Blaine City Council unanimously approved a pair of resolutions supporting Blaine Police Department (BPD) during Monday’s meeting.
One of the resolutions authorized the city to provide legal defense funding for Blaine police during a state investigation that city officials said stems from unfounded complaints made by a citizen advocacy group that has hurled accusations at city representatives for nearly three years.
The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC), which investigates law enforcement conduct, has opened an investigation into Blaine Police Chief Rodger Funk and other members of the police department. The citizen advocacy group is alleging that Funk and the department didn’t take sufficient action when members told officers they feared for their safety.
The CJTC investigation stems from a series of citizen complaints against Funk and other BPD officers by members of a water advocacy group formerly known as Save Blaine. The group’s complaints are far-reaching, but mostly originate from an Oct. 13, 2025, statement from Blaine resident David Brudvik to the City Council during a town hall meeting.
Brudvik, referring to four residents who comprised Save Blaine at the time, quoted a violent scene from the 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” where Samuel L. Jackson’s character recites a fictional bible verse before executing a man.
The group perceived the statement as a threat against their lives, and four members filed a protection order with the Whatcom County District Court soon after. Judge Angela Anderson ruled on Dec. 5, 2025 that Brudvik’s remarks constituted a “true threat” under Washington law, and was not protected political speech, according to previous reporting by The Northern Light.
Brudvik was ordered to surrender up to 16 personal firearms as a result of the protection order.
Disputing that claim, Funk pointed to an Oct. 21 notice of no action decision from Whatcom County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erik K. Sigmar who said Brudvik’s statement did not qualify as a threat, citing insufficient evidence and interest of justice, “because of difficulty distinguishing statement from protected, albeit belligerent, political speech.”
According to redacted copies of the CJTC complaint submissions obtained by The Northern Light through a public records request, the complaints ask the CJTC to open a formal certification investigation into Funk due to a perceived conflict of interest between Funk and the City of Blaine, violations of BPD’s ethics policy, and violations of the petitioners Constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment’s “equal protection” clause, among other allegations.
The CJTC complaint also requested investigations into BPD officers Zachary Taxdahl, Trevor Chau, Bryan Beaulieu, Ferndale police chief Matthew Huffman and Ferndale officer Richard Hart.
One of the parties in the complaint against Funk showed their initial findings to a reporter during a Jan. 26 City Council meeting, but did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.
Several individuals have contacted The Northern Light claiming responsibility for filing the report.
Whatcom county resident Donna McGaffic, a member of the activist group, has previously said she’s reported alleged misconduct from Funk and other city officials to state and federal agencies.
Last fall, she asked BPD to investigate Funk for failing to investigate her complaints that the mayor was using her political influence to violate the rights of a councilor. Funk referred the complaints to the Ferndale Police Department for an outside review.
After a monthlong investigation, Hart released a report that determined McGaffic’s complaints were unfounded and that McGaffic and other Save Blaine members were “deliberately disruptive to the effective governance of the city of Blaine.”
The Ferndale investigation was the first by an outside agency into the group and some of its complaints against city officials since it formed in fall 2023.
Mayor Mary Lou Steward has said she believes some members of the group formerly known as Save Blaine have crossed the line harassing public officials.
The City Council’s resolution stated that the City Manager Mike Harmon and Funk reviewed the facts of the case and found “no evidence of wrongdoing.”
According to the resolution, Funk “acted in the City of Blaine’s best interest, in the discharge of his duties as a law enforcement officer; and in good faith.”
In a written statement to The Northern Light, Harmon said these specific complaints are unfounded.
“The City takes all complaints filed with the CJTC seriously and respects each individual’s right to file a complaint,” Harmon wrote. “In these specific circumstances, we believe the complaints are without merit, and we hope the investigation will be swift and expect the investigation will bear an outcome favorable to the City’s officers.”
The second resolution showing support for BPD mentioned that the CJTC investigation brought significant hardships to officer retention, recruitment and the city’s ability to maintain adequate staffing levels, and that responding to the complaints lodged by the citizen activist group has “imposed a financial burden on the City and significantly decreased the moral (sic) in the police department.”
David Quinlan, communications manager for CJTC, said the case was assigned to an investigator on March 6, but did not give a timeline for when the investigation would be completed.
Funk said he has hired a private attorney in addition to the City of Blaine attorneys that will represent him and the other BPD officers.
“I need to protect my own interests,” Funk said.
CLARIFICATION:
