CONTEXT OF BLAINE RETALIATORY POLICING

June 6 letter to Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission:

Dear Ms. Avaava,

As Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) investigator of my certification complaints against Blaine and Ferndale police officers for retaliatory policing, I thought you might benefit from knowing me as a person, rather than just a name on a form. I have been an open government activist for 35 years, and retaliatory policing is unconstitutional. You also need to know the political context within which Blaine Police Department was used by the city to intimidate and defame critics of the mayor, city manager, development director, and hearing examiner--which function as a cabal at city hall.

In Blaine, citizens are now fearful of sharing their ideas. Our local newspaper vilified open government activists opposing municipal corruption, so fear is to be expected. We are not yet a police state in Washington, but in Blaine we are. Allowing this civil rights nightmare to continue by exonerating retaliatory policing would be a travesty of justice, ripe for federal court. It is my hope that the CJTC comprehends the scale of the stakes at issue. We are talking about my 1st and 14th Amendments rights to free speech and equal protection under the law.

From 2023 to 2026, the communities of Blaine and Birch Bay have been beset by major developers who have taken over Blaine's government and begun dismantling the Blaine Municipal Code to favor themselves at the expense of public health and safety. Two five hundred unit developments were recently approved that threaten Birch Bay Village with flooding, as well as the viability of the east Blaine Critical Aquifer Recharge Area for Blaine's public water system that serves Blaine and Birch Bay. On March 9, 2026, Blaine City Council handed over all community visioning and decision making to downtown developers, and on June 8, proposes to curtail public participation, government transparency, and accountability.

Electric, water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure expenses to accommodate doubling our population in three years is proposed to be paid for by significantly raising utility rates in January 2027. Public hearings are proposed to be curtailed in order to expedite development for home sales taxes the city is pursuing without regard for the law. Open government activists in Blaine have been targeted for harassment by the mayor's allies, and on November 4, 2025, Whatcom District Court Judge Angela Anderson issued civil protection orders for four individuals who received death threats. 

The U.S. Department of Justice public integrity unit needs to investigate the City of Blaine for racketeering, where three public officials engaged in self-dealing from 2024 to 2026, and were joined by two others committing perjury and fraud on SEPA decisions, Critical Area determinations, and Stormwater reports affecting Blaine's municipal drinking water aquifer and the aquifer at Birch Point. I have an active complaint with the U.S. EPA Civil Rights Division against the City of Blaine. 

We are nearing the end of public participation in Blaine, as Blaine City Council on Monday June 8 plans to amend the SEPA and zoning text of the municipal code to curtail public comment and public hearings, as well as to impose a combined $7,500 fee to question environmental decisions on a single PUD by Community Development Services: SEPA decisions $2,500 Critical Area determinations $2,500 Stormwater report $2,500.

Blaine City Council's recurring pattern, 2023-2026, of voting on zoning matters in which Blaine officials hold undisclosed financial interests, combined with systematic suppression of public participation and manipulation of public records, represents a serious and ongoing threat to the integrity of local governance. You can learn more at my Blaine Confidential blog post, PROSECUTING WHITE COLLAR CRIME.

I was a 2025 candidate for city council appointment, and council appointed author of the voters pamphlet statement against de-annexation. My published letters 2023-25 at The Northern Light establish me as a Growth Management expert, and thoughtful critic of the lack of transparency and accountability by the Blaine City Manager and Community Development Services director. My May 13 letter to the editor of Cascadia Daily News provides an essential overview unavailable in local or regional media. Blaine Police Department and Ferndale Police Department accusing me of "disrupting governance" is retaliatory policing, which I won't tolerate.

My efforts to protect Blaine's municipal drinking water aquifer began in 1994, when I led North Cascades Audubon Society to victory at the Washington Supreme Court, setting precedent for Critical Areas protection statewide. I noted that siting an Urban Growth Area for residential development atop a Critical Aquifer Recharge Area was contrary to state law. Three decades later, Blaine's public water system is now threatened by urban pollution that will cost a fortune to remediate. Blaming the messenger won't fix it.

Best regards, Jay Taber