ALTERING THE PUBLIC RECORD

March 13, 2025 Blaine Planning Commission held an Urban Mixed Use rezone hearing for properties on Dakota Creek and Drayton Harbor, a federally-protected estuary. Meeting minutes must include public comments, statements by officials, and deliberations.

March 13- April 28, 2025 Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger omitted all substantive public comments and his commitment to using the most current stormwater management manual from the record. (Only two public comments were received, from Otto Pointer and Jay Taber.) The misleading document is then signed by planning commission chair, Calvin Armerding.

April 28, 2025 Based on the misleading recommendation document, Blaine City Council passed Ordinance 25-3028 adopting the Urban Mixed Use rezone. The final ordinance omits critical stormwater requirements and critical area protections that were unlawfully purged by Director Wenger from the record. 

Director Wenger's role was not merely administrative; he was the primary architect of the biased outcome. By controlling the public record, Wenger actively discredited public comments before they were presented, shaping the commission's perception. He then removed dissenting information that would interfere with the predetermined outcome he sought. Mitigation requirements were then relaxed or eliminated in the rezone area. 

Altering the Public Record is a class C felony under RCW 40.16.010.

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