Manzanita Listens – but who are they listening to?

Submitted By: kaleen@wineinger.com – Click to email about this post
Four out of five elected public officials care more for investors than the people who elected them.
Go to https://youtu.be/GOqSEVkcklQ if you missed last Wednesday’s council meeting.

Imbedded in the meeting was a public hearing about annexation of some undeveloped land.
Several citizens asked why the land was being annexed and got no answer. Three out of five elected public officials voted “yes” to the annexation, with one abstaining.
Later in the meeting it was time to vote on the much hoped for freeze on STRs. In March council had asked our city manager, Leila Aman to draw up a resolution holding STRs to 260 for three years. Leila drew up the resolution and had it reviewed by our Manzanita city attorney. All was in order and ready for approval. But wait! Two outside investors called in asking council to reconsider. They were both building new houses on Merton and had been told they could get STR permits immediately. Council said well let’s redo this resolution right now and continue with uncapped STRs on all of Laneda and parts of 3rd, 4th, Merton, Hailey etc.
Our city manager’s well- researched resolution was quickly reworded per Mayor Mike Scott’s instructions. Then four elected public officials voted “yes” and one voted “no” again. One councilor listens to the people who elect, three councilors and the mayor listen to investors.

This is not made up. If you missed this disaster of a meeting, you can listen to the recording now available at: tinyurl.com/2p8stdhd