Blaine Confidential

March 31 letter to Blaine City Clerk: I have yet to receive a response to my March 15, 2026 letter to Blaine City Clerk Samuel Crawford regarding the March 9, 2026  Interim Zoning Control Ordinance  voted on by Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains. Bains' self-inurement vote that financially benefits her family's four commercial properties violates the Blaine City Council Rules of procedure, and under state law requires that she immediately forfeit her public office on the city council. Councilmember Bains did not disclose these financial interests, either her own commercial property in the affected zone or her spouse's property interests, before deliberations or the vote. She did not recuse herself. She knowingly voted in favor of legislation that directly benefits her family's financial interests. RCW 42.23.070 prohibits municipal officers from: "(1) Using his or her position to secure special privileges or exemptions for himself, herself, or others…"  By voting to...

Imagine the chaos of downtown Blaine when hundreds of cars belonging to the new condominium tenants occupy all on-street parking, and downtown business employees and customers are forced to park in the Salishan neighborhood. Imagine the Fourth of July or Christmas tree lighting events. If six-story condominiums are to dominate the Central Business District, the beneficiaries of this public largesse should be required to build a parking garage above our new library. But that would require that Blaine City Council serve the public interest, a very long shot at best.

What were the odds that seven fascists would comprise the entire Blaine City Council? With the help of The Northern Light, pretty good. Barely three months into their criminal reign, they gave away public assets to a downtown Canadian developer --enriching Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains in the process--and violated the civil rights of open government activists by supporting police misconduct against them.

While other communities join the million trees project, planting urban forests for oxygen and serenity, Blaine can't cut down its urban forests fast enough. All in pursuit of luxury home sales taxes.  

October 9, 2025  LTE from Dave Wilbrecht , (former Blaine City Manager) mirroring Jay Taber's  EXERCISE IN DECEPTION   handout at the Comprehensive Plan presentation on September 30, derailed current city manager Mike Harmon's scheme. October 13, 2025 David Brudvik, a supporter of Harmon and Mayor Steward,   issues death threats against Taber and three of his  open government  associates. October 21, 2025 Blaine Chief of Police sends BPD officers to the homes of Taber et al to intimidate them. November 4, 2025 Judge Angela Anderson issues civil protection orders for Taber et al, and surrender of two dozen firearms by Brudvik to the county sheriff. November 8, 2025 Ferndale Police Officer Richard Hart releases defamatory report against Taber et al on instructions emanating from Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk via Ferndale PD Chief Matt Huffman. December 5, 2025 Judge Anderson overruled Whatcom County Prosecutor and Chief Funk's testimony, reje...

March 28 letter to Blaine City Council: Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, wrote dystopian novels where fire departments burn books. Bradbury would have had a field day in Blaine, where  police intimidate citizens speaking out against self-dealing  by Blaine officials, like Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains, who on March 9, 2026, unlawfully  voted to enrich herself  by rezoning her family's four commercial properties downtown.  Blaine City Council's  decision to support police misconduct  and thuggery by Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon will end up costing the city much more than the roughly half a million dollars it wasted on lawyers to tell them how to get away with breaking the law over the last two years. Violating the constitutional rights of citizen whistleblowers is much more serious than routine municipal corruption by Blaine officials Mike Hill, Sam Randhawa, Sarbjit Bains, Mike Harmon, and Rodger Funk; it will spell the end of Harmon's public ca...

Fighting the twin evils of municipal corruption and media coverup in Blaine requires fortitude, and money. Now that The Northern Light is trying to get us killed for being responsible citizens in an irresponsible city, this fight will end up in federal court. Kari Mar will pay for her neglect.

When The Northern Light news incites murder against open government activists for holding the city manager and chief of police accountable, who can these law-abiding citizens call for help? Not the police. Not the county prosecutor. Not the state attorney general. We tried all that. Looks like federal court is the only way of ending criminal enterprise at Blaine City Hall.

Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon and The Northern Light publisher Kari Mar are apparently trying to get Donna McGaffic murdered. Demonizing her and other activists holding Harmon and Mar accountable is tantamount to inciting murder. Harmon and Mar will pay for this betrayal of public trust.

The March 26, 2026  article in The Northern Light   identifies me as a member of Save Blaine, which I have never been. I was a member of Blaine Water Coalition speakers bureau, as noted on my June 25, 2025  Blaine City Council application . I explained all this in January to the new publisher, Kari Mar. In 2023, prior to my involvement, Save Blaine called out Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward for allowing self-dealing by Councilman Mike Hill, in violation 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. Rule 29 Councilmembers should recognize that the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine does not require that a conflict of intere...

Kari Mar, publisher of The Northern Light news, knowingly protects Blaine officials involved in violating our constitutional rights, while censoring our letters to the editor. Her editor and reporter are out of control --apparently trying to get us killed--and Mar is going to end up a defendant when we go to federal court if she doesn't shape up quick. Learn more at USUAL SUSPECTS .

Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon--widely believed to be behind the October 13, 2025 death threats against four open government activists holding him accountable for habitual misconduct--on March 23, 2026 declared Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk innocent of violating the constitutional rights of these four to equal protection under the law , when Chief Funk used his department to defame and intimidate Harmon's opponents. Harmon's declaration comes at the exact moment when Chief Funk is under investigation by the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission. Harmon's rationale is that he and Funk reviewed the public complaints against him, filed with the Commission, and decided no foul. Learn more at HARMON'S DREAM TEAM .

As readers of The Northern Light are beginning to discover, their local newspaper has been less than truthful regarding conflict at city hall between Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon, Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward, and citizens holding them accountable for the self-dealing by Councilman Mike Hill, Commissioner Sam Randhawa, and Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains. This conflict erupted on October 13, 2025, when a convicted violent felon--David Brudvik-- threatened to murder four citizens for holding Mayor Steward and Harmon accountable for enabling self-dealing in violation of state law. Today, in The Northern Light, is the first mention of police misconduct under Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk, now himself being investigated by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) for violating the 14th Amendment Constitutional rights (equal protection under the law) of the four citizens seeking protection from the mayor's supporter. Three Blaine officers who were used by C...

(The following letter to the editor of The Northern Light was denied.) In the March 11  article  "Blaine City Council lifts downtown building, design requirements for one year" by Grace McCarthy, Blaine City Councilwoman Sarbie Bains--who stands to benefit financially from her vote--remarked about Salishan residents who allegedly opposed the council action but didn't attend,  “They knew the meeting was happening. Everything is publicized, right? So I think if somebody had a problem with it, why wouldn’t they show up?” Bains evidently forgets what happens to civic opponents of the mayor and city manager, as reported in the December 10, 2025   article   "Judge denies request for protection order reconsideration surrounding city council speech" by Pat Grubb, in which four open government activists holding city hall accountable received death threats by a supporter of the mayor.  

The motion for intervention in the Creekside PUD hearing by Tina Erwin of Water Planning Matters raises four objections to Skip Jansen's proposed mobile home park on the following grounds: 1) Wellfield Protection and Contamination Pathways ( 70% risk of municipal wells contamination ) 2) Wetland Delineation and Protocol Evasion ( 100% wet ) 3) Stormwater Modeling and Software Obsolescence ( baseline does not meet Ecology requirements ) 4) Regulatory and Institutional Defects ( mutually exclusive characterizations )

[March 25 letter to Blaine City Council: A while back, Blaine proposed changing its name to Blaine Harbor, presumably to become a tourist destination like Friday Harbor. Of course, Friday Harbor has the whale museum, ferry rides between the San Juan Islands, and lots of fine art. Still, it never hurts to dream, but  Monday March 23 Blaine City Council entered the Twilight Zone , declaring themselves above the law by exonerating the Blaine Chief of Police for alleged wrongdoing because Chief of Police Rodger Funk and City Manager Mike Harmon decided he was not guilty. No need to let the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) complete its investigation of Funk begun March 9, 2026. Mary Lou Steward, Sonia Hurt, Richard May, Don Enos, Sarbjit Bains, Isaac Newland, and Jiggy Sorrell have essentially declared themselves judge and jury, declaring Funk innocent, and citizens who filed complaints with the CJTC guilty.  In light of this latest in a long line of rea...

March 24 letter to City of Blaine: The proposed  Creekside at the Ridge  PUD in East Blaine is part of the  Urban Growth Area  (UGA) recently rezoned for high density residential development, despite Washington Department of Ecology concerns for this  Critical Aquifer Recharge Area  (CARA), and the high cost of purifying drinking water contaminated by urban pollution.  I first brought this concern to the attention of the City of Blaine, Whatcom County, and the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board in 1994, as  designating the CARA a UGA could cost Blaine taxpayers  hundreds of millions of dollars, based on costs incurred by the City of Bellingham to remove urban pollution from its municipal water, supplied by Lake Whatcom. Seattle, in contrast, purchased its drinking watershed, which is what I proposed to Whatcom County in my November 24, 2025 letter  CARA PROTECTION DISTRICT PROPOSAL . The revelation by Water Planning Matt...

  To: Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission Professional Standards / Certification Unit CC: City of Blaine City Clerk Re:  Limited supplemental submission regarding March 23, 2026 City action, retaliation, witness chilling, and pre-judgment in matters involving Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk Dear Commission: This supplement is limited and incorporates my prior submissions rather than restating them in full. I submit this supplemental letter to add new March 23, 2026 evidence that is materially relevant to the pending certification matters involving Chief of Police Rodger Funk, and to request that the Commission evaluate this new City action as evidence of retaliation, witness chilling, pre-judgment, and compromised neutrality toward complainants and witnesses. On March 23, 2026, the City of Blaine placed on its consent agenda a  Request for Council Action  prepared by City Manager Michael Harmon concerning Resolution 1996-26 and Resolution 1997-26...

My issues of concern are local, but reflect a statewide crisis caused by a betrayal of trust by local governments. Many citizens no longer trust public officials to tell the truth or follow the law, and for good reason.  This is not a partisan issue, but a constitutional crisis for our society. Democrats and Republicans have abandoned the public welfare for private wealth care. Low income seniors and young people paying off student loans can no longer survive in our society, and the real estate industry is partly driving this crisis. By asking nothing in return of developers who drive up rents and utility bills for low income people, local governments are causing the homeless crisis to worsen.

Blaine Anthropological Society (BAS) asks the perpetual question, "How did we get into this mess?"  The answer is that you won't find out by reading The Northern Light, the developers' voice.  Maybe we should start a real community newspaper that isn't in bed with the real estate industry at city hall.

In Blaine City Council lifts downtown building, design requirements for one year , Blaine Planning Director Alex Wenger said,  “I would look at it like an economic stimulus package that’s valid for up to one year." Interesting euphemism for looting public assets on behalf of a Canadian developer. Part of the municipal give-away by Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward and City Manager Mike Harmon approved by Blaine City Council on March 9, 2026 is all downtown on-street parking for the hundreds of condominium tenants coming soon. Those public parking spaces were built by Blaine taxpayers.

The A-1 above-the-fold story in The Northern Light this week is a home decor boutique for real estate staging service . Recent A-1 stories include BP Cherry Point celebrates the Seahawks . During this debut by Kari Mar as the new publisher, Blaine open government activists alleged criminal misconduct by Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon, Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward, Blaine Hearing Examiner Phil Olbrechts, Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk, and Blaine City Councilwoman Sarbie Bains.  No mention of any of this in The Northern Light.

Washington Coalition for Open Government president and former Seattle Times executive editor Mike Fancher reports on the legislative battles in Olympia protecting the public's right to know what their governments are up to. In Blaine, we have fought the same battle to obtain public records .

The contemptuous conduct of Blaine City Council is something straight out of the President's playbook:  lawlessness, looting, and thuggery.

During her two-months as publisher of The Northern Light, Kari Mar has done two major stories; one in which she allowed Ferndale Police Officer Richard Hart to call open government activists in Blaine criminals for holding Blaine officials accountable for self-dealing, and another in which Mar covers up the crimes by Blaine officials that took place on March 9 at the city council meeting, where the city conferred unlawful privileges on downtown developers, including Councilwoman Sarbie Bains' husband, Gurdeep.

Astounding as it is that the citizens of Blaine have tolerated the misconduct of Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon for the last three years since the city unwisely hired him, it is reprehensible that the new publisher of The Northern Light--Kari Mar--has in her brief tenure at the helm allowed her newspaper to defame open government activists who revealed him and his staff to be committing crimes to benefit developers. When Harmon convinced the city council to confer special privileges to downtown developers on March 9, including Councilwoman Bains, by removing building height and parking restrictions, he was gifting all downtown on-street parking to the developers free for their condominium tenants, likely in the hundreds as six-story buildings replace existing small businesses, which will no longer have any parking.  The Northern Light maintains silence on the issue of municipal corruption, a feature of Blaine City Hall added by the hiring of Harmon, but never an item in the news. ...

March 15 letter to Blaine City Clerk: From: Jay Taber 715 G St #22 Blaine WA 98230 tbarj@yahoo.com (360) 371-4387 To: Samuel Crawford City Clerk City of Blaine 435 Martin Street Blaine, WA 98230   Date:  March 15, 2026 Re: Follow-on demand for formal investigation, referral, and Council action record; Ordinance 26-3043   Dear Mr. Crawford:   I write as a follow-up to my prior complaint already submitted to your office regarding the March 9, 2026, adoption of Ordinance 26-3043 and the alleged undisclosed conflict of interest, non-recusal, and related misconduct arising from that vote.   This letter is not a restatement of that complaint. It is a formal demand that the City state, in writing, what action has been taken, what authority governs the City’s response, and whether an independent investigation will occur.   The City’s Rules of Procedure require that all regular and special council meetings be recorded by the City Clerk or designee. Rule 13 further p...

March 15 letter to Blaine City Clerk: Dear Blaine City Clerk Samuel Crawford, On March 12, 2026, I attempted to make a police report about alleged misconduct by Blaine officials and city administration through the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office regarding the March 9, 2026 adoption of Ordinance 26-3043, the  downtown Interim Zoning Control Ordinance . I was advised that the Sheriff’s Office would not take the report and that the City of Blaine has an internal process through the city clerk or city manager. Since Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon is a party to the alleged government misconduct described, I am contacting you. This complaint is submitted as a supplemental and escalated priority misconduct complaint, building directly upon the formal complaint submitted to the Department of Justice and Attorney General on June 14, 2025 (see attached), which alleged criminal conflicts of interest, public record manipulation, and procurement fraud in connection with Blaine Ordinance 25-302...

CONTACT INFO Nick Brown , Washington State Attorney General 1125 Washington Street SE, Olympia, WA 98501 publicintegrity@atg.wa.gov      nick.brown@atg.wa.gov    tienney.milnor@atg.wa.gov    Eric J. Richey , Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney     erichey@co.whatcom.wa.us      Tom Seguine, Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney     311 Grand Avenue, Suite 201, Bellingham, WA 98225     tseguine @co.whatcom.wa.us        TEMPLATE LETTER TO SEND TO ABOVE CONTACTS To: Attorney General Nick Brown Office of the Attorney General Attn: Criminal Justice Division / Appropriate Integrity Review Unit 1125 Washington Street SE PO Box 40100 Olympia, WA 98504-0100    CC: Tom Seguine, Civil Deputy Prosecutor, Whatcom County    Re: Request for Attorney General investigation, City of Blaine Ordinance 26-3043, self inurement and targeted private benefits for developer and ...