Moving the Goalposts While the Game is in Play!

We were told nearly two years ago that if we want to be part of the Manzanita City Council agenda for monthly meetings, we need to put in a request two weeks prior. Such a request was submitted two weeks ahead of the last meeting on January 5th, asking that they follow through with adding us to the agenda to have a vote on the formation of a Master Trail Committee. This was initially requested in June of 2021.

The response prior to and during the meeting was to reject any request to have this issue put on the agenda.

Due to COVID-19, all meetings have been conducted virtually via Zoom through the city website, which has caused further limits to communication. Since Leila Aman started as City Manager additional restrictions have been added. Here are some of those limitations:

• Meeting attendees and their names are no longer visible, there is no gallery view.

• Attendees can no longer see if someone else is raising their hand or who is requesting to speak.

• Questions and answers cannot be viewed by the audience.

• The council meeting days and start times are listed inaccurately on the website. They are listed for 7pm on the first Wednesday of the month when they really begin at 6pm.

• Public comments are now held during the first 15 minutes of the meeting with a 3 minute time limit, allowing little time for citizens to voice their concerns.

During the January 5th meeting at 6:00 pm, Stan Myers asked again for the Master Trail Plan and the Cherry Trail to be discussed and voted on by the council, hoping to move forward on this issue. Once again, the quick response from the Mayor was that it was not on the agenda and would not be discussed.

The Master Trail Plan, as it was left, is now a key feature on the City's Website. We have been asking since June 2021 to begin the process of selecting a Master Trail Committee.