter to Whatcom County : The alleged "anonymous letter" Mayor Steward relied on for her completely unsubstantiated accusations against Blaine Water Coalition and its leadership, from a dubious group named Stronger Blaine, reads like something Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon would cook up with his developer pals like disgraced former Blaine City Council member, crook, and thug Mike Hill.  Harmon fabricated false charges against Blaine Water Coalition leaders several times before, so it's no surprise he might again attempt such an act of revenge. Harmon will never be able to work in the public sector again once fired from his present position for several counts of misconduct. This desperate, ill-advised attack should be investigated by the county prosecutor. Mayor Steward's lack of due diligence in verifying libelous claims prior to making them herself, on the record and in the press, makes her and the city liable. Projecting her psychosis onto her oppone...

September 17 letter to city council: Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward didn't just allow self-dealing by Blaine officials Gurdeep Bains, Mike Hill, and Sam Randhawa to take place on her watch; she enthusiastically supported it with her votes and recent attack on whistleblowers calling her out for official misconduct, which is her administration's calling card. One perjury after another, culminating in the election fraud (Prop 7). As the person responsible for preventing financial conflicts of interest by city officials, Mayor Steward has repeatedly failed to exercise her duty of care under the Blaine Municipal Code and state Ethics in Public Service Act. On at least six occasions, she and fellow council members raised no questions of impropriety as they helped these officials increase the value of their commercial properties in the Central Business District/UMU rezones by their votes. This is what's known as a pattern of misconduct. Without the coverup by CDN and The Northern L...

September 16 letter to Whatcom County: When you're the head of a criminal enterprise masquerading as a municipal government, official misconduct is your MO. Mayor Steward's coverup of self-dealing by Blaine officials Mike Hill, Gurdeep Bains, and Sam Randhawa and other acts of official misconduct requires frequently checking in with the city attorney Peter Ruffatto to see what she can get away with, knowing The Northern Light has her back. (Mayor Steward has the back of the real estate industry, and The Northern Light's bread and butter is real estate advertising--a colossal conflict of interest.)  With Mayor Steward constantly running to the city attorneys (whom we pay) for advice on how to defeat civic reform, environmental protection, and the rule of law, city legal bills have doubled to $25K per month. Her biggest gripe in her September 8 meltdown at city council was that Councilman Lewis made motions for adoption of a code of ethics for Blaine officials and that oral p...

September 16 letter to Auditor: In an attempt to influence the city council election in Ward 2, Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward apparently enlisted the help of State Senator Sharon Shewmake, State Representative Joe Timmons, and State Representative Alicia Rule, who was formerly on Blaine City Council. By endorsing Isaac Newland over Ray Leone, our state legislators threw their weight behind the Mayor's choice, otherwise known as the realtors' slate. Steward apparently holds a grudge against Leone for his part in the free speech protest of the Mayor's oral public comment ban. Hoping to keep control of the council by the real estate industry--which has taken over city planning with the appointment of three realtors to Blaine Planning Commission--Mayor Steward is protecting self-dealing Blaine officials Mike Hill, Gurdeep Bains, and Sam Randhawa, all of whom voted as Blaine officials to line their own pockets through their votes to amend the zoning on their commercial propertie...

 ------- Forwarded Message ------- From: SaveBlaine@proton.me <SaveBlaine@proton.me> Date: On Monday, September 15th, 2025 at 12:44 PM Subject: Request for Investigation for Potential Official Misconduct RCW 9A.80.010 To: rfunk@cityofblaine.com <rfunk@cityofblaine.com>, police@cityofblaine.com <police@cityofblaine.com>, citycouncil@cityofblaine.com <citycouncil@cityofblaine.com>, pruffatto@csdlaw.com <pruffatto@csdlaw.com>, jsitkin@csdlaw.com <jsitkin@csdlaw.com> CC: RMay@cityofblaine.com <RMay@cityofblaine.com>, SHurt@cityofblaine.com <SHurt@cityofblaine.com>, Eric Lewis <ELewis@cityofblaine.com>, EDavidson@cityofblaine.com <EDavidson@cityofblaine.com>, msteward@cityofblaine.com <msteward@cityofblaine.com>, rlopez@cityofblaine.com <rlopez@cityofblaine.com>, sbains@cityofblaine.com <sbains@cityofblaine.com> To the  Chief of Police,...

Letters to Whatcom County from Birch Bay residents against the UGA Swap and Blaine's attempt to annex county land adjacent to Birch Bay that threatens their community: Sharman Burnam Danielle Gaughen  Birch Bay Community Advisory Committee, Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce

[In the following email exchange, Senator Sharon Shewmake defends her friend Mayor Steward.] September 14, 2025, email from Jay Taber to Mayor Steward: Mayor Steward's incitement of violence against members of Blaine Water Coalition and Councilman Lewis needs to be investigated by the Whatcom County Prosecutor, Eric Richey. Regarding  The Northern Light September 10, 2025, story  about Mayor Steward's unhinged attack on Blaine Water Coalition,  there's a clue in the alleged anonymous letter in the part about city employees accused of crimes by us not being able to get jobs elsewhere. As the person who defamed us several times on the record and in the press, Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon is the most likely to be sacrificed as the fall guy when  the truth about Blaine  becomes known. Harmon knows how precarious the city's finances are, and can see the writing on the wall with the UGA Swap--city hall's salvation--likely to go down in flames before the county plan...