Blaine Confidential

The City of Blaine, Washington took a wrong turn in early 2023, when newly-hired city manager Mike Harmon and Mayor Mary Lou Steward schemed to put Blaine in the black by enticing unscrupulous developers to build thousands of new homes without abiding by state and federal environmental laws, or having to pay for infrastructure upgrades. In 2024, Blaine public officials on the city council and planning commission began self-dealing by amending the municipal code to financially benefit themselves.  By Fall 2025, the mayor and city manager were so caught up in manipulating the local city council election and retaliating against citizens who complained about municipal racketeering that Whatcom District Court issued protection orders for four open government activists threatened with murder by a friend of the mayor. In 2026, complaints were filed by the victims of retaliatory policing in Blaine with the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission, and later with the Washington Legis...

After three years of threats by hoodlums and retaliatory policing by Blaine PD, I was reading about the human rights index of Turkmenistan recently, where, "activists face the constant threat of government reprisal." While freedom of the press is non-existent in Turkmenistan, in Blaine the press is bribed by government advertising money, and leaned on by city hall. In Blaine and Turkmenistan, any opposition to the government is considered treason . Activists in both locales face false charges from government and police. Free and fair elections do not exist in Turkmenistan or Blaine. Political adversaries in both are demonized, intimidated, and accosted by government officials.