When Wetlands Matter — Until They Don’t
How Neighbors Were Blocked, Land Was Altered Without Permits, and the Rules Quietly Changed
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When the County Finds Wetlands During A Permit Review, then a Different Regulator Offers to Sell You Mitigation Credits at $400,000 an Acre as a Private Citizen, and the County Doesn't Care.
This article is part of our continuing investigative series, “When Whatcom County Protected a...
PART 3: The Facts and Timelines for the Complaint that Was Filed
When citizens discovered what Whatcom County Natural Resources Planner Matthew Mahaffie was doing,...
PART 6: The Threats From the Corrupt Director of Planning, When Citizens Share Information About His Department's Corruption
In October 2024, Whatcom County Planning Director Mark Personius sent a threatening letter to a...
PART 1: When a Corrupt Whatcom County Planner Started Helping Himself
The Story Begins with an Elderly Property Owner
An 80-year-old man and his wife owned a lot in...
PART 2: The Girlfriend, The Mother, The Mitigation Credits Hustle, and Robbing an Elderly Seller: The Evidence Gets Worse
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Throughout this story, I might refer to an "investigation" or comments related to...
PART 1: When a Corrupt Whatcom County Planner Started Helping Himself
In July 2017, in getting prepared for the building permit, the owners filed a Critical Area Review...
BONUS: Did the Corrupt Whatcom County Planning Department and the Prosecutor's Office Conspire to Defraud a Property Owner?
This article is part of our continuing investigative series, “When Whatcom County Protected a...