Jay Taber

A professor who hired me to speak to her class said what she wanted from me was to inspire her students to become involved in civics. I hope my biography will help to inspire young people who think it is hopeless to fight government corruption. Knowing how to communicate in conflict situations makes all the difference. In my 35 years of volunteer activism, I have been a civil rights and environmental justice leader, undefeated in my cases at the WA Court of Appeals, WA Supreme Court, and U.S. District Court. I am currently preparing to sue Washington State for violating my constitutional rights to petition for redress of grievances and to equal protection under the law. Every successful community leader I've known has emphasized that "the process is everything." Exclusive policies of state and local governments--designed to benefit developers they are in bed with--usually run afoul of state and federal laws requiring inclusive public participation, making these government agencies liable in court and their policies invalid. The problem is that governments have unlimited taxpayer dollars for lawyers, while community organizers do not. In 1991, I co-authored the Natural Heritage plan for Whatcom County. In 1992, I scoped the Bay-to-Baker trail for Whatcom County Parks. In 1993, Sherilyn Wells and I won our case at Washington Court of Appeals to protect Lake Whatcom. In 1994, I led North Cascades Audubon Society to victory at the Washington Supreme Court, protecting Critical Areas statewide. In 2000, I received the Defender of Democracy award from the Public Good network. I am in the forthcoming documentary film PATHFINDER, in which I discuss monitoring Christian Patriot white supremacists. On the June 13, 2005, DEMOCRACY NOW! show, former FBI Special Agent Mike German--undercover operative investigating violent white supremacists in the U.S.--spoke about 1996, when he worked undercover in the Pacific Northwest, culminating in convictions of Christian Patriots for making bombs. The undercover operation was initiated based on field research by Jay Taber and Paul de Armond, whom German refers to as cooperating witness/public citizens. In 2017, I organized low-income senior housing tenants at Bay View Plaza in Blaine to sue the USDA rural housing for attempting to illegally evict all 32 tenants. Represented by Northwest Justice (Legal Aid of Washington), we prevailed in U.S. District Court. In 2025, I and three other open government activists holding the City of Blaine, Washington accountable for self-dealing, perjury, and fraud were demonized by the mayor on September 8, threatened with murder by the mayor's friend on October 13, and issued civil protection orders by Whatcom District Court on November 4.  In June 2025, I was a candidate for filling a vacant Blaine City Council seat. I was not selected by the council, but was appointed to author the voter's pamphlet statement against Proposition 7. In January 2026, I and two others filed certification complaints with the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) against Blaine police officers for retaliatory policing, used to intimidate us as critics of the mayor. In June 2026, I filed a complaint with the WA Legislative Ethics Board against State Senator Sharon Shewmake for interfering in the CJTC investigation. In July 2026, I filed a complaint with the WA Executive Ethics Board against CJTC Investigations Division Manager Mike Devine for violating our constitutional rights by providing special privileges to the police officers under investigation. SAN FRANCISCO YEARS (1998-2011) Paul de Armond and I did research for citywide rent control tenants who were beset by the "Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley who put repeal rent control on the ballot. I consulted the tenants leader at SF State gathering and we won. Melissa Farley and I took on SF brothel owners who tried to legalize prostitution. We knew we'd won when Mayor Gavin Newsom raided a brothel live on TV where undocumented 14 year old Asian girls were slaves. Mark Gould and I busted the trustees of my alma mater New College of California for misappropriation of U.S. Department of Education funds by admitting unqualified people of color to their law school in order to get their tuition which burdened them with student loans.