Several people have complained that an outspoken Manzanita citizen has cost the city a lot of money for legal fees. One person stated that the legal bills amounted to 15 thousand dollars.
“We can now put a beginning price to one citizen’s ego. It’s unfortunate that we as Manzanita residents have to pay the price …”
But what they don’t explain is the reason for challenging the city. The reason is that the outspoken person is questioning the city’s water billing and budgeting practices. He wants the city to lower residential water bills. He is on the side of the Manzanita water customer.
One issue the citizen raises is the contention that the city gains a couple hundred thousand dollars from the water system fund. Another issue the citizen has raised is that the city changed to monthly water billing in order to increase revenue from residential water bills.
So, even though the city may have to pay 15 thousand in legal bills, the flip side of that argument is that the city may stand to gain 20 times that, perhaps nearly a quarter million dollars from the water fund, at the cost of residents having to pay more on their water bills.
We Manzanita water customers may not have all the facts. But a case can be made that the city can do better about lowering our water bills. So, it is not clear at all that the issue is “one citizen’s ego”. And promoting such a one-sided argument does a disservice to Manzanita water customers.
Manzanita city seems to be run pretty well, even excellent perhaps. But there are always ways to improve things. That should be our goal.
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