Blaine Confidential

Jay Taber 715 G St #22 Blaine, WA 98230 (360) 371-4387 tbarj@yahoo.com April 30, 2026 Eric J. Richey Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney 311 Grand Avenue, Suite 201 Bellingham, WA 98225 Re: Supplemental Request for Attorney General Referral, Conflict Review, and Preservation of Record Dear Mr. Richey: I write in response to your April 27, 2026 letter declining further action on my request for review. This letter supplements my March 31, 2026 submission and updates the record with the additional correspondence and evidence now assembled. In your April 27 letter, you state that the materials I provided consisted of allegations not supported by independent or verifiable evidence and that, because they originated from me, they presented concerns regarding potential bias. I respectfully disagree with that characterization as applied to the present record. The record now includes my March 31, 2026 complaint to your office requesting review and referral to the Washington State Attorney Genera...

On April 27, 2026, Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey declined to investigate Blaine City Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains for self-dealing by her March 9, 2026 vote to suspend the Blaine Municipal Code for Central Business District developers, including Ms. Bains and her husband Gurdeep. This is the third Blaine official engaged in criminal acts that Richey has refused to investigate in the last year. Blaine Planning Commissioner Sam Randhawa committed perjury and self-dealing, while Community Development Services director Alex Wenger committed fraud a year ago on Ordinance 25-3028 , in which Randhawa had a direct financial conflict of interest.

Under Washington State law and City of Blaine rules of procedure, City Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains must resign for committing self-inurement, commonly known as self-dealing.  Bains committed self-dealing by her  March 9, 2026 vote to suspend the Blaine Municipal Code  for Central Business District developers, including herself and her husband Gurdeep. Bains  March 23, 2026 vote to support police misconduct against open government activists who exposed Gurdeep's self-dealing as a Downtown Advisory Committee member on June 6, 2023 demonstrates a penchant for retaliatory policing. The unlawful eagle tree massacre in September 2025 at 1117 Leighton Street (DRAYTON REACH, DIV 2, LOT 15) happened within the Blaine Shoreline Master Program buffer along Drayton Harbor, thus violating the Shoreline Management Act and Critical Areas Ordinance.  Three mature Douglas Fir trees that eagles use for perches when hunting salmon were deliberately girdled to cause their death. Wi...

June 6, 2023 Downtown Advisory Committee member and developer Gurdeep Bains commits self-dealing by voting to change the code to financially benefit himself.  January 15, 2024   Pentland report to the City of Blaine  reveals   self-dealing in the Central Business District  by Downtown Advisory Committee member Gurdeep Bains. June 10, 2024   Downtown developer and Councilman Mike Hill fails to recuse himself on the  vote by city council  to  reduce parking requirements for  developers in the Central Business District . November 12, 2024   Councilman Mike Hill  accosted open government activist Otto Pointer   for revealing the downtown toxic waste site under Hill's Chevron . September 24, 2025   Washington Coalition for Open Government secretary George Erb op-ed Open government is an antidote to mistrust  published in The Northern Light. October 13, 2025   David Brudvik, a supporter of Mayor Steward,   is...

When I wrote White Power on the Salish Sea in May 2013, I owed much to Birch Bay researcher, Sandra Robson. In May 2014, I put together a Timeline . In May 2015, Robson wrote A Sovereign Nation Stands Tall about Lummi Nation's fight to stop the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point. In January 2018, the Center for World Indigenous Studies published my Anti-Indian Movement series.

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April 25 letter to Blaine City Council: The Irish have a proverb that  "Efficiency is an unfriendly virtue."  Vesting all power over Blaine environmental decisions in a single person, and imposing a $5,000 fee to question his edicts, is decidedly  unfriendly .  The  Title 17 amendments to the Blaine Municipal Code --proposed by city manager Mike Harmon--are efficient in eliminating public participation in order to  eliminate environmental protection for our drinking water , salmon streams, and oyster farm, but violate our civil rights and the treaty rights of Lummi Nation. Efficiency by Blaine planning and code enforcement resulted in 22 violations of the Shoreline Management Program (see attached), efficiently  unenforced  by Blaine Code Enforcement. Think of all the staff cost saving when developers aren't prosecuted for criminal violations that destroy Dakota Creek and Drayton Harbor. Without public participation, Blaine officials--like former ...

In the 1850s, Lummi Indians were removed from the San Juan Islands by the U.S. Army. In the 1880s, Lummi villages at Legoe Bay (Lummi Island) and Semiahmoo Spit (now part of Blaine) were destroyed by Alaska Packers Association to build salmon canneries in their place .  The Lummi were restricted to a reservation, which was subsequently reduced in size when the federal Indian agent sold Cherry Point to illegal white squatters. In the 1950s, oil refineries were built there. In the 1970s, an oil spill at a refinery wiped out the state's largest herring spawn at Cherry Point . The herring are the primary food for Chinook salmon--the staple of the Southern Resident Killer Whale's diet. In 1999, the City of Blaine intentionally desecrated a registered Lummi burial ground on Semiahmoo Spit, unearthing over 100 human remains. In 2017, Blaine paid Lummi Nation $3.5 million and deeded the two-acre cemetery to Lummi Nation. On April 16, 2026, Blaine Planning Commission recommended approv...

April 24 letter to Whatcom County Prosecutor: Dear Prosecutor Richey, I am at a loss to comprehend your office's delay in referring my attached March 31, 2026 self-inurement complaint against Blaine City Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains to the Attorney General for investigation. This white collar crime is the second self-inurement complaint (see attached) against Blaine public officials by Blaine open government activists to your office in less than a year. Given your noted conflicts of interest, referral to the AG is the proper response. There is no excuse for this neglect of your duty to uphold the law. I sent you follow up emails on April 10, and again on April 17, but am still waiting for you to act. I will need to pursue the matter of your neglect with state agencies, in order to return the rule of law to Blaine. Your office's apparent prejudice against open government activists and unresponsiveness to documented crime by a public official amounts to what I view as obstruction o...

April 23 complaint to Whatcom County Health and Community Services: Whatcom Board of Health needs to inform the City of Blaine that the source-water review now underway by Washington Department of Health must be completed prior to city approval of the Creekside PUD. Learn more at Creekside Water Risks .

Monday night massacres of constitutional rights like free speech and equal protection under the law are becoming almost routine at Blaine City Council meetings. Monday, April 27, 2026 promises to be more of the same, with the proposal by city manager Mike Harmon to prevent Blaine citizens from having any say in the future of our community by changing Title 17 under the Blaine Municipal Code on behalf of developers. Previous Monday night massacres include the September 28, 2025 meltdown by Mayor Mary Lou Steward, and the October 13, 2025 lynch mob theatrics at city hall--orchestrated by former Councilman Mike Hill--and starring convicted violent felon David Brudvik, who was inspired by the mayor and city manager to issue death threats against open government activists, in retaliation for holding the city accountable for self-dealing . The March 23, 2026 Blaine City Council attempt to usurp state authority in the middle of a Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission investigat...

Seeing the implications of proposed institutional policies before they are enacted, and communicating these implications to those who need to know in a way that makes sense, is the task of storytelling. Community storytelling incorporates historical context and presents information that refreshes our cultural memories of living an authentic communal life where we come together for the public good. When bandits threaten the public good, storytellers who sound the alarm are the first line of defense. Using our collective voices as a tool of defense against the onslaught by the real estate industry--that took over our city government in January--will eventually lead to civic reform in Blaine. Standing together against the tyranny imposed by city manager Mike Harmon over his three-year reign, we will prevail.

April 16, 2026 Blaine Planning Commission remarks by Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon : "So everything you're going to hear tonight staff have vetted these processes are in play in other communities. They've been vetted by our legal counsel and we ask for your favorable recommendation on these to help us take a step forward in eliminating these barriers, eliminating some of the costs. The last SEPA appeal that the city went through, we spent over $100,000 just on our attorney to defend the city's position only to have a hearing examiner come back and say that staff issued a bulletproof SEPA decision and that it was really well written. And so there are costs in there not only for the developer but for the tax payers to blame that just really aren't necessary. And so we're asking for your help tonight to move this forward to council with a new pass recommendation." Harmon's prejudicial remarks disparaging the citizen effort led by Water Planning Matters ...

  "The City's course of conduct evidences willful delay and concealment." --Judith A Endejan, Endejan Law, LLC Geoffrey Baker vs. The City Of Blaine Complaint for Violation of the Washington Public Records Act

Whatcom County oversees many special purpose districts with taxing authority to meet public needs. A CARA Protection District for Blaine and Birch Bay that can purchase the East Blaine Critical Aquifer Recharge Area properties in order to protect our public water system fits that purpose. Watch the   Water Planning Matters video . Putting this aquifer in public hands is of strategic importance to public health. The East Blaine CARA supplies 100% of the drinking water to Blaine and Birch Bay residents, and is now under urgent threat from urban pollution. Community members are alarmed there is no comprehensive plan to protect this irreplaceable resource. Please ask the Whatcom County Council to support Water Planning Matters  declaratory order request  to the Washington Department of Health.

I am an historian of essential history unreported by media. Thirteen years ago, my piece  White Power on the Salish Sea  was published in a Canadian magazine. For thirty years ,  I worked as part of a national network of researchers, analysts, and journalists that did opposition research defending democracy. We provided essential information on domestic terrorism to the U.S. State Department and Department of Justice, and provided estimates of situations to human rights organizers and educators who were targets of the Christian Patriot white supremacists--known for murdering 168 people in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.  I did open source research , but I collaborated with financial analysts, and private investigators in Toronto and San Francisco as part of the Public Good network. We compared taking down bigots through research to a treasure hunt; sometimes we found gold. Researchers aren't always good writers, though, which is where I came ...

[Excerpts from How City Planning Departments Skirt Compliance in Washington State by Water Planning Matters.] October 15, 2025, the City had released over 100 previously withheld files , including important Department of Ecology (Ecology) concerns about frequently flooded areas, unmaintained ponds that flooded Birch Bay Village, disturbed and unprotected wetlands used for contaminated stormwater, polluted streams and project engineering correspondence...  The City and Applicant discounted Ecology's frequently flooding areas and wetlands concerns , ... and ignored an impaired creek deserving of protection for fish and lagoons in Birch Bay Village, primarily on procedural grounds, choosing to approve the project in a vacuum of missing facts and outdated city maps... There appeared to be concerted efforts by Applicant and City to exclude consequential information that might affect the buildable footprint or higher costs relating to mitigating flooding, pollution or wetlands damage r...

 April 19 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: The fraudulent Critical Area and SEPA determinations by the City of Blaine that underlie the designated Urban Growth Areas over the East Blaine municipal aquifer, in the Central Business District, and at Birch Point--combined with the elimination of public participation and the facilitation of self-dealing by Blaine public officials--require that the Whatcom County Planning Commission reject the Blaine Comprehensive Plan in its entirety, and advise the county council to request an investigation by the Washington State Auditor and Attorney General. Given this egregious violation of our civil rights, to do otherwise would expose Whatcom County to unnecessary potential liability.

In May, Whatcom County Council will adopt the 10-year update to the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan, that includes the City of Blaine Comprehensive Plan update. Blaine's update includes municipal code changes that   eliminate public participation ,   financially benefit Blaine officials , and threaten public health .  All are illegal, and this should be communicated by Blaine and Birch Bay citizens to the county planning commission, county council, and county prosecutor ASAP. Whatcom County contacts: pds_planning_commission@co.whatcom.wa.us council@co.whatcom.wa.us 2025update@co.whatcom.wa.us erichey@co.whatcom.wa.us

At the June 17, 2025, meeting at Blaine Public Library with county council members Scanlon and Elenbaas, I confronted them for neglecting their duty under the law to hold Blaine accountable for fraud and financial conflicts of interest by City of Blaine officials in preparing the 2025 10-year update to the Blaine Comprehensive Plan. When I announced our Formal Complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice against the City of Blaine for municipal corruption involving self-dealing by Blaine developers in their role as city officials, Blaine City Councilman Richard May suggested the city might be better off just letting developers [such as Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains] do whatever they want. On March 9, 2026, Blaine City Council did just that .

The one tenth of one percent of Blaine citizens who correspond with county, state, and federal agencies to return the rule of law to Blaine can't do it alone.  Those who are now learning what happened over the last six months--when the real estate industry took over our city government with help from The Northern Light--need to become involved in making our community a place where we can disagree with the mayor without receiving death threats and police retaliation . In the United States, we have the right to hold her accountable for criminal misconduct by Blaine officials. The downtown public assets give away and denial of our civil rights  by Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon--because we oppose self-dealing by Blaine officials--must be stopped if we want to end criminal enterprise at city hall. Complaining to the criminals won't do it. Complaining to those who can investigate and prosecute them might. For starters, contact  Whatcom County Prosecutor   Eric Richey....

April 17 letter to Whatcom County Prosecutor: Dear Prosecutor Richey, I have not heard further from your office since your April 10, 2026 reply regarding my March 31 formal request to you to refer the Blaine Councilwoman Sarbjit Bains  self-dealing  matter (see attached letter to you) to the Washington Attorney General. This matter is of urgent importance, as Central Business District landlords, businesses, and residents of Blaine are drastically affected by the unlawful suspension of the Blaine Municipal Code to benefit downtown developers, including Mrs. Bains and her husband, Gurdeep. Your apparent stalling on upholding the law is causing significant harm. I would hope that your apparent reluctance to refer this for AG investigation and prosecution is not due to Whatcom District Court Judge Angela Anderson overruling you on November 4, 2025 and issuing civil protection orders for me and my associates. While we are grateful to Judge Anderson for protecting us from a convicte...

Blaine has become a community of the depraved and the deprived . Depraved city officials working on behalf of the real estate industry have deprived the elderly on fixed incomes and those living in poverty (13.1%) of any voice in planning Blaine's future. The insatiable greed of the developers and realtors in Blaine is propelling the city toward municipal bankruptcy, due to already unfolding environmental impacts of unrestricted growth, as I warned city officials repeatedly.  The cumulative effect of Blaine's ghastly mismanagement by city manager Mike Harmon, combined with Harmon's propensity to defame--even demonize--open government activists who demand civic reform in order for the city to comply with state and federal law, is severe municipal dysfunction . This dysfunction will ultimately lead to resolution in federal court, once state and federal agencies intervene to reestablish civil rights and the rule of law in our community.

I am a low-income senior and   open government   advocate who just filed a civil rights complaint with the EPA against the City of Blaine for threatening legal action against our group  Water Planning Matters , in retaliation for our adjudication request for a   declaratory order   from the Washington Department of Health, to prevent contamination of our public water system that provides drinking water to the 17,000 residents of Blaine and Birch Bay.  I also filed a complaint with the Washington State Auditor regarding widespread misconduct by Blaine officials--including  self-dealing  and supporting  death threats  against Water Planning Matters leaders. Municipal corruption is exemplified by the current city proposal to  eliminate civic participation, public scrutiny, and government transparency  for city environmental decisions. These  Title 17 SEPA Zoning Text Amendments  to the Blaine Municipal Code vio...

April 15 letter to Whatcom County Planning Commission: On the eve of adoption of the 10-year update to the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan, the City of Blaine planning department (Community Development Services) is attempting to  eliminate civic participation, public scrutiny, and government transparency  for city environmental decisions. The Whatcom County Planning Commission is in a position to reject these unconstitutional SEPA Zoning Text Amendments to the Blaine Municipal Code, which violate the civil right of low-income citizens of Blaine to challenge harmful decisions without paying $5,000 up front. https://www.ci.blaine.wa.us/DocumentCenter/View/23743/RFCA---Ord-26-3043-Downtown-Interim-Ordinance https://www.ci.blaine.wa.us/1064/Title-17---Permit-Process-and-SEPA-Zonin

From: Jay Taber 715 G St #22 Blaine, WA 98230 (360) 371-4387 tbarj@yahoo.com To: EPA Office of External Civil Rights Compliance (OECRC) Date: April 13, 2026 Re: Title VI Complaint – Blaine SEPA/Public Participation I am filing this complaint under Title VI (42 U.S.C. §2000d) and EPA’s civil rights regulations (40 C.F.R. Part 7), on behalf of myself and similarly affected residents. I am a Blaine  open government  and environmental advocate with Water Planning Matters documenting  risks to our drinking water , and a party of record in City of Blaine land-use proceedings. The respondent is the City of Blaine, WA, which receives EPA financial assistance, including funding related to water and environmental programs. I allege that Blaine’s proposed land-use code amendments ( Ordinance 26-3043 ) have a discriminatory effect on protected classes and deny meaningful participation in federally assisted programs.  Watch  The Anatomy of Exclusion   video from Water P...

[Below are excerpts from Donna McGaffic's examination of The Northern Light 11/8/25 article by Grace McCarthy , published four days after Whatcom District Court Judge Anderson issued civil protection orders for Donna and three other Blaine open government activists threatened by convicted violent felon and friend of Mayor Steward, David Brudvik, whom Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk testified in support of.] At  12:47 p.m. on Friday, November 7 , Grace McCarthy emailed Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon and attached the Ferndale Police Department report:  “I received a copy of the Ferndale Police Department’s investigation into the City of Blaine ( attached ) and am working on deadline on an article about the investigation. I believe it’s important to include the city’s perspective in the article and have the following questions.”   At precisely 5:00 p.m. to the minute , right as the Ferndale Public Records Office closed for the weekend, Grace McCarth...