JUDGE SIGNS PROTECTION ORDERS

Whatcom District Court Judge Angela Anderson signed one-year protection orders against David Brudvik today. Mr. Brudvik threatened four Blaine Water Coalition leaders by name at the Blaine City Council town hall on October 13. Brudvik was ordered to surrender any firearms and other weapons to the Sheriff's Department. He may not contact or come within 1,000 feet of the four petitioners for protection. This means that when any of the four attend a city council or planning commission meeting, Mr. Brudvik cannot be present.

Mayor Mary Lou Steward attended the court hearing, and Chief of Police Rodger Funk was called as a witness by Brudvik. I expect that the mayor is concerned about City of Blaine liability for her inciting violence against us that led to Brudvik's threat. The anonymous letter accusing us of intentionally harming the community echoed previous defamation against us by Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon. This appears to be shaping up as a federal civil rights case against the city. Because the city has apparently engaged in criminal misconduct, the city's insurer won't have to pay. 

This is our second victory in two weeks; on October 22, Whatcom County Council voted to not allow Blaine to annex Birch Point as an Urban Growth Area. According to the county, our lobbying made the difference! Tomorrow, Blaine Water Coalition faces off against Avista at Birch Point Planned Unit Development and City of Blaine lawyers over the failure to conduct an Environmental Impact Study, and the use of maps that are inconsistent with the county and state maps showing Birch Point as one large Critical Aquifer Recharge Area, that must by law be protected. 

Our Avista appeal under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is one of the items mentioned by Brudvik as harming the community. The Avista developer, Ocean Farms LLC, was the sponsor of the misleading direct mail pieces sent to Blaine voters encouraging them to vote YES on Proposition 7 to de-annex part of East Blaine (so they can persuade the county to let them have Birch Point). After the county rejection of Blaine annexations, the Proposition 7 vote is meaningless. It was a fraudulent proposition meant to deceive voters, and should be investigated by the State Auditor.